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Chapter Text

Cursed Blood and Bound Fates

Chapter 1

A wrinkle furrowed the brow of a teenage girl as she checked her phone.

Take your time at the fundraiser, and why don’t you stay at a friend’s house tonight. I’ll be working on a project in the basement until late and don’t want to disturb you since you have school tomorrow. 

Renfri sighed, shook her head, and sent a quick confirmation back to her uncle.  She tucked her phone into her back packet before continuing to swipe a sponge across a car sitting in the parking lot of Mystic Falls High School.  It wasn’t like him to encourage her to stay over at a friend's place; he didn’t really comment much on her social life beyond asking how school was and if she was enjoying her chosen extracurriculars and friends.  He did it more frequently when Renfri first moved in with him 2 years ago, but he’s since lost his deep concern as she’d acclimated to her new life there fairly well–

Despite the loss of her parents.

Renfri Salvatore hadn’t been very familiar with her Uncle Zach, and they still weren’t close, but they had become comfortable in their routines and shared living space with her dog, Ash, at the boarding house.  

She glanced over to a nearby stretch of lawn where the three year old Dutch Shepherd was stretched out on the grass, his silver brindle coat shining in the sunlight peeking through the branches of the tree he was tethered to.  A small smile crossed her face as she continued to scrub.  Ren knew she would have fared far worse after her parents deaths if she hadn’t had Ash; she treasured him.  

Her family had been perfectly normal and happy.  Her father, Daniel Salvatore, was a trauma surgeon who was a caring and thoughtful father despite the crazy hours he worked.  Her mother, Althea Salvatore nee Brooks, had been an animal lover and a veterinarian.  Her mother had believed in giving children strong and meaningful names, so when she had decided on a name with a Scots-Gealic origin (her mother was adamant that she must have had Scottish roots due to her and Ren’s copper hair and spattering of freckles) that basically translates to “warrior of darkness,” her father relented as long as it could be shortened to nickname, and the deal was struck.  

Her mother was the one who had insisted on getting her a dog, once Ren was old enough to take care of and train it well, in order to learn responsibility and compassion for animals.  Renfri took this to heart and made it her mission to train Ash until he was the perfect companion.  Of course, it wasn’t easy, but eventually she succeeded after taking obedience classes and working tirelessly.  She’d even decided to stick to tradition and teach him German commands.  It was her father’s idea to train Ash to act as a protection dog, since he was so well trained and a breed suited for it, so she worked with a special trainer to accomplish this as well.  

Although her mom and dad had both led busy careers, Ren thought they had been good parents.  They had regular family dinners, went on occasional trips, or just sat in the same room doing separate things but enjoying just being together.  

That’s why it had been such a shock when they were murdered.  

Ren had been walking home from the local dog park when she saw the flashing red and blue lights illuminating the night sky.  Her heart had stuttered for a second before continuing its normal pace, because there was no way it was for her house just because it was on her street.  She’d assumed it was probably for the couple a few houses down that had been arguing loudly lately; maybe someone had called in domestic abuse.  But the closer she’d gotten, the more panicked she’d become until she couldn’t deny any longer that they were in front of her home.  

She had sprinted the rest of the way with Ash close at her side, shoving through the crowd of neighbors on the edge of the lawn, ducking under the yellow police tape, and dodging the arm of the first officer, all while calling for her parents and getting no response. 

The officer on the porch hadn’t quite been quick enough in catching her waist and dragging her backwards, away from what was now a crime scene.  She’d been fast enough to catch a glimpse of the edges of a dark puddle of liquid through the open front door.  Fast enough to see the neatly groomed tips of her mother’s fingers smearing the smooth line of the puddle’s edge. Fast enough to notice the long strands of auburn hair disturbing the surface, staining them scarlet.

The police hadn’t been able to pinpoint the reason behind it and so it was now labeled a cold case.  There was no sign of anything having been stolen or the house having been searched; the only rooms that were disturbed were the living room and foyer where they had died.  No evidence was left behind to determine who had done it.  The only thing the police could conclude with certainty based on the forensics investigation was that there had been two attackers and that they had been quick and brutal.

Uncle Zach had been Renfri’s next of kin since her father’s parents had died before she was born and her mother had aged out of the foster system and hadn’t known her family.  He became her guardian and moved her a few hours further west in Virginia to her dad’s home town of Mystic Falls.  Her uncle had packed up his brother and sister-in-law’s things and put them in storage, bringing Ren’s things and anything of her parents that she wanted to keep with them.  She’d chosen to keep a few simple but meaningful items close: her mother’s perfume bottle, her father’s favorite baseball cap, his old college hoodie,  family photos, and, most importantly, her mother’s ring.  It was an old, silver band with a simple yet elegant design etched around its circumference and was very worn.  She wore it on a thin chain around her neck, tucked into her shirt, to keep it close.  

The sharp bark from Ash jarred her from her memories, making Ren realize she had been washing the same window for a few minutes.  She glanced over and saw his eyes tracking a squirrel that was scrambling up a nearby tree and rolled her eyes.  Turning back to the task at hand, Ren hastened to start rinsing the car off, letting her thoughts wander back to her Uncle’s odd text.  

These past few weeks he had seemed somewhat tense, perhaps because he now had two teenagers to mind.  Stefan Salvatore, Zach had explained, was Ren’s second cousin and had moved in to stay for a while, though he normally lived with his older brother elsewhere.  Said older brother, Damon, had recently joined them as well, which seemed to ratchet Uncle Zach’s tension up to a ten.  

Renfri could see why the young man might be off putting, with his arrogant swagger and intense blue eyes that always seemed to challenge and mock Zach whenever they were aimed at him.  Though Stefan immediately showed himself to be a bit reserved and brooding, he looked at Ren with kind yet pitying eyes. Damon only seemed to observe her (and her dog) with amusement and condescension, adding in the occasional sarcastic remark that was capable of either irritating her or pulling a laugh from her lips.

Renfri had seen Damon with Caroline Forbes on multiple occasions, and when she had questioned her friend Elena Gilbert on the matter, she’d seemed mildly concerned judging by the small furrow of her brows.  However, she’d shrugged it off saying that they didn’t seem serious and it probably wouldn’t last, so Renfri was reassured.  Although she appreciated Damon’s biting humor and found amusement in his blatant teasing of his little brother, he seemed like he would be a shitty boyfriend.  Especially to someone like Caroline who was, to put it bluntly, shallow and a bit desperate in the boy department, making her a doormat for any hot guy who showed her attention.

The red-head tucked a loose lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear and considered…she hadn’t seen Damon in a few days.  Stefan had mentioned that his brother was going out of town for a while, but Ren had seen Stefan moving Damon’s electric blue Camaro into one of the garages the other day, so how could he have left? 

Was Stefan lying about something?  And why was Zach trying to keep her out of the house?  

Renfri shook her head and hurriedly moved to the next car to clean.  Ever since Stefan and Damon came to stay, it’s had her Uncle Zach on edge, creating this constant tension and she can’t help but feel like they’re all keeping something from her and are in on it together, though not quite on the same page.  She’d have to get to the bottom of it later when she went back to the boarding house with the excuse of packing an overnight bag and dropping off Ash for the night; she’ll confront him then.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Night had fallen and Renfri was back in her t-shirt, jean shorts, and sneakers as she drove herself and Ash back to the boarding house, having just finished cleaning up from the “Sexy Suds Carwash” fundraiser (was that appropriate for high schoolers to be doing? Probably not).

It was time to talk to Zach.

She pulled into the driveway and parked off to one side of the circular driveway, letting Ash out first before heading for her bags.  

“Go ahead, boy, do your business.”  

Instead of exploring the yard for new smells and relieving himself like usual, Ash barked and dashed towards the dog flap Zach had installed in one of the side doors that stays locked.  The pale, freckled girl rolled her eyes and followed after her furry companion at a much slower pace through the front door.  As she dropped her things in the doorway to the den, she looked around, not finding the dog that had just bolted in there.

She frowned, then raised her voice, “Uncle Zach, did you see where Ash ran to?”  

Silence.  

He must not have been home…but his car was by the garage?  “Uncle Zach?” she called out again, still getting no response.  

She began to wander further into the house then paused and called out, “Ash, gib laut!” commanding him to speak.  His bark called out from deeper into the halls.  She turned a corner and saw an open door that led to the basement. 

“ Gib laut! ” she shouted again, and confirmed what she’d suspected; his barks echoed from the cellar, though she didn’t know why.  From what she remembered the few times she’d gone down there, there wasn’t much beyond stone rooms with a bunch of old storage and what she guessed were old cells with Zach’s little herb garden in one of them.  

Ren quickly trotted down the stairs after the sound but came to a halt at the start of the long stone hallway.  At the end, she could see Ash lying down, his silver fur reflecting the lamplight along with a pool of something dark on the ground peeking around the corner.  

Renfri froze, then slowly approached, her breath becoming increasingly tight.  As she stopped at the corner it all came out in one big woosh at the sight of her uncle lying in a small pool of his own blood, outside a barred door that was swung open, with his neck twisted in a way it definitely shouldn’t have been.  

She stumbled backwards, her back hitting the rough wall, and slowly slid to the floor as she gasped for air with her eyes wide.  Ash came and sat by the girl’s side, resting his head on the knees that were tucked up to her chest and gave a high pitched whine.  She shakily ran a hand through the fur on his ruff and fumbled for her phone, managing to type in 911.  She struggled to breathe normally as the operator answered.  

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“I need help,” she breathed, “I think my uncle’s dead.  Please send someone!” Her voice pitched up as her throat squeezed tightly around the air coming out.  She couldn’t take her eyes from the puddle of red laying under ripped flesh.

“Don’t worry sweetie, we’ll send an ambulance and police right away.  Can you tell me the address?”  

She gave the address and described what she found as best as she could while trying not to completely panic.  She hung up before she realized she probably should have waited on the line with the operator.  Renfri was sitting in a daze when it occurred to her that she should tell Stefan, wherever he was.  She shakily picked up her phone again, found his name in her contacts, and pressed call.  Lifting it to her ear, it rang twice before he picked up.

“Hey Ren, I’m almost home, is everything alright?  You don’t call me too often,” he answered with mild curiosity.  

She took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat, “Zach’s dead, Stefan.  I got home and Ash found him in the basement.”

There was a pause.  “He’s dead? Are you sure?”

A dry laugh escaped her mouth and she snapped, “Of course I’m sure, he’s lying in his own blood with his throat torn up, and I’m pretty sure his neck is broken.” Her voice cracked, “What the HELL is going on, Stefan!? How did this happen?!”

Stefan sighed and replied, “I’ll be there in a minute, why don’t you go upstairs and wait there.”   He paused again and in the background she could hear sirens on the other end of the line, “Did you call 911?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Another sigh, “Alright, I’ll be there soon,” and the line went dead.

He was right, she realized, she needed to get away and stop looking at him.  It was just bringing back bad memories and she needed to try to stay calm.  

She pushed off the wall and got to her feet,  calling “ Fuss, ” to ensure Ash stayed with her as she made her way upstairs.  She had sunk onto a couch in the den with the Dutch Shepherd at her feet just as Stefan came in the front door followed by the sound of sirens and flashing red and blue lights of the emergency vehicles approaching.  Ash leaned against me and kept his eyes fixed on Stefan as the other teeneager briefly checked the cellar then returned, slowly approaching me with caution in his eyes.

“Did you see what happened or did you just find him like that?” he asked quietly.

“I came home from the car wash, I was helping clean up since Caroline bailed, and Ash ran straight inside.  I followed him to the basement, where I found Zach,” she gestured in the direction of the basement, “like that.”  

Ren took another deep breath then looked him dead in the eyes.  “Stefan, what’s going on?  Uncle Zach has been tense for weeks now, he tried to get me to stay at a friend's house tonight, which he’s never done, then this happens!  Please,” she begged, “I know it has something to do with you and Damon; you have all been cagey when talking around me this whole time.  I deserve the truth.”

Stefan stared at her for a long moment, then nodded.  

“We’ll talk, but not now.  The paramedics and police are here.”  

From there, the next half hour was filled with Ren and Stefan giving statements to the police and waiting impatiently as the scene was documented and Zach’s body was being prepared for transport to the hospital morgue.  Sheriff Forbes had made an appearance, looking grave and expressing her sympathies.  She worked the scene and left orders with the officers before leaving after getting another call on her radio about a fire in the old cemetery.  Stefan told police that he would contact Damon, since he was the only other adult in the house.  When he stepped outside Renfri could see through the window that throughout the conversation he looked deadly serious, furious even, before he finally pulled the phone away from his ear.  

Of course, that was when Elena Gilbert arrived and got out of her car looking shocked and nervous.  Elena saw Ren as she stepped out the front door, clutching her arms tightly, to watch them load a body bag into the back of the ambulance and take off.  They made eye contact, Elena with raised eyebrows and Renfri looking like she was in shock.  

Then she spied Stefan who had turned to face her after ending the call.  She marched up to him and spoke in a frantic whisper, glancing around warily.  Renfri couldn’t quite hear what she had said but watched as Stefan’s eyes widened before returning an intense stare of his own and replied quietly.  They had a brief but tense exchange, but were clearly aware of others' eyes on them and trying to tone it down.  

All of a sudden, Elena’s body locked up in response to something he had said.  She then shook her head and turned sharply, hustling back to her car.  Stefan looked pained and took a step before he paused and looked around, deciding against following her just then.  He turned to approach the officers again and seemingly convinced them to finish up and leave, saying that he and his older brother would deal with the paperwork tomorrow.  The officers nodded and set off immediately, oddly quick to comply with his request.  We watched their squad car follow Elena’s down the drive before finally standing in the awkward silence that was leftover from the previous events of the evening.  

He turned to Ren with a serious yet sorrowful gaze and pleaded, “Ren, I know we need to talk, and we will, but right now I need to see Elena first.”  

“What, are you serious?  You—” she began to protest but he quickly jumped in.

“I promise I’ll be back soon, but this is important as well,” he assured her.  His eyes watched hers and waited for her to reluctantly nod, walk back inside, and close the door before speeding away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri had huddled up on a couch in the den with Ash lying on the floor below her for about 15 minutes before the dog’s ears perked and he sat up, alert eyes trained on the front door.  A few seconds later, the teenager’s broody cousin came in.  He sat down on the couch across from her as she straightened in her seat and stared at him, silently waiting for whatever explanation was to come. 

It was far from what she expected.

Stefan glanced at the bracelet on her left wrist that her uncle had given her a few weeks ago.  He pointed at it and asked, “Do you know why Zach gave that to you?”

Her eyebrows went up and she replied, “He said it was an early birthday gift.  Why? What does that have to do with anything?”

He shook his head, “It’s for your protection.  The herb that’s in the charm is called vervain; it protects your mind from being manipulated by vampires…like me and Damon.”

The girl sat in stunned silence for a full thirty seconds while he scrutinized her face which shifted quickly from confusion to disbelief to anger.  Finally, she spoke.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?  Is this a joke to you, Stefan?” she gritted out between her teeth and fisted her hands on her knees.  

The other 17 yr old ran his hand through his hair before calmly responding, “No, this isn’t a joke, Ren.  It’s real and it’s serious.  Damon and I aren’t your second cousins, we’re your ancestors.  We lived here as humans when the original founding families settled here in the 1800s.  Another vampire, Katherine, turned us into vampires in 1864.”  Ren was dumbfounded that he was actually going on about being a vampire, and in a serious tone, at that.

“You can’t seriously expect me to believe this, can you? You’re crazy.” She got up and started to walk away in anger, but in the next second he was standing in front of her.  She froze and gasped while Ash stepped next to her and barked a warning, “H-how did you…?”

Stefan put his hands out in front of him and hurriedly said, “Vampires are real, Renfri, and I am one.” Even as she shook her head in panicked denial he continued, “Yes, and I can prove it.  Look at my face and stay calm, I’m not going to hurt you.”  

She was still breathing fast when her hazel eyes watched the whites of his turned dark red and black veins surged underneath his eyes.  Her eyes bulged and jumped down to his mouth where she could see the tips of both upper eye teeth had become elongated and sharp, peeking out from under his top lip.  Her uneasy breaths became full-on gasps as she took a shaky step back and Ash began barking and growling in earnest with his ears flattened back on his head, paws planted firmly in front of his owner.  Then Stefan’s face changed and he took a step back while glancing at the canine guardian, looking perfectly normal again.  

Renfri touched Ash’s fur and muttered “ Nein ,” quieting Ash who ceased barking but stayed firmly in a protective stance.

“Ren,” he said carefully, “I would never hurt you.  I only feed from animals, not people.”

The shaking girl attempted to regulate the air going in and out of her lungs to a more normal rate, she couldn’t afford to pass out from hyperventilating right now.   Then something occurred to her and her eyes found his again.

“What about the animal attacks, were those—”

“Damon,” he finished for her, dropping his hands to his sides, “he killed those people, not me.  He feeds from humans, most vampires do, and he enjoys it.  I choose not to; I don’t want to be like that.”

She eyed him momentarily then asked, “Do you…or, does Damon always kill the people he feeds from?” and Stefan considered briefly before shaking his head.

“Not always, but he certainly has no compunction about killing people,” he warned.  “I hadn’t seen him in 50 years until he came to town, but based on what I’ve gathered, I’d say right now he doesn’t care if he kills people.  You need to be careful and avoid him as much as possible.  I don’t trust that he’s here for a good reason and it’s dangerous for you to be around him, family or not.”

Renfri nodded slowly, her head whirling.  She gulped and managed, “Okay, I guess I believe you.  I believe you don’t intend to hurt me and that it was Damon that killed those people.  But what about Uncle Zach?  Who killed him?”

Stefan frowned, “Damon did, but it was my fault that it happened.  I had locked Damon in the cellar downstairs with Zach’s help and was starving him to make him weak so he couldn’t hurt people anymore.” 

Ren’s eyebrows went up, realizing that this was why Damon hadn’t been around and why she had seen Stefan moving his car.  

Stefan continued, “Zach was watching him while I was gone, and he somehow got out.  It looks like Damon bit him, but Zach was drinking vervain so he couldn’t feed from him.  Vervain is like poison to vampires; it burns and incapacitates us, as well as prevents compulsion of the mind.  When Damon tasted it in Zach’s blood it burned him, so he broke his neck and escaped.” 

Renfri looked away and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths at this revelation.  Stefan’s eyes softened and he took a step toward her.

“I’m so sorry that this happened.  I tried to take care of him before anyone else got hurt, but I failed.  Ren, I promise that I will protect you.  I won’t let him hurt you.”  He put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, pulling back again when Ash let out a low growl at the contact.  The animal clearly didn’t trust the vampire around its master since he had revealed his predatory nature so blatantly.

The girl slowly inhaled and exhaled one more time before looking back, seeming a little more stable.  “Alright, Stefan.  I guess…,” she glanced away again, her lips thinning, “...shit, I don’t know what to say.”  Finally, she decided: “I won’t tell anyone about this, if that’s what you're also worried about,” to which he nodded gratefully.

“It’s not just for my safety, but yours as well, Ren.  There are people here that still remember that vampires exist; the founding families formed a council to protect the town from them and sympathizers in 1864.  It’s still around, so we’ll have to be careful.”  Her brow furrowed but she nodded in acknowledgement.

“I’ll keep your secret, Stefan, and please keep me in the loop so I’m not walking around ignorant about these things; I’d rather know so I can deal with it in my own way, if it comes to it.”

He nodded, “Sure, I can do that, you deserve as much.” 

Renfri finally felt her heart rate returning close to normal, though not quite.  “I’m going to feed Ash then go to bed, I’m exhausted,” she muttered and turned for the hallway.

“Wait,” Stefan called.  She half-turned and raised an eyebrow warily.  “You should be aware, Elena knows what I am, she came here tonight to confront me about it.”

Ren’s eyebrows shot up, “You told her?”

He shook his head though and said, “No, she put the pieces together on her own and wanted answers directly from me.  She isn’t taking it well, though.  I’m hoping I can talk to her tomorrow once she’s had time to process it.” He paused, looking down then back up before adding, “If she’s willing to talk, do you want to join us?  It might help you feel less…alone in this.”

She considered it carefully before nodding, “Okay, just let me know in the morning…I think I need tonight to process as well, honestly.”  

He nodded again and mumbled, “Of course.”

She turned and continued on to the kitchen, with Ash quick to follow behind with his ears swiveled to keep tabs on the newly revealed teenage vampire.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As his (however many greats) niece left the den, Stefan allowed himself to breathe a little easier.  It had gone better than he expected, honestly, considering she had found Zach’s dead body and hadn’t completely lost it when he revealed who did it and why.  He figured he should leave her alone for now and give her some space to come to terms with it all.  He would go hunting before turning in for the night, he decided, and slipped out a side door and into the woods.  

Soon after, the front door opened and in waltzed Damon, looking far less gray and pasty than when he had left the boarding house hours earlier.  As he stepped into the foyer, he smirked as he tuned in to the sounds in the kitchen; the bits of dog food clinking into the metal dish, the normally relaxed teenage girl forcing herself to take deep, steady breaths but failing when they stuttered into a wet sob.  

He heard the whispered, “What the fuck?…Vampires are real and I’m living with them, related to them.”  Another harsh breath was forced out of her mouth in dry amusement while she sat on the floor of the kitchen with her dog, “this is insane…but it’s fucking real.”  

Damon rolled his eyes, inferring that Stefan had let the cat out of the bag.  The fact that the girl hadn’t run away screaming was either a point in Stefan’s favor for his attempts in persuading her to trust him or it was a strikingly clear indication of the girl’s naivety and lack of self-preservation.  He decided to keep an eye on her, it could be interesting to see how it played out.  

Damon smirked to himself when he heard footsteps coming back down the hall from the kitchen.  By the time she turned the corner and headed for the stairs, he was already gone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Renfri spent the next day with Stefan and Elena getting a summarized version of the events leading to the Salvatore brothers’ transition into vampires and sorting reality from fiction when it came to the supernatural species.  She brought Ash along, both to make her and Elena a little more comfortable and calm, but also because she was nervous to leave him home alone after hearing about Damon’s penchant for impulsive violence and desire to get even; she’d worried he might kill him or feed on him just to upset her and, in turn,  Stefan.  It was an unpleasant shock to hear how Damon had been compelling and feeding from Caroline, up until Stefan had given her vervain to weaken and imprison him in the basement.  Elena remained skeptical throughout the anecdotes and explanations and asked numerous questions.  She seemed intent on getting answers and maintained a cautious yet demanding front when engaging with the 162 year old teenager.  

She was surprised to find out that Ren hadn’t known about the brothers being vampires until last night.  Elena, in her tumultuous state, had assumed that she was in on it after seeing her at the scene that was the boarding house last night and had thought her friend of two years had been lying to her, so when they had first met up that morning she had looked at her with distrust and caution.  However, she was quick to apologize for the assumption when it was proven wrong, then wrapped Ren up in a warm hug, expressing her sympathies for  her uncle’s demise.  

After hearing Stefan’s explanation of how Katherine played with the two brothers and pitted them against each other, on top of compelling them, Ren and Elena had a bit of sympathy for both brothers.  Katherine, a woman so cruel as to play with these two young men and rupture the close bond between family just to keep them both for herself, was also a vampire of a ruthless and even sadistic nature.  Something must have happened though, because Stefan had hinted at her having died in a fire, as well as the founder’s council having gone after the other vampires in town back in 1864 and it not ending well.

As they returned to Elena’s house as the sun was getting lower in the sky, Ren turned to her broody ancestor with a question.

“Stefan, what’s going to happen now that Zach’s gone?  He was my guardian, I can’t legally live on my own yet, I’m 17; I don’t want to get put in the foster system,” her forehead creased with worry and Elena looked at her with concern.

Stefan shook his head, “You won’t have to.  I went into town this morning to finish the paperwork and arrangements for Zach and you.  I made sure to have you filed as having a legal guardian so that wouldn’t happen.  I had to use compulsion, otherwise you would have been placed in a home who knows where.  I didn’t think you’d want that.”  Renfri looked grateful, then confused.

“Who did you have them file as my legal guardian?” she certainly couldn’t think of anyone that would work and still allow her to stay in the boarding house except him, but he was known to be 17 and in high school so that wouldn’t work.  That left…

“Oh no…you didn’t put him did you?” she asked with building anxiety.

Stefan looked at her a bit sheepishly, before nodding, “Yes, unfortunately, I had to list Damon as your legal guardian.”  She groaned immediately and raised her eyes to the sky as if in desperate prayer.

Elena now looked very concerned and asked, “Is that really the only option?  He’s killed your uncle and a bunch of other people, is it safe for her to be living with him?  For him to have legal control over her?”  

Stefan nodded firmly this time, “He has made himself known in town as Zach’s nephew and my older brother, so people know him to be the only other adult in the household, anything else would have looked suspicious.”  He shrugged and turned to Renfri, adding “At least this way you can continue living here as you please for the most part, and I’ll do my best to make sure he isn’t a threat to you.” 

Ren sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose; that was of little comfort to her.  Elena gave her a small smile and a quick squeeze on the arm in an attempt to reassure her.

As they climbed up the porch steps and into the house, they came upon raised voices and an odd scene.  Jeremy was on the floor behind the living room couch looking shocked and Matt was staring in confusion at his sister who seemed to be having a meltdown.  

“What’s going on?” Elena questioned as Ash wandered over to her little brother and nosed his arm, checking on him as he got up.  The dog had always seemed to like Jeremy whenever Ren had brought him on a visit or outing with the Gilberts present, both before and after Grayson and Miranda had passed last spring; she had even let him dog-sitt a few times if Zach hadn’t been able to while she was going out with friends.  

Stefan quickly took in the situation then focused on Vicki and managed to talk her down.  He then sent her upstairs to relax with the help of Matt and Jeremy.

Ren raised her eyebrows at her now grim looking ancestor, “What’s going on, Stefan? You clearly know something, so spill.”

He looked frustrated and glanced quickly at Elena and Renfri waiting impatiently before admitting, “She’s transitioning.”

Elena looked confused, “Into what?”  

Stefan paused and before he could reply, Ren knew what he was going to say.

“Oh shit,” she breathed, and Elena glanced at her then back at Stefan.

“A vampire.”

That sure did raise the tension in the room, especially when he explained that Damon must have fed her his blood then killed her and Vicki would have to feed on a human in order to finish changing or she would die.  This caused Elena to start to panic since he had sent her upstairs with Matt and Jeremy.

“It’s fine for now,” he assured her, “she doesn’t know what’s going on.  But once her memory starts to return she'll realize what happened and know she’ll have to make a choice.”

At that, Elena paused, then slowly turned to him with judgment in her eyes.

“The same choice you made?”

Stefan looked a bit hurt and ashamed; Renfri quickly stepped in.

“Easy, Elena, you don’t know exactly how it happened for him.  We shouldn’t judge what we don’t fully understand,” she warned her quietly.

Elena maintained her freezing stare for another second before relenting with a nod and quietly apologized.  Stefan just nodded, easily accepting it.  The next moment, the boys came downstairs shouting for Vicki, who had disappeared again somehow, and Matt quickly left in search of the wayward girl.  

Elena’s vampire boyfriend tried to reassure her that he would find her and try to prevent her from feeding.  However, Ren wasn’t so sure.  

“Stefan,” she called before he could run off, “you’d have a better chance of finding her if I helped.  Ash can follow her scent.”

Stefan looked reluctant, “Are you sure he wouldn’t get confused by other scents? Untrained dogs are likely to get distracted when tracking and mislead the search.”

Ren smirked this time, “Oh, he’s been taught to track scents.  Ash is capable of doing lots of things; I worked with a special trainer back home so he could learn to track, guard, attack, and stop when I tell him.  My father wanted him to be able to protect or find me if something bad ever happened.”

Stefan raised his eyebrows, looking mildly impressed, “Well, if you want to, just be careful.  You’ll want to keep your distance and try to keep her calm if you find her first.  Come with me in the car first, then we’ll split up to cover more ground once we’re closer.”  Ren had Elena retrieve Vicki’s little half-jacket from the dining room so Ash had something to work with, then we headed out while Elena worked on convincing her brother to stay put and wait with her.  

As the sun finally set, Stefan pulled the car over on a dirt backroad in the woods.  As Ren let Ash sniff Vicki’s jacket, Stefan stood still and listened carefully, scanning the woods.  They agreed to meet back there if they didn’t find anything, and if they did to send a text or call.  

“Ash, such! ” Ren commanded.  With that, Stefan sped off in one direction and Ren went another, unclipping Ash’s leash so he could lead the way.  

After about five minutes or so, Ash alerted to having found the trail, and Ren was glad she had decided to keep it simple and wear sneakers, jeans, and a t-shirt today.  Her ponytail whipped behind her as they picked up the pace.

It was completely dark now and as the girl clicked on the flashlight she’d pulled from the glove compartment of her car, her phone buzzed.  She called for Ash to wait and paused to check the message.  Stefan had found her.  They started up again to meet with them.  Less than a minute after getting the text, she heard voices up ahead.  

Then, a gunshot exploded into the night.

Ren and Ash jumped and froze, it had sounded close, before she urged him on and they broke into a sprint.  

“ Fuss ” she called in a hushed voice, bringing Ash to her side as she slowed to a stop at a small clearing among the trees, clicking her flashlight off to stay hidden.  Ahead, in the light of the moon, she could see the silhouette of a man moving to kneel over someone…

It was Stefan.  The man pushed the flat side of a stake into his chest, causing him to groan, then began to raise his arm.  

Ren’s eyes widened, then she pointed and hissed, “ Hol ihn .”

Ash bolted from his spot in the shadows, Ren following right behind, and went straight for the stranger, his lips curled back over his teeth in a snarl. 

The man twisted around, caught off guard, but was too slow.  He let out a shout in surprise, then a scream as Ash latched on to his forearm and shook his head viscously.  The stranger crumpled to the ground just as another figure in a black leather jacket appeared in the clearing, pausing by the downed man.

Damon.

Ren shouted, “ Lass es!  Hier, ” then watched the newly arrived vampire carefully as Ash released the man’s damaged arm and returned to her side, remaining watchful.  

Damon glanced their way and smirked, “Not afraid to get your hands dirty, are you, Red?”  His eyes glittered with amusement and he nodded in…approval?  

Interesting.

The older vampire snapped his head back around when the injured man lunged for the gun on the ground a few feet away.  Damon flashed behind him and sank his teeth in, ripping brutally into his neck until he dropped to the ground, dead.  Ren stood, breathing hard, a few feet away with Vicki watching on as well as Damon knelt and ripped the bullet from his brother’s chest, blood dripping from his lips.

He glanced at it and stated, “It’s wooden; they know.”  He paused to wipe his mouth and grin.  “If anyone’s going to kill you, it’s going to be me,” he put a hand out in a gimme gesture, “my ring.”  

Renfri couldn’t hold back a scoff, “Seriously, this is the time for that?”  Damon shot her a look, no amusement in his eyes this time, and she raised her hands in surrender,“Fine, whatever.”

Stefan rolled his eyes and pulled it from his pocket for his brother to snatch and return to his hand with a satisfactory hum and smile.

Suddenly, Stefan twisted onto his stomach and gasped, “Vicki, no!”  

The redhead whipped around to see their resident druggie crouched over the dead man, who appeared to be Logan Fell (the news reporter?), with blood covering her mouth.  Ren cringed in disgust and ran a hand through Ash’s fur to distract herself.

Vicki looked up at Stefan with guilt in her eyes then muttered, “I’m sorry,” and ran off.

Ren sighed and the brothers looked at her, “How predictable.”  She turned to Stefan, “Vicki’s already a shit person, Stefan: a druggie, selfish, demanding, and impulsive.  She’s gonna make an even shittier vampire, so good luck to you on teaching her how to not kill people.”  Damon barked out a short laugh in surprise at her blunt statement as he got up.  

Stefan rolled his eyes again and mumbled, “Let’s go,” as he got to his feet.  She noticed Damon pause then swoop down to pick something shiny and metallic up off the ground. She tilted her head in curiosity but he tucked it away in his jacket pocket before turning to go.  

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ren sat on a couch in the boarding house den with Ash lying on the cushions beside her, his head on her knee.  She had a homework assignment on her lap that was pretty much done but was lost in thought while she stared with unfocused eyes at the orange flames blazing in the hearth.  Stefan had gone to Elena’s house to deliver the bad news about Vicki and, based on Elena’s mindset all day, he was going to be getting some bad news of his own, so she was waiting for him to return in case he wanted some company.  

Ash picked up his head and watched warily as Damon came down the stairs and headed for the decanter of bourbon on the table to pour himself a glass.  Ren tensed and tracked him with her eyes as he took a sip and ambled over to sit on the couch opposite her.  He glanced at her and rolled his eyes as he brought the glass to his lips again.

“Oh, relax.  If I was going to kill you, I would have done it already,” he stated dryly.  Ren looked at him in disbelief, but let her body relax minutely, although not completely.  Neither did Ash who actually sat up straight and kept his eyes trained on the nonchalant vampire.  Damon leaned back and looked at her for a moment before one corner of his mouth turned up a bit.

“You surprised me, you know,” he commented, then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, the glass hanging from his fingers.  “I figured you were just another goody-two-shoes like Stefan, but you’re not afraid to do what it takes to get things done; breaking a few bones or spilling some blood.  At least through Kujo over there,” he nodded in the dog’s direction.

Renfri huffed a soft laugh, “Kujo? Ash is a sweetheart,” she glanced at Ash while scratching his chest with him leaning into it, then looked back up with a little mischief in her eyes, “at least to people I like.”

Damon grinned, “He certainly seems protective of you, and obedient, at that.” He tipped his head to the side curiously, “Was that German I heard earlier?”

She hummed and nodded, “In obedience school I decided to use the traditional language to teach him, which ended up being perfect because when he showed the capability, my father and I decided to work with a special trainer to make him a guard and protection dog.  He can also track scents; that’s how I caught up with Stefan so fast.”  She glanced at her furry guardian and smiled, “My dad wanted him to be able to protect or find me if anything ever happened.  He’s nearly as good as a police dog,” she said proudly.

Damon nodded, “Hmm, very useful…against a human.  Useless, however, against a vampire.  All he would do is piss them off, maybe tear off a finger or take a chunk out of them, if he was quick enough.”

Ren frowned and replied dryly, “I hadn’t exactly thought that vampires were a problem to consider at the time.”  She shook her head, “I wouldn’t send him after one in the first place.  I know that they’re likely to kill him if he tries to protect me.”  She looked at the Dutch Shepherd worriedly before looking back at Damon pointedly.  He shook his head and leaned back into the cushions.

“No need to be concerned about little ole’ me.  I’m happy to cohabitate; if he leaves me be then I’ll do the same.”  He shrugged carelessly then made eye contact and smirked, “Besides, I don’t like puppy blood, that’s more Stefan’s thing.  Personally, I prefer people blood…fresh.” 

She could tell he was trying to make her uncomfortable, and it was working somewhat, though his emotional whiplash of going from casual violence (like eating Logan Fell) one minute to making witty remarks about her dog the next was a bit perplexing.  She made no reply, just raised an eyebrow and nodded silently.

At that moment, Stefan opened the door and came in, also heading straight for the liquor.  

The girl’s mouth twisted with pity, “Didn’t go well, huh?”

Stefan poured himself some whiskey, muttered, “No, it didn’t,” then threw the amber liquid back in one shot.  

Damon shook his head mockingly, “Too bad, little bro, looks like you’ll have to find someone else to be your Katherine rebound.”  

Stefan scowled at him.

“Don’t you ever get lonely, Damon?  You must really miss it…your heart, I mean.”

Damon scoffed and replied with an overly false smile, “No Stefan, I’m perfectly happy just as I am.” He pulled his face into an exaggerated frown, “But surely you get lonely too, Batman, the Justice League must miss their broody and righteous leader.”

Ren tried to cover a snort with a cough but failed, making Damon grin.  Stefan just rolled his eyes, before turning to leave again, “I’m going to find Vicki and bring her back to help her.”  He looked over his shoulder at Damon, “Are you going to help fix the mess you made or what?”

Damon heaved a dramatic sigh but got up to join him, “If you truly need my help, brother.”  

Ash settled back down after they left, leaving Renfri to shake her head at their odd relationship. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The morning sun peeked through the curtains as Renfri’s alarm droned from her bedside table.  She grumbled, slammed her hand on the snooze button, and turned over, accidentally poking Ash with her foot in the process.  He startled awake then stretched his limbs with a big yawn before jumping off the foot of the bed, pausing at the door and looking back at the girl expectantly.  She peaked an eye open and groaned before hauling herself out of bed to open the door for him.  She followed him downstairs, pj’s and bed head ignored for the moment, to unlock the dog flap on the side door so he could get out into the yard then headed for the kitchen to drop his breakfast in his metal bowl.  

Task complete, she turned around to head back upstairs but jumped a foot in the air and loosed a short scream when she found Vicki Donovan standing an inch away.  Renfri held a hand to her heart, feeling it pound rapidly in her chest, and looked up at the older girl with wariness and irritation.  

The new vampire simply laughed with a shit-eating grin on her face, “Seems like there are some perks to this vampire crap.”  The older girl had been annoyed to find out that Renfri had to invite her inside in order for her to enter the boarding house last night, but seemed to have found other reasons to enjoy her new life.  Stefan appeared in the doorway in the next second with Ash right behind him.  The dog ran through the opening with a sharp bark, pushing past his leg in an effort to come to his owner’s aid.  The redhead knelt down and rubbed his head.

”It’s okay, Ash.  Guter hund ,” she scratched under his chin, causing his tail to swish back and forth.  “Vicki just startled me, I’m fine,” Ren reassured him while glancing at said girl with annoyance, though she only looked smug.  She patted his side then nudged the silver brindle dog toward his food as she got to her feet, giving Stefan a hard look before moving past him and up the stairs.

By the time she got ready for school and came back down, joining Ash who was waiting at the foot of the stairs for her, she only had time for cereal.  She hurriedly prepared her sugary bowl and wandered towards Stefan’s room upstairs where she could hear voices.  As she approached, she heard them debating the merits of human vs animal blood in relation to teaching Vicki how to learn self-control, as well as Damon mentioning that they hadn’t reported Logan’s death and that the metal item he had picked up last night was a very old and special compass.  

While she did understand Stefan’s point of view on animal blood and not wanting to kill people accidentally; she found his preaching on morality a bit condescending.  She didn’t care for the way Damon blatantly tossed out the value of human life, but she wondered if his method of ‘snatch, eat, erase’ was actually more practical and realistic.  If it’s the more common method of feeding and is what satisfies their natural predatory instincts, it might be easier to maintain control.  She also wondered if Damon actually had more solid logic behind advocating for his preferred method beyond just trying to irritate Stefan and undermine his righteous mission to save Vicki.  When the bell rang, Renfri turned to go answer it as Damon came out of Stefan’s room and followed her down the stairs.  He paused, then quickly passed her to open the door first.  As the door swung open for Elena, she was treated to a smirking Damon and a pouting Ren as she munched on her Cheerios just behind him.

“Is Stefan here?” she jumped right in.

“Yep,” Damon returned lazily.

“Where is he?” She said stiffly.

“And good morning to you, little miss ‘I’m on a mission,’” he quipped right back.  Ren rolled her eyes and shoveled in another mouthful of cereal to observe the confrontation happening in front of her.

Elena indignantly crossed her arms and glared at him, “How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything you’ve done?”

Damon lost some of the humor in his eyes, “And how can you be so brave, yet stupid, to call a vampire arrogant and glib?”

“If you wanted me dead, I’d be dead,” she snarked.

“Yes, you would,” he agreed easily.

“But I’m not.”

“Yet,” he said plainly.

A tinge of doubt and fear flitted across Elena’s face momentarily before she quickly covered it and moved right on to repeating, “Where is Stefan?”

Ren swallowed and interjected, “Honestly, Elena, you just like tempting fate, don’t you? You know what he’s done,” she jabbed a thumb toward the actual murderer leaning against the door next to her, “and you’re comfortable trying to scold him for his behavior?  I’d say that’s stupid.”  She scooped up more cereal as the brunette was staring at her in surprise and added, “Please let your brain run your mouth, not your emotions,” before turning to go back into the kitchen to finish her food and clean her dish.  

Damon looked back toward the redhead walking away and smirked before turning back to the frustrated brunette at the door. 

“Now that is someone with a decent amount of sense and self-preservation; you don’t see that too often,” he slowly shook his head as if impressed at the thought.  Elena huffed and walked past, ignoring him.

Renfri came back into the front hall with her bag just as she heard Elena bickering with Stefan about what to do with Vicki and how to handle Jeremy as well.  Then, of course, Vicki chimed in and Elena switched from angry to concerned, which Vicki was not a fan of.  

Ren headed for the door and called out, “I’m heading to school, good luck with…all of that.  And leave the pet door unlocked so Ash can let himself out; you don’t want him to ruin your nice antique rugs!”  She shut the door behind her and saw Damon’s car was gone, so he was already out and plotting something…lovely.

The drive to school wasn’t long and as she pulled into her parking space her phone buzzed.  She threw the car into park and turned off the engine before checking it, then smiled.  It was Caroline.

Hey girl, come meet us by Bonnie’s locker, I’ve got your Halloween costume ready.  You can even pair it with Ash, I got him a little something too!

She was curious to see what the blonde had gotten her that could work Ash into it and still be sexy (because of course Caroline would go for a sexy outfit).  Renfri made her way to Bonnie’s locker, whose owner was holding up a witch’s outfit along with an amber crystal necklace that looked old and a bit out of place with the cheap materials.  Caroline saw her coming and lit up.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you still came!”  Then her face turned a bit sad, “I heard about your uncle,” she pulled her into a tight hug for a few seconds then pulled back, “I’m so sorry, that sucks.”

Bonnie nodded and rubbed her arm, “Yeah, we heard that the police think it was a burglary gone wrong.  I’m sorry you had to go through that again so soon.  We’re here if you need us.”  

The redhead shrugged but nodded in appreciation, “Thanks you guys, that means a lot.  I wasn’t super close with Uncle Zach but it was still pretty messed up and it brings back a lot of stuff about my parents.”  She heaved a big sigh then turned to the bubbly blonde and switched topics.

“So, what’s this costume that suits Ash and I so much?”

Caroline perked up immediately and clasped her hands together, “You’re going to love it!”  She handed the second paper bag to Renfri who reached in and pulled out a navy jumpsuit that came with a thick black belt, a fake radio, handcuffs, aviator sunglasses, and a hat.  

She glanced up, chuckling, “A cop?”

Caroline nodded, “A sexy cop.  Annnnd with her partner they make,” she pulled out a little police dog vest and pointed to the patch Ren had missed on the jumpsuit’s chest, “the K-9 Unit!”  She did a little pose with a huge smile.  

Her friends laughed and nodded, “Nice choice, it definitely suits us.  I don’t think I should bring Ash with me inside the school, but he can stay tied up by the car.  Maybe Matt or Tyler will want to hang with him.”  She raised her eyebrows suggestively, “He is a chick magnet!”  Bonnie laughed and Caroline smiled and squealed, excited that her idea was well received.  

The blonde turned and headed to class with the two other girls, wondering aloud, “What’s Elena wearing?”

Bonnie shook her head, “I doubt she’s going, what with everything happening.  They’re still looking for Vicki and that’s got Jeremy all worked up, so Elena’s worrying over him.”

Ren nodded, “Not to mention the drama with Stefan.  They’re kind of a mess right now, but I think they’ll get through it, eventually.”  Bonnie and Caroline glanced at each other and raised their eyebrows.  

“No comment,” Bonnie muttered and headed for class.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri arrived home later than usual, she had stayed after school to help finish setting up some of the decorations for the haunted house that evening.  By the time she got to the boarding house the sun was already down and night had fallen.  She planned on getting ready quickly and heading right back.  However, when she pulled into the driveway she saw the two brothers standing on the lawn, the younger looking frustrated and the older looking a bit guilty.  

As Ren stepped out of the car she heard Damon suck air in through his teeth and admit, “Yeah, my bad.”   The girl frowned; if Damon was saying that, then it wasn’t good. 

“What now?” she called to them as she walked closer.  She paused to look at the brothers and put a fist on her hip, leaning to one side.  

Stefan was quick to throw his brother under the bus, “Damon decided it was a good idea to show Vicki the perks of being a vampire, like the speed, and now she’s run off.  Likely to find Jeremy,” he looked accusingly at his older brother.  “She could hurt him, or worse.”

Ren stood still for a second before rubbing her forehead to ease the tension headache that was already coming on.

“Great, a new vampire with zero control on the loose,” she grumbled.  “Well, I’m gonna change and go to the Halloween party at school, so happy hunting,”  Ren told them before heading inside. 

The brothers looked at each other, one with a grim frown and the other with a carefree shrug, and they both took off on their separate ways.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ren pulled up to the school which was crowded with people in a wide range of costumes wandering among the booths, games, food stands, and the entrance of the ‘Mystic Haunted House’ inside the school.  She stepped out of her car supported by her black wedge calf length boots, the navy jumpsuit and accessories accentuating her lithe form.  It was topped off with her police hat sitting at a jaunty angle on top of her wavy curtain of auburn hair.  She opened the back seat to let Ash hop out, clad in his K-9 police vest.  She smiled at him and tucked her aviator sunglasses into the collar of her outfit.  She paused on the grass to scan the vicinity for her friends.  She spied Caroline and Bonnie  at a table with a huge cauldron full of candy.  As she approached them with Ash, they looked her up and down and started cheering and waving her over.  

Caroline grinned, “You look hot .  See? Wasn’t I right?” she turned to Bonnie for confirmation proudly, who nodded in agreement.  

“I have to disagree ladies, I think Ash outdid me tonight, he’s the one attracting all the attention,” Ren teased, and they laughed and leaned down to give him pets and scratches, causing his tail to thump against the ground happily.  Tyler Lockwood made his way over, dressed as a shirtless gladiator (ever the typical jock stereotype) with a drink in each hand.

“Cider, for the ladies; it’s the Lockwood Special,” he offered.

Bonnie denied immediately, “No way, last year I was hung over until Thanksgiving.”

Caroline scoffed, “Lightweight,” and grabbed a glass readily.

“I’d love to, but I need to drive this one,” Ren rubbed the top of her K-9 partner’s head, “home tonight.  You can have at it, though.”

Caroline shrugged and raised the glass, “I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with.”

Tyler clinked his glass to hers, “Sounds like a plan,” and jumped right in.  Renfri smiled, taking in the lively event around them, but it soon fell from her face as she caught sight of Elena in last year’s nurse costume walking out of the doors nearby with Matt, whirling around wildly like she was searching for something, before rushing back inside.  The teenage cop frowned; something was wrong.  

She turned to Tyler, “Hey, do you mind watching him for a little while? I just saw Elena go inside and I need to talk with her.  If you need to, you can tie his leash to the tree by my car until I get back.”

Tyler agreed easily, “Yeah, sure, no problem.”  He took Ash’s leash from her hand and looped it around his own.  

“Thanks, I’ll be back in a bit,” she leaned over and gently grabbed Ash’s cheeks, rubbing her thumbs over them, “you be good for Tyler, buddy.”  She dropped a kiss on his forehead then turned and quickly made her way inside.  She wandered down a few hallways before spotting Elena, Stefan, and Matt.  Ren rushed toward them only to notice that Vicki was there one second then gone the next.  When they tried to pursue her, Matt tried to stop Stefan who then pushed him into the wall.  The redhead hurried over and grabbed Stefan’s shoulder.

“Elena went after her alone, and Vicki’s certainly never liked her, we need to go after them.”  He nodded and let go of Matt, leading the way.  We caught up with Elena who had lost the baby vampire in the crowd and flashing lights.  We continued to search in every direction through the crowd, but it was hard to see anyone clearly in the shadows and blacklights.  All of a sudden, Stefan stood very still and tilted his head, listening to something.  He started to follow the direction of it.  Elena realized first that he was moving in the direction of the back lot for the buses.  She sprinted ahead and Ren managed to slip through the crowd while Stefan was struggling to push past people without outright bodily moving them and causing a scene.

The pale teenager ran through the side door that was just about to shut again from Elena’s exit.   Renfri heard the brunette scream, “Vicki, no!” then saw her run forward into the gap between buses with a plank of wood.  Ren glanced around frantically for a weapon as well and snatched up a metal pipe sticking out of a garbage barrel.  She stepped quickly but quietly to the front of the parked bus, making sure to not pass it.  Just as she stopped, she heard the clatter of Elena’s wooden board splintering apart and hitting the ground.  

The next second, Vicki made some kind of growling noise and Elena flew through the air, screaming, and landed on a stack of wooden pallets.  As she struggled to get up, gasping, Vicki began to stalk towards her with her lips twisted into a snarl.  As soon as the older girl stepped into her sight past the front of the bus, Renfri took a step in and swung the pipe at the vampire’s head.  It landed with a thunk, making the vampire’s head twist to one side as she stumbled backwards, clinging onto the hood of the bus behind her.  

Ren ran over to Elena to help her up, still holding the pipe, and she could see that the other girl was bleeding from a wound on her side.  But, as she feared might happen, before she could pull her friend up, Ren felt a vice-like grip clamp down on her neck and arm, making her gasp.  The next instant, she found herself getting thrown at high speed into the hood of the bus she had hidden behind, slamming her head on it with a bang , before finally hitting the asphalt flat on her back.  

Renfri laid there in a daze at first, her pulse pounding in her head and threatening to make her pass out.  She heard a scuffle several feet away, then a woosh brought a brief moment of fear-filled silence.  She blinked hard and tried to lift a shaky hand to touch her temple, it made her hiss in pain and when she pulled back it came away wet with blood.  

Suddenly, she heard Stefan’s voice call, “Ren, stay down and don’t move,” then he yelled to Jeremy and Elena, “Get inside, GO!”  

Renfri heard more feet scrambling across the asphalt, away from her.  She heard the shifting of Stefan’s clothes as he paused at each bus to look underneath for the baby vampire on a rampage.  The squeak of the door told her someone had swung it open, and she thought for a second they had gotten away.  She was proven wrong when she heard a savage growl, the sound of teeth tearing into flesh, Jeremy’s horrified shouts, and Elena’s scream breaking through the air.  

Elena’s voice cut off when a sharp, wet, cutting sound resounded through the lot. 

Renfri groaned through gritted teeth and managed to turn herself over onto her side and tilt her head back in the direction of the side door.  She watched as Elena stepped back from a graying Vicki Donovan, who had a long piece of wood sticking out of her chest.  Stefan stood behind her, holding it, then yanked it back out the way it came.  The baby vampire stumbled and looked around then down at herself in disbelief before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.

“VICKI!” Jeremy screamed.  Stefan turned to grab him as he scrambled toward her still, desiccated body, continuing to call her name desperately.  

Renfri let herself roll onto her back again and attempted to control her breathing, hopefully if the blood wasn’t rushing so fast then the pounding in her head would lessen.  She vaguely heard Elena tell Stefan to get Jeremy home and him calling someone on the phone.  She heard Elena hustle over to where Ren laid on the asphalt in front of the bus, likely still leaking essential fluids from her head that really needed to stay put because she was having a hard time seeing straight and keeping her eyes open as it was.

“Ren,” Elena called, “stay awake.”  The girl’s fingers carded through her blood stained hair, combing it away from the redhead’s face, “We’ll get you help soon, just stay still so you don’t hurt yourself worse.”  

Ren grunted an, “Uh-huh, sure,” and tried to focus her eyes on the stars in the sky above her as she breathed unsteadily.  The next second, Damon appeared, bending at the waist and looking over his descendent’s current state of wear and tear.  

“Damn, Red,” he remarked, “how’d this happen.”  

The battered girl managed to half shrug her shoulders and mumbled, “This is what I get for trying to save Elena from getting eaten.”  She lifted a hand and pointed at the abandoned pipe lying several feet away, “I swung for the fences and hit a homerun off a vampire’s head, but it didn’t do much.” She slowly rolled her head back and forth while Elena muttered about staying still, “Getting tossed around like a ragdoll wasn’t fun; I definitely don’t recommend it.”

Damon smirked at the dizzy, bloody girl in amusement and, secretly, a bit of pride.  She had some fight in her.

“Well, it was a good attempt, but yeah, I wouldn’t recommend trying that against a vampire since you’ve got weak little human arms,” he poked her bicep in jest.

Elena looked at him with irritation, “We need to take her to the hospital, she hit her head pretty hard.”  Ren mumbled something about Elena making it sound like it was her fault, but was ignored.  Damon ran his eyes over her more intently and tilted her head to one side to inspect the gash on her temple that had been steadily weeping red liquid that was now seeping into her hair.  He used his thumb to pull her eyelids wide open and check her pupils.  

He sighed, “Well, you’ve got a pretty nasty head wound which could possibly have caused some kind of internal damage or a brain bleed, so it’d be best to get you healed up now rather than risk waiting and moving you to the hospital.”  He pulled up his sleeve and held up his wrist in a clear indication of what he meant.

Ren relented and muttered, “Fine, but if I die and come back, I’m kicking your ass…and letting Ash bite you.”

He chuckled, “I’m sure you’d try.  Now, come on, let’s get you up.”  He reached an arm behind her back and began to help her sit up with Elena trying to support her head in case her neck was injured.  Elena made a noise in disgust and turned her head away when Damon’s face shifted, revealing his fangs and black veins under his eyes.  He bit into his wrist then pressed it to the injured girl’s mouth.  She managed to get a few mouthfuls before the skin sealed over.    It was enough; as soon as the first mouthful hit her stomach she started to feel better.  Within a minute she was able to stand, though a bit shakily, and was far more alert.  She turned to Damon who had a hand on her back to steady her and he quirked an eyebrow curiously.

She gave a small smile and whispered sincerely, “Thank you, Damon,” lightly squeezing the arm that was supporting her.  Damon’s eyes widened slightly, seemingly surprised at her genuine gratitude, then nodded before stepping back.  

The man broke the tension by slapping Ren’s fallen police hat back on her head and said cheekily, “No problem, Red, but I don’t think you’re cut out to be a cop just yet.”

Ren allowed herself a small laugh and shook her head.  He was probably expecting something more along the lines of Elena’s hostility or at least frustration at needing his help of all people, but she wasn’t Elena.  Despite everything, he was family and she was slowly starting to accept him, the good and the bad.  It might be optimistic, but she kind of hoped he would think of her as family soon as well.

As Damon went to crouch over the desiccated corpse, he called back, “You two should go, I got this,” and waved a hand lazily over in their direction.

At that Elena marched up to him, holding her wounded side, and snapped, “You did this; this is your fault!”

He ignored her accusing stare and said dryly, “You confuse me for someone with remorse.”

Ren gasped as Elena tried and failed to shove him (he didn’t move an inch) then raised her hand to slap him and he caught her hand.  His blue eyes blazed with his eyebrows pulled down and his shoulders tensed. 

He slowly forced her hand back and said coldly, “None of this matters to me, none of it,” then let go of her and and returned his attention to the body.  Ren inched over in hopes of de-escalating the situation.   

Elena scowled deeply with tears in her eyes, “People die around you, how can it not matter?” she paused, fury building and quietly Ren came closer.  

“It matters and you know it.” 

Elena raised her hand again to swing her open palm as Damon continued to ignore her, but Ren quickly lunged, grabbing Elena’s wrist and pushing her away from the vampire that had now looked up.  He looked mad that she had been stupid enough to try again, but she knew it would have been worse if she had actually slapped him; Ren wasn’t sure if he would have held himself back if that had happened.  The lines around his mouth tightened and he glanced at Renfri before returning his steel gaze back to the fuming brunette.

“You need to leave,” he nodded to the blood seeping through her nurse outfit, “your wounds are bleeding.  You. Need. To leave.”  

He was visibly restraining himself, so Ren nodded and whispered, “I’ll take her home,” then tugged her friend away.  Elena didn’t fight her and once they were through the halls and came out the front doors again onto the lawn, she was leading the way while holding her bloodstained side.  Matt saw the two girls, and they quickly waved off his concerns, claiming that someone had sprayed them with fake blood as a prank.  Elena’s face filled with guilt and Ren’s lips tightened when he asked if they’d seen his sister.  

They had to lie and assure him he was a good brother.  He was, what happened was just out of his control.

Ren found Ash tied to the tree by her car with Tyler chatting with a group of buddies nearby.  She gave him a wave in thanks as she passed him to reach her dog who was pacing anxiously; he had probably heard some of the noise from the fight due to his canine hearing.  He gave a concerned yip when his owner came back with blood on the side of her head and staining her hair.  He nosed it gently when she kneeled to untie him but she gave him a pat and told him she was okay.

Stefan had texted Elena to let her know that he had taken Jeremy home in her car and she replied to let him know that she and Ren would be there soon.  Elena climbed miserably into the passenger seat as Renfri loaded her dog into the back then directed them to the Gilbert house.  

As she pulled up to the house the street was quiet and they could see Stefan waiting on the porch.  Ren climbed the steps behind Elena who inquired where her brother was.  She continued to follow her inside and upstairs while Stefan stayed behind.  When Elena saw her brother huddled on his bed with tears streaming down his face, she hurried over.  Ash quickly followed and hopped up onto the bed to settle beside the grieving and confused teenager who immediately accepted the comfort.

Ren whispered, “Just send him down when you’re ready.” 

Jeremy turned and shakily asked, “You’re okay? You were hurt…?”  Ren waved it off and gave him a soft smile.

“I’m alright, it wasn’t as bad as it looked,” she reassured him.  She glanced sadly at Elena before returning back downstairs and joined Stefan on the porch to wait; she’d rather give them their privacy to talk and deal with what just happened.  She decided that she would support the family that she had left too, despite the problems they seemed to bring into her life.

Ren took a seat on the swinging bench and crossed one leg over the other, letting herself sway gently back and forth.  They sat in silence for a minute before Renfri broke it.

“It’s not your fault, you know.  She wasn’t controlling herself and wasn’t trying to.  She nearly killed me and Elena.  You did what you had to,” she finished softly.  He glanced at her and nodded gratefully but the guilt was still lingering in his eyes.  Another minute passed before Elena came back out, this time with a towel thrown over her shoulders; she looked lost.

As they spoke, Ren could tell that Elena appreciated that Stefan had done everything he could to help Vicki and protect them; two things that had ended up contradicting each other.  Stefan clearly was not going to give himself a break for killing Vicki even though it was necessary in the end, but it helped show Elena that he’s still human in the ways that she thought really mattered.

“Elena, what can I do?  What can I do to help?  I’ll do anything,” Stefan asked her desperately.  

Elena paused, then looked up, “Can you make him forget?” 

“Elena!” Ren protested, “you want him to manipulate Jeremy’s mind to save him the pain?  Are you even sure that it would do that?  He could just walk around with depression and just not know why!”  Elena looked worried at that so she continued, “And then you’d have taken his free will away; maybe you should ask him if he would rather forget what happened?”

Elena thought for a few seconds before shaking her head, “No, he shouldn’t have to go through this again, it isn’t right, he’s just a kid.”  Ren sighed but said nothing and looked away.  Clearly, she had made up her mind.

When Elena turned back to Stefan with pleading eyes he hesitated, then shook his head, “I can’t.” 

Elena thought he meant wouldn’t, but Ren was surprised to hear that because he only fed on animal blood, his abilities were weaker, meaning he couldn’t compel people and be sure it would stick.  It seemed to her like that was a big point in Damon’s favor for the ‘snatch, eat, erase’ method.  

“I can do it.”

Damon came up the front front walk and stopped on the porch steps.  Renfri’s eyebrows slowly rose up in shock.  Not even 30 minutes ago he had been pissed at Elena for having the audacity to try slapping the shame into him, but here he was, willing to compel her brother’s pain away for her sake.  This only made Ren lean more toward her lingering suspicion that he wasn’t as heartless as he portrayed himself to be, at least, maybe in regards to a certain few people.  The dark haired vampire glanced at her surprised face before turning to Elena for what she wanted Jeremy to know.  

This time, Elena stayed on the porch as Ren followed Damon back in.  He glanced over his shoulder at her, raising an eyebrow which she just mirrored back at him and he let it go.  She paused in the doorway as Damon walked into Jeremy’s room.  The boy looked up at him in confusion, still stroking the dog’s dark silver fur.  When Damon stopped in front of them, a low growl rumbled from Ash’s chest in warning.  

Damon only smirked but Ren quickly snapped her fingers and cut him off with a hurried, “ Nein .”  The noise ended but the dog clearly remained alert, watching him as he kneeled in front of Jeremy.  The girl watched silently, resigned yet fascinated, as the vampire compelled the boy using the same phrases Elena asked him to.  It was odd, watching Jeremy’s face relax blank, his tense body and stuttering breaths calming as his memories were altered in front of her.  As Damon stood and headed for the door, Ren quietly called for Ash.  She waved goodbye to a dazed Jeremy who blinked rapidly then headed back down and out onto the porch behind Damon.  

It was damn awkward when it was clear that Elena had been crying again, evident by the fresh tears in her eyes, and as soon as Damon announced that it was done, she nodded and went inside, closing the door on them all.  They stood in silence for a moment, looking at each other before turning as one to head home.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

A few days later, Ren came downstairs with Ash by her side, dressed for the day in jeans, black lace up boots, and with a red and black plaid shirt left open over a white tank top.  She was tying her copper waves up into a ponytail when Ash froze at the bottom of the stairs with his ears perked, barked, then headed for the foyer instead of the dog flap.  As he disappeared around the corner toward the front door, she started to follow, concerned.  

A feminine voice floated back to her, “Aww, when did you get a puppy?  Hi sweetie…” then she clearly heard Ash’s rumbling growl.  

She rushed to catch up to him and stopped when she saw Stefan standing by the open front door with a tall blonde with pin straight, waist length hair and a heart shaped face.  Stefan had his brown leather jacket on like he was about to leave while the woman was in casual clothing with a small duffel bag over her shoulder, standing just behind the threshold of the door.

“Nein ,” she said quickly to Ash.  He usually didn’t distrust strangers so much; he had only reacted to Stefan and Damon that way upon meeting them, leading her to assume this new person was probably like them: a vampire.

The unknown woman raised her eyebrows and turned to Stefan suggestively, “And who’s this pretty young thing?”

The young man chuckled and shook his head with a smile, “It’s not like that; she’s family, like a little sister.  This is Zach’s niece, Renfri Salvatore, and her dog, Ash.”  He turned back to his relative and waved a hand toward the blonde, “Ren, this is my best friend, Lexi.  She’s 350 years old and has helped me through some of the darkest times in my life.  Do you mind inviting her in?”

Ren’s lips turned up on one side playfully, “Oh, how sweet Stefan, I’ve started to see you as an older brother too, and of course.”  She then eyed the woman curiously,  “Well, that’s quite the introduction.  I didn’t know Stefan had any friends, he’s always far too busy brooding.  Lexi, please come in.”

Lexi smirked and tossed her hair playfully as she stepped past the threshold, “Only the best; someone needs to show him how to have fun once in a while.”

The redhead grinned, “Of course,” then she turned more serious and looked at Stefan, “and by ‘darkest times’ I’m guessing you mean when you were drinking human blood?  You’re so strict about not having any that I assumed it was a control issue, like an addiction?”

Lexi nodded along with Stefan, who looked ashamed, “Smart girl.  We met after he first turned; he tried to eat me,” the blonde looked teasingly at her friend who smiled a bit sheepishly.  “He was a mess, had almost no humanity, but I got him to a good place eventually.  He’s fallen off the wagon a few times but he works hard to avoid that from happening again.”

Renfri looked back at her, intrigued, “You must be the reason he is so in touch with his emotions yet so tightly wound.  He’s so repressed sometimes it’s painful to watch, especially in comparison to Damon, who is far too carefree.”

“Of course Damon’s here too,” the woman scoffed, rolling her eyes, then turned her lips up again.  “That’s why I’m here, to make sure he has fun on his birthday, like any normal person should.”

Ren laughed, “Well good, he could use a day off, there’s been too much drama lately, normal and supernatural.”  She checked her phone, “I need to head to the sheriff’s office to give a statement; do you want a ride, birthday boy?” 

“Sure,” he agreed.

The girl smiled pleasantly at the older vampire, “It was nice meeting you, Lexi, maybe we can hang out later, you seem like you know how to have a good time.”

The older woman laughed, “Of course I do, I’ve had plenty of practice.  And we should definitely hang out, it’s good that Stefan seems to have a more positive familial influence than just his asshat of a brother.”  She waved as the younger two exited and made their way to town.

In the car, an easy smile graced Ren’s lips as she remarked, “I like her, you should bring her around more often.”  Stefan chuckled and nodded as they drove through the woods.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

In the town square, they parked by the Grill and walked to the police station inside the town hall building.  They gave their statements about Vicki running away after her ‘drug episode’ just as rehearsed and kept suspicion away for the time being.  She had asked about what Damon had called a compass on the car ride there, and Stefan had explained that it was one of Jonathan Gilbert’s inventions that enabled him to point him in the direction of vampires.  If that Logan Fell guy had it, on top of the wooden bullets he had in the gun, he must have been part of the Founder’s Council which was clearly aware that a vampire was present in their town and responsible for the recent murders.  They had to be careful not to draw attention and risk exposure.

On the way out, Stefan paused, knowing Elena was giving her statement as well.  He wanted to wait for her to talk and she soon came out along with her aunt and little brother.  Ren waited with him and gave a quick greeting to Jenna, who was always kind to her whenever she had visited the Gilbert household, and waved to Jeremy who returned it before continuing on to Jenna’s car.  While this was happening, Stefan tried to talk with Elena but she insisted that he stay away from her.  

Ren waited awkwardly as the other girl hurried away, then stepped closer to Stefan.  

“You need to give her time.  She’s still overwhelmed with everything: learning about vampires and that she had been dating one, Vicki turning and dying, and trying to take care of her brother through all of it.  Not to mention she’s probably confused about her feelings for you.”  She gently patted his shoulder, “It’s clear she still cares about you, she just is trying to deal with all of that.  I think she’ll come around, she just needs the time to adjust and think.”  He reluctantly nodded and sighed.  

“Come on,” she said and nudged him, “let’s pick up lunch at the Grill and bring it back to the boarding house.  

“Sure, I know Lexi will appreciate it.  I feel bad that she can’t be out with us during the day,” he replied.  Together, they headed for the Grill with Ren trying to cheer up a melancholy Stefan.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Stefan and Ren had returned to the boarding house after retrieving their meals and had settled in the den with Lexi.  The teenage girl passed out containers to whom the orders belonged.  As they munched on their food, Lexi was catching up on the latest gossip about Stefan’s life and was especially interested in Elena.  Ren also had the opportunity to ask Lexi for dirt on her ancestor and enjoyed her wild story about them partying with Bon Jovi and his band backstage at one of his concerts in the 80s.  As Ren was enjoying her panini and the older vampire’s past adventures with Stefan, Damon made his way down the stairs toward them.

“Aw, I’m hurt,” he pouted and put a hand on his heart, “nobody invited me to the party.”  He strode over and leaned over the back of the couch his distant niece was on alone, across from the one Lexi and his brother shared.

“Once again, you are not a nice person, so why would we?” Lexi retorted.

“You guys are so mean to me,” he whined, and reached over Ren’s shoulder to snag a fry from her paper box.  She slapped his hand so that he dropped it back in, making him laugh in disbelief that she’d actually dared to.  Then again, they were in front of his little brother and his much older vampire friend, so she probably felt safe to do so.  The next moment though, he was pleasantly surprised when she reached down to a large paper bag at her feet and pulled out another takeout container, holding it up behind herself for him.  

He snatched it up, grinning broadly, “Ah, see, somebody here actually likes me!  Such a good little niece of mine.”  He swooped down, hooking an arm around her neck and forcing her to lean back, then pressed his mouth to her cheek and let go with a loud mmmwaahh!   As he sped around the couch to lounge beside her and dig into his food, she looked at him with wide eyes and rubbed her face, feeling both annoyed and amused at his antics.

“Yeah, well, I figured you were the petty type and would steal my food if we didn’t get you any,” she gave him a sideways glance as she turned back to her food.  “Call it a precaution; I don’t like to share.”  

Damon laughed, “I can see that.”  Lexi just wrinkled her nose at him and Stefan rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from twitching up a bit.  At least his brother was interacting with his niece in a somewhat positive way.  

Ren heard the metal tags of Ash’s collar jingling just before he trotted around the corner, having come in from the yard.  He came to a stop in front of his owner, ignoring the vampires in the room in favor of sitting prettily.  

Renfri laughed, “Damn, he is usually so tense around you guys, being vampires and all, but he ignored all of you for a chance at a treat!”  The vampires in the room snorted in response with Damon rolling his eyes.

The girl sat up straight and said, “If you want a treat, you’ve got to earn it, buddy.”  She then ran him through a few commands such as lie down, sit, shake, bark, and finally ‘leave it’ while balancing a piece of chicken from her sandwich on his nose.  The dog sat perfectly still, with his eyes crossing and tail wagging the whole time.  Lexi chuckled while Damon tried to screw him up by telling him ‘ go’ in an eager voice, but Ash barely twitched.  

Ren finally called, “ In ordnung !” and he snapped his head back and snatched the meat out of the air.  She grinned, murmuring, “ Guter hund ,” and rubbed his side as he licked his chops happily.  She then offered to collect their boxes and bring them to the kitchen to dispose of.  When she came back, she found Damon coming from the basement with a small cardboard box.  Renfri followed him to the foyer as he put it down and pulled on his leather jacket. 

“What’s in the box?” she questioned.

He raised an eyebrow at her, “Take a guess.”

She looked back at him blankly, “How would I know?”

He sighed dramatically, “Here’s a hint: It’s for the council from dearly departed Uncle Zach.”

Ren frowned at him for his quip about her uncle, but ignored it in favor of mulling over what he said.  The council was on the lookout for vampires and Damon had come from the basement where her uncle had kept…

“Vervain?” she realized.  

He nodded and hummed, “Mhmm, got it in one.”  

“Why would you give them something that can be used against you?”

He picked up the box again, “I need to get in with the council so we can keep an eye on their investigation and make sure they don’t get close to figuring us out.  That’s best done from within the group, not as an outsider.  My little gift,” he shook the box of flowers, “will help get my foot in the door.”

Renfri nodded and added, “You’re already a founding family member and giving them the vervain Zach promised solidifies that you’re on their side.  You can find out what you’re up against and maybe even diverge the investigation in a different direction.”

He smirked, “Precisely.”  Then he turned and opened the door calling, “I’m off to infiltrate the council of haters!”  and strode out of the house.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Elena had been moping for a few days now and, given her attitude with Stefan earlier that day, Ren decided that she needed cheering up.  She grabbed Ash and showed up on the doorstep of the Gilbert home with zero warning and rang the bell.  Elena answered the door and stopped in surprise.

“Well, are you going to invite me in or not?” Ren grinned, then paused.  “Perhaps not the best phrasing, given that we know vampires.”  Elena choked out a laugh and pulled her in for a hug.

The red haired girl smiled gently into her friend's shoulder, “What, did you think I wouldn’t want to be around you ‘cause you broke up with Stefan?”  Elena let out a relieved sigh and pulled back, letting her and Ash inside and closing the door.  

As she led them upstairs and into her bedroom she replied, “Well, you seemed closer lately and I didn’t want to make it awkward.  I know he and Damon have become important to you because they’re the only family you have left, no matter how distantly related.”

“I won’t deny that.  I have gotten closer to them, even to Damon in a way, but that doesn’t mean I want to avoid you.  I can separate my relationships; I was taking time to get used to them and deal with the drama as well.” They plopped down on her bed and crossed their legs while Ash settled on the floor in front of the window, soaking in the sunlight.  “I’m sorry if I came off a little judgmental before, but I’d rather be honest than lie to you.”  

“No, I understand,” Elena replied, “I’ve been having a hard time adjusting and I was kind of taking it out on you, you didn’t deserve that.  I’m kind of embarrassed,” she mumbled and tugged on the end of her ponytail.  Ren quickly told her not to worry because she understood that she was dealing with a lot.

“To be honest, I don’t know how you get along with Damon so easily,” Elena commented, laying back into her pillows.  

Ren shrugged and threw herself onto her back beside her, “I guess I’ve kind of learned to tolerate the garbage parts of his personality that we’ve seen so far and I make an effort to get along and not piss him off.  I think it helps that we’re both unserious, sarcastic little shits,” Elena laughed at that.  “I don’t think he’s entirely terrible, but he certainly can make it hard to like him sometimes.”

There was a sudden knock at the bedroom door and in peeked Bonnie.

“You up?” She asked, letting herself in.

“No,” Elena responded and threw her arms over her eyes.

“Why haven’t you called me back?” she questioned, joining them on the bed.

Ren lifted her head and put a finger to her lips, “Shhhh, can’t you see she’s busy moping?”  Said friend threw a pillow onto her face causing her to let out an umph .  Bonnie gave a small smile before crossing her legs and showing concern for her best friend.

“I’m officially worried, what’s going on?”

The brunette sighed, “I’m tired of thinking…of talking, and…” she shook her head.

“Can I get a one line version so I can at least pretend to be helpful?” Bonnie asked, making Ren snicker.

“Stefan and I broke up.”

“Oh, I’m sorry…I know I’ve kinda been MIA when you needed me the most, I suck.”

Elena looked at her, “You want to make it up to me?  Get my mind off of it.”

Ren nodded, “A little distraction can go a long way.”

Bonnie seemed to contemplate something before making a decision, “Just remember, you asked for it!”  She got up and closed the only open window before grabbing the pillow now lying on Ren’s stomach and using scissors to rip it open, dumping the soft feathers into a pile on the bed.  Elena protested but was told to be patient as the eager girl settled down again with her legs criss-crossed, the two other girls doing the same across from her in interest.

“Okay, I need to swear you guys to secrecy,” she finally said.  

Elena looked at Ren before saying, “It’s kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff–”

Bonnie quickly jumped in, “No, swear, because I’m not supposed to be showing you this.”  Ren looked intrigued and the two girls relented.  Bonnie continued, “So there’s no windows open now, no fans going, no air conditioning…?”

“Right?”  Ren confirmed with a raised eyebrow, glancing at the brunette next to her.

“None, what are you doing?” Elena asked, confused.

“Grams just showed me this,” Bonnie smiled, “And you’re going to love it.”  She let out a big breath then held a hand up, palm facing down and fingers splayed.  As she lifted it up, a feather followed, slowly drifting after it into the air.  

Ren and Elena stared in confusion as the girl let it fall, asking, “Bonnie, what’s going on?”

She only smiled then rubbed her hands together and held them both out, lifting several at once into the air, hovering below her palms.  Ren’s jaw dropped as Elena let out a harsh puff of air in disbelief.  She let the feathers fall again and dropped her hands before making eye contact with the two again, then lifted her eyes as the whole pile of feathers shot into the air, floating and spinning all around them.  Elena got up on her knees and twisted to gape at the white tufts twirling around her, laughing in complete shock and delight at the miracle.  Ash barked and Ren leaned forward in awe and reached out to lightly touch one of the floating pieces of fluff drifting by.

“Holy shit,” she muttered in utter fascination.

“It’s true, Elena, Ren,” Bonnie said with complete joy, “everything my Grams told me.  It’s impossible, but it’s true.”

Both girls looked back at her as she declared with pride, “I’m a witch.”

Elena nodded with excitement, “I believe you!”  It was nice to see something other than anger, grief, or worry on her face for once.

Ren nodded, a grin stretched across her face, “Shit, who wouldn’t believe it after seeing this?”  The three girls laughed in delight and relief.  After the feathers had all fallen down to the bed and floor, Ren broke the silence.

“Well, now that you’ve made a mess, can you magic the pillow back together?  I didn’t come here to clean.”  Bonnie rolled her eyes with a smile and Elena giggled.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ren had been about to head home after Bonnie had left when Elena asked if she could follow her there, she had decided she was ready to talk to Stefan.  Elena’s SUV trailed Ren’s black sedan all the way to the boarding house and parked nearby.  They walked up to the door together and as they entered, Lexi came down the hall in a towel with her hair wet.  She froze and looked perplexed at the same time that Elena spotted her.

“Oh my god, how…uh…who?”  Lexi struggled to string together a coherent sentence.

Ren raised an eyebrow at her, “Lexi, this is Elena.”  She turned back to the brunette, “Elena, this is Lexi, a friend of Stefan’s.”  Elena was slow to nod, still scrutinizing Lexi standing there in only her towel.  As Ren finished the introduction, she unclipped Ash’s leash so he could wander off into the house.

“I just wanted to talk with Stefan, is he here?” Elena asked warily.

“He’s in the shower, do you want to wait?” Lexi asked with an awkward smile, but Elena shook her head quickly.

“No,” she stated quietly, eyes still moving up and down Lexi’s near naked form.  

“Then, I’ll let him know you stopped by,” Lexi assured.

The younger girl grimaced and muttered, “That’s okay,” and moved quickly back out the door.  Ren paused, it had started to sink in that this wasn’t the best scenario to walk into from Elena’s perspective.

“Elena, wait!” she called but the other girl ignored her and got into her car before driving away.

Ren let her head drop back onto her shoulders, “Ugh, what was that?”  Then she turned to Lexi who looked confused and lost in thought.  “What was with you, too?  You looked like you recognized her but something was…off?”  Lexi’s head snapped up before she moved quickly to wrap an arm around her side then sped upstairs into Stefan’s room, letting her go once they were both stopped.  Ren took a breath and steadied herself, a bit dizzy from the sudden displacement.  Stefan turned towards them, pulling on a button down shirt over his admittedly chiseled torso as Lexi marched over.

“Are you out of your freaking mind!?” she tossed at him accusingly.

Stefan only looked confused, “What are you talking about?”

Lexi strode over to his desk while Ren just stood by the door looking lost.  She grabbed up a white envelope with a clear center showing a dark image within.  

The blond held it up to Stefan, “I just met Elena ,” she turned and handed the item to Ren.  “You have some serious explaining to do.”  

Ren looked down at the dark image which appeared to be a vintage looking picture of Elena with her hair curled and pinned back from her face.  Then she saw the label on the corner of the white envelope that said ‘Katherine 1864’ and her eyes nearly bulged out.

“This is Katherine?” she asked in a whisper without looking up from the old photograph.

“Yes,” Stefan said reluctantly.

Ren finally looked up at him, “Stefan, what the fuck?  Do you realize how messed up this is?  How it looks that you dated Elena knowing that she looks exactly like the woman that you and Damon fought over?”

“I know, I know,” he insisted, holding his hands up, “but it’s not what you think.  I’m going to tell her, I just wanted to be sure of who she was first.”  

Ren shook her head, “I really don’t know what you were thinking with this.”  Then she pointed her finger at him accusingly, “You need to tell her before anything else happens between the two of you, got it?  It’s not fair to her.”  Stefan nodded silently.

Lexi spoke up, “Renfri, why don’t you go put on something nice and join us for a night out, then we can tell him how screwed up in the brain he is over drinks at the local bar.”

Ren looked surprised, “You guys are going to Caroline’s party?  She texted like half the school.”

“Yeah, Lexi’s making me go,” Stefan replied while his best friend smirked.  “Hey, did you know Damon was the one who told us about it?  He said it was because we needed to ‘blend,’” and he made air quotes with his fingers.  

Renfri frowned,  “He did go bring vervain to Sheriff Forbes today to help him get in with the Founder’s Council; he’s trying to figure out what they’re up to since they clearly know a vampire is in town and are hunting for them.  I guess it makes sense to get out and about in public to appear normal, though that would make more sense to do during the day…”  she trailed off, unsure.  “I don’t know.  He’s probably scheming something, just keep an eye out so we don’t become collateral damage in his plans.”  Stefan nodded seriously while Lexi rolled her eyes at Damon’s problematic behavior.

As she left to get ready, she heard Lexi tell Stefan, “You have some serious emotional damage.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri entered the Grill in black knee high heeled boots and a sapphire blue sleeveless dress that clung to her curves and stopped at her thighs.  Lexi followed her in and headed straight for the bar, ignoring Damon as he tried to ask her something.  He paused, then spied Ren as she claimed a table by the pool tables, laying her jacket over a seat and brushing her loose auburn waves over her shoulder.  

He quickly closed the distance and asked, “Where’s Stefan?”

“Probably running damage control with Elena.”  At his mildly curious look she continued, “She walked in looking for Stefan only to find Lexi in a towel, obviously getting the wrong idea.”

“Ah,” he nodded, “I thought they had broken up though?” he replied with fake concern before smirking while she rolled her eyes at him.  She quickly changed the topic.

“So, on a similar note, why didn’t you tell me that Elena looks like she could be Katherine’s twin?  Seems like something important to know,” she questioned.

His mischievous blue eyes glimmered with intrigue, “So the cat’s finally out of the bag, huh?”  She gave him a deadpan look and he continued, “Well, I figured that either Stefan would spill the beans or it would come out in some obnoxiously dramatic teenage relationship drama.  It’s not my business if Stefan chose not to tell you.” He shrugged his shoulders and made for the bar while she huffed in irritation.

As he walked away, Lexi came over to the table with shots in her hands and Stefan approached from the main entrance.  Renfri grabbed one quickly and threw it back, she was determined to have some fun and if it required alcohol to let loose despite the supernatural drama unfolding, then so be it.  Lexi grinned and followed suit before grabbing her hand and led her to the dance floor where everyone was moving to the DJ’s music.  Ren managed to snag Stefan’s wrist and dragged him behind her despite his verbal protests.  

“Oh, yes, Stefan.  If we’re dancing, so are you; it’s your birthday,” Lexi called to her friend.  She stopped them in the center of the crowd and started moving to the beat with Ren quickly joining in.  Stefan was reluctantly moving back and forth but barely enough for it to be called dancing.

“Okay, I’m going to need a little more foot movement,” Lexi told him.

“Yeah, I’m not really interested in making a fool of myself,” he drawled back, looking around the room a bit awkwardly.

Ren rolled her eyes at him then laughed as Lexi grabbed her hand and twirled her, “Come on, Stefan, live a little! Have some fun with your best friend and your little sister!”  Stefan smiled before huffing.

“Fine, just let me know if you see Damon with a camera phone,” he said as he began to move with more energy and they cheered him on.

Ren soon headed over to the bar to grab a drink.  Lexi had said she’d compelled the bartender to not check for IDs, so she decided to get another round of shots, a mojito, and a basket of fries to share.  As she waited for her order, she noticed Damon coming back in from outside.  He stopped a ways in front of Elena, looking from the pool table Stefan and Lexi had migrated to then back to her where she was leaning against a post and watching them having fun.

“Stefan smiles, alert the media,” Damon joked as he walked over to her side to join her in observing the pair.

“You haven’t given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately,” Elena responded smartly, continuing to watch the two vampires across the room.  

“Oh, you’re right, poor Stefan.  Persecuted for eternity by his depraved brother,” he mocked in response.  Elena completely ignored him this time, so after a pause he turned toward her.

“Does it get tiring,” he asked, “being so righteous?”  

Elena gave a dry scoff, “It flares up in the presence of psychopaths.”  She took a few steps forward and away from him.  

“Ouch, well, consider this psychopath’s feelings hurt,” he responded with overly sad eyes and a hand on his heart.

At this time her order came out and Ren quickly grabbed her drinks and food before heading towards them.  As she approached, she heard Elena asking about why Jeremy had seemed to change his behaviors overnight and Damon just said repeatedly that he took away his suffering.

She came to a stop on Elena’s other side, resting the items on the table by them, “Yeah, we’ll see how long that lasts.”  They looked to her as she held out a shot to Elena, “You look like you could use this, you need to loosen up a little if you’re gonna be here.”  

Elena looked at her before relenting, “Sure, why not.”  Ren grinned and sipped her drink as the brunette threw hers back.  Damon smirked and stole a fry from the basket before moving away through the crowd.

Ren glanced back at Stefan before saying, “You know, you could just join us, instead of standing here and staring longingly.”  Elena looked down, unsure, so Ren just shrugged and grabbed the fries and drinks before making her way over to her ancestor and new friend.  She handed them their shots and balanced the basket on the edge of the pool table.

“Alcohol and sustenance for the weary,” she announced and Stefan huffed a laugh.  As the younger vampire lined up his next shot, Lexi headed back to the bar for more shots.

Ren laughed, “If that’s the pace you guys go in order to get drunk, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up.”  Stefan smiled and shrugged as they continued to play, with Ren losing badly.  A few minutes later, Stefan paused and tilted his head.

“What?” she asked him.

He glanced at her and looked, dare she think it, a bit happy, “Lexi’s talking with Elena.”  Ren scanned the room for a few seconds then spotted them standing at a table by the bar; she watched as they chatted and Lexi downed one of the shots and looked their way.  Ren quickly turned her eyes away before Elena could catch her watching and returned to the game, snickering and teasing Stefan in an effort to make him mess up his shots.  Soon after, Lexi returned, confessing to have drunk all the shots.  Stefan just smiled and thanked her, to which she reacted surprisingly sheepishly.  

Lexi had headed back to the bar since the drinks never made their way over and not long after, Elena approached.  Renfri smiled and silently moved away, making eye contact with the other girl and nodding subtly to which she received a smile in thanks.  She spotted Lexi standing by Damon and sliding shots across the counter to him with a serious look.  Ren quickly made her way over and came up on Damon’s other side, ordering a soda as the older vampire stared him down.

“Cut the crap,” she ordered as he drank one of the little glasses of tequila.

“Okay, I have a diabolical master plan,” he stated in a monotone voice.

She nodded and replied, “So, what is it?”

“Well, if I told you it wouldn’t be very diabolical, now would it?” he snarked back.  Then he looked over his shoulder before turning back and continuing to dodge Lexi’s pointed questions.  All of a sudden, a group of people came up behind them and as Ren turned to look she heard Lexi gasp. 

Damon said in a hushed tone, “What are you doing?”

Sheriff Forbes responded with, “Thank you for the vervain, now if you’ll excuse me,” and her deputies began to drag clearly drugged Lexi out of the bar.  Ren made to get up from her stool but Damon grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her back down.

She stared confused into his cobalt eyes as he murmured, “Don’t get involved, we don’t want them figuring out that you know about vampires and we don’t need any more attention.”  He turned to watch as the group disappeared out the side door.  Ren stared at him for a moment and he looked back, still holding on to her with a firm grip.

“What did you do?” she whispered.  

He finally let go and said, “It’s part of the plan,” then got up and walked away.

Renfri immediately got up and scanned the room for Stefan and Elena, finding them moving for the side door as well.  Renfri saw the deputies blocking the way, though. Thinking quickly, she grabbed Lexi’s clutch from the bartop and headed for the kitchen, quickly ducking through to the back door.  It let her out in the back of the building and she quickly made her way around to the side parking lot.  

As she turned the corner, she heard the loud crunch and crack of splintering glass.  Ren froze then ducked behind a parked car.  She peeked out and saw one deputy on the ground by a dented squad car and the other lying on the broken windshield of another.  She watched as Lexi stood between the unconscious men and took a step forward with a hiss, fangs out and veins out, at the sheriff.  Liz Forbes pulled her gun from its holster and fired a shot, making Lexi pause.  Then Ren’s eyes found a figure waiting in the shadow of the building on the other side of the street.  It was perfectly still while watching, a stake in hand.

Damon.

As the second shot broke through the air he rushed forward, though not at vampire speed, probably since he was moving into view of the sheriff.

Ren looked down, took a huge breath and steeled herself.  She jumped up and strode out into the open unsteadily.

“Hey!  Sheriff?”  she called out loudly and stumbling forward while squinting exaggeratedly. “Sheriff!  That blonde lady left her bag at the bar!” she slurred and waved the little black clutch in the air.  In the brief second that the sheriff and Damon paused to turn in her direction, Lexi turned and saw Damon.  He scowled and lunged for her with the stake, only to miss her heart and ended up scraping her side as she turned away to avoid it.  She made a growling noise and flashed away just as the sheriff turned back around to see she was gone and Damon was standing there with a stake that had a bit of blood on the tip.  

Damon quickly switched back to playing the innocent human and asked if Sheriff Forbes was okay.  She looked shaken but nodded and thanked him before he quickly whispered something to her.  They both turned toward Renfri who managed to maintain her inebriated act.  She stood up a little straighter as they approached, Damon walking behind the sheriff and looking pissed.

“ Oh , was I in-terr- up -ting something?” The words fell from her lips choppily as she brought her hands up to her mouth then threw them out again.  “I’m sooo sorry, I didn’t mean to dis-dist urb you!” she slurred with her arms swinging wildly with her gestures.  

Sheriff Forbes looked her up and down scrutinizingly,  “Did the bartender serve you without checking for ID?”  Ren figured he had served plenty of other minors by now and there was no hiding it, so she nodded. 

“Yup!” the girl chirped then grinned, “he was so nice!”

Damon tutted at her and said, “Renfri, you know you’re too young to drink,” playing the dutiful uncle.  

She just shrugged in response and whined, “But it’s Stefan’s birthday!”  

Sheriff Forbes sighed, “She’s drunk, why don’t you take her home,” then she dropped her voice to a whisper that a drunk person likely wouldn’t have enough focus to make out, “and make sure she didn’t see anything, we don’t need odd rumors floating around about the department.”  Damon nodded and wrapped an arm around his niece’s shoulders, gripping her upper arm tightly, and dragged her away towards the main parking lot.  When they got to his car, he shoved her back against it and loomed over her, his eyes cold steel piercing into her own.

“What did I say?  Don’t get involved, ” he intoned darkly, jabbing his finger into her sternum with each word.  

Ren balked. 

“You’re mad at me when you just tried to kill your brother’s only friend?!  You’ll be lucky if Lexi doesn’t end you!”  she spit back, equal parts furious and nervous.  Not just nervous that he’d hurt her in his anger, but that his stupid plan would get him killed by a much older vampire that already didn’t like him.

The dark haired man scoffed, “She’d never kill me, like she could ever do that to poor Stefan.”

She snarled, “Which begs the question: how could you do that to him ?”

He scowled and snapped back, “I told you, I needed to get in with the council and staking a vampire in front of them would solidify their trust in me absolutely.  Now, that’s not going to work because you decided to be a hero .”  

She let out a loud groan of frustration.  

“First of all, I think just having defended the sheriff against a vampire was enough to prove yourself, so your position in the council should be fine.  Second, there are other ways you could have tried to accomplish that which didn’t include killing your brother’s best friend!”  She paused for a breath then continued her rant as he stared down at her angrily, but she didn’t look away.  She didn’t notice Stefan and Elena approaching them from behind Damon.  

“You could have turned someone else, like a criminal, and taken them down in front of her for your ‘I’m the vampire hunting savior’ plan.  You could have just found a vampire elsewhere, killed them, then moved the body here for proof.” 

He raised an eyebrow in surprise at her suggested alternatives but she ignored him and continued.

“But, no , you had to try to hurt your brother in the process.  Why!?” she practically yelled and shoved his chest, which, of course, was like trying to push a stone statue.  

“Why did you do it, Damon?” came a voice through gritted teeth.

The girl jumped and they both turned to see Stefan behind them with Elena standing just past him and looking extremely concerned.  Damon finally stepped back from hovering over his niece who was leaning back against the blue Camaro; his anger had seemed to recede somewhat and turned to a mask of indifference.

He shrugged and looked at his younger brother with blank eyes, “I saw an opportunity and went for it; it’s as simple as that.”  Deep grooves carved fury into Stefan’s face and veins began to darken under his eyes.  Ren became worried that they would fight but the bang of the side door of the Grill swinging open and shut as well as the laughter and clicking of shoes on concrete filtering into the air reminded her of where they were.  

“If you want to duke it out, fine, but not here,” she snapped.  “We’re in the fucking middle of town, so get it under control, Stefan ,” she finished more quietly than before, more aware of their surroundings.  Elena gently wrapped her fingers around Stefan’s wrist, silently pleading with him to go with her.  He glared at his brother for a few more moments before relenting and turning to follow her to her vehicle.  Renfri slowly moved away from Damon, who ignored her and watched his brother leave, then turned to go to her car several spots away.  As she drove away, she saw him finally move from his stint as a statue.  He watched her pass with irritation sparking in his eyes (thank god it wasn’t straight up rage anymore) then moved to open his car door.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri pulled up to the boarding house and, as she got out of her car, Damon’s Camaro rolled up the driveway.  She quickly entered the house, ignoring the dark haired man as he followed behind her at a leisurely pace and shutting the door on him.  She spotted Ash lying under one of the console tables on the side of the den closer to the stairs and when he saw her his ears perked up but he stayed where he was with his head ducked low.  As soon as she stepped through the doorframe of the large room and the front door opened again, something flashed past her in a blur.  A dull thud and a groan were heard before she managed to spin around to see Lexi using her superior 350 year old vampire strength to pin Damon to the wall of the foyer.  His face was pressed against the wood and had both arms pulled behind him, being pushed up higher than the muscles could flex without tearing.  

“You must be the dumbest vampire in existence to think that you could get away with what you just pulled,” the blonde growled into the younger vampire's face as she crushed the side of his head deeper into the wood paneling.  Damon’s face changed as well, veins appearing and fangs flashing, which was clearly the wrong move.

The two disappeared and materialized again on the floor of the den just past the doorway where Ren stood, causing a deafening bang .  The vengeful woman held him down with a knee on his lower back and a hand clamping on the back of his neck.  She dug in her nails savagely, drawing blood and keeping him facedown on the floor as he heaved in frustration.  She proceeded to grab his forearm then forcefully pull and twist until his shoulder popped out of the socket and the bone under her fingers splintered, wrenching shouts of pain from him.  

Ren watched with wide eyes and clenched fists, unsure of what to do, but she was certain that she wasn’t going to get in between the two right then, it would surely be suicidal.  She saw a flash of movement at the corner of her eye and turned her head to see Stefan now standing by the far wall to the left side of the room with his arms folded tightly.  Stefan was as still as a statue and watched with a grim face as his best friend viciously broke the bones and tore the tissue in his older brother’s other arm as he hissed and yelled in pain into the rug below him.  Lexi then hauled him to his feet and slammed him headfirst into the stone of the fireplace, causing the skin above his left eye to split wide and spill scarlet blood down one side of his face before it soon healed over.  She let him collapse to the floor with damaged arms that were unable to support him.

As he managed to bring himself up to one knee, there was a sickening sound of something puncturing flesh, a strangled cough, then air scraping through vocal chords weakly.  Ren gasped as she stared in shock at the younger Salvatore holding the stake in place as Lexi stood tall and dangerous behind the kneeling man.  Damon’s blue eyes finally switched from anger and frustration to fear and disbelief as they shifted down to see the wooden stake buried deep in his chest.  A hint of relief showed through as he realized it was just an inch to the side of his heart.  

“You missed,” Damon managed in a breathless voice.

“No,” Stefan growled, “You saved my life, I’m sparing yours.  I could just as easily let Lexi kill you, it wouldn’t be undeserved, but now my debt is paid.”  He drove the stake in even deeper and twisted it, making his older brother groan and Ren grimace.  She took a risk and quickly strode around the furniture and placed a gentle hand on the furious vampire’s shoulder while carefully glancing at the blonde.

“Stefan, that’s enough,” she whispered urgently and tightened the hand on his shoulder.

“Do whatever you came here to do, Damon, then leave so we can all be rid of you,” he muttered darkly then let go of the wood and walked away.  Damon dropped back down to both knees and Ren knelt in front of him, laying one hand firmly on his sternum and the other gently around the wood sticking out of his flesh.  She briefly met his eyes that were darker under drawn brows as he breathed shallowly, attempting to avoid the point of the wood scraping against any more internal organs.  She waited for his quick nod before yanking the wood out, taking care to keep it level as it was removed.  He gave a sharp gasp then coughed before he started to breathe easier.  The red haired girl then stood and turned slightly to face Lexi with sorrow.

“I’m so sorry,” she rasped, “I did what I could when I realized something was wrong.”

Lexi’s face softened, “I know, and he might have succeeded had you not intervened, so thank you.”  Her face hardened again as her eyes slid over to the man who had gotten up, ignoring their conversation, and was trying to pop his right arm back into its socket against the side of the fireplace.  

“He will not be getting any second chances from me, though, so he should keep that in mind.”  He looked up at her briefly, reluctant defeat and cold fury showing plainly in his eyes, then proceeded to twist his forearm back into the correct position, allowing the breaks to heal properly.

Lexi then held out her hand toward Renfri, palm up, “Give me your phone.”

Ren looked mildly surprised but complied.  Lexi quickly began tapping her fingers across the device.

“I’m gonna head out while I’ve still got time before sunrise, but I’m leaving you my number.”  She smiled genuinely at the teenager, “Call or text if you ever need me, or just want to gossip, I’m always down for that.”  Renfri returned the smile and accepted her phone back, then gave her a quick hug that Lexi chuckled at and gently returned.  She pulled back and sped upstairs to say goodbye to Stefan, returning to grab her bag by the doorway, before speeding away into the night.  

Damon had managed to reposition his other arm when Renfri turned back to look at him tiredly.  He met her eyes for a few moments, seemingly contemplating her, then looked away before disappearing further into the boarding house without a word.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Ren was sitting in first period history next to Elena waiting for class to start and eyeing the new  teacher curiously.  She wondered how he would measure up in comparison to Mr. Tanner (though it wasn’t hard to surpass him because he was a complete dick,) when Bonnie hustled in just as the late bell rang.  Elena glanced at Renfri before leaning over and mouthed at their witchy friend, asking if she was okay, but she just shrugged miserably.  Renfri raised her eyebrows and pulled her phone out under her desk to text Elena.

She looks dead on her feet, something’s clearly wrong.  Check-in at lunch?

Elena peeked at her phone then made eye contact with her and nodded quickly before turning to the new staff member who introduced himself as Alaric Saltzman, though he said they could call him ‘Ric.’  The redhead found it odd that he would allow students to call him by a casual nickname and decided that he was either trying too hard to be ‘the cool teacher’ or he really was that laid back.  Although, it was already a marked improvement from Tanner, so he got points for a surprisingly relaxed introduction right out of the gate.

She and Elena managed to catch Bonnie at lunch and they sat at a table outside with their food.  Bonnie caught them up on her recent prophetic dreams and the ancestor she keeps seeing.  

“Then I ended up at the remains of Old Fell’s Church before I woke up back in the woods.”  

“And you always see your ancestor, Emily?” Elena asked.

Bonnie nodded, then questioned the two, “Do you believe in ghosts?”

Ren and Elena shared a look before Ren answered, “I mean, if you’d asked a few weeks ago, probably no, but now…” 

“I think I’m being haunted.”

Elena looked confused, “I don’t get it; why Emily?”  

“Grams said she was a powerful witch back in the civil war days and that this medallion,” she held up the amber crystal necklace around her neck, “was hers, which is a talisman.”

Ren narrowed her eyes at it, “The old necklace Care gave you to wear for Halloween?”

Elena looked at her, “She got it from Damon then gave it to Bonnie.”

Ren furrowed her brow, “I’m willing to bet that he pilfered it from the Founder’s Party since all the historical artifacts and heirlooms were on display, that thing does look like an antique.”

Bonnie’s face turned to confusion, “Why would Damon want it?”  The two other girls just shrugged.  Bonnie didn’t know about vampires, so they couldn’t fully brainstorm with her on the older Salvatore’s possible motivations.  

“I think she’s using the necklace to communicate with me,” Bonnie stated. 

“Okay, what does your Grams say?” Elena asked. 

“No, I can’t call her because she’s gonna tell me to embrace it.  I don’t want to embrace it; I want it to stop .”

Ren looked at her friend, thinking, “But didn’t you say that Emily said ‘help me’?  What if it’s something important?  Why would she go to you if it wasn’t?” 

“What could be so important?  She’s been dead for 145 years,” Bonnie replied.

Ren just shrugged her shoulders.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After school, Ren walked out the door with Elena to find Stefan sitting on a picnic table, waiting for the brunette.  Ren made eye contact with each of them before pointedly walking towards her car to give them space to talk.  She moved slowly, catching a snippet of their conversation, and it seemed like Stefan had decided to distance himself.  He had mentioned the possibility of leaving in hopes of drawing Damon away from town, but Ren didn’t think that making Stefan miserable was Damon’s main reason for coming back.  As she neared the parking lot, she noticed a strange scene.

Damon followed a scared looking Bonnie to her car halfway down the lot, talking the whole way.  Ren quickly changed directions and approached them as Damon stopped her from getting in her little blue Prius and got unnervingly close.  She could hear their conversation as she got closer.

“Believe it or not, Bonnie, I want to protect you,” Damon paused meaningfully, “Let me help you get Emily off your back.”  

Bonnie narrowed her eyes, “How do you know about her?”

Damon leaned down and stopped inches away from her face, “I know a lot of things about a lot of things, but I know more about that crystal than you do, and I know that she’s using it to creep inside of you,” he stopped and made a fake gasping noise, “See how scared you are?  And you should be, because I will get that crystal even if I have to wait for Emily to give it to me herself.”

At this point Ren had come up from behind Damon and slipped between the two, pushing him back with a hand on his chest.  Of course she wouldn’t have been able to move him if he hadn’t allowed it. 

“I know you’re a bit older and not well socialized, but it’s still common courtesy to give people their personal space,” she snarked at him.  

He just smiled at her, the picture of innocence, then opened Bonnie’s car door and leaned on it, “Next time Emily comes out to play, you tell her that a deal’s a deal.”  He nodded towards the driver’s side, indicating for her to get in.  She did and pulled away quickly, briefly stopping to let Elena in before driving away from the school. 

She turned back to her uncle, “You had a deal with her ancestor?  For what?”

Damon eyed Renfri, “Her little witch ancestor promised me something in exchange for protecting her bloodline.  I saved her kids when the founders started purging the town of the supernatural; they burned her at the stake before I could get to her.” 

“So this deal has to do with Emily’s crystal,” she guessed.  He nodded, giving nothing else away and smirked while she stood there, trying to work it out. 

Renfri furrowed her brows, “I’m guessing that since she’s only been able to reach out to Bonnie through the necklace that it has some kind of magic in it, and since you want it, maybe a spell or it’s part of a spell you need?”  She looked to him for confirmation, but he just raised an eyebrow at her tauntingly.  He started to turn away. 

“This is why you came back, isn’t it,” she said quickly and he paused to look over his shoulder at her, “to get the crystal for whatever Emily promised you.  But why now?  Why wait 145 years to come back for it? Why not sooner?”  As she spoke, his eyes glimmered mischievously. 

“What, it’s not the only reason; I wanted to see my little bro and niece too,” he replied cheekily, ignoring the other questions.  He turned to go again, but Ren grabbed his shoulder, and this time he looked less amused and more annoyed.

She sighed and let her hand drop from his shoulder, “Look, what you did to Vicki and almost did to Lexi was fucked up, especially considering how it would have affected Stefan.  But if it means you’re less likely to hurt other people, then I’d be willing to help you with whatever it is that you’re trying to do, if you want,” his face briefly showed surprise at the offer before it was quickly masked.  “However, that means that I’d need to know what exactly it is you’re trying to do.  I want to help, but not if it’s going to get innocent people killed.”

He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her, “And why would you help me, Little Red?”

She looked at him intently, “Because you and Stefan are the only family I’ve got left.  And, despite seeing you make some very questionable choices, I think you’re doing this for a good reason, at least for you.  If it’s something that you waited nearly a century and a half for, then it must be important to you.”

Damon’s blue eyes continued to stare through her, his face having lost all playfulness as he seemed to seriously consider what she said.  Finally, he lifted his chin and looked down at her with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Fine,” she started to smile but was quickly interrupted, “but, you’re not telling Stefan.  I don’t need him getting in the way because he’s so far up on his moral high horse.”

She lifted an eyebrow at him this time, “Why wouldn’t Stefan like what you’re gonna do?  What is it exactly?”

This time he smirked, “I’m gonna get Katherine back.”  Then he pivoted and headed for his car.

Renfri stared at him with her mouth open for a few seconds, then hurried to follow.

“How the hell is that possible, isn’t she dead?  Stefan said she had died in a fire.” 

“Not quite.  Do you remember the story about the church fire in 1864?”

She nodded, “Yeah, Stefan mentioned it in history class.  Confederate soldiers fired on a church, thinking that it had weapons stored there, but there were 27 people in it who died…Are you saying Katherine was in that fire?” 

“Eh,” he held his hand out flat and moved it back and forth in a ‘so-so’ gesture.

She frowned, “She was a vampire though, so she should have been able to get out on her own…unless she was somehow unable to get out on her own, maybe vervain?”

He nodded, “And she wasn’t the only vampire in there.”

She frowned, “Are—are you saying that all of them were vampires?” 

“Bingo,” he replied, pointing a finger at her.

“Then this wasn’t a confederate attack, it was the founders purging the town of vampires; a massacre,” she looked up at him, “how did she survive?” 

“They had intended for it to be a massacre; an attempt to completely rid the town of vampires.  Johnathon Gilbert's compass was used to help identify them.  Then they were vervained and brought to the church to be trapped and burned alive.  However,” he looked back at her, smug now, “I managed to strike a deal with Emily.  If I ensured her bloodline remained safe, then she would save her, save them.”

Ren listened closely as he told the story, “How did she save them?” 

“Underneath the church is a tomb.  She sealed the vampires inside using a spell, protecting them, but also trapping them.  I’m getting into that tomb.”

Ren slowly nodded, “Okay, but why wait so long to do it?”

“Emily drew power from a comet passing over to do the spell and the crystal binds it.  Both elements, along with Emily’s spell, were needed to seal the tomb and the same is required to undo it.  However, comets are notoriously slow to come back around.”

She released a breath, “Oh, so you had to wait for the comet in order to undo the spell.  Damn, that’s a long time to wait.”  She glanced at him curiously.  “You know, Stefan said she compelled you guys after you discovered she was a vampire, that she forced you to drink her blood and act as if nothing was wrong, that she used you.  Why do you want her back?” 

Damon paused by his Camaro and turned back to look straight into her hazel eyes, his face serious, “That may have been the case for Stefan, but it wasn’t for me.  She never compelled me.  I knew what she was and I drank from her willingly; it was real for me.  I’m going to get her back.”

Renfri stared back for a few moments, eyes roving over his face, mulling over everything he said.

Her lips thinned, “Okay, I get it.  Although, I don’t like that she was probably playing mind games by carrying on with both of you and pitting you against each other.”  He said nothing and continued to watch her.

“I’ll help you, but I have one concern: the rest of the tomb vampires.  They’re likely to try to get revenge on the town for what their ancestors did to them, so it’d be dangerous to release them all.  We have no way of ensuring that, if they get out, they don’t go on a massacre of their own.”

Damon shrugged, “Eh, I don’t care as long as I get Katherine.”

She frowned at him, “Damon, ignoring the fact that you clearly don’t give a shit about the rest of the innocent people in town, I live here.  I don’t feel like being terrified of dying every second of every day. News flash !  I’m a Salvatore and they’re definitely going to target the founding families first since their ancestors are the ones that put them in the tomb.  I’d like to be able to live normally and not be scared of dying the second I step out of the house.  I think that’s a reasonable desire, yeah?”

He sighed dramatically, “I seriously doubt they can get out just from the spell being lifted.  They’ve been in there for 145 years with no blood, which means they will have desiccated like a mummy; too weak to even open their eyes, never mind get up and walk out to find bodies to suck dry.  If they don’t get blood, we should be fine.  You worry too much.”

Ren stared at him with exasperation, “And you don’t worry enough.”  She paused, “I suppose you’re right, but I’d like to have a backup plan just in case, for whatever reason, they get a hold of blood while the spell is lifted.  Maybe whatever witch you find to lift the spell can reseal it?” 

“Or we could just douse the place in gasoline, light it up, and be done with it?”  Damon suggested cheerfully. 

“Wow, killing them the exact same way they were supposed to die the first time?  You’re a little twisted, you know that?” she told him dryly. 

“That’s what makes me the fun uncle,” he replied proudly.

Ren huffed, “Fine, if it comes to that, I guess.”  She checked her phone, “I’ve got to get going, I’ll see you at home later.”

She waved at him as she turned away but he caught her arm before she could take another step.  She turned her head back to see him leaning in close, his eyes intent. 

“Don’t forget, not a word to Stefan, or Elena,” he leaned back and beamed at her, “or I’ll make sure you have a stuffed puppy instead of a live one.”

Renfri scowled, “I already said I would help and I understand why you don’t want Stefan to know, although I think you should consider asking for his help if this becomes far more complicated than expected.”  He scoffed and she shrugged, “Fine, I won’t tell them unless you want to, but that only stands if you follow through on your promise to ensure the tomb vampires don’t get out and destroy the town.”

Damon let go and waved his hand at her lazily, “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Little Red.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

That evening, Renfri went over to the Gilbert house to join Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie for a girls night in an attempt to get the two friends to make up after their tiff over the necklace.  As she knocked at the door she heard Elena yell that it was open.  She found them in the kitchen where Caroline was pulling containers out of a paper bag while Elena was getting plates and napkins.  Seconds later, they heard the door open and Bonnie came in behind her.  With her entrance came tension as the blonde and the witch glanced at each other then away, avoiding eye contact.  As Bonnie turned to help set the table in the dining room, Elena put her hands on the counter, staring daggers at Caroline, and tipped her head sharply in Bonnie’s direction.  Ren watched with some amusement as she opened containers, Caroline giving in and deliberately turning to Bonnie. 

“I’m sorry.  There, I said it,” she said, not sounding very apologetic, but she was making an effort.  “If you want the ugly ass necklace, keep it; it’s yours.”  

Ren internally sighed, Damon had been compelling her again in order to try to get the necklace from Bonnie, but when she failed he resorted to good old harassment and fear tactics.  She was hoping to get it from Bonnie herself, somehow, so he wouldn’t bother her anymore and he would move on to finding the spell and a witch to do it…hopefully not the baby witch beside her that had only just discovered her power.

Bonnie glanced at Elena and cringed, “Will you hate me if I tell you that I threw it away?”

Ren’s head snapped to her friend with her eyes wide. 

Caroline’s mouth dropped open, “What!?  You threw it away!?” 

“I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares.  I had to get rid of it.” 

Renfri put a hand on the counter, “You could have had one of us hold onto it to see if the dreams stopped, you didn’t have to throw it away.”

“Or you could have just given it back to me,” Caroline retorted. 

“Why?” Elena jumped in, “So you could give it back to Damon?”

Caroline’s face sobered a bit at that and Ren looked to the side a bit guiltily, knowing that her compelled friend wasn’t the only one who could be accused of it, but they didn’t know that.

The blonde seemed to come to a decision, “Screw Damon, are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?”

Bonnie pointed to her purse at the dining room table behind them, “Mine’s in my bag.”  

Caroline went to open it and dig for the nail kit, “Elena, how long do you think this fight with Stefan’s gonna last?  Is it like a permanent thing?”

Elena glanced at Renfri, who was plating the food with her, “I don’t know, Caroline.”

They heard the blonde scoff.  “Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?” she snapped in a snotty tone. 

“Caroline!” Elena admonished and looked up while the other two turned around in confusion.

The crystal necklace was hanging from Caroline’s hand.  

All three of them stared in shock while Caroline glared at Bonnie.  Renfri wondered Bonnie could have had the necklace in her bag if she’d thrown it away?  Had she actually thrown it away or just said that to get Caroline to stop asking for it?  Or to make Damon think she didn’t have it anymore?  As her mind worked to understand what had happened, the other girls began to flounder. 

“I’m not lying to you, Caroline, I swear I got rid of it,” Bonnie insisted.

Elena backed her up, still looking bewildered, “I watched her throw it into a field!” 

“A field?” Renfri repeated, but Caroline jumped in again, clearly angry at being lied to.  

“Well, then explain it!” She demanded, her arms crossed.  There was a pause, the silence between them unsettling as Bonnie looked across the counter to Elena then to Renfri next to her. 

“Emily?” she suggested nervously.

“Who’s Emily?” Caroline questioned, but was ignored.

Bonnie looked at the other two, “The ghost?”  Now Elena looked thoughtful and Renfri was feeling conflicted: she was relieved she didn’t have to search a field for the necklace but unnerved that this ghost could do more than just give Bonnie dreams; what else could she do? 

“Oohh, the ghost has a name now,” the blonde said mockingly, clearly not on the same page as the rest of them. 

“Caroline, please,” Elena said, raising a hand to her without even looking away from the witch. 

“I wonder why she won’t leave me alone.”

“Okay, what is going on!?  Why am I not a part of this conversation?”  When she didn’t get an immediate answer, just vague looks from the two brunettes and a cringe from Renfri, her tone shifted to show she felt betrayed, “You guys do this to me all the time.”

Elena shook her head, “That’s not true,” but Renfri raised an eyebrow in silent disagreement. 

“Yes it is,” Bonnie cut in and turned to her upset friend, “I can’t talk to you, you don’t listen.”

Caroline looked offended, “That’s not true!”

Bonnie looked at her intently and said slowly, “I’m a witch.” 

“And don’t we all know it,” the blonde mocked again.

Renfri groaned, “Caroline…” 

“See!” Bonnie exploded, “That’s what I’m talking about!  I’m trying to tell you something, but you won’t even hear it.”  She said the last few words softly, upset, then stormed out of the room.  Elena and Ren turned to look at Caroline accusingly, who was gaping. 

“I listen!  When do I not listen?” 

“Care,” Renfri said in a reproaching tone, “it’s not actually listening if you ignore her feelings and then proceed to act like it’s not serious even though it is for her.”  The blonde’s mouth clicked shut at that, she couldn’t deny she had been a bit of a bitch when Bonnie was clearly stressed about this.

Elena added, “How is she supposed to confide in you if she thinks you might judge her instead of support her?”  

Caroline’s mouth twisted and her eyebrows pulled together, feeling bad now.  She clearly needed to work on using the filter between her mouth and her brain. 

“Well?” the redhead said, giving her a small smile to reassure her, “What are you waiting for?  Go fix it!”  She waved her hand, shooing her to the living room around the corner.  

After Caroline made up with Bonnie and they finished dinner, they decided (unwisely) to listen to Caroline’s suggestion of having a seance to relieve their boredom.  They sat on the floor of Elena’s room in a circle, the flickering flames of the candles at the center being the only light in the dark room besides the moonlight filtering through the window.  Bonnie had put the necklace back on and they were now following Caroline’s instructions to hold hands and close their eyes. 

“Bonnie, call to her,” the blonde said, low and soft.

The witch took a breath and hesitated, “Emily…You there?”

Renfri couldn’t help but snort and opened her eyes to see the other two girls giving Bonnie disbelieving looks. 

“Really? ‘ Emily, you there? ’” Caroline said, mimicking her, “That’s all you got? Come on—” 

“Fine, geeze,” Bonnie relented and they settled again as she took a deep breath, calming herself, before speaking slowly.

“Emily, I call on you.  I know you have a message, I’m here to listen.”

They sat in silence, waiting for something, anything.

Fwoosh!

The flames of the candles shot several inches higher, then dropped again, startling all the girls into letting go of each other and staring, frozen in place.

Elena spoke first, “Did that just—”

“Yeah, it just happened,” Caroline confirmed.

Renfri couldn’t help but shiver as she felt a cold breeze drift over them, with Caroline hugging herself as well.  She looked around to see that the windows were closed, there shouldn’t have been any air flow from outside or anywhere else.

“It’s just the air conditioning,” Bonnie tried to tell us, and herself.

Ren shook her head and started to disagree, “It’s not even on, Bon—”

Fwoosh!

The flames shot up again and stayed at their extended height.  The girls looked at each other, panicked.

“Ask her to show you a sign,” Caroline urged, “Ask her!”  When Bonnie just shook her head fearfully and stayed silent, Caroline did it herself, “Emily, if you’re among us, show us another sign.”

Silence.

The girls all looked at each other warily and Bonnie said, “See, it’s not working.”

BANG!

The window doors burst open and hit the walls to each side, causing the girls to all gasp and scoot back away from it and the candles.  Bonnie jumped to her feet and ripped the chain from her neck.

“No, I can’t, I’m done!” she shouted, and threw the crystal down beside the candles.  All of a sudden, the flames went out, leaving them in darkness.

“Get the light!  Please, get the light on!” Bonnie called with fright.  

Renfri heard Elena scramble to her feet beside her and she did the same while mumbling, “Shit, shit, shit—” as Caroline got up muttering panicked words as well.  Elena hurried across the room to the switch by her door.  The room was dimly illuminated by the lamp on the desk and the girls let out a collective breath once they could see again.  

Their relief only lasted seconds as Bonnie looked to the floor, “Guys, the necklace, it’s gone.”

Renfri felt her heart pounding as she whipped around, scanning the room for any glimpse of the amber crystal as Elena came back over and confirmed with wide eyes.  Bonnie did the same, even bending to check under the bed.  It seemed it wasn’t even in the room anymore. 

Elena turned to Caroline who was standing with her arms crossed.

“Okay, fun’s over, Caroline.  You made a point and I get it, now give it back.”

“What?” the blond replied.

“Elena, what fucking point would she be making by pulling a stunt like this, and how the hell would she even accomplish it?!” Renfri jumped in nervously, still glancing around the room.

“I didn’t take it!” Caroline insisted.

Elena turned her head to the side a bit, looking confused.  Renfri saw  a shadow of movement in her peripherals and turned to look but saw nothing.

“Did you see something?” Ren asked, frowning uncertainly.

Elena furrowed her brows, “I don’t know.  Jeremy? Are you home?” She called for her brother and headed for the dark hallway.  Caroline and Renfri watched her but Bonnie moved towards the bathroom when a sliver of moonlight reflected off of something on the carpet by the sink. 

“Uh, guys?”  the witch called as she slowly approached the unlit room.  The other girls followed her and watched as she crouched to pick up the crystal necklace that had disappeared a minute ago.  When Bonnie made eye contact with them, all of the bathroom doors slammed shut and they could hear Bonnie begin to scream and yell for help desperately.

“Bonnie?  Open the door.  Bonnie!” Elena called.

“What’s going on!?” Caroline exclaimed while they both pounded their hands on the door and jiggled the locked doorknob.

“I’ll try the hall door!” Ren shouted back as she ran to try a different way in.  She grabbed the doorknob and twisted but it refused to budge.  She could hear Bonnie begging for help and the other girls fighting to open the door in Elena’s room.  The next moment, the lights began to flicker on and off and Bonnie’s shouts turned into wordless screams of terror.  

Then, it all stopped.

They sat in complete silence for a few seconds as they realized both the lights stayed on and their friend had stopped screaming and gone silent, then she heard the other door swing open with a light creak.  She rushed back to Elena’s bedroom and stood behind the other two girls in the doorway.  Bonnie stood in the center of the bathroom with her head down and hands covering her face.  They all stared in shock with their chests heaving as they recovered from their panic.

“What happened, are you okay?” Elena immediately asked and stepped forward, worried.

Bonnie slowly lifted her head from her hands and looked up at her, “I’m fine.”

Caroline was immediately pissed, “Unbelievable, you were totally faking it!”

“Caroline, come on,” Elena said pleadingly.

“Care, I don’t think that kind of fear can be easily faked,” Ren added.

The blonde ignored them and said angrily, “No, you scared the hell out of me! ”   Then she stormed away from the bathroom and back into the bedroom.  

Ren and Elena watched wearily as Bonnie saw them staring at her and said, “I’m fine.  Everything’s fine.”  She stood with her hands clasped in front of her and her face was calm.

Far too calm; it creeped Renfri out.

Bonnie then walked past them out of the room and into the hallway.

“I can’t believe I fell for it,” Caroline complained, feeling betrayed.

Elena quickly interrupted her, “Are you okay?”

“I must go,” Bonnie said in a monotone voice and they followed her to the stairs.

“If she’s leaving, I’m leaving,” Caroline said.

“Hold on,” Renfri jumped in, “you can’t leave, something’s clearly wrong with Bonnie.”

“Oh I can, I’ve had enough freaky, fake witch stuff for one night,” Caroline retorted and folded her arms, clearly more unnerved than angry.

“Thank you for having me,” Bonnie interrupted in that same eerily calm tone, “I’ll take it from here.”

“Where are you going?” Elena asked as the girl turned around and started down the stairs.

“Back to where it all began,” she replied evenly without stopping.

“What the hell is she talking about?” Renfri muttered.  Elena attempted to call her name multiple times but the girl didn’t even react and continued on her way, like she hadn’t even registered her name being called.

“Oh my god,” Elena muttered, then called, “Emily!”

Renfri was shocked when this time, Bonnie stopped and whipped around to look at her friend intently, “I won’t let him have it, it must be destroyed.”  Then she turned and hurried out the door, ignoring further attempts from Elena to get her to stop.

“Holy shit, Emily took over her body?” Renfri said breathlessly as Elena rushed down the stairs after her only to have the front door slam shut again and Elena struggled to open it.

Her and Caroline pulled on it together as Renfri cautiously came down the stairs after them, only for them to scream as it suddenly opened.

“What the hell?” Jeremy said as he passed them in confusion, then shook his head and walked further into the house.  Caroline immediately bailed, breathing hard and overwhelmed.  Renfri stood on the platform halfway down the stairs and whipped out her phone at the same time Elena did.

She typed out a quick text to Damon.  She really should have earlier, but was rather busy panicking about all the creepy ghost shit happening.

Bonnie has the crystal and just left the Gilbert house.  I think Emily possessed her and said she’s going “back to where it all began” and I think she’s going to destroy the crystal to keep it from you.  You need to find her, but please don’t hurt her.  

She hit send as Elena began talking to Stefan on the phone and warned him of what just happened.  When Stefan asked where she might have gone they thought for a second.

“She said ‘back to where it all began’ and she kept having dreams about the ruins in the woods,” Renfri reminded her.

“She’s going to Old Fell’s Church, that’s where Emily took her in her dreams,” Elena concluded.  Renfri sent Damon another text with the presumed location then followed the brunette as she hurried to grab her jacket and keys and run to her car.  They both got in and Elena pointed them in the direction of the ruins in the woods.

As Elena threw the vehicle into park, Renfri leaped out the door and sprinted into the woods in the direction of the old church, her copper hair trailing behind her.  Her natural athleticism and regular training gave her an advantage, making sure to step high to avoid tripping on unseen debris.  She was able to get far ahead of Elena, who she could hear stumble frequently as she ran between the shadowed trees and through the underbrush.  She soon heard her uncle’s voices arguing ahead and as she came to a stop in the clearing, she saw Bonnie drawing in the dirt and pine needles with a dead log.

“Things are different now,” the witch said as she glanced at Renfri then dropped the log,  looking at the brothers.

“Don’t do this,” Damon pleaded, surprising his niece with how desperate he sounded.

“I can’t free them; I won’t,” Emily replied with finality.

“No–” 

“ Incendia! ” the Bennet witch shouted and fire burst from the lines she traced in the ground, revealing it to be a large pentagram.  The flames lifted high, preventing anyone from entering without risking burning alive.  

Then, she turned to lock eyes with Renfri.

“I know you want to help him, he’s your family, but I have to protect mine.”  Her voice shifted to a dark, ominous tone, “But, beware the curse that runs through your veins.  A darkness approaches with more to follow; you must keep your innocence to escape a grave fate.”  

With that she turned away again, leaving Ren to stand there, baffled.  Stefan and Damon glanced at her in confusion as well before looking back to the possessed teenager.  Emily stared at Damon and lifted the necklace in her hand, almost as if taunting him, showing that he will not get what he wanted.

“No, please,” he begged in a breathless voice, his face filled with emotion more than Renfri had ever seen before.  Elena finally caught up and yelled Bonnie’s name, but Stefan stopped her before she got too close.  The dead witch tossed the necklace into the air and Damon screamed, “NOOOO!”

The crystal exploded in a burst of sparks that showered down around them.  Renfri noticed Damon slowly lower his head to stare at the girl in the pentagram, his eyes filled with pain and anger.  She shifted a step forward warily, standing not quite directly across but a bit to the side of him on the other side of the circle of flames.  Suddenly, the fire went out, plunging them into darkness with only the moonlight peaking through the trees.  Bonnie shuddered before opening her eyes.

Renfri took another step forward, not moving her eyes from her uncle and said in a hushed voice, “Damon, please don’t.”

He either was too wrapped up in his anger or just didn’t care, because the next second he rushed at the confused girl in the center of the clearing.  Renfri dashed forward as well, but knew she would be far too slow, and watched as he sank his fangs into the flesh of her throat, causing the girl to scream in fear and pain.  

Renfri yelled, “Uncle Damon, stop!” as she ran and shoved her shoulder into his side, bringing her hands up to help her push him.  She didn’t know whether it was the use of the new title with his name or the surprise at her practically tackling him or something else, but he let Bonnie go and stumbled a few steps back.  As the girl dropped to the ground, Stefan sped over and checked her.  Renfri put a hand on the older Salvatore’s chest and another gripped the sleeve of his jacket tightly, in an attempt to anchor him to her if he tried again, but he didn’t move.  He just stood there, looking defeated despite the bit of blood clinging to one corner of his mouth.  His blue eyes were like melting ice in the silvery moonlight.  They flicked down to hers briefly before shifting back to the girl he’d torn into.  Ren maintained the firm hold regardless but couldn’t help but let her right hand lift and fall, giving a soft pat to his sternum.  She glanced over her shoulder and watched as the younger Salvatore checked Bonnie’s bloody neck and put an ear over her chest to listen.

“She’s alive but barely,” he said to her and Elena, “I can save her.”  Renfri watched as he bit his wrist and put it to the nearly dead girl’s lips, then noticed Elena bringing her hands to rub the sides of her neck anxiously and pivot to glare at Damon.  The redhead shook her head slowly, warning Elena away from saying anything to him.  She didn’t know his state of mind right now and couldn’t say how he would react to any kind of accusations from her; he just stood there and watched with dull eyes as Stefan brought Bonnie back from near death.  She sputtered and choked as she came to and gasped for air.  She scrambled away from Stefan after she noticed who exactly had helped her up and Elena hurried to her as she began to sob.  The three Salvatores watched silently as Elena attempted to console her traumatized friend and began to lead her back to the car.  Stefan followed behind at a distance with a deep frown and worried eyes, Renfri assumed, to ensure they got there safely without scaring her further.

Renfri loosened her grip on her uncle’s jacket and dropped the other hand from his shirt since all anger had seemed to have been drained out of him.  He started to step back but she gripped his sleeve again and tugged lightly, making him pause.  She looked up into his face, seeing the pain in his eyes as they gleamed with wetness but didn’t allow any tears to fall.  He refused to meet her gaze and stared past her at nothing.

She let out a shaky breath, “As much as I’m upset that you hurt Bonnie even though it wasn’t her fault, I understand why you did that.”  She paused but he gave no reaction, remaining a statue carved from stone.  She then lifted her arms, slowly, to give him a chance to move away if he wanted, and wrapped them around his waist, placing her cheek against his shoulder.  He somehow stiffened further and kept his arms awkwardly at his sides.

“I’m sorry, I tried,” she whispered against the leather of his jacket, her breath tickling his neck.  It took a bit, but the tension slowly left his body and he went somewhat limp, leaning into her but only a little. Then, she felt the light press of his jaw against the top of her head.  They stood there for several more moments with nothing but the quiet of the forest around them before she let go and stepped back, giving him space.  He glanced down at her and nodded minutely before turning to walk over to a piece of a stone wall from the ruins and sat to stare into nothingness once again.  Renfri watched him sadly but said nothing more, not knowing what else she could do or how much sympathy and compassion he would even allow her to show him before his pride rejected it, so she turned and headed back the way she came.  She passed Stefan on her way back to the car.

“Go easy, Uncle Stefan,” she whispered, and he gave her a small smile in return at the use of the familial title.  He nodded and continued past her and back towards his brother.  Renfri continued on to Elena’s SUV.  She found Bonnie in the passenger seat and Elena closing the door behind her.  Elena turned to see her and raised an eyebrow at her.  

Ren just shook her head, “Let’s just go back to your place, we can talk there.”  She paused, “We’re going to have to tell Bonnie everything now, she’s a part of this and as a witch she should probably know about vampires.”  Elena nodded.  Renfri frowned, “Do you think her Grams knows about vampires?  She’s been telling Bonnie about her heritage for years, she just never took it seriously.”

Elena shrugged and sighed, “I don’t know, maybe.  It might be easier if she does, then she can help her transition into all of this.”  She waved her arms around her, gesturing vaguely.  They leaned against the hood of the car with hands tucked in their pockets, sitting in silence for a minute or so.

Renfri heard the crunch of leaves underfoot and lifted her head to see Stefan return.  She nodded at him and climbed into the back seat of the vehicle, closing the door behind her as they began to talk.  She could hear their voices but it was muffled and unclear.

“Ren?  Do you know what’s going on?”  Bonnie asked shakily, turning around to her.

The redhead nodded, “Yeah, I do.  We’ll explain back at Elena’s house, just try to breathe and stay calm for now.”  She eyed her up and down before nodding wordlessly and faced forward again.  

Renfri sat in thought while the vampire and the brunette continued talking, looking sad and serious.  Her mind turned back to Emily’s warning.  She leaned forward and opened the center console, rummaging around for a pen and paper.  She found a memo pad and a blue pen then sat back, uncapping it.  She jotted down what she remembered of Emily’s ominous words, though it wasn’t word for word:

– a curse in your veins

– a darkness coming, bringing more after it

– keep innocence to avoid grave fate

She twirled the pen in her hand, not sure what to make of it.  Emily was a dead witch, so she wasn’t sure how she would know anything about her or what ‘darkness’ could be coming.  Then again, she’d only just entered the world of the supernatural, so what the hell would she know?  Could Emily have been referring to the tomb vampires? Or something else?  And what was this about a curse in her veins and keeping her innocence to avoid what sounded like death?  

Ren sighed heavily, feeling a headache coming on.  She decided to give up on it for now and ask her friends and her uncles later, right now she just wanted to go home and sleep for ten hours.  She ripped the sheet from the little pad and dumped the tools back into the console.  She tucked the paper into her back pocket just as Stefan walked away and into the dark forest with Elena calling after him, looking ready to cry.  The brunette watched him go before pivoting to make her way into the vehicle and start the engine.  They all sat in a tense silence for a few seconds before she shifted gears and drove them away.

Back at the Gilbert house, they headed up to Elena’s bedroom after a quick hello to Jenna who was going through some cardboard boxes.  They spent the better part of an hour explaining to Bonnie about the existence of vampires and what had happened so far since her uncles had come to town, along with Elena explaining her relationship turmoil with Stefan, which now seemed to have turned completely around.  She now felt that she could be with him, having adjusted to him being a vampire and being aware of the supernatural, but now he thought he was no good for her and wanted to stay away to keep her safe.  

Bonnie and Elena had let their tears fall, the emotions of the night overwhelming them both.  Renfri was also upset but exhaustion seemed to overtake everything else for her.  They ended up sleeping over, sharing Elena’s bed and borrowing some pajamas.  Ren made sure to send a quick text to Stefan to let him know and ask him to feed and take out Ash one last time before locking the dog door, which he readily agreed to.  The three girls took comfort in each other’s presence while huddled under the comforter.

Renfri vaguely thought she heard the doorbell ring at some point but it was quickly forgotten as she drifted off with Bonnie and Elena’s hushed conversation in the background.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Renfri woke far too early the next morning, struggling to drag herself out of the cloud that was Elena’s bed, in order to get home to take care of Ash and get ready for school.  She quickly shut off the alarm so she didn’t wake the other two girls sleeping peacefully and quickly changed into yesterday's clothes as stealthily as she could.  She tip-toed down the stairs and through the front door to avoid waking anyone else in the house, she knew she’d be pissed if someone woke her up hours before she needed to on a school day.  She walked to her black sedan parked on the street and headed for the boarding house.

Once she arrived, she let herself in (the door was unlocked, a bad habit of Damon’s) and was eagerly welcomed by Ash, who yipped and nosed her hand, demanding to be pet.  She laughed quietly and complied, greeting him as well, before going to unlock the pet door and letting him out to the side yard.  She went upstairs to quickly shower and dress in her go-to jeans, black ankle boots, a faded band t-shirt, and a knee length black cardigan.  She quickly swiped some concealer under her eyes to hide the bags from the less than stellar amount of sleep and blended it out before applying mascara.  With that, she grabbed her school things and her bag and headed back downstairs.  It had only taken her about an hour to ready herself, so she had time to make some eggs and toast for breakfast.  She made her way into the kitchen, dropping kibble for Ash, and went about making her morning meal.  Stefan wandered in when she was plating her food and headed for the coffee maker which was finishing up a fresh batch.

“So,” he started, “how was it last night…after everything?”

Renfri raised an eyebrow, “Do you really want to know?  Elena said you were ending it completely and are staying away to keep her safe.”  She grabbed two mugs as the machine sputtered out the last drops of caffeinated liquid, then poured one for her and another for her uncle.  

He shrugged, “I don’t want to cause anything else to happen to her, that’s why I’m stepping away, but I still care, I can’t not care.”  Ren poured some flavored creamer and sugar into her mug and nodded.

“I get it, but I don’t really agree.  She’s a part of this world now, whether you're associating with her or not,” she took a sip of her coffee and hummed.  “Her best friend is a witch, another was fed on and had their mind messed with by a vampire, and her other friend is related to vampires; not to mention the founding families are aware of them and have a secret council hunting them down.  I don’t think it’s possible to just keep on as she has been like before, I know I can’t.”

Stefan looked down at the mug in his hands, deep in thought, but just shook his head silently.  Renfri sat at the counter on a high stool and ate her breakfast while sipping at her coffee, slowly reenergizing herself.

“It was a tough conversation to have, explaining everything to Bonnie.  She’s going to talk to her Grams soon to see what she knows and if she can help ease her into everything.”

“I assumed as much,” Stefan sighed, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect her from Damon.”

Ren waved a hand at him, “You can’t protect everyone from Damon, and he actually hadn’t hurt her until that point, which means he was probably restraining himself a lot before.  He only did it because Emily used her body to destroy what he needed to get Katherine back.  I don’t condone it, but I can understand it.  At least you were there to heal her.”  She gave him a small smile and nodded in appreciation.  Stefan stared at her as she finished up, washed her dishes, and filled a travel mug with more coffee.

“I was thinking about leaving.”  

Renfri froze while screwing the cap onto the mug then turned to look at him in surprise, but he continued quickly.

“I considered it.  Damon might leave now because he can’t have Katherine, but I don’t want to leave you alone, and if we both left you might get thrown into the foster system, I can’t let that happen.”  

Renfri released the breath she didn’t even know she had been holding.  

She put the mug down and stepped over to hug him and murmured into his shoulder, “Thanks, Uncle Stefan.”  

He smiled and hugged her back gently, “Anything for you.  You’re family, Ren.”

“Hey, what’s with all the PDA in here?”

The two let go and turned to see Damon in the doorway holding a bag of blood.

He gave his trademark smirk, “Noone’s going anywhere, at least not until your turn eighteen, I am your legal guardian after all.”

“First of all,” Ren retorted, putting a hand on her hip, “calling a hug from your uncle ‘PDA’ is a disgusting implication.  Second of all, now you get one too.” She then lifted her arms and made a grabby motion with her hands at him with a grin on her face.  Stefan chuckled as she took a step forward, threatening his older brother with an embrace, but he flashed away and reappeared behind the counter, grabbing a mug from a cabinet.

“As much as I love the familial bonding, I think I’ll pass this time,” he remarked and raised an eyebrow at her as she turned to look at him.  She couldn’t help but giggle a little at seeing him in a better mood than the previous night, although she knew it meant he was probably only masking how he truly felt, but she would take what she could get.

“Oh, fine,” she huffed playfully and dropped her arms, shooting him a smile as she grabbed her travel mug and headed back to the den.  She sat on a couch, checking she had everything she needed and was currently digging through her tote bag for her phone when she paused at the sound of the bell jingling at the front door.  She stood up but saw Stefan come and let him get the door.  

He opened it to see Sheriff Forbes on the other side.

“I’m here to see Damon?” Liz said.  Stefan couldn’t help but be a little taken aback at seeing her on their doorstep early in the morning.

“Uh, sure, okay,” he said just as his older brother came up behind him.

“Sheriff,” he said with a friendly smile, “what a surprise.”

“Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk,” she said quickly, jumping right into it.

There was a pause as the three Salvatore’s racked their brains for why she might show up there randomly, but Damon quickly invited her in before the silence could stretch too long.  Stefan came over and sat down across from Renfri who waved and greeted Liz Forbes politely as she and Damon passed them to speak out on the patio overlooking the side yard.  Ash wandered in to lay by her feet and chewed on a nylon bone as Ren settled back down on the couch.

She could tell by Stefan’s unfocused eyes that he was listening in on the conversation.

“What are they talking about? Why’s she here?” she questioned.

His brow furrowed as he listened, “The council still thinks there’s a vampire in town, whether it’s Lexi because she got away or a new one.  They were hoping that she’d moved on because the killings had stopped, but there’s been another attack,”  He paused to tune in again then added, “They’re hoping Damon will take the lead on it since he’s the only one they know of that’s taken on a vampire when he tried to kill Lexi.”

Renfri rubbed a hand over her mouth, unsure who else in town could be a vampire.  Was it someone new to the area or a townie that was turned at some point?  There wasn’t a way to know right now, but they’d all have to be careful until they could figure out who it was.

A minute later Damon walked the sheriff back to the front door and said goodbye.  As soon as the door shut and he turned back toward them, Stefan sped across the room and pinned his brother to the door, causing Renfri to jump in surprise.

“What is wrong with you, you killed somebody?” Stefan immediately accused.

“Stefan, don’t jump right to that,” she called exasperatedly.

Damon pushed him back a step, “Get off of me.”  He held up a finger, “A: don’t touch me, B: if I had I wouldn’t have been so obvious about it, C—”

“You weren’t so subtle when you first came to town,” Renfri muttered.  They both turned to look at her, Damon with annoyance.  She shrugged, “What, it’s true.”

“C,” he continued, “there’s another vampire in town.”

Stefan shook his head at him, “That’s impossible.”

“Obviously, it’s not,” the older Salvatore retorted.

“What makes you think it’d be impossible? It’s not like you can sense each other’s presence or something, right?” Renfri asked.  Damon laughed and Stefan ignored him and shook his head at her this time.  “Then there’s no reason a vampire couldn’t happen upon a small town to feed on or even turn someone, right?”  

Stefan sighed in defeat, “Fine, it’s possible.  But how are we supposed to find this guy?”  

Damon looked at him mischievously, “Why don’t you let the adults handle this, Stefan.”  He turned to point at his niece, “And you, don’t go out alone at night for now.  If they’ve left a body so easily found and aren’t even hiding that it was a vampire that did it, they’re probably new, which means it’s dangerous for you to be out after sunset.”

She nodded and got up, grabbing her things, “Sure, but I have track and field practice everyday after school and meets once or twice a week, so getting home before dark just isn’t realistic for me, especially now that it’s December and the sun is setting earlier.”

Damon groaned, “Ugh, then don’t walk to your car alone.  Go with a few friends and park close to the entrance if you can.  If you end up alone, call Stefan, and if he doesn’t answer, only then can you call me.”  He walked away with an exaggerated huff, “Teenagers, always doing too much!”

Renfri smiled at his feigned annoyance, at least he didn’t want her to get hurt.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

That evening, Renfri went home after practice to shower and feed Ash, then returned to the high school; it was career night.  She hadn’t thought too hard on what she wanted to be when she grew up, she only had a few major hobbies: reading, volleyball, running, and helping out as a part of the dance committee, which she enjoyed for the creative design and organization aspects.  She occasionally tutored younger students who were struggling in their English classes and helped them revise their writing, so she had considered becoming an editor or copywriter, though she wasn’t completely sure yet.

The hallways were filled with tables manned by people from surrounding communities and local businesses, pamphlets on the tables and banners advertising their careers.  As Renfri lingered by a table for brand marketing copywriters, she scanned the room then did a double take.

Four tables away, smiling charmingly at students, was Logan Fell.

Logan Fell was supposed to be dead.

Renfri’s heart started to thud heavily in her chest and she quickly looked down, letting her auburn hair fall over her face a bit.  She had to force herself to take long, slow breaths to appear calm and slow her heart rate a bit; hopefully he wouldn’t have heard her heart start racing in comparison to everyone else’s.  She was praying he was too new and unpracticed at listening for it to have noticed.  She tucked the pamphlet in her hand into the bag slung over her shoulder and turned away to walk in the opposite direction.  As she went, she started searching for her younger uncle, knowing he was around somewhere since he had said he’d make an appearance to keep an eye on Elena while the new vampire was on the loose.  She spotted him as she turned a corner and picked up the pace now that she was out of sight of the undead news reporter.

As she approached, Stefan looked up at her questioningly from what looked like a serious conversation with Elena.  She came up between them and got close so she could talk quietly without being heard by others around them.

“I’d say ‘sorry to interrupt’ but I’m really not because we’ve got a problem,” she announced, quickly gaining the brunette girl’s attention too.

“Logan Fell is currently educating people down the hall on careers in media,” she rushed out.

Elena looked confused while Stefan’s eyes widened.

“Okay?  I know he’s a jerk because Jenna calls him ‘ScumFell,’ but why is that a problem?” Elena asked.

Renfri turned to Elena with her voice rising higher with her fear, “It’s a problem because when we found Vicki in the woods while she was transitioning, he found us.  He shot Stefan with a wooden bullet, I sicced Ash on him to save Stefan, and Damon killed him.”

Elena gasped while Stefan dropped a comforting hand on Ren’s shoulder, attempting to calm her down.  

“We’re fine for now.  He can’t do anything in a public place so stay around people,” he reassured her.  She nodded, fisting her hands on the strap of her bag.  Just then, Jenna came and joined their little group.

“Hide me,” she sing-songed to Elena, who turned to her in confusion, “the ScumFell has landed.”  

“Jenna!  Are you dodging me?”

They all turned to see Logan standing a few feet away and smiling confidently.  His eyes skimmed over the group, pausing on Stefan before landing on Renfri, making her tense.  

Elena’s aunt gave him a nasty look, “It’s a form of self-preservation.”

“Elena, why don’t you guys go somewhere else, I’ll meet you later,” Stefan murmured.

She nodded quickly, “Let’s go, Jenna.  You too, Ren.”  She turned to hurry Jenna away from the new vampire.  Renfri took a step to follow but was stopped when Logan caught her arm.

“Ren, is it?  As in, Renfri Salvatore?  You're the one with the dog,” his grip tightened, making her wince slightly.  

She steeled herself then looked him in the eye, “Let go or I’ll scream.”

He chuckled arrogantly, “You try and I’ll break your arm.”

“Or, I can just bitch slap you and loudly call you a pervert for going after a minor.  That’d cause quite the scene and make people far more wary of you.  It’s harder to lure in and feed on innocents who aren’t charmed by you anymore.”  

The smile fell from his face.  

Stefan leaned forward and nodded to the students and adults around them, some glancing their way curiously.

“You’re already attracting the wrong kind of attention, so I suggest you let go, now.”

Logan’s eyes darted around the crowd quickly then he loosened his grip before smiling like nothing was wrong, letting go.  Ren took a step back and closer to Stefan’s side.  Her arm throbbed a bit and would probably bruise by morning but she refused to rub it and show that he’d hurt her.

“What are you doing here?” Stefan asked immediately.

Logan smirked, “You know your brother asked me the same thing, in fact why don’t we just skip past all the ‘who turned me’ stuff and get to the answer that I want.  How do I become a daywalker?”

Ren’s eyebrows rose, “Damon? When did you see Damon?”  She hadn’t heard from him all day and at this new information she became worried.

He tilted his chin up and looked down his nose at her, “Yes, it was quite fun to fill him with wooden bullets, he’s probably not my biggest fan right now.”

At this, Renfri’s anger flared up, burning away her fear.  Now, she was just pissed as hell that he’d hurt her family and that anger was all she could feel in that moment.

She scowled at him and crossed her arms, “It was stupid of you to let him live, now he’s going to kill you, painfully.”

Logan ignored her and turned back to Stefan.  Renfri hoped that his arrogance would lead him to making a mistake that would lead to one of her uncles killing him.

“How can I walk in the sun?” he demanded of Stefan.

“Damon and I are the only ones that I know of—”

“But you’re very cagey on the how, which means there is a way,” Logan interrupted.  “You know, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m quite the celebrity in this town.  It would be very, very easy to expose you,” he looked at the girl suggestively as well.  Renfri raised an eyebrow; did he think she was a vampire too?  That showed how little he actually knew.

“You want to know how you can walk in the sun?” Stefan asked.

Logan nodded eagerly, “I do.”

Her uncle leaned in, keeping his voice low, and spoke slowly, “You can’t.  Don’t ever threaten us again.”  Stefan let that sink in for a moment, maintaining eye contact, before taking Ren’s hand and leading her away without looking back.  They quickly found a side door leading out to a handicap ramp.  Renfri walked over and leaned back with her elbows on the railing and let out a breath, the anger still simmering underneath her skin.  She crossed her arms and tilted her head up to look at the stars and take deep breaths in and out as Stefan pulled out his phone.  He tapped his screen and put the call on speaker.

The line clicked and the first thing out of Damon’s mouth was “Logan Fell’s a vampire and when I find him I’m going to destroy him limb by limb.”

“Are you okay?”  Stefan asked.

“I’m not okay.  I was ambushed, I was shot,” they could hear the rustle of clothing on the other end of the line as he paused, “now I’m vengeful.  Just got to find him.”

“He’s here at the school, feel free to drag him away and tear him apart,” Renfri called out angrily.

There was a pause on the other end, “Little Red?  What happened?”

Stefan eyed his niece, noting her temper, before responding, “He’s working the crowd and decided that threatening us would be a good way of getting the secret of walking in the sun.”

“And I’m pretty sure he bruised my fucking arm!” Renfri hissed.

“Well, I’ll be right there,” he replied,  “And Red, stay with Stefan,”  then he hung up.

Stefan and Renfri made their way back inside with Elena finding them again to get an update.  They searched the corridors to try to get eyes on the dead reporter again until Damon could get there, but after 5 minutes and 2 laps of the halls occupying career night, they realized he wasn’t in the crowd.  As they passed Matt, Elena called out to him.

“Hey Matt, have you seen Logan Fell, the news guy?”

“Uh yeah, he was giving Caroline a ride home.”

The three looked at each other worriedly.

“Stay here,” Stefan told Elena, then he and his niece hurried out the door.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri clung to her older uncle’s back as sped through the woods, the wind whipping through her hair and stinging her face.  She squinted in an attempt to see but it was pointless, everything around them was a blur at the speed they were moving.  She and Stefan had met up with Damon outside the high school and made a quick plan to take down Logan and rescue Caroline.  Stefan went ahead to track them while she and Damon made a pit stop at the warehouse the reporter had been camping out in during the day.  Stefan had tried to convince her to stay at the school, but she insisted on going with them.  It was her idea to stop at the warehouse so she wasn’t completely defenseless and could even contribute.  She was itching to punch the guy ever since he had hurt her arm and revealed he’d shot Damon, but she’d have to settle for a different kind of violence since she was only human.  Her older uncle was intrigued by her idea so allowed her to join them on the condition that she kept a safe distance and listened to them while they dealt with the rogue vampire.  As she’d climbed onto Damon’s back, he wiggled his brows and mocked her with a  ‘Hold on tight, spider monkey,’ to which she’d savagely slapped his chest for his ridiculous Twilight reference, only succeeding in making him laugh at her.

They came to a sudden stop in the middle of an empty back road beside a tan SUV.  Damon let her slide down to her feet on the asphalt and she saw the driver’s side door was ripped open with Stefan standing in front of it and Logan was tumbling across the asphalt meters away.  Damon turned to her and tipped his head at the new vampire with a smirk.  The corner of her mouth tilted up a bit and she reached for the gun in her jacket pocket.  She quickly aimed at the man who had started to sit up and fired.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

Wooden bullets ripped through the air, embedding themselves into his gut, shoulder, and thigh.  She didn’t want to kill him yet, she knew Damon wanted to try to get some answers out of him first.  Logan shouted and clutched the bleeding wounds desperately.  Stefan rounded the vehicle and gently pulled an unconscious Caroline out of the passenger seat then disappeared with her.  

Damon grabbed the cellphone from the driver’s seat and responded to the sheriff’s desperate calls, asking what happened.

“Sheriff, it’s Damon…she’s okay.  I’m on Elm str—,” he said, faking the stress in his voice and cutting himself off then hanging up.  Renfri took a few steps forward but stayed a couple meters away from the bleeding man on the ground while Damon popped the trunk to grab something.  Logan made eye contact with her and growled as she glared at him, so she shifted the gun just a bit lower then fired another shot into his groin.  The man screamed and writhed in pain on the ground.

“Easy there,” Damon admonished cheerfully, “save some for me.”  He sauntered up next to her with a tire iron that he twirled in his hand.  Renfri shrugged at him then looked at the desperate vampire lying on the road.

“Thanks for the firepower, by the way,” she taunted and waved the 9 millimeter handgun a bit before aiming it at him again.  “You didn’t hide it very well, now I’m pretty well stocked,” she said with false gratitude.

Damon grinned viciously, “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?  I figured I’d give Little Red here a shot before ending you since you made the stupid decision of putting your hands on her.  Us Salvatore’s gotta stick together, right?”  He glanced her way and smirked when he noticed the corner of her lips twitching up a bit.  She huffed, what an odd way of bonding with her uncle.

“Now,” he did a slow practice swing with the thin metal pipe, “this tire iron can take your head clean off.  So let’s try this again: who turned you?”

Logan grunted, “I don’t know.”

“Eeehh, wrong answer!  Try again,” the older vampire retorted.

“I don’t know!”

Damon got into a batting position and mocked, “Is that your final answer?” in his version of a game show host’s voice, making Ren snort.

“How can you side with them?” Logan asked angrily.

“I don’t side with anyone,” Damon snapped, “you piss me off, I want you dead…Who turned you?”

“I don’t know!” the vampire shouted.

Damon wound up to swing, “Oh, well, you’re screwed.”

“Wait, wait! I do know!”

Renfri scoffed, “I call bullshit.”

“You think you’re the only one that wants to get in that tomb?  Underneath the old church?”

Damon and Renfri both paused in shock, then glanced at each other before turning back to the now kneeling vampire.

“If you’re lying I will end you,” Damon threatened, pointing with the tire iron.

“I’m not lying.  There’s another way to break the spell, we can help you,” Logan hissed in a rush as sirens approached.  “Meet me at the old church.”  

Damon considered it for a precious few seconds and glanced up at the patrol car closing in on them.

“Take me down,” he whispered, “make it look real.”

Ren quickly tucked the gun into the back of her waistband and flipped her jacket over it, watching as Damon swung at Logan at a human speed so he could dodge then toss her uncle into the back of the car, disappearing into the woods.  She rushed over to Damon and crouched next to him to play the part of the scared and concerned niece as Sheriff Forbes hurried out of her car and approached with her gun drawn.

“Where is she!?” Liz asked immediately.

“She’s okay, my brother took her home,” Damon reassured her and breathed heavily to feign the ‘struggle’ of the fight.  The sheriff then noticed his niece who held his arm as he got up and said apologetically, “I’m sorry sheriff, I wasn’t strong enough.”

She holstered her gun, “Renfri?  What are you doing here?”

Damon quickly came up with a solution on the spot, “He knocked her out and grabbed her when she was headed to her car from the school.”  Ren decided to play it up a bit more to make it believable.

 “Damon?”  she said, forcing tears to well up in her eyes and blinking to let one fall, “What the hell is going on?  Why did that news guy kidnap me?”  

Damon hugged her to him and looked over her shoulder to the sheriff, “Liz, I need to take her home, can you deal with the car?”

She quickly nodded, “I’ll call in some deputies and a tow truck to impound it, I need to go check on Caroline.”  She pulled her radio from her belt and spoke quickly into it as she hustled back to her car and drove away.  Damon and Ren stayed huddled together until the sheriff’s car was far enough away.  

As they stepped back, Damon poked her cheek, “Nice crocodile tears, Red.  Thinking of going into the acting business?”  Renfri rolled her eyes and swatted at his hand before wiping the lone tear off her face.

“Crying on demand is a useful tool for any girl,” she quipped before crossing her arms and looking at him seriously.  “Do you really believe this guy about there being another way into the tomb?  He doesn’t seem that smart and probably just said it to save his life.”

“Oh, I definitely don’t trust him, but he said ‘we’ which means he might be able to lead me to someone who does know another way in.”  Damon turned his back to her and crouched a bit, “Now hop on, the bus is leaving!  Time to get you home.”

Renfri raised an eyebrow, “You don’t want me to go to the church ruins with you?”

“Nope.  I’m not gonna risk it when we might be dealing with more than one vampire, I won’t be able to deal with two vamps and protect you, it’ll just get both of us killed.  Now get moving before I leave you here.”  She sighed but relented, seeing the logic in it.  She clasped her hands around his neck and her legs around his waist as he gripped under her thighs, hanging on tightly as he sped off towards the school where she had parked her car.  After a few minutes, they arrived and she slid from his back in the dark parking lot.

She leaned her weight to one side and offered him a smile, “Thanks for letting me tag along so I could deliver a bit of karma, even if you didn’t kill him in the end.”

Damon nodded in amusement, “It wasn’t a bad idea, stealing from his hunter’s stash to use it against him, and now it’ll come in handy if you ever need it again.”  He pulled a couple boxes of the wooden rounds from his jacket pockets and handed them to her, adding to the ones in her own.  

She smirked, “Hopefully they won’t be needed, but better safe than sorry, or dead.”  She started to turn to her car then paused, “Be careful, Uncle Damon.”

He flashed her a devious grin, “Aren’t I always?”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri sat on a couch in the den, legs covered in a blanket and laptop resting on her thighs as she watched Netflix and munched on some popcorn.  Ash lay on the other end of the couch with his head resting on her covered feet, keeping them warm.  She heard a car pull up in the driveway, but didn’t think much of it until she noticed nobody had come in after a minute or so.  She paused the video and looked up, considering whether she should check who it was.  Before she could, the front door opened and something blurred through and hit the wall in the foyer, making Ash’s head pop up.  

It was Stefan and Elena…mid make-out session.  Good for them.

They hadn’t seemed to notice her so she cleared her throat a bit, startling them from their lust-filled stupor.  Elena blushed when she saw her and looked down shyly, though Stefan just smiled happily.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were home yet,” he apologized.

“No worries, just maybe, ah, take it upstairs?” she chuckled.

Stefan grinned and grabbed Elena before doing as asked, flashing away with a shrieking and giggling teenage girl.  Renfri smiled and shook her head to herself before settling down again with her late night show and snack, getting sucked into the drama and action of it all.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A wet sob and sniffling dragged Renfri’s eyes from the screen in front of her and she pulled her earphones out as she saw Elena hurry down the stairs with her keys and phone in hand and run for the door.

“Elena?” she called warily, pushing her laptop aside.  When the girl didn’t stop, Ren muttered, “Shit, what now?”  She tossed the blanket off her legs and barked at Ash to stay, stuffed her feet into her sneakers by the door before chasing after her into the night.  It was cold enough to make her breath fog and she was only in a pair of black leggings and a navy oversized hoodie that just covered her butt, but it would have to do for whatever the hell was going on.  

She managed to catch up to the girl as she was climbing into her car and copied her, hopping into the passenger seat.  Elena jumped and looked at her in confusion before deciding to ignore her and start the car, still crying hard.

As she stepped on the gas and had them speeding out of the driveway, Ren asked, “What’s going on Elena, what brought this on?  You guys seemed great when you came in.”

That last bit was the wrong thing to say, as it made Elena gasp for air and squeeze her eyes tight to heave out more sobs.

“Woah, woah!” Renfri shouted, grabbing the steering wheel with one hand to make sure they stayed straight, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to push any buttons, but maybe you should pull over, Elena?”

The distraught girl shook her head vehemently, “No, I need to get away—” then sucked in more air, trying to keep her blurred eyes on the road.

“Elena, what happened?” she asked a bit more gently, deciding to keep it simple and pray the girl could multitask so she wouldn’t run them off the road in her emotional upheaval.

“He–he had a–a picture,” she sniffled, “she looked like me!”

It clicked in Renfri’s mind, she was talking about the old photo of Katherine.  He seriously hadn’t told her yet?  She was going to give Stefan some major shit for this later.

While she was trying to figure out what to say, she glanced up to see a silhouette appear on the road ahead and she gasped then shouted.

“WATCH OUT!”

Elena saw it but was going too fast, so when she turned the wheel sharply to try to dodge it she couldn’t stop the car’s momentum, and they felt the sick thud of a body slamming into the side of the vehicle.  They screamed as the back end of the vehicle kept going forward, overbalancing the car, and it began to roll.  The engine revved loudly as the wheels left the ground then was drowned out by the screeching and crunch of metal against asphalt.   Glass exploded everywhere as the metal frame tumbled over and over.  Renfri felt like a rag doll as gravity and inertia pulled her in several different directions within seconds. Her seat belt dug into her skin and the side of her head slammed into the door frame, causing black spots in her vision.  The crumpled SUV teetered to a stop on its roof with a final piercing groan, leaving them in near silence while hanging upside down by their seat belts.  The quiet after the tumultuous assault on their ears during the crash was jarring, only relieved by the low hiss of steam or smoke coming from the dented hood of the car.  

Renfri blinked dazedly and coughed, twitching and flexing her fingers dangling above her head to confirm she could still feel and move them.  Shards of glass tinkled as they fell to the floor from the crevices in the ruined car, the creases in her clothes, and in her hair.  Her whole body throbbed and her head pounded to the beat of her heart’s racing drum.  She heard Elena groan then cough as well and turned her head to find the brunette next to her through bleary eyes.  She was also hanging from her seat belt and covered in bits of glass that fell as she shifted.  Elena’s eyes met hers and it seemed to ground her as she focused on her. 

“Ren,” she wheezed and sucked in another breath, “are you alright?  You’re bleeding.”  Renfri lifted a hand hesitantly and touched her tender scalp by her temple; it came away with blood, shining nearly black in the moonlight.

Well, that explained the wooziness. 

“I think so, though I might have a concussion,” she responded raspily as black spots still danced in and out of the edges of her vision.

They both stiffened when they heard a dull crack, like if you’d snapped a tree branch wrapped in a towel.  Elena’s eyes skipped past her and her eyes widened with fear.  The bleeding girl’s heart rate picked up again and she twisted to look out the shattered passenger window.  Further down the road, they saw the silhouette of a body lying on the ground and they heard more cracks as the figure’s arm wrenched up then forward, back into its socket, followed by snaps as the seemingly dead man shoved his mangled body parts back into place as he got up.  

The girls started to scramble, hands clawing at the buckles to unlatch their seat belts that were jammed and began panting, “No, no, no, no,” as they realized they had run over a vampire and were sitting ducks, bleeding and trapped in the ruined car.  The figure approached the upside down car, walking closer and closer, inciting panic.  As the black hooded vampire’s boots stopped right outside Renfri’s open window and it began to lean down, they screamed in terror. 

“AAAAAHHH!!!—”

The girls screams broke off as suddenly the vampire straightened and flashed away in a blur.  They gasped and stared out the broken window, looking to see if it would come back, only to shriek and turn away when a figure flashed in front of them again. 

“You okay in there?” a concerned voice asked.

Renfri peeked open her eyes then opened them fully, heaving out a relieved sigh. 

“Uncle Damon,” she breathed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

The eldest Salvatore crouched in front of the passenger window and looked around the inside of the wrecked SUV, assessing the situation. 

“Uncle Damon,” Renfri breathed in relief.  

He hummed, “You look stuck,” then stood again.

“It’s my seatbelt—” Elena managed tearfully.

“I–” Renfri blinked drowsily and took another breath as her hands dangled above her head, resting among the glass shards on the roof.  She tried again, “I think they’re jammed.”

“I can’t—get it off—ugh,” Elena stuttered between hurried breaths, overwhelmed by the night's events.

There was a screech of metal being forced apart as Damon pried the passenger door open despite it having been crushed in some places.  He dropped down again, shushing the crying brunette.

“I’m gonna get you guys out of here,” he assured them.  He paused and noticed that Elena was more alert than his niece, who was quiet with her unfocused eyes blinking slowly and fresh blood matting the hair on one side by her temple where there was a sizable cut.  His lips turned down a bit but he didn’t comment on it.

“Alright, Elena.  Red, you with me?” he called.  She managed to nod and hum in confirmation.  “I need you both to put your hands on the roof, just like that,” they both followed his direction shakily, “Little Red, I’ll get you out first, okay?”  She nodded again.  He reached in and grabbed the base of her seat belt and said clearly, “Ready?  One, two, three—” 

He ripped the belt loose and she dropped onto the roof in a heap with a quiet groan.  Her uncle had managed to lean on his elbow so that his hand was free to support her head as gravity brought her down again, trying to prevent further injury.  She reached for him blindly as he got his arms under her knees and back then lifted her out of the wreck.  He tried to help her stand but the blood rushed to her head and her knees buckled, so he set her down gently, sitting up against the vehicle.  

Renfri closed her eyes and struggled to open them again, hearing the shuffle of glass and another light thud as her friend was released as well.  She managed to pry her eyelids open again when she heard the eldest Salvatore call to her and she saw him in front of her with Elena struggling to stand as he held her up.  Renfri couldn’t stay awake any longer and her eyes shut again, sound muffling, as sleep took her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri awoke to a small jolt from underneath her and she wrinkled her nose in irritation.  She inhaled slowly, the scent of leather hitting her nose and heard two voices going back and forth just in front of her.  The redhead cracked her eyes open, squinting hard at the bright sunlight assaulting her pupils.  She blinked a few times and groaned as she realized that she was laid out on her side in the back of Damon’s Camaro, her cheek pressed to the leather upholstery and an arm hanging from the seat loosely.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” her uncle called from the driver’s seat, glancing at her through the rearview mirror.  She noticed Elena startle and twist to look at her with wide but relieved eyes.

“Says who,” she grumbled back and pushed up onto her elbows.  She had to stop there because the effort alone made her dizzy and nausea pushed its way up her throat.

“Pull over, Damon, I mean it,” she heard Elena demand.  She couldn’t help but silently agree, she was sure he would be upset if she threw up in his precious car.

“Ah, you were so much more fun when you were asleep,” he complained, but slowed the car and pulled off to the side of the road.  As they came to a stop, Elena climbed out, pausing to stretch her sore muscles and hiss at the bruises that had surely developed overnight.  Damon flashed over to check she was okay, but his niece quickly got his attention.

She struggled to push herself up again so she was close to a sitting position, “Elena, get out of the way before I blow chunks and ruin my uncle’s lovely vintage car.”

Damon whipped around, “No, no, no, like hell you are.”  He quickly pushed the seat forward to pull her out, just as her stomach heaved and hot liquid burned up her esophagus and onto the asphalt.  He sighed in relief that she’d managed to miss his pride and joy but wrinkled his nose at the smell, holding her hair back and letting her hand grasp his shoulder as she leaned against both him and the car for support. 

Renfri felt disgusting but was also a bit relieved after expelling the contents of her stomach.  She coughed and spit a few times in an attempt to get the taste out of her mouth, before a water bottle appeared in her vision, held out by Elena, along with a tissue.  She gratefully accepted them, rinsing her mouth a few times and wiping her face.  She felt marginally better, but the dizziness and a pounding migraine persisted, the sun’s rays piercing her eyes like small blades.  She stumbled back to sit sideways in the passenger seat, still feeling shaky on her feet, and pressed her cheek against the headrest before closing her eyes again.  She could feel the weight of their eyes on her, but she ignored them in favor of trying to appreciate the cool breeze blowing past.

“You might have a concussion, or worse, since you hit your head pretty hard.”

“We have to go back,” Elena insisted again.

“Oh, come on, look, we’ve already come this far,” the vampire whined.

“Why are you doing this? I can’t be in Georgia!”

“Georgia?” Ren mumbled in confusion.

“Ren probably needs to go to a hospital and I wrecked my car, people need to know where I am.  I’m not going to Georgia,” Elena continued.

“Well, you're in Georgia,” he retorted, “and without your little magic necklace, I might add.”  The brunette put a hand up to her abnormally empty collarbone.  “I could very easily make you…agreeable,” he smiled without it reaching his eyes.

“Damon,” his niece admonished without opening her eyes.

Another sound paused the heated discussion.  A ringtone sounded from the pocket of Damon’s jacket, Elena looking at him accusingly.  

“That’s my phone…”

He rolled his eyes a bit and pulled it from his jacket, then held it out for her.

“It’s your boyfriend,” he sing-songed.  She immediately turned away and shook her head, frowning, so he took the call.

“Elena’s phone,” he answered breezily, “Elena? Oh, she’s right here and she’s…fine,” he taunted.  He then held the phone out to her again, “He wants to talk to you…no?”  He returned the phone to his ear and put on an overly concerned air, “Yeah, you know, I don’t really think she wants to talk to you right now.”  There was another pause, “She was with Elena, I’ve got her.”  He held out the phone again, this time to Renfri, who had cracked open her eyes when she realized Stefan had asked about her.  

She took it, “Hey, Uncle Stefan…I’ve been better.  We got into an accident but Uncle Damon found us, now we’re on a mandatory field trip.  I’ll tolerate it, I could take a day off anyway with all the shit that’s happened…Hey, can you feed and let out Ash for me?  Thanks. We’ll probably be back sometime tomorrow morning given how long the drive is, see you then.”  She handed the phone back to Damon, whose lips had twitched at her use of ‘mandatory field trip.’

“See, no need to worry, little brother.  You have a good day now,” he finished, clearly talking over anything else Stefan was trying to say, then hung up on him.  

He turned back to his niece, “Now, you’re not going to be in any shape to have fun and I’d rather not risk you having a brain bleed and dying on me, so how about some tasty blood?”  He raised an eyebrow at her and put his hands on his knees, like he was speaking to a child.  She looked at him warily, glancing at Elena, who just looked frustrated and shrugged her shoulders and mouthed ‘your choice.’  

Renfri sighed, “Fine, I don’t want to risk it either, but…do you have anything you could put it in?  I feel like it’d be weird to drink from you,” she cringed at the idea. 

“Afraid not.  My car isn’t exactly a well stocked convenience store, so you’ll have to suck it up…literally,” he joked.  

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the throbbing pain behind them, and sat up a bit straighter.  The two girls watched as he let his face change, fangs coming out, and ripped the skin on his wrist with one before changing it back.  He put his arm on the roof of the car and leaned forward, holding his bloody wrist close to her face.  Ren felt a little better that his back blocked any view that Elena might have, easing some of her queasiness at the situation.  She grabbed his arm lightly, put her mouth over the wound and took three quick pulls before pulling back and swallowing quickly before she could choke it back up.  She watched as the rip in his skin sealed over as he took a step back.  She could feel the pounding in her head fade away and knew the gash on her head would be healing too, along with all the other bruises and cuts from the accident.  

Damon gestured at her, “See?  That’s the way to not make it weird, a few quick sips and you’re as good as new!”

Renfri wiped her mouth, the corners twitching up a bit, and murmured, “Thanks.”

He nodded and turned to Elena, “And you?”

She quickly shook her head, “Uh-uh, no way.  I’ll heal from some bumps and scrapes.”  She sighed, “Damon, no one knows where I am, can we please just go back?” 

“We’re almost there—”

“Where is there!?” 

“A little place outside of Atlanta,” he told her.  “Oh come on, Elena.  You don’t really want to go back right now, do you?  What’s the rush?”  He made a ‘T’ with his hand along with a little sound effect, “Time out.  Trust me, your problem’s still gonna be there when you go home.”  She looked down, considering, and he continued, “Step away from your life for five minutes.”  She looked up at him again as he repeated, “Five minutes.”

Renfri snorted, “Five minutes for you maybe.  You’ve lived for over 160 years, we’ve only lived for 17.”  He rolled his eyes at her, not replying.

Elena took a breath and turned away, clasping her hands and bringing them up to her chin, clearly torn but starting to lean his way. 

She turned back, “Am I going to be safe with you?” 

“Yes.” 

“You promise not to do that mind control thing with me?” 

“Yes.” 

“Can I trust you?” she finally asked, looking into his eyes.

He tilted his head to the Camaro and said, “Get in the car,” like the answer was obviously yes.  “Come on,” he called as he turned and headed for the driver’s seat.  Renfri was offered the front seat by Elena since she was in it before.  She gladly accepted, rolling the window down as the car took off down the road again.  

Renfri decided to enjoy her day off and go along with whatever her uncle was up to.  She wondered what had come of the meeting between Damon and Logan Fell, if he had been able to get a lead on a new way into the tomb and if that’s what they were doing in Georgia.  She glanced in the mirror at Elena, knowing she shouldn’t bring it up just then, she had promised not to tell Elena and Stefan unless he let her.  She’d just have to wait it out and help however she could, despite only being human.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They finally pulled up outside of a building on the side of the road outside of the city with not much else around but industrial buildings and structures.  As they pulled up, she seriously questioned how this could be a lead to opening the tomb.

“You brought us to a bar?”  Elena asked as they climbed out.  

“Is it even open?  It’s only the afternoon,” Ren added. 

“We’re not old enough, they’re not gonna let us in.” 

“Sure, they will,” he insisted and lead the way in.

Renfri sidled up beside him and asked, “Via compulsion or do you know someone that works here?”  

He smirked, “I know the owner.”

Renfri snorted, “Way to sound like every entitled 35 year old white woman trying to get a free meal.”  He gasped in mock offense, putting a hand to his chest as if offended, making her laugh.  Elena rolled her eyes at the two’s antics as the made their way into the mostly empty place and approached a tall, dark skinned woman with thick, curly brown hair at the bar.  She was wiping the counter with a cloth near the only other people on the far end of the bar when she looked up at the approaching vampire, who was rubbing his hands together and swaggering forward with a grin. 

“Damon?” she asked disbelievingly, then hopped onto the counter, threw her long legs over the other side, and dropped down.  

“My honey pie,” she declared before shocking the two teenagers by grabbing him by the face and pulling him into a more than friendly kiss.  Renfri curled her lip and looked away, not wanting to watch her uncle make out with some random woman, gross.  She took the opportunity to find the restroom and try to get some of the dried blood out of her hair, managing to succeed for the most part.  Some locks were still stained a bit red, but it was hard to tell unless you really looked close, her auburn hair helping to make it less noticeable.

Once they’d settled on barstools at the counter, the woman, Bree, began pouring shots of whiskey and jokingly toasted her uncle for seemingly ruining her life?  Damon just smiled and shrugged so Renfri went with it.  When they were each given a shot, despite clearly being underage, she slid hers to the right, giving it to the elder Salvatore who threw it back quickly, then snagged Elena’s as well when she hesitated.  

Bree glanced at them in amusement and Renfri just shrugged, “I’m not a fan of shots.  I prefer mixed drinks, like a nice mojito.”

Bree laughed, “Coming right up.”  As she began making her drink, she looked between the girls sitting on either side of the vampire, “So, how’d he rope you in?”

Renfri barked out a laugh, and pointed her thumb at him then herself, “Definitely not, we’re related.”  Bree looked mildly intrigued at this.

Elena was also quick to deny it, “I’m not roped, I’m actually dating his—”

Bree interrupted her cheerfully, “Honey, if you’re not roped, you’re whipped.  Either way, just enjoy the ride.”

“Okay,” Elena relented, not bothering to correct her, “So, how did you two meet?”

Bree let out a chuckle, “College.”

“You went to college?” Elena turned to Damon in disbelief.

“I’ve been on a college campus, yes,” he responded slyly before downing another shot.

“That makes more sense.  Stefan seems like the one who would actually go to college for the sake of learning rather than stalking sorority girls,” Ren quipped, making him roll his eyes and Elena and Bree laugh.

“About twenty years ago,” Bree continued, “when I was a sweet young freshman, I met this beautiful man and I fell in love.  And then he told me about his little secret; made me love him even more, cause, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody.”

“She’s a witch,” Damon stage whispered to Elena, causing her to look surprised.

“Changed my world, you know,” the tall woman said to him playfully.

“I rocked your world,” he teased back.

She laughed and said to Elena, “He is good in the sack, isn’t he?” making the girl look away awkwardly and Renfri wrinkled her nose in disgust.  Bree continued, in a more accusatory tone, “But mostly, he’s a Walkaway Joe,” then took a shot of her own and placed the completed mojito in front of the redhead.

“So,” the witch finally said, “what is it that you want?”

The woman smiled while staring down the vampire, who only looked back at her cheerfully.

Elena looked between the two, then got up and said “I’m gonna go give Jenna a call,” before walking out to the parking lot in the fading afternoon light.

Renfri glanced at her uncle, then the witch, “We’re here about the tomb, aren’t we?”

“That old thing? Again” Bree questioned in surprise.

“Come on,” Damon encouraged, “There’s gotta be another way.”

The bushy haired woman shook her head, “After all these years, it’s still only Katherine?”  The dark haired man shrugged his shoulders, and she asked, “How do you even know she’s still alive?”

“Well, if you help me get into that tomb, then we’ll find out.”

“I already did, twenty years ago, remember?” she said in a hard tone as Damon looked away in annoyance, “Three easy steps: comet, crystal, spell—”

Damon interrupted, “There’s a little problem with number two, I don’t have the crystal.”

Bree scoffed, “Then that’s it, Damon, there’s no other way; it’s Emily’s spell.”

He sat up a little and proposed with a smirk, “What about a new spell and a new crystal that overrides Emily’s spell?”

Renfri raised her eyebrows, speaking for the first time since they started discussing it, “Does witchcraft even work like that?  Someone can just do a spell to disable another one?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Bree replied, glancing at her then back at Damon, “Emily’s spell is absolute, you can’t get into that tomb.”  At this, the expression on her uncle’s face fell, leaving only disappointment and a deep sadness.  

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri had shifted to sit at a table by the window to give her uncle a few minutes alone to digest the witch’s verdict and watched as Elena hung up from her conversation with Jenna, only for her to pause then answer another call.  She wasn’t sure who she was talking to or what about, but she looked angry.  She could probably make an educated guess.

She saw something in her peripheral vision and turned a bit to see Damon just behind her at the table, also looking at the girl standing by his Camaro in the parking lot.  

She glanced up at him and said, “I’m assuming it’s Stefan, judging by the pissed off look on her face.”  

He nodded, “Good old Stefan didn’t tell her that she could be Katherine’s twin, and now she’s pissed.”

His niece sighed, “Yeah, she said something along those lines before we wrecked the car.  Rest assured, I’ll rip him a new one later, especially since I already told him to spill the beans when Lexi visited and she showed me the photograph.”  Her uncle smirked a little at that.

She watched as Elena went to hang up the phone and Renfri felt a slight breeze.  She looked over her shoulder to find Damon gone.  She turned back to the window to find him in front of the brunette outside.  Great, she hoped he wouldn’t tease her about it, the girl was stressed enough as it was.

Renfri sipped her drink as she considered ordering dinner from the kitchen, as it was getting dark out and she didn’t want to drink on an empty stomach.  She tapped her nails against the table, lost in thought, as the bustle of the bar picked up around her: patrons laughing, the clack of billiards balls colliding, the clinking of ice in glasses, and the loud electronic whir of the empty blender at the bar.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri had settled at the bar counter again and ordered a grilled sandwich with fries and before long, Elena and Damon joined her as well, ordering burgers and fries for themselves.  As they munched on their dinner, Elena began to ask Damon questions.

“Let’s just say that I’m descended from Katherine, does that make me part vampire?”

Ren furrowed her brow, “How would that work?  If you have to die to become a vampire, how can you have kids if you’re technically dead?”

Damon shook his head as he popped another fry into his mouth, “You can’t.  Vampires can’t procreate, but we love to try.”

Renfri rolled their eyes at his obvious innuendo while Elena just stared at him dryly, waiting for a serious answer, which he gave.

“No, if you were related, it means that Katherine must have had a child before she was turned.”

“Did Stefan think he could use me to replace her?” Elena wondered aloud angrily.

“It’s kind of creepy if you ask me,” Damon replied.

Renfri glared at him, “Stop being a shit stirrer.”  Then she turned to her friend, “I don’t think it’s like that, Elena.”

The girl looked at her a bit accusingly, “How long have you known?”

Ren shrugged, “Not long.  I only found out when Lexi met you and she showed me the photo.  I don’t think he’s lying when he says he doesn’t know why you look exactly like her, and I seriously doubt it’s about being a replacement.  He’s been serious about getting to know you, right?”

Elena reluctantly nodded, “Yeah, but it’s been hard getting to know anything about him, and he hid this from me.”

Renfri sighed, “Well, yeah, and he was trying to keep all the vampire crap under wraps.  I already told him he needed to come clean.  I was waiting for him to tell you, that’s why I didn’t say anything.  It’s not exactly my business and I didn’t think I should be the one to drop a bomb like that on you,” Ren grinned at her, “but I’ll be happy to give him shit for it later since he fucked it up so badly.”

Damon laughed at his younger brother’s epxpense then reached over to grab a pickle slice from Elena’s plate that the girl had placed aside, “Come on, you don’t like pickles?  What’s wrong with you?”  He popped it into his mouth while Ren quickly leaned over him to snatch the other two slices before he could, sticking her tongue out at him when he playfully glared at her.

“How can you even eat, if technically you’re supposed to be…” Elena trailed off suggestively.

Damon looked around dramatically, “...Dead?   It’s not such a bad word.  As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally.”  He tossed a fry in his mouth and smirked as he chewed.

Elena smiled placatingly, “It’s a nice act…is any of it real?”

He looked at her but said nothing as he was handed a beer from Bree.  Elena saw and quickly said she’d have one too.  He raised his eyebrows at her in question.

“Time out, remember? For five minutes?” she made a ‘T’ with her hands like he had earlier that day, “Yeah, well, that five minutes is gonna need a beer.”

Renfri and Damon watched Elena pick up her own bottle, take a sip, and grimace.

The redhead laughed, “And that is why I don’t drink beer unless it’s the only option, it’s disgusting.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was completely dark out and the bar’s crowd had increased.  About ten people stood around the vampire and two teenagers at the bar counter, all holding a shot as Bree led them in a drinking contest.  Renfri watched, sipping at a screwdriver this time, as Elena of all people beat the crowd.  She slammed the glass on the counter, clapped her hands, jumped, and did a little shimmy, making the tipsy redhead snort.

“That’s three!” the brunette declared as everyone around her laughed.  She turned to Damon and frowned exaggeratedly, “Do you need a bib?”

He wiped his chin, “Sorry I can’t unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol.”

She only grinned and drummed her hands on the wood, “Hmmm, whatever.  Alright, who’s next?  Another roouund, Bree?”  Renfri couldn’t help but smile at a drunk Elena, she was more fun than sober Elena as of late.

“Honey,” an older woman slurred, pointing at the girl, “you should be on the floooor.”

“I am not even drunk, my tolerance is like, way up here!” she replied while hopping to reach up and show how high her tolerance was, making Renfri laugh as she swayed a bit in her seat, leaning against her uncle as he grinned at both girl’s drunken behavior.  Renfri didn’t think she was completely drunk, but was on her way.  Those cocktails tasted good but the alcohol could really sneak up on you if you drank them too fast.  

She and Elena made their way over to the pool tables while Damon stayed at the bar.  They played a few games, doing surprisingly well, at least they thought so in their inebriated state.  They were both fun drunks, as Renfri had discovered by going to some of the rowdier high school parties in the last two years.  They could let loose and were able to dance and be happy with no insecurities or anxiety holding them back after too many drinks, as opposed to people who were angry or sad drunks.

Elena’s phone began to ring, right as she did a little hop and threw her hands in the air to celebrate sinking a ball into a corner pocket.  Renfri giggled as the teenager went to answer it.

“Hello?...Jennaaa!  Hold on, it’s–it’s loud in here,” she struggled to throw her light jacket on as she held the phone to her ear with her shoulder.  Renfri giggled again and grabbed the phone that was about to fall, holding it to her ear as they both stumbled out the bar door side by side.  Elena bumped into the railing of the handicap ramp leading to the side entrance, tripping Ren, and the phone slipped from the girl’s fingers, clattering to the ground as they both grasped for the rail while groaning a bit.  Elena scrambled for the phone and as soon as she brought it up to her ear again, she barely got a word out before it was ripped away from her and tossed to the ground.  Renfri’s vision blurred and she felt her world tilt as something wrapped around her waist and lifted her like a sack of potatoes, then moved far too quickly.  Her stomach turned a bit at the sudden and violent movement, but she managed to settle it by breathing a bit once they’d stopped.  All of a sudden, she was dropped to the pavement, groaning.  As she managed to sit up, she saw that Elena was getting on her feet, cautiously facing a man with a very angry face.

Renfri hauled herself up, using a nearby chain link fence, sobering quickly as she took in the situation.  They were standing in an open lot surrounded by fencing and what looked like warehouses and metal industrial structures.  There was a lone lamp hanging over a closed garage door of a building and another in the distance glowing faintly.  Renfri scowled at the man, no, vampire.  What else could he be if he could grab both of them and move blindingly fast.  She glanced around, trying to figure out what direction she should run in or even for anything to use as a weapon.  Before she could do anything, the vampire appeared directly in front of her, grabbing her by the throat and shaking her hard, her face inches away from his own.

“Don’t move.”

Elena gasped as Renfri choked, one hand clawing at the vampire’s hand around her throat.  She looked at him through slitted eyes, filled with fear and fury, then suddenly slashed her other hand at his face, aiming for his eyes.  Her nails dug in and dragged over his skin in a diagonal direction shortly, drawing blood, before her wrist was grabbed in a vice grip and yanked down.  The man hissed and threw her to the ground, hard.  Renfri tried to gasp for air as his hand left her throat, but it was completely knocked out of her as her body slammed into the ground, leaving her wheezing on the asphalt.  She glanced up at him, tears in her eyes, and saw a few red lines cutting across his right eyebrow, over an eye, and under it, but they healed in seconds, leaving only smudges of blood.

The vampire glared at her then reached down and grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her up, forcing her to scramble to her feet while catching her breath and grunting angrily and in pain.  

“You, over there,” he barked at Elena, pointing to a metal ladder on the side of a structure made up of crisscrossing support framing.  Renfri grabbed at the man’s wrist, trying to take some of the force that was tugging at her scalp as he started dragging her in the same direction as Elena, but on the opposite side of the fence around the structure, leading into a gap between the fence and a smaller building that was completely dark.  She panicked, not sure of what this vampire was going to do once she was taken down that dark stretch of asphalt.  

She took a deep breath and screamed, “UNCLE DA—”

She was cut off with a sharp slap as the man released the red locks then backhanded her, sending her to the ground again, her ears ringing from the impact of his hand against her face and her elbows scraping raw on the rough surface.  She lay there, dazed, and could hear the shallow, hurried breaths of Elena nearby.  Renfri felt herself being hauled up in the grasp of the vampire and he placed her quietly on the shadowed ground before she could even think to fight back again, just as she saw her uncle speed into the near empty lot and stop to look around suspiciously.  He spotted Elena just as she called out to warn him away.

“Damon, no!”

Renfri sat up slowly and swayed a bit, still dizzy but also pissed from getting her brain knocked around her skull.  She looked up to see the vampire was no longer beside her but appeared behind Damon.  There was a thud and crack as her uncle cried out in pain and collapsed when the vampire moved quickly to break his legs with an aluminum baseball bat.  He swung savagely a few more times, ensuring Damon wouldn’t be able to get up anytime soon, then disappeared and returned with a red metal jug, pouring a strong smelling liquid over her uncle, causing him to sputter.

Gasoline.

Elena started to run towards them, yelling “No!” but the vampire turned to her with his fangs and bloodshot eyes out, forcing her to freeze in fear of attack.

Damon spat to prevent the flammable liquid from getting in his mouth, “Who are you?”

“That’s perfect,” the stranger growled bitterly, “you have no idea.”

“What are you talking about, what did he do?” Elena demanded.

The vampire turned to her and bit out, “He nearly killed my girlfriend.”  He turned back to Damon, pouring more gasoline on him, yelling, “What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you!?”

The wounded man on the ground muttered, “Nothing,” without a hint of remorse, angering the stranger further.

Renfri sighed, she had a hunch on who the man was referring to, so she reached into her pocket for her phone, typing a quick message and getting a reply within seconds, thankfully.

She pulled herself to her feet shakily, still a bit dizzy from the earlier blows, and slowly moved towards the group and out of the shadows, using the chain link fence to support her.

“I don’t understand,” Elena said.

“My girlfriend went to visit Stefan and Damon tried to kill her and almost succeeded,” the man explained and turned to land a swift kick in the face to the man on the ground.

Elena finally made the connection, “Lexi?  Lexi is your girlfriend?  She told me about you, she said you were human.”

He glanced at her and said, “I was,” then pulled out a lighter, “if you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever.”

Renfri shuffled up beside Elena and leaned on her for support, letting the girl wrap her arms around her, “Although I definitely don’t condone his actions, how can you justify your own, Lee?”

The man paused and turned to her, “How do you know my name?”

The redhead scoffed, “It took me a bit to figure out who you were, but Lexi and I do keep in touch.  I think she’d have a bit of a problem with you bitch-slapping her friend into having a concussion for the second time in a day.”  She noticed Damon shift to glance up at her weak figure leaning on her friend, veins appearing under his darkening eyes in anger.

“I have to agree, sweetie.”  They all turned to see the topic of their conversation standing a few yards away, a hand on her hip.

Alexia Branson stood in black jeans and heeled boots with a tight grey shirt and admonished her love, “Lee, I told you to leave it alone.  I already gave him a beating, as Ren can tell you.”  She walked a few steps closer to her partner still standing over Damon, “I am upset that you hurt her in your attempt to get at Damon; she is the one that saved me, you know.”  Lexi strode past the two men and over to her friend, lightly touching her bruising cheek, “I’m sorry, Ren, I should have kept a better eye on him; he’s still a bit over-emotional as a newer vampire.  I hope you can understand.”

Renfri gave an exaggerated sigh, “Yeah, I guess I can, though I’m pissed he didn’t leave us out of his revenge fantasy.  Did he really not expect me to fight back if a vampire drags me off?”

Damon had tried to subtly lift himself into a sitting position, but Lee quickly kicked him in the face again, sending him to the ground, groaning.

Ren narrowed her eyes at the man as Elena took another step forward and called, “Please, you don’t need to hurt him!”

“Lee, you’ve done more than enough, we’re leaving,” Lexi turned to him, her eyes sharp.

The man looked at her before reaching down and grabbing Damon by his shirt with both fists, holding him close to his face.

“If you try to hurt her again, I will kill you, as slowly and painfully as possible.”  Then he twisted and heaved the other vampire over his shoulder, launching him into the garage door across the lot, causing him to slam into the metal and drop onto the asphalt under the dull yellow lamplight, groaning.

Renfri let out a quiet breath of relief as Lee flashed away into the night.  Elena quickly ran over to Damon and kneeled to check on him.  Ren looked to Lexi who had turned back to her with a sad smile.

“You’re looking a little rough, need a pick-me-up?” she asked, offering her wrist.  Renfri hesitated then shrugged, nodding.

“Might as well, I already have vampire blood in my system from earlier today.”  Lexi raised an eyebrow at her questioningly as she used her nail to make a quick cut and let the teenager take a mouthful before pulling back.  Ren wiped her mouth and huffed, “We got in a car wreck…Elena saw the Katherine photo after getting intimate with Stefan.  She ran out of the boarding house a mess and I followed her.”  She neglected to tell her about the vampire, she wasn’t sure how important they might be yet and didn’t want to worry her; Damon had taken care of them, in his own way.

“Geez, I’m glad you two are alright now.  I’ve got to go and make sure Lee doesn’t do something else stupid.  Keep in touch!”  She gave Ren a quick hug and waved to Elena before disappearing to follow her partner.

The redhead looked over to her uncle and joined Elena at his side, feeling steadier now that she’d taken more vampire blood.  He was sitting up now and she heard the sickening snaps and grunts as he pushed the bones in his legs back into place to heal correctly.  She crouched in front of him and laid her arms over her knees as he finished up.

“Do you regret it yet?” she asked dryly.

He glared at her as he straightened his legs out and leaned back on his elbows, letting them heal properly for a bit before putting weight on them, “Shut it, Red.”

She shrugged and stood again, offering her hands to pull him up.  He ignored her and pushed himself to his feet on his own, “Let’s go, we’re heading back.”

They headed back to the bar, which was only a few streets over from the little area they had been taken to.  Elena and Ren went to wait by the car in the nearly empty lot, it looked like the bar was closing, as Damon went inside.  As the brunette leaned against the car to wait, her friend realized something.

“Ah, shit, I left my hoodie in there.  I’m gonna grab it,” she told Elena and headed for the entrance, shivering a bit.  She had gotten hot from all the drinking and bouncing around with her friend, so she had stripped it off, leaving her in a t-shirt and her leggings with her sneakers.  As she opened the door and took a few steps into the empty barroom, she froze when she saw the oldest Salvatore standing in front of Bree, who was looking upset and wary.  

“And you’re telling me this, why?” Damon responded to something the woman had said.

When she responded with, “Lexi’s my friend, how could I let you get away with trying to kill her?”  She shook her head and turned to try to walk away, but Damon flashed in front of her, making her jump.

“Uncle Damon,” Renfri called cautiously.  He ignored her, anger in his eyes through his face was blank, and took another step closer to the tall woman.

“The tomb can be opened!” she said hurriedly.  

He tilted his head and eyed her, “You’re lying.”

“Emily’s grimoire, her spellbook!  If you know how she closed the tomb, the reversal process will be in her book; you can open that tomb!”

“And where is this book?” he asked lowly, another step closer.  Ren slowly approached the two, breathing shallowly in her worry.

“I–I–” the woman stuttered.

“You have no idea,” the vampire interrupted her, forcing her back against the counter as he got in close.  Renfri chose to step in here, seeing the woman shaking with fear and a dark look in her uncle’s eyes.

“Damon, let’s go,” she said quietly, and reached out to grab his sleeve, hoping it would feel less like she was trying to restrict him than if she had grabbed his actual arm, not wanting him to lash out in response to any attempt to control him.

He ignored her again, maintaining eye contact with the terrified witch.

She tried again, “If you kill her, Lexi won’t let it go this time.  She might actually kill you for killing her friend.”  

He finally responded, tilting his chin toward her a little but not breaking eye contact with Bree.

“But it’s okay for her friend to call her boytoy to kill me?  To hurt you?”  At that, Bree glanced at the teenager nervously, awaiting her response that could determine whether she lived or died.

Renfri sighed, “Of course it’s not okay.  I’m not happy about it either,” she tightened her grip on his sleeve and tugged a bit, “but retaliating will only make it worse.  We already have problems waiting for us back home, we don’t need to worry about another one sneaking up on us.”  His eyes finally flicked to hers when she alluded to not only the tomb but also the vampire that had caused them to roll the car.  He glared at Bree for another few moments, then stepped back, his shoulders tight.  

He turned away from the woman but tossed over his shoulder, “Try anything else and I’ll rip out your heart, whether it’s problematic for me or not.”  He grabbed his jacket from the back of a chair as he passed on his way to the door.  Renfri watched him for a second before glancing at the witch. 

“You’re fucking welcome,” she spat out, also admittedly angry after realizing she had called Lee in an attempt to kill her uncle, getting her and Elena caught in the crossfire as well.  How did she think that made her any better than Damon?  She snatched her hoodie from a barstool and pulled it on before hurrying after him.  Outside the bar, they headed over to his car where Elena waited tiredly.  

They got in, Ren wrinkling her nose and muttering, “You reek of gasoline.”  

“Again, shut it, Red,” he retorted as she snorted. “I’m gonna have to get the interior cleaned,” he grumbled and rolled down the windows as he drove down the highway.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As they arrived back at the boarding house several hours later in the mid-morning light, Elena and Renfri hauled themselves out of the blue Camaro and trudged inside tiredly.  They’d only managed to nap for a few hours each, taking turns to stretch out on the backseat.  Elena headed right upstairs, probably to Stefan to set things straight regarding being a Katherine look-alike.  Damon disappeared upstairs to rid himself of the stench of gasoline clinging to him and discard his highly flammable clothes.  Ash came bounding down the stairs past him and eagerly greeted Renfri as she knelt to hug and scratch him in kind.  She headed upstairs to shower and change, returning downstairs to lounge on the couch with Ash, finish her homework, and hopefully catch up on some of the reading she’d missed due to her mandatory field trip.

Damon came down soon after and immediately went to pour himself a glass of bourbon before settling on the couch opposite his niece.  

She glanced up at him, and asked quietly, mindful of the other vampire upstairs, “Hey, what happened the other night with our undead reporter?  Did anything come of it?”

He looked up at her before glancing up, listening to make sure Stefan’s attention was on his conversation with Elena, before saying, “No, I was on my way there when Liz called to thank me for staking him.” 

“What?  When did you do that?”

He shook his head, “I didn’t.”

She furrowed her brow, “So who did?  It can’t have been anyone on the council, they would have taken credit and Liz would have known.” 

“I don’t know, but we might have a vampire hunter in town, not to mention the vamp that went after you and Elena.”

Renfri sighed, “Well, that’s just great.  Maybe they’ll take each other out.”

He chuckled and lifted his glass, “Here’s hoping.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Renfri came into one of the large studies of the boarding house, intent on finding the prized first edition of Pride and Prejudice that she had read numerous times already, in search of a good comfort read to bring to school.  Instead, she walked in and stopped short due to a book flying past her nose and clattering to the floor.  She turned to see Damon grabbing books off the shelves and skimming through them, only to toss them over his shoulder haphazardly.  

“What are you making a mess for?” she asked her uncle dryly.  

She was not happy that he was possibly damaging valuable old books.  She, like Stefan, appreciated classic literature and historical pieces of writing.  Damon didn’t really give a damn unless it was useful or practical in some way…shocker.

The dark haired man looked over his shoulder at her briefly, then looked past her, and turned back to his task without answering.  She was a little annoyed that he basically ignored her until she heard Stefan step up behind her from the doorway as well.

“Yes, what are you looking for, Damon?” Stefan asked, following the trail of books left across the floor over to his brother.

“None of your concern,” he replied distractedly, still searching through the bookshelves.  He was digging through them as if he would find Emily’s spell book among the shelves, though that was extremely unlikely, so she had to wonder what exactly it was that he thought could lead him to it. 

“No, but putting Elena and Renfri in harm’s way, that is my concern,” Stefan responded. 

“What are you talking about?” Damon said absentmindedly, but of course he was fully aware. 

“I’m talking about Atlanta.” 

“Oh, yeah, Elena had a blast,” Damon said, clearly trying to irritate his brother into leaving him alone. 

Stefan smiled and let air out through his nose, “I get it, you’re just bitter because one of us gets to be with the person that we love while Katherine is just out of reach—” 

“Damn, Stefan,” Ren interrupted, crossing her arms, “you’re sounding as rude as him, except he’s funnier when he insults people.”  The older Salvatore couldn’t help but grin a little as he continued his search while the younger only frowned at her before continuing. 

“Unless, there’s another way for you to get into that tomb.  Is that what Bree said?” 

“You’re pathetic when you’re fishing,” Damon jabbed. 

“And you’re transparent when you’re deflecting,” Stefan immediately retorted, making the youngest Salvatore sigh and throw herself onto a plush leather chair at their childishness.  Stefan turned to raise an eyebrow at his niece questioningly, who put her hands up in surrender. 

“Hey, I was an innocent bystander!  I just got drunk and enjoyed the ride until Lexi’s boyfriend crashed the party.  I did find it interesting to have met another witch that isn’t Bonnie.  Although she didn’t seem very witchy, she didn’t even do any magic,” the girl pouted in disappointment.  Stefan eyed her uncertainly before turning back to face his brother who had a retort waiting.

Before his brother could get another word out, Damon asked, “Don’t you have school?” and Stefan only smiled.  At that, Renfri sprung up out of the chair. 

“Motherfucker, I’m going to be late.  You petty assholes distracted me!”  She spied the Jane Austen book she had been looking for on a side table by the couch and snatched it up, running from the room. 

“Language, young lady!” Damon called after her playfully, chuckling as she ran down the hall, still cursing.  Stefan shook his head and followed her at a slower pace, offering to run her to school at vamp speed to help her avoid being marked tardy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

That afternoon, the redhead approached her history classroom on her way to her next period, hurrying to turn in her essay that she’d been given an extension on for her absences a few days ago.  She popped her head through the doorframe, trying not to interrupt his conversation, when she realized Mr. Saltzman was talking with Jeremy Gilbert.

“I’d really like to see that sometime,” the teacher said. 

“Really?” Jeremy asked as he rummaged through his backpack to find a worn looking leather book with weathered pages and closed with leather string.

“Ha, a first person account of the civil war?  That’s like, uh, porn for a history teacher.”

“Well, that’s a weird way to put it.”

The two jumped a bit as Renfri stepped fully into the room, approaching the teacher’s desk. 

“Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to drop off my essay quickly, I had to print it in the library during my lunch period,” she said somewhat apologetically. 

“Oh, no worries, thanks for getting it to me,” Mr. Saltzman said a bit awkwardly, and took the papers she handed him.  

As she walked out the door, she caught a glimpse of Jeremy handing the old book to the eager teacher before she turned to go down the hall.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Elena and Bonnie sat across from Renfri at a table in the Grill, having just revealed Elena’s discovery of not actually being her parent’s biological child, but was adopted as a baby.  Stefan had revealed this to her after looking into the public records regarding her family due to her resemblance to Katherine but hadn’t gotten further than finding that details surrounding her birth had been falsified by her adoptive father, Grayson. 

“I can’t believe you’re adopted, I never saw that coming,” Bonnie said sympathetically. 

“And it gets weirder,” Elena said, “I looked at my birth certificate, it lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as my birth parents; none of it makes any sense.” 

“Why haven’t you asked Jenna?” Renfri questioned pointedly, “She would probably be able to fill in some of the gaps in knowledge.  I understand why you’re mad that your parents didn’t tell you, but that’s not Jenna’s fault.  They might have specified how they wanted it handled in their will or something, or not and maybe she didn’t know when to address it.”

Elena looked away, still reluctant to confront her aunt.

Bonnie added, “The Elena I know would always want the real truth, good or bad.  Also, you just found out your boyfriend is a vampire, so unless your birth parents are aliens, how bad could it be?”  Ren grinned, Bonnie really knew how to call shit how it was and properly put things into perspective.

“Uh, okay look, I have to go to the store; my outfit is severely lacking accessories,” Elena said, avoiding admitting her friends were right.  Renfri sighed as Bonnie went to pay the bill.  The redhead started for the door with Elena, since she was her ride home.  She paused when she saw Damon get in Bonnie’s path to the counter, but relaxed when the girl stayed strong and the bartender, Ben, stepped up to support her.  She shook her head, not knowing what her uncle thought he would accomplish with that interaction, and hurried to catch up to Elena.  

As she crossed the dark parking lot and saw Elena answering her phone while getting her keys out, Ren felt a little uncomfortable.  As she began to glance at her surroundings, Elena froze in place, then started to look around the lot.  Ren spotted a man in a black hoodie, like the one that had caused the accident, across the lot holding a phone to his ear and walking in their direction.  

She grabbed Elena’s arm and shoved her forward, “Get in and start the car, now!”

Elena finally saw the man and yanked the driver’s side door open as her friend scrambled to get around to the passenger side and jumped in, slamming the door and locking it behind her.  They peeled out of the lot, Renfri watching as the man let the phone drop from his ear, face hidden in the shadow of his hoodie, watching them leave.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Elena and Renfri had told the Salvatore brothers about the vampire continuing to follow the brunette.  They were unsure if Renfri was also a target or if she had just happened to be with her when going after Elena and he didn’t care if she was collateral damage.  Stefan gave Elena the vampire compass that Damon had stolen off of Logan Fell’s body so she’d know if any vampires were nearby.  Renfri wondered how he had gotten that away from Damon.  She had questioned how useful it would be since there were at least two vampires, namely Stefan and Damon, walking around town that Elena saw regularly that would mess with the compass’ readings, but he insisted if they communicated well enough it would give them a bit a of a warning and a chance to find out who was after Elena.

Renfri had finished getting ready for the 50s Decade Dance, satisfied with her outfit.  She’d found a red vintage cocktail dress with white polka dots.  The bodice was trimmed with black silk that led into thick straps that tied back behind her neck and a black ribbon tied with a bow at her waist.  Her hair was carefully parted to one side and held back from her face in large, tight curls with a lot of hairspray and pins.  She had a pair of black strappy pumps with a somewhat thick heel that weren’t quite era appropriate, but she chose comfort over style in this case to avoid her feet killing her from wearing new shoes.  She finished the look with a vibrant red lip, eyeliner with a winged, cat-like edge, and mascara.

She tucked her phone away into her bra and grabbed her wallet, intending on leaving it in the car when she got to the dance.  Renfri made her way down the stairs, followed closely by Ash.  With time to spare before Stefan was ready to go pick up Elena, she wandered from room to room in order to harass her oldest living relative until it was time to go.  She found him in the largest of the studies sitting at a huge desk, scribbling onto a notepad.  He glanced up at her as she strode over and the dog went to lay in front of the warm fireplace.

“Well, aren’t you the most beautiful pinup model ever to adorn a teenager’s bedroom wall,” he drawled, adding to the paper. 

She halted in front of the desk and crossed her arms, “God, you really had to make it weird, didn’t you?”  He chuckled, still staring at his notepad with pen in hand.  She came up to his side and looked over what he had written.  It was a list of people, all with the surnames of founding families.  She narrowed her eyes, wondering how it was relevant to opening the tomb or Emily’s spell book.  She tapped his shoulder and pointed at the ceiling then her ear with a questioning look, to which he paused then shook his head and put a finger over his lips, indicating that Stefan was listening.

He flipped to a new page in the pad, tore it out, and began to write as he said mockingly, “Is Fido over there going to the dance with you since you don’t have a proper date?  Stefan doesn’t count.”  He shifted the pad to face her slightly and she read it quickly.

Emily was burned at the stake by the founding families.  Whoever did it would have taken her spell book or known what was done with it.  The founders tended to keep journals, find them to find out the book’s location, subtly.

Ren raised her eyebrows but nodded silently before taking the sheet.  She moved to drop it in the lit fireplace as she replied with over the top dramatic flair.

“You know I’d love to bring Ash, he’d be the perfect gentleman compared to the absolute dogs that roam the streets today.  Alas, males of the canine persuasion are barred from entering the dance,” she declared in a wispy trans-atlantic accent.  The evidence of their silent exchange burned into ashes as she gave a big sigh of despair while throwing an arm over her forehead, causing Damon to snort.  

“Okay, Marilyn, tone it down a notch,” he retorted, shaking his head just as Stefan entered the room.  Damon’s eyes shifted to him.  “Well, you got the hair right,” he remarked before going back to the list in front of him.  

Ren did a twirl for her other uncle while grinning, “How’d I do?”

Stefan smiled and nodded at her, “You look great, a regular Lucille Ball,” at her blank look he raised his eyebrows and continued, “from I Love Lucy?”

“Oh, nice, I guess.  You’re showing your age, Uncle Stefan,” she teased.

He just sighed before removing his hand from behind his back and dropping a worn leather journal on the desk in front of his brother, who paused but didn’t move.

“Why are you bringing me Dad’s journal?” he asked.

“Because you were looking for it,” Stefan replied easily.

Damon looked up, “And why would I want it?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Damon.  Maybe you wanted to do a little posthumous bonding?”

Renfri sighed, “You have a weird sense of humor, Stefan.”  He only shrugged and nodded at the journal.

“Go ahead, enjoy.  Read it, I have,” Damon hesitantly reached for the worn pages, “Nowhere in it does it say anything about Katherine, or the tomb, or how to open it.”

“I’m not surprised, the man could barely spell his own name.”  Damn, Renfri realized her oldest uncle really hadn’t had a good relationship with the man he called ‘Dad.’

“I’m really sorry that it won’t be of any help with your diabolical plan…the sequel,” Stefan remarked mockingly, only causing his brother to smile dryly at him.

He tried a new angle, “You know, I could help you–”

“You?  Help me?  Eeehh, I don’t know, it seems a little…unnatural,” Damon snarked.

Renfri’s eyes darted between the two brothers, observing the interaction curiously as they bantered.

Stefan leaned forward on the desk, “I’ll do almost anything to get you out of this town, even release Katherine.”

“What about the other 26 vampires?” Damon asked curiously.

“No, no, no, they can’t come, they have to stay put, but Katherine?  I would consider that.”

Damon narrowed his eyes at his brother and tilted his head, “What are you doing?  What’s your angle?”

Stefan shook his head and continued to stare back, “Think about it.”

Damon did, for all of two seconds, before scoffing, “Why would I trust you?”

“See, that’s your problem, Damon.  You apply all of your shortcomings to everybody else.  If history’s any indication, there’s only one liar among us.”  Damon only stared back distrustingly.

It was Renfri’s turn to scoff, drawing her uncle’s attention.

“Stefan, I love you, but the holier-than-thou act is a bit much.  You can’t seriously expect me to believe that out of the one hundred sixty something years you’ve been alive together, you’ve never lied to your brother?  You’ve never done something to hurt him?”  Stefan shifted but said nothing.  She shook her head, “I’ll go wait out front, check your attitude and ego at the door, please.”  She didn’t wait for a reaction and strode from the room, grabbing her sweater from the banister and patting Ash’s head as he followed her, then walked out the front door to wait in her car.

As she shut the car door, she took a second to calm herself.  Ren didn’t normally get so worked up over things like this, but she felt oddly defensive of her oldest uncle who she’d grown closer to.  She knew he wasn’t the best person in the world, far from it, but seeing one of the only family members you had left in the world talk to the other like he’s always the villain and in the wrong just rubbed her the wrong way.  Stefan hadn’t been like that until Damon came back to town, so it was strange seeing him act like that; they must not have a good history.  She mentally scolded herself for potentially stepping over the line, she didn’t know everything that had happened between the two, but she hadn’t been able to help herself and let her temper get the better of her.  

She jumped when the passenger side door opened and Stefan let himself in, closing them into their little box of awkward silence.  She sat for a few seconds, not knowing what to say and feeling conflicted, before she sighed and started the engine.  She pulled onto the driveway and headed through the woods and towards town.  They sat in silence for a minute before Renfri opened her mouth.

“Look, I’m sorry,” she glanced at Stefan before returning her eyes to the road, “I get that I don’t know everything that’s happened between you guys over the years and probably never will.  But, I hate seeing you guys treat each other like that.  You acting like he’s the devil for doing everything he can to get back the woman he loves and him having to be so suspicious of your intentions because you openly mock him before offering ‘help’ so you don’t have to see his face ever again.  You guys act like you hate each other, not like you’re brothers, and it’s fucked up.”

She huffed a bit, taking a breather from her rant, feeling his eyes on her.

“I’m fully aware Damon’s done some garbage things but you’re no angel either.”  She paused, “I like having both of you around; you’re the only family I have left and I don’t want to lose that because of some shit that happened in the past or whatever.  I know you guys aren’t sticking around forever, but I want to enjoy it while I can; not spend it being a mediator in your petty disputes in order to keep the peace.”

She breathed for a few moments, glancing at his pensive face as she drove closer to Elena’s house.

“Alright,” he finally said quietly, “I’ll try to get along with him, for you.  I won’t guarantee anything, but I won’t try to make him leave and I’ll try not to fight with him.  You deserve that much.”

She let out a sigh and muttered, “I would have preferred that you do it for the sake of your brotherly bond as well, but I’ll take what I can get.”

She pulled up to the curb outside the Gilbert home and killed the engine.  Stefan gave a small smile and nodded, opening the door before freezing, his face dark, and flashing away inside just as a scream pierced the air.  Ren turned to look at the house in a panic, but a second later, another figure fled from the front door and blurred past her in the blink of an eye.  Her heart kicked into high gear and she wrenched the car door open before running inside to see if Elena was okay.

She walked in the open entrance to see Elena hugging Stefan desperately, fear plain on her face.  Renfri breathed a deep sigh of relief to see she was alright, despite the scare.  

The vampire that had been hunting her finally tried to end it tonight by attacking her in her house, but she and Stefan had gotten there just in time.  Renfri quickly pulled out her phone and called Damon, who came straight over. 

“How did he get in?” was his immediate question. 

“He was invited in,” Elena said quietly, still in shock a bit. 

“He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night,” Stefan filled in for her.

Damon tipped his head to the side, “Well, he gets points for that—” 

“No, no points for creativity,” Ren interrupted, “what idiot invites a random pizza guy into the house to wait while you grab your wallet these days?” 

“Jeremy,” Elena mumbled.

“Well, your little brother’s an idiot then; did no one teach him about not inviting strangers in?  Moron,” she grumbled, making Damon shake his head in exasperation as well.

Elena just shook her head, too overwhelmed to admonish her friend for insulting her brother, and she couldn’t help but agree a bit.

Damon continued his questioning, “And he didn’t say what he wanted?” 

“No, he was too busy trying to kill me,” Elena responded snidely, and rightfully so.

“So you have no idea who this is?” Stefan asked him skeptically, making Renfri roll her eyes at him.

“Don’t look at me like that, I told you we had company,” Damon retorted.

Elena paused, processing that, “You think there’s more than one?”  Renfri raised her eyebrows at that thought.

Her older uncle looked at Elena and shrugged, “We don’t know.”  He sat on the arm of the sofa as his brother looked at him intently.

“Damon, he was invited in.”

He nodded seriously, considering it, before he said simply, “Then we go get him tonight.”

“Tonight?  You think he’ll try again so soon?” Ren asked.

Stefan answered this time, “I wouldn’t be surprised, it’s in our nature to enjoy the chase.  The more challenging it is, the more enjoyment we get out of it,” you could see the shame in his eyes as he spoke of his vampire nature.

Damon looked to the brunette, “You up for it?”

She stared back grimly, “What do I have to do?”

“Let your boyfriend take you to the dance, we’ll see who shows up.”

Stefan immediately shook his head, “It’s a bad idea.”

“How else would you be able to lead him into a trap tonight?” Ren interjected, “If you take Elena someplace isolated away from people, it’s too obvious it’s a trap.  If she goes to the dance, he’ll think he can lure her away from the crowd.  If he thinks he’s outsmarted you, he’ll make a mistake.”

Damon nodded, “She’s right.  We need Elena to be bait, and the school works because anyplace outside the gym will be empty and away from the public eye.  It’s perfect.”  When Elena still looked unsure, he said, “Until we get him, this house isn’t safe, for anyone who lives in it.”

That decided it for her and she nodded firmly, “I’ll do it.”  At Stefan’s worried look, she added, “I’ll be with the two of you, I’ll be safe.” Elena looked between the two vampires, reassuring herself as well.  Stefan glanced at his brother, not looking comforted, but nodded nonetheless.

Renfri let a breath out of her nose, “Good, this guy’s been a pain in the ass.”

Damon got up to throw an arm around his niece’s shoulders and grinned, “Looks like you get a date after all.”  

She threw her head back and groaned, “Joy,” making Elena smile just a little.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The group entered the gym that was decked out like a cheaper version of a 1950s high school movie set with a projector showing videos to go along with the music playing, adding to the atmosphere.  Elena held onto Stefan’s arm while Renfri and Damon came up right beside them, scanning the room.  Renfri spotted Caroline and Bonnie standing together and made a beeline for them with Elena right behind her and the brothers following at a distance.

“Having fun?” Elena asked the other girls.

“No, but this,” Caroline gestured to her intricate outfit, “took about two hours, so I’m at least staying half of that.”

Bonnie leaned over to look past Renfri and Elena, “What’s Damon doing here?”  They all turned to see him looking around the room and talking with his brother. 

“He asked to come, I promised he’ll behave,” Elena said unconvincingly. 

“Actually, he lost a bet with Stefan and we thought making him chaperone a high school dance like a responsible guardian would be a good punishment,” Renfri interjected, hopefully making it more believeable.  Thankfully, Caroline and Bonnie to smiled a little at the thought of punishing Damon.

“What, is this a threesome now?  You and the Salvatore brothers?” Caroline asked the brunette and Ren scrunched her nose up.

Elena sighed, “No, but if I’m gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon.  It’s not like I can kill him.”

Caroline hummed, “Hmm, there’s a thought.” 

“I’ll help,” Bonnie added and they clinked their cups together, making Elena and Renfri smile.  Elena soon decided to find Stefan and wandered off in his direction by the punch bowl.

Damon, possibly sensing his death being plotted, soon sauntered over, looking mischievious.

“Hi Bonnie, want to dance?”

“Ugh, I’m outta here,” she said without actually addressing him.

“Please give me another chance,” he pleaded, getting in her way.

“At what, making her hate you more?” Renfri asked mockingly.  Bonnie walked off, quickly followed by Caroline after snapping at him to back off; good for her.

Elena returned with Stefan in tow just as their friends departed, “Where’d they go?”

Damon turned around and shrugged with false confusion, “I don’t know.”

“What’d you say to them?”

“I was perfectly polite,” Damon responded but Renfri held up a hand in a ‘so-so’ gesture.  “Elena, would you like to dance with me?”

Renfri jumped in, “I’ll save you the rejection, let’s get some punch,” and she dragged him off as Elena giggled and asked Stefan to dance with her.

Damon groaned as he was pulled over to the drinks table, where she snatched a cup before finding a table for them to stand at, “You guys are so mean to me.”

Renfri shrugged, “I saved you from getting rejected by the girl who has the same face as your love.  That would have hurt, whether you admit it or not.”  He crossed his arms and hummed, not deigning to respond as he returned to sentry duty, his eyes combing through the crowd.  

After a few minutes of sipping a drink and watching Stefan dance with Elena among the students in the gym, Renfri’s history teacher ambled over on Damon’s other side.

“Hey, I don’t recognize you, how’d you get roped into chaperoning?”  Her uncle looked at him, then the crowd, then the stranger again, clearly wondering who he was and why he was talking to him.

“Oh, I’m Alaric Saltzman, the new history teacher,” he added, going to shake Damon’s hand.

“Ah, the cursed faculty position.  Damon,” he took the man’s hand, eyeing him, “Salvatore.”

Renfri popped out from her uncle’s other side, clearly surprising her teacher who hadn’t seen her standing behind the young man.

“Hi Mr. Saltzman, nice jacket.”

He looked startled and glanced between the two, “Hello Renfri, uh, you look great too.  So this is your…?”

“Older cousin and guardian,” she smiled up at him innocently.

Mr. Saltzman glanced at the crowd and they followed his gaze, “And Stefan?”

“He’s my little brother.  I’m legal guardian to him and my little cousin here, hence the chaperoning,” Damon responded, putting on the typical responsible guardian act for the teacher.

“Renfri’s very bright, and I’ve heard Stefan is too but I haven’t had a chance to see it fo myself,” the teacher commented.

“Well, their attendance records’ are a little spotty; family drama,” Damon looked at him and shrugged before turning away. 

“No parents?”

Renfri’s smile dropped and she stepped back, closer to Damon’s side as he shifted to stare at the man with steel blue eyes.

“No, it’s just the three of us now,” her uncle said, scanning the man up and down.

“You, uh, live here your whole life?”

“On and off, travel a bit.”

“Really, where?  Around the states?”

Damon stopped scanning the room to look at the teacher with marked suspicion in his eyes, making Mr. Saltzman realize he was asking too much and he immediately laughed it off.

“Oh, I’m sorry, nosy.  I don’t mean to pry,” though Renfri had a feeling he did, “enjoy the rest of the dance.” Then he wandered off into the crowd.

She tapped the rim of her cup, “I’m not the only one who thought that was weird, right?”  

Damon’s face was skeptical as he tracked the teacher through the crowd. 

“Nope.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The dance had been in full swing for a while now, and they hadn’t noticed anyone suspicious or that looked like the vampire who had gone after Elena.  Damon decided to blend by dancing with some of the girls, but it really only made him stand out more.  Elena had laughed and made a comment about not being able to take him anywhere, when he appeared right in front of them and dragged his niece out onto the dance floor.

“What’s the point of dressing up if you’re not gonna dance?” he asked, pulling her through the crowd as a new song came on.

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes, “I would have danced with my friends but you chased them away and Elena’s busy with Stefan.”

He scoffed, “I did no such thing, but I would be glad to show you how it was done in the 50s.”  He wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her snort, then started teaching her different popular dance moves starting with the twist, moving to the lindy hop, and even attempting to jitterbug with her.  She couldn’t help laughing at the unabashed swagger he demonstrated as he showed her each move and when she attempted to copy them.  She managed well enough until they tried to jitterbug, which was more difficult than she thought and turned into him just twirling and swinging her around to the music, making her laugh wildly.

Just as she was being pulled in from another twirl, Damon froze, the smile falling from his face as he tilted his head in another direction. Then, he grinned in excitement, startling his niece.  He grabbed her tight around the waist then all Renfri saw was a blur of colors until they stopped inside the half-lit cafeteria.  As soon as he let go, Renfri turned to where he was facing and saw the vampire they’d been looking for get thrown across a lunch table by Stefan away from a flustered Elena.  As he rushed to his feet again, Damon stepped forward, having grabbed a broken broom handle from the floor, ensuring Renfri was behind him.  He called out to the other vampire, drawing his attention away from her friend briefly.

“Hey, dickhead.  Nobody wants to kill you, we just want to talk,” he stated calmly, though he was holding a sharp piece of wood that was resting casually  against his shoulder, implying otherwise.  The vampire just grinned then rushed at the other two again, jumping over the table.  Before he could even land, Damon had tossed the broom handle to his brother, who then sank it into the stranger’s chest as he came down over the table, making him groan loudly and drop to his knees.

“Now you feel like talking?” Stefan mocked.  Renfri followed Damon over to Elena’s side to watch as they interrogated the vampire that was now impaled on the floor.

“Screw you,” he managed.

Renfri sighed, “Pride will only get you killed.”  

Stefan dug the splintered wood deeper into his flesh, twisted it, and growled, “Wrong answer.”

Renfri whistled and clapped, “I like bad cop Stefan for once,” getting a roll of the eyes from her older uncle, who apparently had the capital on playing bad cop.

“Why are you doing this?” Stefan asked.

“Because it’s fun.”  

Another twist of the broom handle and a moan, “What do you want with Elena?”

The vampire looked up at the girl and gave a creepy smile, “She looks like Katherine.”

Damon and Stefan looked confused while Renfri just threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, “Jesus fuck, another one?!”

“You knew Katherine?” the older brother asked, surprised.

“Aw, you thought you were the only ones,” the brothers shared a look as the wounded vampire taunted them, “you don’t even remember me.”

Damon ignored his comments and leaned over with his hands on his knees, “Tell me how to get in the tomb.”

“No.”  

Stefan, surprisingly, shoved the stake in further.  Renfri thought Damon would have taken over the torture part at this point if he thought he could get info on the tomb, but the little brother took the initiative it seemed.

The vampire let out a pinched, keening sound like his throat was slowly being squeezed shut until Stefan let go of the wood again, allowing him to gulp in air.

“The grimoire,” he finally gasped.

“Where is it,” Damon snapped impatiently.  The vampire only gave him another look.  Renfri wondered if he was seriously willing to die over this.

Another twist of the stake, holding the pressure this time.

“Check the journal!  The journal, use Johnathon’s journal.  Jonathan Gilbert’s.”  Elena had looked away at this point, having a hard time watching the violence, but Renfri felt no such compunction.  This guy had almost killed her and Elena for sport, she didn’t mind seeing him receive his karma.  The Salvatore brothers seemed to be having a silent conversation of sorts, relying only on looks and subtle head movements.

“Who else is working with you?” Stefan asked.

When the vampire stayed quiet, Damon jumped in, “Who else is there?”

“No,” the vampire denied steadily, “you’re going to have to kill me.”

Renfri watched as Damon looked at Stefan and rolled his eyes, waving a hand at the vampire on his knees.  Stefan’s lips thinned but didn’t say anything.

Stefan stepped forward and yanked the broom handle from the man’s chest before plunging it back in, this time into his heart.  Renfri sucked in a short breath in surprise as Elena loudly gasped.  They all watched as the vampire’s skin quickly turned gray, veins protruding all over his body, as he collapsed to the ground, dead.

Elena struggled to put her scrambled thoughts to words, “What–but–ho–how are we going to find the others now!?”  

Stefan looked at her grimly but Damon answered, “He had to die.”  

The brunette spun to face him, “But–”

“Elena,” Stefan interrupted her, “he’d been invited in.”

Renfri stepped to her friend’s side and put a hand on her shoulder, “You, Jenna, and Jeremy wouldn’t have been safe, it had to be done.”  Elena reluctantly nodded, though she still looked upset.  

Ka-thunk.

All four of their heads shot up when they heard a door slam shut in the hallway, then a shadow passed over the small window of the cafeteria door.

Stefan looked to his brother, “Go, I got this.”  Damon sped away to deal with whoever had passed by.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri had gotten Elena settled in the car while Stefan dashed away into the night to dump the body somewhere no one would find it.  Renfri headed back inside to look for Damon, hoping to find him quickly.  She was so over this dance.

She found him at the end of the corridor leading from the cafeteria back to the gym with Stefan also leaning against the wide door frame across from him, talking.

“When the founding families burned her, they took her things and you were hoping that Dad’s journal would tell you where it is.”

Damon gave him a condescending smile, “Look at you, putting the pieces together.  Good for you.”  Stefan just smiled back until the older brother dropped the act, “I was half right.  Well it’s out there now, let the games begin.”  His blue eyes flicked over his younger brother’s shoulder to his niece as she came up to them and stopped to stand facing the two with her arms crossed.  Stefan glanced at her before turning to Damon again.

“My offer still stands.”

“Yeah, with some hidden caveats, no doubt.”

“No, nothing hidden about it,” Stefan stared into his brother’s eyes, urging him to go with it, “No lies, no deception.  I’m there when you open up that tomb, you and Katherine go, and the other 26 vampires die.”  Renfri’s eyes flicked back and forth between the brothers, the tension mounting.

“And if I agree?”

“I’ll help you.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Because I’m your brother.”

Both Renfri and Damon audibly scoffed at that, “No, that’s not gonna cut it.”

“Because I want you gone.”  Renfri shook her head in disappointment at this.

Damon tilted his head a bit in acknowledgement of the reasoning and stared at his little brother for a few more seconds in silence.  Finally, he said, “Okay,” in a hushed voice and Stefan nodded as well, satisfied.  

Renfri eyed them both cautiously, “Sooo, truce?  No more infighting?”  

The brothers looked at each other and both raised their eyebrows and pursed their lips in consideration.  Then Damon smiled and said, “Sure, truce, now that we’re working together and all.”  He clapped his hands on Stefan’s shoulders before walking past him and down the dark hallway, in the opposite direction of her car.

Renfri huffed, “I guess he’s getting home on his own.”  She turned to Stefan, “Elena’s in the car, I’ll drop you guys off at her place before I head back, I’m exhausted.”  Stefan nodded and they made their way to the parking lot, eager for the night to be over.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri was in her bathroom and standing at her sink vanity, pulling bobby pins from her hair carefully, creating a pile on the emerald green marbled counter.  She paused when she felt something shift.  She turned slowly to see her oldest uncle leaning against her the door frame a few feet away.  She sighed and turned back to the mirror to complete her task.

“You don’t believe him, do you,” she said glumly.

“I’m not sure.  We don’t have the best history of getting along ever since we transitioned, so I doubt he actually wants to help me.”

Renfri glanced at him, “But didn’t he say it was because he wants you gone?  Which, by the way, I don’t entirely believe.  It feels like something he keeps saying as an excuse or that he’s trying to convince himself of, not like he actually wants it.”

Damon shrugged, “Who knows, Stef’s always been all up in his head about feelings and brother bonding or whatever, but then he has emotional whiplash where he blames me for everything that’s ever gone wrong in his life.”

Renfri raised her eyebrows at him accusingly.

He raised his hands up, “Sure, I actually did some of those things, but not everything is my fault.  Stefan’s never been a good liar, though, except to himself.  So we’ll see whether he actually follows through or royally screws me over.”  He paused and waited for her to turn to him again, “But, I don’t intend to wait around for it to happen.  I’m finding that grimoire first so he doesn’t get the chance.”  Renfri stared at him for a second, contemplating what he said as he watched for her reaction.  She realized briefly that he was watching to decide if he could trust her to side with him over Stefan, and her heart tightened in her chest a little.  She wished her uncles had a better relationship, wished she didn’t have to take sides.  

But she did in this instance.  

She stopped and let her hands drop from her hair, now hanging in loose, copper curls with the pins removed.

“I’ll do what I can to help you, Uncle Damon,” she said, “I already tried to talk to him about not fighting with you so much and being standoffish, but I don’t think he’ll equate that to helping you open a tomb full of vampires and Katherine.  I doubt he’ll cooperate if he gets his hands on the grimoire first.”

Damon nodded, clearly in agreement, so she continued her thought process.

“He’s been so focused on protecting Elena and it’s sort of become his main focus, so I think he views the tomb being opened as too big of a threat to her and the life he wants to live here with her; too much of a risk for something to go wrong.  Elena might actually want to help, she’s just kind and caring like that, but Stefan will low-key try to sabotage you.  I’ll think you’ll need me on your side with him playing a double agent.”

Damon huffed a laugh, “You’re right about Stefan, he and his hero hair will probably do anything he can to get in the way.”  He pushed off the frame to stand up straight.

“I don’t need you, I could easily find the spell book on my own.”

He turned to go but paused and tilted his head to the side.

“But it’d be fun to have a junior partner in crime, Little Red.”

He smirked at her mischievously before walking away, but Renfri just smiled, knowing it meant that he was deciding to trust her.

She silently resolved to not break that trust.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Damon had taken full advantage of Stefan’s offer, and assigned Elena to search for the journal since it could be in her parent’s stuff that was packed up.  After spending the day looking into any other possible ways of finding a lead, Damon had Renfri ask Jenna if they could come over for dinner.  She wanted to frame it as the two families having a friendly get together, but she knew Damon wanted to feel out Elena’s intentions and wait for Stefan to arrive in order to try and keep him honest on what he’s been doing.  Jenna was happy to comply, especially when they offered to cook, and she had always liked Ren.  

They found themselves in the Gilberts’ kitchen, Damon and Renfri prepping ingredients for chicken carbonara on the island while Jenna sat on the counter by the doorway and watched, sipping wine.

“My father had never approved of anyone I dated, which only made me want them more, of course.  What about you?” Damon said to Elena’s aunt.  Renfri cringed inwardly, knowing who would come to mind.

“There were a few guys,” Jenna admitted, “Logan wasn’t the only loser I’ve dated.”

“Did they ever find him, is he still missing?”  Damon asked casually, making Renfri glance at him.

“He’s not missing, he’s in the Bahamas working on his tan.  Very entitled, that one, marches to the beat of his own drum,” Jenna remarked, finishing her glass.  Damon immediately went to refill it as she added, “He’s a Fell, they’re all snooty.”  

He made prolonged eye contact with her and smirked before turning back to the counter and said, “Hello, Elena.”

As Jenna turned to look for her niece and ask where she’d been, Renfri quickly poked a finger into his ribs and whispered, “Stop flirting, you relentless asshole.  I like Jenna, don’t mess with her.”  He only wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her roll her eyes and slap his arm.  She stepped away quickly when Elena spotted the two in her kitchen and returned to her task of making the pasta from scratch. 

“Is Stefan with you?” Damon asked immediately, looking up from his cutting board.

Elena looked at him suspiciously before glancing at Renfri questioningly, who just shrugged innocently, like she was just along for the ride, and continued cooking.

“Um, he’ll be here soon,” she said, still watching Damon warily.

As Renfri finished making the fresh pasta into long strips and twirled them into bundles, Jenna wandered off to tell Jeremy that dinner would be ready in a little while. Elena went to get plates for the table and as Damon passed her, he intentionally bumped into her, nearly pressing their fronts together. 

“Don’t do that,” Elena admonished.

He played dumb, “Do what?”

“You know what, that move was deliberate,” she said, shaking her head at him.

“Yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the—sink,” he gestured…from his position at the stove.  

Renfri forced out a breath, “Do I have to tell you to stop flirting again ?  I can’t take you anywhere.”

Damon ignored her, “Speaking of Stefan, where is he?  He’s missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely.”

He paused, seemingly to contemplate something before he continued.

“Is it real?”

“Is what real?” Elena asked.

“This renewed sense of brotherhood,” he quickly tasted the sauce from the pot, “Can I trust him?”  He turned to look at her.

She met his eyes, but hesitated before saying, “Yes, you can trust him,” then turned away to place the salad bowl on the dining room table.  Renfri caught Damon’s eyes briefly, both of their brows furrowed in concern, before he sped over to stand just behind the girl as she turned back around.  

His piercing cobalt eyes stared right into her brown ones, “Can I trust him?”

She looked up at him, annoyed, “I’m wearing vervain, Damon, it’s not gonna work.”

His face twisted in irritation and a bit of offense, “I’m not compelling you.”  She looked surprised, then a little remorseful for the assumption.  

“I just want you to answer me, honestly.”

Renfri watched Elena’s face carefully as she took in Damon’s sincere question.  She could tell he wanted to believe Stefan would help him, that Elena would help him, but he needed to hear it from her to decide if it was the truth.

She looked his face up and down, mouth parting to take a breath, before she said softly, “Of course you can,” then turned away again.  Damon’s eyes watched her carefully, but Renfri saw a mix of relief and concern in them.  Renfri watched Elena from the corner of her eye as she began to boil the water for the pasta.  She wasn’t sure what to believe.  Her friend had never been a great liar, especially if she felt bad about it.  Renfri and Damon knew that Stefan would likely try to get to the spell book first to stop him from opening the tomb, but she wasn’t sure if Elena didn’t know about it or was working with him.

Damon stayed where he was for a couple moments, seemingly lost in thought, his eyes soft, before he blinked and snapped out of it.

“You know, there was a time I trusted him more than anyone.”

“Trust breeds trust,” Elena chirped, popping a piece of food in her mouth.

“Or betrayal,” Ren muttered, spurring an odd look from Elena.

“Are you lecturing me?” Damon asked teasingly.

The brunette put a hand on her hip and teased right back, “Do you need to be lectured?”

Damon rolled his eyes, “I just want her back, I’m sure you can understand that.”

“I can understand that you’d do anything for her, yes,” she replied, moving to place a bowl of salad toppings on the table. 

Damon turned to let her, but stayed just behind her and said lowly, playful tone gone, “Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way.”

He walked away, back to the sauce on the stove beside his niece, but Renfri’s eyes stayed on her friend, watching as she stayed facing the other way for an extra moment or two before moving to finish setting the table.  The redhead couldn’t let go of her suspicion, as much as she wanted to, and worried that her uncle would end up getting hurt by trusting Elena and inevitably retaliate.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They had already finished dinner, Elena and Jenna were cleaning up since they’re guests had cooked while Damon and Renfri took turns playing Halo with Jeremy on his Xbox in the living room.  The kitchen looked right through the dining room and into the living area where they played, but she couldn’t quite hear what Jenna whispered that made her uncle smirk, or Elena’s response that turned it into an eye roll.  She could tell that Jenna thought Damon was attractive, and probably said as much, but she was equally as sure that Elena had shut it down for the sake of keeping his ego in check in addition to warning her aunt away from the temptation.

As she watched Damon take his turn with the controller, Jeremy suddenly paused the game to check a text then toss his phone aside.

“Who are you dodging?” the older Salvatore asked, keeping his eyes on the screen.

“This girl Anna,” Jeremy replied absently, “she can be, uh, persistent.”

“And you’d rather be friends?” Renfri pried.  Jeremy shrugged, unsure.

Damon made a curious face, “Is she hot?”  Of course a man would ask that.

“Yeah, yeah, but she could be weird.”

“Psh, hot trumps weird, truuust me,” Damon advised, making Jeremy laugh a bit.

Renfri rolled her eyes, “That depends on who you ask and what you’re looking for, really.  Only manwhores say that; decent guys aren’t shallow and look at other qualities as well,” she educated the two males.  “Although, there are girls that can be just as trashy, to be honest.  May all the trashy people have each other and leave us decent people alone,” she declared.

Jeremy snickered while Damon barked out a laugh and asked, “Since when are you the dating guru, Miss Matchmaker?”

She waved him off, “I’m not, I just know what I want as a girl and a friend of other girls.  I’ve only dated a couple guys since moving here and they didn’t last long.  The boys here are either entitled assholes, desperate and boring, or just not my type.  There’s not exactly a wide variety to choose from, so I gave up on dating anyone from town last year.  I’ll probably have to wait for college to find someone I might click with.”

“Yeah, most of the guys around here are dicks,” Jeremy agreed.

“Of course you’d agree, Little Loner Gilbert,” Ren teased.

“Don’t worry, Little Red, you’ve got plenty of time for romance when you’re older.  Why not just have some fun while you’re still young?” Damon proposed, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Ren gaped at him, her lips twitching up a bit, “Are you seriously encouraging me to start my ho phase early, you enabler?”

Jeremy burst out laughing and Damon just shrugged, grinning, “If that’s what the kids say these days, sure, why not.  Be in your ho phase.”  

Elena heard that last bit and called out while Renfri joined Jeremy in his laughter, “Damon, what the hell are you telling Ren to do??”

Just then the doorbell rang and Elena let them know it was Stefan.  Damon immediately dropped the controller and got up to answer the door with Elena, so Renfri quickly followed, making Jeremy throw up his hands as they quit on him.  As Elena opened the front door, the two came up behind her, making Stefan pause in his greeting, his face becoming wary.

“No, go on, finish what you were about to say, Stefan,” Ren encouraged with a wave of her hand then held her hands behind her back patiently.

“You missed family dinner, Stef, so it must have been important.  Well?”  Damon prodded, eyeing him.  Stefan sighed then waved them out onto the porch to talk privately, away from Jenna and Jeremy.

Renfri closed the door behind her and went to sit on the bench swing on the side of the porch while the others stayed standing.  She wanted one as well, but it wouldn’t suit their type of front entrance, they didn’t really have a porch.  Maybe a hanging chair by the window in her room would be nice…

Stefan began to report his findings, bringing Renfri’s wandering thoughts back to the present.  He revealed that Alaric had been given the journal by Jeremy after handing in his extra credit essay.

“Wait, that old book was the Gilbert journal?” Renfri interjected, “I walked in on him giving Mr. Saltzman an old book cause he’d said he would love to read a first person account of the civil war.  I didn’t even make the connection that it was his ancestor’s journal, fuck!”  She threw her hands up in frustration and leaned back in the swing.

Stefan shook his head, “It doesn’t matter now, someone took the journal from his desk, he doesn’t have it anymore.”

“Well, who took it!?” Damon snapped.

“I don’t know,” Stefan said calmly, shrugging his shoulders with his hands in his front pockets.

Damon whipped around to point at his brother, “You know what, that teacher, there’s something really off about him.”

“He doesn’t know anything, somebody got to it right before me.”

Renfri interjected, “He doesn’t know anything?  I don’t know about that, but he sure as fuck is suspicious.  He came up to us at the dance and started questioning Damon, not even seeing me right next to him at first.  He was really pushy, asking if we had any parents, how long he’d lived here, if he’d traveled and where.  It was fucking strange.”  She crossed her arms defiantly, her eyes narrowing as Stefan avoided her gaze.

“You’re overthinking it, I’m sure he was just being diligent.  We don’t have the best attendance record at school and he was probably just looking out for his students’ wellbeing.”

Renfri glared at Stefan with critical eyes, ignoring Elena’s pointed look attempting to get her to back off, “You certainly are quick to defend him.”

“We’re getting off track,” Stefan bit out sharply, “someone else took the journal and we need to figure out who.”

Damon crossed his own arms as he stood beside his niece, anxious to get to the bottom of it all, “Who else knew it was there?”

Stefan couldn’t help but to turn his head to glance at Jeremy through the window.  Damon immediately followed his gaze then started for the door again.

“No,” Stefan said like it was a reflex.

“Damon, leave him out of it!” Elena called.

“What’s the big deal?  I’m only asking him a question,” he said as he opened the door.

“Easy,” Ren murmured as she followed right behind him, “He’s a stubborn teenager, you won’t get a straight answer out of him if you come at him strong.”  She glanced back at Stefan and Elena in solidarity for once, exasperated at Damon’s bullheaded determination.

Damon walked straight into the living room and perched himself on the arm of the sofa where Jeremy still sat, playing his video game.

“So, I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day.  Who else did you show it to?”

The teenager was still playing the game, eyes on the screen and barely managed a, “Huh?”

Damon kept a fake pleasantness plastered on his face, “Don’t ask questions, just spill.”  At that, Jeremy looked at him with a confused smile.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

Renfri jumped in, “Jeremy, that old journal I saw you loan to Mr. Saltzman, did you tell anyone else about it?  You got help with your extra credit essay, right?”

“Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?” he asked instead of answering, and she could see her uncle’s patience thinning.

Elena intervened, “Jer, who did you tell?”

“Um, just that girl, Anna.  She helped me choose my topic and find some sources.”

Damon jumped on that, “The hot, weird one?”  Jeremy nodded.

“Wait, who’s Anna?” Stefan asked.

“That’s what I want to find out,” the elder Salvatore turned back to the boy, “how do you know her?”

Jeremy seemed perplexed at this line of questioning, “I…just know her?  She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight…”  

Elena went to answer her ringing phone as Damon said, “Perfect!  I’ll drive, come on.”  

“I’ll join you, I could use a new friend,” Ren said cheerfully to Jeremy, who just nodded, a little confused with what was happening but just went along with it.

Renfri clocked Stefan’s intense stare as he watched them leave the house and get in Damon’s car, making her gut clench in worry.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Once at the Grill, Damon went straight for the bar as she and Jeremy got seats by the pool tables to wait for Anna.  While they waited, they chatted about little things like school and Ash.  Ren used one of their natural silences to send a quick text to Damon letting him know that she thought Stefan was too eager to see them leave and that he must have known more and left it out.  She got a quick response telling her that he was sure of it, but figured this lead would be easier and faster than trying to sneak around, catch him in a lie, and force him to tell them what he knew.

Renfri looked up again when Jeremy called his friend’s name, waving over a teenage girl with asian features and dark hair in loose waves.  As Anna came over, she quickly scanned the redhead while maintaining a polite interest.

“Who’s this?” she asked Jeremy.

“This is Renfri.  She’s friends with my sister, but she’s pretty cool otherwise.”

“Damn, Jer, I didn’t know being friends with Elena counted as a defect in your book,” Renfri remarked with a laugh and he just shrugged with a little boyish quirk of his lips.  She then turned to the new girl at the table, “Hi Anna, my name’s Renfri but you can just call me Ren if you want, most people do.”

Anna gave her a pretty smile, “Either one works for me.  I like your full name, it’s different from the typical American teenager name you hear everyday.”

“Hey!” Jeremy said playfully.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with typical teenager names!  It’s just interesting.  Is it Scottish?”

Renfri nodded in surprise, “Yeah, it’s Scots-Gaelic in origin, from what I know, though most people wouldn’t have been able to guess that.  Do you read a lot Anna?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I’m home schooled, so I spend a lot of time in the library, as Jeremy can tell you.  I do a lot of reading outside of the educational requirements though.”

“Ooo, what genres do you read?  What are some of yo—”

Renfri’s phone buzzed, stopping her mid-sentence, and she checked it.

Stop nerding out and come out the side door, time to set up an ambush.

She looked up sheepishly, “I’ve got to go.  Sorry I couldn’t stay to hang out longer, but I’m sure I’ll see you around, Anna.  Bye, Jeremy.”  She waved and strode towards the entrance on the other side of the room leading to the street parking.

As she stepped out the door, she felt something clamp down on her shoulder and she gave a shout.

“ Aahh! ”  she quickly cut off her voice once she saw her uncle.  “Fucking hell, don’t do that!”  

He waved off her complaints lazily, “Let’s go.”  They quickly climbed into his light blue Camaro and the engine revved as it pulled out onto the street.  Damon had quickly tracked down where Anna was staying, a little motel on the outskirts of town, and on the way there Damon filled her in on who Anna was.

“I thought the name had sounded familiar,” he said as they drove through the main downtown area, “and I was right.  Anna is a vampire; she and her mother were friends with Katherine back in 1864.”

“Wait, does that mean she’s older than you?” Renfri asked, concern bleeding into her tone.

Damon sighed, “Yeah, unfortunately.  She and her mother are over 500 years old, and the older vampires are, the stronger they are.”

“ Shit ,” she breathed, “she’s certainly good at playing the innocent and quirky teenager.”

He shrugged, “Eh, you get used to doing what you need to in order to blend in with the public, it comes with the gig.  We’re going to have to go about this carefully, because of her age, but she’ll be wanting the same thing I want: into the tomb.”

“Why is that?”

He grinned, “Her mother, Pearl, is in there.  She had a little flirtation going with Johnathon Gilbert back then and when they started rounding up vampires, he threw her right in with the rest of them when he found out.”

Renfri listened with wide eyes, “Damn, that’s some hardcore betrayal, right there.  Talk about a woman scorned.”

Damon scoffed, “It was her own fault.  She was in a town filled with vampire haters and chose to have a fling with someone dedicated to hunting her own kind down.  Her own stupidity got her caught.”

Renfri side-eyed him but didn’t contradict his words, “I guess, but it still sucks.  I can see why Anna is desperate to get in there, though.  Maybe she could work with us?”

Damon shook his head, “ Hell no, way too risky, and I don’t trust her.”

“Alright,” she quickly relented, “it was just a thought.  I’ll trust you to handle her, though it sounds like she could skewer you if she wanted, given her age.”

“Strength is great and all, but you can kill an older vampire if you get the jump on them.  Just gotta be sneaky, though I don’t think it’ll come to that.”

Renfri sighed as they pulled over to park on a residential street roughly a block over from the motel.  They got out and Damon rummaged in his trunk for a second before pulling something out of a small duffle bag.  It was a smooth, narrow wooden stake made from a dark wood that had an intricately carved handle and a pointed end.  

He flipped it in his hand and held it out to her, “Straight from the dusty attic of your vampire hating ancestors.  If worse comes to worst, it’s always good to have a backup plan, though we’ll probably be fine.  Using your little hunter’s gun wouldn’t be a good idea unless we want the other tenants calling the cops, so a stake it is.”

She took it hesitantly, unused to the idea of defending herself with just a sharp piece of wood, but quickly tucked it into the back of her jeans’ waistband and flipped her jacket over it.  She also quickly tied up her hair into a high pony just in case.  If things got ugly fast, she’d want it out of her face.

Damon held her to his side as he closed the distance to the motel in seconds, setting her down in the dimly lit parking lot.  He quickly compelled the manager to unlock a room on the second floor and then forget it.  Anna had left the bedside lamp on so they made sure not to touch it as they did a quick search of the room but didn’t find the journal.  They’re weren’t many places to hide things, she even tried pushing up some of the ceiling tiles to look in the hollow area above but had no luck.  He then decided she would hide in the bathroom and not come out until he told her while he dealt with Anna.  How he dealt with her was left up to interpretation, unfortunately, leaving her concerned.  Renfri was fine with staying hidden, she was already worried that he would get his ass handed to him because of the age difference, she didn’t want to be a distraction that got him killed.  

He stood to the side of the window and kept watch.  When he quickly stepped back and nodded his head at her, she backed into the dark bathroom, pulled the door almost all the way shut, and gripped the stake tightly in her fist as Damon positioned himself silently behind where the door would swing open.  Within thirty seconds, the doorknob rattled and the lock clicked open.   Renfri silently watched as the vampire girl entered the room only to be grabbed by the throat by Damon and shoved into the section of the wall jutting out across from the beds.  She was quick to get a hand on his throat as well, however, and remained firm while he struggled.  

They remained in a power struggle for about five seconds, seeing who would hold out while their air was restricted, before he finally wheezed, “Okay, I give in,” and they both let go.  Damon took a step back and Renfri heard him cough harshly twice while Anna took steadier, though still hurried, gulps of air into her lungs.

“Damn, you're strong for a little thing,” he quipped, though his eyes remained serious as they watched the older vampire cautiously.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to find me,” the girl said dryly.  She wandered over to the dresser and placed her bag on top of it.

“How long have you been here?” he asked, watching her carefully. 

“I arrived around half-past comet, watching you screw up every chance you had to open that tomb.”

“How did you know about the spell?”

“I didn’t say much back then, which means I heard everything,” she smiled mischievously, much less the sweet teenager Renfri saw earlier and more the arrogant vampire she actually was.

“If you’ve been here this whole time, why are we only crossing paths now?”

She sighed lightly, “I like to get others to do my dirty work,” then stepped past him toward the beds.  

He paused then turned to face her again, “Like Logan Fell?”  She turned her head to him.  “Yeah, thanks for that.  The little bastard shot me.”

She scoffed and crossed her arms, “Logan was an idiot.  We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass.  I needed his family’s journal, I couldn’t let him die,” she paused, head turning to the right a bit.

“You can come out now,” she said in a slightly raised voice.

Renfri tensed, holding her breath and waited.

Damon sighed and added, “Come on out, Little Red, no point in hiding anymore.”

Renfri slipped the stake back into her waistband, making sure it was covered by her jacket, before she pushed open the bathroom door and stepped out.  She eyed Anna cautiously, glancing at Damon as he tipped his head at her, indicating for her to join him.  As she walked over to stand beside her uncle, she looked at Anna again.

“I’m guessing you already knew who I was then,” she presumed.

The older vampire smiled sweetly, “Yes, I already knew you were a Salvatore, sorry for the charade earlier.”

Damon interrupted, returning to the topic, “What did you want with the Fell journals?”

The girl’s sharp gaze returned to him, calculating, “I thought it contained the location of the witch’s spell book; I was wrong.  According to her journal, Honoria Fell gave the grimoire to Johnathon Gilbert.”  She moved over to her bag, pulling out a collection of tattered pages wrapped in worn leather, “And according to this, he gave it to your father.  So, now you’re going to help me find it.”

Damon glanced at the journal in her hands, “Why would I help you?”

“Because you and I both want into that tomb,” she turned to a specific page and held it out to him.

He took the book, reading through the section she pointed out.

“Hmm,” he closed the journal and wrapped the strap around it, “sorry, we work alone.”  He nodded at Ren, and she followed him quickly, making sure not to turn her back on the older vampire.  She was shocked that Anna had just let them take the journal and leave.

As they reached his car, she asked, “Why do you think she just let us go with the journal?”

“She still doesn’t know where the spell book is, but is probably banking on me finding it since dear old Dad was the last one who had it.  Here.”  As she buckled her seat belt, he handed her the journal, pointing out the page and section he had read earlier as he pulled the Camaro out onto the road.  Renfri furrowed her brow as she read:

The Fell family believed that it should be I, not them, who protected the witch’s spell book, but I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter.  They mocked my fear but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear.  He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book.  He said he would carry it to his grave.

Renfri looked up, “But this doesn’t tell us where it is, only that your dad hid it and didn’t tell anyone.”

Damon’s mouth quirked up a bit, “Oh, I think dear old Dad was a bit more literal than that.  He always was an unpoetic, no-nonsense kind of guy, it made him a dick.”

Renfri snorted, “So you’re saying he literally carried it to his grave?  Like, had it buried with him?  That’s stupid.”  Damon just nodded and hummed in confirmation.  They sat in silence for a minute as they headed in the direction of the old cemetery before she spoke up once more.

“What if Stefan gets there before us?  He was hiding something when we left, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Saltzman made a copy since he’s such a history nut, what if Stefan read it first?”

Damon watched the road as he answered grimly, “Then I’ll just take the spell book, and Stefan will have earned a beating for getting in my way.”  Renfri sighed, nervous about what they would find in the graveyard…and who.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They crept through the dark woods, passing numerous other thin slabs of stone protruding from the ground at odd angles, showing their age.  Damon stopped and put out a hand in front of her, eyes staring far ahead.  Renfri followed his gaze and could see an orange light flickering far ahead, and another faint white light shifting around in the direction of the ground.  The lines around Damon’s mouth pulled tight as his lips pinched together and he clenched his jaw.  

Fuck , Renfri thought, clenching her fists in anticipation of the mess that would unfold in a minute.

Damon held a finger to his mouth and she nodded, eyes showing she was nervous but upset as well.  She let him lift her up and hold her to his side again so he could move them silently and stealthily closer to the sources of the torch and flashlight up ahead.  She felt the air displaced around her as she moved with him then was set down on a patch of ground coated in pine needles.  They were now only a few yards away from what was now clearly an open grave with Stefan pulling something large and square out of an old, rough wooden coffin.  The torch planted at the corner of the rectangular hole in the ground cast shadows on the brunette girl standing over the grave and holding a flashlight over what must have been Emily’s spellbook.  They stood in the shadows and watched as Stefan grabbed what looked like a thin piece of wire or twine and pulled on it, ripping open what looked like a wax seal that covered the edges of the book.  He removed the cover, revealing a collection of parchment pages that had fallen loose from the binding.

“Well, what do you know,” Elena stood from her crouch and pointed the flashlight at Damon with Renfri standing just behind him, “this is an interesting turn of events.”  Damon looked far from interested, and much closer to angry and bitter…and a little bit hurt.  Rightfully so, Ren thought.

Renfri took a step forward, crossing her arms, letting the disappointment show on her face.  Elena looked surprised and a little ashamed after meeting her gaze, quickly looking away.  Stefan’s face lost its surprise and shifted immediately into wary defiance.

His dark green eyes went to Renfri, standing next to her older uncle in solidarity, “So you’ve been helping him this whole time?”

“Says the one who lied about wanting to help from the start. Yes , I decided to help him get his love back since that’s what family does,” she spat angrily, finally able to release the frustration she felt over him betraying his brother.

Stefan shook his head, “Ren, you’re only going to get hurt if you stay close to him.  He’ll just use you for his own benefit, he doesn’t care about you just because you’re related.”

Renfri had to clench her jaw shut so she didn’t scream at him, her nails digging into the sleeves of her jacket in frustration.  She knew if she yelled back she would only look like an overly emotional, naive teenager.  She half-turned away from him and pinched the bridge of her nose, breathing to calm herself, choosing not to respond right away.

Stefan watched her for a second before looking back at Damon, “I can’t let you bring her back, I’m sorry.”

“So am I, for thinking for even a second that I could trust you,” Damon said bitterly.

His younger brother scoffed, “You are not capable of trust; the fact that you’re here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself.”

“For fuck’s sake , Stefan!” Renfri burst out, “We could tell from the second the offer left your mouth that you weren’t being sincere—”  

Damon interrupted, his anger boiling over, “Of course I was going to do it myself, because the only one I can count on is me ,” he waved at the girl next to him, “and apparently my 17 year old niece on occasion, instead of my brother!  You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan.”  The green eyed man stood silently at that, having no response.  

“But you,” Damon said more quietly, looking at Elena now, “you had me fooled.”  The girl looked back at him, then down, guilt twisting her lips into a grimace.  Renfri took the chance to berate Stefan, having held in her anger and stress too long.  

“You’ve been acting shady and trying to get your way the entire time you’ve been ‘helping,’” she seethed, “If my guess was correct, you got a copy of the journal from Mr. Saltzman that he made before it was stolen, and hid it from us so you could find the grimoire first and destroy it.  You being here just proves us right to not have consulted with you first.”  She glared at him, “You can’t blame him for not trusting you when you lied to us from the beginning.  You never wanted to help, you just wanted to get close so you could screw it all up.  Get that righteous stick out of your ass, because in case you haven’t noticed, you’re being just as selfish and manipulative as he’s been.  Trying to cover it up by saying you’re doing it for the sake of other people doesn’t hide the fact that you’re being a massive hypocrite!”

Renfri’s chest heaved up and down, having gotten worked up into shouting at the younger vampire.  Her angry eyes then snapped to her friend standing across the open hole.  

“And you’re no better,” Elena startled, “going along with it and lying for him makes you just as bad.”  

A heavy silence filled the shadowy clearing.

“So what are you going to do now?” Damon said, “‘cause if you try to destroy that, I’ll rip her heart out.”  Renfri looked at Damon nervously, hoping he was bluffing.

“You won’t kill her,” Stefan said arrogantly.  Renfri wanted to smack her forehead; Stefan really didn’t know how to handle his own brother properly, only how to push him over the edge into violence.

Damon’s mouth tightened and he nodded several times as if saying ‘ oh really?’   then moved in a flash to grab Elena from behind.  Stefan had moved to intercept him, but not fast enough, stopping on the ground in front of Renfri after having leaped up and out of his father’s grave, and now turned towards the other two.  Damon had an arm across the girl’s chest, holding her in place.

“I’ll do you one better,” he said darkly and bit his other wrist then forced it over Elena’s open mouth.  “Give me the book, Stefan, or I’m snapping her neck and you and I will have a vampire girlfriend.”  

Renfri took a step forward, unsure of what she should do in this situation.  Stefan must have thought she was intending to grab the book while he was distracted because in a split second he had snatched it up from where he’d left it on the edge of the open ground.  He eyed her warily before turning his attention back to Damon, who had tightened his hold on Elena at the sudden movement, making her gasp in fear and choke on the blood.  Damon pulled his wrist back but kept a firm hold on her.  The older Salvatore caught Renfri’s eyes briefly and shook his head just a bit, telling her not to interfere.  She grimaced but dipped her head a bit in acknowledgement, not wanting to risk doing anything to set off the situation any further.

“Let her go first,” Stefan demanded.

“ The book. ”

“I’m not gonna give this to you until she is standing next to me,” Stefan insisted, watching his brother carefully.

“The problem is,” Damon snapped, “I don’t trust that you’ll give it back .”

“You just did the one thing that ensures that I will.”

Damon stared back, then jutted his chin out, “Red, come get the it.”  Ren hesitated, before slowly stepping around the grave and stopping in between the two brothers to hold out a hand to Stefan.  He looked between them cautiously with worry in his eyes for his girlfriend, before hesitantly handing her the old grimoire.  As soon as she tucked it into the crook of her arm and stepped back toward the older brother’s side, Damon started to loosen his hold.  Ren noticed that as he did, he let his nose brush against the brunette’s hair, almost affectionately, before fully letting go and watching her desperately grab her boyfriend.  Elena looked back at him with fear and hurt in her eyes, and Damon couldn’t help but look down.  Renfri thought that maybe he felt bad for threatening Elena with turning her against her will.  After Stefan and Elena turned to leave in a hurry, they stood in silence for a few moments, letting the tension bleed out of the air as the standoff came to an end.  

Damon finally shifted to face her with an expectant look on his face and held his hand out.  Renfri let out a breath and gave him the grimoire with tired eyes.  He said nothing as he tucked it under his arm and started heading back through the trees in the direction of the road.  

“You didn’t have to go that far,” she said quietly as she walked beside her uncle.

“Yeah, I did.  Stefan wouldn’t have given it up otherwise,” he replied, keeping an even tone and not looking at her.  Renfri just shook her head and followed him to his car, relieved for the day’s events to finally be over.

Once Renfri was home she quickly took care of Ash’s needs and showered the sweat and stress from the day off of her.  She rushed through what was left of her homework before snuggling under the covers of her bed with her Dutch Shepherd lying by her feet.  She made sure to put her phone on sleep mode, wanting a full night’s sleep after such an exhausting day.  She knocked out pretty quickly and felt a bit refreshed when her alarm went off in the morning.

As she sat up in bed, she reached for her nightstand to stop her alarm and unlocked her phone.   She squinted at the screen a second time when something caught her eye.  She had five missed calls and several texts from Stefan from the previous night and the early hours of the morning.  She frowned and opened the texts from her younger uncle, the first few giving her a shock.

Ren, I need your help

Elena’s missing

I think Anna took her

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Renfri stared at the messages on her phone in shock.  She couldn’t believe that Anna had kidnapped Elena right out of her own home.  Although, she probably should have been less surprised, since Damon snubbed her then left with the journal.  She quickly responded to Stefan’s texts as she got out of her bed:

I’m so sorry, I had my phone on ‘do not disturb’ while I was asleep, just seeing this now.  Damon and I found Anna yesterday at the ‘Mystic Motel’ on the edge of town by Harris Lane.

I don’t know if they’re still there, but it’s worth a try.

Please keep me updated, just because I’m mad at you guys doesn’t mean I don’t care.

She went to school without having seen Stefan or Damon while getting ready and taking care of Ash, making her nervous of what would happen.  As she sat through her classes with Caroline, she noticed that Bonnie was also absent for the day, which only ramped up her anxiety.  She got a text from Stefan during second period saying that they hadn’t been at the motel Anna had been staying at, it looked like she had moved to new accommodations elsewhere after she and Damon had ambushed her the night before.

Renfri spent the day going through the motions of each class as she waited to hear news from Stefan.  She’d even tried texting Damon, asking if he was aware and if he could help, but got no response.  She took that as him not being interested in helping the people who had just betrayed him the night before, and she couldn’t fully blame him, though she was mad that he was acting like he didn’t care if Elena died because he was pissed at Stefan.  This left her to spend her afternoon classes both stressed and fuming quietly at his pettiness.

During her final class, she was surprised to get a response from Damon.  Anna had forced a meeting to ensure they worked together to open the tomb.  He had the grimoire, but Anna had taken Bonnie, who was needed to do the spell to open the tomb, and Elena was being used as leverage.  He’d been forced to agree to meet Anna to do the spell tonight if they wanted to get Elena back alive and because neither side had all the ingredients to get it open on their own.  She sighed, somewhat relieved by having more information, but not enough.  She sent a quick thank you to him for attempting to help.  Though she knew he was mostly doing it to get into the tomb, she was relieved to know that he didn’t want Elena to die in the process.  She’d seen a few small interactions that kept hinting that he had some kind of emotions for her, maybe because she looked exactly like his long-time love, but she just hoped it meant Elena walked away from the situation safely.

While Renfri was changing into her running clothes for track, her phone buzzed again.  She let out a big sigh when she read the message from Stefan:

I found Elena and Bonnie, they’re safe.  Bonnie’s Grams helped locate them at another motel a little further from town, but they’re okay now.

Ren sent a quick reply letting them know she was glad and would be heading home after practice.  She did mention that Damon had attempted to negotiate with Anna in order to get Elena back and they had agreed to do the spell tonight, and to be careful if Anna came after them again.  The redhead could breathe a little easier knowing that her friends were safe and channeled all that pent up stress into the stretch and burn of her muscles as she ran.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Later that afternoon, as the sun began to set, Renfri arrived home from practice.  She had seen texts from Elena and Bonnie reassuring her that they were okay now and were safe at Bonnie’s Grams’ house and responded with her relief that they were alright and hoped to meet up soon.  Ash greeted her like always as she came in and followed her upstairs as she headed for her bathroom.  He laid on her bed as she cleaned up and changed then started on her homework.  It felt weird, having spent the day without seeing anyone but Caroline and her few other friends at school that were all out of the supernatural loop.  

She had apparently thought too soon, because seconds after Ash picked his head up with his ears perked in interest, there was a knock at her bedroom door.  Renfri called for whoever it was to come in, and smiled when the door clicked open and Elena popped her head in. 

“Oh my god, Elena, get in here!” the redhead called as she hopped off the bed in her baggy sweats and t-shirt to give her friend a huge hug, rocking her side to side.  

“You’re not still mad?” the brunette asked quietly while gratefully accepting the hug.

Ren pulled back and crossed her arms, “I’m still a little mad at you and Stefan for betraying Damon, but of course I’m happy that you’re okay.  You’re still one of my best friends!  That won’t change.”  Elena gave a relieved smile and nodded her head.

“I wanted to stop by and see you since we didn’t get the chance to really talk because of everything lately.  Well, you weren’t the only reason I came by, but still a big part.”

“What was the other reason?”

“To talk to Damon,” they moved to sit on the bed together, and Ash nosed the brunette until she started petting him while she spoke.  “I convinced Bonnie and her Grams to do the tomb spell.  I figured that Damon wouldn’t stop until he got Katherine back and it’d be better to just work with him so no one else got hurt.  Sheila agreed to help only as long as we killed the other vampires with fire to ensure none got out and hurt anybody.”

“Well, that’s reasonable.  You do realize that that’s the reason I was helping him in the first place, right?”

Elena blinked, “What do you mean?  I was wondering why you were helping him, but I just assumed he’d lied to you or something to get you to help; Stefan said it wouldn’t surprise him.”

Renfri sighed and shook her head, “Stefan needs to learn not to assume shit he doesn’t know.  Anyway, when I first offered to help Damon, I told him I would only do it if we ensured that the vampires didn’t get out, and if needed, we’d set the tomb on fire.  He agreed to it, mostly because I was sure that they’d go after the founding families if they got out, which includes me.  I trust him because he hasn’t lied to me or hurt me.  Since we came to an agreement, he’s only lashed out when someone else has hurt him first.”

“Oh,” Elena nodded, “okay, I suppose that makes sense.”  She looked at Renfri for a moment, “I think he really does care about you, Ren.  His relationship with Stefan is clearly complicated and volatile but he really does seem to see you as family.  Even if he isn’t obvious about it, it still shows in small ways.”

Renfri smiled, “Yeah, I’m glad he seems to as well.  You know I’m glad I have them both, regardless of the chaos they create.  It’s only been a little over two years, so I still miss my mom and dad, some days more than others, and Uncle Zach is gone now too.  It’s nice to have someone…even if they are undead bloodsucking drama queens.”

Elena laughed at that but agreed, able to relate since she had lost her parents not long ago, and she only had Jeremy and Jenna now.  

“I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you first and just went with whatever Stefan said,” Elena told her friend, “I figured he would know his brother best and how to deal with him, but I guess that’s not necessarily true.  I ended up hurting him too by betraying him.  I don’t necessarily think we were wrong to try to prevent the tomb from being opened because I didn’t want to risk anyone I care about getting hurt, but I didn’t consider that there were other ways we could have protected everyone and still worked with Damon so he could save the person he loves.  I want to do that, which is why I came to talk to him tonight.”

“I appreciate you being more understanding, you know.  I’m sorry Damon threatened to turn you, though I kind of blame Stefan for that, he wouldn’t stop pushing him into a corner, even when he was caught in a lie.”  Renfri shrugged.  “So, how’d your talk with Damon go?”

Elena allowed herself another smile, “He’s decided to trust me, that I actually want to help him this time.  I realize that’s a big thing for him, so I don’t want to make another mistake.”

Renfri tipped her head to the side, “That’s good, just make sure Stefan doesn’t get any ideas of screwing it up, I don’t want to think about what Damon might do if Stefan betrays him again, especially so soon.”

Ren noticed the sun had sunken beneath the sky by that point, turning the world dark and leaving the moon as the only light in the sky.  Elena followed her gaze then checked the time.

“We should get going, we’re meeting at the old church ruins soon.”  Elena went downstairs to wait as Ren changed into jeans, black lace up boots, and a thick navy sweater.  She grabbed her jacket on her way out of her bedroom, telling Ash to stay and be good.

When she reached the foyer, she found Elena waiting in nervous silence with a stoic Damon, grimoire in his hands.

“Let’s go,” he said, and they followed him to his car.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As they walked through the woods, they came upon multiple bonfires, music blasting from someone’s car stereo, and groups of teenagers getting drunk from the kegs set up around the area.

“The Duke party, I forgot, I hope they stay away from the church ruins,” Elena mumbled.

“Your hope, not mine,” Damon said.

“Well, let’s pray they stay where the bonfires and booze are, though it’s not a great combination for drunk teenagers,” Renfri added.

They started moving through the trees, trying to avoid people Elena and Renfri knew so they wouldn’t get stopped.  Unfortunately, they ran into Matt and Caroline.  

“Elena, Ren, hey,” Matt called out.

“Elena, oh my god, where have you been?  Ren and I missed you at school,” Caroline quickly came right behind him and conspicuously linked hands with him.  Renfri had discussed the new relationship with Caroline, so she knew she was insecure about Matt’s lingering feelings for Elena, but the girl really needed to get a grip otherwise she was going to scare Matt off.

“Hey guys,” Renfri said easily, giving them a wave.

“Long story, no time to tell it,” Damon quickly interrupted, giving the blonde a condescending smile.

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Sure you were,” he retorted smugly, and Renfri elbowed him in the ribs.

“We haven’t met, I’m Matt,” the jock tried to be the gentleman only to get snubbed.  He really was too nice, Ren thought.

“Matt, there’s a reason we haven’t met,” Damon said then completely ignored the two and turned Elena around, “We’re going that way.”  

As he dragged the girl away she muttered quickly, “Sorry, guys.”  Renfri sighed, he really wasn’t even trying to be subtle anymore and was just being a dick.

“See you guys later,” then she waved again and went to follow them.

She caught up quickly and once they were away from the groups of drunken teenagers, an uneasy quiet settled over the woods, only broken by the crunching of leaves underfoot.  They soon approached the church ruins and could see three people standing by the entrance and heard one of them speak.

“Are you sure Damon will come back with her?” Sheila asked worriedly.

Damon let out a sharp whistle, letting them know he had arrived.

“Brother, witches,” he greeted shortly and headed straight down into the area that Stefan cleared that held the sealed tomb door.  

“Sorry, Matt and Caroline stopped us on the way,” Ren explained quickly and they all headed for the makeshift steps.  

“Everything okay?” Stefan asked as Elena joined him.

“I just want to get this over with, are we ready?”

“Yes,” Bonnie answered and her grandmother nodded as well.

“And no more sabotage, got it, Stefan ?” Renfri added, looking at him pointedly, “You’ve already seen what happens when you push him too far, so don’t pull that shit again, you’re not the only one he’ll take it out on.”  The witches looked at each other nervously and Renfri narrowed her eyes.  

“Yeah, I know,” Stefan responded warily and led them down into the enclosed area.

She pulled out her phone as the others moved ahead of her down the stairs and sent a quick text to Damon.

I just warned Stefan away from sabotage and the Bennetts got a little twitchy.  I know they aren’t fans of vampires and might try something, so use me as leverage so they don’t just lock you in there.  Please leave Elena out of it.

Damon was down there and waiting, eyeing them impatiently.  They all watched as the two Bennetts set up the ritual, lighting the torches and naming the four elements as they went, sprinkling a bottle of water around the circle they had made.

“That’s it,” Elena asked skeptically from the wall she stood against, “just water from the tap?”

“As opposed to what?” Sheila asked.

“I just figured it’d have to be blessed or mystical or something,” she ended lamely, making Ren smirk a bit and Sheila smile in amusement.  

Damon pulled something out of his jacket, drawing Stefan’s attention.

“What’s that?” he asked, shining his flashlight on it, revealing it to be a blood bag.

“It’s for Katherine; got to have something to get her going, unless your girl’s offering up a vein to tap,” he quipped, glancing at Elena who was standing by the far wall, close to the stairs.  

Renfri stepped up beside her older uncle and nudged him, “You’re getting what you want and they’re helping, quit pushing their buttons.”

“But it’s so fun, and they deserve it, at least a little,” he responded with a false smile.

Stefan just sighed, to which Damon leaned over his niece and stage whispered, “ Admit it , you can’t wait to get rid of me.”

Stefan shook his head and repeated in a monotone voice, “I can’t wait to get rid of you.”

“We’re ready,” Bonnie said as she and her grandmother crouched in front of the open grimoire in the middle of the circle.  They stood and clasped hands then began to chant in an unfamiliar language.

Renfri broke the silence among those watching and said, “You know Anna’s definitely going to show up to get her mother out, how are you planning on handling it?”

“We’ll deal with her,” Stefan said vaguely.

“And how’s that? She’s 500 years old and already shown she’s willing to do what she needs to in order to get her mother out, so I’d suggest letting her take her mother and leave then just kill the rest.  No need to make another enemy who’s older and stronger than the both of you.”

“I agree with Red, in this case,” Damon interjected.  Stefan said nothing, not having a solution.

“What are they saying,” Damon wondered aloud, listening to the witches’ chant.

“Sounds Latin,” Stefan said, which was Renfri’s first guess but something about it seemed off.

“Eehh, maybe,” she commented uncertainly.

Elena shook her head, “I don’t think it’s Latin.”

All of a sudden, the torches around the circle flared, startling Elena so that she grabbed onto her boyfriend.

“What’s happening?” she asked worriedly.  There was a dull booming sound then the scraping of rock on rock as they turned to see the stone door with a pentagram shift and one side moved inward, creating an opening into the dark tomb.

“It worked,” Bonnie said in a bit of surprise.

“Of course it worked,” Sheila told her.

Damon turned to his brother, “Don’t you have some fires to build?”  Stefan nodded and turned to them, assuring them he was going to grab the gasoline tanks and makeshift flamethrowers he’d put together and left outside the opening above ground, then headed up.

Damon eyed the two witches before calling to his niece with a hand held out, “You ready?”

“What?” Elena said in confusion.

“You think I’m going to go in there by myself so you can seal me in?” he said to Bonnie and Sheila, grabbing Renfri’s arm and pulling her to him, and she let it happen.

“Don’t take her in, I’ll bring the walls down,” Sheila threatened.

“You’ll bring the walls down if I don’t, you think I trust you?” her uncle retorted.

“As much as I trust you—”

“It’s fine,” Ren snapped, “Look, he needs to know you won’t trap him in there once he’s inside, I’ll go.”  Elena and Bonnie looked torn, but Ren turned to the Bennett matriarch with a pleading face,  “That means I’m trusting you not to let me die in there just because you hate vampires, Miss Sheila.”  The older witch pressed her painted lips together but said nothing.  

Damon leaned down and reached towards a torch, asking, “May I?” rhetorically before taking it.  Elena handed Ren her flashlight and gave her hand a squeeze before letting her go reluctantly.  Ren gave her a small smile and glanced at the Bennetts before joining Damon as he stepped inside the stone entrance.

They followed the stone tunnel straight for several yards before they came to a bend that headed right.  The tomb was pitch black and the torch only lit about a four foot area around it, so Ren couldn’t really see where they were going and was trusting her uncle to lead the way.

Renfri paused when she suddenly heard a sound creeping into her ears.  Whispers, indistinguishable voices entered her awareness.

“What the hell is that,” she asked in a hushed voice.

“They can sense you, they’re trying to get into your head but they’re too weak to really do anything,” Damon responded.  “Now, where is she,” he mumbled, then moved ahead, seemingly disappearing.  Renfri gasped and stumbled forward with only her small flashlight.  She couldn’t help the fear that crept into her brain, surrounded by absolute darkness underground and catching the occasional hushed sound or half a word brushing against her ears as she slowly moved forward, unwilling to stay put and alone.  

“Damon?” she called uncertainly as she moved forward slowly, using her hand to follow the wall forward as her little flashlight barely illuminated more than a foot in front of her and was limited to the ground she pointed it at.  She almost face-planted when she took another step forward and reached for a wall where the no longer was one, leaning her weight forward into the dead air and stepping on something that clinked against the hard ground.  She caught herself on her other foot, swinging her arms wildly to regain balance, and heaved a deep breath in before pointing her flashlight down to see what she had stepped on.  It was a rusted black chain with a manacle on the end.  She followed the length of it over to the wall she had been reaching for, only it had dipped in, creating the mouth of what seemed to be a larger space, based on how the wall was curving out.  She started to trace the edge of the room and gasped when the beam of her flashlight illuminated a withered looking hand only a few feet in front of her.  The whispers in her ears picked up as she lifted the light to find the hand attached to an equally withered face in dusty, old clothes.  Her heart rate picked up as she slowly followed the outline of the larger space with her flashlight’s beam, finding a dozen other desiccated vampires, their hushed voices penetrating her mind increasingly so as she moved forward into the room hesitantly.  She crouched in front of the nearest body, a man with a tattered shirt and waistcoat, looking curiously at the wrinkled, gray skin, wondering how they were still alive when they looked like corpses.  

Blood filled eyes opened and looked right at her, causing her to fall back onto her butt, swearing, “Son of a bitch !”  She watched carefully, but the body didn’t move further, it seemed like it couldn’t.  She let out a breath and got back to her feet, then started looking around in an attempt to find the pathway she was trying to follow earlier.   She swiveled in place once more only to let out a scream.

“ AAAHHH! ” she jumped backwards when something appeared in front of her, blocking her way.  She lifted the flashlight to the figure’s face.

“Anna?”

“Hello Renfri, I thought I might see you down here, helping the love-struck idiot.”

Renfri attempted to catch her breath and replied, “So you’re here for your mother?  Go ahead and take her, but the rest aren’t leaving.  The others won’t let them out.”  She took another step away from the vampire and nearly fell again as her heel caught on the leg of a desiccated body slumped against the wall.  Both their flashlight’s searched out the face and Anna gasped.

“Mother!”  She crouched in front of the  seemingly dead body and touched it’s shoulders.  She turned back to the redhead, who had slowly started backing away again.

“Your ‘uncles’ did this, you know,” she said accusingly.

“Uh, that was their father, and it sounds like Damon at least was in agreement with me that he was a dick.”

Anna scoffed, “And the other founding families, including Johnathon Gilbert.  I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that revived her.  I had Jeremy all ready to go, but…I guess Salvatore blood is almost as good.”

Ren’s eyes widened in panic and she hissed, “Don’t you fucking dare —”

Anna’s hand clamped down on her wrist not holding the flashlight and bit down, hard .

“Aaarrghh, fuck , let go!” she shouted, hissing at the pain, before she was dragged to the ground and pushed onto her stomach over the lap of Anna’s mother.  Her arm bent awkwardly as her bloody wrist was forced to cracked lips.  She heard a shout echo down the tunnel, a girl’s voice, then another deeper one right behind her, loud and clear.

“Let her go!”

The weight on her disappeared with a shout and she was hauled to her feet and away from the living corpse.  Stefan pushed her behind him and told her to go.  She started to follow his order before she paused.

Damon, he was still in here and looking for Katherine, she had to find him first.  

Anna had squared up with Stefan, ready to fight, but was stopped by a wispy voice calling her name.  She whipped around to see her mother’s eyes open and looking at her, her face a little less wrinkled.

Renfri took the opportunity to head down the opposite path that Stefan had pushed her towards, heading deeper into the tomb.

“Wait!  What are you doing?” Stefan called after her.

“I need to find Damon!” she told him, then moved forward in a hurry, keeping her flashlight pointed at the floor to avoid tripping on any more appendages again.  Her wrist hurt and she pulled her sleeve over it and gripped it tight, hoping to stop the bleeding.  The fresh scent of her blood must have roused the desiccated vampires because  the whispering in her head picked up again, urging her to move faster in fear that they might actually be able to reach out and grab her in their starved state.

She turned another corner and came into what seemed like a dead end, blocked off by a metal gate, oddly enough.  It had been opened and inside stood her uncle, the torch he had taken wedged between some rocks.  He kicked one of the desiccated bodies and mumbled something, whipping around in a frenzy.

“What?” she asked quietly.

“She’s not here,” he said a bit more clearly, his eyes wide and confused.

“What the fuck,” Ren breathed, her heart heavy in her chest.

“What, what happened?” Stefan said, appearing just behind her.

“SHE’S NOT HERE!!!” Damon shouted, launching the blood bag into the wall, splattering it with the dark liquid that began to drip down the stone.

Stefan froze in place for a second, shocked, before looking behind him and hurriedly saying, “Damon we need to get out of here.”  

“It doesn’t make any sense, they locked her inside,” the older Salvatore mumbled, pacing back and forth like a restless panther in a cage.

“If we don’t leave now, we’re not getting out!” Stefan said more sternly.

“What are you talking about, Stefan?  What did they do?” Renfri asked angrily, knowing Bonnie and Sheila had done something to try and screw them over.

“The seal keeping vampires in was still up.  It’s down now, but they can’t hold it for long,” he said in a rush.  Renfri scowled and shook her head but turned to the dark haired man pacing the room.

“How can she not be here?” the man murmured again.

“It’s time to go,” Renfri said firmly, but it was like he hadn’t heard her.

“It’s not worth spending all of eternity down here, she’s not worth it!” Stefan had grabbed his brother’s shoulder only to be slapped away as Damon lashed out in anger and confusion.  Renfri jumped and took a step back, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire but worried they would be stuck forever.

“Damon!” another voice reached them and Elena came to a stop in the doorway.  “Please,” she simply said.  

He looked at her with wet eyes, then at Renfri, who nodded, “We’ve done all we can, let’s go.”  She reached out a hand to him and gently wrapped her fingers around his wrist, pulling him in the direction of the door.  Stefan put a hand on his shoulder but it was quickly shoved off, though he allowed Ren’s light grip to stay as she led him out of the tomb.  She picked up the pace, taking long, quick steps in her hurry to escape, as fast as she could go without tripping on the bodies in her path on the way back through the darkness.  Stefan and Elena exited first, then Renfri and Damon right behind them, narrowly avoiding the stone door that slammed shut on the threshold.  At the same time, the torches extinguished, plunging them into near darkness with only the moonlight peeking through the open ceiling.  The brunette and her boyfriend hugged each other in relief, glad to have gotten out safely.  Ren let go of her uncle’s wrist as he pulled away and leaned against a wall, turning to look back at the stone door with a pentagram carved into it.  

The six of them breathed for a moment in the silence that followed the previously panicked moments.  Stefan and Elena moved to head up the stairs and go check on Jeremy, who had been knocked unconscious by Anna’s tool, Ben the bartender, who Stefan had apparently burned to a crisp.  

Renfri watched Damon warily, unsure of what he would do after having just found out that Katherine had never been in the tomb in the first place.  He stood there, staring at the tomb’s door for another minute before slowly turning and trudging up the stone steps to the surface.  Renfri glanced back at Bonnie and her Grams, cleaning up from the ritual and gathering their things, before she followed him out.  

Above ground, Ren saw Jeremy sitting up on the ground, groaning from the bump on the head he had.  Elena and Stefan turned to look at Damon, watching as he wandered a few yards before just standing there, seemingly lost and staring at the ground.  Elena’s face was filled with sympathy and he got up from her crouch and approached him.  

She wrapped him in a hug and said quietly, “I’m sorry,” before quickly letting go and stepping back as Stefan watched them with sympathetic eyes.  They turned away to take Jeremy home and the Bennetts soon followed, Bonnie supporting her Grams, who looked drained. Renfri slowly approached her uncle; he looked shell-shocked, like he was completely numb.  She hesitantly reached out to wrap her fingers around his wrist and he didn’t respond.  She sighed and shuffled closer, gently wrapping her arms around his waist, hands pressing into his back.

“I’m so sorry, Uncle Damon,” she murmured, and pressed her cheek to his shoulder, facing in.  He stood there for about five seconds, completely limp, before he slowly raised his arms to wrap them around her shoulders and let his cheek rest on the top of her head.  She squeezed tighter at the response, glad he wasn’t pushing her away and accepting comfort from her.  She was worried how he would deal with the revelation that the woman he had been waiting 145 years for wasn’t in the tomb to be saved.  She wasn’t sure what conclusion he would come to, but she was sure he would spiral and it wouldn’t be good.

After a minute or two, Damon lifted his head and muttered, “Anna knew…”

She took her head from her shoulder and glanced up at him, “What?”  He stepped back and she let go of his waist but got a hold of his forearm.

“Anna knew Katherine wasn’t in the tomb,” he said more clearly and Renfri frowned.

“How do you know?” she asked.

He moved to turn away, but she held onto his wrist, tugging.

“Damon, don’t do anything stupid, and if you’re planning to, at least take me with you.”  He scowled down at her and she just shrugged, “Junior partner in crime, remember?”

He huffed, clearly having redirected his sadness into anger, “Stay out of the way.”

She shook her head, “No promises.”  He grunted then scooped her up suddenly and flashed away, making her gasp in surprise and cling to him.  He brought them to the new motel that Stefan had found the girls at when they were kidnapped and broke into the room.  He sat in a chair in a corner by a standing lamp and she perched herself on the arm of the chair.  They sat in the dark, waiting for Anna and her mother to show up.  About ten minutes later, Damon stiffened and she sat up straighter as the door opened, showing Anna supporting her feeble mother as they entered the room.  Anna flipped the light switch at the door as Pearl moved further into the room, then both froze as the two intruders were revealed.  

“You knew Katherine wasn’t in there,” Damon accused quietly.

A bit of guilt forced Anna’s eyes to the floor for a second, “You wouldn’t have helped me.”  In the next second, he sped across the room and had Pearl by the throat, his grip lethal.  Bitter fury burned across his face as Anna shouted and Renfri jumped to her feet.

“Why do you get to have a happy ending?”  he spat out.

Anna grabbed desperately at Damon, pleading with him, “No! Please, you wouldn’t have helped me, you know you wouldn’t have!”

“Damon,” Renfri called, “pick your battles…”

“The guard, the one at the church,” Pearl rasped out while clutching at his hand on her throat and Damon’s grip loosened, his interest caught, “the one who locked us in.  She promised to turn him, he was obsessed with her, she had him under her spell like everyone else…He let her go.”  Damon’s face was intent and searching, but he was still holding on.  Renfri stepped over and put a hand on the arm that held Pearl.  He looked deeply into Pearl’s eyes and apparently decided she was telling the truth, then let her go.  The older woman gasped for air and Anna rushed to support her.  The girl glanced at Renfri before looking at Damon again.

“Last I saw her was Chicago, 1983.  She knew where you were, Damon, she didn’t care.”  Renfri sighed quietly, this was why Anna had called him the love-struck idiot before.  Damon stepped back, looking broken all over again and moved towards the door.  He paused and looked back at the mother and daughter clinging to each other in a desperate embrace then turned to walk out.  Renfri stopped at the door as well, first making eye contact with Pearl then Anna.

“I get why you did it, I understand wanting your mother back…I’d do the same if I could.”  Anna looked at her warily before nodding.  She continued, “Please don’t hold it against him.  He waited 145 years only to be crushed, that’d fuck up anyone monumentally.”  They didn’t respond this time, though Pearl eyed her curiously, so she just let out another breath and left.  She found Damon waiting in the parking lot by the road, arms crossed.  He wordlessly picked her up and flashed away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next few weeks had been unremarkable, for once, with no notable supernatural drama, much to Renfri’s relief.  The first week had been taken over by the death of Sheila Bennett, which had devastated Bonnie.  She and Elena had gone to the funeral and tried to be there for her, but after that Bonnie had cut them off and gone no contact.  Elena was worried but Renfri admitted that she assumed Bonnie blamed Damon and Stefan for forcing them to do the spell that had overwhelmed Sheila, and consequently blamed them as well for their connection to the brothers.  She figured that Bonnie was avoiding them because she didn’t want to see them, not that she was avoiding everyone.  She knew Caroline had spoken with her multiple times over the winter break, which is why she had come to this conclusion.  

During this time, Renfri had tried to do what she could to kill the awkward atmosphere in the boarding house.  She had decorated the den, kitchen, front entrance, and her bedroom for the holidays and with general winter decor, trying to brighten it up a bit.  She had cooked a modest Christmas dinner: a glazed ham, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted butternut squash, green beans, and a pumpkin pie. Stefan had been kind enough to set the table and sit down to eat with her in the formal dining room, but Damon had merely ambled in, ‘complimented’ her skills in the kitchen, grabbed a slice of pie with his bare hands, and ambled back out.  The holidays had been quiet for Renfri, mostly spending it either relaxing at home with Stefan and Ash or meeting Elena and Caroline in town or at their houses.

Damon had been in a near constant state of drunkenness and had been popping in and out at all hours of the day, sometimes bringing random women that he had compelled to party with and drink from.  She had pretty much expected him to not even show his face at Christmas dinner, given the never ending pity party he was throwing for the past two weeks, so she would take what she could get from him at the moment.  It was understandable that he was a mess and she let him wallow in peace, though she let him know on occasion that she wasn’t happy about the compelled women invading her house at random times, this was her home too and she would prefer it if he could keep his unfortunate conquests contained to his bedroom or the lesser used common rooms of the house.

Stefan had reacted similarly to Ren, observing his brother’s coping methods with distaste but tolerating it and not saying much beyond voicing concern for the girls he fed on and compelled.  Ren’s way of coping with her uncle bringing his messy coping mechanisms in was to avoid being in the boarding house if he was making his grief hard to ignore.  She would go out for runs in town, bringing Ash with her and meeting her friends in town.  She no longer ran in the woods or at night, too paranoid with her new knowledge of the supernatural to dare tempt fate and risk becoming a statistic.  It helped when school started up again and kept her busy and out of the house for most of the day and some nights.

Today, after the first week back to school, she was relaxing with Elena on the Gilberts’ porch.  She was sitting on one of the cushioned dark wicker chairs and reading a book with Ash stretched out on the porch floor.  Elena had been writing in her journal but had paused to leave Bonnie a message, wanting to check in in hopes she would finally respond.  

Jenna made her way up the porch steps and called out playfully, “What are you three doing out here?  It’s cold!”

“Thinking, writing, uh, the funeral for Bonnie’s grandmother brought back a lot about mom and dad,” she glanced at Ren who gave her a small smile, it was the same for her and they could relate often on that front.

“You said you’d do some digging about them, the adoption?” Elena continued, looking at her aunt hopefully.  

Jenna nodded slowly, “Right.”

Elena raised her eyebrows, “So did you, dig?”

Jenna gave her a soft smile and tipped her head towards the house, “Come on inside.”  She glanced at Ren then back at Elena in question, checking what she was comfortable letting her friends know.  Elena quickly invited Renfri in to join them, she was going to tell her afterwards anyway.  They ended up in the dining room with a box and Jenna’s laptop on the table and listened as she spoke.

“Your dad kept everything from his medical practice records, blogs, appointment books…I found an entry from the night you were born, a patient and a birth date, Isabel Peterson,” she showed her the notebook and pointed to the entry.

“It’s probably not her real name, right?” Renfri guessed as Elena’s eyes lit up in excitement at the progress.

Jenna shook her head, “Pregnant teenage runaway?  Probably not.  First name could be true but where would she get Peterson? A classmate, a best friend?  So I binged it, I searched for all the Petersons born in this area the same year as Isabel and found three: two were men and one a woman.  Trudie, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia.”

“So Trudie’s close?” Elena said.

“Damn, you could be a private investigator, Jenna,” Ren commented, making the young woman grin.  

“There’s also this,” Jenna added and searched for Trudy’s name and ‘Grove Hill High School.’  Of the few results that came up, one was an image from the 1993 alumni page of a yearbook, showing a picture of two girls in uniforms labeled Trudie Peterson and Isabel Flemming.  

Jenna pointed at the blonde with a wide smile, “That’s Trudie,” then pointed at the striking girl with sharp eyes and dark hair, “and that’s Isabel.”

Elena smiled, “She was a cheerleader,” alluding to her own previous stint on the squad.

“And she’s pretty, you’ve got some good genes,” Ren joked and nudged Elena, who giggled.

“Trudie still lives there, this is her address,” Jenna said and handed her a sticky note.

Elena accepted it but asked, “What about Isabel?”

Jenna’s face fell a bit, “I couldn’t find anything about her.”

Elena’s face lost its joy and she sat in a chair to glance over the appointment book again.  Renfri watched as Jenna looked at Elena, seeming a little conflicted about something before speaking up again.

“Listen, there’s something else,” she glanced at Renfri, “and it’s sensitive information, so keep it to yourselves because it’s only a possibility.”  Renfri and Elena nodded, they're curiosity clear.  Jenna continued, “Mr. Saltzman, Ric?  His wife was from around here, and her name was also Isabel.”

Elena looked surprised and Renfri’s interest was piqued at the mention of the shady history teacher.

“Wait, ‘was’ as in…?”

Jenna looked at her niece sadly, “She died.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 After Jenna had left, Elena had called Stefan to come over and they had moved up to her room.  Ash had wandered over to Jeremy’s room where he was playing video games and Renfri let him be.  As Elena was putting clean clothes away and Renfri was sitting at her window seat, watching her move around the room, working herself up, Stefan arrived.  Elena filled him in on what Jenna had told them and he seemed confused.

“So Alaric’s wife might have been your mother?”

Elena shook her head in disbelief, “It can’t be true, I mean, the coincidence alone is just crazy.”

“I’ve stopped believing in coincidences, especially ones as big as that, since finding out about the supernatural.  It’s probably best to look into it keeping in mind that it could be true.  I also still think Saltzman is shady and don’t trust him, he could be here for a reason related to this,” Renfri chimed in, giving her two cents of pessimism.

Elena just sighed and shrugged while Stefan looked thoughtful.

Elena turned to him with the post-it note, “I have the address for her friend, Trudie.”

“You want to talk to her?”

“I don’t know, I—I don’t know,” she said, uncertain.  She continued, “If it’s true and they are the same person, that means that my birth mother is dead, and I don’t know if I can handle that.”

Renfri felt for her friend, who just lost her parents not long ago then finding out she was adopted and that her birth mother might be dead; it was a lot.

Stefan took a step forward, looking curious, “Did Jenna tell you anything about Alaric’s wife, how she died?”

Ren raised an eyebrow at his line of questioning while Elena answered, “Just that she died and the case was never solved.”  There was a pause and they watched his face, he wasn’t surprised.  

Renfri’s eyes narrowed, “You knew that already, how?”

He glanced at her and said, “The night at the school when he attacked me,  he told me some things about her death—“

“Well—”

Stefan interrupted Elena’s question, “No, no, no, it’s not possible, the coincidence is too great, it’s too much.”  Renfri didn’t understand why Elena nodded and seemed placated by this, because she didn’t believe it herself.

“Hold up, he attacked you?” Renfri asked, confused.

Stefan stiffened then sighed, “I didn’t want to tell you before because I thought you’d tell Damon.  Alaric knows about vampires and is basically a hunter.  When I showed up at the school, he tried to kill me with a homemade stake gun.  But we, uh, worked it out.”

“Oh…wow, I guess that explains the shadiness.  I’m guessing you didn’t tell Damon because he’d just kill him,” she said and he nodded.  Renfri thought to herself that maybe it was Alaric that staked Logan Fell for the Sheriff to find.  The younger Salvatore brother turned back to Elena.

“Listen, if you decide to go talk to Isabel’s friend, I’ll go with you,” Stefan said, running his hands down her arms comfortingly.

“I’ll go too, if you’d like, I don’t have much going on beyond track right now,” Renfri added helpfully.

“Yeah, thanks,” Elena told them both and managed a small smile.

Stefan hugged her and announced, “I should get going, I gotta go deal with Damon.”  

Elena stepped back and asked, “How’s he doing?”

“He’s…dealing, in his own way,” Stefan finally replied after hesitating.

Renfri huffed, “Well, while you’re there, can you make sure he cleans up after himself?  I don’t want anyone getting upstairs and try to make sure he keeps them to the common areas, preferably not where I would walk in on it?”

Stefan shrugged, “I can’t make any promises, you know that,” and she just nodded warily.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Elena and Renfri were driving back from having gotten lunch at a cafe in town that afternoon, and as they came up to a red light and waited, Elena glanced at her purse sitting by her friend’s feet thoughtfully.  

Ren raised an eyebrow at her curiously, “What’s up?”

Elena blinked and looked up as the light turned green, stepping on the gas, “Can you grab the post-it note from my bag?”

Renfri’s mouth dropped open, “You want to visit Trudie now?  I figured you’d wait a day or two before letting your curiosity get the best of you.”  She reached down to rummage through Elena's purse and pull out the yellow sticky.  Elena then asked her to reach into the glove box to take out the GPS they kept in there and enter the address.  Once it was set, they headed over to the place, Elena clenching the steering wheel nervously all the way.  Renfri tried to distract her by playing music on the radio and singing along obnoxiously to make her laugh, and was somewhat successful, though she couldn’t totally put her friend’s mind at ease.  

They parked on the street and crossed the front lawn of the gray house to climb the porch steps.  Renfri stayed a step behind Elena, letting her lead while still supporting her, and watched as she hesitated before knocking on the door.  She paused and almost turned away but stopped when a middle-aged woman answered the door with a smile.

“Trudie, Trudie Peterson?” Elena asked.

The blonde woman nodded curiously, “Yes?”

Elena took a breath and told her, “Uh, my name is Elena Gilbert and this is my friend, Ren…I wanted to talk to you about…Isabel Flemming?”

The woman looked mildly intrigued, “Well, I haven’t heard that name in years.  How do you know her?”

The brunette struggled to put it into words, “I think that—um, well…Do you know if she had a baby that she gave up for adoption?”

Something clicked in the woman’s eyes, “My god, you’re her daughter.”  Then she smiled widely, “I was just gonna make some tea, would you and your friend like some?”

Elena smiled in relief and nodded, “Sure.”

The woman stepped back and her smile fell a bit, “Uh, the kitchen’s this way,” she said and gave a weaker little quirk of her lips than before.  Renfri looked at her curiously but kept a pleasant look on her face and followed Elena.  She noted the relief on the woman’s face when they both stepped over the threshold, then led them to the dining room to sit.  

Elena rambled about her uncertainty at coming at all, telling the woman about how the stop light made her think of her mom, Miranda, teaching her how to drive, which led to thoughts about Isabel, leading her to Trudie.  She apologized for coming without notice, but the woman waved her off as she put a kettle on the stove and returned to them.  

“Oh, it’s no problem, um it is a surprise, though,” she said as she sat in a chair across from them, “I haven’t thought about Isabel in years.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“About 17 years ago, when she left to go have you,” she shrugged, “We kept in touch for a while but, you know, people drift apart.”

“And you don’t know where she ended up?” Elena asked.

The woman thought for a second, “She was in Florida for a while, was on her own, I know it wasn’t easy.”

Elena asked the next question with much apprehension, “Do you have any idea who my father is?”

Trudie looked sympathetic when she shook her head, “I could never get her to fess up.”  There was a brief pause before she continued on a more positive note.  “Anyways, when she finally pulled it together, she got into college on a scholarship.”

“Where did she go?”

“Somewhere in North Carolina…Duke, I think.  Smart girl, smart school,” she said with a small smile.  The kettle began to whistle in the kitchen and she went to get it.  When she returned with a cup of tea for each of them she also went over to a bookshelf in the den and pulled a yearbook off the shelf and opened it to the page that Jenna had found online.  Elena was absorbed in flipping through the yearbook and Renfri was watching her while she took a sip from her tea, a small one because she wasn’t a tea drinker and just did it to be polite, when she paused then sniffed the aromatic liquid.  Her eyes found Trudie’s which were watching her only to look away quickly.  Renfri felt suspicion blossom in her chest and set the cup down on the table.

“Why are you serving us vervain?” she asked bluntly, shocking Elena and the woman scrambled to maintain her composure.

“Oh, it’s just some herbal mixture, I don’t know everything that’s in it,” she said hurriedly, though her smile was barely holding on to the tight lines of her face now and her panicked eyes gave her away.

“What?” Elena said, and her friend waved for her to try her tea and she did, looking surprised.  “You know?” Elena asked the woman.

“What?” she continued to play dumb.

Renfri narrowed her eyes, “You didn’t verbally invite us in and you gave us vervain tea; you’re clearly aware of vampires, nice try though.”

The woman quickly stood from her seat, “I think that you should leave.”

“Wait, what are you not telling—” 

“Please leave, now!” she snapped, fear leaking into her voice.

“Let’s go, Elena, something’s clearly wrong here.”  They gathered their things and Trudie followed them to the door, slamming and locking it in a hurry as soon as their feet hit the porch.

“Well, that’s a bad sign,” Renfri muttered as they headed for Elena’s car at the edge of the property.  As they paused to open the car doors, they noticed an older man standing in the middle of the street a few houses down, just standing there and staring at them.  They jumped into their seats and as Elena drove them away, Renfri saw through the side mirror that the man started walking forward as  soon as the car took off.  Renfri released a breath when he didn’t speed after them, indicating that he was probably human.

“And that’s an even worse sign.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Renfri went home after their odd encounter with Trudie Peterson and the creepy lurker in the street.  She was changing to go help Caroline run the ticket table for the bachelor fundraiser at the Grill that night.  She donned a gray sweater dress with black leggings and knee high boots before adding a touch of makeup and heading downstairs with her phone and purse.  She dropped food in Ash’s bowl in the kitchen before going to search for Stefan and Elena, they were supposed to be carpooling together.  She wandered up to Stefan’s room in search of him but instead found Elena leaning away from a drunk looking (and shirtless) Damon.

“Wrecked, you looked wrecked,” Elena was saying.

He shrugged his shoulders lazily, “No reason why.  Do you know that I am one of Mystic Falls most eligible bachelors?”  Elena just humphed while Renfri announced her presence.

“How’d you get roped into that?  Did Carol Lockwood corner you?”  she asked with a smirk.

“Actually, it was Liz, who was in turn hounded by Carol,” he said, pointing a finger at her and she nodded.  

“How are you doing?” Elena asked and, of course, was deflected.

“Never better, yup.  What can I do for yah?  I’m a barrel of favors today, someone who found purpose, how can I help people?”  They watched him pull a button up shirt on and face a standing mirror.

“I’m just meeting Stefan, we’re going to the fundraiser,” Elena said easily.

“Same, they’re my ride,” Renri added as Damon struggled to get the first button through the opening.

“Ah, help a guy out would you?  I can’t get this,” he said as he turned around, trying again.  Elena sighed in exasperation but walked over to help, causing Renfri to raise an eyebrow at the both of them.  She was surprised that Elena was falling for it, she hadn’t seen Damon lose any of his dexterity even when he was drunk; a benefit of being a vampire.  He was exaggerating how drunk he was and putting on a show to play with Elena, she guessed he was only a little tipsy in reality.  She leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed.  As Elena buttoned the top button she smiled to herself and looked up at him.

“So, I found out who my birth mother is,” she started, but her smile faded soon after.

“Ugh, who cares,” she looked back up at him, her smile gone, but he elaborated, “she left you, she sucks.”  Renfri didn’t quite agree but couldn’t say he was entirely wrong.   Isabel had abandoned Elena, but she was only sixteen at the time and probably couldn’t take care of a baby.  Nobody's ready to be a mother at that age.  Elena had softened a bit, realizing it was a somewhat well-meaning comment, but Stefan stepped in from behind Ren.

She turned away from Damon and made her way over to him, “Stefan, there you are.”

“Speaking of, why are you getting ready in his room?” Ren asked her older uncle, who just shrugged.  

“Ugh, I need a new jacket,” he groaned as he slipped on, then off, one of his leather jackets, “You know, the occasional sorority girl might, um, help fill you out a little bit.” Then he walked out, buttoning his shirt easily, while Renfri watched him without surprise.  Elena watched in shock and irritation.

“He’s fine,” she said, looking after him in astonishment, and even Stefan smiled in amusement.

“He’s Damon.”

“Maybe this heartache will be good for him, it’ll remind him that he has one even if it doesn’t beat,” she said with annoyance.

Ren laughed as Stefan said, “I won’t hold my breath.”

Elena changed the subject, “So, I went to see Trudie Peterson…”

Stefan’s face shifted to surprise and worry so she quickly added, “I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t plan it.”

“I went with her, we were already out for lunch so we stopped by,” Ren added.

He crossed his arms, looking between the two girls, “How was it?”

“She had vervain,” Elena told him.

“And she was careful not to invite us inside verbally, she definitely knew about vampires.  She totally panicked when I called her out on it,” the redhead added.

“It can’t be a coincidence,” Elena insisted while Stefan just nodded.

“It isn’t,” he said and pulled out a folded paper from his pocket.  Renfri came up next to them, curious.  “This is Alaric’s wife,” he said as he unfolded a picture that was clearly an older version of the dark haired cheerleader from the yearbook.

“This is her, this is Isabel,” Elena said quickly, “He gave you this?”

“Everything he learned about vampires, he learned from her.  He believes that she was killed by one.”

“Oh my god,” Elena mumbled in shock while Renfri’s brows raised even higher on her forehead.

“Listen, Elena, there’s a lot about Isabel that Alaric can tell you, but I need you to hold off for a little while before you talk to him.”

She looked confused, “Why?”

Renfri spoke up, “I mean, I’m sure it’s a lot for him to find out his wife had a kid he didn’t know about, who is now his student, on top of her being killed by a vampire.  He’s probably traumatized as it is, probably good to give the man some space to process before you bombard him with questions, Elena.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but will you do that, for me?” Stefan asked, pulling out the puppy dog eyes.  Elena hesitated but nodded reluctantly.  

As Elena moved to head downstairs Renfri held out a hand to stop Stefan.  

She waited until she heard Elena’s shoes on the stairs before she whispered, “You think the vampire was Damon, don’t you?”  He nodded grimly so she continued, “And you’re going to ask him about her?” 

Another nod, “Yeah, I have to, Alaric’s getting impatient.”  

She let out a breath, “Just be careful.  Damon’s already suspicious of him because of the surprise interrogation at the dance and the journal thing.  If you push the issue with him, he’ll get suspicious, and he seems like he’s in the mood to fuck with people right now.”  

Stefan said nothing but pressed his lips together, his face serious as she turned around and left to follow Elena.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri sat at the ticket table with Caroline as Carol announced over a microphone that tickets were now on sale and people began to wander over with cash out.  Elena stood with them and Matt as Caroline bragged about her boyfriend being ‘cougar-bait.’  The blonde girl suddenly sat up straight and plastered a fake smile on her face.

“Hi, Ms. Donavon!”

A middle-aged woman in a short, dark dress that clung to her body approached them, completely ignoring Caroline and looked straight at Elena with a wide grin.

“Elena, honey!”

“Hi Kelly, long time no see, how are you doing?” Elena said while hugging her with a smile.

“Same old, oh, Matty tells me you broke his heart,” the woman said with a pout, making Renfri cringe as the jock protested.

“Just kidding, calm down!” she assured, then said in a low (but far from subtle) tone, “He found his rebound girl,” and glanced right at Caroline, making everyone sit in the tension she created.  Kelly quickly handed Caroline some cash, “Here you go, sweetheart, however many that will get me.  I just hope I don’t get bachelor number three; I dated him in high school, not impressive…in any way.”  Renfri wrinkled her nose and  decided that she couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Wow, real classy.  Aren’t you a little old to be gossiping like a high school drama queen, Ms. Donavon?” the redhead quipped.  The woman blinked in surprise, not expecting to be called out by a random teenager, but Renfri just sat there and stared right back.  The three other teenagers were standing with their mouths gaping in shocked silence.

“Oh, you kids need to learn how to take a joke,” the woman waved a hand, attempting to play it off lightly.

“Or you just need to grow up.  What are you, fifty going on thirteen?” Renfri snapped, causing the older woman to frown openly now and Caroline slapped a hand over her mouth hastily.

“Okay, enjoy the raffle, Ms. Donavon,” she said with a fixed smile, still holding a hand over Renfri’s mouth as she tried to talk around it, though the sound only came out muffled as she glared at the catty woman.  Kelly Donovan eyed the redhead nastily before turning around and strutting away in her ridiculously high heels.

Caroline let go of Renfri and whipped around to face her, “Where the hell did that come from!?”

Renfri huffed, “First of all, you’re welcome.  Second of all, I’m not going to apologize.  If a grown ass woman is going to act like a fucking thirteen year old mean girl to my friend, I’m going to treat her like one.”  She glanced at Matt who stood there looking both stunned and mildly impressed, “No offense, Matt.”

He shook his, “None taken, I know she’s a lot.  It’s actually good to see someone put her in her place for once.”  He gave her an amused grin before turning away as he was called to continue bussing tables.  Caroline beamed and hugged Renfri tightly while Elena offered her a small smile in support.  

The brunette glanced around the room and noticed Alaric not too far away.  However, when they made eye contact, he quickly looked away and moved in the opposite direction, making Elena wilt.  

“Leave him be for now,” Ren murmured to her as Caroline handled another customer, “Judging by that reaction, Jenna confirmed it with him.  He’s probably not ready to talk if he just found out, give him space.”  She looked unsatisfied but nodded nonetheless, moving on to find her aunt in the crowd.

As she helped Caroline sell tickets for the raffle, Ren looked around the room in boredom and noticed Damon flirting with the mayor’s wife, unsurprisingly, only for him to be waved over by Sheriff Forbes with a manila folder.  Ren furrowed her brows as she watched the interaction, seeing him move straight over to the woman as they opened the folder together while talking.  Her eyes widened when Damon flipped to something in the folder in interest then turned around and quickly found someone in the crowd, staring with a devious look in his eyes.  

She followed his gaze to…Alaric Saltzman.

She didn’t get a chance to decide if she should tell someone, though she wasn’t sure what to say.  She assumed that he had the sheriff look into Alaric but she didn’t know what he found or knew.  The bachelor’s were called to the stage before she could do more than contemplate the situation.  She left the ticket table to go sit with Elena and Jenna to watch the introductions and raffle.  

They introduced the third bachelor as a plumber and Renfri silently wished that he would go to Kelly Donovan, it would be a fitting act of karma.  Next, they interviewed Alaric, who proved to be a little less sure of himself than normal, fumbling awkwardly a bit.  Finally, they moved to Damon and admitted that they didn’t have much info on him, so he proceeded to deflect tactfully: turning a supposedly interesting fact reveal into a chance to be a first-rate asshole.

“Oh, yeah, I love to travel; LA, New York.  A couple years ago I was in North Carolina, near the Duke campus, actually.  I think—” he turned toward the history teacher beside him, “I think Alaric went to school there, didn’t you, Ric?”  Renfri’s face screwed up, wondering what he was doing.  “Yeah, ‘cause I know your wife did.  I had a drink with her once.”  She felt Elena stiffen up next to her and slowly sit up straighter, losing her smile as Renfri’s stomach dropped.  “She was a great girl,” he went on, smiling tauntingly at the teacher while Carol looked a little lost while holding out the microphone, “Did I ever tell you that?  ‘Cause she was just…delicious.”  

Jenna turned from the stage to Elena, unsure what was happening while Elena looked like she’d just been slapped.  

“Shit,” Renfri breathed, and slipped her hand over Elena’s on the table and grasped it tightly.

Jenna leaned over and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I just need some air,” Elena said quickly and scrambled out of her seat, heading for the side door.  Renfri glared in the direction of the stage before jumping up to quickly follow her, Stefan right in step with her.  They stepped outside just as Elena was wrapping her coat around her and taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself.

“Elena–”

“He killed her?  Damon was the vampire that killed her?” she asked immediately, cutting Stefan off.

“I don’t know what happened, Alaric said that they never found a body—”

“Oh my god, Stefan…”

“I know, I’m sorry, I wanted to tell you but I wanted to know more and be sure.”

Elena turned to Renfri, “Did you know about this?”

Ren shook her head, “No, I only suspected it when we talked about it right before we left tonight, but I was waiting to see if Stefan could get anything out of Damon.”

Elena just shook her head, becoming angry, “I was feeling sorry for him, hoping that this whole Katherine thing would change him, I’m so stupid.”

Renfri quickly refuted her, “No, Elena, he’s not trying to hurt you.  I don’t think he even knows about your connection to Isabel.  I’m sure he’s just figured out that Stefan was asking questions about her for Ric and decided to be a spiteful dick in public this time, especially since he was suspicious of him already.”

Stefan added, “I already thought about confronting him, but he’s so on edge lately–”
Elena had been shifting back and forth anxiously and snapped at this, “Why are you protecting him!?”

Stefan’s conflicting emotions were plain on his face, “Because you’re not the only one hoping that he might actually change.”  

Renfri nodded, agreeing with him, “I think he already started but having his trust betrayed stunted that, along with finding out Katherine wasn’t ever in the tomb.”  She put a hand on Elena’s arm, squeezing it, “He needed to break before he could change, and that doesn’t mean it’ll happen overnight; no one changes that fast.”  Elena didn’t say anything and looked away, trying to deal with it when her gaze caught on something and her brows furrowed.

“That man…”

Renfri turned to look and grew concerned, “That’s the creep who was staring at us outside of Trudie’s house.”

Stefan watched the man further down the busy sidewalk as he urged them to move, “Come on, let’s go back inside.”

They arrived back inside the Grill just as the winner of bachelor number three was being announced.

“That’s me,” an older woman called out, moving through the crowd, her face far from enthusiastic.

Carol smiled winningly, “Ah, Kelly Donovan, lovely.  You and the plumber should have so much fun.”  Renfri could hear the elitist snobbery in her tone, which she would normally despise, but in this case she could appreciate it and couldn’t help her lips from twitching up as she moved across the floor.  Elena had gone to the bathroom to gather herself and freshen up, so Renfri moved to wait just outside for her, taking the chance to be away from others as well as she leaned against the wall facing the door.  She was lost in thought and didn’t notice the man approaching, so when Elena opened the door she couldn’t warn her, causing the brunette to walk straight into them.

“Whoa, easy there, buy a ticket like everyone else,” Damon said with a smirk.  Elena immediately went from quietly fuming to pissed. 

“Did you enjoy that?  Rubbing it in to Alaric Saltzman?” she asked bitterly.

Damon looked at her in confusion, “What?”  He glanced at Renfri, calmly holding up the wall, but she just raised an eyebrow at him accusingly.

“Just as I was starting to think that there was something redeemable about you,” Elena continued.  Stefan came up behind his brother and called her name quietly, but she ignored it.  Renfri continued to watch the train wreck that was unfolding in front of her, knowing that there was no stopping Elena and Damon needed to know that he’d fucked up; maybe it would help push him out of his funk.

“Am I missing something here?” Damon asked, turning to look at his brother, only to turn back to the teenager currently chastising him.

“Did I forget to mention, earlier when we were talking, about my birth mother?  The one that gave me up?” Elena said with false ease, her brown eyes accusing.

“Mhmm,” the dark haired vampire responded with an easy smile on his lips.

Elena stared him dead in the eyes and said lowly, “Her name was Isabel.”  Damon’s smile dropped immediately, his eyes darting back and forth between hers and brows pulling down.  “Go ahead, reminisce about how you killed her,” the girl finished with angry tears in her eyes then pushed past him to go outside again with Stefan following.  Damon looked after her, looking shocked and unsure what to do.  He turned back to his niece who just looked at him with disappointment in her eyes.

“I think that’s a sign for you to get your shit together, Uncle Damon.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri walked into the boarding house with a tired sigh and crouched down to pet Ash and give him a quick hug, she needed a bit of comfort from her buddy after the night they’d just had.  Stefan had texted her about the man from before confronting them outside the Grill, telling Elena to stop looking for Isabel, and confirming the theory that she was now a vampire since the man was compelled to then step into traffic once the message was delivered.  She led her Dutch Shepherd into the side yard to do his business and she stood there, hands in her coat pocket and staring up at the stars.  She let her breath out in a cloud of fog, wondering if her life would ever be normal again.  They’d had a bit of a break during the winter holidays, disregarding her uncle’s obnoxious and unsavory coping mechanisms, but now it seemed that this crap with Isabel was going to become an issue as well.  She called out to Ash to come back and they headed inside again, locking the side door.  She kicked off her shoes by the stairs, intending on taking them up with her after reheating some leftovers, when she heard a loud noise further into the house.  Her head snapped up, listening carefully as she paused midway through taking her coat off.  She heard two voices down the hall and, knowing that Stefan hadn’t come home yet because he was still with Elena, she hurried in the direction they were coming from with soft steps.  She approached the larger study that had the big desk and leather sofas around the roaring fireplace, hearing her older uncle’s voice.

“She came to me, all pathetic, looking for vampires.  But, there was something about her, something I liked, something special.”

“You turned her because you liked her?”  That was the voice of Alaric Saltzman, and Renfri hurried her pace, stepping around the corner and into the room as Damon retorted.

“No, I slept with her because I liked her.  I turned her because she begged me to,” he said with no mercy, staring the kneeling man down.  Damon continued to taunt him, “But you knew that too, didn’t you, hmm?  I guess she wasn’t happy at home, she wasn’t happy in general, she wasn’t happy with you—”  

Alaric lurched to his feet just as Renfri moved through the doorway, the desperate teacher a few feet in front of her and Damon several feet further, leisurely moving towards the man with a mocking swagger.

They turned to her as she said loudly, “What the fuck is going on in here!?”  Alaric’s eyes flicked between her and Damon in a panic.  He lunged at the girl, taking her by surprise as he grabbed her, arm across her throat to hold her against him and pressed the tip of a wooden stake against the center of her back.  Damon straightened, no longer smiling as his eyes focused on his niece when she yelped.  She grabbed at the man’s arm and arched her spine away, but his grip was tight and unyielding in his desperation.

“What the hell are you doing??” the girl yelled, becoming furious despite the fear creeping into her mind.  Damon shifted his weight forward, anger in his eyes, but Alaric pushed the sharp tip of the stake into her back and she felt the sting of it breaking her skin, making her gasp and stiffen.

“Stop,” the teacher demanded, “if you make a move, I’ll stake her right here!”  The man was panting hard, the panic and fury clear in his voice, as the vampire still several feet away watched him with sharp eyes.  

“Wait, stake me?!” Renfri exclaimed, confused.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?  I saw the three of you kill that vampire during the dance, you were with them,” the man spit angrily in her ear.

“I’m not a fucking vampire, you idiot!!” she screeched and thrashed her body, her fury overpowering her reason momentarily and accidentally pushed the tip of the wood into her back more, making herself bleed a bit.  She sucked in a breath and stilled again, though still fuming.

Damon’s chin lifted a bit, smelling the blood, and narrowed his eyes.  

“She’s human, let her go…or I’ll remove your arms from your body, permanently,” the vampire across from them threatened lowly.  Alaric’s eyes bounced back and forth from the two, unsure what to believe or what to do to get out of the situation he’d put himself in.

The next second, a deep growl rumbled from behind them.  

A four legged figure emerged from the shadowed hallway, revealing silver brindle fur, its muzzle wrinkled back into a toothy snarl.  Damon gave a harsh laugh.

“Or maybe Kujo over there will do that for me, he’s quite protective of her,” he said with a grin, though still poised to move at a moment’s notice.  

“Ash, warten,” Renfri called, telling the dog to wait.  He paused a couple feet away but continued to growl at the man holding his owner hostage.

“Alaric,” she hissed, “I’ve got fuck all to do with your wife, and just because I’m related to vampires doesn’t mean I am one or should be blamed for what they do.  But if you decide to take your anger out on me, that dog will tear your throat out before you can do any major damage to me…and I won’t tell him to stop.  So it’s your choice: let me go and walk out of here or excruciating death by canine.  And if the dog doesn’t finish it, Damon sure will.”  Her uncle grinned in acknowledgement as Alaric’s eyes flicked to the vampire again.  

The man behind her seemed to hesitate and measure his options as the two predators kept their eyes locked on him.  His grip on her loosened marginally and the stake pulled back by a centimeter, lightening the pressure.  He hesitated for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to do, and Renfri took that chance.

“Hol ihn,” she hissed, and Ash lunged.

The sharp wood dug deeper into her skin as the man tried to push them forward and away from the attacking dog, making her bleed further and cringe.  As the canine’s teeth dug into the man’s calf he shouted in pain and pulled the arm with the stake back to try and swing at the dog.  Renfri quickly threw her elbow back into his gut just as Damon flashed over, ripping the man’s arm away from her neck and pulling her behind him.  The dog let go of the hunter’s leg, startled by the vampire’s sudden appearance, and in an instant, Damon grabbed the injured man by the throat and threw him across the room to land in a heap by the fireplace.  

“Ash, fuss,” Renfri ordered, telling Ash to come to her side.  The dog continued to bare its teeth and growl at Alaric as it slunk over to its owner’s side, standing guard.  The man wheezed on the floor and groaned in pain, wincing when he put weight on the leg with deep gouges from the canine’s teeth as he tried to stand, blood soaking through the fabric and sliding down his calf.  

Damon faced the hunter as he attempted to catch his breath and scramble to his feet, leaning heavily to one side and propping himself up with the arm of the leather chair.  The vampire circled around the sofa to approach the man, smiling threateningly.

“I warned you, fair is fair,” he said easily, more calm now that Renfri was behind him and halfway across the room from the threat.  His niece stood stiffly behind the sofas, several feet from the doorway, with her dog standing so close that his fur brushed against her legs.  She watched wearily as her uncle stopped a few feet away from Alaric.

“Damon, maybe you should just compel him.  That way he’s not a problem anymore and we don’t have to cover up another mysterious death,” she suggested, but her uncle scoffed.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna work.  I can smell the vervain on him, isn’t that right, Alaric?” he replied mockingly.  “Might as well die fighting and with your mind intact, right?  Seeing as you have no one left who cares, certainly not your wife—”

At this, the hunter grunted and lunged at Damon with the stake, swinging for his heart.  Damon simply grabbed his arm and forced his hand inward, forcing the man to shove the stake into his own chest.  Alaric gasped in pain as the vampire moved to stand behind him, holding the stake in place while the hunter tried to pull it out, eyes wide with pain and panic.

Renfri watched uneasily but didn’t protest, the man did try to take her hostage and might have killed her.  She had liked him as a teacher, but he shouldn’t have dragged her into his attempt at revenge on Damon.

“It’s a shame,” the dark haired young man said, “we’re kindred spirits, abandoned by the women we love.  Unrequited love sucks.”  Then he ripped the wood out of the teacher’s chest, making him gasp for air only to make an odd, high wheezing sound instead.

“Sounds like I got a lung, which means I get to sit here and watch you die,” the vampire finished and let the man drop to the floor on his back as he tried and failed to take a breath, clutching at his chest as he quietly suffocated in front of the flickering fire.  Renfri felt bad that he wasn’t dying very quickly, suffocating from a collapsed lung was not an easy way to go, she looked away as Damon grabbed a glass of bourbon from the table and took a sip.  He stared into the flames as the man convulsed for a minute or so before finally going still.  Then glanced at her when he felt her eyes on him, seeing her looking at him tiredly while soothing her agitated canine guardian.

“Thanks for the help, but, couldn’t you have killed him faster?  Making him suffocate was…a bit much,” she said quietly.  He just waved his glass at her lazily.

“He attacked both of us, he got what he deserved, especially since you didn’t even do anything to him.”  She just shook her head, knowing it wasn’t worth arguing at that point.  She straightened up and grimaced when her shirt tugged the drying blood of the wound on her back.  

Damon looked up and put the glass down, “He hurt you?”

She nodded, “Managed to dig the tip of the stake a little deeper into my back.  I don’t think it’s too bad.  Can you help me clean it up?  I don’t want it to get infected and I can’t reach it.”  He got up and eyed the spot on her gray shirt that had a patch of red a few inches wide that had bled threw and nodded, disappearing and returning with a small first aid kit.  She started to lift her shirt, grumbling when the shirt stuck to the already drying blood.  Her uncle helped to pull the edge of the shirt the rest of the way up, nearly to her shoulders.  

He was dabbing a cotton ball soaked in peroxide on the damaged skin, making her hiss, as the other Salvatore entered the room.  He froze, looking at Renfri who was now getting ointment spread onto a gouge on her back by Damon, then to the body on the rug in front of the fireplace.

“What happened, what did you do?” he directed to his brother, moving to check the dead man.

Damon looked at him innocently, “Do what?  He attacked me, then Red.”

“Damon,” he said exasperatedly.

Her older uncle shrugged as he laid a bandage over her treated wound, “All I did was tell him the truth.  His wife didn’t want him anymore, not my fault he couldn’t handle it.”

“Like you’ve been handling Katherine?” Stefan accused but only got an eye roll.

“I’m handling it fine.”  Renfri snorted and Damon gave a light slap to the newly bandaged wound, making her flinch and glare back at him as she pulled her shirt down.

She turned to face her other uncle, “Stefan, as soon as I walked in, Alaric took me hostage and threatened to stake me, thinking I was a vampire.  So sue me for siccing Ash on the guy and letting Damon at him when I could have been seriously hurt or killed.  He chose to walk in here prepared to attack Damon, knowing who he was, so it’s his own fault.”

Damon grabbed his glass and took another sip, “You know what, Isabel came to me, she found me.  And if she’s related to Elena, that means she’s related to Katherine.  Maybe Katherine sent her to me?”  He speculated.  

Renfri shook her head in disappointment as Stefan told him, “Stop it.  You don’t have to keep looking!”

Damon shook his head stubbornly, “It can’t be a coincidence that Isabel sought me out, mm-mm, it can’t.”

Renfri spoke up, frustrated at his new train of thought, “Even if it was Katherine that sent her to you, which we don’t know, that doesn’t mean she cares.  It just means that she used you.”  Damon frowned at her as she kneeled down to stroke Ash, comforting him and herself.

He gestured at the body and said to Stefan, “I assume you’ll take care of this?” then walked out.  Renfri just sighed and got to her feet then headed upstairs with her companion, eager to crawl into her bed.

She didn’t hear the sputtered gasps of the previously dead man coming back to life a minute later.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri was shocked to hear from Stefan the next morning that Alaric hadn’t stayed dead and her jaw dropped when she walked into history class first period after seeing it for herself.  The teacher looked at her warily before turning away and ignoring her for the entirety of the period.  She went through the next few days praying that nothing else would happen, Stefan had said that Alaric wouldn’t attack them again and would leave her alone, knowing that she’s human now.  She was still irritated at the man for hurting her and taking her hostage, but she let it slide mostly so she could get through their class together, though she chose not to engage with him if she could help it.

Caroline had informed her of the double date she had arranged between her, Matt, Stefan, and Elena.  Ren couldn’t help but laugh when she heard the idea, making the blonde pout.  She wished them luck before heading off to her afternoon classes.  She had a track meet after school that day and didn’t get home until later that night.  She smiled and waved as she saw Stefan and Elena standing outside one of the open garage doors.

“Hey, is the double date over already?” she called out teasingly as she approached with a smile.  

The two laughed as Stefan shook his head, “Nah, we just gave Matt and Caroline a chance to bond a little, it’s been a bit awkward so far.  I let them take my Porsche for a drive since Matt got it running.”

Renfri’s eyes widened in surprise, “The 1963 Porsche that’s been sitting in the garage forever?  Zach told me it wasn’t his or my dad’s, so I should have guessed it was yours or Damon’s.  It is a beautiful car; you should actually drive it now that it’s running again.”  

He nodded, smiling, “I plan on it.”

The cherry red Porsche came back up the drive just then and Matt and Caroline got out of the vehicle smiling.  They all decided to head inside to check out the boarding house since the blonde couple was curious, Renfri leading the way since she had to get cleaned up too.  As they moved through the foyer, Renfri paused while passing the hallway, coming upon a repulsive sight.

“Oh, Christ, why’d it have to be that old bitch?” Renfri blurted out, then slapped her hand over her mouth as she glanced over her shoulder at Matt, who came up behind her.  He looked at her oddly before he saw the two people making out heavily against the wall, peering at them in confusion then recognition.

“Mom?”

The woman glanced their way as the other three joined them, all staring in surprise.

“Damon?” Caroline said in disgust.

“Oh my god, oh my god,” the older woman sputtered as she slid off the younger man that was leaning against the wall and grabbed her jacket, avoiding all eye contact as she moved past them to the door.  Matt shook his head in embarrassment and went to take her home.  The rest of the group turned to glare at Damon, who looked back and said nothing, just poured himself another drink.

“Now you’re going for older women who look like coked up hookers?  Jesus Christ, please get your shit together,” Renfri said with contempt before turning to go upstairs to shower.  She cleaned up quickly and immediately went back down, leaving Ash napping on his dog bed in her bedroom with the door closed, just as Stefan was coming back in from saying goodbye to Elena and Caroline.  She followed him into the study, knowing he was about to lecture his brother, and anticipated watching the two bicker as well as including a word or two herself.

They found him lounging on a leather chair by the fire, nursing his drink.  Stefan walked down the steps and approached him from behind the sofa and opposite chair, his head tilted to one side.

Damon made a face, “Don’t look at me like that—”

“Are you crazy?” Stefan said right away.

“Your standards have dropped so far it’s honestly pathetic,” Renfri said with fake sympathy, leaning against the doorway with arms crossed.

“Save the lecture.  Look—”

CRASH!

The tall window by Stefan exploded inward, bringing with it what looked like  a small dead tree, roots and all, that knocked her younger uncle to the floor.  Damon jumped to his feet as Renfri startled with a gasp.  Some of the branches had stabbed into Stefan’s skin, making him groan in pain as he pushed it away from himself.  Damon sped to the window, looking out, then flashed outside to go after whoever had sent the tree through the glass.  Renfri gave Stefan a hand up before he jumped through the window to support his brother in whatever fight he had gotten into, judging by the thuds and smacking sounds she was faintly hearing from outside.  She ran over to the window and peeked out, knowing better than to step outside just yet if it was vampires that were attacking.  She saw Damon trading blows with a man in dark clothes and dark, short hair and a beard.  She also noticed Stefan fighting a woman with tan skin in a blazer and dress pants, looking like she just came back from a day at the office.  Stefan had snapped a small branch off the dead tree on his way past and had swung it at the woman’s chest after deflecting a punch, being stopped only inches away from his target.  The stranger held his wrist still and grabbed his throat with her other hand and Stefan reflexively tried to pull it away.  They were stuck in a stalemate for a few seconds, struggling to overpower each other, Renfri noticing Damon head butting his opponent from the corner of her eye, when Stefan spun them around, using the momentum to slam the woman into the brick side of the house, right but the window Renfri was standing at the edge of.

Renfri jumped with a yelp, and stumbled, tripping on the roots of the dead tree lying on the floor and hitting her shins on the base of the broken window, sending her face first outside and onto the grass.  She panicked when she realized that she had gone outside the boundary of the house, now exposed to the two vampires fighting her uncles.  The woman, still against the wall and not even a foot away from the girl, took full advantage and kicked her in the ribs savagely, sending her tumbling across the ground and knocking the air from her lungs.

“Ren!” Stefan shouted and Damon growled after seeing his niece get injured.   She desperately gasped for air while lying on her back, every breath shooting pain through her body and head throbbing from its collision with the earth.  She was sure a couple of ribs were cracked and she tried to take shallow breaths to avoid aggravating them, though it would be inevitable as she would have to get up as soon as possible.  She glanced up towards Stefan again when she heard a sharp, piercing sound.

 She heard the woman grunt in pain amongst the other dull sounds of fists hitting flesh.  Renfri pushed herself to her elbows, keeping her weight off her abdomen, and saw the female vampire had collapsed against the bricks, a branch sticking out of her chest as she turned gray in death.  Damon slapped the wrists of the male vampire he was fighting down from his neck then tossed him bodily across the stretch of lawn, close tot he treeline.  He jumped to his feet,  the two brothers flashed over to stand between their niece and the man, but he took one look at the dead vampire and fled back into the dark woods.  The only thing that could be heard then was their labored breathing and the distant, frantic barking coming from Renfri’s bedroom upstairs.

Stefan’s chest heaved, touching the wounds on it, “I remember them, from 1864.  They were in the tomb.”  

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Renfri groaned from at their feet, and Damon turned around to help her up, leaning over to brush her hair aside to check the scrapes on her face and gently touching her ribs on her left side, making her hiss sharply.

“Yeah, about that…the tomb spell failed and all the vampires got out.”

“No shit,” she grumbled, holding onto his shoulder as she steadied herself to avoid moving and shifting her ribs.  “I think that bitch broke my ribs, it hurts to breathe,” she bit out.  

Damon lifted his wrist that wasn’t holding her, “Time for another vein tap?”  She reluctantly nodded, knowing that healing ribs would take quite a while and was just painful, and she’d rather avoid that if possible.  She requested a cup this time, not wanting to drink from her uncle (that was so awkward last time), and Stefan retrieved a glass for Damon to bleed into.  As soon as she had thrown the red liquid back and swallowed before she could think about the taste, she sighed from the immediate sense of relief as her body began to fix itself.  Renfri then turned towards Stefan, trying to see if his wounds were healing.  Stefan silently nodded, reassuring her that he was okay.  They made their way back inside as Damon continued talking.

“Pearl and Anna stopped by earlier to inform me that some of them are staying in a farmhouse at the edge of town and that we are to let them ‘rebuild,’” he made quotation marks with his hands at this, “and fork over info on the founders council.”

“And you just agreed?” Stefan asked accusingly.

Damon hesitated, “Unwillingly…”

Renfri looked at him quizzically, “What, did she rip out your spleen or something?”

“Close,” he grumbled, “jammed her thumbs in my eyes.”

Renfri cringed, sucking in a breath through her teeth, “Ah, so that’s why today’s female conquest was so substandard, you couldn’t see properly.”  Stefan huffed out a reluctant laugh as Damon rolled his perfectly healed eyes at her.

“Yeah, well, Pearl needs to get a handle on her tomb vamps or we’re fucked,” he replied, shifting the conversation away from himself.

“I’m especially fucked.  Human, remember?  And they can go after me anytime I leave the house,” Renfri said and pressed her lips together tightly.  The two brothers glanced at each other in concern.  

“I think most of them don’t have daylight rings, so you should be okay as long as you get home during the day or with one of us, Stefan said.

She huffed, she was sick of getting injured and being either caught in the crossfire or in the way whenever shit hit the fan.  She wanted to be able to defend herself; she couldn’t rely on Ash to defend her against vampires.  He would only piss them off and was likely to get killed.  He wasn’t just a pet, he was family, and she couldn’t take another loss right then.  Renfri wasn’t sure how to go about making herself less useless but she wanted it to change, especially if the ‘darkness’ that Emily had mentioned made its appearance in the form of the tomb vampires seeking vengeance, as the girl had feared.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

The next morning, Damon was boarding up the destroyed window until it could be fixed as the gray sky opened up, releasing a downpour of rain.  Elena had come over to get updated on what happened the night before.

“I say we go to Pearl’s house, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night,” he suggested cheerfully, turning to them and playing with the hammer in his hands.

“Yeah?  And then what, we turn to the rest of the house of vampires and say, ‘Oops, sorry!’”  Stefan retorted, making Renfri snort from her position leaning back into the sofa.

“I can’t believe you made a deal with her,” Elena complained, standing next to her friend.

Damon wandered back over to the group to stand by the fireplace, “Yeah, well, it was more like an exchange of information.  It’s not like I had a choice, she’s…scary.  Besides, she’s gonna help me get Katherine back.”

“What?” Ren asked, sitting up.

“Oh, of course she is.  Damon gets what he wants, as usual, no matter who he hurts in the process,” Elena remarked snidely.

“No need to be snarky about it,” Damon said back and turned away.  

Renfri raised her eyebrows and stretched out across the couch, knowing that comment would stir up the girl.

Elena’s eyes widened before narrowing, and she snapped, “I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires had been released from the tomb, I’ve earned snarky.”

Damon strode over and lifted Ren’s legs, plopped down, then dropped them into his lap.  

He drummed his hands on her shins and sighed, “Ugh, how long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?”

Renfri interjected, “Uh, I think it was more about you taunting Alaric about it in public.  You know, calling her ‘delicious’?  Not the best move.”

“I’m not blaming you, Damon,” Elena responded with a sarcastic half-smile, “I’ve accepted the fact that you’re a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities.”

“Oooo, burn,” Renfri mocked her uncle with a laugh.

He just put a hand to his heart and said, “Ouch.”

“Okay, this is not productive,” Stefan stepped in, “We’re gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires, yeah?”

Damon said nothing, he just got up, pushing his niece’s legs off the couch in the process, and walked out.

The brunette sighed and exclaimed, “I’m sorry!  He just makes me so cranky!” as she leaned into a hug with her boyfriend.  

He hummed in commiseration, “Yeah, he makes everybody cranky.”

Renfri shrugged, sitting forward to lean her elbows on her knees, “Nah, he’s mostly just funny to me, somewhat because of the stupid shit he pulls; only on occasion does he actually piss me off.  So, what are we going to do?”

Stefan looked up at her, “Damon and I are going to handle it while you two stay safe.”

“What?  What about us, what can we do to help?” Elena asked with her friend nodding right along with her.

“You’re going to do nothing because that is what will keep you out of danger.  You are human, you can’t take on a vampire, never mind a dozen or so, without risking your lives.  It’s not worth it.”

“It’s not worth it to me if you’re not safe,” Elena protested, putting her hands on either side of his face.

“What do you mean?  I’m perfectly safe.  I have Damon, the self-serving psychopath, on my side,” he joked.

“Ugh, well that’s comforting.”

Renfri chuckled, “Honestly though, Elena, no matter how much they fight, Damon wouldn’t let Stefan die if he could help it; they’re brothers.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri was in the den on a couch, sitting up with her laptop on her thighs as she researched human anatomy.  She had been serious about wanting to be able to defend herself properly, and against a vampire that meant she had to know exactly where to aim with a stake.  She knew from what she’d learned that she had to get the heart in order to kill a vampire, but it could be tricky.  She was studying anatomy charts to determine the best way to get to the heart.  She tapped her chest over where the organ was as she looked at the diagrams, feeling the hard plate of bone underneath, blocking it: the sternum.  Going straight for the heart through the chest was not the way to go, so she reviewed the images and considered going in from between the ribs.  Either in front or back could work, though the back might be more challenging due to the spinal column and the ribs reaching further down than the front.  She’d also have to be careful not to hit a rib directly and instead wedge it between them.  The gaps weren’t huge, so she’d have to shove the stake through with significant force, thank god she worked out regularly due to being a varsity athlete.  She also contemplated whether she could aim for the gap where the upside down ‘V’ that connected the ribs and the bottom of the sternum started and just angle the stake up to puncture the heart.

Ash picked up his head from his paws where he was resting on the floor by the couch, watching Damon enter the room.

He eyed her computer screen and the notes she had scribbled on a pad before inquiring, “Is Stefan back yet?”

Renfri looked up in confusion, “Back from what?”

“He went out to hunt, it’s been almost an hour,” he answered, pulling his phone out to give his brother a call.  It rang for a minute before going to voicemail.  He tried a few more times with the same result.  Getting concerned, Renfri tried with her phone, only to fail to get an answer as well.

“Maybe he’s with Elena and they’re…busy?” She suggested weakly, though she was beginning to worry as the concern on her uncle’s face grew.  They hopped in his car and drove to the Gilbert house, Damon calling Elena’s phone all the way but getting no answer either.  As they pulled up to the house and headed for the front door, the call was clearly denied as the ringing was cut off after only a couple seconds, so he knocked on the door.  Elena opened the door with a frown as Damo walked straight past her and into the house, with his niece following right behind.

“You’re ignoring me,” he accused.

“The six missed calls?  Sorry, my phones dead,” she replied dryly.

“Is Stefan not here?” Renfri quickly asked, only for Elena to look confused and shake her head.

“No, why?  Is something wrong?”

Damon’s brow furrowed as he returned from having a quick peek around the first floor, “You’re not gonna like what I’m thinking.”

They quickly filed into the blue Camaro and drove out to the edge of town, into the woods as the rain poured down in sheets.

“Fuck, I didn’t even consider that a heavy overcast could block enough sun for a vampire without a daylight ring to be able to go outside,” Renfri scolded herself.

“I hadn’t either and clearly, neither did Stefan.  We’ll see if I can confirm that he’s at Pearl’s house and get him out.  Wait here, I’ll be back,” Damon replied.  He parked the car on the side of the road and ran out into the rain.  

Elena and Renfri only had to wait a little more than five minutes before they saw him returning back through the trees  Elena climbed out with an umbrella but Ren stayed in the backseat to avoid getting soaked before she had to.  She could see their blurred figures talking back and forth for a minute, Elena trying to move past him but being held back.  When Elena clearly started to protest, Damon surprised her when he put his hands on her cheeks briefly to get his point across before letting go.  He urged her back into the car so they could head back into town.

As he started the car, Ren asked, “So they have him?”

“Yeah, it was the same asshole from last night, I think his name was Frederick.  Pearl wasn’t there so it looks like he’s decided to run things while she’s away.  He blames us and Katherine for getting them locked in the tomb, and Stefan killed his girlfriend last night, so he’s out for blood.”

Renfri sighed, “Shit, what are we going to do?  There’s definitely too many of them to be able to just fight them straight on.”

“No, this is gonna have to be a stealth mission, that’s for sure.  We do have a problem though, I can’t get in because the woman who owns the place is compelled not to let me in,” he responded, his face serious.

“What if we ask for help from Alaric?” Elena suggested, making the two Salvatores turn to look at her in disbelief.

“How would that be a good idea?” Renfri asked her.

“He’s a vampire hunter, he’s got weapons and things that could lessen the disadvantage, and maybe he’d be willing to join in since it’s Stefan?”  the brunette argued.

“Well, he might be useful as a distraction, and he might be able to get the woman out of the house so I can reach her,” Damon reasoned, nodding a bit, “Alright, let’s go find the teacher.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They found themselves in Alaric’s classroom, Elena pleading their case in front of the teacher’s desk as he sat in his chair and looked up at her.  Damon and Renfri leaned against the window sills with their arms crossed.  Renfri stayed by her uncle’s side, still not too comfortable around the hunter now that they were the only ones in a room with him out of the public eye.  She certainly didn’t hide it either, the disdain was clear on her face as she watched him talk with Elena.

“Stefan’s in the house, Damon’s a vampire and can’t get in, we need you.  I would go, but—”

“But your life is valuable,” Damon continued for her, “Yours, on the other hand is…”

Elena ignored him, “Stefan told me about your ring.”

“What about it?” The teacher asked, hands folded in front of him.

Damon spoke up again, making his niece sigh, “Let me recap: you tried to kill me and little Red over here, we defended ourselves, you died, and according to my brother, that little ring brought you back to life.  Am I, uh, am I leaving anything out?”

Alaric sat up straighter, his face dark, “Yeah, the part where I try to kill you again, only this time I don’t miss.”  He stood from his chair and took a step forward.

Renfri scoffed in disbelief and looked at her uncle, “Is he serious?” she looked to her teacher, “Are you serious?”

“Mr. Saltzman, please, it’s Stefan,” Elena begged, stepping in his way.

“Elena, I think you’re failing to realize that he doesn’t give a shit about Stefan.  He only tolerated him because he was helping him look into Isabel, otherwise he would probably have killed him if he could.  Why would he risk his life for him?”

Elena glanced back at her then returned her pleading gaze to the man, who said, “I’m sorry, Elena, it’s not my problem.”  Renfri waved her hand at him as if to say ‘see?’

“Well, that’s a shame, because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife,” Damon remarked, standing up from his resting position.  Renfri followed him quietly, knowing it was a lie to get the hunter on board.

“You’re lying,” Alaric accused immediately.

“Am I?  Why don’t you ask her yourself?”  Damon goaded, and when the man didn’t say anything he looked him dead in the eye.

“Coward,” he stated, leaning forward, before he turned to lead the girls out, “Come on, Elena, Red.”

They only made it a few steps, feigning disappointment, before Alaric called out again, “Wait, I’ll go.”

After Alaric had agreed, he went to fetch some of his gear and returned with a rolled up tool satchel.  Once it was laid out, it revealed several neatly carved stakes and what looked like thick metal tubes with vials of liquid and thick needles on the ends.

“Is this vervain?” Renfri asked, helping herself to one as she eyed it curiously, noticing the yellowish liquid inside.

“Just get me inside, I’ll get Stefan out,” Damon told him simply.

“That’s your plan?” Elena asked dryly, “You’re just going to take them all on yourself?”

“Like I said earlier, he’d be stupid to just charge in, he’ll have to pick them off as he sneaks around, take out as many as he can before he’s noticed,” Renfri commented as she flipped the vervain dart in her hand before sliding it back into its pocket in the satchel.

Damon nodded, “Yup, that’s the plan.”

Elena just huffed out an annoyed breath before reaching to pull out a vervain dart.

“Woah, what are you doing?” Alaric asked.

“I’m going with you guys,” the girl insisted.

“No no no, no you’re not,” Damon denied immediately.

“You need me; I’ll get in and distract them, then I’ll get Stefan.”

“Elena, anyone human going into that house is likely to get themselves killed, no offense, Mr. Saltzman.  At least he has trained to kill vampires and has the means to do it.  You’re as thin as a twig, Elena, I doubt you could get a stake more than an inch or two into a vampire’s flesh,” Renfri said bluntly.

“And you’re so much better?” the brunette replied with frustration.

Renfri shrugged, “I’m a triple letter varsity athlete; I do cardio every day and weight training multiple times a week.  I’d fair a slightly better chance than you, but that doesn’t matter, because I’m still only human.  I’d prefer not walking into a house full of vampires that wouldn’t blink before snapping my neck.”

“I’d listen to Red, she’s clearly got a good head on her shoulders, most of the time.  It seems like the multiple concussions are starting to really sink in,” Ren rolled her eyes at that, “So, you’re not going in.”

“Yes I am,” Elena said sharply to Damon before turning back to her friend with anger in her eyes, “How can you not want to help Stefan?  He’s your family?”

Renfri scoffed, irritated by the accusation, “Of course I do.  I love Stefan, but if there’s a smarter way of doing this, I’m going to go with that first.  I’m fine with waiting outside until Uncle Damon gets him out and helping from there because I trust him to save his brother.  He loves him too, even if he isn’t great at showing it like a normal person.”  It was Damon’s turn to roll his eyes but she ignored him and added, “You have no reason to doubt that we’d do what it takes to save Stefan just because we won’t dive in recklessly and get ourselves killed in the process, like you're so eager to do.”

Alaric stood all the while, eyes flicking back and forth between the arguing teenagers, and Damon chimed in.

“She’s right, you’re just going to get yourself killed, you’re not going in there.”

Elena continued to stubbornly argue like she hadn’t heard a single thing Renfri had said, making the redhead fume.

Damon turned to Alaric, ignoring her, “So when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can, because I know how to sneak around so they can’t hear me.  You’ll basically just be in the way.”

“Damon, now’s not the time to be the Lone Ranger,” Elena sniped.

“Fine, Elena, you can—you can drive the getaway car,” he said mockingly before dropping the sardonic smile, “you’re not going in the house.”

“You can’t stop me, it’s Stefan we’re talking about here!  You don’t understand,” she retorted defiantly and Renfri let out a loud groan of frustration.

 “Elena, he’s trying to make sure you don’t die!  Just quit being so stubborn, nobody likes a martyr.”

Damon nodded condescendingly to the brunette and closed his eyes dramatically.   “Oh, I understand, I understand.  He’s the reason you live, his love lifts you up where you belong,” he dropped the act, “I get it.”

“Can you just not joke around for two seconds—”

“I can’t protect you, Elena!”  Damon shouted over her, sick of her refusal to listen, “I don’t know how many vampires there are in there.”  He snapped his fingers between them, “That’s how long it takes you to get your head ripped off.  I have to be able to get in and get out.  I can’t be distracted with your safety, or this will end up a bloodbath that none of us walk away from, including Stefan.”

They stood in silence for a long moment, Damon and Elena staring at each other hard.  Elena was clearly still frustrated but had stopped arguing and looked down a bit guiltily, Alaric and Renfri watching in tense silence as Damon’s sharp blue eyes softened.

“I know.  I get it,” he finished, shifting his weight towards her before leaning away again, watching her as she seemed to deflate a bit.  Alaric’s eyes moved between the two skeptically before he took a breath to speak.

“If we’re gonna go, let’s go.”

The two men headed for the door, and Renfri let out a sigh before patting Elena’s shoulder and following them, letting her take a moment to gather herself.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri and Elena sat in the front seats of the powder blue Camaro that sat on the side of the road in the rain, waiting as the hunter and vampire put the plan into motion.  They had decided that there was no way for Alaric to enter without notice, so came up with the ruse that his car had broken down with no cell reception in the woods, so he was in need of a phone.  They knew they would let him in, they wouldn’t turn down the chance for another warm body to feed from when it walked in of its own free will.  He would find a way to be left alone with the phone on the wall in the kitchen, where Damon had spied the woman who owned the house cutting up vegetables, and lead her outside to the uninvited vampire to give him entry.  Renfri had a feeling that Alaric didn’t know that if the woman was compelled not to let Damon in, there was nothing they could do to change that, except to kill her.  If no one alive owned the place, he wouldn’t need an invitation, and with all the bitemarks Damon had described seeing across the woman’s skin, it would probably be a mercy to the poor woman who was being used as a blood bag to an entire house of vampires.

Renfri and Elena would wait for one of them to return to the car with Stefan and take him to Elena’s house where the tomb vampires weren’t invited in while the men stayed back to distract the enemy so they could get away.  They left them each a vervain dart just in case any of the tomb vampires strayed from the house and came upon them, though it wasn’t too likely since Damon planned on keeping their attention.  Ren had also brought her own stake and what was previously Logan’s handgun freshly loaded with wooden bullets.

Both teenagers sat in tense silence, eyes trained on the blurred woods through the windows and layers of rain coming down.  It had been less than ten minutes and Renfri watched as Elena became increasingly restless, fidgeting and twisting in her seat to look past her and out the window every few seconds.  Elena glanced down at her purse on the passenger side’s floor, before reaching in to take out her vervain dart and grabbing the door handle.

“What are you doing?” Ren immediately asked.

“Going to find Stefan, they’re taking too long, something could have happened by now,” the girl responded before stepping out into the rain.

“Elena—fuck!”

She scrambled to open her door and grudgingly accepted that she couldn’t let her go alone, then followed her through the downpour to approach the house through the woods.  When they came up to the edge of the treeline, crouching behind some bushes, they eyed the property.  They were facing the back of the house and could see a door on the covered back porch and the windows all covered by curtains, luckily.  Their best bet was to move quickly so there was less time for someone to glance out the windows and see them, so when Renfri tapped Elena’s shoulder and moved out in front of her, they both sprinted for the porch, the redhead getting there several seconds before the thin brunette.  They ducked into a corner, peeking to make sure no one was in the kitchen through the door’s glass window, then noticed the stone steps leading down below ground level.  They glanced at each other and silently agreed to look in the basement for the kidnapped Salvatore.  They stayed low as they moved quickly past the back door and down, passing through a metal gate and coming upon a wooden door with grimly glass panels.  

They could see an empty cement hallway past the dirty glass but when Elena jiggled the doorknob, it was locked.  Elena looked at her and mimed elbowing the glass and lifted an eyebrow.  Ren glanced back up the stairs, nervous that the breaking of the glass would draw attention, but it was clear that Elena wasn’t going to stop, so she nodded reluctantly.

As soon as the glass gave a crack and tinkled to the ground, Ren’s head whipped back and forth, waiting for someone to appear, but no one did as Elena reached in carefully to unlock the deadbolt then the knob.  She carefully opened the door and entered the hallway, Renfri following behind and being sure to leave the door open in case they needed a quick escape route.  Even a second or two wasted opening a door could mean life or death against a vampire’s speed.

The hall came to an end then turned left.  They tip-toed up to the corner, Renfri in front this time as she forced herself to breath  slowly and nearly silently.  She inched her head forward, only peeking it enough for one eye to see the end of the hall that turned right again, though a vampire sat in a chair at the far corner.  She pulled back quickly, realizing they would have been dead by then if the man hadn’t had headphones in and been listening to loud music.  

She turned to Elena and held up a finger, then pointed to her ears while mouthing, ‘One vampire, headphones.’  Elena nodded slowly, looking scared but determined.  Renfri thought frantically for a couple seconds before looking back at where they came in.  The entryway they came from was a good blind spot, it had a little brick wall on each side about a foot and a half tall that they could hide behind and have the element of surprise.  Elena could use the vervain dart to take the guy down quietly and Renfri would finish him off with her stake, the gun would be too loud and was a very last resort.  She gestures for Elena to follow her back down the hall and halfway up the stairs.  She leans over to put her mouth right by Elena’s ear and, as quietly as she can, whispers her plan to her.  Elena nods eagerly and gets into place, fear in her eyes and her hand clenching tightly on the metal tube with a needle on the end.  

Renfri grabs a nearby pebble and leans over the back portion of the little wall, tossing the stone hard enough for it to reach the end of the hall, getting the vampire’s attention, before ducking behind it, watching for the target to appear.  Seconds later, the man’s steps could be heard moving up the steps cautiously and just as his head appeared above the level of the brick wall, they pounced.  Elena jabbed the needle into the side of the man’s neck, making him gurgle a bit from the poison being injected into his blood stream while Renfri shoved her stake through the man’s back, though she gritted her teeth as felt it hit bone.  The man collapsed to his knees and Ren rushed to jump down onto the steps behind him, preventing him from tumbling back down the stairs.  She held his shoulder and determinedly forced the tip of the stake down a bit, changing the angle.  She stepped back then lunged forward, putting most of her weight into pushing the stake between his ribs and into his heart.  She sucked in a breath, knowing she had succeeded when the man turned gray and veiny and she leaned his body against the stairwell wall.  

Elena watched with wide eyes as her friend pulled the stake from the body and quickly ducked past the dead vampire, ready to move on again, but was stopped when a figure flashed into her path.  Out of sheer panic, Renfri swung the stake at the person’s chest but was stopped right before it hit its mark, her wrist caught.

“Are you insane?” a voice hissed.

She looked up with relief into her uncle’s angry face as he gripped her wrist hard over her jacket sleeve.  She let out a huge breath and stepped back as he finally let go of her wrist.

“No, but she is, and I wasn’t about to let her go running into danger alone,” Renfri replied in a whisper.  Damon eyed Elena frustratedly while the girl looked back defiantly, clearly eager to keep searching for Stefan.  Damon looked at the dead vampire laying haphazardly on the steps and shook his head.

“If you hadn’t used the vervain first, you’d be dead; your first strike missed and this asshole would have snapped your neck or just tore your throat out.”

Renfri sighed wearily, “Yeah, I know, that’s why I had Elena vervain him first, I wasn’t too confident in my accuracy on the first try.”

He rolled his eyes, “That’s what happens when you’ve only studied anatomy charts and not actually done it before; it’ll get you killed.”

Elena interrupted, “Look, we did the best we could, but we need to find Stefan.  I’m not going back without him.”  Damon seethed quietly, glancing around before finally accepting that she wouldn’t listen.  He led the way as they searched the last hallway of the cellar besides the entrance into the house and found a door past the corner the vampire had been sitting at.  Elena barged right past, making Renfri mutter about the girl being an idiot, and found Stefan hanging by his wrists from rope tied to the ceiling in some kind of storage room.  He looked rough, long gashes and puncture marks from where he had been slashed and stabbed but were slow to heal due to his lack of blood.  Elena ran right to him, completely missing the other man with dark skin that was staked down in a chair by his thighs with his hands tied behind his back.  

“Who’s this guy?” Renfri muttered.

“Elena,” Stefan called to her groggily as she rushed over and put her hands on his face.  Damon tossed up a stake casually and caught it, taking aim at the vampire in the chair across from his brother.

“No, not him!” Stefan said hurriedly.

“Whatever, let’s get you down,” Damon said flippantly and went to untie the rope holding him up, then let Elena when Stefan said there was vervain on the ropes.  Damon held him up so he could lean onto a support beam, then went to check the hall again.  Stefan sagged under his own weight as he struggled to support himself, clearly very weakened from the torture and lack of feeding, but made an effort to pull the stakes from the dark-skinned man’s thigh.  Elena held him up as  Damon and Renfri waited by the door, wary of being caught.

“Come on, we need to go,” Damon urged in a hushed whisper.  When Elena got Stefan’s arm over her shoulder and held him to her side, helping to hold his weight as they walked shakily, they stepped out into the hallway with Damon and Renfri looking around carefully ahead of them.

“Get him to the car,” Damon ordered.

“We’ll meet you there?” Renfri asked.

He nodded, “You rescue, I’ll distract, go.”

Renfri ducked under Stefan’s other arm since Elena was stick thin and could barely hold him up, while trying to move up the stairs.  They hurried past the gray body and up into the cooling air as the sun sunk below the horizon, turning the sky a myriad of purple and orange.  Stefan was heavier than he looked, but Renfri and Elena pushed on.  Renfri held most of his weight but what kept slowing them down was all the roots and rocks on the uneven ground.  As they moved through the trees far more slowly than Renfri was comfortable with, the woods descended into darkness as the sun disappeared from the sky.  

Elena breathed a sigh of relief as the car came into sight after shuffling along for twice as long as it took them to reach the farmhouse initially, especially after tripping and falling face first into the ground, getting a couple cuts and scrapes on her face and hands in the process.  Stefan eyed the blood before forcing himself to look away, making Renfri even more twitchy, she didn’t want to be right next to a starved and weak vampire while bleeding, even if it was only a little bit.  The two girls helped ease Stefan into the passenger seat and Elena crawled across him and into the backseat as Renfri rounded the vehicle to get to the driver’s side.  As she slammed the door shut and reached for the keys they had left behind, she paused.

The car key was snapped off.

“Uh, I think we’ve got a problem,” Renfri announced.

CRASH!

The two girls screamed and Stefan grunted as the passenger window exploded inward, a fist shoved through it and grabbed the weakened vampire.  Stefan was hauled through the opening and thrown several yards away, the vampire flashing over to punch Stefan repeatedly as the girls cried out.  Renfri scrabbled for the door handle and Elena practically dove onto her lap in her hurry to get to her boyfriend, now laying on the ground as the man stood over him.  The vampire ignored the girls, seemingly not seeing them as a threat, and lifted Stefan up, a small branch in his hand.  

He shoved the broken end into Stefan’s gut, making him groan in pain, “This is for Bethanne.”  He pulled it out, ready to strike again, “And this is for the tomb.”

BANG BANG BANG!

Renfri had rounded the vehicle, fired three wooden bullets into his midsection, aiming for his heart though it was hard at the current angle and with Stefan in the way.  She clearly needed some target practice, since he didn’t turn gray and only dropped to one knee, letting Stefan collapse into the undergrowth.  The vampire growled furiously and went to stand again, but was stopped.

“No!” Elena shouted, stabbing him in the neck from behind with the vervain dart Renfri had pushed into her hand as they got out of the car. .  Elena threw the empty vervain dart aside and went to check on her injured boyfriend.  Renfri lowered the gun to her side and moved toward the two as Elena dropped to her knees, trying to rouse him as he seemed on the verge of passing out.

“No no no, come on, Stefan!” the brunette urged.

“Shit, we’re going to have to wait for Alaric and Damon to get back before we can go anywhere, maybe they can hotwire the car,” Renfri said breathlessly, hands on her knees as she looked warily at the downed vampire a few feet away.  She was worried that the other vampires had heard the gunshots and would come running; she prayed that Damon and Alaric could keep them distracted.  Elena continued to shake Stefan, but he didn’t respond, eyes closed.  She looked up at Ren, who shook her head and shrugged helplessly.  They heard a rustle and looked behind them to see the vampire, who Renfri realized was the guy from the other night, Frederick, start to move his fingers.

“Shit, we need to do something.  I can’t take him on alone, I don’t want to use all the bullets in case more of them come, and Damon’s not here yet,” Renfri bit out, clenching her hand over the grip of the weapon tightly.

“Stefan, you have to drink.”  

Renfri whipped around again in shock to find Elena putting her hand with a small cut to Stefan’s lips.  Renfri was torn since Stefan had once said to her that he kept to an animal diet because he didn’t handle human blood well and tried to avoid the temptation.  He didn’t say much more than that, but he was quite serious about it.  However, they were in a life or death situation, so she figured he’d just have to do his best so they all didn’t die at the hands of the tomb vampires.  Stefan opened his eyes and refused at first when he realized what he was tasting, fear in his eyes, before Elena convinced him in a loving whisper to try because she trusted him.  He reluctantly fed from her, biting into her wrist.  The vampire behind them continued to shift, arms moving underneath him now.  

“That’s enough, hide,” Renfri hissed and pushed Elena forward, ducking behind a tree several feet away.  Frederick slowly got to his feet, the vervain not quite out of his system yet and the bullets pulling on his wounds, and stalked towards Stefan, who lay still on the ground with his eyes closed.  As soon as the tomb vampire went to stab him with a branch again, Stefan shot up, fangs out and eyes dark as he growled then pinned Frederick against a tree.  He broke the wrist that held the branch, taking it shoving it into the man’s heart as his expression morphed from angry to shocked as he began to desiccate.  Stefan seemed lost in his rage and continued to growl and stab him even after he was clearly dead.

Renfri stepped out from her hiding place, “He’s dead, Stefan!”

Elena approached him, reaching for his arm, “Stefan, that’s enough—”

He whipped around and growled in her face, shoving her hand off and making her stumble back in surprise and some fear.  After a few seconds, it finally registered in his head what he had done and the fangs and dark veins slowly retracted as he let Frederick’s body slide to the ground.  He ducked his head and saw the blood on his hand from the branch he had been stabbing into Frederick.  He stumbled backwards, ashamed, while Elena and Renfri watched him warily.  Renfri was the one to break the silence and insist they go wait by the car for Damon and Alaric.  

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The vampire and the hunter had returned after apparently confronting Pearl and Anna when they arrived home to find the leftover tomb vampires trying to break down the front door, where the two had barricaded themselves inside when surrounded.  Renfri was both relieved and unnerved to find out that Pearl and Anna hadn’t been a part of the kidnapping, having been in town all day, but that also meant that they weren’t truly in control of the group.

As soon as they arrived, Damon had paused, eyeing his brother, who was noticeably stronger than before.  Renfri came up beside him and as he put an arm around her shoulders, checking to make sure she was alright, she whispered to him about how Elena had let Stefan drink from her to fight Frederick.  The older Salvatore glanced at his brother with evaluating eyes and Stefan refused to meet them.  

They all piled into the Camaro, Elena half sitting on Renfri and Stefan’s lap in the back seat.  Damon jokingly called Renfri an official badass now that she’d killed her first vampire, but he only received a weak chuckle from his niece as the rest of the car’s occupants sat in emotionally charged silence.  Alaric had figured out that Damon had lied about Pearl knowing how to find Isabel and was fuming quietly in the front seat while Stefan and Elena looked away from each other awkwardly, that tense moment from after he killed Frederick still lingering.

A few hours later, after they were all home and settled from the night's events, Renfri was lounging on her bed in sweatpants and a t-shirt with Ash stretched out alongside her, enjoying her warmth.  She was leaning back against her pillows with headphones in her ears, listening to music.  

Damon appeared in her doorway and took a few steps in, arms crossed.

“How are you doing, Buffy?”

She pulled an earbud out and shrugged, sitting up a bit, “I’m fine, I guess…I am worried about Stefan though.”

Damon nodded, “Yeah, it’s been a while since he’s had blood from anything that doesn’t have fur.  I’m sure he’ll be fine though, he always comes back from it eventually.”

She raised her brows, “How long is ‘eventually’?”

“Eh, depends on how bad it is.  He only got a few mouthfuls of Elena’s blood and stopped himself, so if he goes cold turkey from here, he should be back to his normal brooding ways pretty quickly.”  She nodded, relieved.

“However, if he starts drinking human blood again, and I mean binge drinking like an alcoholic, then he could go full ripper.  It could be years before he gets it under control again.”

Renfri frowned, hoping that wasn’t the case, and asked, “What do you mean ‘full ripper?’”

Damon raised his eyebrows mockingly, “Oh, you didn’t know?  When Stefan’s on human blood he goes completely off the rails, he has absolutely no control.  In the early 1900s, he was called ‘The Ripper of Monterey’ because he tore through an entire village.”

“What?” she whispered in shock.

Her older uncle stared at her seriously, “Stefan on human blood is a completely different person.  He’s an addict, so once he’s completely given in to the pull, he’s lost for a good long while.”

Renfri let out a shaky breath, “Fucking hell.  I mean, I knew he had a hard time with it, he said that was why he stuck to animal blood, but that’s…”

 “A hell of an understatement, yeah.”

She looked up at him as he strode around her room, eyes wandering lazily about, “How does he get back to himself?”

He waved a hand, “Oh, Lexi usually handles that.  I’ve attempted getting him try to control himself on human blood, to learn moderation, but that didn’t end well.”

Renfri thought about it, “That does make sense, he could slowly incorporate it into his diet.  A little bit each day, increasing the amount gradually, isn’t that how anyone would build tolerance to something?”

Damon snorted, “You’d think, but he won’t try it.  He doesn’t trust himself to stay in control with even a little human blood, and he doesn’t trust me to stop him if he goes too far.”

“Why does he turn into a ripper though, how does he so completely lose himself?”

Damon turned to look at her, “It’s a vicious cycle.  He feeds too hard and gets lost in the blood, completely gives in to his predatory instincts.  He ends up killing people, completely ripping them apart.  When he comes to again, like waking up from a dream and realizing it’s reality, the guilt overwhelms him and he drowns himself in blood to forget the pain.  Even shuts off his humanity to avoid the guilt.  Then Lexi helps bring him back, he’s good for a while, then something happens and he snaps all over again.  It’s quite predictable at this point.”  He turns away again and shrugs nonchalantly, like it’s just another Tuesday, but she can see the tension in his shoulders.

 Ren eyes him curiously, “Have you checked on him yet, to see what’s the case this time?  I know he went hunting in the woods before talking with Elena, so hopefully it was just—”

She paused when she noticed Damon had frozen and tipped his head to one side, eyes unfocused as he listened to something.

“What?  What is it?” she asked in a hushed voice, scooting forward to the edge of the bed, making Ash sit up.  She patted his side, whispered a command for him to stay, and hopped down as Damon ignored her and walked out of her room.  She quickly followed him, staying as quiet as she could in her socked feet as she followed him down the hall of the second floor to the handful of steps that began the entrance into Stefan’s bedroom.  Her heart jumped in her chest when she caught the sound of heavy breathing and a strange sucking noise.

Damon stepped up into the doorway and paused, tilting his head down a bit.  She followed his gaze, seeing an empty blood bag on a side table by the door.  He moved  further into the room with the redhead right behind him, finding another on a standing shelf by the leather sofa.  Damon’s mouth tightened as his niece stepped up beside him, her hand wrapping around his forearm in silent concern as they stared down at the scene before them.

Stefan was sitting on the floor with his back against the sofa, a third blood bag clutched in his hands as he turned to face them.  His chest heaved and blood was smeared across his mouth, his face a picture of shame and desperation.

Renfri let out a puff of air and squeezed Damon’s arm.

“Son of a bitch.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

The past two weeks, Stefan stayed home from school, keeping his distance from the population until he was certain he could be around humans again and not be tempted to eat them.  Renfri was frustrated by Damon’s lack of help, or at least by his attempts to convince Stefan to try human blood again.  Stefan had asked her to give him space because he didn’t want to risk hurting her, so she usually stayed across the room or several meters away as requested, not willing to push it even if she didn’t like it.  

This morning, she could hear the stereo blasting from Stefan’s room all the way downstairs where she was getting ready for school, and thought the rock music rather revealed his tumultuous mindset despite the false mask of stoicism he’d been wearing lately.  The music lowered as she was munching on her eggs and toast and a couple minutes later, Damon joined her at the kitchen island on the stool next to her.  He sipped his glass of blood as she looked at him expectantly.

“So?” she asked.

He shrugged, “He won’t listen to me.  He insists on sticking to his bunny diet.”

She looked at him dryly, “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you can’t help but sound condescending when ‘encouraging’ him to give human blood a try.”

His lips twitched, “Who, me?  Nah, I always sound like the concerned and loving brother that I am!”  His niece rolled her eyes at him.

“He’s still doing everything he can to stay busy: blasting music, working out, reading, hunting more than usual, pacing a hole in every fucking carpet in this house.  That probably means that he’s struggling to ignore the cravings for human blood and mocking him likely isn’t helpful in actually convincing him to try the blood bag diet.  Flippantly suggesting that he should have ‘a liter of soccer mom’ isn’t exactly persuasive and you know that, you’re deliberately making it more difficult,” she accused with a disapproving frown.

“Oh, come on, you’re no fun,” he pouted but sighed, “He wouldn’t listen regardless, he doesn’t trust me on that front.  It’s not my fault if he wants to pretend like it’s not the best solution and live in denial.”

Renfri just shook her head and pouted, “I’ve already tried, he won’t listen to me because I’m not a vampire and I can’t understand how he feels.  But I don’t need to know exactly how he feels to understand the situation to a degree and have an opinion.”

Damon finished off his blood and got up to place the glass in the dishwasher, “Well, all we can do for now is keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t completely fall off the wagon.  It’s been two weeks since he’s had human blood, so he might be fine.  He’s just got to get through it.”

Ren nodded resignedly and put her dishes in the washer, giving him a wave as she left the kitchen.  She pet Ash goodbye for the day and headed to school, her concern for her younger uncle lingering in her mind.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After stopping by her locker, Renfri found Elena chatting with Matt at his own locker as he put textbooks into his backpack.  She heard Elena speak as she approached.

“He said his trip is open-ended,” she said with a grimace.

“Uncle John, I never really liked the guy,” Matt remarked.

“Does anyone?”

Ren stepped up beside them, “I definitely don’t.  I’ve only met him twice and that was enough for me to know that that bag of dicks is probably only visiting for his own selfish reasons, not to check in on family.”

Elena let out a small laugh, “Yeah, he didn’t make the best first impression when I invited you over for dinner while he was visiting.”

Renfri scoffed, “Telling a fifteen year old girl who just lost her parents that she should be grateful her uncle took her in because ‘family is important’ permanently branded him as a condescending asshole in my mind, especially since he’s not exactly a paragon of family values himself.”

“Maybe you should avoid him if you see him in town, you’re just liable to slap him if you meet each other again,” Matt suggested, a smile pulling at his lips.

“Which would be completely justified.  He’s bound to say something offensive to someone while he’s here; it’s preemptive karma,” she said with a grin, making him and Elena chuckle. 

“Well, I’m here for moral support if you need it, Elena,” Matt continued.

“Thanks, I think I’ll suffer this one alone, you’ve been through enough.”

“Thank you, by the way, just for everything you did at Vicki’s funeral and her memorial.  I couldn’t have done it without you,” he gave her a soft, grateful smile.

“Of course, Matt,” she said, then shifted topics, “So, was Caroline still baking for you guys around the clock?”

Matt shook his head as he closed his locker, “She finally went to her dad’s, which is a good thing because my mom was going to strangle her if she dropped off another lasagna.”

Elena only smiled but Renfri scoffed, “What’s wrong with giving food in times of hardship?”

Matt laughed, “I’m not saying there is, your dishes were greatly appreciated, and delicious.  I’ll have to bring those containers back sometime soon.”

Renfri humphed playfully, “Of course they were delicious, my Italian grandmother would roll over in her grave if I didn’t do her recipes justice.”

She paused.

“Oh, sorry, poor choice of words,” she said sheepishly, and the other two just shrugged it off.  “Anyway, Caroline meant well, she just wants to support you…and doesn’t want your mom to hate her, which is a lost cause.”

Matt nodded in agreement, “Hopefully she’ll see that soon and just be herself.  The food was good, it just felt a bit smothering because she dropped something off almost every day.”

Renfri tilted her head, “Yeah, I guess that’s a bit much.  But at least it’s thoughtful, cooking takes time and effort.  Zach made a point to cook dinner every day the first month I was with him, ‘cause I certainly didn’t feel like it, and he was grieving too.  I really appreciated it at the time, it gave me something to look forward to each day, something to move towards.  We eventually turned it into a routine, one or both of us cooking dinner every few days, just to spend some time together.”

Matt nodded while Elena smiled gently and looped her arm through Renfri’s, hugging it to her as they headed to class.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After history, Alaric held Elena and Renfri back.  Once the room was empty of other students and the door was closed, he sat on the edge of his desk and pulled out a packet.

 “I made a copy of a paper that Jeremy wrote for me, I think you should take a look at it,” he handed the essay to Elena.  Renfri read the title over her shoulder curiously.

Fact or Fiction: The Truth About Vampires in Mystic Falls

Renfri raised her eyebrows as Elena asked in suprise, “Jeremy wrote this?”

“He was very clear that he didn’t think it was real.”

“I really hope that you’re right because I’ve done so much to protect him from all of this,”  the girl said with worry.

Renfri looked at the two, “And if he lied and actually suspects something?  If you remember, he got help with choosing his topic and finding sources: it was Anna.  If he was hanging out with a 500 year old vampire girl who suggested this idea for a paper while trying to get to his family’s journal, he may have started thinking about it more seriously, especially after he was knocked out by the tomb without even drinking.”

Elena looked at her then Alaric with worry painted across her face, looking unsure, “I don’t know, I’m not really sure I want Damon to compel him again.”

“He was compelled once already?” Alaric asked and Renfri nodded stoically.

“Yes, despite my protests, she had Damon make him forget that his girlfriend tried to eat him as a newbie vampire and had to be put down.  He was a mess, so she wanted to take his pain away.”  She turned to Elena with firm eyes, “You can’t do that to him again.  If he doesn’t already know, he will.  You’re dating a vampire, Elena, he’s going to find out eventually, and at the rate that we keep running into supernatural trouble, he’s bound to get involved again.  Besides, I’m of the mind that the more informed you are, the more prepared you are to deal with something.  It’s safer to have knowledge of what’s out there.  Ignorance is bliss…until you’re dead.”

Elena shook her head tiredly, “I don’t want this for him…”

Alaric looked at the brunette curiously, “How do you deal with it?  The lies and the secrets.  You have to lie to everyone that’s important to you.”

“It’s not safe for them to know the truth, so yes, I keep it from them, but it’s only because I love them,” Elena told him but Renfri could only shake her head in disagreement.  Alaric nodded a bit, acknowledging her reasoning, though it was unclear if he agreed or not.

“Stefan’s a good guy, but, uh, at the end of the day, he’s still a vampire,” he stated, leaning over his desk.

“I know it’s hard to understand, but Stefan’s different, he would never do anything to hurt me,” she said with certainty.

“Stefan and Damon are the only family I have left,” Renfri added, making them look at her, “I can deal with them being vampires, and besides, it's not their fault.  They were killed by their own father while they had vampire blood in their systems, can you fault them for continuing to live even if it changed them?  I can’t, I would do the same thing if I died and had a chance to keep living.”

Alaric stared at her with surprise while Elena’s eyes widened and she asked, “You would turn into a vampire?”

Renfr shrugged, “If it was that or death, yeah, why not?”

“You’d have to survive on blood for the rest of your life and fight the constant cravings, Stefan’s told me how difficult it is, especially as a newly turned vampire,” Elena continued.

Renfri tilted her head considerately, “I don’t think it’s so bad, and honestly, I think that Stefan just has a particularly hard time, for whatever reason.  It’s just another way to survive and vampires can’t help that they need blood to live.  Based on what we’ve seen, human blood is best in keeping them healthy and their predatory instincts satisfied.  So, I think if someone was taught properly how to feed with restraint from the start then they wouldn’t be as likely to go on a killing spree, it would just take time and effort to get there.”

 Elena shook her head, “No, I don’t think I could do it, drinking people’s blood.  It just seems wrong, especially if it can push you to kill people.”

Renfri raised an eyebrow, “Is it any different from humans killing animals for food?  They’re just higher up the food chain, although it is more devastating because people are more intelligent than animals and we see them as more valuable and deserving of living a full life, but that’s not reality.  Of course, I wouldn’t want to kill if it’s not necessary, but apparently their predatory instincts push them to enjoy the hunt, just like any carnivorous animal would, so they’re hard-wired to feel good when they feed on humans.”

“Wow, I never really thought about it that way,” Alaric muttered, arms crossed as he contemplated what she said while Elena just looked shocked.  

Renfri shrugged, “I’ve asked Lexi and Damon about their perspectives a bit.  They both seem to think that Stefan’s issue with human blood is a bit unique and that most vampires adjust and gain control with practice, unless they choose to enjoy their more predatory urges or even turn off their humanity and completely give in to their instincts, forcing themselves not to care.  That seems like the worst case scenario.”

The bell rang just then, making them look up at the clock.

“Crap, we’re late for our next class.  Can we have a pass?” Renfri asked Alaric, looking at him expectantly.

He nodded and scribbled a quick note on a post-it before sending them on their way, looking thoughtful.  Renfri stayed quiet as she led the way to their next period, mindful of Elena’s quiet contemplation of what her friend had revealed about her perspective and gained knowledge.  Renfri didn’t mind that Elena seemed to be a bit more morally uptight than her, she just hoped that her friend didn’t hold that she chose to be, what she considered, more practically minded and considerate of a vampire’s circumstances against her.  Of course, she’d have far less sympathy for a vampire who’s humanity was off or killed tons of humans just because they were on a power trip.  If she ever turned, she didn’t want to be like that, she still wanted to value human life.  

Contemplating what she would do if she turned into a vampire made her shift her thoughts back to Emily’s warning.  Could the curse in her veins be referring to her family?  Was she warning her away from becoming a vampire like her two ancestors did?  Is that why Emily said to keep her innocence, to avoid turning so she didn’t kill people and become something less human like Stefan and Damon?  

Renfri sighed, wondering if she would ever find out what Emily had intended by giving her such a vague warning.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As she got ready for the Founder’s Day Kick-Off Party, Renfri was in her bathroom, doing the final touches on her makeup.  She had already curled her hair then combed it out into loose auburn curls to go with the burgundy cocktail dress.  It had off-the-shoulder sleeves and hugged her figure down to her knees, including a slit that went halfway up her left thigh.  She kept her makeup smokey to make her hazel eyes pop and used a dark red lipstick to match the dress.  Some people thought redheads should avoid wearing shades of red, but Renfri disagreed, she enjoyed the aesthetic.  She tucked her feet into a pair of simple black pumps and grabbed her black clutch with a chain strap to throw over her shoulder.

As she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she found Stefan at the liquor table in the den, gulping down an amber drink at an alarming rate.  

She raised her eyebrows at him, “Is that a good idea?  Or even healthy?”

He looked up at her and shrugged, “Alcohol helps with the cravings.”

She nodded cautiously, “Sure, but should you be drunk before you even arrive at a town event hosted by the founding families?  We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”

Stefan shrugged, “Damon said we need to blend and not invite suspicion, especially with the tomb vampires walking free now, so I’ll deal and the alcohol helps with that.  Besides, a drunk teenager at a town party?  It’s probably not a first.”

Renfri reluctantly let it go and seconds later Damon joined them, clad in a black suit with a black button down shirt, quite similar to Stefan’s.  

The teenager laughed, “Did you two match on purpose?”

Damon rolled his eyes and walked past the two, “Let’s go, children, time to represent the family to the public.”  Renfri giggled and followed the two brothers out the door.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As the three walked through the front door of the Founder’s Hall, they paused to scope out the party.  It seemed to be a dull affair, with light instrumental music playing from the speakers set up by the DJ (what’s the point in a DJ if that’s what you’re playing?) and people were milling about or just standing in groups and chatting with drinks in hand.  Renfri thought it was likely to be a boring evening if that was all there would be to it, just like the year before.  

“Oh god, I shouldn’t be here,” Stefan mumbled as he looked around and grimaced.

“Come on, don’t be such a downer.  It’s a party for the founding families, that would be us.  It would be rude to skip it,” Damon said encouragingly.

Renfri glanced at the younger brother and added, “And noticeable.  You're here now, so just make an appearance and duck out after a little while if you need to.”  She gave him a light pat on his shoulder as his eyes darted around nervously.  

“I really liked you a lot better when you hated everybody,” he remarked to Damon.

“Oh, I still do, I just love that they love me!” the older Salvatore joked, inciting a scoff from the other two.  Damon watched his brother for a few seconds, who couldn’t seem to stand still, “How you feeling?”

“I’m good, I’m fine.”

“No cravings?  No urges?” he made an overly suspicious face, “Is that whisky you’ve been drinking all day doing its job?”  Stefan only gave a fake laugh and shook his head, ignoring the dark haired man beside him.  “We are who we are, Stefan, pretending doesn’t change that,” Damon continued breezily.

“Ooohh, nothing would make you happier than to see me just give in, huh, Damon?” Stefan retorted.

“It’s more about seeing you gain some self-control while on a healthier diet, Stefan; it’s not about your dick measuring contest,” Renfri snapped, taking a step to the side to get away from the entrance.

“Whatever, it’s inevitable,” Damon had to add, making his niece sigh in exasperation.

“Is this really the place to talk about it?  In the Founder’s Hall?  Both of you shut up and go enjoy the party,” Renfri hissed.  Damon just shrugged with a little smirk and Stefan turned towards the main room with the DJ.

“I’m going to find Elena.”

“Don’t embarrass me, young man!” Damon called after him playfully, and Renfri shoved his shoulder with one hand as she walked away, looking for someone, anyone from school to distract her from her family drama.

She managed to find Tyler and Matt just as they were opening a large bottle of expensive rum.  She paused as she passed the doorway of the semi-dark room and backtracked.  They froze as she raised an eyebrow at the two.  They waited for her to say something first.

“I won’t tell if you give me some,” she smirked and Tyler let out a relieved sigh and a laugh, waving her over.  She had stopped by the bar for a coke, which she had already drank half of, so she let him top off the drink.  

She raised her glass, “Pleasure doing business with you boys, enjoy,” then strode away, sipping at her prize.  She found Elena in the DJ room where the music had picked up to something more modern, surprisingly.  She saw Stefan dancing with Kelly Donovan of all people and turned right around.  Nope, she wasn’t drunk enough to deal with that.  She decided to wander around for a little while before settling at the bar to sit and people watch.  Not long after, her older uncle joined her, ordering a bourbon.

“Is that a rum I smell on your breath?  Now how did you manage that?” he inquired teasingly.

She smiled against her near empty glass and finished the last of it, ordering another soda, “I saw Tyler steal a whole bottle of rum, so I promised not to snitch if they gave me some.”

“Ah, my niece, the blackmailer.  I’m so proud,” he grinned and pulled a sharp laugh out of her just as Elena approached the two from behind.  

“Have you noticed what your brother’s been up to?” she asked casually.

“Why?  Is he blackout drunk now instead of just a little drunk?” Ren asked sarcastically.

“Nope, I’ve been too preoccupied with yours.”  Elena looked at Damon questioningly and he continued, “Jeremy’s been asking questions about Vicki Donovan’s death.”

Elena shook her head in denial, “He knows that it was ruled an overdose.”

“Really?” Damon said in an overly earnest caricature of Jeremy’s voice, “Oh, but sheriff, somebody buried her.  Who would do that?” He returned to his own voice, still high and whispered, “I know, I know, me!  I mean I can compel him but he’s wearing vervain–”

“No, I don’t want you to compel him,” Elena said immediately.

“Glad to know you actually listened to me before,” Renfri said with a relieved smile which Elena returned briefly.

Damon started to argue, “If he keeps asking questions–”

“Damon, no, I’m serious.  I’m not going to do that to him again, I’ll handle it.”

“Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he replied, plucking a red rose from a nearby vase and handing it to her.  She twirled it between her fingers curiously as he walked away with his drink.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri had found her way upstairs where she saw Carol Lockwood directing some staff to clear away empty glasses that were left by guests.  She smiled when she saw Jenna talking with Alaric by the far wall.  She still didn’t love the teacher, but respected him a bit for helping them get Stefan from the tomb vampires, even if he was tricked into it a bit.  She passed by other unfamiliar faces and paused when she noticed a couple of french doors that opened up to a balcony with lights winding around the railing.  She took a step forward, hoping to get some fresh air and quiet time when she stopped, noticing through the glass that the area wasn’t empty.  Damon was walking toward the closed doors and away from a smug looking John Gilbert.  The vampire paused, eyes stopping momentarily on her through the door paneling and she raised an eyebrow in a silent question.  Her eyes skipped over to the man behind her uncle by the balcony’s edge and made eye contact, not hiding the distrustful but curious look on her face.  Her jaw dropped when in the next second, Damon flashed over to the man and snapped his neck, dumping his body over the railing to land on the cobblestone walkway beneath.  Renfri stifled a gasp as best as she could, glancing around with her heart pounding, somewhat relieved when it seemed noone had noticed the moment of fatal violence.  She hurried to the doors and slipped through one to join her uncle.

“What the fuck was that!?” she hissed, trying to keep her voice down.  She peaked over the balcony and saw the sprawled body of the man face down on the ground below, though no one else seemed to be outside in the backyard, thank god.

Damon put up his hands, “Hey, I’m just ensuring our continued existence here.  He knew Stefan and I were vampires and threatened to out us to the council.  I had to kill him.”

Her eyes bulged and she pointed at her feet, “Here!?”

He shrugged, “The council members are all in attendance, he could have spilled the beans within a minute if I let him go.”

“Now they’re definitely going to be on high alert, finding a dead Gilbert on their back lawn!!” she panicked.

“Oh, they’re already on alert, they found out that someone’s been robbing the blood banks and people have been going missing in nearby towns.  Liz confirmed it tonight, and John was the one who informed them of it happening, he wanted them on the lookout for vampires.  They’ll assume it was one of the guests or lesser known townspeople here tonight, not a member of the founding families.”

She sighed, “I don’t know about that.  Liz knew that Logan was turned; they won’t completely rule it out, especially if the one who warned them shows up dead not long after.”

He waved her off, “Well, no use worrying about it now, what’s done is done.  Let’s get back to the party before we’re noticed above the crime scene.”  That had the girl looking around anxiously again and moving quickly towards the balcony doors, eager to get away from the murder she had stumbled upon.  He followed her, closing the doors behind him, and headed for the first floor again while she moved to stand by the top of the open staircase that looked down over the front hall and entrance.  She sipped her drink and watched as Damon found Stefan and said something in his ear that shocked him, grinned, then walked away.  She wanted to slap her hand to her forehead, but that would have attracted some weird looks, so she resisted.  Damon couldn’t help himself from stirring up shit, especially when it came to his little brother.  She watched as Stefan followed him out the front door but froze when he reached the porch, slowly turning his head to the right of the doorframe to something out of her sight.  She frowned, wondering what had distracted him, when he turned to move towards whatever had captured his attention.  

She made her way down the long staircase in her high heels, cursing how they slowed her down, and pushed her way through the crowd of people moving through the area.  As she finally made it to the porch, she turned right but couldn’t see Stefan.  She paused when she saw a crying Kelly ‘Cougar’ Donovan sitting by the far corner and pressing something to her forehead.

The white napkin was splotched in dark red.

Renfri froze, worry gnawing at her gut as she looked around, hoping Stefan hadn’t been pushed over the edge by the exposure to the fresh human blood.  She peered out onto the lawn, seeing a few people walking towards the parking lot and a few on the lawn, but she couldn’t tell if any of them were Stefan.  Cursing her human eyes, she rushed back inside to find Damon.  

As she moved through the front door again and was passing a dark parlor room on the right, she paused when she heard a smack.  She backtracked her steps, careful to move quietly and not let her heels click on the floor.  She peeked into the darkened room to see the mayor’s back, partially blocking the shocked face of his son, Tyler, who had caught himself on a decorative hutch so he didn’t fall from what must have been a harsh blow.  The mayor put his hand firmly on his son’s chest.

“That is the last time you ever embarrass this family.”

She quickly stepped into the room, hoping to prevent anything else from happening, “Mayor Lockwood?”  

He stiffened before turning to her quickly with a genial smile, “Yes, how can I help you?”

She gave him a false smile in return, “It looks like something happened out on the porch and Ms. Donovan is bleeding from her head, do you know where there might be a first aid kit around or someone who could help her?”

He nodded appeasingly, “Of course, I’ll send one of the staff with the medical kit to help her out, thank you for your concern.”  He straightened his suit jacket by the lapels and moved smoothly past her and into the crowd.  Renfri let out a breath and dropped the cheery facade before turning to face Tyler.

He eyed her warily before she asked with concern, “Are you alright, Tyler?  I heard that bastard’s slap from the hallway.”

Tyler looked down immediately, seemingly ashamed, “I’m fine, it was nothing; I messed up.”

Renfri frowned, “No, it’s not fine, it’s never fine.  Nobody should hit their kid, Tyler, even if they make mistakes.”  She stepped forward, laying a hand on his shoulder,  “What happened?”

He shook his head, “I screwed up.  I got drunk and I made out with Matt’s mom.  I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, then Matt saw and pushed us apart, I tried to explain but he punched me and I just snapped.  It was like something just clicked in my head and all of a sudden I was on top of him and just kept punching him.  I was pissed and I couldn’t control it, I even started choking him until Mr. Saltzman pulled me off of him and I snapped out of it.”  He looked seriously embarrassed and confused as he spoke, Renfri looking on in surprise.  

  “Well, knowing that hoe of a woman, I’d guess that she came on to you and made the first move, which is disgusting considering you’re her son’s age and you were drunk, so it’s not entirely your fault, though it’s fucked up that you went with it then attacked him.  You shouldn’t have hit him back, even if he hit you.  In that situation, you messed up and should have just backed off, but I understand getting lost in your anger though.”

He looked at her in surprise, “You do?  I don’t think I’ve ever really seen you actually mad enough to fight someone before.”  

She shrugged, “I’ve definitely been so pissed before that I had tunnel vision and couldn’t see past my anger, but I had people holding me back from doing something stupid.”  She grinned at him, “I also don’t go around acting like a douchebag and starting fights, which is why you wouldn’t see it often.”  

He rolled his eyes and shrugged, “Yeah, yeah, I’m an asshole, I know.”

She laughed, “Only sometimes, just work on it.  You’ve got to overcome that masculine urge to be the toughest guy around and just walk away.  And don’t take any shit from your dad; he has the right to discipline you, not beat you.”  His eyebrows raised in shock and she added, “And I don’t mean fight him or anything, just walk away, go to your mom, or find someplace public if you think he’ll try to hit you.  You can even come find me, okay?  You have my number.”  

“Yeah, okay.  Thanks, Ren,” he said quietly and glanced at her, shifting awkwardly.

She nodded and gave him a kind smile, “Sure, Tyler, enjoy the rest of the party.”  She patted his arm before leaving the room.  She paused in the hallway, remembering what she had been doing before stumbling into the Lockwood family drama and picked up her pace, scanning the crowd for the oldest Salvatore.

She found him just as the mayor was calling for everyone’s attention.  She slipped through the crowd to him, standing only a few feet away from her history teacher who was intentionally ignoring the vampire.  She tugged on his sleeve and he glanced down at her.

“We may have a problem,” she said, glancing around the room with nervous eyes.  Her brain seemed to glitch for a second when they doubled back to the last person they had passed over, but then it went into overdrive as she registered exactly who she had seen.

“Scratch that, we’ve got two problems,” she revised as he just raised his eyebrows at her.  She leaned in to him and nodded to the front of the room, “First, Stefan just got exposed to a bleeding Kelly Donovan and I’m not sure where he went.  Second, guess who’s back from the dead.”  His eyes followed hers to the focus of the crowd, where John Gilbert was very much alive to be asked to ring the town’s charter bell.  The blonde man noticed the two staring daggers at him and just nodded in their direction stoically. The two watched in shock as the previously dead man moved to stand by Richard Lockwood to give a quick speech.

“150 years of community, prosperity, and family.  We take care of each other, look after each other,” his eyes returned to Damon accusingly then shifted to Renfri as well, “protect each other…It’s good to be home.”  As the audience began applauding, Damon stared back with frustration in his eyes.  John knew she saw Damon kill him and yet she still stood next to him, meaning she was fully aware of what he was and was fine with it.

Damon shifted over to Alaric, leaning over to murmur to him, “Look at his ring.”

“Whose?” the teacher asked.

“The town’s favorite son, look at his ring.”  They followed his direction and saw the gaudy silver and blue ring on John Gilbert’s hand.

“Looks like mine,” Alaric commented as Renfri inhaled sharply in realization.

“Yeah, that’d be a big coincidence if he didn’t come back from the dead five minutes ago,” Alaric shifted to look at him in concern as Damon continued, “Where the hell did you get that ring?”

“My wife, Isabel.”

Damon gave a sarcastic laugh, “Who gave birth to Elena under the medical care of the esteemed Dr. Grayson Gilbert, John’s brother.”

Renfri stepped closer to the two, “So John knows Isabel?”

“I think he knows a lot of things,” Damon said and took a gulp of his bourbon.  

Soon after the crowd had dispersed, the early deserters began to take their leave, including John Gilbert.  Damon hurried after the man with Renfri and Alaric quick to follow as they reached the front walkway.  

“Gong somewhere, hmm?” Damon asked as he trailed the man down the front steps.

“I never liked to be the last one to leave a party, it’s too desperate,” John responded flippantly, “Are you going to kill me again?  Or are you going to let Mr. Saltzman do your dirty work as your niece watches.”  Renfri flinched from behind her uncle as the hunter cleared his throat.

“Okay, you obviously know who I am.”

“I do,” John confirmed as the three came to a stop in front of the man, confronting him.  “Alaric Saltzman, the high school history teacher with a secret.”

“You sure know a lot for someone who just got to town,” Damon commented.

Damon walked leisurely past him and turned to face them, “More than you can imagine, Damon.  My knowledge of this town goes beyond anything that you,” he turned to Alaric and Renfri, “or you or the council knows.  So if you were planning on some high speed snatch ring vamp kill move, know that if I die everything I know goes to the council, including the fascinating little tale of the original Salvatore brothers and their present-day return to Mystic Falls.”  He stared Damon down as the vampire glared back at him.

“Where’d you get that ring?” Alaric interjected, his voice rough.

Renfri stepped forward, her jaw tight due to the man’s arrogance and unprecedented knowledge.  “Seriously, where are they from?  You were dead like twenty minutes ago and now you’re not; I saw Alaric rejoin the living after this guy,” she jabbed a finger in her uncle’s direction, “killed him.  Where the hell did those resurrection rings come from?”

John raised an eyebrow at the teenager condescendingly, “It’s a shame the only adult figures you have left are vampires and a washed-up alcoholic teacher.  I was sorry to hear about your uncle, Zach Salvatore.  I can take a guess as to how he actually died,” his eyes drifted to Damon, “but perhaps it was for the best, since he had been hiding such unsavory relatives from the council.”

Renfri clicked her tongue and sneered at the man as she took an angry step forward, but Damon moved in front of her to stop her.  

The blonde man smirked, “I inherited my ring and my brother, Gray, the other.  This one was his,” he held up his right hand with the ring on it.  “I wouldn’t have given mine to Isabel had I known she would hand it over to another guy.”

“So you did know her,” Damon said.

“Who do you think sent her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?” the arrogant man quipped.

“You sent her?” Damon asked disbelievingly.

“Guilty!” John sing-songed mockingly, “Why, did you think someone else sent her?  Maybe Katherine Pierce?”  

Damon continued to keep an air of nonchalance but the intensity remained in his eyes, “How do you know about Katherine?”

“How do I know anything, Damon?”

Renfri clenched her teeth as Damon moved forward threateningly, “What do you want?”

John just watched him calmly and pursed his lips, “So many questions…It’s a pleasure meeting you, Ric, I’ve heard so much about you.”  He turned to Renfri, “I do hope you find better role models, Ms. Salvatore, so you can uphold your family’s true legacy.”

The redhead scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, “I’m doing just fine, though I can’t say the same for your family.  Clearly, the Gilbert genes aren’t everything you think they are, given the receding hairline and garbage personality you so confidently display.”

Alaric snorted while Damon’s mouth twitched a bit despite the frustration still clear on his face.

John hummed, “We’ll see how long you last surrounded by vampires, you’re bound to get caught in the crossfire.  Good luck.”  With that he turned and walked away.  The three stood in silence for a few moments, seething and full of questions.

“How the fuck does that asshat know so much?” Ren finally spit out, turning to the men who were also scowling.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

In the study, Damon and Renfri were on the leather couch facing the crackling fireplace.  The vampire had a glass of blood in his hand which was pressed to his forehead as he contemplated their new problem.  Renfri was lying lengthwise across the couch, legs across her uncle’s lap where his other arm rested over them, his fingers tapping a rhythm as he was lost in thought.

“What are we going to do about John ‘bag of dicks’ Gilbert?” she asked, staring at the ceiling, still in her evening dress, though her shoes were on the floor.  

“I don’t know.  I’d love to kill him for real but that would risk him exposing us to the council, and he seems to know things that we don’t.”  He paused when the sound of someone on the wooden steps leading into the room were heard.

“Oh good, you’re back,” Ren said, sitting up to look at her younger uncle, “Where’d you go–”

She paused when she saw the look on his face as he began to move slowly around the back of the couch, as if in a trance.  Damon was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice her cutting herself off.

“We have a problem, Stefan.  And when I say problem, I mean global crisis.  It seems Uncle John has a–”

“Damon,” Renfri called quietly, tapping his shoulder and not taking her eyes off of Stefan as he moved slowly to stand in front of them.  She pulled her legs from Damon’s lap to sit up straighter as the older Salvatore finally looked up at his brother.  He stared at him with evaluating eyes.

“You don’t look so good,”  he commented while Stefan’s dark green eyes stayed glued to the glass of blood in his older brother’s hand.  “It’s different this time, isn’t it, the need is too strong.  Of course it would be after all these years.”  

He sat forward and placed the glass on the side table while Renfri stayed still, breathing shallowly and feeling like prey.  She wanted to scoot closer to Damon but she could see the predatory gleam in Stefan’s eyes and didn’t want to bring his attention to her by moving.  Damon stood from the couch as she watched and stood in front of his brother, who didn’t even look at him, patting his shoulder with pity.

“Have a good night brother.”

Damon took a step back and reached an arm out behind him towards his niece silently.  She took the cue and leaned over to grab her shoes before taking his hand to stand and follow him as he walked out of the room.

“Uncle Damon,” she said quietly as they passed the doorway, looking back at Stefan who took a step toward where Damon had been sitting, “you left the blood.”

He nodded without looking back, “I know.”

Her eyes widened, “You want him to try human blood again?”  

He nodded, “You mentioned he was with the Donovan woman who was bleeding earlier?  I think he already had a taste, which is why it got to this point.  It’s better that he starts with blood bags than people though and what was in the glass was only a few mouthfuls.”

Renfri let out a breath, “Yeah, but you haven’t exactly locked up your blood supply, so he can drink more if he really wants.  And if he can’t access it, he’ll go for the next best thing.”  She paused at the bottom of the stairs and he let go of her arm.  “Am I safe here while he’s going through this?”

He turned to look in her hazel eyes, “I won’t let him hurt you.  I’ll keep an eye on him, but just keep your distance for now.”  He gave her a crooked smile, “Don’t worry about it so much, it’ll give you wrinkles.”

She rolled her eyes at his attempt to lighten the mood but nodded.  He patted her head and ruffled her hair, making her grumble and swat at his arm, before heading up the stairs.  She sighed and followed him, making her way to her bedroom.  She closed the door behind her, then paused.  

Before she could think too hard about it, Renfri turned around and locked the door.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

A week had passed since Stefan had drunk the glass of human blood Damon had left for him and Renfri was still uncertain of what to think.  Stefan insisted that he had only slipped up and was back on the animal diet, though Damon always eyed him skeptically when he said it, making Renfri uncertain as well.  He was acting happier, more positive, and smiling more, so she silently hoped for the best, whether he chose to drink animal or human blood.  

She sat in the school parking lot, having just pulled in and was gathering her things when she saw Stefan’s cherry red vintage Porsche roar into the lot, drawing everyone’s eyes.  He parked in the row across from her and a few spaces down, getting out of the sports car with dark shades and an easy smile, making the nearby girls eye him with renewed interest.  She watched him greet Elena with a kiss.  She was too far to hear the conversation but watched from the driver’s seat as he indicated for her to go ahead.  He watched her walk away before glancing around then opening the car’s trunk to grab his bag.  Before he closed it, she caught a glimpse of a pile of clear plastic bags with tubes attached, tinted with the remnants of a red liquid.

Blood bags.  He was lying about the animal diet.

As he closed the trunk, he looked up and met her gaze, pausing in surprise.  She stared back for a few moments, revealing nothing with her face, before turning to finish gathering her things and getting out of the car.  Stefan avoided eye contact and walked ahead of her towards the doors and she followed at a slow pace as they both headed for history.

As she sat behind Elena in her usual seat, she got her materials out along with her phone and sent a text to Damon.

Stefan’s returned to school and is a little too cheerful.  The trunk full of empty blood bags might explain that.  How concerned should I be?

Bonnie walked in just as the bell rang, surprising Renfri and Elena, though they were barely acknowledged as she glanced at them in passing while the dark skinned girl made her way to her seat.  Stefan was ignored completely.  Alaric introduced the focus of the next few lessons (the local history of the founders) with heavy sarcasm since he was forced to teach it in place of standard curriculum like World History.  Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she peaked under her desk while Alaric was still lecturing.

I’m not surprised, I’ll check in on him after school.  Apparently, someone stole from the hospital’s blood bank and compelled the guards.  It could have been the tombs vamps, but it  also could have been Stefan.  The council caught on, so now they’re putting them on vervain.  Uncle John volunteered to work with me on it, so that’ll be fun.  

Renfri sighed and sent him a sarcastic ‘good luck’ text before she tucked her phone back into her pocket, stealing a glance at Stefan a few rows over. He seemed as cool as a cucumber, which was odd for him.  Damon did say that Stefan on human blood was a different person, but that had her wondering how long he was going to pretend like he was still on animal blood with Elena.  She wasn’t about to snitch and get involved in their relationship drama unless he seemed like he was losing control and was unsafe to be around.  Stefan seemed to be functioning alright at the moment, but Renfri wasn’t sure how long it would last; it didn’t seem like he was moderating the amount of human blood he was having, based on the large stack of empty bags in his trunk.

The rest of the day was mediocre, the only thing that stood out was the awkward nature of the brief interactions between Bonnie, Renfri, and Elena.  Elena seemed confused and concerned, especially by the witch’s refusal to speak to Stefan, despite the conversation Renfri’s already had with her not long after Sheila Bennett had died and been buried.  She would probably need a reminder that Bonnie wouldn’t be feeling very friendly towards the vampires and the people helping them who had basically forced the witches into doing the spell that killed her grandmother, but Elena keeps forgetting that others don’t see Stefan through rose colored glasses like she does.  When it comes out that he’s been drinking human blood, it’s going to be messy.

At the end of school, her eyes caught sight of Caroline hurrying towards Elena and Bonnie on the grass by the parking lot.  Renfri followed her over just as the blonde was hugging the witch in excitement.

“Thank god you’re home!  I know we talked everyday, but I missed you.  How are you doing, are you better?”  the cheerleader exclaimed, letting go of the girl and clasping her hands together.  

Renfri came up behind her bubbly friend and nudged her, “Care, nobody’s ‘better’ only weeks after losing someone.  Ask a more sensible question, please.”  

The girl’s face fell a little, “You’re right, sorry,” she turned back to Bonnie, “I meant ‘How are you doing?’”

Bonnie gave a meek little smile, “It’s a little better, you know, glad to be back and, um, trying to keep myself busy.”

“I can help with that.  Major wardrobe confab needed asap.  You need to help me pick the perfect dress for the founder’s court,” the blonde said, unable to stand still from her eagerness.

Renfri sighed in exasperation while Elena looked puzzled and asked, “The founder’s court, did I miss something?”

Caroline looked affronted, “The founder’s court…you know, Miss Mystic Falls?”  It finally clicked for the brunette and she started to nod as Caroline continued, “They announced it today and you, Renfri, and I are on it.”

Renfri’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “I’m on it?  I only applied because Elena’s mom said it would be fun and look interesting on college applications, and Uncle Zach said it would look good for a Salvatore to apply again after so many years without one.  I didn’t really think I would be accepted since I’ve only been here for two years, unlike the rest of you.”

 “Oh my god, we signed up so long ago I completely forgot,” Elena said quietly.

Caroline nodded then did a double take, “Wait, so does that mean you guys are dropping out?”

Elena cringed a bit and shook her head, “I can’t.”

“No?  Why not?” the blonde asked, no doubt hoping for less competition.

Bonnie answered for her, “Her mom was the one who wanted her to enter.”  The girls looked somber for a second, glancing at each other awkwardly.

“Well, I might as well do it with you guys, it could be fun.  I kind of like dressing up all fancy once in a while, and it’s not like I will actually win anyway, I’ll leave that to the OG queens of Mystic Falls,” Renfri declared, making the girls giggle and breaking the tension.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri went home soon after, not having practice that day since the month of events leading up to Founder’s Day meant that sports were pushed to the back burner and practices were reduced, in true small town style.  As she arrived back at the boarding house, seeing Stefan walking in the front door as she pulled in, she followed after him.  Ash greeted her happily as she walked in and she gave him a pat, eyes tracking Stefan down the hallway.  He dropped his school bag on a chair just as Damon popped his head around the corner behind him.  

“How’s school?”

Stefan turned to him briefly, “Fine, same old same old, nothing new,” then continued on his way.  Renfri had left her things by the entryway and was trailing behind Stefan as well, staying just behind the oldest Salvatore with Ash following cheerfully behind her.

“No stories to bring home?” Damon teased.

Renfri raised a hand casually, “I’m apparently on the founder’s court for Miss Mystic Falls and now I have to find an escort, so there’s that.”

Damon waved a hand at her, “See, no fun little stories or bits of news, Stef?”

“You’re making small talk, why?” the green-eyed man said bluntly. 

“You seem awfully chipper lately, less doom and gloom, a little more pep in your step ,” Damon answered, bouncing a bit on his own feet mockingly.

“It’s creeping me out, honestly, it’s not like you,” Renfri added, her arms crossed as she watched him.

He glanced at her before returning his gaze to his brother, “And you guys think it’s because I drank human blood again.”

“I mean, I don’t want to brag, but I would definitely take responsibility for this new and improved you,” Damon shrugged and gave a little smirk.

“Right, well, I hate to burst your bubble, but I’m clean,” Stefan replied and began to walk away.

Renfri snorted, “Uh huh, sure you are.”

“Yeah, not possible,” Damon added.

“Not only is it possible, but it is quite true,” Stefan retorted, only making the two raise their eyebrows at him disbelievingly.

Damon squinted at him, “Stefan, let’s be serious for a second.  You spent the last century and a half being the poster child for Prozac, and now you expect me to believe that this new you has nothing to do with human blood?”

The younger brother shook his head, “Nothing, I’m clean.”

Damon watched him critically and accused, “You’re lying .”

“And terribly, I might add,” Renfri commented dryly, eyes darting back and forth between the two men.

Stefan just shrugged, “Believe what you want,” and continued down the hall.  Renfri had noticed that throughout the conversation he barely stopped moving and seemed eager to go somewhere.  They let him go but her eyes narrowed after him.

“How much you want to bet that he’s getting more blood from his stash?” she asked quietly.

“No need to bet, we’d both win.”  He paused and listened before saying, “Let’s find out.  Why don’t you go play with Fido and I’ll come get you when he’s been caught red-handed.”  She shrugged her shoulders and led Ash out to the side yard and sat on the terrace steps watching him roam around and investigating interesting smells.  A few minutes later, she felt a breeze then arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her up, startling her.  She held in a gasp as her and Damon reappeared in the cellar, just outside one of the storage rooms.  He let her go and stepped around the corner and into the doorway, his arms crossed with Renfri a step behind him.

 “Well well, he’s a liar and a thief.”

Stefan stood leaning over a large freezer chest which he held open, filled to the brim with blood bags, one held in his hand as he stiffened and turned toward the two.  He tried to remain casual, like nothing was wrong.

“So, when were you going to share?” Damon asked.

Stefan looked at him and gestured to the bags, “Go ahead, help yourself.”

Renfri scoffed, “Seriously?”

“No, I mean the fact that you’re a closet blood junkie,” Damon accused.

“So I’m drinking blood again, you’re the one that shoved it on me, what’s your problem?  I have it under control,” he nodded at the freezer, like the fact that he was drinking from a bag meant he was in control.

“You robbed a hospital,” he said bluntly.

“What’s your point?”

“The point , Stefan,” Renfri interjected, “is that you’ve been lying about drinking human blood, and you clearly don’t have much control.”  Renfri jabbed a finger in his direction irritatedly, “Don’t act like you’ve done nothing wrong.  The sensible way to transition to human blood would be to start in small amounts and slowly introduce it as you wean yourself off of animal blood.  You went straight to binge drinking, I highly doubt you’ve got it ‘under control.’”

 “Also, keep in mind that we are trying to keep a low profile,” Damon added, walking up close to his brother, “Why don’t you just walk up to Sheriff Forbes and ask her to tap a vein .”

“Have my actions negatively impacted you? ” Stefan asked mockingly, “oh, I can’t even imagine what that must feel like.”

“Are you kidding me?  This isn’t about him, Stefan, this is about you ,” Renfri fumed, “You’re the one bringing suspicion down on us because you couldn’t resist robbing a hospital blood bank dry.  You couldn’t even have been bothered to go to one further away, you had to steal from the local one and be sloppy about it.  So now, they think it’s someone who’s in town.  Congrats, if they figure out you’re vampires and come after us, it’s your fault.  Oh, and by the way, how does Elena feel about the new you?”

Stefan’s brow drew in and he pressed his lips together, avoiding her eyes, “Nothing’s changed, I’m still the same person.”

Damon sneered, “ Clearly .”

Stefan looked back up at them, “Elena doesn’t need to know anything yet, you’re not going to tell her.”  Ren scoffed and gritted her teeth at his order.  She knew she needed to calm down, she was letting her temper get the best of her, so she let Damon respond as she took deep, angry breaths.

“You’ve been off the human stuff for years, Stefan.  If you’re having trouble controlling—”

“I’m not having trouble with anything—”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Damon snapped, narrowing his eyes, “I know what it’s like.  That Jekyll and Hyde feeling; there’s that switch, sometimes it goes off and you snap?  Right now is not a good time for us to be worrying about you snapping.  Not with the council on alert and especially not with Renfri living in the same house.”

Stefan flinched at that last statement and it spurred him to retort, “I know that it pains you to see this, but I’m fine, okay, I’m fine.”  He snatched up another blood bag from the freezer and leaned into Damon’s face, “So please, do me a favor, and back off .”  He let the lid fall shut and walked past them both, leaving them to stew in the aftermath of the confrontation.  Damon looked irritated while Renfri stood stiffly, her blood boiling.

“I’m gonna go take a hot shower.  He’s pissing me off and I need to calm down,” she grumbled and headed upstairs.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri was settled in her room, lying on her stomach in leggings and a hoodie, feeling fresh after her shower.  She kicked her feet in the air as the music played through her earbuds while she worked on her pre-calculus homework.  She paused her music and glanced at her phone when it vibrated, lighting the screen up.  When she saw the name, she pulled her earbuds out and answered the phone.

“Hey Tyler, what’s up?”

“Hey Ren…are you—uh, are you free?” 

Renfri’s brows furrowed when she heard the hesitation and nerves in his normally confident voice, so she spoke carefully.

“Yeah, just doing a bit of homework…So, are you taking me up on my offer?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“Yeah.”

Renfri’s concern grew and she rolled over to sit up, “Where do you want to meet?”

“The Falls?”

She smiled to herself, she hadn’t been there in a while, “Sure, see you soon.”  She hung up and grabbed a pair of black lace-up boots to put on, along with a dark red winter coat.  She made her way downstairs and called for Ash; he quickly appeared and barked in excitement when he saw she was getting his leash from the hook by the front door.  

“I’m heading out to meet a friend, I’ll be back in a little while!” she called out so Damon and Stefan wouldn’t worry that she was gone unexpectedly.  It wasn’t dark yet, but the sun had begun to sink towards the horizon.  Renfri drove her and Ash out to the Falls, parking by the path that led up to the little walking bridge that crossed in front of it.  She spotted Tyler on the bridge, leaning against the railing as she let Ash out of the back seat.

“Hey, Tyler,” she called, drawing his attention as the two came closer.  He smiled a little when he saw the dog beside her.

“Hey, I see you brought your furry little friend,” he said, crouching down to say hello and give the dog some pets as its tail wagged.

She nodded, “Yup, he’s always good company when you need it, aren’t you buddy?”  The dog barked happily when she turned to address him in a sweet voice, making Tyler chuckle.  She lifted her eyes to his face, noticing the stressed lines of his face.

“So, what happened?” She asked gently.

He shook his head, “The same old shit.  He comes home mad about something from work, he starts in on my mom and when she just placates him, he takes it out on me.”

Renfri nodded and moved to put her arms on the railing, letting their shoulders touch, “Did he hit you?”

He shook his head and said bitterly, “I didn’t give him the chance.  I could tell he was winding himself up and walked out when he started in on me for making a scene the other day at the kick-off and making him look bad in front of the town council, potential donors, etcetera.  He looked like he was about to take a swing at me, so I ducked out.  My mom will text me when he’s calmed down.”

Renfri sighed, “Good, I’m glad you got out of there, and at least your mom is looking out for you in some way.”

He looked sideways at her before his eyes went to his hands clasped together over the railing, “She doesn’t know that he’s hit me, he never does it in front of her and I haven’t told her.”

Renfri’s eyebrows went up, “Why haven’t you told her?  She could help more if she knew, maybe do something about—”  

He was shaking his head before she even finished, “No.  I don’t want her to try to confront him or anything, it could just make it worse, or he might start hitting her, and I don’t want that.”  Renfri watched him carefully but reluctantly let it go.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.  But promise me you’ll keep coming to me if he does something or just to avoid anything happening, alright?”

He nodded and looked at her gratefully, “Alright…thanks, Ren.”

She patted him on the back with a cheery smile, “No problem.  On a completely unrelated note, do you want to be my escort for Miss Mystic Falls?”

Tyler choked a bit in surprise before he burst out laughing, “You’re doing that stupid pageant?  You don’t strike me as the type, that’s more Caroline’s thing, isn’t it?”

She nodded dramatically, “Oh yeah, it’s definitely more Care’s thing, but I signed up a while ago with Elena, who was doing it for her mom, and now I’ve got to stick through it for my girls.  Who knows, it could be fun, you just have to not give a damn about winning then it’s completely stress free!”

He chuckled, “You’ve got the right idea, most of those girls are high maintenance princesses from the founding families who are always dressed to the nines, but that’s not exactly your style, is it Salvatore?”  

He grinned at her and she grinned back, “So you’ve got me pegged, huh, Lockwood?”  She turned to him and put a hand on her hip challengingly, “So you don’t think I can dress up well like those other girls?”

He quickly backpedaled, waving his hands in surrender, “Oh, you definitely can put up a fight in that department.  I’ve seen you dress up for the school dances, you’ve got the looks, you just don’t seem to, uh, care as much about being all..fancy, or always looking your best.  It’s kind of refreshing, actually.”

She laughed as he stumbled through his explanation, “Yeah, I’m definitely a bit more laid back when it comes to my fashion sense, I go more for comfort and casual styles, but I still enjoy dressing up once in a while when we go out.  I’m not of the mind that ‘beauty is pain’ and all that crap, I’m happy as I am and I work hard to feel good about my body, so I’ll wear what I want.”  She shrugged and smirked at him, “So, Tyler, are you gonna go with me and make this a little bit more fun or what?”

The dark-haired teen gave her a smug look, “Okay, I guess I can help you out, it seems like you need it.  You don’t really have any other guys you can ask, do you?”

She swatted his arm for his teasing, “Shut up, I don’t care for most high school boys, they’re ignorant, so sue me for not making friends with a bunch of them.  Some of the track team guys are alright, and you and Matt are pretty chill, when you’re not being a stereotypical  douchebag jock.”  

He snorted, “Yeah, alright, I get it.  You’re just mad I’m right.”

She shoved him playfully as they laughed and Ash barked at the two curiously.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri was in the kitchen a few days later when she heard the doorbell ring, having just gotten back from her Miss Mystic interview and had brought home lunch, pulling the to-go containers from the bag and calling out for Damon to get it.  She plated the sandwiches and fries and carried them out to the den, one for her and one for Damon (none for Stefan, the lying asshole).

“Who was it?” she called out, coming down the hall only to see John Gilbert standing there with Damon looking down on him from the step leading into the den.

“Why the fuck is he in here?” she asked, turning to Damon and disregarding the man standing in front of her.

“Hello to you too, Renfri,” the blonde man said dryly, but was ignored.

“He just barged in, asking about where to find vampires,” Damon replied, arms crossed.

She raised an eyebrow as she walked over and handed him his plate of food, “And why didn’t you throw him out on his ass?”

He shrugged, “I’m curious,” then turned to the man, “So, why the act, John?  I mean, you obviously don’t care about catching vampires, you’re here talking to me.”

The man shifted his weight to one side, “Actually, I care very much.”

Damon popped a fry into his mouth, “What does Isabel have to say about that?  I mean, considering that she is one.”  Renfri elected to treat the man’s presence as a mere inconvenience and went to sit on one of the couches, placing her plate on a side table.  Damon put his plate on the little table opposite of hers as John spoke.

“Isabel and I share a mutual interest,” Damon hummed and John continued, “Johnathon Gilbert had an invention that was stolen by a vampire, that vampire was then burned alive in Fell’s Church, or so Johnathon thought, and the invention was lost forever.”  Damon moved to stand by his niece, in the center of the room as the man went on, “But then the vampires weren’t killed, were they?  They were trapped and now they’re free, thanks to you, which means the invention is retrievable.”

“Are you ever going to tell us what this invention is?” Renfri inquired and took a bite of her sandwich.

 John glanced at her then Damon, “The only thing that matters is that I want it back and you’re going to help me if you want your secrets safe.”

“I mean, why bring us into it, John, I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about, much less who has it,” the vampire drawled.

“Oh come on, Damon, you were around back then.  You know who these people are, what they look like.  He was friendly with a woman who turned out to be a vampire, her name was Pearl.”   Damon’s eyes narrowed and Renfri glanced at him when she recognized the woman’s name, so John asked, “Does that ring a bell?”  Damon stayed silent for a few moments, considering it as he maintained eye contact with the human, before he lifted his chin.

 “I’m not playing anymore, get out,” he nodded to the door and moved for the entrance, pointing to it, “get out.”

John’s face hardened as Renfri grinned in satisfaction, “I beg your pardon?”

Damon turned to face him, “You know, I only entertained this whole blackmail scheme of yours because I thought that you and Isabel could have led me to Katherine,” Renfri rolled her eyes with a sigh, “but now I know you have no idea where Katherine is, because if you did, you would know that Katherine and Pearl were best friends .”  John’s face was stiff and tight in his determination not to reveal weakness.  “See, you don’t know everything, do you, John.”

The Gilbert man strode forward in an attempt to be intimidating, “I’ll tell the entire council what you are, including your little descendant’s sympathy for vampires.”

Damon prowled forward, a sadistic grin on his face, “Go for it, I’ll kill every last one of them then sever your hand, pull your ring off, and I’ll kill you too.  Do you understand that? ”

John stood there stiffly for a few moments, and while he hesitated, Renfri lifted her hand to her mouth and let out a loud, sharp whistle.  They heard a bark and Ash came running through the dog flap.  When the Dutch Shephard saw the strange man  standing in their home, he let out a low, threatening growl, his teeth bared.

“ Warten ,” she ordered Ash, making him pause, and turned to the man.  “If you don’t get out of our goddamn house, you’ll either have the pleasure of being mauled by my dog or Damon will do the honors,” she clapped her hands together, “So, what’ll it be?”  Her tone was pleasant, a smile on her face, but her hazel eyes were bright with the threat of violence.  John glanced stoically between the large, snarling dog and the vampire who flashed him a toothy grin, then the door.  

When the man took too long in his decision, Renfri whispered, “ Bellen. ”  The silver brindle hound immediately broke out into loud, deep barks as it stepped towards the man, making him flinch.

“You’re making a mistake,” he told them and made for the door.  Once the door shut behind him, Renfri quieted Ash and called him over to give him praise and cuddles.

“Boooo,” she muttered, making her uncle quirk an eyebrow in her direction, “I wanted him to stay, that’d give me an excuse to sic Ash on him.”  

Damon smirked, “Well, I’m sure that’s not the last time we’ll see him, unfortunately.  Maybe you’ll get another chance.”

She chuckled and sat up a little straighter, still rubbing the dog’s side, “So what’s this device, do you think?  Something to use against vampires?”

He shook his head, “Probably.  If it was Johnathon Gilbert’s, like the compass, then it’s nothing good for us.  He did say he cared about catching vampires.”

The redhead tipped her head to the side consideringly, “Another thing, why is Isabel working with John to get the invention?  What interest would she have in it if it might be used against vampires and she is one?”

Damon sighed, “I don’t know, we’ll just have to try to keep them from getting it.  It’ll definitely be bad news for us if they get their hands on it.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Attending the dance practice with Tyler had been an ordeal.  They were able to follow the steps easily, it’s not like it was hard to remember, but they just couldn’t keep their faces straight as Carol Lockwood gave her instructions to ‘flirt with your eyes,’ one of them would end up busting out in laughter when the other made an exaggerated attempt to follow the directions.  When Tyler’s mom admonished Stefan for spinning Elena in a circle, telling them that that part was about ‘the intimacy of a near touch,’ Renfri couldn’t help but snort, drawing disapproving eyes.  She turned her head away and tried to smother a grin unsuccessfully.  

When Carol turned away to begin the music again, she slapped Tyler for snickering at her and he was quick to retort, “No touching!”  Renfri wasn’t worried about doing the dance, she was more concerned that they would ruin it for the others because the two just couldn’t take it seriously and might start giggling like children in the middle of the dance floor.  Renfri and Tyler made it through the practice, finally able to get through the dance twice without laughing aloud, though not without immense effort on their parts.

On the day of the pageant the weather was perfect; sunny and warm for a February day, but just a hint of chill in the air.  Renfri was in the preparation room with all the other contestants, sitting at a vanity table and applying her makeup in front of the mirror.  Her long hair was pulled back from her face in a high dutch fishtail braid that trailed down the center of her back, stopping at the base of her shoulder blades.  A few stray locks framed her face elegantly, balancing the look.  Renfri shifted her head back and forth, examining her eyeshadow as her copper braid swung with her head.  Satisfied, she finished with a few layers of mascara.

“Don’t you look as pretty as a picture.”

Renfri turned in her chair to see Damon coming up behind her with a playful little smirk.

“I do look good, don’t I?” she replied smugly, striking a dramatic pose with her hands framing her face, then laughed as Elena and Jenna giggled beside her at her unserious behavior.  Damon rolled his eyes and stepped forward, reaching over to give her braid a gentle tug.

“There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance, little girl,” he teased.

She snorted and swatted at his hand, “Look in the mirror before opening your mouth, buddy.”

He stepped back and eyed her then quirked his lips up, “You do look beautiful though, Red.”  

She smiled at his genuine compliment, “Thanks, Damon.”

He tipped his chin up in acknowledgement as Elena stood from her chair and headed for the dressing room.  

“Okay, I should go put my dress on,” she stated and pointed at the curling iron in her aunt’s hands, “be careful with that thing, don’t hurt anybody.”  Jenna giggled as she began to clean up the makeup counter.  Elena paused and turned back to Renfri, pointing an accusing and teasing stare at her friend, “Oh, and you and Tyler better not giggle like five year olds throughout the dance, don’t you dare ruin this for us.”

Renfri snorted, “Hey, it’s not our fault that Carol made it so weird, telling us to ‘flirt with your eyes,’” she snickered, making Damon roll his eyes at her childishness.  Elena shook her head with a smile and headed out.

The oldest Salvatore watched the brunette go, then pulled his niece aside.

“I saw Anna a few minutes ago, she’s going to look into if her mother has the invention John was talking about.”

“Okay, that’s good, maybe we’ll get an answer soon then, they do owe us for what happened with the tomb vampires,” the teenager replied thoughtfully.

He nodded and continued, “There’s something else; we need to tell Elena about Stefan, she needs to know he’s on human blood.”

Renfri nodded in agreement, “Especially that he’s been lying about it, he’s not going to be able to resist from feeding from someone for long, is he?”

His face was grim as he shook his head, “Not likely, he’s been even more on edge since we confronted him, I’m worried he’s going to lose it, and with all these founder events and having a presence on the council, we can’t afford for that to happen right now.”

The redhead sighed, “I know.  I didn’t want to get involved with that, but it’s getting to the point where she needs to be aware of his condition, especially if it’s not safe for her to be alone with him.”

Damon nodded, “Let’s go, the sooner the better.”  He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hall with him to the dressing room.  A blonde girl hurried past them looking harried and they both slipped through the door and closed it behind them.  As the door clicked shut, Elena whirled around, seeing them in the mirror.

“Hey, Damon, you can’t be back here,” she said, turning towards him.  Renfri moved over to her black strapless gown with a thigh high slit that was hanging from the changing screen in the far corner.  

“We need to talk,” she stated, grabbing the hanger and moving it to the other side of the screen so she was behind it and out of sight.  

As she began to change, Elena asked, “Does it have to be right now?” and lifted the blue dress in her hands.

“Normally, I would have a completely different outlook on what I’m about to tell you, but since it really inconveniences me, I’ll squeal,” he answered.  

Elena looked at him questioningly, “What are you talking about?”

Renfri stepped out from the screen in her black gown as Damon told Elena, “Stefan’s still drinking human blood.”  

The brunette stared at him in shock, “What?”

“It’s true, Elena,” Renfri confirmed, stepping up to the girl, arms crossed.

Damon nodded, “Yeah, a month ago I would have rejoiced, but with the council back on alert, now is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle.”

“I know he’s been a little edgy, but he said that was normal,” Elena replied.

“Elena, he has a fridge in the basement full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house,” Renfri stated bluntly.

The teenager’s mouth gaped open and she moved to sit down on a chaise, “Oh my god.”

Damon continued to explain, “He has no idea what normal is, his entire existence isn’t normal.  Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood, but he spent all this time fighting it when he should have been learning how to control it, and now it’s controlling him instead.”

Elena stammered in disbelief, “I–I can’t believe this, I mean, it’s Stefan we’re talking about here.”

Renfri shook her head, tucking her feet into her black heels and moving over to sit beside her friend, “Stefan on human blood is a different person; he’s not in control, like an addict.”

“He’ll do anything, he’ll say anything, because he’s not going to want to stop, trust me,” Damon added in a low voice, his face serious.  Elena’s face became increasingly worried as he spoke.  Anxiety filled her so she got up and began pacing back and forth.

“This is all my fault, I’m the one who fed him the blood in the first place,” she stated.

The door swung open just then, revealing Stefan.  He paused with his hand still on the door and Damon stiffened without turning when Elena’s eyes landed on his younger brother.

Renfri turned to Stefan as he asked, “Uh, what’s going on in here?”

Damon reluctantly turned towards his brother, “Just…filling in Elena on your extracurricular activities…”

Stefan looked between the two,  gave a small shake of his head, and scoffed, “What are you talking about?”

“I know about the blood, Stefan,” Elena said immediately, looking at him accusingly.  Tension filled the air as the couple stared at each other.  Renfri glanced between them awkwardly and stood, moving around the couch and towards the door as Damon spoke.

“We’ll just be going.  I’ll be downstairs…drinking.”  The two walked out, leaving the couple to talk.

Ren turned to her uncle, “Should we leave her alone with him, is it safe?  If he gets worked up because he got found out, he could lose control.”

Damon pressed his lips together, “He won’t hurt her, he cares about her too much, he would direct his hunger elsewhere first.  He’s not too far gone, but he’s teetering on the edge.”  

Renfri nodded hesitantly, “Alright, just try to keep tabs on him, there are a lot of eyes here today.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri strode down the stairs, one hand on the railing, and stopped at the bottom to take Tyler’s outstretched hand.

“My lady,” he murmured teasingly and she struggled to restrain a snort.

“Shut up,” she whispered, her lips twitching up.  They walked out to the dance floor in the courtyard.  As they stood across from each other, waiting for the last few couples, Renfri noted that the blonde girl, Amber, and her escort were called but didn’t show.  Then came Caroline in her light green dress and the boy who filled in because Matt couldn’t get out of work.  Elena was finally called and when Renfri glanced behind Caroline to see her and Stefan, she was surprised and concerned to see Damon holding her hand instead as they joined them in the lineup.  

Damon made eye contact with her briefly as they took their places, so she mouthed, “Where’s Stefan?”  He shook his head, indicating he didn’t know.

As they bowed to their partners and the music started, she heard Elena whisper, “What do we do?”

Damon quietly replied, “Right now, we just have to get through this.”  Renfri’s lips thinned, her jovial mood from earlier gone.  As they began their first turn with their hands up, Tyler murmured, “What’s wrong?”

She glanced up at him and replied, “Stefan’s gone and we don’t know where he went, Damon had to cover for him and dance with Elena.”

“Do you think he’s okay?” Tyler asked, turning the other way in another circle.  

“Maybe, he’s been having…problems lately, so he might have just needed to get away for a bit.  I’ll find him later.”  She gave him a small grin, “Let’s just get through this ridiculous dance, Lockwood.”  He smirked in return as they moved through the steps.

As soon as the dance was over and the couples moved off the dance floor, the contestants were to move towards the stage and wait a few minutes while the judges deliberated before announcing the winner.  Renfri, knowing she wouldn’t win, decided to slip away and search for her younger uncle.  She quickly went up to the dressing room and found her coat and phone.  As she made her way outside and moved down the driveway and towards the parking lot by the treeline.  As she walked, she noticed the sun sinking lower in the sky, just touching the horizon.  She began to walk down the road that connected to the driveway, following the line of cars on each side of the road.  She kept her eye out for Stefan’s Porsche, and before long she saw the cherry red vehicle parked on the side of the road amongst the vehicles.  She saw two figures a few hundred yards away, standing by the brightly colored car.  

She increased her pace as she saw the taller figure close in on the shorter one, holding their face between their hands.  Renfri got close enough to identify the two as Stefan and Amber, the missing contestant.  He was muttering something quietly and staring at her intently, one hand’s finger stroking the side of her neck as she stared back.  She must have been compelled to stay calm and compliant, since she stood still as he leaned down and bit into her neck.

Renfri gasped and shouted, “STEFAN!”

The vampire pulled back from the girl’s neck and whipped around, the whites of his eyes turned blood red and the dark veins under his eyes pulsing.  His fangs were extended and a few drops of blood glistened on his bottom lip.

“Renfri?” he grunted in surprise.

“Stefan, what are you doing?  You can barely handle blood bags, feeding from people is dangerous, you could kill them!”

He groaned as his face changed back to normal and ran his fingers through his hair, “Ah, god, I can’t do this, I shouldn’t do this.”

The compelled girl put her hand to the wound on her neck and pulled it away, showing the blood covering it, “It’s okay, just not so hard next time.”

Ren looked at her with concern, “Stefan, you need to compel her to forget everything and go take care of her wound.  If you feed from her again, you’re likely to kill her; you’re not ready for this kind of feeding.”  He growled in frustration this time, but stepped back toward the girl and put his hand on her cheek as he began to compel her.

“Go back inside and bandage your wound, keep it covered.  Forget what happened and that you saw anyone out here.”  The girl’s pupils contracted and she repeated the directions back to him dully.  She blinked then started walking away towards the building with a hand over her neck.

Renfri sighed in relief as she watched the girl leave, glad she was now out of danger.  She pulled her phone out of her coat pocket, sending a quick text to Damon of their location and that Stefan had fed from a girl but she convinced him to stop.  She turned back to her younger uncle to see him holding his head as if he had a major headache.

“Stefan, just stay calm.  Damon’s coming, he’ll help you.  Just breathe and think about something else,” she urged as he paced back and forth.  At this point, the sun was down and dark had fallen.  Renfri could see her breath fogging in front of her as she inhaled and exhaled shallowly, nervous at the vampire’s unstable behavior.  She shuffled back a bit, away from him, and he paused to look at her.

“No.  No, no, no, don’t be afraid of me,” Stefan pleaded, grabbing her arms tightly and making her inhale sharply.

“Stefan, it’s alright, just let me go,”  she said breathlessly, he didn’t seem in control and might accidentally hurt her.  She swallowed the lump in her throat.

The green-eyed young man let out a throaty chuckle and muttered, “Of course you’re afraid of me, I bit that girl.  I’m supposed to be the good brother, not the bad one.”  Renfri frowned at that remark but didn’t comment on it.  Stefan let out a sigh, seeming to sniff back tears, and let his head drop to rest on her shoulder.  Renfri held her breath for a moment, very unsure of having his mouth near her vulnerable throat.

“Stefan, let go of me.”

“I won’t hurt you, I don’t want to hurt you,” he mumbled, then took a deep long breath and sighed, “I don’t want to, but I can’t stop.”

The redhead began to shake and push against his chest, “Stefan!  Stefan, let go!”  

In the next second, she was shoved against a tree, the bark digging into her back through her coat as he buried his face into her neck, breathing in her scent.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a rough voice, the veins under his eyes returning, “I need it.”

“No, Stefan, no —”

Teeth broke through the skin on her neck, spilling blood as she thrashed in his grasp.  She yelled at the pain of having her flesh torn into, his teeth digging in as he greedily gulped down the blood that flowed freely.  She sobbed, tears falling down her cheeks as he held her arms in an iron grip even as she struggled against him, fists pounding his chest.  The vampire finally pulled his head back, tilting his chin up as he took large gulps of air, red dripping from his lips.  

“Uncle Stefan, please stop,” she choked out, leaning back against the tree unsteadily and her knees weak from the loss of blood as he lowered his head again.  He growled, teeth bared in an animalistic snarl as he bit her again.  This time, he clamped his teeth down even harder than before, making her scream .

“ AAAAAAAAGGHHH!!!”

“Renfri!”

“Stefan, stop !”

The redhead was suddenly released and she collapsed to the ground against the tree, her legs no longer able to support her in her weakened state.  She blinked the tears away and looked up to see Damon had pulled his brother off of her and thrown him several yards away.  Elena stood not far off, clutching her coat closed at her chest with a distraught look on her face as a worried Bonnie came up behind her.  Stefan was on his feet again, looking around in bewilderment, blood now covering his mouth and spilling down his chin.  

“Ugh, Uncle Damon,” Renfri managed before she coughed.  Her neck was torn up and bleeding, her arms were sore where he’d held her, and she was lightheaded from the bloodloss.  She tried to sit up but couldn’t go further than her elbows and her arms shook just doing that.

“Ren, lie still and put pressure on your wound to stop the bleeding,” he told her in a hushed voice.  He took a few steps closer to his brother, “Stefan, come on, get control of it.”  Stefan’s dark eyes were fixed on Elena, who was watching him with disgust and shock on her face.  Damon took a few more steps closer, but when he got within arms reach, the out of control vampire flinched at the proximity and tossed him against a tree, making the girls all gasp and startle.  Renfri watched from the ground with a hand on her bloody flesh and her head resting on her arm as Damon jumped to his feet again, hands up in a non-threatening stance.  Before he could make another move, Stefan began to groan and clutch at his head, leaning over as if in pain.  They all looked around and noticed that the young Bennet witch had stepped forward and was staring at the vampire intensely.  

She was casting a spell on Stefan.

After about ten seconds of maintaining the spell, she released him from it and he steadied himself before standing up a bit straighter.  He looked around in bewilderment, the gore still hanging from his gaping mouth.  He took a shaky step towards Damon and looked to his brother, who took a hesitant step towards him as well.

“It’s okay,” the oldest Salvatore said in a hushed voice, but Stefan retreated, turning his head to look at Elena then the bleeding Renfri on the ground in horror.

His breath stuttered and he stumbled backwards.  His face twisted up as his eyes filled with tears and guilt.

“Stefan,” Damon called, but it was in vain.  Stefan turned and fled, disappearing into the dark woods in an instant.  With the unstable vampire gone, Damon rushed over to his injured niece along with Elena, Bonnie following after.  The two crouched down while the witch stood back and watched in concern.  

“Oh my god, Renfri!  Are you okay?” Elena asked, reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder as Damon gently sat her up against the tree trunk and brushed her hair back from her throat.  

“Hey,” her uncle murmured, “you’re okay, I’ve got you, Red.  Just move your hand so I can check your neck.”  The witch looked on with some surprise at how the vampire interacted with his hurt niece.  He lightly pushed her hand aside from the bite mark gouged into her neck, it was still weeping warm liquid.  He pushed her hand back into place and put his own over it.  The teenager couldn’t help but whimper at the pressure on her wound and more tears welled up in her eyes.  

She felt completely overwhelmed and pain pulsed through her body in multiple places.  She let her forehead drop forward against her uncle’s chest and let out a sob as tears began flowing down her face again.    He wrapped his other arm around her as she fisted the cloth of his suit jacket in her hand tightly.

“I–I was s–so scared, he–he bit me,” Renfri choked out between wet, shaky breaths.  Elena’s face twisted up and she hugged the girl from her other side as well, murmuring reassurances.

“It’s okay now, you’ll be okay,” the brunette whispered to the distraught girl.

Renfri lifted her head a little, “I got the girl away–Amber–he fed from her, but I–I got him to make her forget and go back.”

Damon nodded at her and murmured, “You did good, little Red.  But don’t you dare go off after a rogue vampire like that again, I was worried when I got your text after seeing the broken mirror and blood in the bathroom.”  He rubbed her back before leaning back a little and pulling his phone out, which was vibrating.  He checked it and tapped out a message before putting it back in his pocket.

“One of the deputies found that Amber girl in a bathroom looking for bandages and saw the bite mark.”  The four of them looked at each other, concern marring their expressions.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri sat in Damon’s Camaro as he drove them home.  Her neck was covered in a thick bandage taped to her neck and she was given more to continue to use over the next week or so.  The sheriff had called an ambulance after finding Amber and Damon had come up with the story that Elena and Bonnie had found Renfri collapsed by the edge of the woods and barely conscious.  She’d had to pretend she didn’t remember anything and was just upset about the painful wound, the blood spilled down her neck, and waking up in the woods without knowing why.  

She had been taken to the ER after the paramedics determined that she might need some stitches to help close up the wound since parts of the damaged area had deep and wide punctures.  Once there, a doctor cleaned up her wound and gave her seven stitches as she sat stiffly, trying not to panic at the feeling of the needle tugging at her numbed and ragged skin.  Damon had followed the ambulance there and came into the exam room with her bags from the pageant once they were done, she was relieved to be able to change back into her jeans and long sleeved cotton shirt.  The amount of blood lost wasn’t life-threatening, but it was quite a lot and she got lightheaded when she tried to walk on her own.  She was told to rest and drink lots of fluids over the next few days and eat foods with plenty of iron and vitamins C and B.  She felt embarrassed when they wheeled her out to the exit but sucked it up until Damon helped her into his car.

They were now on the way home and they had a plan to deal with Stefan, though the redhead was extremely nervous, if she was honest about it.  Before she could dwell on it further, they pulled up to the boarding house and parked.  Damon grabbed her bags and helped her out of the car, letting her lean on him as she walked with his arm around her waist for extra support.  Damon paused when they were only a few yards away from the front door and she looked up.

“Alright, now this is just getting weird,” he commented.

Anna stood under the eaves of the entrance, her heels clicking as she moved forward a bit, “We’re here to talk.”  The next second, her mother stepped out from the shadows of a brick pillar and joined them, her long silky hair flowing free and hands tucked into a black trench coat.

“I’m not in the mood.  As you can see, today has been a no good, very bad day,” he tilted his head at his niece whose white bandaged neck stood out starkly.

“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Pearl said, nodding towards the red-haired teenager, who raised her eyebrows in surprise, “but Annabelle tells me you’re looking for something I took from Johnathon Gilbert.”  Damon walked them forward, shifting his hold on her from her waist to her shoulder as he approached them warily.

“I’m listening.”

The woman produced a little pouch from her pocket and handed it to him.  As he tipped what at first looked like a little silver pocket watch into his hand, Renfri asked, “What is it?”

When he turned it over, it had a smaller little circle of a yellowed metal with a rough surface in the center, what looked like the shape of a gear was carved into it.

“Jonathon was passionate about his inventions.  He confided in me that he had created a detection device meant to track down the town’s vampire element,” she explained.

 “It was a pocketwatch,” Damon told her.

She gave a mild smile, “That’s what it turned out to be, yes, but that’s not what I stole.  I discovered my mistake when I saw the watch in Jonathon’s hand the night they took us, its dial pointed at me.”

Damon examined it further and looked up questioningly, “So what is it?”

Pearl shook her head, “I have no idea, but now it’s yours.”

Her uncle eyed the older vampire, “What’s the catch?”

Pearl smiled again, a little more genuinely, “There’s no catch.  My daughter wants to stay here, I want to stay here.  You refuse to trust us and for good reason; consider this an apology.”  Damon’s eyes flicked between the two critically before he gave the barest of nods and led Renfri to the front door.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Stefan paced back and forth in his bedroom, his face now clean of his niece’s blood.  He wrestled his suit jacket off along with his button up shirt, leaving him in his white undershirt.  He ran his hands through his hair and wrung anxiously at his neck before he froze in place.  He slowly lowered his hands and spoke to the person who was now standing in his doorway behind him.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“I know,” Elena responded.

Stefan moved further from the girl and muttered, “Now you know.”

“That wasn’t you,” she tried to reason.

He gave a miserable chuckle, “Oh, it was absolutely me.  A monster, a predator, it’s who I am Elena.”

Another person stepped up and into the doorway hesitantly, “It’s what the blood makes you, Uncle Stefan, not who you are as a person.”

The vampire stiffened then slowly turned to look at his niece standing at the entrance of his room, just behind his girlfriend, looking scared but determined.

“Renfri,” he whispered, tears welled into his eyes as he saw the bandage covering the side of her neck, “I—I’m so sorry.”

She nodded minutely in acknowledgement, “I understand, Stefan, but I’m not ready to forgive you.  You need to get better before I can even begin to trust you again and be around you.”

Elena nodded as well, taking a small step toward him, “We can help you, Stefan, let us help you.”

He grimaced, “I can’t get better, you can’t help me, I’ll only hurt you.  The blood brings out what’s inside of me and if you think any differently then you’re an idiot.”  He spat the words out harshly at the end and turned away, back to pacing like a caged animal.

Elena looked affronted for a second before she said, “I know this isn’t you, Stefan.”

“I wanted to drain every last drop of blood from her body,” he cut in, pointing at his injured niece, who jumped a little.

Elena shook her head, “No.”

He nodded, “It’s who I am, Elena.”

The girl continued to deny it, “No, you can’t scare me off.”

Renfri spoke up again, “It’s not who you are, it’s what you are that drives you to want that.  Separate the person from the monster, Stefan, because they are not the same.”

Stefan turned to eye the two of them, “Why would you risk it?  Why would you come here when I’ve already hurt someone I care about.”  He looked away and shook his head in shame.

 “Because I did this,” Elena stated, “this is my fault, I’m the one who made you drink the blood.”

“All you did was expose me to who I really am,” he retorted, gripping the back of his head with both hands.

“It’s not your fault, Elena, it’s Stefan’s.”  

They both paused and shifted to face the red-haired girl still standing in the doorway in surprise, she hadn’t taken a single step past the frame yet.

“It’s Stefan’s fault for not learning to feed from humans properly from the beginning.  Lexi shouldn’t have introduced you to the animal diet as a reasonable substitute because it’s really just a band-aid that keeps falling off because it’s been on too long.”  She locked eyes with her uncle, “There’s no reason you couldn’t have gotten it under control at some point over the last 145 years.  Sure, it might be more difficult for you than most other vampires, but if you had been willing to stick it out and try, I’m sure Lexi would have supported you and stopped you when she needed to.  Trying is the only way, all you’ve been doing is running away from it for a century and a half.”  She raised an eyebrow challengingly at him as his lip began to curl in frustration, a low growl building up in his chest, “Are you going to continue to be a coward or actually listen to Damon and I and try it our way?  This isn’t who you are, you—”

He flashed over to her, slamming his hand on the doorframe, “STOP IT, stop saying that!”  She startled so hard that she stumbled back and would have fell backwards down the handful of steps that led to his room if his hand hadn’t snatched her wrist.  

Her free hand grasped onto the little railing and she took shaky, shallow breaths as she steadied herself, “Let go.”

His eyes widened and he stepped backwards in horror at the fear in her eyes as he released her, “I—I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”  He cringed back and Elena moved over to him.

He shook his head, “Don’t get any closer to me.”

“I’m not going to let this happen to you.”

“Stop,” he protested again.

“We’re not gonna give up on you, we believe in you,” the brunette persisted.

Stefan got in her face and she backed into the wall behind her as he shouted, “STOP, stop, just stop! ” and slammed his hand into the wood beside her face.  She gasped and stood shaking, trapped between the cage of his arms against the paneling as Renfri’s heart raced while she took a reflexive step forward, wanting to pull the girl away from the explosive vampire.

Stefan breathed heavily before shock registered on his face and he shrank back a bit as he whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Elena replied shakily and nodded, almost jumping as he buried his face into the hair draped over her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her thin waist.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” he groaned into her shoulder tearfully.

“It’s okay,” Elena murmured again and carded her fingers through his hair comfortingly, glancing over to Renfri.  The redhead had silently taken a few steps toward the couple and, with Stefan distracted, Renfri lunged forward to stab a vervain dart into his lower back.  Stefan stiffened and she retreated quickly once the whole thing had been emptied into him.  

The vampire’s arms pulled back and thunked heavily onto the the wood paneling on either side of the teenager again, making Renfri panic, thinking it wasn’t enough vervain and they had just pissed him off.  But then, he leaned back and he blinked dazedly once before slumping to the floor.

Renfri moved backwards and sat on the edge of Stefan’s bed, releasing a huge sigh of relief just as Damon stepped out of the shadows and entered the room.  He looked down at his brother then his shaky niece and the girl breathing heavily against the wall.

“So, how do you want to do this?” he asked them.

Elena swallowed, “Let’s put him in the basement.”

Renfri nodded, “Starve him for a few days, let the blood leave his system so he’s not all juiced up, then get him back on animal blood.  It’ll be his choice if he’s willing to try human blood in small increments, and I mean small , and gradually build up his self-control that way.  Otherwise, it’s back to the bunny diet.”

Elen nodded and Damon shrugged, “If you two are sure.”

After Damon had carried Stefan down into one of the cells, placed him on a cot, removed his daylight ring, and locked the door, he turned to the two girls.

“There’s no guarantee it’s going to work.”

Elena shook her head, “It has to.”

Damon just nodded and Renfri added, “No offense, but I’m gonna let you guys deal with this for now, I need some distance.”  She sighed and leaned against her older uncle, “I’m pretty sure I’m fuckin’ traumatized now.”  Damon wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze before letting her move towards the stairs.  He turned that way as well but paused when Elena didn’t follow.

“You coming?”

The teenager shook her head, “I’m going to stay here,” and slid down to sit on the cement floor with her arms wrapped around her legs.  Damon paused for a moment before moving to sit across from her in the dark hall as well.  Renfri had paused to watch the interaction further down the hall, then continued on her way once she realized her uncle wouldn’t be following.  

She made her way upstairs to the second floor and entered her bedroom, closing and locking the door behind her.  Ash leaped at her instantly, tail wagging and nose sniffing curiously.  She kneeled down to him and he nosed the bandage on her neck gently before backing off a bit.  She scratched at his neck scruff before getting up and moving to the bathroom.  After completing her nightly routine, she collapsed onto her bed and crawled her way under the covers, Ash jumping up to lay down against her back once she settled.  Before she put her phone in sleep mode, she sent a quick text to Bonnie, thanking her for her help in stopping Stefan from hurting her further.  She got a short reply saying that she was glad that Ren was okay now and she’d see her in school.  She also responded to a text from Tyler asking if she was okay, he’d heard she’d been taken to the emergency room.  She reassured him she was okay, just had a bit of an accident and might stay home for a couple days to rest.

As Renfri finally let her body relax, more tears made wet tracks down her cheeks and her breath hitched as she let her emotions flow in her solitude, her only comfort being the furry companion pressed against her body.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Stefan had been locked in the basement for nearly a week, being dosed with vervain and fed animal blood until they were certain the human blood was gone from his system.  Stefan, however, stopped feeding after the first couple days, once the human blood had left his system, and became more and more broody.  Renfri would normally call this a good thing, since it was a return of a normal pattern of behavior, except it was all he seemed to be doing.  He wouldn’t eat, he refused to really talk or listen to Elena or Damon, and just sat on his cot, eyes closed or head hanging down.  Renfri had chosen not to get involved in Stefan’s recovery beyond giving her opinion on occasion when they discussed his current state of health and mental wellbeing.  She still took it as a good sign that he was wallowing in guilt and not wanting Elena near for fear of hurting her, that meant he hadn’t turned his emotions off, he still cared.  She had texted Lexi about what had happened and she’d said that as long as his emotions were still on, he would be okay, Elena would just have to help him through it.  Of course, if he moved towards turning his emotions off and becoming a ripper, they were to contact her immediately.  Based on Damon and Elena’s reports, she didn’t think he was at that point, so she was hopeful that Elena could get through to him, the girl was damn persistent when it came to her vampire boyfriend.

Renfri had stayed home for a few days, having Damon call her out sick, and she took the time to sleep in, catch up on books and tv shows she’d been wanting to get to, and go running with Ash.  Essentially, she just needed time to herself to get her head right again before being around people again.  The ordeal with Stefan at the pageant, him attacking her, it had messed with her head more than she liked.  It helped that she hadn’t had to see or hear him for a little while, but she knew it would end soon once Elena could convince him to eat again.  It seemed he was refusing the blood out of guilt and not wanting to be strong enough to hurt someone, though she didn’t know if he had really thought beyond that, he couldn’t just sit in the basement and slowly desicate.

The traumatized teenager had decided to return to school that day and was welcomed back with open arms from an excited Caroline and a hesitant smile and greeting from her witchy friend.  She’d been seeing Elena every day since she stayed at the boarding house each evening to be near Stefan during his difficult time, so a reunion hug wasn’t needed, though she offered her a warm smile and a ‘glad you’re here.’  The day went alright, she received her makeup work in each class and was offered notes by some of her classmates.  

Tyler sat with her at lunch to check-in and had ended up being a bright spot in her day.  They were becoming good friends and had texted several times over the days she had stayed home from school.  They had been friendly before, their penchant for mischief and snarky jokes made them compatible friends, but now they actually talked beyond just in classes or amongst their similar friends.  Renfri’s discovery of Tyler’s father’s abusive habits pushed them closer together and he would text or call her whenever he needed to get away physically or mentally from the two-faced mayor.  Sometimes that meant meeting somewhere in town or just talking on the phone when he locked himself in his room.  They’d even worked out together once and were planning on doing it again that day after school.  She had joined him to lift weights in the school gym then met him with Ash to go for a run on a trail in the woods.  She felt safer doing that with someone she trusted, but she still wouldn’t do that alone anymore.  Tyler had a hell of a lot of stamina, but she was mostly able to keep up during the run.  She couldn’t, however, lift nearly as much weight as he could, which made him laugh.

After working out with him after school, she headed home.  As she walked through the foyer and into the den, Ash ducked through the dog door’s flap and bounded over to greet her, barking happily.  He’d been happy to spend so much time with her when she was home the past days and had apparently missed her during the day.  He followed her up to her room, lounging on his dog bed while she showered and changed, then joined her downstairs again when she went looking for Damon and Elena.  She found them in the large study, Elena on one of the leather couches and Damon leaning over the table against the back of the couch.

“You know he’s just being dramatic, he’s not gonna starve himself,” the dark-haired man told the girl.

“Then why would he say that?” Elena asked.

“He feels bad about hurting Ren, it’s very typical Stefan martyr stuff, it will pass.”

Ren’s shoes on the entryway steps announced her arrival along with the click of Ash’s nails on the wood.

“Stefan’s still not eating?” she asked them as she plopped into an armchair by the fire with Ash moving to lay in front of the warm hearth.

Elena turned to her with worried eyes, “He said he’s not eating because he doesn’t want to survive, that he just wants it over.”

Renfri leaned her head on her hand and crossed one leg over the other, “Well, that’s dramatic.  I told him I’d forgive him, it would just take time.  This is going overboard, even for him.”

Elena pinched her lips together and looked back at Damon, “Will it pass?  Because he seemed to be in a lot of pain.”

He scoffed, “Yeah, that’ll pass too once he eats .”

Elena gave him a look, “I didn’t mean physical pain.”

“I know what you meant,” he replied, “Look, are you two gonna be okay here if I run out?  I have to go on an errand with a teacher.”

“Alaric?  What are you two friends now?” the brunette inquired.

“I don’t have any friends, Elena,” he said lowly, turning to grab his jacket.

“Why are you going anywhere with him?  He tried to kill us,” Renfri added with a frown.

“That’s what I said, but he diligently pointed out that I did kill him.  He also refused to give all the info he had until I let him join me on said errand, so…” he lifted his hands and shrugged.  He pulled his arms through his sleeves as he added, “You should, um, you should stay up here, Elena.  You shouldn’t be down there by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine,” she reassured dryly, like he was a nagging parent.

Damon’s face pinched a bit, “You know, you’re very trusting of him…given the circumstances.”

“You mean, him trying to eat me?  Yeah, I’d say that’s a little too trusting,”  Ren commented.

Elena glanced at her friend sadly before looking back at the oldest Salvatore, “So are you, otherwise you wouldn’t be leaving.”  

Damon looked back at her for a moment then at his niece, “I won’t be long.”

Renfri lifted and dropped one shoulder, “Fine with me, I’m gonna head to the Grill soon to meet Tyler anyway.”  Her uncle nodded and left.

Elena’s curious eyes turned her way, “Since when do you and Tyler hang out?  I saw you guys sitting together at lunch today.”

Renfri hummed, “We were friends before, but we’ve just been talking more lately.  It’s no big deal, we’ve always gotten along well before.”

Elena raised an eyebrow disbelievingly, “If you say so.”  

Renfri sighed, knowing the girl didn’t believe her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The redhead entered the Grill scanning for Tyler and spied him at the pool tables.  She grinned and pulled her jacket off as she made her towards him as he leaned over to take a shot.

“Looking to get your ass kicked by a girl tonight?”

The dark-haired teen paused and straightened, turning with the cue stick in hand to see her challengingly stare directed at him.

He chuckled, “Not tonight, it’ll be you going home crying, loser.”

She tossed her jacket on the chair of a nearby table by the half-wall that divided the pool tables from the dining tables by the fireplace.  As they began to play, she noticed John Gilbert sitting at a table directly in front of the crackling fire.  She hesitated for a moment, watching him curiously, before going to take her turn, sinking two balls before missing, making it Tyler’s turn.  They continued to play for several more minutes until they were taking their final shots of the first game and Renfri saw a tall woman with pin-straight hair enter the Grill and move right for Elena’s uncle’s table.  The teenager narrowed her eyes curiously as Tyler tried to sink his last ball.  He missed and Ren finished the game by putting her last ball in a corner pocket, and she moved towards the table, smirking victoriously as he gave her the middle finger and pouted.

“Let’s order some food, I haven’t had dinner yet and I’m starving.”

He shrugged and followed her over to the table where her jacket was.  They picked up the menus from the side and skimmed the choices.  As she pretended to review her options, Renfri glanced two tables over to where Pearl and John Gilbert had begun speaking, just able to hear their conversation since there were more empty tables in this section.

“I’m not stupid, Mr. Gilbert, you knew who I was when I requested the meeting,” the woman said bitingly in response to something the man had said, and he nodded.  “So, Damon tells me you’re looking for the device I took from Jonathon,” she continued, and he nodded again, “I’m sure you realize I have no intention of giving it to you.”

“That’s why I wanted to meet you, I’m planning on changing your mind,” he replied easily.

“Really?  How so?” she asked disbelievingly.

“With my Gilbert charm, I know that you have a weakness for it.”  Pearl looked back at him with skeptical eyes as he asked, “May I buy you a drink?”  His attempts at being charming as he signaled for a waitress made Renfri’s lip curl, it just came off as slimy to her, she hoped the vampire wasn’t foolish enough to buy into it, she rather seemed old enough to have learned to not get tricked by men who openly hated vampires and outright said they wanted something from her.

“You ready?”

The redhead whipped her head around as Tyler looked at her questioningly.

“Oh, yeah, I just got lost in thought.  I’m ready to order.”

Tyler looked around and flagged down a waitress.  The young woman he had waved at nodded but turned to the blond teenager behind her and spoke to him, pointing in their direction, before going to serve other tables.  Tyler groaned and glanced down awkwardly when Matt Donovan moved in their direction.

“What, are you guys still not talking?” she asked.

“He hates me.  I’ve apologized, but he still won’t get over it, there’s nothing else I can do,” he explained with a frown.

Renfri leaned back and crossed her arms, “It’s kind of a big thing to get over, you making out with his mom then punching him, so yeah, it’s gonna take some time.  Let him be, do normal things like saying hi, even if he doesn’t respond how you want him to.   Just make it clear you’ll let him come to you whenever he’s ready.”  He looked at her uncertainly but nodded.  Matt came to stand by the table and pulled a pad and pen from his apron pocket.

“Hey, what can I get you guys?” he asked in a flat tone, keeping his eyes on his pad.

Tyler looked at him with a frown but Renfri kicked at him under the table, making him flinch, “Hey, Matt.  I’ll have a bacon burger–medium– with fries and a coke, thanks.”

He nodded, jotting it down, then shifted and looked up at Renfri, “And you, Ren?”  She raised an eyebrow, he was really making it obvious that he was avoiding Tyler by refusing to look at him then blatantly acknowledging her.

“Hi Matt, can I have a chicken bacon ranch wrap grilled with a side of the roasted vegetables?”

He nodded again as he wrote, “Sure thing, anything else?”

“A Dr. Pepper, thanks.  Oh, and feel free to come over if you get a break anytime soon, yeah?  I didn’t really get a chance to talk to you in classes today,” she told him.

He paused to look at her, “I already had my break and I’m leaving in twenty minutes, but I’ll find you tomorrow at school.  You doing okay though?  I heard you were in the ER after the pageant.”

She waved him off, “Yeah, just had a bit of an accident, I’m alright, just needed some rest and time to decompress.  See you at school.”

He waved and walked away as Tyler let out a heavy breath he seemed to be holding, letting his shoulders sag.

“Fuck, it’s way to awkward, he won’t even look at me,” he complained but Renfri just shrugged.

“It is what it is, just gotta let him take the time he needs to be pissed.  It’s better that he ignores you rather than try to take it out on you constantly, he’s actually pretty mature for a high schooler in some ways,” she responded thoughtfully.  Tyler grunted and turned the conversation towards the boy’s track team’s scores, allowing for Renfri to tune an ear towards Pearl and John again, who she hoped weren’t actually flirting with each other.  She might actually have to vomit on the guy.  John had just returned to the table, though she wasn’t sure what from, and apologized for his absence.

“My apologies.”

“No apologies necessary.  So tell me, Mr. Gilbert, why should I let you have the device?”

“Because I can help you.  I’m connected around here, the town council’s eating out of my hand and do whatever I say.  I know that you just want to live your life complete with a white picket fence, I can help you do that,” he attempted to persuade her.

She tilted her head curiously, “But the device doesn’t even work, why would you want it?”

“It’s a family heirloom,” he said breezily, “call me sentimental.”  Renfri raised an eyebrow; ‘sentimental’ was the last thing she’d call John Gilbert, more like ‘manipulative asshole.’  She didn’t think that the device didn’t work, though, they probably just didn’t know how it worked or what it did.

Pearl smiled a little, “Jonathon was ahead of his time.”

John nodded, “I read his journals, they’re very extensive.  He actually wrote about you,” Pearl tilted her head up, betraying her interest, “you were his one regret.  He loved you and he hated himself for what he did to you.”

The woman paused, sensing the deceit, then scoffed, “You’re lying.”

“No, in his last days he wrote how sorry he was, you were the only woman he ever loved.”

There was a stillness in that moment as Pearl seemed lost in old memories, broken by Tyler getting up to go to the restroom, then by John’s arrogant laughter.

Pearl’s head snapped up to glare at him as he said, “Good god, you vampires, you’re so emotional.  Jonathan Gilbert hated you, his only regret was that he didn’t drive a stake through your heart himself.”

Renfri couldn’t help herself, “Hey, would you shut the fuck up, already?  Why don’t you say the v-word a little louder so the whole restaurant can hear and think you’re crazy?  Or do you plan on going out like an idiot by pissing off someone half a millennia old?”

John looked her way with arrogant eyes, clearly dismissing her comment, before taking a leisurely sip of his drink as his acquaintance got up from her seat.  Pearl glanced at the teenager curiously before her eyes turned to steel and were aimed at John Gilbert.

“I gave it to Damon.”

The man swallowed his drink quickly, the smug smirk now gone, “You what?”

“I gave your device to Damon, why don’t you ask him for it yourself?  I’m sure he’d be delighted to give it to you, and then, Mr. Gilbert, may you rot in hell.”  With that, the woman spun on her heel and strode away.

Renfri watched John’s face go from frustrated contemplation to solid determination.  He glanced her way before calling for a waitress and paying the bill.  When she returned with his card, he headed for the door, a dark gleam in his eyes.  Renfri was concerned.  What if he was stupid enough to follow the vampire home and try to kill her?  What if he actually succeeded?  They didn’t know a whole lot about John, but he sure knew things and was someone to keep an eye on.  Also, someone with that kind of hubris must have some kind of experience in killing vampires to be so arrogant as to mock a 500 year old vampire to her face, even when you want something from them.  Then again, he got the knowledge he needed, that Damon had the device, so she was useless now and an unknown variable.

He was definitely going to kill her.

Renfri called a waitress over to ask for a box and pay just as Tyler made his way back from the restroom.

“Hey, where are you going?” he asked.  She packed her food into the to-go container as she answered.

“I just realized that I have a bunch of homework to make up at home, and I haven’t fed Ash yet, we can hang out another time, yeah?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah, that’s fine, see you at school.”  He waved as she grabbed her card and receipt from the waitress on her way to the door and hurried out to her car.

She saw John pulling out of the lot when she reached her car, so she jumped in and started the engine, forgoing any safety measures in order to keep his car in sight.  She let a few cars get in between them so it wasn’t obvious that she was following them, and when they had paused at a stop light, she pulled out her phone and pulled up Jeremy’s contact.  When it rang several times and went to voicemail she called again, but got the same result.  She let out a harsh breath in frustration as the beep toned in her ear.

“Jeremy, it’s Ren, I need to get a hold of Anna right now, it’s an emergency.  I know it must sound weird since I don’t really know her and I can’t really explain, but it’s seriously important.  It’s about her mom, Pearl.  Call me back, as soon as you get this, I’m headed to her place.”

She hung up and typed a quick text telling him to call her immediately, then tossed her phone in the cupholder, keeping her eyes on the road as the cars in front of her began to move again.  The closer they got to the edge of town, the more sure she was that John was on a mission to execute one of the town’s last resident tomb vampires.  She considered texting Damon as well for backup, but she thought that he would just tell her to stay out of it and that he would too because he didn’t give a rat’s ass if Pearl died or not.  She kind of did, but mostly she wanted to fuck up John ‘bag of dicks’ Gilbert’s plans, so she decided to go it alone this time.  She was optimistic that she could take one human man on as long as he didn’t see her coming, and even then, she knew some basic self-defense and was pretty fit.  She was also hopeful that if shit hit the fan, Pearl or Anna might help her out since she was trying to save them.

She saw John pull over to the side of the road about halfway up the long driveway that led to the farmhouse on the outskirts of town.  She had turned her headlights off once they’d reached the wooded roads so that he couldn’t tell she was following, although that meant that she had a harder time seeing any debris that sways in the way.  She pulled over several hundred yards behind him and killed the engine.  Thank god she drove a hybrid and the engine was quiet, otherwise he might have heard her behind him.

Renfri watched as the man got out of his car and popped the trunk.  He rifled through a large duffle bag before he pulled out some kind of contraption that looked homemade.  It looked like someone had modified a shotgun, it had a much wider barrel and a small tank attached to it.  Stefan had mentioned Alaric having some kind of air powered stake gun when he spoke to him at the school, she guessed that John had devised something similar.  She watched him load the wood projectile into the barrel and tuck two more into his waistband by his hip.  As he began to move toward the house, Ren quietly opened her glove box and checked that her 9mm was loaded and the safety was on before tucking it in the back of her waistband.  She opened her car door and gently nudged it closed before popping her own trunk and grabbing the tire iron from her road kit.  She quickly followed after the man, staying on the grass and avoiding the gravel that would reveal her presence.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” she muttered to herself as she trailed the vampire hunter up to the porch.

She gripped the iron pipe tightly as she closed the distance, seeing the man silently climb the porch steps to ring the doorbell then turn to move quickly back down the steps.  She paused and ducked behind a bush when he had turned her way, then kept going when he took a firm stance and lifted the stake gun to aim at the door steadily.  

Just as the front door began to swing open, Renfri rushed forward the last few feet.  She swung the tire iron swiftly through the air, slamming it into the side of his head just as he pulled the trigger.  The door had opened to reveal Pearl standing there, but the stake that had launched from the makeshift weapon had missed its mark, thankfully.  It had flown just past her left shoulder, grazing the cloth.  John Gilbert dropped like a sack of potatoes on the farmhouse’ front lawn and Renfri stood over him, breathing deeply from the adrenaline and brief sprint.  She looked up to see Pearl staring at her and the downed man in shock.

“You’re welcome,” she breathed, hands shaking a bit.  

“Thank you,” the woman said immediately, “you didn’t have to do that.”  Before anything else could be said, a noise was heard behind the vampire, and she turned to watch a dark-skinned man collapse forward, his skin turning gray.

The woman rushed forward and kneeled by his side, “No, Harper!”

Renfri moved forward and up the porch steps, trying to get a look at the dead vampire.  It looked to be the one who had been staked down when they went to rescue Stefan, her uncle had said he tried to speak up for him against the others and was a kind man.  She felt a bit bad that he had died, but better him than both him and Pearl, or Anna if she was there.

“I’m sorry, he had pulled the trigger by the time I reached him,” she said sympathetically.

“No, it’s not your fault,” she said, getting up and turning to her.  “Your blow changed the trajectory of the shot, it would have hit my heart if you hadn’t done what you did.  I’m grateful to you, even though I am sad to have lost a friend.  It’s just as well that Anna isn’t here at the moment, he would have killed us all.”

Renfri let out a breath and crossed her arms, “What are you going to do with him?”  She nodded to the unconscious man on the lawn, “Might I ask that you don’t kill him?  He has a contingency plan in place that would expose us all to the council should he die unexpectedly.”

She hummed in acknowledgement, “I suppose that should not be a surprise, the Gilberts have proven themselves to be even more cunning and ruthless than in the past.”

Renfri shrugged, “I don’t know about the rest, but this one sure is.  How about dumping his weapons in the quarry, leaving his car on a random trail, and leaving him in the middle of the woods somewhere else?”

Pearl gave a charming yet deadly smile, “I believe that would be more than fair, considering he deserves to meet death.  I was just packing our things to leave, I knew we would not be safe in this town any longer.  You have my thanks, and please, contact me if you are in need of a favor or my knowledge.  Consider me a friend, Ms. Salvatore, your bravery and intuition surpasses your ancestors’.”

Renfri’s eyes widened as the woman held her hand out for the teenager’s phone, which she gave her, “Thank you, Pearl, but you can call me Renfri.  And I’ll definitely take you up on that somewhere down the line.”  The woman smiled as she added her contact information, then handed the phone back.

“Be sure that you do, I prefer not to owe debts if I can help it, though even if you call in your favor, I’m happy to still exchange information, as friendly acquaintances.”

Renfri grinned at her, “Of course, so would I.  It’s been a pleasure, good luck.”  She tilted her chin up a bit in acknowledgement before pausing and contemplating the man on the ground.  She grinned viciously before pulling her leg back and swinging it viciously into the man’s ribs, making him groan but remain unconscious.

She leaned over him, looking down on the piece of scum, “That was for being a dick to me and my uncle.  You’ll be lucky if you don’t die young at this rate, you excel at pissing people off, even your own family.”  

She sniffed as she stood straight, then continued on her way to her car, Pearl looking amusedly after the young woman.  She has fire , the woman thought, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips again.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri waltzed into the study with her container of food, feeling pretty satisfied with herself, despite knowing what she did was risky.  She gained an ally in a 500 year old vampire who was bound to be knowledgeable in certain things that would likely come in handy at some point and had gotten the chance to enact a little bit of violence on the man that so many disliked.  She called that a successful night.  She came into the room humming to herself, making Damon look up at her curiously as he continued to fiddle with the Gilbert device.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?  Did you enjoy your date with the Lockwood boy?”  That stopped her in her tracks briefly.  She threw herself in the armchair by the fire and frowned at him as she opened her box.

“No, something else entirely, and it wasn’t a date.  I knew everyone would jump to conclusions, we’re just friends.”  She rolled her eyes as she stabbed at a slice of roasted carrot and stuck it in her mouth.

“What else are people going to think when you suddenly start hanging out with a boy, that you’re friends?”  He asked sarcastically and she gave him a deadpan look, making him chuckle.

She decided to move the conversation to other topics and grinned, “You’re not gonna believe the night I had.”

He raised an eyebrow, “What, did you finally get lucky?”  She grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head, which he caught.  Before she could insult him, he looked past her and she heard more footsteps enter the room.

“Little boy lost,” he mocked as Stefan and Elena came in.

Renfri’s eyes widened as she twisted to see them without dumping her food off her lap, “What the hell?  When did you get out?”

“Little Miss Hopeless Romantic here left the cell door unlocked and gave him his daylight ring even though he was feeling a touch suicidal, he left it here,” Damon said casually, making his niece raise her eyebrows judgingly at her friend.

“Seriously, Elena?”  

The girl just shrugged unapologetically, “He’s okay now, that’s what matters.”  Renfri sighed but said nothing more on the matter, still eyeing her younger uncle warily.  Elena squeezed Stefan’s hand and glanced between the brothers, “I’ll be upstairs.”  Stefan nodded and let her go.

“Good night, Damon, Ren,” the brunette said with a small smile before walking out.  Renfri waved at her as she took a bite from her wrap as Stefan spoke to his brother.

“Thank you—”

“No, Stefan, thank you ,” his brother interrupted, “You’re back on Bambi blood and I’m the big badass brother again, all is right in the world.”

Renfri smiled a bit, as did Stefan before saying, “I mean it.  Thank you for helping her take care of me,” as he sat on the other end of the couch.

Damon’s face became annoyed as he turned to glare at his little brother.

“You brood too much.  Everything on this planet is not your fault.  My actions, what I do, it’s not your fault; I own them, they belong to me.  You’re not allowed to feel my guilt,” he told him before looking away to sip his bourbon.

Renfri looked surprised at his sudden lecture, and Stefan asked calmly, “Do you feel guilt?”

Damon waved his glass a little, “Whether I wanted to, it’s there.”

Stefan nodded, satisfied, and got up to leave but paused when Damon spoke again.

“You know Emily waited until after I turned to tell me that she’d been successful in protecting Katherine with her spell?  She didn’t want me to know about the tomb, I guess she thought it would impact my decision.”

“She didn’t want either one of us to turn,” Stefan replied, “she said it was a curse.”

Damon scoffed, “Witches, judgy little things.”

Stefan studied him for a moment, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want you to know, because I hated you and I still do,” Damon replied spitefully, his blue eyes flashing in the firelight.  Renfri sat quietly while the two spoke, observing the deceivingly casual conversation.

Stefan lifted his brows briefly in acknowledgment, “I know.”

“But not because you forced me to turn…”  Renfri nearly choked on her food at that.  She coughed then pounded her chest and swallowed until it went down properly.  She looked up with teary eyes at her younger uncle in shock at the new bit of info while Damon snorted at her reaction.  

“Then why?” Stefan asked.

Damon drained the rest of his glass and stood from the couch, moving to stand right in front of his brother.

“Because she turned you.  It was just supposed to be me, Stefan,” he said bitterly, and began to move past him, leaning into him as he said, “ just me.”

Damon rounded the couch to pour himself more bourbon, his foul mood clear on his face as Stefan stood still with a sad look on his face.  Just as Damon turned and had nearly walked out of the room, Renfri broke the tense silence.

“Well damn, that’s rough.  Sucks that you’re still hung up on Katherine, too.  Would it help to know that I KOed John Gilbert?”

Damon froze with his back to them then appeared in front of the chair, looking down at her anxiously.

“You did what? ”

The red-haired teenager grinned a bit at getting his attention before he could storm out, “I told you that you wouldn’t believe the night I had.”  When he rolled his eyes at her and gestured for her to go on, she continued, “I was at the Grill and saw him meeting with Pearl, he was trying to charm her into giving him the Gilbert device.  I wanted to puke when he started flirting with her.”  

She wrinkled her nose in disgust but Stefan interrupted, “Renfri, get to the point, what happened?”  

She sighed and continued, “Well, he ended up pissing her off, so she told him she gave it to you,” she pointed at her older uncle, “and to ask you himself and rot in hell.  After she left, he left soon after, and I had a feeling his intentions weren’t exactly good, so I followed him to her house.”

Damon’s eyes widened, “You followed him to the tomb vampire house on the edge of town?  Are you stupid?!  What if there had still been more vampires hanging around?  You could have been killed!”

“You said yourself that Anna told you the rest of them had left or gone their own way, why would they hang around there?  There’s no one to feed on that far into the woods,” she argued.  “Anyway, I followed him out there, figuring he was gonna get rid of her since she wasn’t of any use anymore and I wanted to screw up his plans, not to mention potentially get an old and powerful ally.  When he rang the doorbell and waited to shoot them with a stake gun, I clocked him with a tire iron from behind.  He still got a shot off, but it missed Pearl, that Harper guy is dead though.”  She shrugged and her uncles stared at her in a mix of frustration and exasperation.

“Ren, that was incredibly risky, you could have been hurt,” Stefan told her with a disapproving frown.

She frowned back and crossed her arms, “I thought it through, Pearl was apologetic about you getting tortured and had no reason to do anything to me, especially if I was there to help her.  I’m confident I could have taken that asshole on even if he had seen me coming, I did have my gun with me as backup; wooden bullets hurt him just as much as vampires, if not more.”

Damon ran a hand down his face and groaned, “You’re unbelievable,” then looked at her accusingly, “Did he see you?”

She shook her head, “No, I snuck up on him, he never saw me coming.  Although he might be able to guess it was me, I did make a bit of a rude comment while he was talking to Pearl at the Grill, he was sitting right nearby and I couldn’t help myself when he just dropped the v-word loud and proud as if other people weren’t nearby.  He’s lucky other people weren’t paying attention.”

Stefan and Damon sighed, the younger saying, “You’ll have to keep an eye out then, he might figure out that it was you that attacked him, he could come after you.”

The teenager scoffed and folded her arms.  “Let him try.  If he comes at me in public, I’ll make a hell of a scene, and if he comes at me when we’re alone, I won’t hesitate to beat his ass in self-defense,” she said with a cheerful smile.

Damon snorted and rolled his eyes, “Did you at least get something out of this little adventure?”

Renfri brightened and nodded, “Pearl was grateful, she knew she would have been dead if I hadn’t attacked John, he was aiming straight for her heart when she answered the door.  She gave me her number and said she would owe me a favor if I ever needed help.  She also said to consider her a friend and would be happy to exchange information, should it ever benefit either of us.”

The two brothers raised their eyebrows, reluctantly impressed, and Stefan stated, “Well, you certainly lucked out.  At least she owes you a favor, if something ever happens that she can help with.”

Damon sighed, “She’s old enough to have a lot of connections and be a good source of information too.  Fine, Red, you did alright.  But don’t ever try going after a vampire like that, a human is one thing, but that’s another.”

She snorted, “I definitely won’t.  I knew I could take John, the arrogant asshole was only prepared for going after a couple of vampires, he hadn’t planned on me going after him .”  She grinned proudly and her uncles both rolled their eyes at their niece.

Stefan headed upstairs first, leaving Damon to plop down on the couch again.

Renfri glanced at him curiously, “Did anything come of your errand with Alaric?”

He shook his head, “Not really.  He had tracked a cell number John had started calling frequently just after Isabel disconnected the number Elena had, and led to an apartment in Grove Hill.”

Renfri lifted a brow, “Isn’t that a little too on the nose anyway?  She grew up there.”

Damon nodded, “As it turns out, yes.  The apartment was being rented by one of the tomb vampires, John had helped him get settled in the place and had been checking in with him as a source of information.  This guy, Henry, would tell him about what the other tomb vampires were up to and John would supply him with blood bags and help familiarize him with technology.  Although, he did say that the tomb vampires wanted revenge, so we’ll have to keep an eye out.”

Renfri sighed, “Great, and we thought we were done with them.  I bet they’re gonna try to use one of the monthly events to go after the founders, they seem like they’d enjoy the irony…and the spectacle.”

Her uncle tipped his head, “Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised.  Back to how it was then, walk with a friend to your car or call one of us after dark.”  

She groaned and splayed her limbs out like a starfish dramatically, “Uuugh, Just when I was enjoying my freedom.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Renfri had gone in search of the faux grass rug that was needed to cover the truck bed for the Miss Mystic float for the Founder’s Day parade.  After she had found it, she started walking across the cafeteria with the rolled up material on her shoulder to bring it outside.  She paused when she spotted Alaric Saltzman corralling a group of students from his history classes at a table, including Tyler and Jeremy, and passing out papers as he spoke.  She wandered over curiously to see what they’d be forced to participate in.

“So, these are the specs for the history department’s Founder’s Day float, we’re going to be recreating the Battle of Willow Creek.  Tyler has been nominated as head of the production design,” Alaric droned, clearly not into the local festivities.

Renfri snorted in delight as Tyler looked shocked, “By who?”

“By me, I’ve seen your sketches and they’re good,” the teacher replied shortly.

Tyler immediately shifted uncomfortably, “I’m not really into this kind—”

The redheaded teenager stepped forward after dropping the fake turf on the floor before she leaned over her friend’s shoulder and poked his cheek playfully, “Don’t avoid the work, accept the compliment and prove him right for choosing you, dumbass, or is it too uncool? ”

Tyler rolled his eyes at her and swatted at her hand as she avoided it with a grin, making Jeremy chuckle and Tyler glare as he muttered, “Shut up, Salvatore.”

Alaric continued, “Yeah, well, you just pick your team, be creative,” his eyes were drawn elsewhere past Renfri’s shoulder and she glanced behind her to see Elena and Stefan walking past, “and don’t screw it up.”  He dropped the rest of the packet on the table and headed straight for the brunette teenager and her boyfriend.

Tyler leaned forward and asked the blonde jock across from him, “Do you want to help me out with this?”  His tone wasn’t quite hopeful, but expectant, and Renfri slapped the back of his head, making him jerk forward and look at her in surprise.  She nodded to Matt who replied dully with, “Not really, no.”  Renfri sighed and turned to continue on her way to drop off the giant rug by the trailer propped up on a jack on the lawn.  As she clapped the dust from her hands, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out.  It was a text from Elena.

Come meet us in Alaric’s classroom, we need to talk.  It’s important.

Renfri wondered what was wrong this time, it felt like they couldn’t go more than a couple days without incident.  She replied that she was on her way and headed for the history wing.  She arrived just as her older uncle was opening the classroom door, and she clicked her tongue at him when he didn’t hold the door and let it start to close on her before she caught it.  He ignored her as she glared at his back, following him in.

“Damon, Renfri, thanks for coming,” Alaric greeted civilly.

“Sorry I’m late, dog ate my…never mind,” Damon joked then looked at the three grim faces in the room, “What’s with all the furrowed brows?”

“I saw Isabel last night.”

Renfri’s eyebrows shot up as she and Damon looked at her teacher in surprise, “Isabel’s here?”

He nodded and Damon added, “In town?”  He turned to look at Elena’s anxious face,  trying to maintain her composure despite the stressful situation.

The vampire turned back to Alaric intently, “Did you ask her about Uncle John?  Are they working together?”

“No.”

“No, they’re not?”

“No, I didn’t ask.”

Damon continued his interrogation, “What about the invention?”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Did she know about the tomb vampires?”

“I don’t know,” came Alaric’s low reply again.

Damon stepped into the man’s personal space, clenching his hands in frustration, “Did words completely escape you?!”

Alaric finally showed some emotion and replied angrily, “I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask questions.”

Renfri interjected, “Well, she must have wanted something, what was it?”

“Me,” they all turned to look at the brunette girl sitting in a student desk, “she wants to see me.”  Renfri tipped her chin up suspiciously while Damon furrowed his dark eyebrows to join the others.

“Alaric’s supposed to arrange a meeting.  We don’t know why or what she wants,” Stefan supplied.

Damon looked to Elena, his eyes betraying his concern, “You don’t have to see her if you don’t want to.”  Renfri watched them, once again suspecting Damon of beginning to harbor feelings for his old flame’s twin-like descendant.  

Elena shook her head, “I don’t really have a choice.”

“She’s threatening to go on a killing spree,” the hunter told him and Ren sighed.

“Oh, I take it that’s not okay with you guys?” Damon asked lightly.

“I want to meet her,” Elena announced, drawing eyes back to her again, “if I don’t, I know I’ll regret it.”  At that, Damon relented, a softness in his face as he looked at her sympathetically.  They agreed to set up the meeting in a public place for Elena’s safety, and because she’d requested that she come alone, Damon and Alaric would have to stay away since she knew their faces but Stefan would be inside across the room to act as the unassuming body guard.  

Renfri voiced her opinion that if Isabel was in contact with John and even working together, they probably shared information and knew who Stefan was, but they chose to take the risk if it meant someone could get to her if something happened.  With the way Alaric described Isobel, completely unlike the wife he knew and there with only her goal in mind and threatening mass murder, Renfri thought that maybe she had her humanity off.  It was very dangerous to take risks when dealing with a vampire that had no emotions, and Renfri said as much to Damon once they’d split up, but he shook his head, telling her that Stefan wouldn’t change his mind about being there for Elena, and of course he was right about that.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Alaric sighed as Damon paced the grass by the parking spots in front of the Grill.

“We should be in there,” the antsy vampire said impatiently.

“Yeah, if you want her to start killing people,” Renfri remarked, standing and watching her uncle with crossed arms a few feet away from the teacher.

Alaric shook his head, “No, Isabel made it clear we’re not to step foot inside.”

Damon scoffed, “I’m not going to kill her in a crowded restaurant—”

Alaric looked up suddenly, “You’re not gonna kill her period .”

Renfri eyed at him questioningly, “Dude, she left you to become a vampire and is now threatening to unalive a bunch of people if she doesn’t get her way, and you want to protect her?”

Damon raised his eyebrows accusingly at the man when he replied, “She’s my wife.”  He backtracked, “Okay, was , was my wife.”  He shook his head and looked back at the building, “I looked for the woman I married but she wasn’t there, whoever that is is cold and detached.”

Renfri waved a hand, “Like I said before, I think she’s turned it off.  You can’t expect her to care about anyone.”

Damon nodded as he continued to pace, “Yeah, she’s given up her humanity.”

The teacher turned to the vampire curiously, “You see, I don’t get that.  Stefan has his humanity, he’s a good guy—”

“When he’s on animal blood,” muttered Renfri bitterly, crossing her arms as Damon gave her back a quick pat.

Alaric looked at her sympathetically for a second before continuing to address Damon, “And you’re a dick and you kill people but I still see something human in you.  But, with her, there was…nothing.”

Damon paused his pacing to eye the man.  He looked at his niece and she shrugged and tipped her head in a ‘go ahead’ motion.  He opened his mouth as he continued to move back and forth, moving his arms hands dramatically with his explanation.

“You can turn it off, like Red said.  It’s like a button you can push, or a switch you can flip.  I mean, Stefan’s different, he wants the whole human experience; he wants to feel every episode of How I Met Your Mother , so he shuts his feelings out.  The problem is, as a vampire, your instinct is not to feel.”  Damon shrugged, “Isabel chose the easier road; no guilt and shame, no regret.”  He grinned conspiratorially, “I mean, come on, if you could turn it off, wouldn’t you?”

Alaric looked at him skeptically, “You haven’t.”

The vampire laughed dryly, “Of course I have, Ric, that’s why I’m so fun to be around.”  He went back to restlessly pacing and watching the restaurant as Alaric’s eyes wandered over to her.  She smirked and stepped closer to the man.

“He’s actually just morally grey, which I think is fair considering when you become a vampire your instinct to survive pushes you to enjoy the hunt.  If his humanity was off, he’d be way worse than you or I have seen.”  Alaric raised his eyebrows and Damon looked over his shoulder to glare at her while she just smiled cheerfully back.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As it turned out, Isabel had wanted Jonathon Gilbert’s invention, just like John did, solidifying that the two were working together in some capacity.  The meeting with her birth mother had sent Elena into emotional turmoil, especially after Bonnie had walked away from her after seeing the girl crying, Stefan coming up behind her making the witch skittish.  Renfri had gone home with Elena to have some girl time together and they were sitting and watching a rom-com while munching on popcorn and chocolate covered pretzels (Renfri’s favorite sweet and salty treat) when the doorbell rang.  It had turned out to be Bonnie.  She had gone over to apologize for abandoning Elena when she was clearly upset and in need of a friend.  She offered her another set of ears to listen as she broke down again, explaining about Isabel’s disappointing and disturbing visit.

The next day, the groups had begun setting up the floats and decorating the small structures placed upon them.  Soon after she had arrived, Renfri had gotten a text from Bonnie to meet her and Elena in a chemistry lab in the science wing.  The teenager wrinkled her brow at the message but headed over to the classroom.  When the knocked on the door and poked her head in, she saw Elena and Bonnie hunched over an old looking text.

It was Emily Bennett’s grimoire.

“Hey Ren, come in,” Elena said, waving her over to them.  

“Hey, so what’s so interesting about Emily’s grimoire that you called us over?” Ren asked the witch.

She pointed down at the page it was currently open to, showing a faded looking sketch with color added to depict the image of a gold compass from multiple angles, surrounded by blocks of handwritten text as well as lines of symbols and lettering that was foreign to her.  

“That’s Jonathon Gilbert’s vampire compass,” Renfri breathed in surprise, leaning closer to the old book.  

“Yeah, Bonnie was telling me that he actually didn’t invent anything, Emily spelled it to work,” Elena told her and Renfri laughed.

“Isn’t it just like a rich, privileged man to think he’s created something unique when it was actually a woman’s work.”

Bonnie quirked one side of her mouth up in amusement, “Typical, isn’t it?  She secretly spelled them all with magic and let him think he’d created them so that the town could have defenses against the vampires invading it.”  She pointed to the page, “The compass,” she turned to the next, which held images of the gaudy jewelry that lived on the hands of Alaric and Uncle John, “rings,” on the next page she tapped decisively, “the mystery device.”

Renfri furrowed her brows and examined the page she stopped on, seeing the drawing of the silver, rounded device with a gold centerpiece on the page, also surrounded by writing and symbols, but there was another drawing of a box split in two, the right side had gears and a small mark that might have been a hole and the left had a cylinder lined up against metal prongs and more gears underneath.  

“Yeah, that’s it…well, part of it,” Elena said, looking up at Bonnie, “Damon only has the one piece.”

Renfri stared at the image, “It has two pieces?  That’s weird, why make something with two separate parts?  Why not keep it all in one?”

Bonnie shook her head, “I’m not sure about the design, honestly.  This book tells me that Emily pledged loyalty to Katherine, but she couldn’t stand by and watch innocent people get killed.  This was the only way she could think of to help; she let Jonathon believe he’d actually invented these devices so they had some chance against the vampires.”

Renfri glanced up at the two, “You know, the second piece of the device, it kind of looks like one of those old fashioned music boxes.”  

Elena turned to her, “Why do you think that?”

The redhead pointed to the drawing, “See the cylinder?  It seems to be sitting on a bar that’s connected to the gears, and it’s right up against the set of metal prongs.  Old music boxes have a cylinder with notches on the sides that stick out, catching on prongs as it rotates, creating the notes of the song.  My dad had given me one when I was little, and showed me the inside workings of it without the cover.”

Elena’s brow furrowed, “But what was the device for?”  She looked to Bonnie, “Does the book say?”  The witch leaned down and traced her finger across the lines of writing.  She frowned and straightened up again.

“Are you sure this is what Isabel wants?”

“Yeah, I’m sure, why?” Elena asked in confusion.

Bonnie looked at the two seriously, “This is a weapon, against vampires.”

Elena looked surprised, but Renfri wasn’t as taken aback.

“Well, I guess that makes sense, given that the other inventions that Emily spelled for Jonathon Gilbert were intended to give them a fighting chance against the vampires.  The question is, why do John and Isabel want it?  Or even, who do they want to use it on?”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Elena and Renfri had made their way outside after their conversation with Bonnie, on their way to start helping set up the Miss Mystic float, when a voice called out.

“Elena!”

They both paused and turned to see the youngest Gilbert hurrying over to his sister.

“Hey,” she greeted, “um, have you seen Stefan?  I need to find him.”

Renfri added, “I texted Damon but haven’t gotten a response yet,” and pulled out her phone to confirm that was still accurate.

Jeremy shook his head, “Nah, not lately.  Listen, um, you have a second?” 

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“It’s Anna, I’ve left her all these messages, and she hasn’t gotten back to me, not even a text.”  Elena paused and glanced at Renfri briefly before facing her brother.

“Anna?  I didn’t know that you guys were still friends.”  

Renfri snorted, “I don’t think they’re friends Elena, right Jer?” she remarked and nudged the teenager who huffed and pushed her elbow away.

“We’re more than friends, look, something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything, you've got to tell me,” he said, concern seeping into his tone.

Renfri wanted to spill the beans, and she suspected that Anna had let him in on her little secret, but she wasn’t sure and had decided a while ago to let Elena deal with her family in regards to finding out about the supernatural.

Elena hesitantly shook her head, looking wary, “I haven’t talked to her, Jer.”  Renfri stood next to her, arms crossed and saying nothing while the boy looked between the two girls skeptically.

“Are you lying to me right now?”

Elena looked surprised, “Why would you say that?”

“Because that’s what you do, Elena, you lie about everything,” the boy said quietly, his eyes intense as his sister’s eyes widened, “I know what Anna is, and I know that you both know, so tell me…do you have any idea where she is?”

Elena looked gobsmacked at this revelation while Renfri simply sighed, not surprised it had come back to bite her friend in the ass.

“No,” the brunette said a bit shakily.  Jeremy turned to Renfri who looked at him apologetically.

“I don’t know for sure where she is right now, Jer, but as far as I know she was supposed to leave town with her mother.  Her phone could have died or she could be out of cell range at the moment, they’re supposed to be lying low until they settle.”  She paused and watched as he looked slightly relieved but still worried and said, “I’m guessing you know about more than Anna?”  

He nodded, “I know Stefan and Damon aren’t your cousins, they’re vampires, and they turned and killed Vicki.  I know you tried to convince them to let me decide if I wanted to forget what happened with Vicki.”  The harsh line of his brows softened slightly at that and she nodded marginally in acknowledgement before he turned to look at his sister angrily again, “Your journal told me everything, while you told me nothing.”  Elena stood with her mouth gaping open, trying to figure out what to say but Renfri drew his attention back to her.

“Jeremy, listen, you read Jonathon Gilbert’s journal right?  So you know now that your family, and others in town, have been hunting down vampires since they settled here.  That includes today’s founding families.”  When he nodded slowly, she continued, “I’m sure Anna probably mentioned that your Uncle John wants them gone?  Yeah, well, he nearly succeeded in making that happen.  Anna’s mother, Pearl, would be dead right now, and maybe even Anna, if I hadn’t ambushed your uncle with a tire iron.  Though, don’t tell him that, I’d like to keep him in the dark about it being me if he hasn’t figured it out yet.”

He looked at her in surprise and distress, “So Anna and her mom are okay?  You said they were leaving town?”

The redhead nodded, “Yeah, I managed to get there just as he was about to kill her mom, he barely missed her but ended up getting their friend.  Anna wasn’t there but I know she came back soon after, and he could have waited for her to return to get her too.  As soon as he found out that she didn’t have something that he wanted anymore, he decided to execute them all.  They packed up and left to find somewhere else to settle, but I have a…friendship with Pearl now.  Just wait a bit, Anna should get back to you soon, they’re just trying to put distance between them and this vampire-hating town.” 

He sighed in relief as Renfri tentatively reached out and gave his arm a reassuring pat, “Thanks, Ren.  I’m glad to know Anna’s okay, I’ll let you know when she gets back to me.”  He glanced at his sister and frowned before moving away from the two.  Elena stuttered, trying to call after her brother and Renfri gave her a shrug.

“Sorry, Elena, but I told you lying to him wouldn't end well.  You can only give him his space now until he’s ready to talk,” she watched as her friend pressed her lips together in concern, “I’m going to head over to help Caroline with the float, now that the Gilbert family drama is dealt with for now.”  

She turned on her heel and climbed up on the trailer that her blonde friend had already started decorating.  She was immediately put to work on stapling lengths of frilly colored plastic to the elevated platform’s backboard.  She grabbed the step stool in order to start at the top and work her way down, though the platform wasn’t that large, just enough for two people to squeeze on.  Renfri glanced up shortly after she started, wondering why Elena hadn’t joined them yet, and scanned the lawn for her.  She stiffened when she saw her speaking to a woman with a sleek black ponytail and a trench coat, her face neutral as Elena looked upset.  She watched the two exchange words across the grass, then the woman’s eyes met her own hazel ones and she received a small, cold smile.  Renfri paused what she was doing and straightened up a bit, shifting her feet on the step stool to remain stable, when Elena whirled around to look at her.  The next second, someone passed behind her, bumping into the stool on the edge of the platform, and Renfri felt the it shift underneath her abruptly right before she fell backwards.  She felt her legs and arms instinctively stretch out, looking for the elevated wood floor and something to grab on, but her shoe only grazed it before her head and back slammed onto the trailer bed, knocking the air from her lungs.  

People shouted in surprise, but before anyone could react, there was a loud groan and snap of metal before she felt the floor dipping to rest at an angle below her and heard a boy screaming in pain.

“ AAAAGGHH! Help!  Someone get this trailer up! Aagh , get this off me!”  the boy screamed.  Ren was dazed and gasping for breath when hands grabbed at her, helping her roll off the side of the trailer.  She was helped to a sitting position against a nearby tree by the person, who turned out to be Stefan, before he rushed over to where a group of boys were trying to lift the heavy trailer from where it was crushing the arm of Matt Donovan.  Renfri blinked to clear her vision and focus her thoughts as she watched the trailer level out again once Stefan joined the group.  They dropped it again once the boy’s arm was free and he was cradling it to his chest while breathing harshly.

“Shit, Matt,” Renfri breathed and pushed herself to her feet.  She held onto the thin tree trunk and paused to assess if she was seriously injured.  She rolled her head on her shoulders and stretched her arms and legs carefully, but she seemed alright, just feeling some new bruises and a headache coming on now that she had regained the air that had been knocked from her lungs from the fall.  She took a breath, making sure she felt steady, before hurrying over to the blonde teenager sitting on the ground with a worried Caroline standing over him, Tyler joining her quickly after moving away from the trailer.

“Matt, I’m so sorry, someone bumped into me on the stool and I lost my balance—”

“It’s fine, Ren, it’s not your fault,” he cut her off, “Are you okay?”

She scoffed, “Am I okay?  Your arm just got pinned under that trailer, I think I can live with a headache and a few bruises.  We need to get you to the hospital!”

“The ambulance is saying 15-20 minutes,” Caroline announced, pulling her phone from her ear.

“I have my car, I can take him to the hospital,” Tyler told them.

Ren nodded, “Yes, that’s faster.”

Matt shook his head angrily, “Caroline or Ren can take me.”

The girl furrowed her brows, “But I didn’t drive?”

“Then I’ll wait, it’s fine.”

The blonde girl became frantic and yelled, “You will not wait , okay?  You need to see a doctor, Tyler is driving, end of story!”

“She’s right, Tyler, get your car so you can all go.  I don’t trust myself to drive since I just hit my head and am admittedly still a bit dizzy.  I don’t want to test fate and kill us all by crashing the car,” the redhead added dryly.  Matt frowned as he hunched over more while holding his arm gingerly and Tyler glanced between them. 

Caroline and Renfri looked at the dark haired boy that still hadn’t moved and they both yelled, “ Go! ”

He jumped, “Yeah, okay, I’ll, uh, go bring the car around.”  He ran off and it was then that Renfri’s ears finally picked up the sound of Elena calling her brother’s name.  Renfri stood up slowly, using Caroline’s shoulder to help her up, and saw Elena spinning this way and that, frantically searching for her brother in the crowd, the woman with the dark hair now gone.  Stefan approached her, reaching his hands out as she also grabbed for him desperately as they spoke.  She moved over to them quickly, grabbing Stefan’s shoulder.

“What’s going on? Why are you looking for Jeremy?”

Elena latched onto her arms tightly, “Isabel took Jeremy, we have to find him!”

“What?  Why would she take Jeremy?” Renfri asked in confusion and Stefan explained a bit more.

“She was apparently giving Elena a show of force by having one of her compelled minions cause you to fall onto the trailer, making the rusted axle break and crush Matt’s arm.  She was demonstrating how easily she could hurt the people Elena care’s about until she hands over the device,” Stefan said as he pulled his girlfriend into his arms to comfort her.  

“We need help,” Elena said, “let’s find Bonnie.” 

She called her friend and they met in Alaric’s empty classroom in a few minutes.  Bonnie sat in a student chair while Renfri and Stefan stood stoically beside a frantically pacing Elena.

“The only way to get Jeremy back safely is to give her the device, there’s no way to guarantee that if anyone sets foot in the place she’s keeping him, that he isn’t dead in a second,” Renfri declared, furrowing her brow.

“Where’s the device?” Bonnie asked.

Stefan put his hands on his hips, “Damon has it, he’s going to be difficult to reason with.”

“Then we’ll—we’ll go to him, I’ll talk to him,” Elena said hurriedly.

Renfri raised an eyebrow, “It’s not going to be that simple.  If that thing’s a weapon against vampires, Damon’s not going to want anyone getting their hands on it, especially not Isabel and John.  No amount of pleading or appealing to his ‘better nature’ will make him disregard his self-preservation.  He’s not going to hand his enemies a mystery weapon that could kill him; I know I wouldn’t.”

Elena paused in her pacing and looked at their witchy friend, “What if it wasn’t a weapon anymore?”  Bonnie tilted her head thoughtfully at that implication as Stefan raised his eyebrows in consideration.  Renfri thought it could work, but something in the witch’s steady eyes made the redhead’s eyebrows furrow. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Absolutely not. ”

“Just here me out—”

“I’m not going to give the device to Isabel so she can give it to John who’s going to turn around and kill me; I like being a living dead person,” Damon vehemently denied.  He stood across from Stefan and Elena in the large study with the alcohol table, couch, and fireplace directly behind them.  Bonnie leaned against the arm of the chair with the grimoire in her hands while Renfri stood closest to her older uncle as Elena tried to make her case.

“But it’ll be useless, Bonnie can take its power away!” the girl argued.

“I don’t trust her!”

“I can remove the original spell,” Bonnie explained calmly, looking at Elena instead of Damon, Renfri noted.

Elena held her hands up in a ‘see?’ gesture, “John and Isabel will never know.”

“Until they try to use it, it fails, and they come back and try to kill everyone,” Renfri said dryly, arms crossed.  She eyed the witch carefully.  Something felt off about the way she had reacted when Elena suggested she despell the device, something that made Renfri hesitate to trust her.  Things between them hadn’t been the same since Sheila Bennett died, and although they had reconciled, something about Bonnie still seemed…off.

Damon shook his head, “No, no, I’ll get Jeremy my own way.”  

“Really?” Stefan retorted, “How are you going to do that, hmm?  Because Isabel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door.”

Renfri shrugged, “There is that.  Even if you could sneak in, she has compelled humans under her control, and we have no idea of what they have been ordered to do.  There are too many unknown factors and things that could go wrong to try to sneak him away alone.  It might work if we all worked together…” She trailed off after suggesting it, but didn’t have high hope of it actually happening.

Damon considered for a moment, then eyed the witch, “Are you even up for this?  I mean, no offense, you’re no Emily Bennett.  Emily knew what she was doing.”

“I’ve been practicing,” Bonnie told him easily.

Damon’s blue eyes narrowed at her and he said condescendingly, “It’s not piano lessons, honey.”  The dark skinned girl stood quickly and strode over.

“What’s your favorite book?”

“What?”

“Name a book, any book in here,” she gestured around her.

Damon sighed as he gave in to her little demonstration as the others watched, “Name a book…how about Call of the Wild , Jack London.”  He watched, unimpressed, as Bonnie turned to the bookcase near them and muttered under her breath for a few seconds before a book flew off the shelves and landed in Damon’s outstretched hand.

He glanced at it, “Jack London,” then tossed it aside, “Great parlor trick.”

“I’m sorry, but that seems like nothing in comparison to stuff like the tomb spell, which Emily pulled off on her own and you couldn’t even get through properly with help.  How does this prove that you’re capable of removing the spell on the device?”  Renfri interjected critically, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room, including a surprised and frustrated Elena.

“We’re doing this, Ren, Damon, and we’re gonna do it my way.  Now give me the device,” she stared down the older Salvatore while the youngest raised her eyebrows due to her legitimate questions being ignored.

“Woah, sorry, I’d like my questions answered first,” she stepped forward, getting between Damon and Elena, forcing the brunette to step back a bit while Renfri looked right at the witch, “How do we know you can remove the spell and how can we trust that you will .”

“I’ve been studying Emily’s grimoire and practicing her spells.  I read through how she spelled the original device, so I know how to remove it.  She included that when she first created the spell, just like how she left a way to undo it when she sealed the tomb,” Bonnie explained in a strong voice, maintaining eye contact with Renfri, not looking elsewhere.

The redhead nodded, “Okay, that I can buy.  But, I don’t see what reason you would have to deactivate the device.  It’s a weapon against vampires, which you hate.”

Damon shifted behind her and Stefan also looked to the girl curiously, though Elena seemed confident that Bonnie would help her as she asked.

The dark skinned teenager folded her hands in front of her, “Yes, I do hate vampires.  I blame Stefan and Damon for my Grams dying, and even you, a little bit.”  Elena looked surprised and Stefan glanced his niece’s way in concern but Renfri didn’t flinch, she had assumed as much already.  Bonnie continued, “But I want to help Elena to keep Jeremy safe, even if it means protecting vampires from a device that was created to be used against them.”

Renfri eyed the witch critically, scanning her face for any signs of deceit before slowly nodding once.

“Fine.  But, Bonnie, if you screw us over and something happens to the only family I have left…don’t expect a goddamn thing from me.”  Her hazel eyes bored into the young witch’s, making the girl hesitate and look uncertain for a second, before resolutely nodding in acknowledgement.  With that, Renfri stepped back to stand by her older uncle’s side, allowing for Elena to step forward again.

“Damon, we’re wasting time.  The device,” she pleaded.

The dark haired man gazed at her silently for a couple seconds before his eyes shifted to the witch and he gave a mocking smirk.

“I don’t trust you, I tried to kill you.”

“Mmm, you’re right, you can’t trust me,” the witch replied with a falsely sweet smile.

“But you can trust me,” Elena interrupted, holding out her hand expectantly.  Stefan watched with a skeptical eye as the two’s eyes locked for another heavy moment before Damon reached behind him to pull the small silver device from his back pocket and place it in the girl’s hand, noticeably grasping her fingers at the same time, which Renfri saw caught Stefan’s attention immediately.  She internally sighed, knowing that Stefan was slowly becoming suspicious of Damon’s feelings towards Elena as well.  Damon was becoming increasingly less subtle about it, that was for sure.  One could chalk it up to just building trust between the two or him trying to piss off his little brother, but she had a feeling neither were the sole reason.

“Thank you,” Elena said quietly, and Damon released her hand, glancing around the room at them, before walking past her.

 “Chop chop, Sabrina,” he told the dark-skinned girl as he cleared the desk to make space, “we’re burning daylight.”

Bonnie gave him a withering glare but picked up the grimoire and opened it to the page with the images of the mystery device.  She requested a few candles that Renfri quickly found and was told to place in groups of three on either side of her work station.  Elena handed her friend the device to be placed on the table in front of her.  The rest all stepped back to watch the proceedings.

Bonnie opened up the glass face of the device and removed the yellow, etched centerpiece and placed it on the desk.  She then held her hands over the object and closed her eyes as the candles suddenly were lit.  Seconds later, the piece began to float and twist in the air, her fingers flexing wide in the space around it as the flames in the fireplace roared higher behind her.  

The lights began to flicker, causing Elena to grab at Stefan nervously and Renfri to narrow her eyes skeptically.  It was what she would expect if she went to see a fake psychic or a cheap haunted house.  It wasn’t the same atmosphere as when the tomb was opened and Bonnie wasn’t chanting a spell this time either, not even so much as a whisper.  She had barely looked at the spell book before beginning her work…Renfri didn’t trust it.

All of a sudden, the fire died down and the lights returned to normal as Bonnie inhaled and the piece dropped into her cupped hands.  Everything was normal again and the four other inhabitants of the room looked around nervously.

“Done,” the witch announced simply, and Elena approached her friend to pick the piece up out of her hands.

She glanced to her right to gauge Damon’s thoughts, finding him watching with eyes just as distrustful as hers, but they both didn’t have a way of knowing whether the witch had followed through or not.  They were going to have to wait and see what happened, if anything happened.

“Great, now what?” Damon asked dully.

“Now we give it to Isabel,” Elena told them, placing the centerpiece back in the silver circle and closing it.  

Something occurred to Renfri and she spoke up, “How do we know that removing the spell on this piece ensures that the other part stops working too?  The box seems like the major part of it, I don’t get what this piece does.”

They all looked to the Bennett witch who answered, “The box is the main part.  I studied the pages more after we talked about it, and I think you were right, Ren.  It is like a music box, only instead of playing music, it emits the spell that is harmful to vampires.  However, like a music box, it requires a key,” she holds up the device and points to the centerpiece, “to activate it.  No key, no weapon.”  

Renfri hummed thoughtfully while Stefan shrugged, seeming to accept it along with Elena.  Damon said nothing but pushed off from his post against the wall.

“Well, now that that’s over, let’s go meet your mother.”

Renfri rolled her eyes at his tactlessness, just as Elena shook her head with a sigh.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The clock tower loomed over the town square where Elena Gilbert paced back and forth in front of the fountain where the sidewalks converged.  Upon her second turn past the water feature, she pivoted again only to step backward in surprise.  Isabel stood in her path, in the same black trenchcoat with her hands in her pockets.

“Where’s the device?”

Instead of answering, Elena asked, “Where’s my brother?”

Isabel’s face remained stoic, “This isn’t a negotiation, where’s the invention?”

 The girl just crossed her arms stubbornly, “Where’s my brother?”

The corners of the woman’s mouth turned up just slightly, “Do you really think that I came alone?”  The teenager heard two people approach from behind and she turned to see a man and woman standing a few yards behind her, likely compelled into obedience.

Elena scoffed and looked back at her birth mother, seemingly unfazed, “Do you really think that I came alone?”  She tilted her chin and Isabel also turned to see three people approaching her from behind.  Damon and Stefan were on either side of Renfri as they stopped a short distance away.  Isabel gave them a mild smile and nodded in acknowledgement before facing her estranged daughter again.

“For God’s sakes, call home.”

“What?”

Isabel rolled her eyes to the sky, “Call home, ask to speak to your brother.”  Elena quickly pulled out her phone, confirming that Jeremy, and an injured Uncle John, was home safe.

As she hung up the phone, the brunette watched the cold vampire curiously, “You were never going to hurt him.”

The woman gave an exaggerated pout, “Nooo, I was gonna kill him.”  When the girl looked disappointed, she continued harshly, “Don’t look for any redeeming qualities in me, I don’t have any.”

Elena shook her head in confusion and frustration, “But you took a risk with Damon, how did you know he was going to give me the device?”

“Because he’s in love with you.”

Elena looked back at her with wide eyes, the words stunning her.  Renfri peeked to her right and saw Damon glance awkwardly at his little brother on her other side who looked down while pressing his lips together in a thin line.  It seems it was out in the open now, though Renfri wasn’t sure he was in love with her, not yet.  She guessed that he was transferring his feelings for Katherine onto her at first, but she thought that Damon was starting to gain feelings for Elena herself, because of how kind she was and her ability to snark back at him but still look for the good inside, not just because of who she looked like.  Ren sighed, knowing it would cause a tense ‘discussion’ between the brothers that she would likely have to meddiate once this confrontation was over.

Isabel held her hand out, palm up, and stared the brunette down, demanding the device wordlessly.  Elena looked away but reluctantly pulled it out of her pocket, slapping it into Isabel’s open hand.

“Thank you.”

The vampire raised an eyebrow, her chin held high, “For what?”

“For being such a monumental disappointment, keeping the memory of my real mother perfectly intact,” she said bitterly.

Isabel gave the girl a falsely sweet smile, “Goodbye, Elena.  As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you’re doomed.”  The two brothers and their niece listened with interest at this new commentary, “Katherine was smart, she got out, but we all know that you’re not Katherine.”

Elena looked up at the woman, a bit insulted, before they all heard a snort.

“Well, thank god for that,” muttered Renfri, drawing the eyes of the others.  She shrugged in response to their glances, unapologetic.  It made the corner of Damon’s mouth curl up on one side and a small, grateful smile formed on Elena’s face as she made eye contact.  Isabel looked at the redhead with a face made of stone before turning and walking off, her human puppets following behind her.  Elena’s face crumpled a bit, pinching into a frown as she watched her birth mother turned emotionless vampire walk away, and Renfri felt sorry for her friend.  Stefan moved forward and pulled the girl into a hug.  Elena glanced over her boyfriend’s shoulder to look curiously at the oldest Salvatore who looked back hesitantly before turning to leave, nudging his niece for her to follow.  Renfri looked between the two warily, unsure of how things would play out now that his interest had been openly acknowledged, only sure that it would cause problems between the brothers.  She frowned and trailed behind her older uncle as he made his way to his car to take them home. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

While Stefan was dropping Elena off at home, Renfri had showered and changed into some old sweats and a baggy t-shirt for bed before wandering downstairs again to find Damon.  She was unsurprised to find him in the study, pouring himself a drink, but paused to see Ash stretched out by the warm fireplace.  She smiled and moved to kneel on the carpet next to him and rub his side, making his tail thump on the floor.  Her phone buzzed to alert her to a text from Jeremy, letting her know that Anna had finally contacted him now that they were out of Virginia altogether and had reiterated the events of the foiled murder attempt on her and her mother by his uncle John.  When she looked up again, this time in Damon’s direction, he avoided her gaze; opting to gulp down his glass of bourbon quickly.  He immediately poured himself more as Stefan entered the room behind him.

Damon glanced over his shoulder as the amber liquid spilled from the decanter, “Would you like one?”  When Stefan said nothing and silently leaned on the low wood railing separating the bookcases from the rest of the room Damon sighed, “Say it, whatever it is, purge, get it out.”

Renfri watched the two quietly, waiting to see if they could work it out civilly first before attempting to intervene.

Stefan looked at his brother, seemingly reluctant to put his thoughts into words but also feeling the need to say it, “It’s about what Isabel said.”

Damon shrugged carelessly, “What about it?”

“Well, I know that you and Elena bonded, and I know that she cares about you, and uh, I know that you care about her…”

Damon smirked, “Well this is going in an interesting direction.” 

Renfri rolled her eyes, “Quit dancing around it, Stefan, just say it already.”

Stefan glanced at her before addressing Damon again, “I’m just concerned about Elena being hurt, she considers you a friend.”

Damon nodded, “Same here, Elena’s a very good friend.  Actually, she might qualify as my only friend, is that a problem?”  Renfri raised an eyebrow at the challenge in his tone as she scratched Ash’s ears, knowing he was trying to piss off his brother.

Stefan leaned against one of the bookshelves, “So at the risk of sounding like a, um, a jealous boyfriend—”

“Oh there’s no risk, you do,” Damon interrupted, making his niece sigh loudly at his behavior.  

“Damon, just let him get it out, without pushing his buttons, if possible,” the redhead scolded, only for Damon to shrug as if helpless against his asshole instincts.  “Why am I the only one acting like an adult right now, I’m the youngest one here,” she muttered.  Stefan refused to be provoked by his brother and just huffed at his niece’s words before he continued with his warning.

Green eyes met blue as he said slowly, “History will not be repeating itself where Elena is concerned.  You understand what I’m saying?”

Damon raised his hands in surrender, putting on a mask of complacency, “Sure,” and turned back to the minibar, but Stefan appeared between him and the table in a second. He stood inches away from his brother, maintaining a threatening stance, making Renfri stand up warily as Ash perked his ears up.

“Stefan, don’t push it,” she warned him.

He ignored her as he stared forcefully at his brother, “Do you understand?”

Damon waved his glass of liquor casually, “Hey, man, whatever you say.  I mean, honestly, we’re just friends…and as a friend I wasn’t looking forward to telling her the truth,” he took a sip of his drink, “Anyway, I’ll let you do it.”

He swallowed the rest of the bourbon as Stefan gave in and asked, “What truth?”

Damon paused, like he was stating the obvious, “About John?  I know you guys don’t like to keep secrets from each other, so…”

Stefan shook his head in exasperation, “What are you talking about?”

Damon’s voice immediately became condescending, “Am I the only one who can put two and two together around here?  Isabel?  Hello!”  Stefan just shook his head while Renfri watched him curiously.  “She dated John when she was fifteen, she gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor’s office of John’s brother—”

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Ren interjected, wrinkling her nose in disgust as soon as she made the connection.

Damon nodded enthusiastically, pointing at her with the glass still in his hand, “See, someone finally gets it!”  He turned to Stefan again, “What do you think was John’s role in all this?  I mean, go ahead, think about it, I’ll wait.”  He watched with exaggerated excitement as Stefan thought it through for a moment.  Damon grinned when the young man’s head tilted in realization, “You get it, you’re there.”

“So you think that John is Elena’s father ?” Stefan asked, his skepticism clear in his tone.

Damon threw up his hands as if Stefan won a prize, “Ding ding ding!”

“Ugh, poor Elena, she’s got shit genes when it comes to her family.  First Katherine, then Isabel, and now John?  Gross,” Renfri commented while shaking her head, kneeling to pet Ash again.

“What proof do you have?” Stefan asked.

“I don’t need any proof, that’s a DNA test for John, Elena, and Maury Povich to deal with,” Ren snorted at this, “but I know how well you deal with these big bombshells so…sleep tight!”  He moved towards the doorway then paused, “Oh, and when you do tell Elena, and she needs a friend to talk to about anything?”  Damon stared at his brother challengingly, “I’m here for her,” then he walked out.

Renfri rolled her eyes and called after him, “That’s what girl besties are for, Damon, not their boyfriend’s brother!”  He clearly ignored her and gave no response as he headed upstairs for the night.

Renfri sighed and shifted so she was sitting with her knees up, stroking Ash’s fur as she said to Stefan, “You know he’s only reacting that way because you confronted him about what Isabel said.  Of course he wouldn’t talk about it seriously like an adult after that, but you should give him more credit, he’s not gonna just steal Elena away.”

Stefan huffed, “We already fought over one girl, I don’t want to risk that happening again.  You heard what he said.”

Renfri raised her eyebrows at him, “Seriously, Stefan?  You should know him by now.  He only said that he’d be there for Elena like that because you made it clear that you don’t want them to get closer and basically warned him away from her,  of course he’s going to try to push your buttons in return for you trying to tell him what to do.  You’re antagonizing each other for no reason just because of what Isabel said, which was obviously calculated.  Even if he has developed feelings for her, you need to trust that he won’t act on them, just like you should trust Elena to only be a friend to him.”

Stefan looked down, his face grim, “But that’s what I’m afraid of, and I don’t trust him to not try to do something.”

Renfri looked at him with a bit more sympathy but remained firm, “Uncle Stefan, he’s your brother.  Despite all the shit you guys have gone through over the years, do you really believe that he wants to fight with you over a girl again?  You were both left broken because of Katherine, I can’t imagine that he wants to go through that again.  And whether you believe it or not, I think that you’re the most important person to him.  He might enjoy agitating you, he’s your older brother and that’s what they do, but he doesn’t want to really hurt you.”  She shrugged a little, “He just sucks at dealing with his emotions and being open…kind of like a three year old learning how to socialize and express himself in a healthy way.”

Stefan snorted, “So he’s an emotionally stunted toddler?”

Renfri rolled her eyes with a scoff, “I think you’re both acting like toddlers sometimes and you don’t handle things very well because of the distrust between you two, but it’ll take time and effort to get that back, for things to be easier.  You just have to try, keeping in mind what not to do to set him off.  I think you’ll just have to feel it out.”  She smiled a bit, “I used to wish I’d had a sibling, though sometimes watching you guys makes me wonder if I actually lucked out on being an only child.”

She smirked as Stefan laughed before sighing.

“Thanks, Ren, I know you’ve been getting caught up in all of our chaos even when you don’t have to.  I’m glad you’re here though.”

She grinned and said, “Yeah, well, I think you two might have thrown hands more often if I wasn’t here, so be grateful,” making Stefan give an amused huff.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

The heavy skirts of the Victorian era gown made walking across the school lawn quite annoying for Renfri.  The sage green of the dress made her copper hair seem even more vibrant and brought out the hints of green in her hazel eyes.  The gauzy trim on the cuffs of the sleeves and sash were a pale cream color as well as the tiny flowers embroidered on the fabric.  The teenager had to refrain from hustling, otherwise she might be tempted to take a deep breath and risk busting the seams of the corset underneath it all.  She really didn’t know how women wore such outfits day in and day out back then, it was just too much for her…although, she could appreciate how it accentuated her figure and basically acted as an extreme push-up bra.  She smiled a little to herself as she brushed the tight ringlets not already pinned up behind her shoulder, then she lifted her skirts and approached the group of teenagers also donning period appropriate outfits.

Bonnie was taking pictures of Matt and Caroline while moving through prom-like poses.  

“Wait, switch sides, your cast isn’t era appropriate!”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, alright.”

Renfri shook her head in amusement at the blonde couple as she came up on the side of the witch holding the camera as she called out, “Well if it isn’t Miss Mystic Falls and her handsome escort.”  Caroline paused and turned to her before she squealed with excitement.

“Oh my god, Ren, you look great!” She strode over and grabbed the girl’s hands while looking her up and down, eyeing the long, tight ringlets pinned back from her face and trailing down to her shoulder blades in appreciation.  “We need to take a picture together to capture you all dressed up, it’s not like it happens often!”  She was grabbed and dragged over to stand in front of Bonnie who smiled at the girl’s bullheadedness while Renfri rolled her eyes.

“I resent that, I do dress up for the occasional town function,” the redhead griped back.

Caroline huffed, “That’s nothing.  Your everyday clothes are fine, I guess, but you would look awesome in some of the outfits I have.  You should borrow them sometime!”

Matt laughed as Ren sarcastically thanked her friend.  They posed a few times for the camera before Caroline declared that she wanted one with Bonnie.

“Here, I can take it.”  

They looked up to see Tyler in an old-fashioned suit coming to join them.  Matt immediately lost his smile and excused himself.  Tyler watched him go unhappily and a little frustrated.  He turned to the girls in frustration.

“I said I was sorry!”

Caroline raised her eyebrows, “You made out with his mom and then beat him to a pulp.  You’re gonna have to do a little bit better than ‘sorry.’”  He frowned and Renfri stepped forward to pat his shoulder.

“I told you, it’ll take time.  Let him do what he needs to and he’ll come back when he realizes you're still his best friend and is ready to forgive you.”  He nodded but seemed unconvinced.  “Now, get ready to take a picture and you better have your best resting bitch face on or it’s not an authentic 1800s photo.”  Tyler snorted and took the photo of the two girls as requested before Bonnie moved to take one of him and Ren.  She waved goodbye when they were done, planning to hunt down her uncles before heading to the float.  She saw them a little further down by the marching band, which was now hauling themselves and their instruments to move back in the lineup.

As she came up behind them she heard Damon saying, “—It’s Founder’s Day!  I’m here to eat cotton candy, babysit Kujo, and steal your girl.”

“Don’t start with me, Damon,” Stefan replied.

 “That better not be a complaint about watching my furry little angel.”

They turned to see their niece approach them in her period outfit with a grin on her face, and Damon scoffed, “Of course not, I’d never complain about Fido, he’s such a good dog.”  The vampire leaned over to pat Ash on the head and got a low growl in return, making Ren laugh as she leaned over a bit to rub his head, getting a tail thump for her efforts.

“You know, he only does that with you.  He lets Stefan pet him once in a while, but he’s not a fan of you at all.”

Damon rolled his eyes as he held the leash loosely, “What do I care, it’s not like he’s my dog anyway.  Why am I watching him again?”

Renfri put a hand on her hip, “I told you, he needs to get out more because I’ve been so busy but I can’t watch him until after the parade.  I’d have someone else do it, but literally everyone else is on a float.  You’re a last resort, so suck it up.  You can walk around with him until I’m done, it won’t be that long.”  

Damon sighed dramatically, making Stefan smile a bit, “If I must.  Only for you, Little Red.”  She grinned as he pulled teasingly on a strand of tightly curled hair.  He turned back to his brother, “Now where was I?  Oh, yeah, ‘I’m here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl?’”

Stefan rolled his eyes now, “Just stop, would you?”

“Well, you started it, Stefan, with that whole ‘I’m insecure, leave Elena alone’ speech.  I’m just enjoying that,” Damon responded easily, mimicking Stefan’s serious tone.

Ren watched the two with raised eyebrows as Stefan replied, “As long as you heard it.”

The dark haired man put a hand to his ear, “Wait, huh?  What?”  Stefan watched him with a serious face before giving a forced smile and nod at his brother’s teasing provocations.  Damon shook his head disappointedly, “You have no sense of humor, Stefan.”

“He is rather serious, but it’s probably a bit hard to find you funny when you’re threatening to steal his girlfriend and he doesn’t one hundred percent trust you not to,” Ren said, adding her two cents while adjusting the cuff of one sleeve.

Stefan started to walk away while Damon snorted and stepped in front of him with Ash reluctantly following at his heels, “Hey, look, I get it.  I’m the better, hotter, superior choice—”

“That’s subjective, but whatever.”

Damon ignored his niece, “—and you’re scared now that Katherine’s out of the picture that I’m gonna turn all my attention to Elena.  But don’t worry, Elena is not Katherine.”

Stefan nodded in agreement as he stared at his brother, “You’re right, she’s not.”  When Damon’s eyes trailed past his brother to stare at something and Ash gave a chipper little bark in the same direction, the other two turned to follow his gaze.  The three found themselves staring at Elena in her 1860s style gown with her hair in large curls and pinned back from her face.  She paused when she saw the trio staring and smiled while giving a curtsy.

Renfri raised her eyebrows at the sight and thought back to an old photograph in Stefan’s room, “She may not be your ex, but she sure as hell looks like her.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri waved at her friend before her, Damon, and Ash quickly walked away, leaving Stefan to drop the bomb of John being her dad.  She joined Tyler, Matt, Caroline, and the other contestants on the float, getting into place.  Stefan and Elena arrived just before they were expected to get moving.  Renfri watched in amusement as Caroline meticulously directed people where to stand and their exact positions, creating the perfect image of southern classic elegance that she had pictured.  As the float moved its way through town, Ren plastered a pleasant but stiff smile on her face and waved at the crowd every few seconds.  

At one point she spotted Damon in the crowd.  He was stepping in front of Bonnie and waving at her, Elena, and his brother.  Ash was standing happily beside her uncle, looking around and wagging his tail at everything going on around him, his nose working hard to take in all the scents.  When he seemed to spot her, he perked up and took a little step forward with an excited bark, making Ren grin and blow him a kiss playfully.  Damon smirked and put two fingers in his mouth to give a loud wolf whistle while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, making Renfri snort then try and fail to choke down laughter. She turned towards Tyler to hide it a bit, who didn’t help at all since he found it ridiculous as well.  Stefan just looked awkward and his girlfriend rolled her eyes and allowed a small smile at Damon’s shenanigans.  She noticed as they passed that he turned around and stopped Bonnie before she walked away, engaging her in a conversation that had the witch looking at him with suspicion.  Renfri watched curiously but had to look forward again as the float moved forward.

After the parade, Renfri was quick to change her clothes at school and leave her bags in her car.  She met Damon at the Grill, who was happy for her to take the dog off his hands so he could roam more freely.  

“ Finally , took you long enough,” he exclaimed, tossing the leash at her so she had to scramble to grab it out of the air.  

She huffed and smoothed a hand over Ash’s head as he wagged his tail, “The route ended back at the high school and I had to change.  It really wasn’t that long, you’re just being a pain because you enjoy it.”

He smiled and nodded, “As is my right.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a drink.”  He made his way in and towards the bar as she shook her head at him.  She sat at a table on the sidewalk so Ash could lie down underneath and people watch.  Caroline and Elena found her a few minutes later; Elena went inside to wait for Stefan while Caroline joined her at the table, jumping straight into chatting about the costumes and how the float came out a huge success.  

“Well, you designed it and put so much work into putting it together, Miss Mystic,” Ren told her, earning her a radiant smile from the blonde.

“I did, didn’t I…with help, of course,” she said, nodding to Ren as she made the amendment.

The redhead smiled knowingly, “Of course.”  Caroline had done most of the work, only a handful of people had actually helped her put the float together; the girl was a hard worker, that was for sure.  Ren glanced up when the door to the Grill opened, letting out an irritable Jeremy Gilbert.  Seconds later, Damon followed.

That wasn’t good.

“Excuse me, Caroline, I need to go reign in my volatile family member, mind watching Ash for a few minutes?”  Her friend glanced in Damon’s direction as Ren stood then nodded reluctantly. Ren turned to look at Ash, who had perked up, and told him, “ Bleiben ,” so he settled down again.

Renfri hustled over to the two before she could lose sight of them in the crowd.  She had almost caught up when she heard Damon mocking Jeremy in a whiny tone.

“I have so many emotions but I don’t have any way to express them, being a teenager is so hard .”

Jeremy nearly ignored him but couldn’t help himself, “Dick.”

“You don’t talk to me like that, I’m not your sister.  From now on, don’t talk to your sister that way either,” Damon said, mockery gone and his tone firm.

Renfri finally pushed past the last person in her way and grabbed onto her uncle’s sleeve and said, “Damon,” in a warning tone, just as Jeremy turned on him in a rebellious teenage fit, clearly forgetting who and what he was turning his anger on.

“So what,” he spat, “you’re going to kill me just ‘cause I hurt Elena’s feelings?”  

Damon ignored her hand tugging on his shirt and stayed firmly in the boy’s personal space, “Cut her some slack.”

“She erased my memories,” the younger Gilbert insisted, as if they were unaware.

“No, I did,” Damon corrected him, “she was protecting you.”  He swallowed like the words were getting stuck in his throat, unused to defending someone’s honor.

“Damon, don’t get in the middle of it.  It’s their business to deal with, not yours,” Ren told him lowly while glancing around.

“That wasn’t her call to make,” Jeremy said hotly and turned to leave.  Damon grabbed his arm and yanked him back, glaring at the angry teenager.

“Absolutely not!” Renfri snapped and snatched at his wrist, trying and failing to get him to release his hold on the youngest Gilbert’s arm.

 “Let me go before I cause a scene,” Jeremy warned the vampire.

“You’d be unconscious before you even got a word out.”

“You’re already causing a scene, you fucking children! ” Renfri hissed, making an effort to keep her voice down despite her frustration.  She patted Damon’s arm and gave a fake smile to a passerby who was staring before she put her back to the boy and faced her uncle.  “I know you’re trying to help Elena, but in this case you’re only making it worse.  She can deal with her own brother, so let him go.”  He stayed still for a long moment, glaring at the boy in irritation, before complying.  Just as he released his grip on Jeremy’s arm and Ren stepped back, Stefan joined them.  He glanced at Ren and nodded in thanks before addressing his girlfriend’s brother.

“From what I heard, my brother means well…in his own way.  What he’s trying to say is don’t blame Elena for this.  Damon turned Vicki, I killed her when she attacked you, Elena, and Ren.  She was dangerous and a threat to all of you, she had no control.  I’m sorry that it happened, I wish it hadn’t.”  

Jeremy stared at the regretful vampire with evaluating eyes before he mumbled, “You shouldn’t have made me forget,” and walked away moodily.

The three watched him blend into the mass of people covering the square before Ren broke the silence.

“I’ll say it again: Thank god I’m an only child, you two are enough drama.”  

Damon snorted, “Good cops, bad cop; I like it.”

Stefan turned to him, “What are you doing?”

He shrugged, “He was being a punk.”

“Elena’s relationship with her brother is none of your business, so stay out of it.”

Renfri pointed to Stefan while looking at Damon, “As I said, don’t get involved in their sibling drama, you’ve got plenty of your own.”

He scoffed at them, “Oh, I forgot, there’s only two do-gooder roles available.  My bad, I’m sorry.”

“Get over yourself, we both know you’re not doing this for the right reasons,” Stefan told him with a shake of his head.

Damon laughed dryly, “And there you go with the jealousy act again.  I just—what are the right reasons?  Enlighten me, Stefan.” He crossed his arms and faked an eager curiosity.  Stefan was about to open his mouth, but Ren stopped him, hoping it would come across less condescending from her than she knew it would sound coming from his little brother.

“Damon, you may have thought you were helping, but you were also being selfish by trying to interfere.  You just wanted to feel good about helping Elena but it’s only selfless if you’re doing it for the sake of the other person, not your own feelings…or if you might have unconsciously thought you’ll get something in return as a result,” Ren told him more gently, eyeing him carefully as he listened.

When Damon said nothing, Stefan patted her shoulder with a false smile, “It’s alright if he doesn’t get it, Ren, it’s probably a foreign concept to him.”  

He turned to walk away and Ren sighed in frustration before yelling after him, “Maybe if you weren’t such a self-righteous asshole to him, your brother might actually like you, Stefan!”  She shook her head in irritation at his attitude as she wondered how he expected to repair their relationship when he talked down to him like that?  She thought it was one thing to trade barbs in friendly banter but Stefan could just be downright condescending sometimes which would piss anyone off.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The sky had grown dark and Ren found herself and Ash walking amongst the lit trees, shrubbery, and booths set up on the square.  She checked the time and saw that the fireworks were scheduled to begin soon, so she would go put Ash in her car to relax, hoping the sound would be muffled and wouldn’t bother him as much.  Just as she reached her car and the chirp of the alarm told her it was unlocked, her phone began vibrating in her back pocket.  Ash jumped into the back seat after she’d opened it and she handed him a treat to snatch up eagerly, pulling the device from her pocket.  As she looked at the screen, her brow wrinkled in confusion before she put it to her ear.

“Hello Pearl, what can I do for you?”

“I’m afraid it’s what I can do for you, Renfri,” the vampire’s voice sounded through the phone.  Renfri raised her eyebrows.

“That doesn’t sound good, what is it?”

“I’ve stayed in contact with a few of the vampires that escaped from the tomb and I’ve just learned that a majority of those left are putting into action a plan to take revenge for the events of 1864.”

Ren sucked in a breath, “When?  What are they planning?”

“They’re going to attack the Founder’s Day event.  They’ll target the founding families when the fireworks go off, they’re looking to make a spectacle.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re already there amongst the crowd.  I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner, my young friend, but it’s best to warn your relatives and friends before it starts,” the woman said in a stoic voice.

Ren nodded although it couldn’t be seen, “No, it’s alright, thank you for the warning, we appreciate it.  I’ll try to pay you back in the future.”

A soft huff came over the line, “No need, this is a favor for a friend, nothing is needed in return.  I just hope it was enough time.”

“Thank you, Pearl, we’ll speak again.”

As soon as she hung up the call, Ren’s brain jumped into action, deciding her next steps as she shoved the car door shut and locked it with a click of the remote.  She immediately texted Tyler, who she knew to be at the Grill with Caroline and Matt, still trying to make up with his best friend.  She kept it simple and vague, suggesting that she overheard deputies discussing a breach in security and urging him and their friends home just in case.  She sent the same text to Caroline and Matt just in case they questioned him, but she hoped it was enough.  She began to hurry back to the square while she waited for Damon to pick up her call, keeping an eye out for him, his brother, and Elena.  When the line clicked and she heard Damon’s voice, she didn’t even listen before jumping right over him.

 “Pearl just called, the tomb vampires are planning to attack the founding families as soon as the fireworks start.  We need to find the others and leave, otherwise we’ll be caught up in a bloodbath.”

There was a beat of silence, then the phone went dead as she felt a breeze and she pivoted on the spot.

Damon stared down at her intently, “Did she say where they are?”

Ren looked back, “They’re probably already in the crowd, blending in until the fireworks go off.”  She pointed towards the center of the square, “It looks like a bunch of founders are going to be sitting on stage, the vampires are going to make a public spectacle of slaughtering them as well as others in the area they can find.”  She paused, “John was going to use the device against them.  What if Bonnie didn’t remove the spell on the device’s key?  I’ve had a bad feeling since she agreed to do it, I don’t think she cares about you guys dying like Elena thinks she does.  She’d let you and Stefan die if it meant protecting a town full of innocents and her friends against vampires like the ones who killed her Grams.”

His brows furrowed, “Honestly, I didn’t trust her either but I had hoped she did it for Elena.  If you’re right, Stefan and I will go down with them if we’re still here when the fireworks start.”

“They’re supposed to start in a few minutes and I don’t think we can find everyone in time, what do we do?” she asked urgently, shifting with nervous energy.

Damon thought for a moment, eyeing the crowd around them, before he said, “Let’s find Stefan and Elena—”  He cut himself off as his eyes fixed on a spot over her shoulder, then he grabbed her arm as he began striding across the square.  She tried to see what he was looking at and saw Alaric talking to some of his students.    The vampire made his way over and clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder, pulling him away from the group and walking him in the other direction.

“Ric, you keep those nifty little vamp weapons in the car?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“Because this square is crawling with tomb vampires, I think we might need a stake or two.”

“Or twelve,” Ren muttered, eyes shifting back and forth as they moved.

“Yeah, got it,” Alaric replied and peeled off from the two to get his weapons.  Less than a minute later they spotted Stefan and Elena walking together.  Ren practically ran towards them with Damon following behind, taking long strides to avoid attracting attention by moving too fast.  She came up on Stefan’s other side and slipped an arm through his, making him turn to her questioningly.

“Hey, bad news guys—”

“What are you doing?”  Elena questioned as Damon did the same and grabbed her hand between both of his, as if just greeting a close friend.

“Saving your life,” he replied calmly and stopped to face the pair.  “Fifteen words or less: tomb vamps are here.  Founding families are the target, get her out of here… now .”  

He moved past them quickly as Ren followed and only paused when Stefan called after them.

“Wait, wait, wait, where are you going with Ren?”

“That’s more than fifteen words, Stefan.”  Ren went to follow him with a brief glance back at the two, hearing Elena say something about Jeremy.  She sighed and hurried to follow Damon, knowing Elena wouldn’t leave without her brother and would likely get caught up in whatever was going to happen.  

They continued moving through the throngs of people when the feedback from a speaker filled the air before projecting Richard Lockwood’s voice throughout the square.

“For 150 years Mystic Falls has been the kind of town that everybody wants to call home—”

She grabbed Damon’s arm, “They’re about to announce the fireworks show!”

Unsure what to do, she watched as Damon paused and scanned the square, listening intently.  

“What, what is it?” she asked her uncle.  

His blue eyes narrowed, “There’s the little bastard.”  He grabbed her and flashed away, stopping right in front of Grayson Gilbert’s old office building.  It had been closed up after he died and his practice closed.

“The Gilbert office, is John here?”  Ren asked, looking at her uncle.

He nodded and opened the door to let himself into what looked like a waiting room, John stood at the reception desk.  The lights were off, likely to avoid attention.  When the door swung open, the man looked over his shoulder just as the deep, thundering cracks of the fireworks began to sound.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”  Damon asked, his eyes filled with anger.

“Beyond trying and failing to kill a vampire half a millenia old?” Ren muttered, and John glanced at her with irritation and suspicion before looking back at the vampire in front of him.

His face was a picture of calm confidence, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”

Ren stepped forward and to the side, catching a glimpse of what was on the counter behind him, and her eyes widened.

“Damon, the Gilbert device—”

John twisted the key in the hole, causing the gears to turn.  Damon sped forward only to yell and collapse in front of John while clutching his head.  Renfri tensed up and clapped her hands to her ears.

“Oh god—what the hell?” she scrunched her eyes closed as a sound like screeching metal tore through her ears and bounced around inside her skull, making her drop to her knees in agony.

“Aaaaaagghh!”

Damon twisted his head, to glance at her as John stepped forward and jabbed a needle into his shoulder, injecting vervain into his system.  

“Ren,” he muttered, looking at his niece who cried out and curled up into a ball.  The teenager was blinded with pain and couldn’t fight the darkness that overwhelmed her.  Damon watched through narrowed eyes as his niece passed out on the floor, the vervain burning through his body and pushing him towards unconsciousness.

John scoffs, “Good lord, did you turn your niece?”

Damon groaned as more footsteps approached and the poison injected into his blood pulled him under.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ren came to with a harsh cough, something in the air was choking her as she tried to breathe.  She blinked her stinging eyes and shifted her arms underneath her in an attempt to push herself up.  She groaned as her head pounded and she leaned forward on her elbows.  She looked around as waves of heat hit her skin.  She was in a basement, surrounded by a number of other people lying on the floor, unconscious, surrounded by flames and clouds of smoke.  She heard shuffling beside her, and she turned her head to see her uncle on his stomach and crawling toward her as the flames spread around them.

“Uncle Damon,” she called out between coughs, “what happened?”

“The device worked, Bonnie didn’t de-spell it,” he replied in a rough voice.  Ren furrowed her brows and gritted her teeth as fury ran through her.

“That bitch , I knew it,” she hissed, her voice shaking.  She raised a shaking hand to an ear and it came away with a dark liquid that was starting to dry.  

“The device caused that horrible noise?  Why did it affect me?” she asked in confusion even as she seethed.  Damon shuffled closer and threw an arm around her back, pulling her in as the heat increased with the fire, encouraging them to shift away from the closest patch.  

“I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense,” he looked around when they heard more coughs nearby.  A few feet away, sitting up against some bookcases, was Richard Lockwood.

“Mayor, is that you?” Damon called as they crawled forward a bit.

“Damon?” he asked, squinting through the hazy air, “What are you doing here?  Is that your cousin?”

Her uncle smirked a bit, “I’m a vampire, what’s your excuse?”  The mayor’s guard immediately went up, fear taking over his face.  

“He’s not a vampire, right?  What’s he doing here too?” Ren mumbled, her eyes focusing in on the blood trailing from the mayor’s ears.

“Doesn’t seem like the vervain affected you, but the device did,” Damon said to the mayor, glancing at his niece in confusion as well, “so what the hell are you?”

Richard scrambled backwards to get away from the vampire in front of him, only to push himself onto the lap of another.  He twisted to look back into the malicious grin of the person who wrapped their arms around him.

“Mayor Lockwood,” the vampire greeted mockingly before tightening his hold, grabbing the mayor’s jaw and pulling.  The mayor groaned and fought him before there was a loud crack as his neck snapped and his body became deadweight, limbs splaying.  Ren’s eyes widened in fear and she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, edging backwards as Damon chuckled a bit in satisfaction.

“Damon, we need to get out of here,” she urged.  She looked around, seeing the stairs and the layers of flames between it and them.   

He shook his head, following her gaze, “Unless you’re looking to get roasted, we have to find another way.”

Ren looked around again, she saw the small basement windows close to the ceiling, but they were far too narrow for them to fit through.

“The windows are too small, I don’t see any other way out,” she said and crouched down lower, trying to cough the smoke from her lungs.  “We might just have to go through the fire to the stairs and hope we don’t die.”

Damon laughed dryly, “That’s all, huh?”  He looked around and got to his hands and feet as well.  He grabbed at one of the unconscious vampires nearby and pulled their jacket off of them.  He threw it around Ren’s shoulders and she grabbed onto it in surprise.

“For the fire, wrap it tightly around yourself,” he said, coughing as well as the smoke was really beginning to build up, trapped in the closed off basement with nowhere to go.  He tried to get up, but struggled, the vervain still in his system.  

“Come on, Uncle Damon, we’ve gotta get out of here,” she gave a forced laugh to cover up the fear filling her as some of the previously unconscious vampires woke and began to scream as they were consumed by the flames.  “I promise to put you out if you catch on fire, just do what you can to move us faster.”

He gave a huff that turned into a hacking cough, but he nodded.  She grabbed his arm and threw it over her shoulder as she crouched, pulling him up with her.  They only took a few small steps forward, closer to the fire around the stairs, when a flaming beam dropped from the ceiling and crashed to the floor.  

“Aagh!” Ren cried out while Damon gasped and pulled her back with him, causing them to falter and drop to their knees in front of the beam which sat at an angle, still attached to the ceiling on one end.  

“Fuck!” Ren spat out in anger and fear, “Just let us out!”

There was a woosh and suddenly, the flames on the stairs and near the bottom died down, as small as flickering candles.  They both stared in shock at the now unobstructed path until they heard feet clattering down the stairs and looked up.

It was Stefan.

Ren let out a small breath as he spotted them and relief filled her.

“Damon, Ren!”  he called out, then ran towards the two, ducking under the beam to reach them.  He grabbed Ren around the waist and threw her over his shoulder before putting an arm around his brother and flashing them up the stairs and through a door.  They burst out into the alley beside the office building, hacking up the smoke in their lungs.  

“Oh my god!”

Elena’s voice rang through the alley as Stefan let Ren down onto her feet, leaning her up against the brick wall when she tipped to the side a bit, off balance.  He kept his arm around Damon, who hung on him, coughing until he could finally breathe  in the fresh air with his niece.  

Ren sucked in the clean air gratefully, allowing Elena’s fluttering hands to check her over for injury before she was pulled into a firm but gentle hug.  

“Oh, thank god you’re okay!  I couldn’t believe that John set the building on fire with you in it, I’m so sorry,”  Elena murmured into thick red curls as she embraced her friend.  When Renfri was released she wrapped her arms around Damon and Stefan tightly as her face crumpled from the stress of the close call.  Damon patted her back lightly as he finally stood up a little straighter while Stefan gave her a squeeze.

“Thank fuck you found us, Stefan, I thought we were going to have to run through fire,” Ren gasped with relief, pressing herself into Damon’s side as he chuckled weakly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.  Smoke streaked their faces and clung to their clothes and hair, but Renfri didn’t care.  She relished in the cool, clean air and the solid warmth of her uncles under her arms, reassuring her that they were all safe.  Stefan stepped away from the two to grab onto Elena as she threw herself into his arms.

Ren caught movement from the corner of her eyes and she turned towards the opening of the alley where Bonnie Bennett stood.  Ren’s eyes hardened and a vein throbbed in her temple as she curled her hands into fists.

“ You .  You let this happen,” she accused, glaring at the dark-skinned girl while Elena and Stefan turned to look.

Bonnie tilted her chin up and said nothing, only making Renfri grit her teeth in frustration.

“Nothing to say?  Must be because I was right all along not to trust you with de-spelling the device,” Ren continued, venom seeping through her voice.

Elena stepped forward hesitantly, “I know she made a mistake, I’m angry with her too, but she helped save you and Damon.  She did a spell to smother the fire enough for Stefan to get you guys out.”

Ren scoffed, “Like that cancels out the fact that she nearly got all three of us killed because she let John use the Gilbert device?”  She clenched her jaw, “I understand being angry because of what happened to Sheila, but—”

“Of course I’m angry about Grams dying, it was all their fault!” Bonnie shouted with her hands clenched by her sides, finally letting her anger out for them to see, as opposed to the sullen, passive aggressive looks she had stuck to before.

Renfri took a step away from Damon, who was now glaring at the witch with murder in his eyes, only keeping a hand fisted on his sleeve.

“And that makes it okay for you to lie to us about de-spelling the device?  Stop acting so self-righteous just because you’re a witch and they’re vampires.  You chose to betray people you called friends and lie to their faces, intentionally putting people we love in danger.  You did it knowing it could get them killed!   At least when the tomb was being opened, we didn’t have any idea about the possibility of the witches getting hurt from doing the spell, and we certainly weren’t told about it.  If you had at least told the truth about not taking the spell off the device, we could have made a plan to deal with John, but nooo , you had to screw us all over because you blamed us when it wasn’t actually all our fault!!!”

Ren’s chest heaved from her furious tirade at the girl, another fit of coughs escaping her as she pushed her lungs to work a little too hard after smothering them in smoke.  Bonnie’s mouth hung open in disbelief before she clicked it shut and sucked in a breath.

“It doesn’t matter that you all weren’t aware, Grams still died because you and your vampires couldn’t let Damon open the tomb on his own.  If Grams wasn’t convinced that Damon wouldn’t have stopped anyway without hurting people, she wouldn’t have helped and she would still be here!! ”

The girl’s bitter anger and grief had pushed her to the point of tears as they built up in the corners of her eyes.  Ren huffed out more air and tilted her chin up, looking down on the girl as if she was a child.

“You’re not the only person here who’s lost someone they love.  That doesn’t give you the right to get other people killed just because you think it’s their fault.  If you’re supposedly so much better than them, then act like it ,” she spat out, her hands on her hips defiantly now.

Elena tried to play the mediator and calm the two down while Stefan looked on uncomfortably.

“Look, we can’t change what happened now.  Yes, Bonnie was wrong to lie to us, but what’s done is done.  Let’s just go home for now before the deputies see us and think they missed some vampires.”  She looked to Stefan with pleading eyes and he nodded in agreement while Ren grumbled under her breath, turning away from Bonnie and putting an arm around Damon’s back, walking away from the group with him.  Once they reached his blue Camaro away from the crowds, he pushed away from her.

“I can drive myself,” he insisted, standing up straighter.

Ren frowned in concern, “Are you sure?  He put a whole syringe full of vervain in you.”

He patted her shoulder, “I’m alright, you should go to the hospital to get checked out, you inhaled a lot of smoke.”

She nodded, “Yeah, okay.  My throat does hurt a bit,” she paused for a second, thinking, “Damon, why do you think the device affected me?  Or the mayor?”  He looked at her uncertainly and replied slowly.

“We know you aren’t a vampire and I’m pretty sure the mayor wasn’t.  Vampires are supernatural creatures and Emily designed the device to be used against them.  My best guess is that…it hurt you because you have something supernatural about you that it could affect.”

The teenager looked worried, “So what does that mean?  Have you heard of anything other than vampires existing?  Beyond folklore and mythology, I mean.”  

He shrugged, “I’ve never met anything other than vampires, if other beings existed, I feel like I would have seen them over the past century and a half I’ve been alive.”

Ren shook her head, “Maybe, but how else would the device have affected me?  Vampires can’t have kids, so it can’t be related to vampires in my ancestry.”  She froze for a second before meeting his eyes again, “What if it has something to do with what Emily said to me?  That warning about a curse in my veins and darkness coming?”  She crossed her arms worriedly, “Witches create curses, right?  What if a witch cursed me, or maybe someone in my family, and it’s affecting me because I’m related to them by blood?  I mean, we don’t know anything about my mom’s biological family and who they were, she had a closed adoption.”

Damon’s forehead wrinkled, “Maybe, but didn’t she say something about keeping your innocence to not die?  And how could she even know what’s coming?  Witches can be powerful, but they’re not all-seeing.  It could all just be a bunch of witchy mumbo jumbo for all we know.  She was probably just trying to scare you away from us since she didn’t trust vampires.”

Renfri sighed and let her arms drop, looking defeated and confused, “Yeah, maybe…”  Damon gazed at her for a moment before he tapped the side of his finger under her chin and gave her a small grin.

“Hey, cheer up, Little Red.  We made it through the day.  No more tomb vamps to deal with and we didn’t die from the Gilbert device.  We can deal with whatever comes next, yeah?”

A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth a bit as she glanced up at him, “Yeah, there is that.”  She stepped forward  and wrapped her arms around her uncle and buried her face into his shoulder.  

He chuckled and patted her back, “Easy there, Red.”

The girl’s voice came out a bit shaky and muffled in the material of his shirt, “I’m so glad you’re okay, Uncle Damon.  I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost you or Stefan, you’re the only family I’ve got left.”

He softened a bit and hugged her back, “Don’t worry about us, Red, we’ll survive.  We’ve lived this long, haven’t we?”  She looked up and he smirked cockily at her, making her give a watery laugh.

She pulled back and wiped at the few tears that had escaped her eyes, “Alright, I’ll meet you at home…and you should shower, you smell like a bonfire.”

He snorted, “You don’t smell so great either, sweetheart.”  She gave a weak grin and wave as she headed for her car.  She could hear barking when she got closer to where she parked.  She sighed, knowing Ash had probably freaked out when he could smell the smoke and hear her in trouble, she hadn’t parked far from the Gilbert office.  She hurried over to the car, unlocking it and shushing the distressed dog who gave high pitched, happy whines when he saw her.  He nosed her intently and licked her hands as his tail flailed back and forth, happy to see her again and in one piece.

She gave a soft smile, “I’m okay, Ash, I got out.  You can thank Stefan for that later.”  She sighed and pushed him back so he was sitting again and shut the door before getting into the driver's seat.  

“Let’s head to the hospital, bud, just to make sure I won’t die of smoke inhalation in my sleep.  That would sure suck after all this,” she laughed humorlessly as she started the car and pulled out of the parking spot.  She had to stop frequently due to the increased traffic from the Founder’s Day festivities.  At one of the red lights she checked her messages, having heard several notifications as she was driving.  The screen lit up and she unlocked it, the grip on her phone tightening as she stared at the messages.

Caroline was undergoing emergency surgery.  Tyler had crashed the car while driving her and Matt home.

“Shit,” she breathed and tossed the device in the cupholder, clenching her hands on the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, “can anything go right today?”  As soon as the light turned green, she stomped on the gas, speeding the rest of the way to the Mystic Falls Hospital.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

Renfri pulled into the parking lot of the Mystic Falls Hospital and locked the car, leaving Ash to wait in the back seat with a cup of water and a treat.  She ran inside and saw Bonnie talking with Matt in a waiting area.  She hurried over, ignoring the witch and only looking at the blonde.

“Is she okay, what happened?” she asked immediately.

“Not good, we were driving then Tyler heard this weird noise and he got this migraine or something.  He lost control of the car.  I…I thought that Caroline was fine.  The paramedics were checking out Tyler ‘cause he was unconscious, but when we turned back, she was on the ground and not responding.”

“Oh god,” Bonnie murmured, cringing at the floor.  Ren couldn’t help but glare at the girl, it was yet another consequence of her choice to betray them.

She turned back to Matt, “Are you okay?  You’re not hurt?”

He shook his head, “Nah, I’m fine, just worried about Caroline.  Her mom sent Tyler home too, something happened to his dad, I guess.  I’m not sure what though.”

Ren swallowed the lump in her throat, “Did you, uh, hear about that fire downtown?  In Elena’s dad’s old office?  It turns out that Tyler’s dad got caught up in it somehow…he died.”

Bonnie’s eyes snapped to hers in shock but was ignored.  Ren sat down on Matt’s other side to wait with them for news.  She sent a quick text to Stefan and Damon to alert them to the situation.  Stefan said he was at Elena’s house dealing with another situation there and would see her later to fill her in, also urging her to get checked out while she was there, and Damon responded saying he was already on his way since Liz had contacted him.  Ren told Matt she would be back and headed to the reception desk to check herself in.  

She didn’t have to wait long, it wasn’t a busy night beyond the fire and the car accident, and she was seen to quickly.  They gave her some oxygen just in case to increase her levels to a healthy point and told her she was lucky to not be worse off.  They suggested drinking warm tea with honey or sucking on cough drops if her throat felt dry, and of course to come back right away if she had a hard time breathing.  As she checked out and returned to where her friends were before, she found that Matt had gone off somewhere and Elena was walking up to Bonnie and saw her too.  

“Bonnie, Ren, how’s Caroline?” she asked right away.  The girls, though at odds, glanced at each other to determine who would tell her, and Bonnie took on the burden.  She stood and took a step closer while Ren stared at the floor.

“Elena, she’s weak…they don’t know if she’s going to make it,” the witch told her gently, reaching out to hug her as the news sent Elena into a state of shock.

“What?” the brunette mumbled, mindlessly resting her arms over her friend’s shoulders as she processed the information.  “Is there something that you can do?  Like a spell?”  

“She doesn’t know how, do you?” 

Ren looked up to see her older uncle approach the trio with a bit of hesitancy at first before he settled into his usual confident stride.  She furrowed her brows at that but mentally shrugged it off in favor of the matter at hand.  

Bonnie stepped back from Elena as she frowned and looked away in annoyance, “No, I don’t.”

“No, you don’t,” he repeated, “because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that—”

“Yeah, well, I can take down a vampire.  That spell was pretty easy to learn,” she retorted snottily.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” Ren interjected angrily, “he is not the problem here, so give it a rest with the judgemental witch shit right now.”

Damon jumped in again, turning to her and Elena this time, “I can give Caroline some blood—”

Elena shook her head before he was even done, “No, no way, no—”

“Just enough to heal her, she’ll be safe in the hospital, it’ll be out of her system in a day.  She’ll be better, Elena.”

The brunette waved her hand at him, “No, it’s too risky, I can’t agree to that.”

“Then too bad it’s not just your opinion that matters here,” Ren snapped, frustrated with Elena not understanding the likely critical nature of their friend’s condition.

“Do it,” Bonnie told Damon forcefully.  Elena turned to look at the both of them in surprise as the witch explained, “this is Caroline, we can’t let her die.”  She turned back to Damon, “Do it.”

Ren nodded slowly, “Despite the fact that she has no grounds to make any demands from us right now, I have to agree with her.  I’d rather risk Caroline becoming a vampire than letting her die when we could have saved her.”

Damon looked between the girls then eyed Bonnie, “If I do this, you and me call a truce?”

“No, but you’ll do it anyway…for Elena and Ren,” she said arrogantly.  Damon looked at her for another intense moment while Elena looked at Bonnie, slightly confused at why she had mentioned her as a reason he’d do it.  Ren was beginning to think that the girl was dense if she didn’t sense that he was having romantic feelings for her by this point.  Bonnie turned and walked away from the small group and Damon took the chance to turn back to Elena.

“I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now but we should talk about what happened tonight.”

Elena looked stressed at this, “Yeah, one of the tomb vampires got into the house and almost killed John.”

“What?” Damon and Ren asked in shock.

“What…when—what are you talking about?” he asked in confusion, “After I left?”

“I thought you went home?” Ren asked him with a raised eyebrow, clearly none of them were on the same page and shit had hit the fan once they’d separated.

“You were there?” Elena asked him.

“Oh, come on, you know I was,” he said as if it was obvious.

Ren looked between the two oddly as Elena responded while looking genuinely perplexed.

“When were you at the house?”

“Really?” He asked as if she was playing dumb to annoy him.  When she just looked at him, clearly missing something, he added suggestively, “Earlier, on the porch, we were talking…all the cathartic feelings exposed?”  When Elena seemed to think hard on it and came up blank, shaking her head, he snapped, “Oh come on, we kissed, Elena, okay?”

Ren and Elena’s eyebrows shot up in shock at this revelation.  Ren turned to look at her friend for confirmation and did not get it.

Elena just shook her head in exasperation and annoyance, “Okay, I don’t have time for this,” and started to walk past him.  

Damon grabbed her arm, stopping her, and said in a hushed but serious tone, “Hey, if you want to forget it happened, fine, but I can’t.”  Ren looked between the two, wondering what the hell was happening.  Damon was so adamant that they had talked, emotionally at that, and even kissed but Elena seemed to have amnesia or was in serious denial.  Before the girl could respond, her aunt Jenna walked up and Damon was quick to turn away from her, facing the other way awkwardly.

“Elena, I came as soon as I got your message, how’s John?”

Elena looked at her accusingly, “Where have you been?”

Her aunt looked taken aback, “At the fire department, I had to fill out the report,” when Elena looked confused she added, “I told you earlier.”

Elena just shook her head, “No, you didn’t.”

Damon slowly turned to look at the arguing pair while Ren watched, feeling completely lost.  

“What the fuck is going on?” she muttered, glancing at her uncle to see a dawning realization come over his face…and not a good one.

“Oh…oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he groaned, making the two arguing women look at him like he was out of place.  Ren just kept her eyes trained on him, waiting for an explanation, but he just looked between Jenna and Elena before he pulled Ren to the side.  Jenna and Elena looked at them oddly before going back to their conversation.

“What?  What is going on?  Let’s ignore the fact that you apparently kissed your brother’s girlfriend who looks like your ex for now.  So why did you think you spoke with Elena earlier when she doesn’t?” Ren demanded.

He looked back at Elena then met her hazel eyes intently, making her worried at the seriousness in them, “We’ve got a problem, a big problem.  A doppelgänger sized problem.”

She raised her eyebrows while she stared at him, “Doppelgänger sized…”  It finally clicked in her mind and the realization washed over her, “You’re saying Katherine is back?!”  She stared at him, panicked now, “When you spoke with her, what happened?”

“We just talked, and then we kissed.  Jenna opened the door and saw us, then told her to come inside…” he trailed off as both of their eyes widened and they whipped around to look for Elena.  Jenna was walking away at this point and the girl had turned back to face them, looking seriously stressed and confused.  Ren and Damon strode toward her and each grabbed an arm, hurrying her to the exit.

“What?  What are you doing?” she asked the two Salvatores.

 Damon kept a firm grip on her as they headed down the hall and towards the exit while Ren responded, “It wasn’t you he saw earlier at the house, it was Katherine, and Jenna invited her inside.”

The brunette let out a shaky breath, “Katherine was at the house?  But then, does that mean Katherine attacked John?  Jeremy is still there! And Stefan!”

“I know, he texted me earlier that he’s there,” she replied quickly.

“Which means we need to get there before she can do anything else while pretending to be you,” Damon said while hustling Elena into his car.  Ren ran for her car as he started his.  She slammed the door and started it up, throwing it into reverse while stomping on the gas.  She swerved to get around another car in the lot before she sped off to catch up with Damon’s Camaro.  She stayed right on his tail, practically running a red light in order to not get seperated.  Ash barked in the back seat as she swerved sharply to park on the street, leaving him securely in the car as she ran up the lawn just as Damon opened the front door with Elena behind him.  They came inside to see Stefan getting up from the floor.

“Stefan?” Elena called as she made her way in, Damon looking around as his brother got up.

“Elena, what happened?” Stefan asked her.  Ren stepped forward while looking around warily as the oldest Salvatore answered.

“Katherine happened.”

Stefan and Damon did a quick lap around the house and Ren retrieved Ash from the car, not wanting to leave him alone out there in case the evil twin ancestor had thoughts about killing her dog.  Elena sat on the arm of the couch while Ren settled herself on the coffee table with Ash sitting between her knees.  Not the best manners, perhaps, but she didn’t feel comfortable enough to sink back into the cushy sofa but she was also tired from everything that had happened.

“Did she say what she wanted?” Damon asked his brother.

“No,” Stefan replied shortly as he paced between the living room and the dining room.

“The woman certainly knows how to make an entrance,” Damon commented dryly.

“She said she fooled one of us at least, what does that mean?” Stefan asked.  Ren glanced at Damon uncertainly, knowing what he did was not going to go over well.

Damon turned partially towards him, “She pretended to be Elena too when I showed up earlier tonight.” 

Elena appeared at the bottom of the stairs, “I told Jeremy, I can’t lie to him anymore.

“Are you alright?” Stefan asked his girlfriend, walking over to her.

“No, I’m not alright.  I thought with the tomb vampires gone things would get better.”

“Just our luck.  No sooner do we escape a fiery death do we get saddled with your,” Ren pointed at both brothers, “vindictive vampire ex playing a deadly version of ‘Guess Who?’”

Damon snorted but Stefan shook his head sympathetically at Elena, “I know, we all thought it would get better.”

“Katherine was invited in, what are we gonna do?” Elena asked.

Damon shrugged, “Move.”

“Very helpful, thank you,” the brunette rolled her eyes.

“If Katherine wants you dead there’s zero you can do about it.  You would be dead, but you’re not, so clearly she has other plans,” Damon told her.

“So she’s here for a reason,” Ren stated thoughtfully, “How are we going to find out what for though?”

 “And let’s not provoke her in the process of finding out, okay?” Stefan added, looking accusingly at his brother.

“Stefan…who’s provoking who?” Ren warned him, but he maintained eye contact with his older brother.

“What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?” he asked, intent on knowing.  Ren sighed when Damon made a hesitant face, almost mockingly so.

“At the risk of another frown line encroaching on a very crowded forehead—”

 “Damon, not helping, just say it,” his niece insisted, wanting to just get the drama over with.  

He glanced at her before spilling, “We…kissed.”  He gave one of those forced, tight lipped smiles that screams an awkward ‘there it is.’

Elena looked skeptical, “And you thought it was me?”

“What do you mean you kissed?” Stefan pushed further, clearly angry.

Damon, of course, took the smart ass route and explained, “Well, you know, when two lips pucker and they go—”

Just as Damon made a smooching noise, Stefan sped across the kitchen at him, but Damon was ready and moved around the counter and stood where his brother had been before, next to Elena.

Ren groaned as he taunted, “Don’t be so obvious, Stefan.”  The younger brother started across the floor again until Elena stood between the two, stopping him.

“He kissed Katherine, not me,” she turned to look at the elder brother, “I wouldn’t do that.”  Ren internally cringed, knowing that had to hurt her uncle to hear, but he had to take it.  Elena isn’t the type to cheat, and she was completely in love with Stefan, kissing his brother really wasn’t something she’d contemplate, especially since she was so morally inclined.  She actually made Damon look down with a hint of shame at this.

“We don’t have time for this, guys,” she added, looking between the two.

“I don’t think Elena’s kitchen would survive a round of vampire WWE anyway,” Ren remarked dryly.

“Later,” Stefan said firmly and Damon nodded as he twisted his lips a bit.  Ren spoke up, standing from her seat with a sigh and stepping around Ash, who had laid down on the rug below.  

“Actually, I’d prefer you get all the childish fighting out of your systems now so we don’t have to worry about it getting in the way later.”

Elena shook her head, “No, we have to go see John.  She tried to kill him, there has to be a reason why.”

“She’s Katherine, she loves to play games and you’re fooling yourselves if you think you’re gonna find out what she’s up to before she wants you to know,” Damon told them.

 Stefan sided with his girlfriend, “Actually, Elena’s right, John could know something through Isabel.”  He turned to her, “Your mother, she was in touch with Katherine, so maybe we can go to the hospital and see if he’ll talk.”

Ren snorted and crossed her arms, “Yeah, right, ‘cause they’ve both been notoriously reliable people when it comes to dealing with vampires so far.  I seriously doubt John would know much since it was probably Katherine that attacked him, it’s not like she would leave the job incomplete if he knew too much.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Damon said, “I’m just gonna ignore the bitch.”

 Elena turned to look at him with concern, “Is that smart?”

“Mmm, that’s something to consider though, she could lash out,” Ren supplied, pointing at her friend in agreement.

Damon shook his head, “If Katherine thinks she’s being ignored, it’ll lure her out and she’ll make a move.”   

“What if that move is to kill someone?  What then?” Ren asked, not liking how reckless Damon was being, especially in the face of getting duped into kissing manipulative ex and causing tension with his brother and Elena.

“We’ll make sure nothing happens to the people that count.  Then we stake her, rip her head off…something poetic.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Damon and Ren approached the Lockwood Manor together, following the other townspeople attending the mayor’s wake.  When they came to the entrance, Damon nodded and muttered a bland pleasantry before moving past Tyler and over to a distressed Carol Lockwood arguing with a defensive Liz Forbes in uniform.  Ren tipped her head to the side and looked at Tyler, who on the surface seemed fine, if a bit quiet.  She knew better, though, now that they’d gotten closer and she learned he kept certain things close to the chest, especially regarding his Dad.  She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his back and he returned the gesture.

“I’m sorry, Ty, I know this sucks,” she said into his shoulder as she squeezed him tight.  

“Thanks, Ren,” he replied before letting her go while she stepped back and gave him a comforting.  “It’s just weird, you know?” he continued, “everyone keeps saying how sorry they were and how great a guy he was, but we know it’s not true.  It just feels so…fake.”

Ren nodded, “Yeah, I can see how it’d feel like that.  Your dad was…well, he wasn’t the best person, but he did care about you and the town, in his own way.  I suppose you must feel a bit odd to mourn him and have people express so much sympathy given how he, uh, ‘raised’ you.” 

He shrugged with his hands stuffed in his pockets, “Yeah, I feel kind of bad that I…don’t feel bad?  Or at least, not as much as normal people would, I guess.”  He shook his head, “Whatever, you don’t need to hear all this right now, come on inside and enjoy the food.  I’ll see you later, okay?”

She nodded and patted his shoulder as she walked past him and inside.  She quickly and stealthily made her way up to Tyler’s room to drop off the bottle of rum that she’d insisted Damon buy for her to bring.  She intended on meeting Tyler later and making them rum and cokes  and ordering food to end what would likely be a miserable day for him in a more fun and indulgent way.  She peaked over the railing to ensure no one was around before making her way back downstairs and back to the somewhat solemn crowd.  She found Damon who was standing with a drink in hand and people watching.

“What did the Lockwood kid say?”  he asked, making her turn to him with a raised eyebrow, “anything enlightening?”

It clicked in her head and she looked at him with exasperation, “His abusive Dad just died, I don’t think he’s taking any time to consider too carefully what caused the accident right now.  Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s clueless about the supernatural, his parents hadn’t read him in on any of the vampire crap as far as I can tell.”

Damon hummed as he swirled the amber liquid in the glass, “Probably trying to protect him from the demons of the night or whatever.  Did the quarterback say anything about him the other night?”

She looked surprised when she answered, “Uh, yeah, he said that Tyler heard a noise right before he got a migraine.  It made him lose control of the car and they crashed.”  Her eyes found her dark-haired friend still standing at the front door and greeting people as they came in, “I heard a noise too and it made my brain feel like it was on fire until I passed out.   It sounds like he might have felt something similar.”  

Damon nodded and added in a hushed voice, “Mayor Lockwood passed out, was bleeding from the ears, and was unaffected by the vervain, like you.  I’d say there’s a good chance that if you guys are something supernatural, it’s either the same kind or at least something with a similar weakness for a witchy device.”

She shrugged and sighed, “I guess, but we really don’t know enough to say either way.  We know literally nothing else about it, although I’m guessing that whatever Tyler and his dad are might be genetic if it was potentially affecting two generations in the family.”  She snorted, “Emily’s warning about a curse in my veins has been pretty fucking useless so far.”

Damon glanced at her, “What if it’s genetic for you too?”

She looked back with her eyebrows raised, “Well I wouldn’t know how to find out.  I think we can rule out whatever I am being from the Salvatore line, you’d know better than me if something was up there, and my mom had a closed adoption so she never found out who her biological parents were.  I don’t really think there’s a way to know at this point.”  He grunted in annoyance at being stuck but another figure piqued his interest.

 “Who’s that talking to your buddy?” he asked while nodding at a man who was dressed rather casually for the occasion in comparison to Damon’s dress shirt and dark pants and her solid black dress with wedged ankle boots.  The man looked like he’d just woken up wandered away from his Miami beach house and happened upon a funeral in southern Virginia.  She watched Tyler trade a few tension-filled words with the guy before they shook hands and had a manly hug.

“I’d guess that that’s his uncle.  His dad has a little brother, Mason, who went off to Florida State University and never moved back, though I haven’t been around long enough to have met him, Ty said he hasn’t seen him since he was like ten.  Looks like he came back for the funeral, although I wouldn’t have guessed it by his outfit.”

Damon snorted, “Well aren’t you miss judgy today?  I’ll go see if Liz has a little more background on him.”  She watched him come up next to the sheriff as Mason went to greet Carol.  Ren noticed Tyler finally came inside since the mourners approaching had died down.  She followed him as he headed for what she knew was a sitting room, but got sidetracked when she noticed Elena standing by a window and looking out at the lawn with a small smirk on her lips.

“Elena?  I didn’t know you’d gotten here already, how’d it go with John?” she asked as she came up to her.  

“Renfri, yeah, we finished up quickly, you know John,” she shrugged casually but Ren just furrowed her eyebrows.  That was a super vague answer, she thought and paused before opening her mouth, her eyes having drifted up and down her friend.  

“What’s with the outfit and the hair? You look like Sandy after she decided to change her whole personality for Danny Zuko.”

Elena barked out a sharp laugh, surprising her, before she took a step forward and looked at her intensely, her hand brushing Renfri’s wrist.  

“Ren?”

The redhead blinked and looked at her friend, “Yeah, what is it?”

“Have you seen Stefan?  I know he’s wandering around somewhere but I lost track of him,” the girl asked.

Ren shook her head, “No, not yet.” She paused then added with a grin, “Hey, you should come over to the boarding house later, we can have a movie night or something and raid Damon and Stefan’s liquor cabinets.  You don’t have to ring the bell or anything, just come inside when you get there, alright?

Elena smiled, “Yeah, sounds great, I could use a night in.”

When Ren remembered that she had been trying to catch up with Tyler she excused herself, “I’m gonna find Tyler, check in on him.”  She walked off with a wave and Elena gave an easy smile.  She made her way down the hall and came upon a little sitting room with a stuffed leather couch in front of a fireplace.  She found Tyler, and surprisingly, Jeremy.  

“I remember when my Dad died, I had a house full of strangers telling me what a great guy he was.  Anyway, I know how hard this all is,” Jeremy told the other boy from his spot standing by the large piano.

Tyler kept looking down, a flask in his hand as he sat on the couch, “The difference is, in your case, it was true.  My dad was a dick.”  He looked up and took a gulp from the fancy metal container.

Jeremy looked at him for a second, “Yeah. Yeah, he was.”  Tyler looked up in surprise for a second, before offering him the flask.

“I found this in his desk,” when Jeremy laughed awkwardly, he added, “he won’t mind, he’s dead.”  Renfri walked in at this point, swooping in to snatch the little metal bottle away and tipped some of the alcohol into her mouth.

“I’m pretty sure your dad, dead or alive, would mind you stealing from his private alcohol stache.  Good thing I don’t care much.”  Tyler and Jeremy looked at her in surprise then smirked as she continued teasingly, “Did I miss the memo for the dead dad’s meeting or did you purposely not invite me?” 

Tyler shook his head with a dry laugh as she handed the flask to the youngest Gilbert and warned him, “If Elena finds out, I’ll throw you both under the bus and swear I wasn’t involved, got it?”  

Jeremy nodded with a grin as he accepted it from her, “Yeah, sure, why not.”  Just before he could take a sip, Tyler’s uncle entered the room.

“Hey, what’s going on here, Tyler?” he asked, and Ren noted that he had at least made the effort to look slightly more presentable by buttoning up his shirt and covering the white wifebeater underneath.  

“Nothing,” Tyler said a little too quickly, and Jeremy, the dumb teenage boy that he was, was slow on the uptake and was still holding the flask out in the open.  

Mason held a hand out and looked at him meaningfully, “You have somewhere to be?”  Jeremy grimaced and handed it over, moving to leave without a word.  When the man turned to her, she just smiled and sat on the arm of the couch beside Tyler, not so easily intimidated.  The corner of his mouth twitched up before he leaned on the edge of the piano and took a swig of his own from the flask before handing it back to his nephew.

Ren smirked along with Tyler, who took another drink as she commented, “So you’re the cool uncle, huh?”

He chuckled, “I’m Mason, and I’m just not uptight like the rest of this town,” he looked her up and down curiously, “and you are?”

She smiled and held out a hand for him to shake, “Renfri Salvatore, my dad was Daniel, Zach’s older brother.”

He gave her hand a quck but firm squeeze as his eyes showed a bit of recognition, “Zach’s niece, huh? Wait, was?”

She nodded slowly, “My parents passed a little over two years ago, that’s when I moved here.”

Mason’s face dropped a bit, “Wow, sorry to hear it, I remember Daniel as a stand up guy.  How’s Zach doing, you must have moved in with him, right?”  

She glanced at Tyler and he gave her a sympathetic look before she answered, “Zach passed about five months ago.  I came home late from a school fundraiser and found him.  The sheriff said it was likely a burglary gone wrong and that I was lucky I wasn’t home when it happened.  They haven’t found the guy.”  Mason looked surprised and tilted his head to the side slowly as he listened, then crossed his arms and sighed.  

“Geez, kid, you’ve been going through it, huh?  Who are you with now?  You can’t be living alone, right?”  

She shook her head, “No, I’m not alone, I’ve got my second cousins.  Stefan is my age and Damon’s a bit older.  He’s my legal guardian until I’m eighteen.  They’re brothers, and they sure fight like it, but they’re the family I’ve got left,” she smiled a bit more genuinely at this.

Mason nodded slowly, looking contemplative, “I’m glad you’ve got someone.  I’m sorry you lost so many people so soon, it’s not fair for someone so young.”

She shrugged, a bit uncomfortable, “But life’s not fair, is it?”  The two other men nodded solemnly and she stood, “Well, I’ll leave the men to bond.”  She turned to Tyler and he stood to give her a hug.  She murmured into his ear, “There’s a present in your room, I plan on putting it to good use later today, just let me know when is good for you, yeah?” 

He nodded gratefully and gave her a small smile, “Yeah, I will.  Thanks for coming, Ren.”

She smiled gently, “Of course.”  She waved as she walked away.  

As she passed the doorframe, she heard his uncle comment, “You guys seem like good friends.”

“Yeah.  We didn’t used to be, but we’ve been close lately.”

She smiled to herself as she went in search of her uncles.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Out on the vast lawns of the Lockwood property, by a small pond with a little fountain spout in the center, she found a wounded Stefan sitting on a bench being tended to by Elena.  The hole in his abdomen was healing slowly but surely, Elena was mostly just wiping the blood away with a tissue.  Stefan grimaced, not at any kind of physical pain, but at his failed attempt to get inside Katherine’s head.

He shook his head disappointedly, “I was trying to figure her out.  I was playing along and I let her get to me.”

“I tried to track her, but she’s gone,” Damon’s voice came up behind them and they turned to look at him as he wrinkled his nose, “Oh, cover up Fabio.”

Ren sighed, “She must have been the one I talked to earlier, I thought her hair and outfit were different.  I guess how identical the two of you are really doesn’t hit you until you see it for yourself.”  She shrugged, thinking how Katherine had been an exact copy of Elena, just with different style in fashion.

“Yeah, we’ve got a craaazy ex on the loose,” Damon stated and looked at Elena with playful yet provocative eyes, “Better watch out, looks like Katherine’s trying to steal your guy.”

Stefan shook his head without looking at him, “That’s not what’s happening.”

“Isn’t it?  I mean, it’s only fair since I went after your girl,” his brother prodded.

Elena looked up awkwardly, “I’m…gonna go check on Jenna and Jeremy.  Let me know when you guys are done.”  She got up and left in a hurry.  Ren let out a long sigh as Damon turned back to his brother with a mischievous spark in his eyes.

“So what’s it gonna be, huh?”  Stefan turned his head away in exasperation as Damon shifted into a boxing stance, rocking back and forth on his feet playfully, and Ren let out a snort.  “Fight to the death?  Go ahead and make your threat, stake your claim—”

 “I’m not gonna fight you!” Stefan told him, just looking sick of it all.

“Whyyy!?” Damon whined, “I’d fight me.”

Renfri barked out a laugh, “Of course you would,” she turned to Stefan, “Maybe you should have a bit of a spar, just to get it out of your systems,” she joked with a smirk.

Damon wagged a finger at her, “She’s got a fair point.”

Stefan looked frustrated, “Katherine’s gonna try to play us against each other, you do know that, right?”

Damon looked unphased and smirked, “Brother, don’t you worry, our bond is unbreakable.”  Stefan stood suddenly, hands up with fingers pinched together in the most Italian hand gesture ever.  He shook them in Damon’s face as he spoke, causing Ren to fail at smothering a laugh.

“We need to stay united against her!  So yes, as much as I would like to kill you, I’m not gonna fight you.”  

Damon looked at him, confused and tried poking him one more time as Stefan walked away, “I kissed Elena—”

“Because you feel something for her!” he burst out as he spun back around with an arm out.  “Because you actually care,” he said at a lower volume, the gentleness of his tone making Damon turn his head away in reflexive denial of the accusation.  “And I’m not going to let Katherine come in and destroy that part of you that is finally, after all this time, willing to feel something.”

Damon seemed to sober up and Ren could sense the serious turn the conversation had taken, no more joking and brotherly banter left.  Stefan turned to look at her as well, eyes softer.  

“She’ll try to break you,” he looked between the two, “She’ll try to break us, how we respond to that will define us.”  Damon looked away awkwardly now that Stefan’s tone had taken a righteous turn and leaned towards preachy, though Ren appreciated what he was trying to say.  

“It’s our choice,” Stefan paused until Damon looked at him again with conflicted blue eyes, “so no, I’m not gonna fight you.”  He stepped back from his brother and looked at his niece, “I’m worried about how Katherine’s going to react to Ren, too.  We only had our father back then, but now we have more family to protect, she’ll see her as a weakness to exploit.  If we piss her off she could lash out at her or use her against us somehow.”  Damon’s eyes moved to Ren, his brow furrowing in concern as she tensed, having not really considered that factor.

“Shit, you’re right, Stefan,” she breathed, “and she already went after Bonnie once today.”  The nerves were hitting her now that she realized how much danger she could be in.  She pressed her lips together tightly with her arms crossed and Stefan rubbed a hand up and down her back, pulling her into a side hug as she stood there worrying.

“We’ll do our best to protect you, just make sure you’re not alone when you go out, alright?”

She frowned, “Fuck, I feel so weak, always needing to be protected.”  

Damon shrugged as he threw an arm around her shoulders and started walking them back towards the Lockwood manor, “Hey, you’re just human, you can’t help being weak.”  

She looked at him then Stefan with her eyebrows raised, “But I’m not just human, remember?  ‘Beware the curse that runs through your veins’?  We just don’t know what I am yet, though I don’t feel anything other than human…”

“We’ll look into that later once we’ve dealt with Katherine, she’s a more immediate threat,” Stefan assured her.

She nodded uncertainly, “Yeah, I just hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass somehow if we don’t look into it sooner rather than later.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Leaves and twigs crunched underfoot as Ren jogged at a steady pace down the trail, Ash running ahead and barking at a squirrel that had scrambled up a tree to escape the larger mammal.  She smiled and paused to look back, hands on her hips as she breathed.  She was clad in dark teal workout leggings and a black sports bra, her copper hair pulled back in a high ponytail.  She watched as Tyler finished tying his shoe and got up from his kneeling position a few yards back.  He was in a black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and a pair of blue basketball shorts.  She watched as he caught up to her quickly.

“How much we got left?” she asked as he came up beside her.

He shrugged, “Not far, why?”

She grinned at him, “You wanna race back?”

He matched her grin and got into a starting line pose, “Ready?”

She copied him and paused dramatically, “…GO!”

They shot off at a sprint, Ash barking in excitement and chasing after the two, quickly overtaking them as they headed for the end of the trail that let out onto the manicured back lawn of the Lockwood manor.  Ash stood waiting for them, spinning in a circle then planting his front paws on the ground and raising his butt in the air playfully.

The two broke through the edge of the trees, with Tyler a few feet ahead of her.

“Damn it, I’m a varsity track star!  I’m supposed to beat you, not the other way around!” she complained while gasping out shallow laughs.  She bent over with her hands on her knees as she came to a stop, her chest heaving from pushing herself so hard.

Tyler chuckled breathlessly, “I’m just built different.”

She lazily slapped his arm as the Dutch Shepherd barked again, bounding towards them to try to get them to play.

“Ash, give us a minute to breathe first, will ya?” she called out to the energetic dog while Tyler watched in amusement.  She dropped to one knee after her breathing eased up a bit, holding her arms out and the dog ran into them.  He poked at her with his nose before pulling back and dodging her reaching hands, like a game of tag.  He pulled further away, teasing her as she laughed and was forced to stand in an effort to reach him.  He barked to encourage her to chase him, then ran, brushing his nose across Tyler’s leg as he ran past to get him to join as well.  He had the two running and sliding on the grass as the canine ducked and dodged their lunges to make contact.  They ended up on their hands and knees and covered in grass stains while laughing, unable to keep up with him.  Ren called him over and gave him scratches while Tyler rubbed the dog’s side.  

“Ah, I needed this,” she admitted aloud, letting out a it sigh and allowing herself to enjoy the moment.

“Yeah, me too,” the dark-haired boy told her and they sat up once they were able to breath again.

“You want to shower here or go home?” he asked, turning his head to look at her.

She looked up at the sky that had already begun to darken and was now a pinkish purple color as the sun began to sink below the horizon.  

“Yeah, I’ll shower here if you don’t mind.  I keep a change of clothes and toiletries in my gym bag just in case,” she replied.  He got to his feet and held out a hand, pulling her up as well.  “Ash, hier,” she called and he trotted to catch up as they headed for the door.  They walked in and removed their shoes, Tyler fetching an old towel for her to wipe off Ash’s paws, knowing that Carol would have a aneurism if they tracked dirt or mud in on her nice floors.  The woman was out right now but would be back before long and Ren didn’t want to further stress the woman who was dealing with her husband’s death and taking on his mayoral duties as well until someone else was elected.

Tyler showed her to one of the guest rooms on the second floor and she left Ash downstairs and tied his leash to one of the porch pillars so he could relax outside a bit longer while she showered.  Once she was finished and changed into some black yoga pants and a t-shirt with a dark red hoodie on top, she brought him in and they settled on Tyler's bedroom floor.  She sat with her back against the bed and her legs straight out, enjoying the rare bit of carpeting in the house that was his bedroom, everywhere else had cold tiling or hardwood floors with thin, vintage area rugs.  Tyler was lying on his stomach on the bed just behind her, eyes skimming the shelves of DVDs on one wall.

“What do you want to watch?” he asked as she poured him a rum and coke.  Ren was grateful that she was able to grab the large bottle of soda and glasses from the kitchen before Carol got home, otherwise she might have been questioned on why it was being brought upstairs.

Ren shrugged, holding the glass up above her head for him to grab, “How about Iron Man?  Isn’t the second one supposed to come out in a few months?  I saw the trailer for it, and you gotta love Robert Downey Jr.”

He grabbed the glass and took a gulp, “Sounds like a plan.”

They spent the next hour and a half slowly getting drunk while watching the movie, not hearing when Mason came up the stairs to check on them.  The end credits were running while the two were tipsily debating certain choices that the directors and producers made and neither heard when the door opened a bit and Mason leaned in.

“Hey, what are you guys getting up to in here?”

They froze and spun to look at him, causing Tyler to overbalance and slide off the front end of the bed, making Ren break out into cackling laughter which she failed miserably to stifle.

Mason gave a crooked grin, “Ah, I see, drunk movie night, huh?”  The two teenagers looked at him a bit hesitantly, waiting to see if he’d rat them out, but he just shook his head.  “It’s good that you were able to relax after the day you’ve had, just take some time to sober up before you head home, Renfri, okay?”  

She saluted him with a wide grin, “Will do, thanks Mason!” He cracked a smile and glanced at the dog with silver brindle fur snoozing on the carpet.  He backed out and closed the door with a click as Ren scrambled to put in V for Vendetta, which was one of her favorite films.  Ren stopped drinking so that she would be good to go once the movie ended but Tyler kept going, though he paced himself and made the drinks weaker.  By the time the movie had finished, Ren was hydrated and good to drive.  She mumbled goodbye and Tyler waved at her with a lazy grin as he sipped his glass.

“Thanks, Ren,” he called quietly and she nodded at him before waking Ash and leading him out to her car in he driveway.  She drove back home to the boarding house and parked.  

As she got out, she saw a lithe figure striding out the front door.  Ren squinted to see who it was and the front yard’s lights revealed Elena to be the visitor leaving for the night.  Ren nodded in brief acknowledgement and Elena smiled at her with a flirty little wiggle of her fingers, making the redhead quirk an eyebrow.  She turned to open the back door for Ash but then froze in place.  Ash’s nose was pressed to the window and she could just hear him making a low growling noise.

She thought for a second and realized something, Elena’s hair had been in big curls and she had been wearing stiletto heels with a tight, dark outfit.  

That wasn’t Elena…

She spun around but the girl was gone, nowhere in sight and there hadn’t been another car besides hers, Stefan’s, and Damon’s parked outside.

“Shit,” she hissed and hurried to let Ash out, grabbing his leash and telling him to stay with her.  His growling had stopped but he remained alert as his eyes scanned the treeline and his ears perked while his nose worked to scent the air.  She slung the strap of her gym bag over her shoulder as she slammed the door and locked it before running for the front door.  She threw open the unlocked door and tossed her bag on the foyer floor.  Before she could even call out, she saw Damon standing to one side of the den and just staring at nothing.  She dropped her bag and slowly approached him, noting the shattered look in his wide blue eyes.

“Damon?” she called cautiously as he stayed where he was, not moving beyond the lifting of his chest as he breathed a bit shallowly.  “What did Katherine do?”  His eyes shot up to hers at the woman’s name and he looked so lost, so broken.

He said nothing still and just looked at her, so she prodded gently, “Damon, what did she do?…How did she get in?”

He slowly shook his head as his eyes went to the floor again, “She just…confirmed what I’d always feared,” he gave a weak, dry chuckle, “I suppose I should have known, should have expected it.”

She furrowed her brow uncertainly and took another step closer, “What do you mean?”

His eyes moved up but they stared into nothing, “I just wanted the truth, just once…I told her I’d forget everything she did, even the past century and a half she spent pretending to be dead or in the tomb, if she could honestly say it…but she couldn’t.”  

Renfri’s face turned from confused to sympathetic as she realized what he meant, “So she never did love you….”

He slowly shook his head with distant eyes, “It was always Stefan.”

Ren’s face crumpled, her heart hurting for her uncle who spent his life loving and fighting to get back a woman who never loved him and only used him, and now she broke him.  She quickly wrapped her arms around her uncle as he stood stiffly.  She squeezed her eyes shut as she pressed her cheek onto his shoulder and said the only thing she could think of. 

“I’m so sorry, Uncle Damon.  She doesn’t deserve you, and you didn’t deserve what she did.”  They stood like that for a few moments until he lifted a hand and patted her head.

“Thanks, Red,” he said in a rough, quiet voice.  She pulled back to look at his face, though his eyes were trained on the flickering flames in the hearth.  As she stepped back, he moved away to sit hunched over on a couch and stare into the fire.  She sighed and walked over to the decanters and poured a double shot of bourbon, his favorite, and went to hold it out to him.  

As he took it from her, she said stood in quiet thought for a second, “I must have invited her in accidentally somehow, there’s no other way for her to have gotten inside the house.”  She paused and her eyes widened slightly, “At the mayor’s wake.  When I thought I was talking to Elena I invited her over to hang out.  Fuck!”  Damon said nothing still as she cursed in her frustration.  “Why would I do that?  I knew she was likely around and had to be careful, I’d like to think I’m not that stupid,” she muttered with her hands on her hips.

She looked up when Damon finally turned his head in her direction, “You were probably compelled.”  He pointed at her wrist, “An experienced vampire can easily remove a vervain bracelet discreetly if they know it’s there.  You should start taking a little everyday.”  She looked down at the bracelet Zach had given her and realized he was right, the only way to ensure she couldn’t be compelled was to ingest it.  She made a mental note to be especially diligent in growing more vervain in the cellar moving forward and to look online to find someplace that sold it in teabags she could have each morning.  It might be less work than trying to grow as much as she ingested and there were plenty of places selling herbal remedies and such things.

 Her eyes found Damon looking into the fire again and she put a hand on his shoulder, “Alright, let me know if you need anything, even if it’s just silent company.  Just…stay around here for tonight, maybe…please.”  When he didn’t respond and just took another large mouthful of bourbon, finishing the glass, she sighed before moving to grab her bag from the floor.  She patted her thigh to indicate for Ash, who had stood beside her and watched her exchange with the vampire warily, to follow her as she went upstairs.  Ash trotted ahead of her as she paused at the bottom of the stairs to look back worriedly.  She silently hoped that he wouldn’t completely spiral and do anything rash because of Katherine as she moved to follow her dog up to her room.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The silent halls were disturbed by a figure in the shadows, shoes moving quietly across the linoleum floors and past an empty station where the night shift nurse had stepped out.  The figure slowly opened a door before closing it behind her carefully.  As the door quietly clicked shut, the girl on the hospital bed shifted before her eyes fluttered open.  

“What—” her bleary eyes found the person who had entered, “What are you doing here?  It’s the middle of the night.”  She wiped her eyes tiredly as she sat up on her elbows in confusion as the visitor stepped up to the side of her bed.

“I have a message for the Salvatores from Katherine: Game on,” the visitor reached over and turned off the monitor displaying the girl’s vital signs as she spoke.

“What—” the blonde’s voice was cut off as the person snatched the pillow from behind her and shoved it over her face.  The visitor forced the girl onto her back and kneeled on the edge of bed to gain leverage, ignoring the hands that flailed and slapped and grasped desperately at the arms ruthlessly suffocating the girl until they slowly went slack and the muffled cries stopped.  The figure stayed still for another few seconds before lifting the pillow to reveal the blonde girl lying completely still with her hair and arms askew.  The visitor tossed the pillow next to the girl before slipping out of the room and back down the dark hallway of the hospital.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

The Mystic Falls High School parking lot and lawns were busy with preparations for the annual carnival that night and Renfri wasn’t particularly happy to be working with Bonnie Bennett.  Renfri normally aided Caroline with those sorts of things, but Bonnie and Elena were only doing it to help out Caroline who was still in the hospital from the accident.  The redhead was stoically flipping through the papers on her clipboard and double checking her checklist as the witch spoke to Elena.

“…and Katherine looked just like you, it was freakish.”

Elena gave a tight-lipped smile, “Well, she is my ancestor,” she glanced at Ren, “Hey, I moved the student booths into the cafeteria.”  She got a nod and another item was crossed out and a brief note made on the clipboard.

“She sure fooled me the first time I saw her at the wake, I thought it was just you trying out a clothing trend, though she was vague in answering my question about John.  Turns out she took off my bracelet to compel me to invite her into the boarding house, so now she has full access to my home too.  I’m gonna be sleeping with one eye open for quite a while.  Lucky us, huh?”  Ren looked up at the brunette with a false smile and only got a frown in return.

“She’s your vampire ancestor, and she didn’t just resemble you like a family member would, she was you.”

Elena threw down the plushies in her hands, “I don’t—I don’t know, I can’t explain it, okay?  It’s creepy, it’s all I got.”

The Bennett witch raised an eyebrow, “Well, how do you know she’s not still out there pretending to be you?”

Elena shrugged as she tied up the bag of stuffed animals and walked them over to a nearby booth as they followed her, “I don’t.”

Renfri sighed, “It’s not like we could do anything about it, anyway.  We just have to pay attention to where you are and the clothes you’re wearing, I’m guessing Katherine likes to dress edgier than you do, she’s more bold in nature and likely in her clothing style as well.”

Her friend nodded, “You’re right.  I could just sit here and be tortured by the not knowing or I could get these prizes to the ring toss.”

Bonnie looked down before saying, “You know, have you talked to Damon since he killed Jeremy, or tried to kill Jeremy.”  

Ren instantly frowned when she heard that and Elena said, “No.  I haven’t and I won’t.  I don’t want to talk about Damon or anything else vampire related, okay?”

Renfri chewed her lip before lowering her clipboard, “Elena, I’m pissed at him too for what he did, and I’m so grateful that Jeremy was wearing John’s ring, but you need to talk to him at some point, even if it’s not today.  He didn’t just lash out because he was drunk and upset that you rejected him, it’s because of Katherine—”

Elena spun around, “That’s no excuse!”

Ren put her hands up, “I know, I never said it was, but you need to understand why he snapped.  I don’t want you thinking he’s heartless and just doing what he wants, he was hurt.  More than hurt, Katherine broke part of him.  She’s been fucking with his head since he was still human and he has had his heart set on her until she finally set him straight when he was vulnerable and looking for honesty.  Well, she gave him brutal honesty, to the point of being cruel, by telling him that she never loved him and that it was always Stefan.”

Elena clenched her jaw but said nothing, so Ren continued with serious eyes, “Elena, do you know why that hurt him so much?  Damon and Stefan were both in love with Katherine as humans, but Stefan got over her, Damon didn’t.  He was as in love with her as Stefan is with you, and she played him for a fool.  And on top of it, she threw in his face that his little brother was the only one she ever loved.  It doesn’t help his jealousy and bitterness towards Stefan, not to mention he’s not going to open up to people again because she completely destroyed his ability to trust others with his feelings.  He’s learned that to be emotionally vulnerable is to get hurt, because the woman he thought was the love of his life for a century and a half ended up being a heartless bitch who only wanted him as a play toy while she chased after his brother.  She broke him, Elena.”

Elena closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Ren, I understand what you’re saying and I do sympathize with his situation, but I just can’t trust him anymore.  He killed my brother, and only got lucky that the ring was there to save him.”

Renfri looked at her sadly, “I honestly don’t know if he saw the ring or not…I hope he did.  Regardless, I hope you can find a way to forgive him, Elena.  He’s a product of his environment, just like we all are, and being a vampire means your emotions are amped up to a hundred and even harder to handle.  I’m not forgiving him yet either, but I’m at least trying to empathize with him because I still want him in my life.”

Elena crossed her arms and looked to the side, “Well, I don’t know if I want him in mine.” 

Renfri only sighed and shrugged, “I suppose that’s fair.  Just give it some thought, okay?”  Elena wordlessly nodded, a short tilt of her head, before turning back to the bag of prizes.

“Alright, time to do human stuff.  If I can’t do normal things and only have to deal with vampire drama every day, I’m going to go crazy.”

Renfri smiled at that, “I can definitely agree with you there.”  

When Bonnie spoke up, Ren glanced at her coldly and turned away, “Okay, we have to make Caroline proud, or she will kill us.”

Elena nodded, “I know.”

“I don’t know how she does it all the time,” Bonnie remarked.

Elena smirked, “Well, that’s because she isn’t human.”

Renfri rolled her eyes, “Says the only one here that is a normal human…unless having an evil ancestral twin counts.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The youngest Salvatore had decided to stop by the boarding house to drop off her stuff and feed Ash before the carnival was officially up and running.  She scooped some kibble into her dog’s metal bowl as he stood and watched while his tail wagged excitedly.  She headed back towards the den, where she had left her things, to hear the brothers having a bit of a tense chat.

“Aren’t you worried that one day all of the forest animals are going to band together and fight back?  I mean, surely they talk.”

Renfri raised her eyebrows at Damon as she strode in, “Why, are we living in a Disney movie?  If I sing, will they come help me dust the place?”

Stefan huffed at the both of them and pointed at the blood bag Damon was pouring into a glass, “Yeah, well, I’m just happy that’s a blood bag and not a sorority girl supplying your dinner.”

Damon only twisted one corner of his mouth up, “I like this, you walking on eggshells around me because you think I’m going to explode.  It’s very suspenseful.  Is Elena worried too?”  When Stefan didn’t answer, he continued with a taunting tone, “I bet I’m your every conversation.”

Stefan deflected, “Have you heard from Katherine?”  

Damon’s easy smile fell.

Renfri sighed in frustration, “Shut it, Stefan.”  She turned to her older uncle, “Actually, Elena’s quite determined to hate you for snapping Jeremy’s neck and she doesn’t believe that you saw the ring before you did it.  To be honest, neither do I, but I’m still trying to get her to consider coming around eventually, but it sure as hell won’t be anytime soon.”

Damon rolled his eyes, “Oh come on, he’s not actually dead—”

Ren’s hazel eyes grew hard and she snapped at him, “No, he’s not, which is the only reason Bonnie hasn’t tried to kill you yet, and I’m honestly surprised that she hasn’t in light of your lapse in judgement.  Elena’s not even close to forgiving you, Damon.  And it’s not because she’s making a big deal of a small thing.  No, it’s because she watched you snap her brother’s neck and thought he was actually dead and gone for a good thirty seconds until she saw the ring, and even then she still wasn’t sure.”  She’d gotten in his face and maintained full eye contact even as he pretended to be nonchalant about her lecture, though he was no longer smiling carelessly.  

“You made her feel the trauma and pain of watching her brother be killed in front of her, even if it was only briefly, by someone who supposedly cares about her.  She truly thought he was gone, some of the only family she has left.  I know what that’s like, Damon.”  She stared into his blue eyes that flickered between her own as her face shifted from anger to grief, “I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone I cared about.  So stop making light of it, because she’s not overreacting.” 

Stefan watched carefully while Damon stood in silence as his niece stared at him firmly yet sadly, before he slowly nodded and looked away.

“Alright, fine.”  

Renfri nodded and stepped back out of his personal space after a deep breath, “Good, thank you.”

Damon glanced back up at her, then Stefan, before he straightened and seemed to shake off the heavy conversation, “On another note, I’m pretty sure that the Lockwoods do have a family secret of the supernatural persuasion because the Gilbert device affected both Richard and Tyler but the vervain didn’t, so they’re not vampires, they’re something else.”

Stefan raised his eyebrows, “Uh, what happened to focusing on Katherine?  We need to try to anticipate what she’s going to do next—”

“How can we?” Renfri asked, “We have no way of knowing if her agenda in coming back here, now is about trying to get to you, or Elena, or something else entirely.  I’m all for looking into the Lockwoods, it could help lead to whatever the hell I am as well.”

“But Katherine—”

“Oh, you’d rather some unknown supernatural element running rampant in our town, fine, I’ll drop it,” Damon said sarcastically.

The youngest Salvatore huffed, “I wouldn’t say ‘running rampant’ since it’s likely only one or two people, the jury’s still out on Mason I’m guessing, but an unknown supernatural presence is concerning, even if that includes myself.”

Stefan waved his hand out in front of him, “You do know that we haven’t seen the last of Katherine, right?  You do know that we have no idea what she’s up to?”

Damon scoffed, “Sure we do!  She came back to profess her undying eternal love for you, so I’m gonna let you deal with her.”

The redhead shrugged, “Probably a good call, we don’t need you getting triggered again.  Although, she will probably make another attempt if it benefits her in some way…or just because it amuses her, the bitch.”  Damon’s eyes flickered to her in annoyance then back to Stefan.

“Right, well, I have more important things to do like…explode,” he mocked before walking out.  Renfri and Stefan looked at each other tiredly, knowing he was going to make dealing with him difficult for a bit just to avoid acknowledging the fact that Katherine got to him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bonnie and Elena followed behind Renfri as they walked through the busy carnival, lights flashing and motors whirring as the rides and booths buzzed with activity.

“So the ring toss is out of those Bart and Homer dolls and Team Jacob tees,” Ren listed off in a business-like manner.

Bonnie nodded, “Okay, I can grab some from the science club—”

“Also we lost a speaker in the karaoke booth—”

“Hey, Ren, look around, this is a huge success!” Elena told her with a grin, “Looks like we can do more than just wreak vampire havoc.”

Renfri couldn’t help a brief laugh, “Go figure.”  Elena turned and saw a tall, dark skinned man working on one of the booths with some tools.

“Hey, Carter, right?  You’re with the carnival?”

He nodded and walked over, “That’d be me.”

“Okay, great—”

“Wow,” he said, cutting off Elena as he eyed Bonnie eagerly, “How can I help, beautiful?”

Ren just raised her eyebrows and turned to walk away, not interested in watching the witch awkwardly flirt, she couldn’t be friendly and pretend like the girl hadn’t nearly gotten her uncle killed not too long ago.  She spent a little while moving through the area, double checking the stocks at various booths and ensuring no other issues were occuring, when she decided to stop for a snack and waited in line to get cotton candy at one of the shiny metal shacks that sold various carnival snacks.  She stood behind a tall group of boys that were on the basketball team and when they shifted she noticed Jeremy standing on the other side of the shack, paying for a carton of popcorn.  She frowned when only seconds later Damon walked up with a deceptively easy-going smile.

“Jeremy, so good to see you alive.”

Jeremy, being the stupid teenager he was, though rightfully pissy given his recent but temporary experience with death, decided to mouth off.

“Aren’t you a little old for a high school carnival?”

Damon only laughed and snatched a piece of popcorn, “A hundred and fifty years too old.”

Jeremy only grew more irritated the more relaxed and mocking Damon was, “You’re pretty funny, cracking jokes when I could, I don’t know, blow the whole lid on this thing by telling someone what you really are.”

Damon’s face didn’t quite fall, but became thoughtful as he chewed, then he put down the box of popcorn and clapped a hand on the boy’s shoulder.  He turned him forcefully and wrapped his arm around Jeremy’s shoulders as he walked them off.  Renfri hissed in frustration and panic as she hurried after them in hopes of preventing the further neck snapping of stupid, mouthy teenagers.

“So, please tell me that that is not a threat.”

Renfri slowed as she came up behind her uncle, “Damon—”

“Maybe it is,” Jeremy replied, holding up his hand to show John’s magic ring.  Renfri mentally slapped her forehead.  Why would you show off the only advantage you have that can be easily removed by someone who’s able to snatch it before you can blink and has proven themselves to be volatile to the point of murder?

Damon briefly touched the kid’s wrist as if curious, then quickly wrapped the teenager into a tight headlock.

“Damon, stop it!” Renfri snapped, stepping closer and glancing around to make sure they were far enough away from the crowd to not be noticed as they stood in the shadow of a nearby ride with backing. 

Damon glanced at her as he said, “So, here’s what we’re not gonna do,” he tilted his arms down so he could whisper into Jeremy’s ear while the boy struggled against his grasp.  “We’re not gonna walk around like we’re invincible when it’s this easy for me to end you.”

“Damon, let him go.”

Damon glanced at her again as she glared, her face furious, before he let the teenager go.  Jeremy scrambled to get away and turned to face the vampire.  He took a step forward angrily, but Renfri swung out an arm, telling him silently to not even try.

 The vampire spoke calmly, “If you wanna tell people what I really am, go ahead and try,” he lifted his hand to show the ring that was no longer on Jeremy’s finger and his face became serious, “I will shove this ring so far up your ass, you’ll really have something to choke on.”  He flicked the ring into the boy’s face and Renfri had it.  She lunged forward and shoved at her uncle, pushing him back a step as he looked down at her in mild surprise but allowing it.  She scowled at him and shoved him back again.

“Move, I’m so sick of your temper tantrums!  What, are you hitting your terrible two hundreds early?!  Get away from the stupid teenage boy before you really screw everything up for good,” she growled through her grit teeth, ready to slap the clipboard across his face even if she made a scene if he didn’t listen.  When she began to lift it, he threw his hands up in surrender.

“Hey, easy, I’m going.  I was just teaching him a lesson about vampires, the kids far too arrogant for his own good.”

She snorted, “Look who’s talking.  You’re lucky you haven’t died from running your mouth off to the wrong vampire yet, you prick.”  He just shrugged and allowed her to turn him around and steer him away from the shaking teenage boy behind them.  She glanced over her shoulder at Jeremy briefly with apologetic eyes and mouthed ‘sorry.’  Jeremy just shook his head and glared at Damon’s back as they walked away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After having led her uncle away from the youngest Gilbert, Renfri foisted management duties onto the vice chairmen of the planning committee who had been slacking so she could enjoy herself the rest of the night.  She and Damon had made their way over to the arm wrestling booth in the cafeteria where Tyler was drawing a small crowd as he repeatedly defeated his challengers easily.  Renfri had slipped away to buy a corndog and a caramel filled churro.  She returned to her uncle's side to find Stefan had joined him just as Tyler defeated another opponent.

“He’s got strength,” Damon commented.

“He’s a triple letter varsity athlete, of course he’s got strength, but how much?”

“Is he still winning?” Ren asked before taking another bite of the deep fried hotdog.

“Yup,” Damon said shortly, just as someone else approached the booth.

Mason stood across from his nephew in a friendly challenge, “I bet I could take you.”

“Enter the uncle,” Damon intoned as Tyler told his uncle to ‘bring it on, surfer boy.’

Renfri hummed in interest as she munched on her snacks.  She offered the churro to her uncles and Stefan just shook his head but Damon ripped a piece off happily while he kept his eyes on the show.  They all watched Mason grin as Tyler visibly struggled, his face looking surprised, then promptly lost.  

“Is that it?” Mason said with a bit of laughter, making Ren’s eyebrows twitch in worry at the small taunt, wondering if it would set off her friend.  The dark-haired teen took it well, though, and admitted his uncle was ‘the champ’ and called for another challenger to take Mason on.

“Hey, Stefan wants a go!” Damon called, while said brother turned to look at him accusingly.  Ren couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips.

“Yeah, come on, Stefan!  I bet you can take him,” she added loudly and nudged him.

“Thanks,” he muttered before clearing his throat and saying louder, “Yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll give it a shot.”  As he approached, Ren tossed her corn dog stick in a trashcan and shifted her churro to her left hand while following behind.  Stefan took Tyler’s place across from the boy’s uncle and put his elbow on the table.

“So, Mason,” Ren introduced cheerfully, “this is my cousin, Stefan–second cousin, really– and the instigator back there is his older brother Damon, who thinks his little bro can beat you.  Thoughts?”

Her lips pulled a little wider, enjoying the charade, as Damon called, “Get him, Stef!”

Tyler smiled in amusement while Mason chuckled and said, “Well, he’d be wrong.”

The two grabbed each other’s hand and when the bell rang, Ren’s eyes stayed fixed on the two, standing closer to her younger uncle’s side, and watched their hands and faces closely.  Stefan kept up his resistance, testing the other man’s strength for about five seconds before slowly allowing Mason to push his hand to the table and the crowd groaned.  Renfri looked at Stefan curiously, wondering if he even put much power behind it before letting the seemingly older man win.  She smiled and waved to the two Lockwoods before following Stefan back to his older brother.

He was met with an accusation, “You didn’t put in any effort at all.”

Renfri raised her eyebrows at Stefan who gave her a look before turning to Damon, “Yeah, actually, I did.”  Damon’s annoyance quickly turned into surprise and he tilted his head to one side.  They followed Damon a little further away by the karaoke booth and he turned to look at Stefan, eyes serious.

“Is he–?”

Stefan quickly shook his head, “No, no, it wasn’t that kind of strength but it was more than human, if that makes any sense.”

The dark-haired vampire looked back towards the two Lockwoods, “What is up with that family?  They’re not vampires, then what the hell are they?”

Ren shrugged, “It’s hard to guess when we don’t know much or even what myths actually have some truth to them.  So whatever they are is potentially genetic and Mason has strength that’s beyond human but weaker than a vampire.  But why wouldn’t Tyler be as strong though, if they both reacted to the Gilbert device?  I don’t think I’m especially strong, either.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t add up.  I wouldn’t lump you in with them yet though,” Stefan remarked as Damon hummed.  They both looked at him curiously.

“What are you thinking?” Ren asked as they saw his face turn towards scheming.  He didn’t answer and turned to face a guy working on a speaker behind them, the same guy Bonnie had been flirting with earlier.

“Hey, you,” Damon called bluntly.

Carter scoffed, “I have a name.”

“Yeah, I don’t care,” Damon replied and clapped his hands on the guy’s shoulders as he began to compel him, “I need you to pick a fight with someone, a kid named Tyler Lockwood.”

“Damon, don’t do this,” Stefan said, though he really didn’t sound like he was trying, knowing he couldn’t cause a scene.

Damon wiggled his fingers at his brother dismissively, “No, no, no, it’s just an experiment.”  He continued to compel the carnival worker, “Get him mad, but don’t back down no matter what he does.”

Renfri frowned, “Damon, that’s not the best way to–”

He ignored her, “Okay?”

“I won’t back down,” Carter repeated in a monotone voice.

“I know you won’t,” Damon said confidently.  As Carter walked away, Renfri watched her uncle with slightly judgy eyes.

“You enjoy stuff like that a little too much, you know.”  He just shrugged with a small smile as Stefan turned on him quickly with an anxious face.

“You do realize somebody’s gonna get hurt, right?”

“No,” Damon said, “somebody’s gonna get mad, as in rage.”

“And what’s that going to accomplish?” the younger brother asked.

“That Tyler kid is incapable of walking away from a fight–”

Renfri sighed, “Unfortunately, yeah, thanks to his asshat of a dad hammering toxic masculinity into his brain from a young age.”

Damon nodded at her, “Or thanks to something else. .”

“Yeah, maybe not the best way to provoke any kind of supernatural abilities.”

He glanced at his niece curiously, “You get angry like that Tyler kid?  I know you can go off on people when you want to, it was very entertaining watching you unload your anger and wooden bullets into Logan Fell, but is it a problem for you too?”

Renfri looked at him in surprise and hesitated before answering, “It used to be.”

Stefan looked at her in surprise, “Really?  I wouldn’t have guessed that was an issue for you.”

She shook her head, “It was when I was little, but my Dad was a doctor and noticed the signs early on, so they got me into therapy and I learned how to cope with it.  That’s how I got into track, exercise helps me manage it along with things like meditation.  I’ve learned how to manage it, but in stressful situations I can definitely snap, like with Lee.”

“Lexi’s boyfriend?” Stefan asked and she nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure Damon remembers that I was a bit beat up when he found us, but it’s because I kept fighting back because I was so pissed, I was a bit out of control until he hit me hard enough to make me dizzy.”

Damon hummed thoughtfully, “Let’s see who intervenes when the Lockwood kid goes off…maybe it’s the ambiguously supernatural mystery uncle.”

Ren looked at him doubtfully, “What if Mason isn’t even around to see Carter go after Tyler?  He seems to be more gifted than Tyler but that doesn’t guarantee he’ll be there to intervene.”

“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”  Damon said easily and wandered off.

She shook her head as they watched him go, “He’s so problematic sometimes.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Stefan and Ren found Tyler and followed him from a distance out to the parking lot.  Carter came from the opposite side of the lot and as they were about to pass each other, he quite obviously bumped Tyler’s shoulder while he was texting.  Carter made it so painfully obvious that it was intentional by shrugging his shoulders and arms forward so that it looked ridiculous.  Ren had to bite down on her tongue to stop herself from laughing and giving themselves away as they crouched behind a parked car to watch.

Tyler turned to face the worker with an annoyed face, “Watch where you’re going.”

“You got a problem?”

“Yeah, you walked right into me,” Tyler said like it was obvious and he couldn’t believe the guy even had to ask.

“What are you gonna do about it?” Carter asked, the provocation clear in his tone.

Ren quickly whispered to Stefan, “If things go too far, you’ll intervene, yeah?  Tyler doesn’t need to catch a charge tonight because Damon was too liberal with his experiment’s guidelines.”  He nodded silently in response, reassuring her.

Tyler raised his eyebrows, “You’re kidding right?”  When Carter suddenly shoved him, he automatically flinched back and warned, “You better back off.”  When the worker repeated the same action, Tyler looked to be in disbelief.  He gave one final warning, “You hit me again and I swear to god–”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence before Carter swung at him, clipping his cheek and causing a grunt of pain to escape the teenager.  The two immediately started grappling to get a hold of each other, which Renfri thought looked kind of ridiculous since they were just shuffling in place, when another voice called out.

“Hey, Tyler!”

Mason quickly ran up to the two to break up the fight, causing Stefan and Ren to watch more carefully and cautiously.  Mason pried the them apart, but Carter kept trying to move towards the teenager.

Mason pushed him back with one hand firmly, “What the hell, man?”

Carter didn’t even look at him and went right towards his nephew, so the mysterious uncle grabbed the carnival worker by the throat, making Renfri’s eyes widen.  Carter knocked his hand away and punched Mason in the jaw, sending him reeling before he shoved him over the corner of a car, setting its alarm off.  Tyler lunged after seeing his uncle get attacked too, but Carter turned and tossed him, using his momentum against him.  Renfri was beginning to get skeptical, seeing as the loner surfer uncle just got owned by a random guy, until Mason came running back and vaulted back over the trunk of the car before leaping straight over the carnival worker and cleared him by several inches with his knees to his chest.  He did it in a way that was strange, like an animal on four legs, not someone practicing parkour.  When he landed on hands and feet in a crouch, facing his nephew, his eyes glowed amber.

“Your eyes,” Tyler said in surprise and Renfri pressed her lips together.  She knew Tyler couldn’t let that go, it was too much to ignore, beyond the abnormal strength and agility Mason had just displayed.  Mason turned and backhanded Carter so hard that he fell to the ground and didn’t get up right away.  Mason grabbed Tyler and tugged him along as he ran from the parking lot.

Stefan and Ren glanced at each other then came out from behind the car they’d been crouched behind to check on Carter.

“Hey, you alright, man?”  Stefan asked as Carter sat up and looked confused.  Renfri stiffened when she saw dark red liquid dripping down the man’s lips and she eyed Stefan warily but he seemed to hold his breath as he approached.

“...Why did I just do that?”

Renfri looked on in surprise as Stefan just shook his head and gave no answer while helping the guy up before he walked away, dabbing at his bleeding nose.

“I didn’t know someone could be hit so hard that it broke through compulsion,” Renfri remarked and turned to her younger uncle.

He watched Carter and shook his head slowly, “Not usually, but Damon can be kind of lazy with how he does it.  If the compulsion isn’t very powerful or deeply rooted, enough brain trauma can knock them out of it.  Maybe because it damages a part of the brain that the compulsion takes over?  I’m not sure.”

“Hmm, well, it seems we got our answer on Mason at least.  He’s definitely something, though Tyler I’m still doubtful of.  He didn’t do anything special.”  Stefan nodded thoughtfully and they headed back to the carnival together to find Damon, only for Stefan and Renfri to pause when their phones both vibrated in their pockets.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They were once again meeting in Alaric’s classroom, this time in the dark with only his desk lamp illuminating the space.  Damon sat on the edge of the teacher’s desk across from the anxious looking Elena while Stefan paced.  Renfri stood in front of her older uncle with her arms folded over her chest and deeply furrowed brows.

“How did this even happen?” Stefan demanded.

“Well, I fed her blood and Katherine obviously killed her, and A plus B equals…” Damon trailed off, not even needing to finish.

“But why, why would she turn Caroline?”  Elena asked.

“Because Katherine is a nasty, manipulative little slut,” Damon said bitterly.

“But she said ‘Game on,’ what does that even mean?” Stefan asked in frustration.

“It means she’s playing dirty and she wants us to know,” his brother replied.

“But why Caroline?” Elena asked again but Damon only shrugged.

“To fuck with you,” Renfri said, her voice betraying her anger, and they turned to look at the girl who had been oddly quiet up until then.  “She gets a kick out of pretending to be you to get close to Stefan, she’s screwed with Damon already, and now she’s screwing with you by going after the people you’re close to.  I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes after Jenna or Jeremy at some point, honestly.”

“What?  But what did I do–”

“Seemingly nothing, Elena, we don’t know why she’s doing this,” Renfri threw her hands up in frustration, “I think she’s lying through her teeth when she says it’s because she wants Stefan back.  She’s here for something else, otherwise she wouldn’t have come back now when she could have found him any other time.  She’s resourceful enough to have done it in the past hundred and fifty years.  She’s here for a different reason.”

Damon nodded in agreement, his eyes sharp as they met his nieces, noting the rage and worry in her eyes.

Stefan shook his head worriedly, “Caroline must be completely out of her mind, she has no idea what’s happening to her.”

“Oh, I think she does.”

They all turned to look at Damon questioningly and Ren asked, “What are you talking about?”

“All my compulsion from the past?  It started wearing off the minute she was in transition.”

The redhead sighed and nodded, “So her memories of you feeding on her made her realize what she was turning into.  That doesn’t mean she can control herself though, she could hurt somebody or expose herself.”

“We have to find her,” Stefan declared.

“Yup,” Damon said, “and kill her.”

Renfri looked at him in shock, “What?!”

Elena immediately denied him, “You’re not gonna kill Caroline,” she reached out to Stefan for comfort at the thought.

He had the gaul to look surprised, like it should be the obvious answer to their problem, “She knows who we are, she’s a liability, we’ve got to get rid of her.”

“Damon, absolutely not,” Stefan told his brother like he was crazy.

Renfri’s uncle looked at them in much the same way, “Need I remind you of the tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan?”  Stefan seemed to reluctantly take pause and Damon continued, “Yeah, Caroline of all people will not make it as a vampire, her mother’s a vampire hunter.”  Elena was shaking her head and wouldn’t look at him.  Renfri’s frustration was growing at his tone and assumption that they’d agree with him on killing their friend as he drawled, “Guys, come on, we all know how this story ends.  Flip to the last chapter and–”

“Shut the fuck up already.”  

The other three turned to look at Renfri who was scowling at her older uncle, “We’re not killing Caroline.”  Her older uncle glanced at her appraisingly before turning his eyes to his brother.

“No?  Your silence is deafening, Stefan.”

Renfri looked his way and was surprised to see him looking conflicted as Damon continued to make mocking allusions to the sad death of Matt’s sister, “Wasn’t there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki?  Huh, talk about a town where history repeats itself…you know I’m right.”

Stefan seemed to rock a bit where he leaned on the window sill and Renfri scoffed, “I don’t think you are.”  Damon’s eyes flicked to look at his niece doubtfully as she added, “Your drawing comparisons between two very different people.  Vicki was a mess and a drug addict with zero self-control or care for others, so of course she was a shit vampire.  Caroline may be a bit shallow and a control freak, but she actually does care about people.  Her need to be in control could actually help her in keeping a leash on her urges rather than send her into a tailspin like Vicki whose first priority was chasing a high to avoid any kind of negative feelings and not making sure she didn’t kill someone.”

Stefan nodded, seemingly more convinced by Ren’s arguments, “She’s right, but regardless, we need to find Caroline before she hurts somebody or she gets found out by the council.”  He moved past the two with Elena right on his heels.  Renfri glared at her uncle and he just shrugged innocently before they followed behind the other two.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Elena had asked Stefan point blank if he agreed with Damon, based on his stoic silence as they moved through the carnival crowd, but he said that he was only right about what was going to happen.  He thought Katherine had turned her to torture him because she would need to be put down and had ‘signed Caroline’s death warrant.’  

“Look, this isn’t helping, we need to find her,” Ren insisted before her eyes shifted to her uncle, “Stefan, if she’s attacked someone and there’s blood when we find her, will you be able to handle it?”

He glanced at her and hesitated before nodding, “I should be fine, as long as I stay away from the bleeding person I should be okay.  I really only lose control when I taste human blood.”

His girlfriend seemed appeased but his niece looked uncertain and unconsciously rubbed the side of her neck, “Yeah, but you recently had a…relapse, so are you sure?  Being around it, smelling it when it’s fresh, that won’t push you over the edge again?”

Stefan’s eyes tracked her hand as it fell from her neck and his eyes became remorseful, “Ren, you’re safe, I won’t lose control.”  He paused, “I know I lost your trust when I fed from you–”

“You didn’t just feed from me, Uncle Stefan, you almost killed me,” she whispered in a hoarse voice.

“Ren—” Elena tried to interrupt, but Stefan cut her off.

“No, she’s right, I almost killed her.  I’ll never be able to make up for that and you’ll never know how sorry I am, Ren.  I’ll stay away from anyone bleeding, if that makes you more comfortable.  I’d let Damon handle it alone if I could, but I don’t trust him to not kill her if I did.”

Renfri eyed the teenage vampire for a long moment before she nodded and let out a breath, “Alright, just be careful and focus on Caroline.  If anyone's bleeding, we’ll deal with them and you get yourself and Caroline away from there, okay?”  She waited for a nod before she gave a firm one herself and let him take the lead again.  Elena put a hand on her shoulder and gave a squeeze with a gentle, comforting smile before following her boyfriend.

“How are we going to find her?  Where could she be?” the brunette asked and Stefan suddenly stopped and turned back around, making Ren jerk to a halt to prevent herself from smacking into him.

“What?  What is it?”

“Do you hear her?  Stefan, what, what’s going on?”

“Elena, be quiet so he can—”

Stefan interrupted her and said, “It’s blood, I can smell blood,” before moving back towards the area behind the ferris wheel.  His steps faltered and he hissed, “Damon found her, she’s freaking out,” then he grabbed the both of them and took off in a blur.  Ren gasped when she was suddenly dropped onto asphalt, but steadied herself before looking around.  They were by some kind of back storage building with an open garage door and a flatbed truck parked by it.  

“Stefan!” came an annoyed voice.

The green-eyed vampire had knocked a wooden stake from his brother’s hands and pushed him away from Caroline who had blood smeared all over and around her mouth.  Elena and Ren stepped towards their friend carefully, glancing over to see Carter lying dead on the truck bed with his neck torn and covered in red, but Caroline flinched away and put her hands up defensively.

“Stay away from me, you killed me!” the blonde cried in a broken voice.

Elena shook her head and reached out to her, “Shhh, no, Caroline, that was Katherine, not me,” but Caroline just shook her head again with teary eyes and a grimace.

“No, she did, she killed me!”

Everyone froze and Stefan and Damon turned away from each other to look in disbelief as the newly turned vampire pointed an accusing finger at their shocked niece.  Renfri stood with her jaw dropped and she closed and opened her mouth, struggling to form words.

“I—you—what!?”

“Caroline, what are you talking about?  It was Katherine that killed you, right?”  Elena asked her desperately while glancing at her other friend in confusion and worry.

Stefan and Damon’s eyes widened as Caroline shook her head wildly, getting her hair in her face, “No, Renfri did.  Why did you do this to me, I thought we were friends?  Why!?”

Ren took a step back as each shouted question hit her like a bullet to the chest.  She was still unable to believe what her friend accused her of and replied shakily, “There’s no way—I’d never hurt you, Caroline!  You’re–you are my friend!”

“Could Caroline be compelled?” Elena asked uncertainly, trying to figure out what was happening.  Damon shook his head and moved up next to his niece who’s breathing had picked up pace, letting his arm brush against hers as he crossed them over his chest.

“No, compulsion is broken when you die, her real memories came back the moment she was in transition.”

Stefan moved towards the blonde and reached out slowly, “Caroline, are you sure it was Renfri who killed you?  Can you tell us exactly what happened?”  She flinched but let him put a comforting hand on her shoulder then moved it to rub her back.

She took a shaky breath and curled her hands into her chest, “I—I was in the hospital and I was sleeping.  I woke up when she came in, Ren said that she had a message for the Salvatores from Katherine: ‘Game on.’  Then she took my pillow and—and she pushed me down,”  Her voice became pinched and broke as she continued, “She held it over my face, I couldn’t breathe!  I tried to fight her but—”  She let out a sob and put her hands over her face.

Renfri sucked in a sharp breath as her friend confirmed that she had ended her life and forced her into transition, “I—I killed her?  But…”  She shook her head, lost for words.  Stefan wrapped an arm around the newly turned vampire and began to guide her away with a sad glance at his niece.

“I’m sorry, Caroline.  She didn’t mean to, someone made her do it.  Just come with me.”

“Katherine must have told you to do it when she compelled you to invite her in,” Damon surmised then turned to his brother who was moving the blonde away from the group.  “Stefan, she’s gonna die, it’s only a matter of time.”

His little brother looked over his shoulder firmly, “Yeah, maybe so, but it’s not gonna be tonight,” and turned to lead the baby vampire away.

“Oh yeah, it is.”

Renfri jumped and gasped again as Damon sped behind them before moving past her towards her bloody friend.  

“No!”

Elena flung herself between the two vampires and Damon stopped inches away with the stake raised as Elena stared up at him desperately.  Renfri took the pause as her chance and ran to put herself next to Elena, blocking his access to Caroline as well.

“She’s my friend,” Elena pleaded.

“Uncle Damon, please,” his blue eyes shifted to his niece as tears gathered in her eyes but she refused to let them fall, “Katherine made me kill her, and I don’t even remember doing it!”  She swallowed the lump building in her throat and her voice came out a bit stronger, “She’s my friend too, so please…let us help her.”

His face remained stoic as he studied her face then Elena’s before slowly lowering the stake.

“Fine,” he looked to his niece, “if that’s what you want.”  His eyes pierced the two girls, “But whatever happens is on you.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”  Damon slowly took a few steps back and Ren felt like she could breathe again.  She nodded to him in thanks and one tear escaped down her cheek in relief which she quickly swept it away.  

The two girls turned to Caroline who flinched when she looked at Renfri.  The redhead slowly and carefully reached for her friend and lightly grabbed her hand in both of hers.

“Caroline, I’m so sorry.  I don’t even remember doing it, but Katherine forced me to, she controlled my mind.  I hope you can forgive me eventually, I would never intentionally hurt you.”  Caroline looked at her with watery eyes and wobbly lips.  She seemed hesitant but also clearly wanted to believe her, so she gave a jerky nod.  Ren let loose a sigh of relief and released her hand.

Elena waved in her boyfriend’s direction, “Go with Stefan, Care, he’ll help you.  We can talk later.”  As the two turned towards the building they halted again as they saw Bonnie move out of the shadow of the garage door, staring wide-eyed at her friend who had a blood drying around her mouth.

“No, you’re not—you can’t be,” Bonnie shook her head in denial as she stared at the undeniable evidence of the new vampire in front of her.  She suddenly strode forward and Renfri moved to block her.

“Please, I need to know.  I need to feel–” the girl cut herself off, unable to even voice her fears.  Renfri watched her warily but nodded and stayed still as she allowed Bonnie to reach around her to grab Caroline’s arm to feel the truth of the situation with her powers.  The blonde girl only looked distraught and confused as the witch held her arm while staring at her in horror.

“Bonnie?” Caroline asked brokenly as the witch’s eyes filled with despair and she stepped back.  She shook her head then looked past them and to the body lying still on the truck bed.

“Oh god,” she gasped and moved to grip the edge of the flatbed as she stared at the body of the cute boy she had been flirting with not too long ago.  Elena pushed Caroline gently and Stefan pulled her away to get cleaned up.  Renfri felt a bit of relief as Stefan walked away from the scene, and the fresh body her friend had torn open.

She heard Bonnie inhale wetly and she turned to see the girl had begun to shake and held a hand over her mouth to suppress the sobs.  Renfri couldn’t help but feel a little bit bad for the girl, twice now she’d been screwed over just after becoming interested in a guy: Ben had been a vampire who kidnapped her and Carter was almost immediately killed by one after they met.  She glanced at Elena who was watching her friend with pity and sadness.

Bonnie sniffed, tears pouring from her eyes freely now and she turned away from the body, “Oh god, I can’t believe this is happening.”

Damon had gone off and returned quickly with a shovel in hand from the other side of the truck.  Renfri supposed he planned on burying the body somewhere in the woods, again.

“Oh, come on, don’t pout about it,” he told her lazily, “we’ve got a body to bury.”  He rounded the platform and came up beside the brunette, and at Elena’s affronted look he turned to her and said, “I thought you were calling the shots, no?”  When Elena said nothing and Ren just sighed tiredly, he lifted the shovel onto the platform next to the dead man and said flippantly, “Sucks to be you, buddy.”

Suddenly, Damon clutched his head and doubled over while groaning in pain.  Renfri straightened and moved toward him.

“Damon? What…”  She heard the squeak of metal and turned to see the hose turn on and the open end of the rubber tubing shift so the water spilled in their direction.  Damon cried out as the pain seemed to increase and he dropped to the ground as Ren looked up at the distraught Bennett witch.

“This is your fault, he’s dead because of you.”

“Ahhh, I didn’t do this!” Damon yelled as the spell, what Renfri guessed to be a brain aneurysm, continued to keep him down.

“Bonnie, stop this right now,” Renfri spat out angrily as she glared at the witch, still crouched beside her uncle.  

“She’s right, Bonnie, you need to stop, this wasn’t his fault,” Elena said quickly in concern.

The Bennett girl scowled through her tears at her brown-haired friend, “Everything that’s happened is his fault, Elena,” she turned to look at the vampire on the ground with her eyes full of grief and blame.

“Bonnie, stop, if you don’t—”

Elena interrupted Ren, “Bonnie what are you doing?” They watched as the water reached her uncle’s pant leg.  He looked up at this, grimacing through the pain, and all their eyes widened as the water by the mouth of the house was set on fire, as simply as if it was gasoline.  The fire quickly followed the liquid across the asphalt and to the two Salvatores huddled on the ground.  Renfri jumped back in shock as the fire lit her uncle’s pant leg on fire and crawled up his calf.  

He began to shout as he slapped desperately at the flames, his sleeve catching on fire as well.  Renfri watched with wide eyes and tears formed at the corners as the fire began to engulf the bottom half of her uncle.  Her eyes shifted across the blazing line and found Bonnie Bennett as she muttered her spell while watching the vampire burn.

Renfri grit her teeth then took a running leap over the line of flames, just as Elena called out to Bonnie and was ignored.  The Bennett witch seemed to be in a trance, she didn’t even seem to see her approach.

Not until an open hand cracked across her face.

Bonnie’s head snapped to one side and she stumbled, nearly falling over from the force of the blow until Elena caught her after jumping over the dying flames.

The redhead whirled back around and hurried back to her uncle while pulling her light jacket off.  She used it to smother the flames on Damon frantically while trying to keep from burning her hands as well.  By the time she was done, she was crouched over her uncle and holding her burnt jacket to him tightly as both their chests heaved from their panic.  The overwhelming terror at possibly losing a family member again had pushed Renfri into a shaking mess of fear which quickly transformed into a seething rage.  

She stood, the air puffing past her lips as they curled into a snarl even as her tears still fell, and turned to find both girls staring at her in shock.  Bonnie had a hand held to the left side of her face while Elena’s mouth was gaping open.  

“You can’t blame him for this,” Renfri growled, “He only did what you demanded of him by feeding her his blood, and it saved her life, but Katherine made me kill her.  I don’t give a shit what you think about him, Bonnie Bennett, but you will NOT take the only family I have left from me!”  Her voice had risen to a hoarse shout by this point.  “If you think you’re so high and mighty just because he’s a vampire and you’re a witch, then you need to grow the fuck up!  Trying to kill him because you blame him makes you like him.  Just stay away from both of us, and if you try to kill him again, I’ll make you regret it.”

Bonnie stared with wide eyes as the redhead spun back around to crouch by her uncle, not waiting for an answer from her ex-friend.  

He groaned as he pushed himself up onto his elbows and hissed, “I should kill her for—Ow!”  He yelped as Ren slapped one of the healing burns on his legs.

“Shut up, Uncle Damon, I just saved your sorry ass.  Maybe you should learn when to shut your mouth.  Your douchebag comments are really going to get you killed one day…and I can’t bear that.”  Her face fell and she dragged her sleeve across her face to erase the tear tracks.  Damon looked at her for a moment as he sat up, glancing at Elena who was herding Bonnie away from them, and sat up fully.  He stared at his niece, who determinedly kept her head down as she pulled her burnt jacket from his legs and watched as the skin healed over through the holes where the fire had burned through the denim.  

Renfri felt a hand clap onto her shoulder and she tilted her head in his direction but didn’t look up as he spoke lowly, “Don’t worry, Red, I don’t plan on dying anytime soon…now let’s get off the ground so we can bury a body.”

She couldn’t help the snort that escaped her despite her still watery eyes, “Yeah, alright, I guess I’ll be your accomplice for tonight.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The microwave beeped incessantly until the door was opened and the mug of hot milk was removed.  Renfri scooped brown powder into it and stirred until the liquid turned a light brown before she sprayed a swirl of whipped cream into the cup and then her mouth.

“Ooo, gimme some,” Damon said as he walked into the kitchen.  She managed a smirk even as her cheeks were puffed out from the whipped cream.  She tossed the can over the island at him and he caught it with one hand then squirted some straight into his mouth as well.  Renfri turned around and headed for the door as she took a sip from her mug of hot chocolate.

“You healed up okay from the burns?” she asked as he tossed the can back into the fridge.

“Yup, a fresh bag of blood and I’m as good as new, easy.”  He shrugged as they walked down the hall, “Though what I really need is something a bit stronger after today’s events.”  

She snorted, “You mean being set on fire by a spiteful witch was mentally straining enough to push you to drink?  Odd.”  He rolled his eyes at her sarcasm as they turned into the den and he moved straight to the liquor table.  Renfri passed it and headed for the couch on the left.  As she turned her body to sit, she paused as she saw Ash sitting happily at the feet of an unexpected visitor sitting in one of the chairs against the wall behind them.

Damon tilted his head in the same direction slightly but continued to pour a glass of bourbon, “The hell are you doing here?”  Renfri lowered her mug as she glanced warily between her uncle and the youngest Gilbert sitting with a dark hoodie on and a stake in his hand as her dog sat with his tail wagging beside him.

“You don’t lock your front door,” Jeremy said simply.

“Yeah,” Damon replied dryly while Ren looked at him pointedly, as if to say ‘this is why you should.’  He then went to take a sip of his drink of choice.

“I wouldn’t,” Jeremy said quickly and Damon paused, “I laced it with vervain.”  Damon sniffed the glass lightly before dropping it onto the table quickly, annoyed.  He turned to the boy as Renfri approached and grabbed the glass to smell it as well, catching a bitterness that was almost hidden by the dry burn of the alcohol.  She took a sip and stared at the liquid oddly. 

“I can smell it…and taste it,” she murmured in confusion and her uncle glanced at her questioningly before he looked back at the younger teenager in the room.

“And why would you do that?” the vampire asked, his eyes sharp.

Jeremy held up the jagged piece of wood in his hand, “So I could stake you, with this.”

“You came here to kill me?”

He shrugged and tossed the stake on the floor in Damon’s direction, “You killed me first.”  Renfri raised an eyebrow as she watched the oldest Salvatore stoop to pick up the length of wood.

“Doesn’t seem like you really thought it through, especially since it looks like you’ve changed your mind,” she commented.

“What made you wisen up?” Damon asked calmly, since the kid didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking him.  Jeremy shook his head and ran a hand down the dog’s head and neck.

“My father hated vampires, my uncle too.  They were absolute, they knew exactly what they stood for,” Jeremy told them as Damon took a seat on the couch on the right and she followed suit on the opposite one.  “I figured maybe I should too—stand up for something.”

Renfri sighed, “Jer, you decided to try to kill vampires because you wanted to be like your dad and uncle?  By the way, John is a shit role model, so I’d think twice about doing anything in his image.”

The boy nodded, “Yeah, you’re right.  After I planned on killing him I thought, ‘What’s that going to do?’”  He looked to the vampire in the room and Renfri watched hesitantly for his reaction.

Damon twisted the stake in his hands, “Look, I don’t do the big brother thing very well, sorry I don’t have any milk and cookies to offer you.”

Jeremy’s face shifted immediately into anger and regret at opening up to the vampire and he stood.

“Dick,” he muttered and turned for the doorway.

“Uncle Damon,” Ren murmured under her breath scoldingly and he rolled his eyes but called out.

“Wait.”  Jeremy paused in the doorway and turned to look at the older man as he twirled the wood in his hands, “My father hated vampires too.”

Jeremy looked surprised, “He did?”

Damon made a face like ‘of course’ and told him, “Same reason yours did.”

Ren snorted, “Just like every superstitious person back then who believed in the ‘demons of the night,’ right?”

Damon smirked, “Yep, very typical,” he looked at Jeremy, “except it was 1864 and people knew how to widdle.”  He held up the sad excuse of a stake that the boy had butchered, which made Jeremy give a startled laugh along with Ren.  

“Did you do this?” Damon asked and Jeremy shrugged.

“Yeah, I tried, it’s harder than it looks.”

“Clearly,” Renfri remarked and Jeremy rolled his eyes at her.  Damon smirked as Renfri leaned further back into the couch with her hot chocolate, a smile pulling at her lips as she was finally able to relax again.  As Jeremy turned to leave and Damon got up to get an untainted bottle of bourbon, she pulled out her phone.  She stared at it for a few seconds, feeling conflicted, before she began typing.

Hey, Care.  I know you might not want to see me because of what happened and I know it might be hard for you to, but I want you to know that I’ll be here to talk or help you adjust however I can if you’ll let me.  

Renfri added a few heart emojis before she hit send with a sigh and tucked her phone away before taking another sip of the warm, creamy drink.  Ash joined her on the couch to curl up alongside her legs and Damon settled into the opposite couch with a fresh drink as they settled into a calm silence in front of the crackling fire.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

The microwave jolted Renfri from her thoughts as she waited for her vervain tea to be ready and she hurriedly grabbed at the door, only to hear a snapping sound.  She looked down at her hand to find the handle sitting in it, having detached from the door of the device.

“What the fuck?!” she exclaimed and Stefan appeared behind her.

“What’s wrong?…Oh.”  When his eyes found the plastic gripped in her hand and not on the microwave, he looked confused, “How did that happen?”

She looked up at him, just as perplexed, “Hell if I know, I went to open it and it broke off.”  She eyed it uncertainly, “Maybe you or Damon pulled too hard and weakened it or something, enough for it to break when I used it.”  She shook her head and dropped the handle on the island counter while Stefan just raised his eyebrows doubtfully.  She removed the mug from the now broken appliance and dropped a tea bag from the box into it.  She grabbed some honey and milk to add and stirred it as she followed Stefan back out into the den.  She caught a whiff of aftershave and vervain as they turned into the living area.

“Ah, Alaric’s here,” she commented as she saw him seated across from Elena on one of the couches.

The teacher nodded, “Yeah, Elena mentioned you needed my help?”

“Yeah, we were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family,” Stefan replied as he sat next to Elena and Renfri sat on the girl’s other side where Ash was lying by the foot of the couch.

Elena turned to her curiously, “What happened in the kitchen?  Stefan just disappeared.”

Renfri shook her head in annoyance, “Just me breaking kitchen appliances while trying to make my morning tea.  The handle of the microwave snapped right off, I blame living with vampires, they must have damaged it before it broke off in my hand.”

Elena raised her eyebrows as her friend took a sip of her tea and wrinkled her nose before reaching to set it down on the side table.  The brunette turned to look at the other men who only looked back in confusion.  Alaric just looked between them all uncertainly before looking back to Damon who sat on the arm of the sofa by his niece.

“Okay, well, why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?” he asked, bringing the conversation back on topic.

“Well, you wouldn’t,” Damon said immediately, “but your dead, not-dead vampire wife might.”

“Isabel’s research,” Elena added when Alaric took pause at Damon’s answer, “You said when you guys were together she had spent years researching this town.”

Renfri sat forward a bit, “You said she researched the supernatural, right?  That’s how she became obsessed with vampires?”

Alaric tilted his head to the side, “Isabel’s research, here, in Mystic Falls, was rooted in folklore and legend.  At the time, I thought most of which was fiction—”

“Like that amazing vampire story,” Damon added with a sarcastic smile.

Alaric nodded at him obligingly and Ren asked, “Aside from vampires, what else did she research?”

“The lycanthrope.”

They all glanced at each other suspiciously and Elena leaned forward, “Wait, like, werewolves?”

Damon leaned back and shook his head, “No way, not possible, way too Lon Chaney.”

“Is it?” Elena asked.

“I’ve been on this planet a hundred and sixty some odd years, never come across one,” Damon insisted but Renfri looked thoughtful.

“But that’s not that long compared to other vampires, what if you just never met any?  Or didn’t know you did?  Vampires look normal up until they try to bite you, what if werewolves can too?”

Damon huffed, “Okay, if they exist, where the hell are they?”

Alaric shook his head, not having an answer, so he asked another question, “Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?”

Damon glanced at his niece and said, “Because vervain didn’t affect the mayor on Founder’s Day and the Gilbert device did.”

“It affected Tyler too…and me,” Renfri added and Alaric’s eyebrows raised a bit.

“And at the school carnival his uncle, Mason, exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought one of the carnival workers, it suggested some sort of a supernatural entity,” Stefan concluded.

Elena joined in, “We were hoping Isabel’s research could help us figure out what it is and maybe what Ren could be too.”  The other teenager nodded in confirmation when the teacher looked at her.

“Well, her things are still at Duke, I mean her office is still there…she’s technically still missing.”  They all looked around awkwardly at that, knowing the truth behind that.

Damon threw up his hands in question, “So, can we get access to it or not?”  Alaric rolled his head on his shoulders, seemingly hesitant, and Renfri frowned.

Damon continued to push before she could, “Ric, we don’t know what we’re dealing with.  If this wolf-man thing is true, I’ve seen enough movies to know it’s not good.  It means Mason Lockwood is a real-life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney Jr., which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is screwed.”

Despite his cavalier language, Ren could tell that Damon was actually serious about his concern, and she added, “We should also look into any other supernatural research she had.  The Lockwoods may be werewolves, though I’m still not sure about Tyler, but we don’t know if I am.  I could be something else we haven’t thought of yet or don’t know about.  We don’t really know anything about why the device affected me, we’re only guessing at this point.”

Alaric looked between her and the others for a moment before he sighed, “Alright, I’ll call her office to see if we can go under the guise of packing up some of her stuff.”

Renfri nodded and smiled gratefully as the others seemed satisfied to be able to research the recent supernatural oddity in town; hopefully getting some answers to their questions.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Alaric’s white SUV was parked on the street outside the Gilbert house as Damon and Ren leaned against it, waiting for the rest of their group to come out so they could leave for Duke.  

Renfri shifted towards her uncle and asked, “Is it bad that I can hear most of Ric and Jenna’s awkward conversation across the yard?”

He glanced at her curiously, “Hmm, not sure, but I’d guess that that and the fact that you broke the microwave means you’ve got enhanced senses and strength.  And don’t even argue about it, you know Stefan and I didn’t break it, you did, so suck it up.”

She pouted a bit before sobering again, “Do you think I could be a werewolf or something else?”

He shrugged, “Who knows, though I’m hoping you’re not a werewolf, because it’d be a bit awkward if you decided I looked like a tasty treat each month.  Who knows, you could be a fairy for all we know.”  She rolled her eyes and turned to watch as Elena and Stefan trotted down the porch steps and headed their way with Alaric not far behind.

As they came up to the vehicle, Damon remarked, “Sorry you can’t come too, Stef,” and gave a smug smile.  

Stefan ignored him and told Elena, “Call me if you need anything.”

“Oh, I’ll take really good care of her,” Damon replied despite not being addressed, clearly trying to piss off his brother.  Elena obviously did not appreciate it because she tossed her jacket and bag through the window before grabbing her boyfriend by the back of the neck to pull him into an intimate kiss.  Damon just looked at them neutrally for a second before turning his head away.  Renfri mentally sighed and decided to break the awkward tension.

“Elena, you harlot!” She slapped a hand over Damon’s eyes, making him jump slightly in surprise, and the other over her own as the couple parted, “How dare you sully our eyes like this, I thought you were pure!”  

Jenna laughed from the porch as she and Alaric parted ways while Damon pushed Ren’s hand away with a chuckle.  He winked at her before turning to open his door and get in the passenger seat.  The brunette only shook her head at her friends' antics but allowed a small smile, like Stefan.  She hopped into the back seat, quickly followed by Ren who pushed her further in, deciding it was best not to have her sit directly behind the man who thought it was smart to provoke the person he wanted forgiveness from.  

“Alright, let’s get going.  This is going to be nearly a full day trip and I can’t tolerate all of you together for that long without aid, so shut it and leave me be,” Renfri declared before stuffing her earbuds in and settling in for the ride.  

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She’d ignored the others for the most part, blasting her music while getting some homework done (purposefully ignoring Damon and Elena’s bickering about Jeremy and whether or not he saw the ring) then took a short nap for the last leg of the drive.  Once they arrived and Elena had shaken Renfri awake, allowing her to stretch and crack various parts of her stiff body, they filed out of the vehicle and followed Alaric to Isabel’s office.  Renfri checked her phone, which she had put on ‘do not disturb’ for the ride.  Caroline had texted her with an update which she announced to the group as they walked across the campus.

“Looks like Stefan convinced Bonnie to make Caroline a daylight ring, it’s the least she can do since she keeps fucking up,” she told them, “Care’s not too happy about the ring itself, but is excited to not burn in the sunlight.”

Damon nodded, “Yeah, it’s a nice little treat.  Blondie should be grateful, daylight rings aren’t common among vampires.”

“Why is that?” Elena asked.

“Let me guess,” Ren answered, “because only witches can make them and witches tend to hate vampires?”

“Got it in one,” Damon said with a grin as he pointed at her. “Emily was kind enough to give Stef and I our daylight rings, probably because she felt bad about helping Katherine cause chaos and turn us, but it’s pretty convenient to have.”

“I bet it is, I’m sure you’d have a harder time finding victims or blending into small town life if you couldn’t come out during the day,” Alaric remarked dryly and Elena hummed in agreement exaggeratedly. 

“Well, it works out for me, at least.  I get a legal guardian who is visibly part of the town populace and not some mysterious loner who only comes out in the dark like a serial killer,” Ren commented.

“I’m pretty sure he’s worse than a serial killer,” Ric replied.

“Oh, Ric, I’m not that bad,” Damon assured him.

Renfri raised her eyebrows, “Yeah, right now, but what about when your humanity’s off?  Has that ever happened?”

Damon deliberately looked away before he cleared his throat, “Yeah, that’s nothing you want to hear about.  Anyway, where’s the undead bitch’s office?”

Renfri silently took note of the quiet pause he’d taken before deflecting the conversation away from his time with his humanity switched off, but decided not to address it unless it seemed dire.  She had assumed he’d had his off before, like Stefan clearly had, but wondered how his experience might have differed.  She supposed it wasn’t something someone easily talked about, Stefan was obviously ashamed of those times and maybe Damon was too.  She glanced at her uncle and wondered how long ago, or how recently, his humanity had been off.

“Here we are,” Ric said as they entered one of the buildings, “So Isabel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomena are rooted in folklore.”  As they entered the main lobby and saw a young woman, he called out, “Excuse me, hi, I’m Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier?”  

The young woman with medium brown hair and blue eyes closed the file drawer she was in and nodded with a smile, “Yes, uh, of course, I’m Vanessa Monroe: research assistant in comparative folklore.”  As she shook his hand, her gaze strayed to the other three, lingering on Damon and Elena, before she started talking again.  “Oh, let me just grab Isabel’s keys—”

Alaric, catching her stare, introduced them, “Ah, I’m sorry, these are my friends Elena, Damon, and Renfri, I hope it isn’t too much of an imposition.”

Vanessa gave a pleasant smile and quickly waved him off, “Please.  Isabel’s office is right through there.  Isabel was one of my first professors, I’m a grad student.  She was…brilliant.”  Vanessa opened a drawer and pulled some keys out then leaned on the desk, “She’s one of the reasons I went into folklore…I have to ask, has there been any news?”  

At this, a bit of tension leaked into the air and Alaric’s face became stoic, “No.  No, I’m afraid not.”

“Oh, well, this way,” she said as she unlocked a connecting door and led them into a spacious office filled with dark wood, antique looking furniture, and the walls covered in bookshelves and old looking file cabinets.  Every surface was chock full of books, tomes, and papers of a large variety.  “Feel free to look around, I’ll grab the light,” she told them and walked out again.

The four of them split apart to different areas of the room to look through the materials but after a little bit, Ren looked up and around the room curiously, looking for the research assistant.

Clearly thinking the same thing, Damon asked, “Where’d she go?”  Ren heard footsteps and Elena turned to look with her as Vanessa stopped in the doorway holding, to their surprise, a loaded crossbow.  

They both sucked in sharp breaths and Damon looked up just in time for the woman to pull the trigger while aiming at Elena.  Renfri lunged desperately for her friend, crossing half the room’s length quickly in an attempt to block the shot, but Damon beat her to it.  In an instant, Damon was in front of Elena and the arrow pierced his flesh before a groan was heard as he stood protectively over the shocked girl. The crossbow bolt was sticking out from between his shoulder blades and he grabbed a shelf behind her in an attempt to hold himself up before he collapsed to his hands and knees on the floor.  Renfri stared at him in horror, realizing the bolt was wooden, but felt immense relief when he didn’t turn gray and desiccate.  She whipped around to bare her teeth in an angry snarl at the woman who had attacked her uncle, rushing towards where Alaric was already holding her against the doorframe.  The teacher held her firmly, having thrown the weapon away from them, but was shocked when Renfri shouldered him aside and grabbed the woman by the throat.   

Vanessa’s hands immediately went to yank at the one squeezing her neck so tightly that air barely made it through but the furious girl’s grip didn’t falter as she glared at the woman.

“What the fuck was that!?” Renfri growled into the woman’s face, but she couldn’t reply and only continued to sputter in an attempt to suck in air.  When she clawed at Renfri’s hands, digging in her nails in her desperation, the girl hissed but just threw her to the floor, causing Vanessa’s head to bounce on the wood panels.

“Hey, Renfri!” Alaric yelled and got between them, his hands raised up defensively to ward off any further advancement on the young woman.  Elena had gasped at the display of violence from her friend and Damon had turned his head enough to see his niece attacking the woman who had shot him.  From his position on the floor, he was able to watch with some surprise and pride as her eyes blazed with protective rage while grabbing the attacker in a chokehold before sending her to the floor when scratched.  Elena ran forward to wrap her arms around Ren whose chest was heaving from the anger coursing through her at the research assistant who had shot her uncle.

She had almost elbowed the person who had grabbed her in the gut when she heard Elena’s voice shushing her, “Ren, it’s okay!  Damon’s gonna be okay, calm down, Ric has her.  You don’t need to hurt her, let’s help Damon, okay?”  Elena’s murmured reassurances helped take the redhead’s focus off of the young woman now gratefully sucking in gulps of air as Alaric hauled her up and pulled her into the other room, away from the others.

Elena tugged on Ren’s shoulders, which were still trembling with emotion, to get her to face them.  When she heard a groan, Renfri allowed herself to be turned and saw Damon slowly and carefully getting up from the floor, the arrow shifting as his muscles moved.  She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths as Elena continued to make shushing noises intended to help calm her down before she opened them and moved toward her uncle.

“Don’t move too much, the wood will shift inside you.”

Damon laughed dryly, “Yeah, well I’d rather be standing when this damn thing comes out, gotta maintain some dignity.”  He was hunched over the top of the built-in shelves underneath the large windows letting the sunlight into the room.  Elena released her, seeing that she was now calm and wouldn’t go after the woman…at the moment.  Renfri was still fuming inside but she’d calmed down enough to decide to focus on getting the arrow out of her uncle’s back.

She stepped up behind him hesitantly, unsure if he had a preference on how she should go about getting it out, when he interrupted her speculation.

“Just pull the damn thing out already, Red,” he hissed, “I can’t reach it and it hurts.”  She glanced at him before nodding and, without a word, yanked the wooden bolt from between his shoulder blades.  He straightened immediately after a grunt and shook his shoulders out while Renfri fiddled with the hole in his shirt, checking to make sure the wound was healing and he shrugged her off as he relieved the tension in his muscles.

“Ooo, haaa, yeah, that bitch is dead.”

He turned to head for the door but Elena quickly intercepted him, holding up a hand, “Uh, you’re not gonna kill her.”

Damon only smirked gleefully, “Watch me.”

“She kind of deserves it,” Renfri muttered resentfully, the anger still bubbling under her skin. 

As he nodded and moved past Elena, the girl turned to call out, “You touch her and I swear that I will never speak to you again.”

He stopped to face her as his face twisted at the statement, “What makes you think that has any power over me?”  Renfri rolled her eyes and looked away from the two as she crossed her arms, seeing the beginning of more bickering about to happen.

When Elena looked down without answering, he sauntered towards her, “Because I took an arrow in the back for you?  You are severely overestimating yourself right now.”  He casually reached over to sling an arm over her shoulder which was quickly pushed away.

“Right, I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively,” she shrugged, “Fine, go ahead, do whatever you want.”

Damon stared down at her, “You’re trying to manipulate me.”

“If by manipulate you mean ‘tell the truth,’ okay, guilty,” she looked back at him calmly while he only smirked at her attempts to control him.  

When he said nothing, Renfri interjected, “Well, back on topic.  Although I’d have liked to kill her in the moment, upon reflection I realize that we would likely be caught walking a dead body across campus, and at the very least, Alaric’s call would be on the phone records and the campus security cameras would show us having visited.  Not the most well thought out murder, yeah?”

Damon chuckled and shook his head as he moved over to her.  He surprised her by cupping the back of her head and pressing his lips to her temple quickly.

When she looked up at him in surprise he drawled, “Thanks for defending my honor, Red, but I prefer to get my own hands dirty when it comes to revenge.”  He stepped back and Ren noticed that Elena’s eyebrows had shot up.  Clearly she had never seen him act so caring and…familial.  Well, neither had Ren, but she was delighted.  She allowed herself a small smile, not too big in case he got twitchy at what he would deem an overly sappy reaction, no doubt.

“I reserve the right to get angry on your behalf,” she said and he raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief.

“Sure, but that wasn’t just anger, Red, that was rage.  Maybe even some supernatural strength, you had a pretty tight grip on her with only one hand and she still couldn’t fight you off.   Looks like you are…something.”

Renfri dropped her smile, not having thought about that aspect of what she had just done.  She supposed it wasn’t normal that she could hold a full grown woman who was about her size against a doorframe with one hand tight enough to cut off her air and it not even loosen when pulled at.  So maybe she did have some enhanced strength…and possibly speed, she had moved for Elena, and then Vanessa, pretty quickly, though clearly not nearly as fast as her uncle could.

“I guess you’re right,” she muttered, having thought it over, “I don’t know where it came from, what if it was just adrenaline?”

Damon shrugged, “Who knows?  I guess we’ll wait and see.  You weren’t kidding about getting angry though,” he cocked his head to one side before turning away, “almost like that Tyler kid.”

Renfri raised her eyebrows at that but said nothing, only glancing at Elena who gave her a small hesitant smile.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out, maybe Isabel will have something in her research that will help us figure out what you are,” Elena reassured her, patting the redhead’s shoulder as they moved to follow Damon into the other room where Alaric and Vanessa were.

They found the research assistant sitting in the desk chair while Alaric leaned on the desk beside her.  As the other three entered, the woman visibly stiffened but didn’t move, watching warily while glancing at the teacher.

Elena walked up to her as Damon and Renfri stopped on either side of her, facing the desk, and said, “I’m Elena Gilbert, Isabel’s daughter and the descendant of Katherine Pierce.”  Vanessa looked at Alaric as if to check if the girl was lying but his straight face seemed to confirm it for her and Elena continued, “And this is Damon Salvatore, who you just shot, and Renfri is his niece.”

Damon grinned savagely, “I’d be extra nice to me right now…and Red, she just might choke the life out of you if you try that again.”

Ren snorted while still frowning deeply at the woman, “I’m pretty sure you’d get to her before I could.  Besides, if she’s stupid enough to shoot at what she thought might be a vampire when it wasn’t actually threatening her, she could be stupid enough to try again, then it’d be perfectly justified.”  Damon hummed in agreement while the woman tensed even further, if that were possible, but Elena put her hands out in an attempt to ease the tension.

“Look, we need your help, okay?  We need to see all of Isabel’s research, anything related to Mystic Falls and supernatural creatures in the area.”  The woman looked shocked that she was being asked for help rather than bound, gagged, and thrown in a trunk for later disposal.  Renfri didn’t care what the woman thought though, as long as she understood the consequences of acting rashly a second time.

“Umm, okay…I can do that,” she paused and her eyes moved to Renfri as she rubbed her bruising neck, “Are you a vampire too?”

The redhead snorted, “No, but that’s part of what we’re here for.  It turns out that I have some kind of enhanced abilities, indicating I could be something supernatural, but we don’t know what.”

The young woman nodded uncertainly and slowly got up from her chair, watching them for sudden movements as she moved towards a pile of boxes in the corner.   Renfri and Damon had moved back into the other room and were digging through boxes and scanning the bookshelves when Vanessa lifted a box onto the desk beside Elena.

“This box tracks Katherine’s arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864.”

Elena looked at the files and a leather bound book, “Is that all there is about her?”

“All that I’m aware of,” the researcher replied.

Renfri listened as she scanned the shelves in the connecting room, making use of her new enhanced hearing to follow the conversation.  She didn’t trust the woman further than she could throw her…which might be farther than she originally might have thought.

“Here,” she heard Elena say in a hushed voice, “take this.”

“Does vervain really work?”

“Nope, not at all,” her uncle called loudly without turning as he sifted through a box of artifacts and papers.

There was a pause, “Can he hear us?”

“No, that would be creepy!” Damon said in a stage whisper.

Renfri snorted and said clearly, “We both can.”

Vanessa’s voice came out slightly more nervous, “Can he read minds too?”

“You know, if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask,” Damon replied and faced the girls, making Renfri roll her eyes.

“No, he can’t do that,” Elena told her firmly and Renfri peaked over her shoulder to see the woman tucking the vervain Elena had handed her into her shirt pocket.  She snorted and shook her head, just because vervain prevented compulsion didn’t mean it could save you from being killed.  She’d bet that if a vampire compelled this woman, she wouldn’t have the calm and sense to pretend she didn’t know what they were and they’d kill her anyway.

“He is capable of being a first-rate jackass,” Elena said quietly to Vanessa, fully knowing they could hear, and Ren couldn’t help but smirk as he turned to give the girl a look before smiling himself.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As they continued to dig through some of the boxes of Isabel’s research, Renfri chose to ignore the continued bickering between Damon and Elena, flipping through some old history book about the commonwealth of Virginia, checking the marked pages for anything relevant.

“Hey guys, look at this,” Alaric spoke up and they all gathered around the desk as he turned a wide book towards them.  It had faded but colorful sketches in them in a foreign language from some ancient civilization, possibly in southern North America or even South America by Renfri’s guess.

Vanessa took the book and reviewed the page for a few seconds before telling them, “There’s no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls but here are some records of some of the lesser-known legends, everything from the Scandinavian skinwalkers to the Maréchal de Retz.”  She pointed to the page it was open to and handed it to Damon who had come up next to her with Ren peaking over his shoulder and Elena on his other side, “Tonantzin li metzly, which roughly translates into ‘the curse of the sun and the moon.’”

Alaric looked contemplative, “It’s Native American?”

“Aztec,” she corrected as Damon turned the page to more related sketches, “It explains one origin of the werewolf curse through Virginia.  The short story: 600 years ago the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires.  They terrorized the countryside and made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon.  As a result, vampires could only come out at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon.  When the full moon crests in the sky, whoever’s unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf.”

“Can they control the transformation?” Damon asked.

Vanessa looked at him like it was obvious, “If it were a choice it wouldn’t be called a curse.”

Renfri let out a little sigh, “Well, at least we can rule out that option for me, I haven’t been turning into a wolf on full moons, as far as I know.”

“Wait,” Elena said, her voice revealing a hint of hope, “but didn’t the warning Emily tell you say something about ‘a curse in your veins’?  What if it’s the werewolf curse and you just didn’t know you were changing?”

Renfri looked at her skeptically, “I doubt my parents or Zach wouldn’t have noticed me turning into a furry four-legged animal once a month.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right,” Elena remarked as her hope deflated a little.

Vanessa continued, grabbing their attention again, “Werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice: vampires.”

Damon’s head shot up at this and his eyes met with Ren’s, who looked worried, before he said, “Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it.”

“Not if there aren’t that many werewolves left alive,” the research assistant replied, “Hundreds of years ago vampires hunted them almost to extinction.”

Elena’s eyebrows furrowed, “Why would they do that?”

“To protect themselves,” Vanessa said simply, and Damon tilted his head in agreement with raised eyebrows, as if in grudging respect, making Renfri huff a quiet laugh.  

“Legend has it that a werewolf’s bite is fatal to vampires.”

Alaric, Elena, Damon, and Ren glanced at each other in concern before the redhead commented, “If a werewolf’s instinct is to go after vampires on a full moon, and they can kill them, it stands to reason that a lot of vampires would try to eliminate that threat…though committing genocide isn’t a great look for any species, undead or not.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

While Elena was on the phone with Stefan, warning him about what they had learned of werewolves and that Mason might be one, Renfri was skimming the bookshelves more closely.  Her stomach was twisting into knots and she was getting a headache from clenching her jaw so much as she continued to only find scraps of information related to other supernatural creatures, none having reliable sources or origins and unseemingly related to her situation.  She chose to ignore the pains and attributed them to stress.  Instead of relying on the titles on the spines alone, she was opening each one and skimming the contents briefly for relevance.  After several books, she reached one that looked quite old and worn with a European sounding name on the spine.

She flipped it open as Elena came back in and was rifling through the box related to Katherine, finding a photo of her from the 1860s, and asked Vanessa about doppelgängers.

Ren flipped through the yellowed pages but stopped when she caught a glimpse of something familiar, she turned a few pages back until she reached one that had a loose leaf of paper with a sketch of three people.  She pulled it out and her eyes traced Elena’s face sketched into the parchment.  She looked up, finding Damon across the room.  He looked up, sensing her eyes on him, and she tilted her head, indicating for him to come over.  He sidled up beside her casually as she showed him the hand-drawn portrait and the book.

“Is this another ancestral look-alike or is this who I think it is, despite the book being about a Bulgarian family line called ‘Petrova?’” she asked quietly.  

Damon scanned the page then nodded, “No, that is Katherine.  Little known fact, she was actually born in Europe and her real name was Katerina Petrova.”

“So it’s about Katherine’s family?  Elena might be interested in this,” Renfri murmured suggestively, closing the book and handing it to him with a meaningful look, “maybe even enough to be accepted as an olive branch?”  She thought he might need the help, especially after that ‘friends don’t manipulate friends’ comment Elena had made during the discussion regarding doppelgängers and Katherine.

He rolled his eyes at her but still took the book from her hands as she turned away with a small smile to start gathering the handful of materials she had deemed somewhat relevant to her searches.

A few minutes later, the group had taken all they had found, which wasn’t much, and packed it into the car.  Renfri had immediately crawled into the back seat and put her headphones in after stripping her sweatshirt off, feeling hot despite the cool air outside.  She leaned her head against the window with her eyes closed and attempted to ignore the interaction happening between Damon and Elena, though it was quite impossible because it was only a few feet away and could be heard loud and clear with her new and improved hearing.  She frowned and looked at her friend in disappointment when she crawled in after she had left him hanging and refused to tell him if he’d lost her or not.  She knew Damon was taking it seriously, despite his attempts to be nonchalant about it and downplay how much it would affect him.  When she raised her eyebrows at Elena the girl just shook her head wordlessly as Damon climbed into the passenger seat.  She made eye contact with Damon through the rear view mirror but he quickly looked away so Ren just sighed and closed her eyes, letting her head rest against the window again as Ric finally joined them and started the car.

Renfri let herself drift off, wrapping her arms around herself tightly as her stomach tied itself in knots and her skin itched with warmth, sweat breaking out  in her hairline and dampening her back.  She blindly felt around for and pressed the button to lower the window a bit, sighing at the wind that blew through her hair and over her face.  She found that after a while it just wasn’t enough and she felt so stiff and achy, constantly shifting to get comfortable and failing.

“Ren, are you okay?”

Renfri cracked her eyes open and tilted her head to see Elena peering at her with concern.

“I don’t know, I think I’m getting sick, maybe the flu or something,” she mumbled back and the two men up front glanced at her in the rearview mirror as she groaned and shifted again, hugging her knees to her stomach.  

Elena looked at her sympathetically and patted her shoulder, “Why don’t you lie down across the seat, you might feel a bit better.  I don’t mind, consider me your leg rest,” she said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.  Renfri let out a shaky breath but nodded, unbuckling her seatbelt and laying her legs across her friend's lap and putting her back flat against the seat, her hair splaying across the surface around her head.  

Most of the ride passed like this, her fever flaring and surging pains causing her to squirm and groan, increasing her heart rate and breathing.  Damon kept glancing over his shoulder into the back seat at her.  By the time they had reached the woods on the outskirts of town, Renfri couldn’t take it anymore and something shifted inside her body that made her gasp.

Everyone in the car heard a dull snap followed by rippling cracks and Renfri loosed a bloodcurdling scream.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!”

Alaric jerked the wheel to the right and swerved the car, jerking it to a stop on the side of the empty road lined by trees on both sides.

“Oh my god!” Elena shouted as her friend continued to shriek and she stared with wide eyes along with the men as they watched as the ribs exposed by her shirt having ridden up moved under her skin, breaking and rebreaking, causing the girl to cry out in agony and gasp for air intermittently with tears freely falling down her cheeks.

Damon opened his door and sped around to the other side of the car, ripping the back door open to lean over his niece.

As he tugged the hem of her shirt up more to see the breaking of the bones in her midsection, she grabbed his forearm desperately and sobbed, “What’s happening to me?  Why is it—It hurts!!”

The other three just glanced at each other as they noticed that her ribs had stopped moving and the snapping sounds had ended, leaving only the sounds of her chest heaving and her cries to fill the inside of the car.  

“It stopped?”  Elena remarked hesitantly.

“What the hell?” Damon mumbled, “I’m not sure what this is, Red, just hold on.”  He gripped her arm back, reassuring her that he was with her.  Renfri had curled up nearly into a ball, pulling her legs off of Elena’s lap in the process.  She took the chance to catch her breath since whatever was happening had stopped for the moment.

“Why the hell would her ribs start breaking?” Elena questioned, completely confounded as to where this came from.

Before anyone could answer, Renfri let out another high pitched shriek as her right arm shot out, the veins bulging from her fair skin as her elbow fractured and bent in the opposite direction it was meant to, making everyone around her jump in alarm.

“Jesus Christ,” Alaric breathed as he watched her arm right itself again amidst cracking bone and ripping tendons, dragging more tortured screams out of the girl as Damon held her other arm tightly.

“Oh god, why is this happening!?” Renfri rasped as her body shook with the pain.

Damon glanced up into the sky and Alaric followed his gaze, voicing the vampire’s thought, “She’s a werewolf, it’s a full moon.”  When the girls looked at him in question and disbelief, he added hurriedly, “Her bones breaking is probably her body trying to change its form, into a wolf.  God, no wonder they call it a curse.”

Renfri took shuddering breaths as she panicked, “No, no, no, I don’t want this.  Please, make it stop!”  

Damon stared at his niece, blue eyes wide, and muttered, “‘Beware the curse that runs through your veins…’”

Elena looked at him, “‘Through your veins,’ does that mean it runs in your blood, through your family?”

“It has to be,” Ric answered, “How else would Richard and Mason show signs of it and Tyler as well.  If Renfri’s mother was adopted and didn’t know her family, for all we know she could have had werewolves for birth parents.”

“AAAAHHH!!!”

They all jumped again when the poor girl’s spine began to jut from her back, the vertebrae pressing against the skin in various places as the bone and cartilage fractured and then healed.  Renfri rolled onto her stomach and scrambled to hold onto something, kicking out and nearly hitting Elena with her boot.  She made contact with the passenger headrest instead, making a sharp noise as the metal pegs holding it in place broke off, and it was sent through the passenger side window, shattering the glass.

“Oh!” Elena yelled as she startled and ducked down and back to avoid the blow.

Damon quickly reached down and gathered his niece in his arms, “Alaric, take Elena home.  I’ll stay with Ren.”

“Damon, no, I’m staying.  I can’t leave her like this!” Elena protested.

“Not an option,” he told her immediately, “she clearly can’t control it and could hurt you…or worse.”  

He stepped back from the car and reached out to close the door when Elena leaned forward hurriedly, “What about you?  A werewolf’s bite can kill a vampire, you’re in just as much danger as us if you stay with her.”

He just rolled his eyes, “I’m the only one fast enough to evade her if she comes after me, you two would be wolf chow in seconds.  Now go.”  He slammed the door shut and stepped back as Alaric peeled out to get himself and Elena away from there.

Damon flashed into the forest and found a clearing not far from the road, he didn’t want to chance someone driving by and seeing them.  If some idiot Good Samaritan thought they needed help, they might just end up as a werewolf chew toy…or his dinner if they pissed him off enough.  He sat on a bed of pine needles at the base of a tree, leaning back against the trunk while placing his niece on the ground between his knees, holding her to him.

As he settled in, Renfri’s wrists both shattered as her hands jerked backward and she cried in agony, hugging them to herself as her uncle kept her huddled against him in an attempt to comfort her.

“Why—why are you staying?” she asked, her voice ragged, “I could kill you without meaning to.”

He rubbed her shoulder soothingly, “I’ll stay as long as I can, Red.  But don’t worry, I’ll hightail it once you grow your doggy fangs.  I’m not leaving until then, alright?”

She frowned and more tears spilled from her eyes as she nodded against his chest.  Damon pulled Ren’s phone from her pocket and searched through her contacts before pressing ‘call,’ waiting for the other person to pick up.

There was a click, then a voice answered, “Hello, Renfri.”

“It’s Damon,” the vampire corrected them, “This is a ‘Hail Mary’ call on her behalf as she is incapacitated at the moment.”

“What happened?”

He paused, “Pearl, do you know anything about werewolves?”

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, “And why should I tell you anything, Mr. Salvatore?  We don’t exactly have the best relationship.”

He scowled at the ground, “Because you owe Renfri and promised to help her when she asks, and I’m asking for her.”

“For her?  That’s the second time you’ve implied she can’t ask herself, why is that?”

“As I said, incapacitated at the moment,” it was punctuated by the renewed crunching of bone beneath skin and another ear-piercing scream as she writhed in his hold.

Damon heard the older vampire suck in a breath, “She’s one of them, isn’t she.”

“Yep, and I’m fairly certain this is her first time turning, because we had no clue what she might have been until just recently.  We were driving back from North Carolina after doing supernatural research on werewolves and doppelgängers when her bones started breaking.  What do you know?”

Pearl sighed, “Not much, but I do feel badly for the girl, she’s in for a rough night.  You shouldn’t linger too long either, Mr. Salvatore, not unless you want to lose your life.”

He nodded impatiently, “Yeah, I already heard about their bite being fatal, I’ll deal with it.  Back to what you know…?”

“Yes, well, werewolves are quite rare now, as far as I know.  I haven’t run into one since the 18th century.  An older vampire at the time had been conducting a hunt to take down a pack that was residing in the Black Forest in Germany.  Their monthly transformations were affecting a nearby mining settlement that he had invested in, which was how word of wolves attacking the workers in the dead of night once a month spread to the vampires residing in the region at the time.  After massacring the werewolf settlement, they captured a woman and tortured her for information.  She revealed that they could not force or stop the change as it only occurred on a full moon regardless of what they did.  They have limited control and awareness while in their wolf form once they transform each month but are drawn to vampires instinctively when hunting.  In their human forms, they have enhanced senses, speed, and strength, but not at the level of a vampire’s.  Their sense of smell is especially strong and their anger is more easily triggered than a typical human’s.  The woman didn’t say much more than that, which was knowledge that mostly had been assumed by observing the werewolves on and around the full moon.”

Damon sighed as he thought it over before pausing, realizing they hadn’t considered one thing.

“Did she say how and when they start turning?  What starts the transformations?  Ren hasn’t changed at all up until now.”  He held the girl to himself as she squirmed through another bout of bones breaking and loosed more screams, this time from her ribs breaking again.  She gripped his arms hard and he let her as he held the phone to his ear with his shoulder to keep her in his hold as she shouted her pain into the forest.

“That was something that she was a bit vague on, “Pearl replied, “She’d told them that only when they’d spilled someone’s blood until the point of death that their curse would be triggered.  Some in the packs intentionally triggered it to gain the accompanying increase in senses and power, but others avoided it due to the torturous pain that had to be endured each month and the guilt that came with each unintentional kill during transformations.”

“What’s unclear about that?  You kill someone and you start changing into a wolf once a month,” Damon commented impatiently.

Pearl sighed, “The confusion lay in whether a vampire counted as a person; whether killing one would trigger a werewolf’s curse or not. 

The blue-eyed vampire looked down at his niece as she shivered against him, the breaking paused for now, and thought about the tomb vampires.

“You know, Renfri had staked a vampire when your tomb boys took her and Stefan,” he supplied.

“Hmm, there was a full moon about two weeks after that, so that wasn’t what triggered it for her.  What has happened between now and the last full moon that could have triggered her curse?” Pearl asked.

Damon groaned along with his niece, although hers was more of a pitiful whimper, and she whispered, “Caroline.”

He nodded, “Katherine has been out to play and she compelled Red to suffocate her friend in the hospital who had vampire blood in her system.  She came back a vampire but Ren did kill her in the process, technically.”

Pearl sighed, “Poor girl.  I suppose that answers that question, it must be a human that dies at their hands to trigger the werewolf’s curse.”

“Looks like it,” Damon replied, “Thanks for the story time, but it’s time to tell the gang now, bye!”  He hung up before the older vampire could get another word in.  He tucked her phone into his other pocket and went to fish out his own when Renfri jerked, screaming as her shoulder blades reshaped themselves and her leg broke as well, her cries splitting through the air as she collapsed onto her side in his lap.  He tried to hold her still but she began to thrash around as she cried out and he realized that they had soon turned into snarls.  When he shifted her so that he could see the side of her face, his eyes widened at the sight of her blazing amber-gold eyes and elongated canines.  

Damon leaped up and flashed across the small clearing, making sure to stay facing her to avoid being jumped with his back turned.  Renfri pushed herself to her hands and knees, an elbow and then a knee snapping causing her to collapse to the ground again as she howled in pain.  He eyed her carefully as she managed to get to all fours again and met his eyes with her own glowing ones, lips pulled back over her teeth.  She gave an animalistic snarl and lunged forward, speeding towards him far faster than she had ever moved before.  Damon managed to avoid her but she continued to go after him, so he sped off deeper into the woods, leading her further from the town’s edge.  She chased after him mindlessly, her werewolf instincts taking over, failing to catch him as he kept dodging behind trees to cut her off when she got too close.  The vampire came to a halt again when he heard what sounded like a tree branch splintering then a thud as his niece snarled and he knew another bone had broken.  He turned to see she’d fallen onto her stomach and was gripping at her hip and shaking.  

He stayed standing where he was, hand on a tree as he watched her body continue to break and reshape itself just to undo it all again over several minutes, her eyes shifting between a glowing orangey-gold and her usual hazel.  

He took the opportunity to pull out his phone while keeping his eyes on the girl on the ground and made a call, putting it on speaker.

“Damon, what’s going on?  Elena and Alaric just pulled up, why aren’t you and Ren with them?” Stefan asked without preamble.

“Yeah, about that, we’re still in the woods,” the older brother answered quickly, “and we will be until further notice since it is a full moon and apparently our niece is a werewolf like we think the Lockwoods are.”

There was a pause before a sigh was heard on the other end, “Well, that’s two confirmed werewolves, then, I just hoped that Tyler might be the other one, not Ren.”  Damon raised his eyebrows when said girl’s head jerked up again and her wolf’s eyes locked onto him, so he sped off into the forest.  He took the phone off speaker and put it to his ear as he ran.

“So Mason is one for sure?”

“Yeah, probably.  A wolf jumped through the back window of a truck in the woods on the Lockwood property and chased Caroline and I through the woods.  We’d made it to the old cellar on the property and Tyler came up out when the wolf attacked Caroline and nearly bit her but Tyler…told it off?”

“What do you mean ‘told it off’?” Damon asked as he glanced back at the half-shifted girl who stumbled when her ankle broke and he came to a halt again, watching from a distance.

“I mean he yelled ‘No!’ when he saw that Caroline was being attacked and the wolf stopped and looked at him before running off.”

“What the hell?”

“Yeah, so it looks like Tyler isn’t one but Mason likely is.  That thing was way faster than a normal wolf and was able to take us by surprise.”  He paused, then asked, “What’s that in the background, how’s Renfri?”

“Oh, you know, just playing a good ol’ game of tag with my niece while her bones keep breaking and rebreaking between bouts of animalistic rage.  I’m still winning, if you must know,” he remarked casually, keeping his gaze on the girl grinding her face into the dirt as she clutched her abdomen.

“Geez…are you sure you should still be there?  She could bite you if she’s already lost control,” Stefan asked hesitantly, concern bleeding into his voice.

Damon shook his head, “Come on, Stefan, would you leave her alone out here to go through this if it was you?”  To hammer the point home, he held out the phone so the younger brother could better hear his niece scream and her bones snap and crack.  Another sigh through the line was his reluctant answer.

“Just be careful and keep your distance…and thanks for staying with her, she shouldn’t have to go through it alone, especially not the first time if it’s this bad.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just making sure she stays away from town so we don’t have any more bodies to clean up.  I have a reputation to maintain, you know, and keeping a low profile with the council is part of it,” Damon deflected.

Stefan huffed, “Yeah, sure, whatever you say.  Just watch over her, you owe her…for Zach.”

Damon lost his easy going facade, “I know.”  He hung up and crouched down to his niece’s level as she gasped for breath while sprawled in the dirt and pine needles.

“Don’t you worry, Red,” he told her quietly, “I’ll stay with you.  I’ll make sure you don’t chew on anyone.”  He smirked, “It seems like I’m the perfect distraction to keep you occupied, as long as I never become ‘it.’”

This one-sided game of tag continued for a couple hours with Damon running through the woods from Renfri, a slave to her instincts, and continuing to dodge her attacks and outmaneuvering her.  In the periods when she couldn’t give chase and was forced to stop as her body fractured and warped itself only to reverse it all again Damon remained nearby, watching over her.  A few times, their eyes connected as she lay on the ground panting and screaming through the pain.  Her eyes would turn back to normal and recognize that her uncle was still there with her, even if he couldn’t hold her through the pain as he did earlier.  

“I’m here, Red,” he would say and she could only grit her teeth and nod as she held eye contact until she was lost to the change again.

It was late into the night and Renfri had been led so far out by Damon that they neared the old quarry, where he and Stefan had woken up after first turning.  When Renfri collapsed again mid-chase and her body began to break itself apart again, it didn’t stop.

Damon’s blue eyes widened and his breath caught as he watched her head, limbs, and midsection reshape themselves in brutally sharp movements; veins rippling across her skin as her screams echoed through the forest.  The transformation stretched the clothes until it tore or loosened in some areas.  Her shrieks became toothy snarls and fur burst from her skin all over her body along with an extra limb.  The end result was a large, gray wolf with reddish brown tinges in its fur and piercing golden eyes.  The wolf had barely stood up straight and swished its bristling tail before its eyes had locked onto the vampire hiding amongst the trees.  She shook off the tattered remains of the clothes she’d been wearing and growled viciously at Damon’s tense figure.

“Well fuck, tonight’s going to be a workout,” he muttered to himself and took off again, this time with more haste.  He led her through the woods and around the edge of the quarry, using boulders and trees as obstacles to slow her down and make it more difficult for her to reach him.  This went on for a while and Damon took advantage of the surrounding trees to take breaks.  He would leap up into the foliage and climb high to avoid her snapping teeth.  She sure could jump high but she still couldn’t climb a tree, thank god for that.  He watched as she stood at the base of the tree, growling at him, clearly frustrated at being unable to reach her prey.  Occasionally, she would be distracted by smaller opportunities to hunt and he listened carefully and tracked her movements as she took down a few small rabbits and a deer and fed on them.  A few times, he moved to get her attention again when he thought she had strayed too far in the direction leading to town and the game would continue.

It was when Damon heard the wolf’s snarl turn into a high pitched whine and it began to squirm that he realized the moon had waned and his niece began to transform again.  He dropped back down to the ground from his perch high up in the old oak tree he’d kept circling back to and cautiously approached the heaving body as the fur receded to reveal her fair skin again.  Renfri was huddled on the ground, smeared in dirt with a bit of blood around her mouth from hunting animals.  The teenager blinked her eyes open and they shifted around the clearing slowly until they found her uncle crouched beside her, purposely avoiding looking anywhere but her eyes as she lay naked on the ground.  He stripped off his black button up, leaving him in a white sleeveless undershirt, and held it out to her.

“Hey Red, looks like you made it through the night,” he said calmly.  Renfri stared back at him for a moment before tears welled up in her eyes and she broke into hysterical sobs while curling up into a ball.  Damon watched solemnly and let her just cry for a minute before he reached out to pull her up into a sitting position.

“Come on, Red, let’s get you covered up a little bit, I’m sure the winter chill isn’t feeling too good right about now.”  He gently pulled one arm away from her body, allowing the other to still cover her chest as he tugged one sleeve on, then switched to do the other, and finally did up a few buttons to keep it closed.  It was a bit long on her, just enough to barely cover what underwear would normally conceal.  She was still sniffling and taking shaky breaths, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, when he cradled her in his arms and stood.  She leaned against him and buried her face into his shoulder as he began to run for the boarding house.  

Renfri couldn’t stifle the onslaught of emotion and it kept coming in waves, just as the pain had during her transformation.  Her body ached and her joints and bones throbbed like they had their own pulse.  She felt like she was an 80 year old with advanced arthritis, but she could still move oalright despite the pain, it was the mental anguish that was debilitating.  She kept her face pressed into her uncle’s shoulder as he sped through the woods towards home, but she managed to whisper one thing before the exhaustion pulled her from her conscious state.

“Thank you…for staying, Uncle Damon.”

She saw her uncle’s lips twitch up a bit before she sighed and let her body pull her into a much needed rest.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri cracked her eyes open as bright sunlight filtered through her eyelids, waking her from her deep sleep.  She groaned and turned her face away, reluctant to move much due to the stiffness in her limbs.  She opened her eyes fully when she felt a weight on her hip and she turned her head back to see Ash’s head resting on the blanket covering her.  He stared back and as she continued to look at him blankly, he began to wag his tail.

She cracked a small smile, “Hey, buddy.”

She slowly lifted a hand to pet his head, as he clearly wanted, and she took stock of where she was.  The large leather couch of the study was covered in an old sheet with her on top of it and bundled in a thick blanket; the Dutch Shepard lying beside her as the fire crackled.  Just as she pushed herself up to sit, realizing that she was still in Damon’s shirt with dirt smattered all over her and a rat’s nest in place of her hair, the two brothers entered the room.

Stefan approached with a glass of water as Damon leaned against the back of the couch, “You’re up.  Here, I’m sure you’re thirsty.”  He handed her the glass and she took it gratefully, downing the whole thing in seconds.  When she swiped a trickle of water from the corner of her mouth, her thumb came away tinted pink and her eyes widened and wiped at the crustiness around her mouth.

She looked up at them, “Did I…?”

Damon shook his head, “Nah, you just got some bunnies and a deer.  I kept you away from the humans.”  When she released a deep breath, the brothers exchanged a look before returning their hesitant eyes to their niece.

“I can’t believe this,” she sighed.  “I turned into a wolf, I ate animals,” she looked apologetically at the oldest Salvatore and whispered, “I tried to kill you.”

Damon shrugged nonchalantly, “All’s forgiven.  You never got close enough to sink your teeth in, so no harm no foul.”

Renfri pressed her lips together, clearly not agreeing, then said in a breathy voice, “Thank you, for staying with me and making sure I didn’t—didn’t hurt anyone.”

“Are you okay?” Stefan asked with quiet concern, his green eyes soft.

She shook her head and fought to keep the tears from falling, “No.  I’ve never felt anything like…God, it hurt so much, and I had no control over myself.”  Her voice cracked at the end and she couldn’t keep a single tear from falling.  She looked down, swiped the tear away, and dug her fingers into Ash’s thick scruff.  The dog whined sympathetically and nuzzled his head into her lap while Stefan sat on her left and pulled her into a hug.  She leaned into it, glad for the comfort, as Damon spoke up. 

“We should figure out what to do on the next full moon, because playing tag in the woods when one bite could kill me isn’t something I want to do every month, no offense.”

She leaned back from Stefan and he let go as she replied, “No, you’re right, I don’t want to put you guys in danger.  What can we do?”

Stefan answered reluctantly, “We thought—we could use the basement cells to keep you…isolated during the change.”

Damon nodded, “We’ll have to outfit one of them with a stronger door, reinforced steel or something, to make sure you don’t get out.  You’re damn strong as a wolf, you clipped a few trees when chasing me and took a good chunk out of them and completely snapped some of the smaller ones.”

She raised her eyebrows but nodded in agreement, “Okay, whatever works.  I don’t want to hurt anybody, especially not after Caroline.”

Stefan smiled comfortingly, “We’ll make sure you don’t.”  Ren nodded and managed a small smile back before he added, “You should call Elena, she’s worried about you.  We told her you got home okay, but you should talk to her, Caroline too.”

She nodded and leaned back into the leather seat, “Yeah, but I’m gonna go shower first, I feel filthy.”  She peaked an eye open, “Could I get some Tylenol too?  I feel like I got run over by a truck, like I’m one big throbbing wound.”  Damon snatched her glass and sped from the room, returning in seconds with more water and two white pills.  She smiled gratefully at him as he passed it to her over the back of the couch.  

Damon leaned over to ruffle her already messy hair, and picked a sprig of pine needles out of it, as he reassured her, “Don’t worry, Red, we’ll take care of it by next month.  You’ll have a fully refurbished werewolf-proof room to rage in come the next full moon, and you can howl all you want since we don’t have any close neighbors.”  He grinned and walked out while she rolled her eyes at him but was silently pleased.  Damon may act aloof and falsely pleasant, but the two had bonded lately.  She was incredibly grateful that he had stayed with her the whole time she changed and even while she was a wolf, risking getting a fatal bite. Stefan saw the reflective look on her face as she looked after Damon and smiled softly, glad that his brother had gotten close with Ren, it solidified his belief in his brother’s ability to be good, be human.  

When she looked his way, he smirked, “School started a few hours ago, wanna play hooky with me?”

She barked out a weak laugh, “Absolutely.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

“I made myself clear, Damon, I want nothing to do with you,” Elena declared with annoyance as she gathered her stuff from her table at the Grill.  Renfri listened in as she waited at the bar for the waitress to bring her order out.

“Okay,” Damon replied easily, “see you at Jenna’s barbecue.”

Elena stopped in her retreat and turned to face him suspiciously, “How do you know about Jenna’s barbecue?”

Damon rolled his eyes as he munched on one of the fries in the basket Elena abandoned at the table, “It was my idea.  Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood, so I figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy, so I asked Ric to tell Jenna.”

Elena poked at him reproachfully, “And does Jenna know you’re going to be there?  Because she’s not exactly a fan of yours.”

At this moment, Renfri was handed her order and made her way over to the table.  He heard her coming and said, “Well, Red did ask Jenna if she could bring me when she was invited, and I’m hoping this peach cobbler will help pave the way.”

“And my homemade potato salad,” Ren added, “Home cooking is always a plus compared to take out.”  Damon only shrugged in response and Elena raised her eyebrows at them both.

“What are you up to?”

Damon leaned got up and paused next to her as he told her quietly, “I’m gonna put some silver in Mason Lockwood and prove he’s a werewolf.”

“Ah, I’ve already told you that’s a terrible idea,” Renfri interrupted as Elena’s mouth dropped open.

He raised an eyebrow at her too, “Would you rather I stick a silver knife in you?”  When she pouted and looked away he said, “I thought so.”  He smirked and threw over his shoulder at Elena, “See you at the barbecue!”

He headed out of the Grill and Renfri followed after giving her friend a quick but helpless wave, “What if silver doesn’t do anything?  Then you’ve just pissed him off and he could target you the next time he turns.  I mean, our senses are crazy strong as a wolf, especially smell, so he might be able to track you down since there are only a few vampires in town.  During the full moon, I was obsessed with hunting you, something in your scent just triggered something in me and my wolf brain couldn’t let it go.”

His brow furrowed but then he just shrugged, “Well, who knows if he can actually track anyone, and even if he can, being dead before the next full moon kind of defeats the point of your argument.”

She frowned at him, “Uncle Damon, he’s the only other werewolf we know of, he could be useful to get information from.  I want to know more about what I am if it can help with the transformations, so please don’t kill him.”  Ash greeted them with a bark from the back seat when they approached the car.

Damon sighed dramatically as they got into his Camaro and he started the engine, “Fine, I won’t kill him…at least not until after you’ve gotten a chance to ask him about your wolfy heritage,” he held up a finger at her pointedly, “but after that, he’s free game because he’s potentially an unknown threat, especially if he makes himself a problem for me, got it?”

Renfri twisted her lips in annoyance, “Yeah, fine, but hold off on killing him unless he actually becomes a threat to you or Stefan, okay?  You can’t blame us just for being what we are, it’s not reasonable to just eliminate people because they can be dangerous, only if they choose to act on it.”

Damon groaned as they drove through town, “Ugh, you’re sounding far too much like Stefan.  Quit being such a goody-two-shoes, I thought you were my partner in crime!”

She rolled her eyes with a huff, “I may be morally gray in some people’s eyes, but that doesn’t make me okay with unprovoked murder.  And quit your whining, you’re supposed to be the adult here.”

He laughed, “Where’s the fun in that?  I’m only your guardian on paper, I’m not exactly a role model.”

She chuckled, “Well, I suppose I can’t blame you since I already knew that much.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They arrived to the Gilbert residence and Ren handed her uncle his peach cobbler olive branch, he would need it, and she got the covered serving dish from at her feet and Ash from the back.  Jenna was decidedly cold towards Damon since seeing him kiss Elena (when in actuality it was Katherine, though he didn’t know that at the time) and she predicted that Jenna might move to being outright rude if he sucked up too much.  He would have to balance carefully his faux apologetic act because he was far from sincere and Jenna wouldn’t be fooled so easily now that she’d seen his douchebaggery in person, kissing his brother’s girl and all.  They moved up the walkway and reached the porch steps, seeing Caroline on one of the wicker chairs.

“Thank god you’re here,” Caroline said as she quickly got to her feet and hugged her friend, ignoring the older Salvatore that passed them and went straight into the house.  

Renfri laughed and returned the gesture, “It’s good to see you too, Care, I’m glad to relieve you of eternal boredom at the hands of adults.  Although, I think Jenna is capable of turning this into a good time.”

Caroline sighed dejectedly, “Maybe, but it’d be much better if we could drink too.”

Renfri laughed, “True.  I’ve got to get this inside and make sure Jenna doesn’t stake him.”  She swiftly caught up to the dark-haired vampire as he entered the kitchen, clearly dampening Jenna’s cheerful mood with his appearance.

“Hey,” he said a bit awkwardly.

“Damon,” Jenna greeted with clear disappointment in her tone, despite him holding up the peach cobbler in offering.

Her eyes found his niece behind him and her expression immediately warmed, “Renfri, I’m glad you came, and you brought Ash!”  She gave the dog a quick head rub, to which she received a tail wag, then pulled the girl into a hug which was quickly returned with a grin.  Ren really did like Jenna.

“Sorry,” she stage whispered by the woman’s ear, “he needs socializing, so I thought this was good practice.”  Jenna snorted as she released her and Damon took the opening to tease her in kind. 

He poked his finger into her forehead and pushed lightly in false reprimand, “ You don’t speak about me like that, young lady, I am your guardian .”

She laughed and swatted his hand away, “Says the guy who earlier today admitted he was not a role model.”

He gave an exaggerated sigh of exasperation and grabbed her cheeks with one hand, “Ugh, where did my sweet little cousin go?  Why do you treat me so?”  He didn’t let her push his hand away immediately this time, squishing her cheeks under his grip and shaking her head teasingly.  

She couldn’t help but bark a laugh in his face as he released her and she pushed him back, “I was never that sweet and you know it.”

He grinned and declared, “And that’s why I like you,” as he tapped her nose.

She rolled her eyes but smiled and turned to Jenna and Mason, “Like I said, he needs some socializing.”

“We’re doing shots, let me get you a shot glass, buddy,” Alaric said but Jenna proceeded to throw her drink back then hand the glass to Damon.

“Here, use mine,” she said pointedly then walked out of the kitchen and Alaric followed her quickly, likely to put out the fire.

“She doesn’t like me very much,” Damon said to the guest that poured another shot for himself then filled Damon’s glass.

“We haven’t met, Mason Lockwood.”

“Oh, sure, hey, Damon Salvatore,” the vampire replied and shook the offered hand.

“I know, I heard great things about you,” the charming man replied.

The girl raised an eyebrow just as Damon looked surprised, “Really?  That’s weird, ‘cause I’m a dick.”

Renfri nodded sagely, “It’s good to know that you’re self aware, at least.”  Damon only preened like it was an accomplishment before taking his shot and sauntering towards the living room.  She shook her head and they followed after him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Dress?  Ballerina?”

“Puppy!  Puppy with a tutu!” Caroline shouted eagerly, pointing at the easel with Damon’s charades drawing on display, which Renfri thought was actually quite good considering she knew she wasn’t very good at drawing herself.

“No!” Damon mumbled through the marker cap sticking out of his mouth and gestured in a circular motion at his masterpiece.

“Okay, dog?  Hound dog?  Oh, Ain’t Nothing But A Hound Dog! ” Jenna blurted excitedly, throwing her hands out, thinking she’d gotten it.

“ Dances with Wolves .”

They all turned to look at the guest on the couch beside Renfri as Damon smirked and declared, “Mason wins again .”

He capped the marker and left it at the easel as he headed for the kitchen while Jenna called after him, “How is that a wolf!?  It looks more like Ash than a wolf!”

Renfri shook her head in exasperation, knowing after the first round that her uncle wasn’t going to be so subtle with the wolf references.  

“I take offense on my dog’s behalf, he’s far more handsome than that sad drawing,” Renfri announced.  Jenna laughed before heading into the kitchen to help Elena set up for dessert.

Ren got up to help Caroline put away the game materials as Alaric and Mason chatted  idly and sipped their beers.  After a minute or so they were called to the table for peach cobbler.  Elena went to the living room to join Caroline in cleaning up a little, opting out of dessert and probably avoiding Damon.

“Mason,” Damon said with a smile, bringing the dessert tin to the table and placing it in front of him, a fancy knife resting in it, “why don’t you start us off?”

Mason looked down at it then back at the dark haired man leaning on the tabletop towards him.

“Sure,” he answered and then proceeded to turn the pie tin so the knife faced away from him then scooped a hunk out onto his plate with his hands, sucking a stray piece off of his thumb.  They all stared at him as he looked up and gave an awkward laugh.

“Ah, sorry guys, I’m an animal,” he said with an apologetic grin, making eye contact with Damon.

“So Mason, uh, you and Jenna never dated?” Alaric asked, quickly changing the subject.

Mason chuckled at that as Jenna came over with more plates and began serving slices to the rest of them, “She was always lost in Logan Fell land.”

She smiled somewhat nostalgically, “Oh, my first mistake.  Mason was a catch, he had girls lining up.”

“Really?” Damon said with such surprise and turned to the man, “I pegged you for a lone wolf.”

He sipped his beer, looking smug, when Mason regarded him as well and said, “Oh, I’m sure I wasn’t half the lady killer you were.”

Damon somewhat covered his surprise, but Renfri’s eyebrows went up immediately.

So Mason was aware of vampires, and that Damon was one…though her uncle wasn’t being even close to subtle with all the wolf comments, so it wouldn’t be hard to guess if he was aware of them.

Her phone dinged and she checked it to see a text from Elena then heard the front door open and close as she read it.  Caroline was going to drive Elena to the boarding house to check on Stefan since she hadn’t heard from him since this morning and was worried.  Renfri quickly replied asking what she thought was wrong and Elena responded with a vague answer, unsure of what it could be but something felt off to her.  Renfri frowned but left her to it.  Right as she was going to stuff her phone back in her pocket, it buzzed again and this time Tyler’s name popped up.

Hey, you free right now?

She typed quickly then hit send, glancing up at the adults around the table who were chatting while they ate the sweet treat.

Sorry, I’m at Jenna’s barbecue.  Your uncle and I are bonding over charades and peach cobbler :)

Nothing for a minute then another buzz of the phone.

That’s fine, catch you later.  Just be careful with M.

Ren furrowed her brow at this.

Why?  Anything I should know?

His final response only made her more unsure.

Don’t stress over it.  Talk to you later.

The redhead frowned before tucking the device away and finishing off her slice of cobbler.  She got up and took Mason’s plate with hers since he was the only other one done and headed into the kitchen.  She started making up take away containers for her, Mason, and Alaric to take home with the leftover food, as Jenna had told them they would earlier.

Ren began unwrapping the potato salad and pulled back the foil covering the burgers on the counter when Mason came in with Ash trailing after him to sit at her feet while she worked, hoping for a handout.

The man grabbed another beer and twisted off the cap, “So, when did you trigger the gene?”

Renfri froze in place for a few seconds before slowly looking up at the man standing casually beside her.  

She eyed him skeptically before replying stiffly, “What do you mean?”

He leaned forward with his forearms on the island, placing his beer on the counter, “Oh, come on, there’s no need to pretend.  You know what I am, Damon hasn’t exactly been subtle about it, and I know you’re the same.  You must have turned on the most recent full moon.  I can smell the change in you and you weren’t like this when we first met.  So when did it happen?”

She stared at him uncertainly at first, hesitant despite having told Damon that she wanted to ask him questions but not sure how much she should trust him with; she didn’t know him at all.

She glanced over her shoulder at the others, knowing Damon was probably listening in, then murmured, “Not long, it was a couple weeks ago…you’re a werewolf too?”

He nodded but tilted his head, “So, what happened?”  She raised an eyebrow silently in question as she continued her task of separating the food into containers and he clarified, “What happened that triggered the curse?  You don’t start turning the first moon after you’re born, you have to activate it.”

She stared blankly at her hands as they moved before she whispered, “I killed my friend, a vampire compelled me to do it without me knowing.  I don’t even remember it.”

He nodded sympathetically, “That’s rough, but that’ll do it.  I’m sorry you have to live with that, I know what some of that’s like.”

She looked up at him curiously, “What parts?”

He shifted his weight to his other foot, “I accidentally killed my friend.  We were drunk at a bar in Florida and he came after me, thinking I was sleeping with his girlfriend even though I wasn’t.  We fought and he hit his head on the asphalt and died.  I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did, and now I change every month.”

She nodded solemnly and began putting the covers on the containers, “How do you deal with it?  It was fucking torturous.  It took hours for me to even fully change and even then I was completely out of control.  I barely remember half of what happened, some of it is a blur, just colors and feelings, and other parts are crystal clear.”

He reached out and patted her shoulder comfortingly, “You got through the worst of it, the first time is the hardest.  The more time goes on the less time it will take to shift forms.  I’m not gonna lie, the pain never lessens, you just move through it faster.”

She sighed and closed her eyes, resting her hands on the counter and dropping her head, “Well, fuck.”

At that moment, Damon came in with the rest of the plates, assuming Jenna shoved them on him to make him useful.

“You okay, Red?” he asked, putting the plates in the sink and crossing his arms over his chest to lean against the island on her other side.  She nodded and straightened, giving him a forced smile as Ash nosed her leg.  She gave him a quick pat on the head to reassure him.

“Yeah, just not hearing what I wanted to,” she said quietly and he glanced at the other man leaning on the island.

 Mason took another swig of his beer and attempted to change the subject, “Sounds like Jenna’s breaking out Guitar Hero, it might be time to mutiny.”

Damon grabbed a glass and a bottle of vodka before finding some orange juice int he fridge and answered, “Well, I just happen to like Guitar Hero, so you, my friend, are barking up the wrong tree.”  He proceeded to pour a shot of vodka into the cup then fill the rest with OJ.

“Okay, enough with the innuendos.  You win, you’re hilarious,” Mason finally snapped.

Damon only smiled smugly, “Thank you,” then slid the glass over to Renfri so smiled in thanks.

Mason shook his head at the vampire, “You don’t think I know what this barbecue’s about?”  He glanced at the teenager as well.

Damon faced him fully as Ren stepped to the side, her back to the island as she sipped her screwdriver, and watched the men square off.

The vampire narrowed his eyes and demanded, “How do you know about me?  Your brother was completely clueless.”  Renfri sighed, knowing the arrogant and accusing attitude wasn’t going to help.

“It doesn’t matter,” Mason replied immediately, “I’m not your enemy, Damon.”

Damon was clearly not convinced and said, “You tried to kill my brother,” he tilted his head, clearly implying that made him an enemy in Damon’s eyes.

“That was a mistake,” Mason told him.

Damon’s eyebrows went up disbelievingly, “Really?”

“I couldn’t chain myself up in time, I have no control once I shift.”

“Oh, what?  No obedience school?” the vampire snarked.

Ren sighed in annoyance this time, “Damon, enough, you know that part’s true.  You saw how I was, I couldn’t control it either.”

It was Mason’s turn to raise his eyebrows, “You saw her change?  You were with her?  How are you not dead?”

He glanced at the teenager and she shrugged, “He’s fast, crafty,” she smirked at Damon, “and he sure could scramble up a tree as good as a squirrel.”

He rolled his eyes at her, “Another reason not to play tag with you once a month, besides the chance of dying.”

Ren wrinkled her nose, “You know, I noticed you smelled different after I changed,” she looked to Mason, “Is that normal?”

The werewolf nodded, “Vampires have something distinct in their scent that we can detect, sense of smell of a wolf and all.”

She nodded as it seemed to make sense, “Yeah, it’s like there’s this added hint of something metallic and…earthy, it’s like I can smell blood and death.”

“Are you telling me I stink?” Damon asked indignantly and she laughed.

“No, it’s not strong, just…part of your scent now, and easy to pick out if I pay attention to it.”  She turned back to Mason, “Are there any other perks to it beyond the heightened senses and strength?  I already broke a few things at home because I’m not used to it.”

He shrugged, “Well, you just have to adjust to that, especially when touching other people, don’t want to be too rough with humans since they break easier.  Also, you can’t be compelled anymore.”

Both Salvatore’s eyes widened and the younger shrieked, “What?!”

He just nodded, “Yeah, I’m not too sure why, but once you trigger the gene you can’t be compelled.  Maybe it’s because you’re no longer human?”

“Well, damn, that’s useful,” Ren decided.  “At least I don’t have to rely on vervain anymore.”

Mason chuckled, then sobered again, looking at Damon, “Look, let’s not spark some age-old feud that doesn’t apply to us.”

Damon stared at him distrustfully, “What, you expect me to believe that you’re in Mystic Falls planting peace trees?”

“I lost my brother,” Mason answered solemnly, “my nephew lost his father, I’m here for my family.”  While Renfri thought he seemed sincere, she couldn’t help but silently wonder if that was the only reason, he hadn’t bothered to visit for seven years before.

“Let’s be above this,” the older werewolf stated.

Damon stared at the man with scrutinizing eyes as Mason held out a hand, then took it in a firm handshake.  They both nodded and let go.  Renfri put the containers in the fridge before following the other werewolf out with the Dutch Shepherd trailing behind her, hoping Jenna and Ric wouldn’t notice it wasn’t just orange juice in the glass.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri was lightly buzzed after having a couple more of her fruity spiked beverages that Damon kept sneaking her.  She was grateful for the distraction from the awkwardness in the air between him and Jenna.  She had played Guitar Hero with the adults for a little while, then watched the last few rounds while sitting on the floor with her back against the couch next to Damon’s legs and Ash lying between her own.  He had stretched out and taken advantage of the attention, demanding belly rubs and ear scratches.  He wiggled and nipped playfully when she stopped, making her laugh as he snagged her shirtsleeve and pulled her hand back.  

The afternoon wound down and turned into evening, and they were finishing up after it was already dark outside.  Renfri handed out the take out containers and shoved her own into her bag before grabbing Ash’s leash.

 “No takers for more drinks at the Grill?” Mason asked cheerfully as they gathered at the front door.  When they shrugged reluctantly he declared, “It’s like I’m with a bunch of adults here!”

“I prefer the term ‘role model,’” Jenna corrected playfully.  

Mason smiled and pulled her into a hug, “Okay, well, thanks for having me, it was awesome.”  He then shook Ric’s hand, “Alaric, let’s catch that game next week, yeah?”

The teacher nodded with a brief smile, “I look forward to it.”

Damon finally emerged from the kitchen after replacing the array of half empty bottles of alcohol, “Hey, you know, we should probably head out too.”

“I’m way ahead of you,” Renfri said and went to give Jenna a hug goodbye.  She returned it easily and gave Ash an adoring scratch under his chin before Damon approached.

“Jenna,” the dark haired man caught her attention, causing her smile to drop.  He reached for her hand and pulled it up, kissing it, “You’re a wonderful host.”

“And you are a terrible artist,” she retorted as she pulled her hand back quickly.

“Is that the only thing that makes me terrible?” he asked after a quick pause.

Jenna eyed him critically, “Still deciding.”

He threw up his hands, “That’s good enough for me,” then followed Ren out the door but peaked back in to say, “Alaric, let’s not catch that game next week.”  Renfri rolled her eyes but went ahead and loaded Ash and herself into the Camaro.  

She had nodded off once the car started moving, dozing a bit thanks to the alcohol and food in her stomach,  but when it stopped she blinked her eyes open and frowned in confusion.

“Why are we here?” she asked, turning to question her uncle in the driver’s seat.

“Just making a quick stop,” he replied simply, “you can stay in the car, Red, keep napping.”  She frowned at him and watched as he got out and walked around the corner of the Grill, past the doors.  She wanted to just close her eyes again, but something was niggling in the back of her mind, telling her something was off.  She sighed in resignation  and decided to follow her gut, pushing open her door to follow him.  Just as she rounded the corner, she saw the glint of metal in her uncle’s hand.

“Damon, no!” she shouted, but she was too late.  Mason fell to his knees with a grunt as the fancy silver knife sunk into his chest.  Renfri ran forward as her uncle ignored her and sauntered over to the truck, opening the trunk to dig around.  Her panic was unnecessary, she learned, when the older werewolf yanked the knife out and threw it to the ground, standing up after taking a deep breath, seeming fine.  She stared at him in shock and relief and he returned the look with a guarded one of his own.  She could only look apologetic and shake her head, indicating that she hadn’t had a part in it.  He just sighed and turned to face the vampire.

“You know,” he said, making Damon turn around as Mason walked back to his truck, “I think it was werewolves who started the whole silver myth…probably for moments like these.”  Damon stepped aside, making sure he stayed facing the man, as Mason closed his trunk firmly.

“Duly noted,” Damon said, though the annoyance was clear in his eyes that it hadn’t worked.  Renfri huffed at his underhandedness, she might have condoned it if Mason had actually done anything to them, but now he had just made it a bigger problem than it had to be.

Mason dabbed at his now bloody shirt, “I was really looking forward to last call.”  He stepped up to Damon, who now had a wary look in his eyes, “Now you’ve made an enemy.”  Damon only forced a smile, maintaining his mask of arrogance, and Mason turned to head back to his truck.  Damon turned away, allowing the frustration on his face to show now, but Renfri called after the werewolf.

“I’m sorry,” she said and pressed her lips together tightly before adding, “I didn’t know he was still going to do it.”

“Still?” he repeated, “But you were okay with it in the first place?”

She shook her head quickly, “Of course I wasn’t, but he wasn’t keen on the idea of testing it on me, so,” she threw up her hands before dropping them, “what can I do?”

Mason just gave a dry laugh, “More than that.”

She grit her teeth in frustration as he got back in his truck and sped away.  What did he expect her to do?  She can’t make Damon do anything, she can’t control him.  She could only make her case and attempt to convince him to take her side, but he’s pretty damn stubborn too.  Mason’s an idiot if he thinks she could force a vampire to do as she wants if they don’t want to, no matter their relation.

She practically stomped back to the car, pissed at both men now, and slammed the door closed after getting in.

“Easy on the car,” he chastised immediately.

“Shut up,” she snapped, “if you had just let him be this wouldn’t be a problem now.” 

“Hey, I took an opportunity when I saw it, it just happened to not work out.  At least now we know silver doesn’t do anything to werewolves.”

She just shook her head and ignored him as he took them home.  He dropped her and Ash off then drove away again, likely heading back to the Grill to drink in solitude.

After she’d showered and gotten ready for bed, she was lounging on her bed and reading when her phone buzzed.  She tucked a bookmark into the novel and closed it, reaching for the device to check her texts.

Stef spent the day interrogating Katherine and she was considerate enough to spill some info about werewolves, but now the happy couple is fighting in the Grill and talking about taking a break.   Any of this sound fishy to you?

Renfri furrowed her brows, surprised at the new information summarized by Damon which he had apparently gotten just from eavesdropping from the bar.  She thought for a minute then texted back.

IDK, I’d believe that Katherine can cause some tension, but enough for that?  Doesn’t seem right.  They wouldn’t pull that shit in public either, they’re both too private to do that.  Something’s up and they’re not including us.

She got a reply within seconds.

My thoughts exactly…almost, I chalked it up to their naive belief in love conquering all suddenly changing being odd, but you make a good point.  Keep an eye out, Red, they’re up to something and I don’t like to be blindsided.

She sent a quick confirmation then set her phone on her nightstand.  They were dealing with Katherine and her unknown agenda, the newly revealed Mason Lockwood’s werewolf status (and potential enemy status now, thanks to Damon), and now the golden couple suddenly fighting in public.  Renfri drifted off to sleep, not realizing that she had forgotten to call the younger Lockwood to chat.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri arrived at the Historical Society Volunteer Day feeling tired and annoyed, not having slept well the night before and having gotten a text from Tyler in the morning, reminding her that she had forgotten to get back to him.  He had asked her to hang out today and she agreed if she had extra time after volunteering since she had signed up already.  She’d hauled herself out of bed reluctantly and gotten into simple jeans, a t-shirt, and her black lace-up boots.  She fed Ash, letting him into the yard right after, before heading out with Damon.  Stefan had already disappeared before she had gotten downstairs but she figured they’d see him at the site of the new public park.

“Why did I sign up for this again?” she groaned as she followed her uncle across the green lawn towards the picnic tables.

“Now, now, no complaining,” Damon chastised teasingly, “You know we have a public image to keep up.  The council can’t be suspicious of us so we have to participate in local activities and events, it’s just unfortunate for us that this town is all about community engagement.”

She pouted but paused when she caught sight of Stefan approaching a familiar man unloading boxes from a truck bed.

“What is he planning on doing with Mason?  You already burned that bridge, doesn’t he know that?” she asked.

Damon nodded, “I did fill him in this morning on yesterday’s investigation, not sure what he and his hero hair thinks they can do.”  They both tuned in to the exchange happening across the lawn, waiting by the cars to avoid being seen by the two men.

“Stefan, right?” Mason greeted casually, “The other Salvatore.”

Stefan gave a mild smile, “The nice one, the one offering an apology.”

Mason immediately shook his head as he leaned against the tailgate, “Not interested.”

Stefan continued to try to appeal with his charming, good-brother act, “Look, my brother acted impulsively—”

“You think?”

Stefan smiled appeasingly again before saying, “If you and Damon keep at each other’s throats, somebody innocent is gonna get hurt and I don’t want that.  I can’t imagine you’d want that either.”  Mason watched him stoically as he continued, “So what do you say we just, uh, quit the whole alpha male fighting thing and just call it a truce?”

Renfri huffed and shook her head, knowing that wouldn’t go over well.

Mason proved her right when he retorted, “I made that same offer to your brother, he turned me down…with a knife.”

“He made a mistake,” Stefan countered, “and I’m here to make sure that neither one of you makes another one.”

Mason shook his head back and forth, “And what about Renfri, your cousin…or is she your grandkid or something?  She knew he was going to try something even if she had thought he wouldn’t anymore, she didn’t try to stop it in the first place.”

Stefan raised his eyebrows at this, “Renfri is our distant niece, but you can’t blame her for what Damon did.  They get along well, but she can’t control him, she was only human until recently and, even as a werewolf, do you think she can make Damon do what she wants him to?  He’s a vampire and she’s not, and Ren’s not about to fight the only family she has left over this.”  Renfri glanced at Damon, noticing the older Salvatore wasn’t super happy that his brother was trying to apologize on his behalf but she appreciated Stefan defending her, even if it was pointless.

Mason just frowned, clearly not convinced, and grabbed a box before trying to pass him, “Tell your brother to watch his back.”

A hand with an iron grip stopped him and pulled him back, “I know you have a healing ability and I only really have to worry about you during a full moon.  Otherwise, the rest of the time you’re not as strong, am I right?”  Mason watched him carefully as Stefan continued to attempt to intimidate him, “You want to kill Damon now?  There’s one of you and three of us.  I think you’re the one that needs to watch his back.”

The werewolf seemed to clench his jaw then release it and lean forward, “If he comes at me—”

Stefan shook his head, maintaining eye contact, “He won’t.”  He held out his hand and waited a few seconds until Mason shook it reluctantly then walked away.

Damon flashed over and silently moved up behind his brother, Ren following behind quickly, and asked, “What are you doing?”

Stefan didn’t even turn as he watched Mason walk off, “Negotiating peace on your behalf.

“But I don’t want peace!” Damon whined.

“Well, consider it Opposite Day,” Stefan replied easily.

“Wow, are you guys five or what?” Ren asked dryly as she came up on Stefan’s other side.

They ignored her comment and Damon stepped in front of his brother, grabbing his shoulders to get his attention, “Stef, you don’t actually think it only takes a handshake to solve that problem?”

“The one you made?” Ren muttered and Stefan glanced at her sympathetically before turning an accusing gaze back to his brother.

“No, actually.  I think the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he’s gonna drive a stake through your heart, and then through mine, all because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him.  So, thank you,” he clapped a hand on his brother’s neck and gave him a shake, “because we don’t have enough problems already.”  

He promptly walked away and Damon watched as Renfri said, “You know he’s not wrong.  I still blame you for this, he could have been an ally or a source of information, but you made him an enemy.  Mason seems confident, despite knowing about vampires, that he can take you out if need be, so he must have a move he can make.”  She glanced at him, “Be careful.”

She made her way over to her friends while Damon just shrugged and moved in the other direction.  She found Caroline and Elena painting the pavilion and grabbed a brush for herself.

“Hey guys, I heard there’s been trouble in paradise.  What’s up with you and Stefan?”

Elena gave her a confused look, “How did you know?”

Caroline gave her a look, “Seriously, Elena?  She’s close with Damon, who else would phrase it like that?”

Renfri just shrugged, “He didn’t, exactly, but it was in the same vein.  Nevermind that, what’s got you two out of sync?”

Elena gave a big sigh and continued swiping the paintbrush on a post morosely, “He thinks we should do as Katherine wants so that nobody gets hurt.  I don’t want anyone to get hurt either, but why should we give Katherine what she wants?  She wants Stefan to herself and she’ll do anything to have him, not to mention whatever it is that she’s here for.  We can’t let her.”

Renfri raised her eyebrows, “Well, he has a point, isn’t it better to put things on pause while we deal with Katherine?  She already made me kill Caroline, we’re lucky we still have her.  What if next time it’s more permanent?”

Caroline nodded solemnly, “She’s right, if Katherine could do that to us, she could do worse to others.  You guys should consider taking a break, not just for yourselves, but for the people Katherine can hurt.”

Elena shook her head in frustration, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore right now.”  Caroline and Renfri looked at each other over Elena’s crouched form but kept working, and Caroline turned the conversation to something more mundane.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The girls hadn’t been painting for long when Stefan had moved over to a work table at the next pavilion and kept glancing their way.  When Elena looked up and they held eye contact, Caroline couldn’t resist commenting.

“Uh oh, longing looks are being exchanged.”

Elena looked at her then back at her boyfriend, “I’m gonna go talk to him.”  She put down her paintbrush and stood up.

“No, Elena, I think it’s a bad idea!”  Caroline tried but was promptly ignored.  Renfri looked on curiously, noting that Elena had been somewhat cold in her interactions with the blonde girl, but it had been subtle, small things, so she wasn’t sure if it was just the issues with Stefan making her snippy.

Damon popped up between the two girls as they watched Elena head straight for Stefan, “What’s your problem?”

Caroline continued to watch her friend, “Don’t worry about it.”

 He turned to face her directly and bluntly asked, “Why are you being such a bitch to your mom?”

Renfri raised a brow at this in question, looking at the blonde who glanced at her then Damon.

“Don’t worry about it,” she just repeated in annoyance.  She walked back over to the post she was painting and tucked her hair behind her ear.  Ren knew she was going to listen in, so she did as well as she continued to smooth brown paint over wood.  They weren’t that far and it was within her more limited but still enhanced hearing range.

“Do you still care about Katherine?” Elena asked immediately.

 “Damn, diving right in, huh?” Ren muttered and Damon shushed her, so she elbowed him.

Stefan looked at her like she was crazy then stood up straight and pleaded, “Don’t do this, please don’t turn this into something it’s not.”

Elena gave an exaggerated pause and look of confusion, “So it’s not up for discussion?  That’s what you’re saying?”

He leaned in meaningfully, “No, it’s not up for discussion right now because we have ears on us.”  They both turned towards the other three, making Damon and Caroline promptly look away, in the same direction, while Ren just smiled at the couple before continuing to drag her brush across the post.

Elena relented, “Okay, when?”

Stefan shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Elena blanched at this for some reason, “I saw her, Stefan.  It’s like we’re the same person!  How could you hate her and be in love with me?”

Renfri’s suspicion that those two were up to something was solidified by the ‘argument’ happening in front of her.  The direction of the conversation wasn’t even linear and their reactions to things were different from what she knew, especially given that she knew they had already aired out that shit about Elena being different from Katherine, it was unlike Elena to talk like this and Stefan was being weird too.  It was like watching a crappy B rated rom-com where the couple hits a bump in the road, only the actors are shit.

Stefan’s reply kind of pissed her off too, “You’re reaching, I’m not Damon.”

“How about we not bring Damon into this right now,” Elena insisted.

Stefan closed his eyes for a long moment before looking at her, “I can’t…I can’t do this anymore.”

Elena gaped at him before closing her mouth and nodding, “Okay, fine.”  She looked at him intently, “Whatever, Stefan,” then walked away.  Renfri openly stared at the two in confusion, the way Elena had said that last bit was weird, it was with the completely wrong tone than you would normally say it with if she was pissed or annoyed or frustrated.  Instead, it sounded more meaningful than a bitter dismissal and held no actual bite.

As Elena strode away from all of them Damon tutted, “Relationships are about communication.”  Caroline just looked at him in annoyance before following after her friend with concern pulling the corners of her lips down.

Once she was far enough away, Ren turned to her uncle and muttered, “You aren’t buying this garbage acting, are you?  It’s like it’s amateur hour at the local theatre.”

He glanced at her with a quirked eyebrow, “Picked up on it, did you?”  He shook his head without waiting for an answer, “Yeah, I figured out they’re putting on some kind of show, though I’m not sure what for.”

Renfri shrugged as she dipped her brush in the can again, “My guess would be that they’re trying to appease Katherine by appearing to be fighting, but it’s not like Katherine is everywhere all at once, so how would she know about these fights if she’s not always here?”

Damon considered it momentarily, “Hire a henchman?  Or threaten someone into doing your dirty work, or just compel them if they’re human.”

Ren huffed, “Well, that doesn’t give us much to go on.”  She paused, looking thoughtful, “Wouldn’t the best spy be someone close to your targets?  They’d get the most reliable information.  Jeremy’s too stupidly stubborn to listen if Katherine threatened him and he has vervain.  Bonnie is too defiant as well and I doubt Katherine would approach her because it’s a risk.  One of the only other options is—”

“Caroline,” Damon finished, nodding, “It makes sense.  Threaten to kill her mom or her boyfriend and she’ll probably cave easily.”

Renfri frowned at him, “It doesn’t mean she’s weak, it just means she cares about the people she loves.  If she’s just feeding Katherine information about Stefan and Elena’s relationship and not asking her to seriously hurt anyone, I honestly don’t blame her for doing it.  Katherine could have asked worse of her.”

Damon shrugged, “Whatever, that only matters if it actually is Blondie, Katherine could still have compelled a human that can blend well, like the quarterback.”

Renfri nodded, “I suppose, but a vampire has a better chance of listening in on conversations from a distance in public.  It’d be hard for a human to get close and not be obvious about it, at least some of the time.”

Damon just tipped his head in acknowledgement before suddenly moving off towards the other pavilion.  She looked up to see what had caught his attention and pursed her lips in annoyance when she saw him heading for Mason at the lemonade table.  She dropped her paint brush and quickly trailed after him in hopes of preventing another confrontation.  She focused on the two as she made her way across the grass.

“Hello Mason, working hard?” Damon greeted sarcastically.

The werewolf ignored the bait and just said, “I’m doing my part.”

Damon crossed his arms, “I heard you talked to Stefan.”

Mason nodded, “Nice guy.”  That was clearly a lie if Ren ever heard one.  Stefan might have been smiling but his tone had been subtly threatening the whole time.

Damon chuckled, “Yeah, a lot nicer than me.”

“Nice is overrated,” Mason told him, seemingly being civil due to the public nature of the conversation.

“That’s what I think!” Damon quipped and patted the guy’s shoulder in false comradery.  

As Ren approached the two Mason glanced at her then took another sip of his lemonade, “You have a good day, Damon.”  He walked away and ignored Renfri as she passed him with an inquisitive stare.

Stefan came up behind Damon just as she reached him as well, “Please tell me that you were just bonding.”

“Thankfully he managed to dial back on his typical douchebag behavior, probably because we’re in public with two little girls less than five feet away,” Ren answered for him.

“What’s up with the faux drama in your relationship?” Damon shot back at his brother, choosing to ignore the previous statements.

Stefan immediately played dumb, “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, Stefan.  You and Elena don’t fight, especially not over me,” the older brother retorted.

“Drop it,” Stefan told him, refusing to address it.

“And why should we?” Ren asked pointedly, “You guys are shit actors.  You might have Caroline fooled, and that’s great if you’re thinking she’s Katherine’s spy, but that’s not a reason to exclude us from knowing.  At least we could play into it and not potentially do something to make it worse unintentionally because we’re uninformed.”

Stefan just closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration with a sigh.

“Ooo, I think you hit the nail on the head,” Damon said conspiratorially and turned towards the table with cups behind him.

A little blonde girl politely asked, “Would you like some lemonade?”

Damon gave her a wide, plastic smile, “Thank you, sweetie.”  He accepted a cup as Renfri turned to grab one herself.  Before she could bring the cup to her own lips, Damon suddenly choked then spat the lemonade out in a spray, coughing dryly as if he had just swallowed battery acid.

“What’s wrong with you?” Stefan asked in surprise and helped him sit on the nearby picnic bench as he hunched over to clear out the liquid from his throat.

“Vervain,” the blue eyed vampire managed to wheeze between coughs.

Renfri sniffed her cup and tasted it then did the same with the remnants of the one he had dropped, “It’s in mine too, was the whole pitcher spiked?”  She looked around and saw a case of bottled water under a table nearby, so she ripped the plastic and got one out to hand to Damon, “Here, this might help.”  He snatched the bottle from her as Stefan looked around the picnic grounds, trying to determine if anyone had been watching.  Ren kept a hand on Damon’s shoulder as she scanned their surroundings quickly but didn’t catch sight of anything that stood out.  He got up after coughing some more, moving to the edge of concrete and leaned over the back of the bench to gargle the water and spit it out onto the grass.  

Damon immediately slammed the bottle onto the bench then turned and declared, “I’m gonna kill him.”

Stefan immediately pushed him back, “No, no, no, no, listen to me!  Sit, sit!”  He shoved him back and forced him to sit on the bench.  Damon tried to push him off but Ren put a firm hand on his shoulder as well.

“Calm down, don’t make even more of a scene,” she insisted quietly, her eyes looking around warily at the people nearby.

“I’m not listening to any more of your ‘give peace a chance’ crap, he’s dead! ” Damon snarled.

Stefan relented though he kept his hands firmly on Damon’s shoulders, “Okay, okay, I don’t like it, he’s making threats, he could expose us.  We need to put him down.”

Damon paused, as if not believing his brother had agreed with him, “All right, let’s do it.”

Renfri looked at the two with her eyebrows raised, “You two are serious?  I mean, yeah, we need to deal with Mason, but you want to do this here? Now?”

Damon just nodded firmly, “Yes, he’s on trash duty in the woods, we’ll take care of him out of the public eye.  We’ll be quick, don’t worry about it.”  He got up and Stefan followed him as he headed for the far treeline. 

“Shit,” Ren muttered as she hurried after them, not happy to be an accomplice in the murder of a fairly well known local, but she wasn’t about to leave it to her two hair-trigger uncles without supervision.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Stefan tried to tell her to go back but Renfri refused adamantly, so he gave up and she followed them into the trees, moving as quietly as she could.  They found Mason quickly and as soon as he stood up from piling more branches up he found Damon and Stefan on either side of him.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised, you knew this was inevitable” the dark haired vampire told him, then Renfri stepped out behind him as well.

“You couldn’t let it go, could you?” she said, shaking her head slowly.  “I’ll be the first to admit, he started it,” she jabbed a thumb to the vengeful uncle beside her, “but you could have ended it before it went too far, but now we have to…permanently.”

“Is that so?”  Mason said calmly, and Renfri furrowed her brows suspiciously.

“Go ahead, run,” Damon taunted, “I’ll give you a head start.”

Suddenly, Mason ducked and a shot pierced through the air.

BANG!

They all jumped and Damon’s shoulder jolted back.  The three Salvatores all looked behind Stefan, and as he turned last several more shots rang out and dark spots bloomed on the brothers’ chests.  

BANG, BANG!  BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!

Renfri wasn’t spared either, a bullet lodging itself in her right shoulder, the left side of her abdomen, and her right thigh.

The two vampires dropped with a groan and the werewolf collapsed, crying out in pain and surprise.  Ren lay on her back and clutched at her side where the bullet had passed through and was now steadily leaking blood that seeped through her blue shirt.  Her shoulder throbbed and she felt something shifting inside it as she moved to press her right hand to her abdomen.  Her thigh was bleeding as well where the bullet had passed through and she attempted to roll onto her side to curl up and more firmly press her hand to the mangled hole.  As soon as she moved she felt a sharp jab in her left shoulder that disappeared quickly.  

“Thank you,” she heard a woman’s voice say as she continued to grimace and clutch at her wounds as tears fell from her eyes at the pain.

“Nnnngghh,” she groaned through gritted teeth as the pain rolled through her with every movement, but she couldn’t help her repeated efforts to curl in on herself, instinctually trying to curl into a ball and hold herself together as she bled.  

“She’s still conscious?”  someone stated, clearly surprised at the fact.

“Oh my god, is she not a vampire?!” came the woman’s voice again, a little more shrill this time.  Renfri groaned and let out a sob as someone kneeled beside her and pulled her hands from her wounds, though they struggled significantly, and only succeeded in doing so with the arm that had the wounded shoulder and got a look at her thigh.

“Jesus, she’s strong.  Are you sure?  Look, this wound has almost stopped bleeding already, that’s not normal for a human,” a strange man’s voice pointed out.

“Mason, what the hell is this, you said the Salvatores were vampires!  The vervain isn’t even affecting her!”

Renfri finally tugged her wrist out of the man’s grip and pressed it against her thigh again with a whimper from putting pressure on the wound again.  

“I wasn’t sure if she was a vampire, but she’s definitely something, you saw how she’s already starting healing!”

The bleeding werewolf growled out, “You’re one to talk!  Ugh…”

“What was that?” One of the men, who turned out to be deputies when Ren got a glimpse at their uniforms, asked uncertainly.

Mason deflected it quickly, “Don’t listen to her, she’s desperate, you saw how she’s healing already.  She’s with the vampires!”

A sigh broke the tension then the woman, who Ren had identified as the Sheriff, decided, “Fine, bring her with the others, but be careful.”

She whimpered again when one of the deputies picked her up and slung her over their shoulder, “Stop…you can’t do this…”

They ignored her and the ground swayed below her as they carried her and her unconscious uncles further into the woods.  Mason led them to a set of stairs leading underground and explained it was the old slave quarters of the Lockwood property that they could use to ‘take care of business.’

He had helped to carry Stefan there and left him at the top of the stairs while Damon and Renfri were brought inside the cellar.  Renfri shifted on the deputy’s shoulder and groaned when it caused his collarbone to dig into her wounded side, but kept squirming.  The deputy quickly dumped her onto the stone floor and against a wall.  She knocked into some old shackles on the wall and it seemed to give the man an idea.  As the other uniformed man brought Stefan down with the sheriff following behind, he put her wrists in his handcuffs and he looped the cuffs into the chains on the wall to keep her hands suspended above her head.

“Thank you, Mason, I appreciate all you’ve done.  We’ve got it from here,” Liz Forbes told the man.

“Hey, you’re gonna kill them, right?” Mason asked, and Renfri squinted through the pain at the man as anger burned in her chest.  This asshole had taken this to a whole other level.  If they got out of there alive, fellow werewolf or not, he was dead .

The blonde woman nodded, “That’s why you should go.  This is the council, not the law, you can’t be a party to this…for your own protection.”

“Please, I don’t care—”

“But I do,” she interrupted quickly, and Ren just rolled her eyes, “and I’m not asking.  Goodbye, Mason.”  While the two stared at each other intensely, Ren glanced at her uncles that had been layed on their backs in front of her, still knocked out by the vervain.  She was able to nudge Stefan with her boot, but he didn’t respond.  Mason muttered a warning for them not to take any chances before he hurried out.  One of the deputies saw the movement she’d made and leveled his gun at her chest.

“Don’t move,” he warned her.

She glared at him as she breathed harshly through the pain, though she could feel her thigh and side finally starting to stitch themselves together again, then turned to the sheriff.

“We haven’t done anything, you can’t do this!”

Liz ignored her, “What are you?”

Ren decided the best route was to play dumb, “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!  What is wrong with you people!”

Renfri’s shoulder felt like she had a hunk of jagged gravel shifting around under her skin.  She kept trying to yank at the chains above her but it was impossible to break them when she was so injured, and she wasn’t as strong as on the full moon.  She groaned again when it just continued to agitate the wound and make it weep more blood, soaking her shirt.

The sheriff pointed her gun down at Damon now and used her foot to roughly nudge his leg, causing him to lethargically open his eyes.  The next second, a shot rang out as Liz sent a bullet through his leg, forcing a shout from the vampire.

Ren lunged forward as much as she could despite the chains, “Hey!  What the fu—”

The deputy took a step closer with his gun still animed at her warningly, so Ren settled back with a scowl.

“Here’s how this is going to work,” the sheriff stated lowly, “answer me and you won’t get shot.”  Damon was still recovering from the vervain and the most recent bullet now lodged in his leg, so he just rolled his head to the side to look at his motionless brother, then his niece chained to the wall and blood soaking her shirt and jeans with her shoulder still weeping the red liquid slowly.

“How many of you are there?” Sheriff Forbes demanded.

Damon turned his head back to her and looked up at her pleadingly, “Liz, please…”

Another bullet tore through his other leg and he shouted through clenched teeth.

“Stop!” Ren cried out, her chest tightening as she watched her uncle toss his head back and forth as he endured the pain.  She was ignored.

“How did you fool us?  How do you walk in the sun?”

Damon didn’t respond, still writhing from the bullets lodged in the torn muscles of his calf and thigh.  This time she shot Stefan in the chest, but he didn’t even flinch and his eyes stayed closed.

Damon stared at his little brother with open concern, “Stefan?”

Liz shook her head slowly, “I will drag this out painfully.”

He looked up at her pitifully, “But you’re my friend…”

Ren saw Liz purse her lips, “Our friendship was a lie.  Answer me and I’ll kill you fast.”

Ren had begun to panic, seeing that the sheriff was gearing up for either for more torture or just straight up murder, but she was more focused on her other uncle that still hadn’t woken up.  She leaned forward and nudged Stefan’s leg with her boot again, harder than before, “Stefan?  Oh god, Stefan, come on!”

BANG!

She screamed after the deputy’s wooden bullet had ripped through her previously uninjured left thigh and the chains clanked as she pulled on them.

“I told you not to move!” the uniformed man yelled, his muscles tense and sweat gathering on his brow.

Damon’s wide blue eyes went to her and he forced his voice out a little louder, “No, stop—”

“Then tell us.  How do you walk in the sun?  What is she?  ‘Cause she’s not a vampire.”

Renfri’s chest heaved from her ragged breaths and tears streamed down her face as she looked up to glare at the sheriff, her eyes glowing yellow.  Liz gasped and the deputy stumbled back a step instinctively before raising his gun to her head quickly.  She began yanking on the handcuffs attached to the chains, and managed to bend the metal of the cuffs a bit, but her position was preventing her from using her full force.  

The deputy jumped and the sheriff hurriedly said, “Whatever she is, she’s dangerous, and he’s not going to tell us anything.  Kill them all, a stake to the heart for those two and a bullet to the head and heart for her, just to be safe.  Then we’ll burn the bodies.”

Renfri began frantically jerking against the handcuffs after she heard that and looked at her uncles in terror.  Before the deputy in front of her could pull the trigger, they heard the creak of metal from the top of the entrance and everyone froze to listen.

The two deputies glanced at Liz and she nodded to the one in front of Ren, “Check it out.”

They all backed up to maintain a decent distance and the sheriff followed the deputy to point her gun at the door.  When the man opened it, he was met with a blow to the face that sent him to the ground, making Renfri pause in her escape attempts to look.  A figure ran into the room and revealed itself but stopped when seeing the sheriff’s gun pointed at them.

“Elena, what are you doing here!?” Liz asked in bewilderment.

“You can’t kill them, I’m not gonna let you,” the teenager told her desperately.  The deputy she had hit came up behind her and shoved her further into the room then pointed his gun at her as well, looking angry.  Suddenly, there was a woosh and the wooden door swung shut behind the man.  Their heads whipped around the dark room in confusion.

“What was that?” the deputy asked nervously.

The sheriff looked at Elena, “Who else is with you?”

Another woosh and a blur passed behind the other deputy, making the one by the door jump.

“What’s that!?” he asked in a panic, the barrel of his gun swinging back and forth, trying to find a target.  A blonde figure sped quickly past Renfri, causing her to grin and take a breath in relief.  The next second, the armed man by Elena was grabbed from behind and his gun hand forced down before his neck was torn into.  

As the man screamed, a shot rang out and the figure ducked behind its victim, using him as a shield as the second deputy unloaded several bullets into his colleague.  The figure let him drop then rushed at the shooter, slapping the gun aside and striking his head before throwing him to the ground.  Liz swung around to face them in shock and fear as the vampire breathed in harsh, rasping gasps while backing up against the stone wall, struggling to regain control over its instincts.  Once it was more calm, the vampire stepped forward from the wall and into what little sunlight broke through the broken Earth overhead to reveal the sheriff’s daughter with blood covering her mouth, veins under her blood red eyes, and fangs bared.  As the vampiric features faded away leaving only the innocent face of Caroline Forbes, she looked nervously at her mother who stared back in horror.

“Hi Mom.”

The sheriff’s hands shook and the grip on her gun loosened as Caroline stepped closer and reached for the weapon.  Liz’s eyes gained a wet sheen and she barely reacted when her daughter turned vampire gently took the gun from her hands.  The threat now gone, Elena immediately rushed over to Stefan, who was still unmoving and unconscious.

“Caroline,” Ren called, “Get me out of these, please!”

The blonde quickly crouched in front of her friend and ripped the chain holding the cuffs to the wall and then snapped the cuffs themselves off of her wrists that were now red and chaffed but healing slowly.  Renfri looked over to see her uncle had managed to roll himself over and crawl to one of the dead deputies and bite into his neck.  Next to him, Elena had made a small cut on her hand from a rock and smeared a bit of her blood onto Stefan’s lip, which had woken him up and caused veins to surge under his eyes.

“Elena, don’t!” Ren called panickedly, thinking she would send him into a ripper spiral again.

“It’s okay,” the girl replied, “I won’t give him any more.”

Caroline crouched in front of her wounded friend with outstretched but hesitant hands, “You’re hurt, what can I do?  Do you need some blood?”

Renfri shook her head tiredly, “No, I’m healing, just slowly.  I lost a lot of blood though, so I’m exhausted and a bit dizzy.”  She huffed and grimaced, “Can you get this bullet out of my shoulder? It can’t heal because of it and it hurts like a bitch.”  The blonde nodded quickly and Ren braced herself as her friend dug her fingers into the wound, unable to stop herself from crying out when it was wrenched from her flesh.  Damon had drunk his fill and managed to stand, although a bit shakily, and tilted his head towards his niece when she shouted.  Liz’s eyes kept moving between him, Caroline, and Renfri, the nervous tension in her body clear.  Stefan had sat up and was groaning, giving another purpose to Ren’s sigh of relief once the bullet was out.

“Thank fuck, Uncle Stefan, I was worried you wouldn’t wake up.”  He glanced at her and gave a weak smile then grimaced as he pulled another bullet from his abdomen while hunched over.

“Well, I’m glad I did,” he replied breathlessly and squeezed Elena’s hand.

Damon interrupted by clapping a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “You need to drink some deputy blood, you can barely sit up.”

Stefan immediately shook his head at the same time as Renfri did, “No, I’ll be fine, it’ll just take a little bit longer to heal.”

“But Damon’s right,” Caroline countered, “if there’s ever a time to break your diet, it’s now.”

“He said he doesn’t want it,” Elena insisted, placing a reassuring hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder.

Renfri pushed herself onto her feet with Caroline’s help, “No, definitely not.  He’s alive, that’s enough for now.  Trust me, Care, you don’t want to see Stefan on human blood.”  She patted her friend on the shoulder and while Stefan ducked his head.  Whether it was in shame or due to the lingering pain, Ren wasn’t sure, “If you want to help him, how about you go catch him a rabbit or something, huh?”

“Please do, Blondie, so we can clean up this mess and get out of here,” Damon said as he yanked the last bullet from his leg and flicked it away.  He straightened and turned in the sheriff’s direction, who looked flummoxed at the turn their conversation had turned.

“This is a most unfortunate situation,” Damon intoned, “Two deputies dead, and you.  What am I going to do with you? ”  His eyes took on a sharpness that clearly made the baby vampire nervous, so she stepped away from Ren and towards her mother, her mouth still covered in red that was drying and flaking by then.

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?” the girl asked her mother meekly.  The woman briefly glanced in her direction before looking away again, as if in pain.  Renfri’s eyes softened as she looked between the two, realizing this would not end the way that Caroline would want.  Her mother was afraid of her.

“Mom?  Mom, please!  Look, I know we don’t always get along and that you hate me, but…I’m your daughter, and you’ll do this for me, right?”  

“Care,” Ren called quietly, “I don’t think this can go the way you want.  Her watching you kill two of her deputies was not the best way for her to find out that you’re a vampire…not exactly persuasive when it comes to convincing her that you’re not the soulless monster she believes vampires to be.”

Caroline’s face crumpled a bit and she looked to her mother.  When all she got was silence she begged again and her voice cracked a bit, “Mom, please!   He will kill you.”  Damon nodded, reinforcing the statement.

Liz finally looked up at Damon, her lips pressed tightly together and her eyes tearing up, “Then kill me.”

Caroline’s eyes widened, “What? No!”

“Please, I can’t take this.  Kill me, now!”

Damon approached her and bent over slowly to get on eye level with the woman sitting on the stone, “But you were going to drag it out so painfully.”  He suddenly grabbed Liz and pulled her up, causing everyone to burst out in protest.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Caroline begged frantically.

“Damon, don’t!” Stefan ordered from the ground as Renfri stepped forward hesitantly, still keeping one hand to the wall to steady herself but watching her uncle’s face.  Something told her Damon didn’t want to kill Liz Forbes, that he was just angry at the situation.  She was proven right when Damon looked over his shoulder after Elena shouted at him as well.

“Relax, guys, no one's killing anybody,” he turned to look back at the shaking woman with kinder eyes, “You’re my friend.”

Ren gave a dry bark of a laugh, “Hah!  I, uh, don’t think she wants to be friends with the guy she just watched feed from her dead employees.”

Damon just shrugged, “Let’s get this cleaned up and bring her back home with us.  We’ll let the vervain leave her system then compel her.”

Renfri sighed but nodded, it seemed like the best solution at the moment, “Care, can you go get Stefan that bunny now?  He needs to make himself useful and help move these bodies and I’m pretty much useless at the moment, so he’s gonna have to pull my share of the weight until I’m healed.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Caroline and Renfri were in the den after the blonde had brought a suitcase of her mother’s things downstairs then rushed back up faster than expected.  Liz hadn’t wanted to even look at her daughter, because she no longer believed that’s who she was.  Renfri was laid out on the couch after having showered and changed, feeling better after getting some time to heal more and the wounds were almost fully closed, so she’d slapped some bandages on them and called it a day.  She wasn’t used to healing like this after seventeen years of being just human, but she’d decided it was a good thing, otherwise she would have been dead from the gunshots and blood loss.  Ash had stuck close to her ever since she had gotten home, he’d made these high pitched whines as soon as she’d come in and had nosed the bloody patches on her clothes until she had pushed him back a bit and cooed at him in reassurance.  He stayed by her side as she’d gone upstairs to strip the filthy clothes off, wincing as the dried blood stuck to her skin, and the dog had even laid in the bathroom where as he usually waited in her bedroom when she showered.  He was still glued to her side in the den, laying by her feet with his head on her legs, when Caroline came in with teary eyes.  

Renfri raised her eyebrows in silent question and Caroline just whispered, “She doesn’t want to see me, she doesn’t think I’m her daughter anymore.”  Renfri sighed and silently held out a hand, so Caroline sat on the edge of the couch beside Ren and clutched it tightly as she struggled not to cry.  Moments later, they both froze when their sensitive ears picked up on a raised voice from the basement.

“He can hear us wherever we are, because he drinks this!  This–this is the only thing that can help me!”

Stefan’s outburst quieted down quickly and Renfri tuned the conversation out, not wanting to invade on their privacy but she couldn’t help but become concerned that Stefan would lose control again if he started drinking human blood on his own.  She believed that if he decided to try, he needed to be strictly monitored in how much he had and how often.  She didn’t want him to lose control again, the idea terrified her and she still had the occasional nightmare featuring Ripper Stefan’s iron grip and teeth tearing through the skin of her throat as she screamed, though she would never tell him that.

Elena’s hurried footsteps were heard on the stairs and hallway before she appeared in the den, looking upset and a bit angry.  

She saw Caroline was still there and sighed before asking, “Can I take you home?”

Caroline pressed her lips together and shook her head tearfully, “I can’t go home.”

Renfri turned her head to look at the blonde questioningly, “Why not?  Do you not want to be alone?”

Another shake of the head, “It’s not that,” she sniffed, “it’s because I’m scared.”

Elena shifted from upset to concerned and came to sit on the coffee table in front of them, “Why are you scared?  Caroline, you can talk to us.”

The blonde looked nervous to tell them but finally said, “Katherine’s going to be there and she’s gonna want me to tell her everything that happened today.”  Elena's face had fallen and regained its previous anger while Ren just nodded, her earlier theory confirmed.

“She told me I had to spy on you and report back to her,” she added.

Elena’s face was like stone, “I know.”  Caroline’s eyes widened and she glanced at Ren who just gave a little shrug.

“I suspected something like this was happening, but it was mostly the happy couple's bad acting that gave it away.”

Elena looked at her with raised eyebrows and Ren just gave another shrug, “You guys suck at acting, and your fights were too obviously about stuff that I knew you had already talked out.  You didn’t fool Damon either, but we just decided to wait and see who Katherine had gotten to.”

The brunette nodded and looked back at her other friend, “I’ve been so mad at you.  But then, I tried to put myself in your position so that I could understand why you would do this to me, and to Stefan, because he’s been such a friend to you.”

Renfri sat up a little and looked at Elena knowingly, “When you take a second to think about it, the answer is obvious.”

Elena nodded and moved to sit directly next to Caroline, “Who did she threaten?”

Caroline’s face crumpled, “Matt, she threatened Matt.”  Empathy was painted across Elena’s face and Ren rested a comforting hand on Caroline shoulder as she burst out, “And I’m so scared of her, you guys, I am so scared of her—”

“And you should be,” Elena interrupted, “Caroline, we all should be.”

Renfri sighed, “Yeah, she’s hella old and strong, not to mention devious, and clearly has some kind of goal that we don’t understand yet.”

“Why is she doing this?  What does she want?” Caroline whispered after another sniffle.

The two other girls shook their heads as Elena replied, “That’s the million dollar question.”

“She’s been trying to get between Elena and Stefan, but we don’t know what she’s really doing here,” Ren added as she scratched behind Ash’s ears.  Caroline pressed her lips together and Elena pulled her into a hug while Renfri cuddled her furry companion, contemplating what Katherine had in store for them.

As her friends comforted each other, Renfri pulled out her phone and sent a text to Tyler.

Hey, sorry I never got back to you.  I meant to find you after volunteering but some unexpected family drama unfolded and I had to deal with it.  Still want to talk?

She only had to wait a few minutes before her phone buzzed.

No problem, and I’m good.  I don’t want to talk about it anymore, just forget about it.  I ended up hanging out with Sarah, Amy, and Jeremy.  I know, weird.  See you at school.

She furrowed her brow in confusion, it had seemed kind of important but she supposed it wasn’t anymore.

Alright, I’m here if you ever change your mind, Ty.  And I thought you hated Jeremy, but I’m glad you’re at least getting along, I suppose.  See you at school.

Renfri let her head roll to the side and rest against the back of the couch after lying back again.  She turned inward and coaxed Ash closer before she wrapped her arms around him and let her eyes shut, the rhythm of his breathing rocking her to sleep even as Elena and Caroline shifted off the couch.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A soft weight being dragged over her brought Renfri out of her sleep and she peaked an eye open as she flexed her hand that was still resting on Ash’s scruff.  Elena was already turning away after having laid the blanket over Ren and after glancing at the opposite couch now holding an unconscious Caroline and another blanket, she shut her eyes again, ready to continue resting.  They stayed closed even when she heard a second pair of footsteps meet Elena’s in the front foyer.

“Caroline and Ren are sleeping on the couches,” the brunette whispered.

“I heard,” Damon’s voice whispered back, “and you?”

There was a brief pause, “I’m going home.”  Elena must have passed him as her footsteps moved further away then stopped.

“What you did for Caroline’s mom,” Elena added in a hushed tone, “that’s the Damon who is my friend.”  She seemed to pause before opening the front door with a quiet creak of the hinges.

Damon’s voice stopped her again, “Hey, Stefan didn’t drink the people blood, in case you were curious.  But he needs to, and deep down you know that.”

Renfri frowned at this but stayed still and listened.  Damon walked away as Elena stayed still for a few moments, then shut the door and turned back into the house, presumably off to find Stefan.  Renfri waited a bit, holding her breath to listen carefully, before she sighed and opened her eyes, only to jump and startle Ash awake.  The Dutch Shepherd lifted its head briefly before huffing and resting it on Ren’s hip, watching the vampire leaning on the back of the couch above her.

Damon smirked after hearing her heart pound a bit faster for a few seconds before she calmed it again, “That’s what you get for eavesdropping, Red.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the still sleeping Caroline and snorted at him, “Kind of hard not to hear you both when I was already awake and have supernatural hearing.  Not my fault.”  She rolled her eyes and tilted her chin up at him, “Why’d you say he should have human blood?  Do you really trust him enough to try it again…after what happened last time?”

Damon’s smirk fell and his blue eyes became serious, “He needs to eventually get used to it, Red, otherwise what happened before will keep happening.  Or worse, he’ll go full ripper again.  It’s been years, but it can happen.”  He crossed his arms on the back of the couch and shrugged casually, despite the seriousness of the conversation, “If he starts small, he can do it…with help.”

Ren eyed him then nodded reluctantly, “I suppose it makes sense, but he definitely can’t do it alone.  You need to make sure he starts small and gradually increases the amount.  I don’t trust him to resist if he is the only one to control how much he has.  He’ll hurt someone again if he’s not monitored.  Maybe we should have him call Lexi.”

He nodded, “Don’t you worry, I’m sure Elena will support him now so he doesn’t need his bestie, and I’ll watch him so he doesn’t go off the rails.  I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt you again, you don’t have to worry about that, Red.”  He reached down to pat her head but she was too tired and comfortable to protest or move away.  And secretly, she enjoyed the comfort of a teasing yet familial touch.  Damon wasn’t very affectionate in general, so she enjoyed any little gesture that showed how close they had gotten and that he cared.

“Get some rest,” he murmured fondly before walking out of the room.  She decided to do as she was told this time and shut her eyes again, running her fingers through Ash’s silver brindle fur to soothe the both of them back to sleep.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

The doorbell rang while Renfri was scooping Ash’s food into his bowl in the kitchen.  She wandered out of the kitchen and down the hall, meeting Damon when he came down the stairs.  She glanced at him curiously, wondering if he knew who it was, but he just raised his eyebrows and kept silent.  She rolled her eyes and followed him as he went to open the door.  She definitely hadn’t been expecting to see Jeremy on their doorstep, backpack slung over one shoulder and looking eager yet serious.

“I need to talk to you guys,” he said as soon as he saw them.

Damon barely paused before he said, “And I don’t need to talk to you,” and tried to close the door in his face, but Jeremy pushed back on it.

“Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse, he’s not a werewolf yet.”

Renfri stepped around her uncle in irritation and pushed the door fully open, “You’re so rude, you know that?” 

Damon only shrugged carelessly and folded his arms across his chest as he turned to the boy, “Wow, fascinating…and old news.”

“Sorry Jer, you're a little behind on supernatural lore.  I suspected that was what had triggered my curse and Mason confirmed it at Jenna’s barbecue…before Damon stabbed him and he tried to get us killed by the sheriff yesterday,” Ren told him, grumbling the last part bitterly.

“Well, did you know that Mason Lockwood is here looking for a moonstone connected to the werewolf legend, not because the mayor died?”

That gave Damon pause and Renfri lifted her eyebrows slightly, intrigued.

“A moonstone?”  Damon repeated thoughtfully.

Jeremy let a boyish grin break across his face and readjusted his bag on his shoulder, “And I know where it is.”

“And you’re bringing me this, why? ” the vampire asked.

Jeremy held out his hands like it was obvious, “Do I need a reason?”

Ren sighed and looked at the younger teen pointedly, “What he means is, why bring it to us and not Stefan and Elena?  You and Damon aren’t exactly friendly…for obvious reasons.”  She lifted her hand to casually rub her neck but the other two obviously caught on to the reference to Jeremy’s temporary death at her uncle’s hands.

Jeremy looked to the side, clearly annoyed that he had to explain himself, “Look, I just want to help, okay?”

“ Did you tell Elena?  I have a feeling she wouldn’t like you coming to us with this, though she doesn’t really have a say in where you go,” Ren asked with a hand on her hip.  Damon eyed the boy skeptically, seemingly deciding if it was worth enduring his annoying teenage presence to get more information.

Jeremy just swallowed and looked away briefly, he sucked at lying.

“Oh, you haven’t told her, have you?” Damon asked accusingly, his eyes piercing.

The youngest Gilbert tipped his head to the side defiantly, “Elena doesn’t want me involved in any of this,” and tried to quickly step around the two.

Damon stopped him with a solid hand to the sternum, pushing him back a step before Ren could do more than lift her hand up in protest.

“And you are a Gilbert, and just can’t help yourself, hm?” the vampire commented mockingly, then his eyes turned disparaging, “Wow, your search for life’s purpose is as obvious as it is tragic.”  Ren whipped her hand out and slapped his gut with the back of her hand, actually making him flinch slightly in surprise at the unintended force, though she certainly didn’t apologize for it.

Jeremy didn’t rise to the bait and just looked at the two Salvatores, “Are you going to let me in or not?”  Ren and Damon glanced at each other for a moment and she shrugged her shoulders before stepping back.  Damon followed, leaving enough room for Jeremy to follow her into the house, though watching him with critical eyes.

Damon made the executive decision to call Alaric to bring some of Isabel’s research on werewolves over.  However, when the teacher walked through the door, not bothering to respond to Damon’s jovial greeting, and saw Jeremy, he was clearly not happy.

“What are you doing here?”

Jeremy responded like his presence there was perfectly normal, “Helping Damon and Ren, I’m the one who found out about the moonstone.”  Alaric turned to the two of them and Damon just shrugged while Ren threw up her hands in defense, so he looked back at the teenager sternly.

“Does Elena know you’re here?”  They all shook their heads and gathered around the box Ric had set down on the end of the drinks table. 

“What do ya got?” Damon asked leisurely, taking the cardboard top off.

Alaric seemed to reluctantly accept that Jeremy was determined to participate against his sister’s wishes and moved on, “This is Isabel’s research from Duke, her assistant sent it to me.”

Damon hummed suggestively, “Mmm, Vanessa, the hottie.”

Renfri raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, Vanessa, the hottie that shot you.”

Alaric looked annoyed, “Yes, now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?”

Damon nodded impatiently, “Sun and moon, blah, blah, blah—”

“Wait, Aztec curse?  Cool,” Jeremy interjected, moving over to them eagerly.

“Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power.  Then werewolves could only turn on the full moon and vampires were weakened by the sun.”  Damon wiggled his daylight ring in Ric’s direction, so he corrected himself, “Well, most of them, anyway.  According to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with the moonstone.”

He handed the old and wrinkled looking book to Jeremy to look at the drawings, and the boy asked, “What do you mean sealed?”

Damon answered, “It’s a witch thing, whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing it.”

Renfri nodded thoughtfully, “That makes sense, like the same key is needed to both lock and unlock a door.”

“Basically,” Damon acknowledged, gesturing to her.

“So, if Mason is trying to get the moonstone, does that mean he’s trying to break the werewolf part of the curse?” Ren speculated.

Damon turned towards them with a highly skeptical look, “Come on, if we’re really gonna start believing in some supernatural witchy woo legend from a picture book, we’re idiots.”

Ren just scoffed, “Says the guy who denied the possibility of werewolves existing a few weeks ago until one turned in front of your face.  Do you need everything to nearly kill you before you believe it’s real?”

Damon rolled his eyes, “Fine, whatever, but just because vampires and werewolves exist, doesn’t mean every mythical creature and folktale is real.”

She shrugged, “You could also argue the opposite for the exact same reason.  Regardless, I do somewhat agree with you.  Something about this legend doesn’t quite make sense.”  She waved a hand at the book in the boy’s hands, “I did a little bit of research on the side after we brought some of this stuff back, and the Aztec civilization only spanned from the early 1300s to the 1500s.  Vampire lore and mythology dates back even further than that in older cultures.  Sure, you could say that the Aztec legend said that the curse was only placed on them at that time, but there are legends of vampires only being nightwalkers and burning in the sun originating centuries before that.”

“So what does that mean?” Jeremy asked in confusion.

“She’s saying that the Aztec legend may not be real,” Alaric concluded with a frown.

She crossed her arms and tapped her fingers on her arm, “Or at the very least, elements of it may be inaccurate.  We can’t rely on just this one legend in one culture, but that doesn’t mean we should completely disregard it either.”

Damon listened to his niece with a calculating expression then looked to the Gilbert boy, “Where’s the moonstone?”

“Tyler has it.”

“Can you get it?”

Jeremy glanced at Renfri, but she shook her head, “Yeah, we’ve become friends, but lately we haven’t really had a chance to talk, and he doesn’t know that I know anything about it.  It’d be suspicious if I asked for the moonstone out of nowhere, he might think you’ve blabbed and you’d lose his trust.  It’s best if you approach him, just frame it as a casual interest in supernatural folklore.  Mention your ancestor’s crazy journals, if it helps support the idea.”

Jeremy nodded firmly, “Yeah, okay, I can do it.”

Damon smirked, “See?  Now your life has purpose.”

Renfri’s nose wrinkled and she threw a nearby book at his head, but it landed in his outstretched hand with a loud smack .  He looked at the book with raised eyebrows then tossed it onto a side table while grinning.

 “Damn, Red, I was just joking, no need to wolf out.”  His niece huffed in annoyance, but reddened slightly at the brief loss of control she’d displayed.  She turned to go grab her phone and keys then called to the kitchen for Ash to join her.

Alaric just shook his head and sighed, “You really are the last person that should be anyone’s guardian.”  Damon shrugged innocently while Jeremy smiled after the girl that had defended him from her uncle’s taunts. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri followed Elena down the small hill from the house towards the tables on the lawn of the Lockwood manor, heading for some materials that needed to be organized.  As they reached it, Bonnie Bennett did as well, causing Elena to smile while Renfri frowned and pointedly looked away.  

“You’re here,” Elena commented excitedly.

“I’m here,” Bonnie replied with a brief forced smile before it dropped, catching sight of Ren on Elena’s other side then conspicuously scanning the area as she set the box in her arms down.

“Don’t worry,” Renfri snarked, “the big scary vampire isn’t here, I’m sure Elena warned you already.”

Bonnie glanced at her and shrugged, “I’m just making sure, I’m just not ready to deal with her yet.”

Elena sighed, “You know, eventually you’re gonna have to talk to her—”

Bonnie looked annoyed, “Could you make it a little less obvious you’re on her side?”

“There are no sides, Bonnie—”

“False,” Renfri interjected, “I am fully Team Caroline and anti-Team Judgemental Witch.”

Bonnie shook her head before looking to her brunette friend again, “Oh come on, Elena.  Since Caroline became a vampire we barely see each other.  Losing Caroline was bad enough, I didn’t think I’d lose you too.”

A derisive snort turned their heads to their redhead, “Are you fucking serious?  You didn’t ‘lose’ her, you chose to shut her out for something she couldn’t help.  Do you think she wanted to be killed?  Do you think I wanted to kill her and become a werewolf?  Of fucking course not!”

Bonnie blanched, her jaw dropping open, “Wait, yo—”

Renfri bulldozed on, “But Katherine doesn’t give a shit about what we want, only her own agenda.  You can’t blame us for supporting our friend when she needs it and not wanting to talk to you when you just continue to judge us for helping her!  So fuck right off with that self-righteous bullshit!”  With that, she spun around and stormed off towards the house in search of somewhere else to help set up, away from the sanctimonious bitch who couldn’t get over herself.  

As she walked away, scowling, she heard Bonnie ask Elena, “Did she just say she’s a werewolf?!”  Ren rolled her eyes, not caring that she had focused on that part of her rant, having forgotten in the moment that Bonnie wouldn’t have known.  You get kept out of the loop when you choose to push away innocent people for something done to them by others.  

She found Carol and got a new assignment to keep her busy while she silently fumed for the next ten minutes, slowly coming down from her anger on behalf of her blonde friend.  She was laying out props for a photo booth and Elena was sorting masks beside her when Damon approached.

“Damon, what are you doing here?”  Elena asked, startled out of staring longingly across the lawn at her boyfriend.

He nodded in the direction she had been staring, “Looking for my baby bro.”

Renfri raised her eyebrows, “Decided to fill him in?  I’ve been a bit busy being pissed at Bonnie and haven’t gotten around to it.  Werewolf temper really is a bitch.”

He shrugged, “I’ll get to it.”  He turned his eyes pointedly to the brunette, “Speaking of baby bros, would you tell yours to stop following me around?”

Elena looked confused, “What’s going on?”

“Ask eager beaver,” he muttered before quickly making his escape just as Jeremy came up to the group, clearly trying to talk to the vampire.

Renfri raised an eyebrow at the boy, “I’m seriously questioning your survival instincts, why do you keep following the guy who broke your neck?”

“Jeremy, what is he making you do?” Elena asked her brother immediately.

Ren turned on her friend with a frown, “I’m sorry, did you not just hear that he doesn’t want him around?  What’s with blaming Damon?  Jeremy was the one that showed up at our house, all ready to jump into supernatural detective work.”

The brunette turned on her younger sibling, “You went to the boarding house?”

The Jeremy rolled his eyes at his sister, “Yeah, but Damon’s not forcing me to do anything, Damon and I—”

“Uh-uh, no way, there is no Damon and you,” Elena interrupted immediately as Jeremy scrunched his face at her, “There’s Damon and whoever Damon’s using.  And those people?  They end up dead.”  Jeremy looked contemplative for a moment, glancing at Renfri who just tipped her head to the side and shrugged one shoulder (she couldn’t really deny that part, she knew who her uncle was).  However, his face quickly soured when Elena told him, “Whatever’s going on, Jeremy, I want you to stay out of it.”

Renfri wanted to slap her forehead as the stubbornness returned to the boy’s face in an instant and he replied, “I don’t really care what you want, Elena.  It’s because of you that I’m in this mess in the first place, so I’m sorry, you don’t really get to tell me what I’m gonna do.”  With that, he turned and strode away from his shocked sister.

“Well, you should have seen that coming a mile away,” Ren commented while rolling more silverware into a napkin.  “You ought to know by now that bossing him around after having hidden all this from him would trigger his typical teenage rebelliousness.”  She  shrugged and put the roll down to head in the direction her uncle had gone in to track him and his brother down.  

She rounded a corner of the building and saw Damon as he was heading for a back patio area, “Ready to update Stefan?”

He glanced at her and nodded, “I want to make sure we’re all on the same page before jumping into any more ‘supernatural shenanigans,’ as you put it.”

She smirked, “You were listening?”

“I caught a bit of it,” he shrugged before allowing the corner of his mouth to tip up, “And thanks for jumping to my defense, but I’m not in need of a white knight to defend me.”

Renfri nudged his arm as she fell into pace beside him towards the back of the manor, “Where Elena’s concerned?  Yes, you do.  She still isn’t a fan of yours, and for good reason, so shut up and take a bit of help when you can.”

He sighed dramatically just as they were crossing through a brick patio with wicker outdoor seating and almost passed right by Stefan.

“Hey, we’ve been loo—”

“We’ve got a problem,” Stefan cut her off, “Bonnie accidentally touched Mason and saw a flash of him kissing what looked like Elena, aka Katherine.”

The other two Salvatores stared at him for a second before Damon groaned, “Katherine’s working with Mason Lockwood?”

“Oh…OH!  This makes sense!”

The brothers turned to look at their niece in question, and Damon complained, “Come on, werewolf thing aside, the guy’s a surfer.  She’s gotta be using him, she has to be.”

Ren nodded in agreement but Stefan asked, “For what?”

 “Stefan,” she addressed him, “They came to town around the same time.  Didn’t Katherine tell you she’d given something to George Lockwood to help her fake her death in 1864?  Something he’d wanted very badly?  If the moonstone breaks the werewolf curse, it’s a likely candidate.  If the moonstone was passed down in the Lockwood family, like most family heirlooms and treasures, it all fits.  The only thing I don’t get it is why Katherine would come back for it now.  Didn’t you think that it didn’t belong to her in the first place?”

The younger brother nodded slowly, “Yeah, it looks like she set up the whole thing to make someone specific think she was dead, I figured she was running from someone and that’s where the moonstone might have come from.  We still have no idea who that might be, though, or if they’re still after her.”

Ren waved a hand dismissively, “Sure, I’m definitely concerned that whoever was after her is hella old and powerful, but that’s a problem for later.  Now, we know that Mason is working with her, so we can use that to our advantage because she doesn’t know that we know.”  She grinned eagerly, “Let’s sit Mason down for a little chat and see if he’ll spill her secrets.”

The blue eyed vampire smirked, “I like the way you think, Red.”

Stefan sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “You’re rubbing off on her too much, Damon.”

Renfri shrugged, “If it comes down to him and us, we’ll do what we have to, he did try to kill us, after all.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri left her uncles to watch Jeremy discreetly place himself in the vicinity of Tyler.  On the patio she had abandoned the silverware on, she continued to roll the eating utensils into cloth napkins while tuning in on the boys just below her among the dining tables being set up under a large canopy.  Renfri eyed the set up, noticing the gaudy candelabras, blood red table cloths, gold edged dishes, and paper lanterns being placed strategically throughout the shaded space.  She shook her head, the town spent way too much money on events like this.  They probably didn’t make much profit from the fundraising events because they cost so much to put on, but who cares when it unifies the community under the leadership of the founding families, right?

Renfri paused when she saw Tyler move from the far end of the tent to the table next to Elena’s little brother after being directed there by his mother, who then hurried off to micromanage another group of people idly chatting across the lawn.

The two nodded stoically at each other in acknowledgement, as manly men do (her eyes were going to roll right out of her head at this rate) and greeted each other with gruff ‘hey’s.

Jeremy pushed on, attempting to be casual and struggling, “Hey, so I, uh, did a little research on the stone you showed me.”

Tyler turned to him in confusion, “What?  Why?”

The youngest Gilbert shrugged, “I don’t know, curiosity, boredom…”

Tyler fully turned towards him, looking curious himself as he crossed his arms, “What did it say?”

“Well, it turns out it’s part of this Aztec legend, but I want to make sure it’s the same kind of stone, you think I could, uh, check it out again?”  Ren couldn’t help the twitching of one corner of her mouth, Jeremy had at least come up with a good excuse to get it from Tyler, though she wasn’t sure how he planned on walking away with it.

Tyler shook his head as he continued to fiddle with the materials on the table, “Nope, gave it to my uncle.”

“ Fuck ,” Ren hissed under her breath, a flash of anger and frustration flooding through her and she bent the utensils in her hand in half unknowingly.  Things just couldn’t go their way, could they?  Damon had apparently been listening too and came up on her left, tapping the hand that clenched the warped metal, and Stefan joined them on her right.  She glanced at her older uncle then down at her fist, cursing under her breath as she bent the fork, spoon, and knife back into a shape close to its original form.

“Why’d you do that?” Jeremy asked hurriedly, a bit flustered at the unexpected answer.

“Because I’m done with legends and curses,” Tyler told him as he lifted a box from the table and faced Jeremy, looking mentally exhausted, “I don’t want anything to do with it, okay?”

There was a clear pause before Jeremy let out a forced, scoffing laugh, “Huh, yeah, uh, sure.  It’s probably just stupid folklore anyway.” 

Damon turned to face Stefan and Ren with a pointed look, grabbing the rolled utensils from her hand and tossing it onto the table.  He grabbed her wrist and nodded to his brother, tugging her along as he led them away to talk privately about this new problem.

Renfri’s lips twisted but she didn’t try to pull her hand back, knowing they had to figure out how to get to Mason, and fast.  Ren had snagged Bonnie’s wrist as they passed by her, startling the witch, but she followed when she saw the serious expression on her ex-friend’s face and the vampires with her.

They didn’t get further than one of the brick side patios though when she yanked her arm free, “Okay, okay, this is as far as I go, what’s going on?”

“We have a problem, so–”

“We need a favor,” Damon interrupted, clearly getting antsy, shifting his weight back and forth.

“Like that’s gonna happen,” Bonnie retorted like he was crazy to ask.

“Sooo predictable, that’s why I brought them,” the vampire muttered in annoyance, and gestured to his brother and niece.

“Bonnie, it’s not about him, it’s a problem involving all of us,” Ren interjected, annoyed he’d cut her off.

“What problem?  Elena filled me in on what’s been happening,” she looked at her estranged friend with wary yet pitying eyes, “I can’t believe you turned out to be a werewolf, Ren, I’m so sorry.”

Ren waved her hand dismissively, “Yeah, it sucks, but it happened.  I’m not the werewolf that is currently our problem, though, Mason Lockwood is.”

“We know how you feel about helping us out, but since you’re the one who linked Mason with Katherine concretely, we finally have an opportunity to get an upper hand on both of them.  So, just, hear us out,” Stefan said amiably.

Damon gave a false smile, “Pretty please.”  Bonnie looked at Stefan uncertainty, openly glared at Damon, then finally her eyes stopped on Renfri.  She seemed to be deciding whether she should get involved or not, so Ren made an effort to soften her facial expression a little bit, even if she could still feel the anger and betrayal churning in her gut.

That seemed to do it, perhaps giving Bonnie hope they could be friends again if she helped them, “I’m listening.”

Stefan’s phone rang just then and he looked down at the screen, hesitating, “Uh, I need to fill Elena in.”  He looked up at his brother and pointed between him and Bonnie, “Can you play nice, please?”  He gestured at his niece as well, “You too, keep it civil, you and him.”

“Yes,” Damon waved him off dismissively as Ren flipped the bird at Stefan’s back.

“So,” Ren said decidedly, “We need to get Mason alone with enough time to get information on the moonstone and Katherine out of him.  That bitch is plotting something and is using him to get the stone after planting it here in 1864 and faking her death.  What I’m worried about is getting the stone before Mason gives it to her, so we need to move quickly.  Any solutions?”

“I’m not sure, hmm,” the witch said absently as she absorbed the information.

“All you have to do is touch Mason Lockwood to see where the moonstone is, then we can find it while he’s busy here,” Damon said.

Bonnie shook her head, “My visions don’t work like that, I don’t get to ask questions.”

Damon sneered, “How incredibly inconvenient…although, let’s talk about that little witchy ju-ju thing you do.  You know, the fun one where my brain bursts into flames?  What is that?”

Renfri looked at the witch, curious as well.  Was she just zapping him with her power or was it something else?

Bonnie looked proud as she told him, “That’s me giving you an aneurism.  Your blood vessels go pop , but you heal quickly, so I do it over and over again.”

Damon’s eyes sharpened, “Is it vampire specific?”

Bonnie shrugged, “It’d work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability.”

Ren cringed, “Jesus, I don’t want to know what that feels like for a werewolf, we heal but not as quickly as vampires do.”

Her uncle nodded, “Good…good, good.”

“Damon, I’m not gonna help you hurt him.”

The two Salvatores pinned her with their eyes and Ren said, “Are you kidding me?  Katherine is using him to fuck with us, fuck with Elena , and you’re afraid to hurt him?  Priorities, Bennet, which is more important:  Elena’s and our safety or temporarily hurting someone who’s compromising that?  Katherine knows who you are, which means Mason does as well.  You’re involved in this whether you like it or not.”

“They’re a threat to us, and a threat to Elena.  It’s not the time to play morality police, witch, so you’re going to get over yourself and help us ,” Damon threatened, his blue eyes flashing beside his frustrated niece.

Stefan came back over and tagged on, “He meant that as a question, with a please on the end.”

“Absolutely,” the older brother said insincerely while staring down the dark-skinned girl.

Bonnie glanced between the three hesitantly before she sighed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ren turned as the front door to the boarding house opened and in walked Damon with a body slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.  

“Looks like it went well enough,” the red haired girl observed neutrally, leading him down the hall and into the large study with the leather sofas.  She watched as her uncle dropped the unconscious man into the high-backed wooden chair Ren had prepared over an old canvas tarp in front of the blazing fireplace.  

“Wow, Red, look at you!  As prepared as an Eagle Scout…to torture a werewolf no less,” Damon commented snarkily.  Bonnie came in the next moment with a heavy duffle bag that must have been in Mason’s truck.  She dropped it to the floor nearby and Ren wandered over to riffle through the bag.

She lifted a handful of thick chains and cables, “Looks like he’s used to being tied up on full moons, this shouldn’t be much different.”  She turned to hand them over to Damon, who smirked and used them to begin securing his arms and legs to the chair.  As he started with the man’s legs, Bonnie stepped in front of him and placed her hands on Mason’s temples.

“What are you doing?” Ren asked as she found an empty water bottle with yellowish residue in the duffle bag and a change of clothes.

“You’re looking for a moonstone, I am trying to help you find it.”

“Oh good, yeah,” Damon said, “Find out if he gave it to Katherine, find out where she is, and find out what they’re going to do with it once they get it.”

Ren pointed at him, “I’d focus on where it is and what Katherine needs it for, in that order.  I don’t give a shit where Katherine spends her days lounging around while her little play toys do the dirty work, she would too easily evade us anyway even if we did find her. That’s the least important of the things we’d like to know.”

“Fine, I’ll focus on the moonstone first,” Bonnie said as she closed her eyes and focused.  

As she worked, Ren shifted over to her uncle and leaned down as he tied the other leg, muttering, “I thought she said her visions ‘don’t work like that,’ now suddenly they do?”

Damon snorted, “Typical selective witch knowledge, they only tell you what they want to.  Get used to it.”

“It’s somewhere small, dark…there’s water.”

They straightened and looked at the witch curiously.

“Like a sewer?” Damon speculated.

“Or a septic tank?”  Damon wrinkled his nose and Ren shrugged, “What, it’s possible.  I doubt many people would willingly wade through a barrel full of dookie.”

Bonnie frowned, “No, like a…well?  That can’t be right…Yeah, it’s a well.”

“Why would it be in a well?” the vampire asked.

“He must have hidden it.  He didn’t give it to Katherine right away, so that’s interesting.  Maybe we can use that,” Ren murmured, staring at the chained man in front of them.  

Bonnie blinked her eyes open and she pursed her lips at the dark haired man behind the chair, “I told you, I only get what I get—”  She gasped when a heavy hand grasped her wrist.  Damon peeled the fingers from her skin and she stumbled back.

“That’s it, that’s all I got,” she practically yelled and headed for the door.

“Hey Judgy,” Damon called, and she paused to look back at him, catching Ren’s eyes as well, “Thank you.”  She raised her eyes in surprise, glancing at the female werewolf, who gave her a slow nod of appreciation.  It wasn’t much, but it was a small step forward in their damaged relationship, and Bonnie would take it.  

She gave her a small smile, “I’ll work on finding the moonstone, I have an idea of where it is.”  With that, she hurried out of the room and away from what she suspected would soon be a bloody scene.

“Alright, wake up, wolf boy,” Damon said, then slammed a fist across the groggy man’s cheek, jarring him into consciousness.  Mason groaned and winced at the pain, blinking a few times as his mind caught up to what was happening.  He began to struggle against the chains, rocking the chair as Damon crouched in front of the fire, placing the tip of the metal poker in the hot coals.  Ren leaned against the mantle on the other side, watching the werewolf fight against the restraints.

“It didn’t have to be like this, you know,” she told the other werewolf, eyes narrowed, “you could have let things go, but you decided that killing all three of us was a good decision, so here we are.”

When Mason just glared at her and thrashed around with more vigour, she shook her head disappointedly with a sigh.  

Damon turned to look over his shoulder, a malicious gleam in his eyes, “Oh, someone’s feisty.”  He stood and slowly approached the man, the tip of the hot poker glowing red.  Mason threw his body weight back, tipping his chair over so it slammed to the floor on its back.  Damon didn’t react, just moved to stand over him and look down curiously.

“What!?” Mason shouted in a desperate show of pride and defiance.  Damon said nothing and drove the glowing metal into the man’s shoulder slowly, making him groan and his flesh sizzle.  

He let it sit for a few moments as Mason gasped and grunted, his hands flexing and shaking from the pain.  Damon finally pulled it back out when Mason relented, letting his voice out in a shout of agony before screaming between clenched teeth.

The vampire hummed, “You can hurt, good to know.”  He slung the metal over one shoulder, “I was afraid you were gonna be some beast mass with no affinity for pain.  I wasn’t exactly going to test my theories on my little niece, here.”  He gestured to the redhead and Mason glared in her direction as she pushed off the mantle and moved closer.

“As much as I appreciate the sentiment, Uncle Damon, I can’t exactly say I’m happy to find out this way either.” She sighed and crossed her arms as she looked at the man, “Check his shoulder, is the wound sealing up?”

Damon leaned forward and pulled the collar of Mason’s shirt back, revealing the charred flesh that was already knitting itself back together.

“Yep, he heals quickly too, at least you have that going for you,” he replied simply and she tipped her head to one side slightly.  “Not good for you, though, Fido.  I guess I’ll just have to keep applying pain.”

“Hey Dahmer, chill the fuck out, that’s a last resort.  Now he has an inkling of what will happen if he doesn’t cooperate.”  She moved to stand directly in front of Mason, her uncle watching from the side as he stayed quiet and watched curiously, despite his annoyance at her getting in his way.  She reached down and pulled him up by the chain around his middle, so that the chair was on all fours again and he was sitting up.

She leaned down, her hands on her knees so that they were at eye level, “Mason, I don’t want to torture you.  I’m seventeen, I don’t fucking need that rattling around in my brain.  I’d much rather be worrying about my GPA and looking at colleges, but that’s not my priority for multiple reasons.  Mainly because of you and Katherine.”

The man took quick, harsh breaths and just glared at her, refusing to respond.  She sighed and continued with her efforts to reach him, straightening her back.  She grabbed another chair sitting by the side wall and placed it at an angle in front of the chained up man before sitting.  

She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, “So, let’s start there.  How did you meet Katherine?”

“Why should I tell you?” he snarled.

She raised her eyebrows, “I thought we already established that.  I don’t want to, but if we have to we will draw it out, painfully, and then you will die.  The other option is you tell us what you know then you disappear, letting Katherine think you’re dead so she won’t come looking.  I have a feeling you won’t want her to once you learn more about her.”

Mason curled his lip before spitting at her feet, “What do you know?  Nothing, you’re just some kid who got caught up with vampires, and it’ll come back to bite you in the ass before long.  Then you’ll be the one who’ll end up dead.”

She stared back at him quietly for a moment, before shrugging with a sad smile, “Maybe, but I knew that was a possibility once I’d decided to really accept my uncles into my life after getting to know them.  It sure isn’t easy, but it’s worth it to have them, it’s better than being shipped off to some random foster home that’s no doubt only in it for the government paycheck.  I know what I’ve chosen, but I don’t think that you do, not entirely.”  Her phone buzzed suddenly, so she didn’t see Mason raise his eyebrows at her slightly as she looked down to pull out her phone, but Damon did.  He watched his niece consideringly, deciding to continue to let this play out and see how she did.  It wasn’t a bad start, he just didn’t have the patience or empathy to do it the way she seemed to prefer, he’d rather wring it out of him than dispose of the body, much simpler.

“Oh, perhaps I was wrong, you do have a clue as to who she is,” Ren said with slight surprise and held her phone up to Damon just as Jeremy came into the room, carrying a box of Alaric’s wife’s research.

“I thought I told you to leave,” Damon called after reading the text with an eyebrow quirked in interest.  He crouched down to stick the poker into the fire again, letting it rest in clear view of the werewolf before standing to face the teenage boy.

“I, uh, found something in Ric’s box of stuff,” Jeremy said hesitantly, pausing briefly as he took in the scene before him.  Ren leaned back on her heel, curious, as Damon walked over to the bar table where the box was set down.

“What is it?”

“Um, I did a search on my phone, it’s a plant: Aconitum Vulparia,” Jeremy told them, handing an old rolled up cloth to Damon, and Ren’s eyes caught sight of the grimace on Mason’s face as he writhed again.  “It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere, commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and…wolfsbane,” Jeremy continued, glancing at Mason and Ren by the fireplace warily.  Damon’s blue eyes flashed with intrigue, but Ren frowned as he unrolled the cloth to reveal dried stalks of what was a blue plant turned yellowish after being dried and sat aging in a box for a while.

“What else did you read,” the vampire asked.

“Well, every source says something different.  One says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus–”

Ren snorted, “Yeah, we already knew that.  Living proof, right here.”

Jeremy nodded and went on, “another one says that it protects people, and another one says it’s toxic.”

Ren had begun to think it was like vervain for vampires if it protected people, though she wasn’t sure how, but Mason’s plainly fearful reaction at the last part made it clear.

“I’m guessing toxic,” Damon commented dryly, picking up one of the dried plants.  Before Damon could test it out on the man, Ren stepped forward again and held out a hand.

“Let me, I’d rather know what I’m dealing with if someone tries to use it against me rather than be taken by surprise by the effect.”

Damon raised an eyebrow but lowered the plant over her hand that had her palm facing up.  He lightly touched it against her skin and dragged it across her hand.  The skin started sizzling right away and she hissed in pain, so he pulled the plant back.

“Well, shit,” she grumbled, “looks like we have our own version of vervain.  That sucks.”

They watched as the skin that looked like it had been splashed by a corrosive chemical sealed itself back together again, leaving pink skin behind that continued to regenerate.

She sighed, “Well, at least we know that my healing factor works just fine.  Still, the fucking wooden bullets did far more damage, this just burns a lot.”

“Jesus,” Jeremy breathed, “I can’t believe you just did that.”

Renfri sighed and shrugged, “Better to know than not, I don’t plan on getting taken advantage of again, and knowing my own weaknesses makes that easier.”

She turned back to the tied up werewolf that was eyeing her cautiously, “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on using it on you unless you choose option B, so please cooperate.”  He sneered at her again, which she ignored as she brought the focus back to the interrogation.

“So, back to Katherine.  How did you meet?  I’m honestly surprised you’re together, given your blatant prejudice against vampires.  The legends imply that’s an instinctual reaction to the opposite species, but I call bullshit, I have no problem with them myself just because I triggered my curse, only when I’m a wolf on the full moon.”

Mason wrinkled his nose, “Vampires don’t care about people, only themselves, but Kat’s different.”

Renfri raised an eyebrow skeptically while Damon barked out a sharp laugh, “Does she?  Oh, you’re deeply misinformed if that’s what you think.”

Damon shook his head, “You poor idiot, you think she’s different?   She’s the biggest bitch of them all, she’ll drop you like a rock once she’s done with you, you moron.”

“You’re wrong.  She’s here with me because she wants to help me,” Mason snarled.

“Help you do what?  Break the curse with the moonstone?” Ren asked calmly.

When Mason nodded angrily, Damon demanded, “Why?  How would that benefit her?”

Mason snorted, “Because she loves me.  Why do you ask, you jealous?”

“Oh, how rude of me, I just realized I didn’t offer you anything to eat,” Damon surged forward with the wolfsbane in hand and shoved it against the werewolf’s mouth, burning his lips until they blistered and bled.

“Damon, stop!” Ren shouted, slapping his hand away and wiping the plant from the man’s mouth, even as it burned through the skin of her own palm and she winced.

“Oh, come on, you’re not going to get anywhere unless you apply a little pain, Red, face it,” the vampire snapped.

Ren glared at her uncle and pushed him back a step, “No, we’re doing it my way first.  If you keep getting in the way then of course it won’t work, so just stop it.  We need answers more than we need your ego to be satisfied.”

He sneered at her, “Sure, whatever you say, and when you inevitably fail, I’ll have my fun with Katherine’s little puppet.”  He turned and paced away from her, clearly agitated.  Ren sighed and faced Mason again, glancing at Jeremy’s strained yet stubborn expression, knowing it would be pointless to tell him to leave.  She took a rejuvenating breath before sitting in the chair facing the other werewolf again.

“Mason, you may think you know Katherine and that she’s different from most vampires, but she’s not, she’s worse.  Since you’re so reluctant to share, I’ll go first.”  Ren took a brief moment to steel herself before speaking, “I was still human when Katherine came to town.  The vampires trapped under Fell’s Church in 1864, who Katherine happily left to die if it meant she could fake her death and escape, by the way, had been accidentally released and were causing havoc around town.  The council had enacted a plan to take them all out on Founder’s Day and some people got caught in the crossfire, including Tyler and our friend Caroline.  They were in a car accident and Caroline was in critical condition and hospitalized.  We gave her vampire blood to save her, thinking she’d be safe in the hospital overnight.  Katherine had already made an appearance by then, pretending to be Elena and attacking John Gilbert in their house.” She rolled her eyes, “Though, honestly, I don’t give a shit that she cut off John’s fingers and put a knife in his gut, that’s about the only thing I’ll applaud her for.”

Mason snorted at that little comment, and she gave him a little chuckle as she remarked, “Good, so you know John is a douchebag, no love lost for him.”  She stood and began to pace back and forth, “We didn’t know what had happened, it took us a bit to realize in the confusion that it was Katherine that had done it since John was KOed in surgery getting his fingers sewed back on.  So, the first thing she did upon returning to town was try to fuck with his head,” she pointed at her uncle, who curled his lip, “and attacking John for some unknown reason.  She then showed up at the mayor’s wake pretending to be Elena to flirt with Stefan and basically threaten everyone.  I walked up to her, thinking she was my favorite Gilbert, and do you know what she did?”

She stopped pacing and glared down at Mason, who stared back with skepticism heavy in his eyes.

“She compelled me.  She made me invite her into our home and told me to visit my friend in the hospital that night to suffocate her to death with her pillow.”  Ren leaned forward, putting her hands on each of Mason’s bound wrists and he flinched back.

“She made me kill one of my closest friends, Mason.  She made me end Caroline’s life with my own hands, triggering my curse…and I couldn’t even remember doing it,” she told him, her voice quiet but intense.

Mason shook his head, “No, she wouldn’t do that.  Sure, she’d do what she needs to to help me and the people she cares about, but she wouldn’t do something like that for no reason.”

She raised her eyebrows, “Buddy, she knew what I was.  She triggered my curse on purpose, though I still don’t know why.  I found out the hard way when my bones started breaking while I was in a car with Damon, Ric, and Elena.  If you don’t think that was intentional or malicious in any way, then you’re delusional.  Besides, you clearly don’t even believe your own words, given you hid the moonstone in a well filled with vervain.”

He blanched at that, looking shocked as she smirked a bit, “Yeah, we found it, thanks to Bonnie’s hocus pocus.”  She held up her phone with the text that was still open on the screen and waved it a bit, “Interesting that you hid it from her in a well full of poison when you supposedly trust her and think she’s different.  But you don’t even believe your own lies, Mason, you clearly don’t trust her, even if you do love her.  The sad part is, you just can’t seem to see that she doesn’t love you.”

The man’s eyes looked conflicted and his fists clenched tight as he breathed harshly, “No.  I–you don’t–”

“Mason, tell me, how did you meet Katherine?”

The man seemed to stare into space, lost in thought as his body shook from the stress and denial, “We met in Florida, at a bar, she was different than any other vampire I met.”

Damon snorted again from where he stood against a bookshelf and Ren glared at him as she replied, “That’s because she was looking for you, Mason.  You guys didn’t just happen to meet, she was looking for you because you could get what she needed: the moonstone.”  

She watched him carefully as he shook his head sharply, but his crumpling face revealed the realization that was finally hitting home, so she pushed on ruthlessly.

“Mason, she used you, and she’s still using you.  She gave your ancestor, George Lockwood, the moonstone in exchange for helping her fake her death.  Now, she’s come back for it and got close to you so you would help her get it back for whatever reason.  It’s certainly not to help spare you from the werewolf curse, it’s something else.  She’s not here for you.”

He shook his head wildly, “No, no, she was there for me when I triggered my curse, she stayed with me, she helped me–”

Renfri sighed with frustration, “ Mason –”  Then she paused, thinking, and asked, “Wait, how did you trigger your curse?”

He looked at her strangely, “We were at a bar with some friends.  My buddy Jimmy was drunk and picked a fight cause he thought I was messing around with his girl.  We fought and he hit his head and died instantly.”

Ren furrowed her brow, “That’s it?  Nothing seemed off?”

Mason huffed, “No, he was drunk.  He had a few too many and just got it into his head that I was hooking up with Marla.  He didn’t listen when I told him that was crazy, he just kept trying to attack me, like he couldn’t even hear me…”

He trailed off, his eyes widening, and Ren nodded, “Like he was compelled.  That sounds familiar.”  She looked to Damon who quirked an eyebrow at her, “Remember your little experiment with the carnival guy?  You compelled him to provoke Tyler into a fight and to not back down no matter what?”  Damon pursed his lips and shrugged, silently admitting that what she was implying was sound logic.  She looked at Mason again, “That sounds just like your friend Jimmy, unfortunately.  She set you up, Mason, she triggered your curse.”

Mason looked devastated, his eyes watery even as he still shook his head dazedly.

Renfri sighed, not being able to help feeling a bit sad for the poor man.  He had been completely seduced and manipulated by the bitch, just like her uncles had.

She reached out and layed a gentle hand on one stubbly cheek, “I’m sorry, but she’s not who you think she is.  She forced you to turn, just like she did to me.  Katherine will continue to hurt and kill people to get what she wants and we need to stop her, can you help us?”

The man’s chest heaved and a single tear escaped the corner of one eye.  He squeezed them both shut and let his head drop back against the wood of the chair with a dull thunk as Ren let her hand fall away from his face.  She sat back and watched him patiently as he finally seemed to let go of the lies he kept telling himself to let himself think everything was fine.  When Damon rolled his eyes and straightened to move forward, Ren threw up a hand, indicating silently for him to wait.  Finally, Mason opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling with a deep, numbing sorrow.

“I don’t know much, only what she told me,” he said in a rough voice.

Ren squeezed the wrist that she had continued to hold, “Just tell us what you can.  If you do, we’ll let you go, as long as you leave town and stay out of the way while we deal with her.  I’m sure it’ll be good for you to get away for a while,” she finished lightly, giving him a small, joking smile.  She saw Damon shit in her peripheral vision and Jeremy fidget in response, but ignored it.

Mason didn’t react other than to sigh and lift his head to glance in the direction of the vampire across the room then bring his eyes back to her, looking broken.

“Then ask me.”

Ren nodded, “What exactly did Katherine tell you she wanted the moonstone for?”

“To help me break the curse, so I wouldn’t have to turn anymore.  I thought it was because she loved me that she would help me, you made it clear I was wrong,” he ground out in a cracked voice.

Ren’s lips thinned, accepting that they likely wouldn’t get much actual information from Mason, he had been manipulated and not actually trusted with her real plans, of course, just told what he wanted to hear.

“Okay, where is she staying right now?”

He sighed tiredly, “Some bed and breakfast on the edge of town, a woman called Mrs. Flowers runs it out of her house, Katherine’s got a room there.  The woman’s compelled, of course.”

Ren nodded, “Alright, anything else you can think of that might be of interest?  Anyone else she’s in contact with?”

He shrugged, “ I don’t know , she didn’t tell me much.  She did mention she knew a witch that was going to help undo the curse once we got the moonstone, but I don’t know how true it is anymore.”

Ren patted his hand, “That’s good, thanks.  Now, a promise is a promise.”  She stood and looked to her uncle and pointed at the chains, “Damon, can you take these off?”

He snorted, “ Hell no, I’ve entertained this long enough.  If he doesn’t know anything, then he’s dead, end of story.”  He moved forward, his face hard, but Ren rushed to get in his way as Jeremy gasped.  

“No, you let me do it my way, and we got all we could.  There’s no reason to kill him,” she argued.

He looked down at her, “He’s a werewolf and an enemy, he could kill me or Stefan with one bite on a full moon.  I’m not taking that chance.”  He started to step around her but she threw up a hand and pushed it firmly against his chest.

“He won’t be a problem if he’s not here.  Like I said, he’ll leave town and stay gone, then there’s no risk to you or Stefan.  He doesn’t have to die, Damon.”  He glared down at her as she stared firmly back, “Please, just remove the chains, and he’ll leave.  No grudges, no more fighting, and we focus on dealing with Katherine, okay?  One less problem, it’ll even give us one up on her.  We could use his disappearance as leverage against her.”  Mason watched them apprehensively while Jeremy shifted restlessly in the background, clearly not comfortable yet too nervous to leave without knowing what happened.

Damon sighed, “Goddamnit, Red, you’re such a pain in the ass.”  He reached over and began ripping the chains off of the werewolf’s limbs, releasing him from his restraints.

Ren allowed herself a small smile, “I know, that’s why we get along so well.”

Damon snorted, “Sure, kid.  Now get him out of here, and make sure no one sees him.  If she’s going to think he’s disappeared or died, he can’t just pop back up at the Lockwood place and pack his things first.”  He glared at the werewolf that slowly stood from the chair, “Take what you’ve got in your truck and go, no pit stops and keep contact with the locals minimal, got it?  Time for you to go off the grid, wolfy.”

Mason nodded reluctantly, “Fine, I’ll just tell Carol I’m going back to Florida.”

Ren raised a finger, “Don’t actually go back to Florida, though, cause if Katherine finds out you’re not dead and that you’re no longer on her side, she may try to find you there to finish the job herself.”

He grunted, “Yeah, got it.”  He grabbed the chains and stuffed them back in the duffle bag before zipping it up.  Damon headed upstairs as Jeremy sighed in relief and packed the box of Ric’s things back up.  Renfri led Mason back to the front door and opened it, pausing to rifle through a drawer in one of the decorative tables in the foyer, pulling out a paper and pen.

Mason looked at her curiously, “What are you doing?”

“Giving you my number, just in case.  I don’t know what happened to your phone, but it’s just as well that you get a new one anyway, so send me a text when you do.”  She handed him the paper she’d scribbled her number on, “Lay low for a few months and, like Damon said, stay off the grid so she’ll think you’re dead.  If that means not contacting people you normally would, so be it.  Come up with an excuse, say you’re going camping or some shit, I don’t know.”

She handed the phone to him and he quickly tucked it into his front pocket, “Just in case of what?”

She shrugged, “In case shit hits the fan with Katherine and you need to haul ass.  Or whatever other supernatural emergency might happen, I never know these days.”

Mason choked out a strangled laugh, “Yeah, I guess.”  He pulled the duffle higher onto his shoulder and turned for the door.

“Hey, stick to the back roads, we don’t want to chance Katherine seeing you driving off on your own, okay?” she called out, “And check in with Tyler once in a while after the mandatory waiting period, you’re his family.”

He looked over his shoulder and nodded, “I will.”  He paused and looked hesitant before adding, “And thanks, I know I’d be dead right now if you hadn’t intervened.  I’m sorry for getting you caught up in what happened with Liz.  I was wrong about you, you didn’t deserve that.”

She blew a short breath out through her nose, “Thanks, I guess.  I still can’t really forgive you, but I kind of understand why you did what you did.  Damon went through the same thing with her, you know.  Only he had it much worse, so be grateful and get lost while you’re still alive.”  She waved at him and  turned away as she closed the door, only to bump her nose into a hard chest.

“Who said you could go spilling my secrets, Red?”

She looked up at her older uncle and smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, I just felt a bit bad for the guy, but it’s not like he’s going to go blabbing, right?”

Damon grunted, “Who knows, thanks to you.  And here I thought you were my partner in crime, but now you’re just as bad as St. Stefan, our righteous savior.”

Renfri raised an eyebrow at him, “Well, no, I have to disagree there.”  She paused as she heard the sound of Mason’s truck engine disappear down the drive, “I would absolutely have let you torture him for information, if the empathy route didn’t work.  I just prefer trying other methods before resorting to violence, doesn’t mean I’m not willing to go there if necessary.”

Damon barked out a laugh and ruffled her hair even as she tried to duck out from under his hand, “There’s my violent little niece.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Renfri was rolling up the canvas tarp that only had a few drops of blood on it, thanks to her, and Damon was lounging on the couch with a glass of bourbon in hand as he watched.  Ash lay at his feet, surprisingly, after having been let out of Ren’s room.  The dog watched while his owner put the room back to how it was, his ears perking just before Stefan walked in.

They looked up and he held up a smooth, oval-shaped looking stone that was a pale, milky color.

“All this for that?” Damon asked in annoyance.

“Yup,” Stefan replied tiredly, tossing it to his brother to examine.

“Well, at least it fucks up whatever Katherine is cooking up, though we’re no closer to knowing what she actually plans on doing with it.  I still don’t think she plans on breaking the sun and moon curse or whatever, it doesn’t benefit her from what I can tell,” Ren commented as she picked up the tarp.  When she lifted it,  the ends sagged and something slid out of one of the folds and clattered onto the floor.

Ren looked down in confusion, “How did I miss that?”  She looked up at her older uncle, “How did you miss that?”

Damon got up from the couch and rolled his eyes as he bent down to pick up the fallen cellphone, “It’s not like I was monitoring your clean up closely, just enjoying the fact that it wasn’t me doing it.”

Ren huffed, “It must be Mason’s phone.”

“Yup, so might as well send that bullshit excuse of going back to Florida.”  A few seconds of tapping were heard then a beep, “And done—ooo, last number dialed,” Damon said playfully, “I wonder who that could possibly be?”

Stefan stiffened then moved toward him, “No, no, no, don’t provoke her—”

Damon dodged his brother as he hit the call button and Ren smacked her hand to her forehead as she dropped the tarp, “Damon, watch what you say.  We want the upper hand but we don’t want to force her into a corner, she’ll—”

He ignored them both and as soon as they heard a muffled voice answer, they stiffened as Damon grinned.

“Wrong boy toy,” he corrected, and Stefan smacked the hand that was held out to keep him at bay before he turned away in anger.

There was a pause as Damon listened to the older vampire then responded arrogantly, “Oh, he’s right beside me, although his heart’s across the room.”  Ren rubbed her hand over her brow, he really could have been more tactful about using this leverage, but he instead chose to be petty and taunt Katherine.  It was going to come back and bite them in the ass.

“I’ve had a very busy day today,” he continued, “Killed a werewolf, found a moonstone—hey, did you know that he hid the thing at the bottom of a well filled with vervain?”  Stefan shook his head in frustration as he listened to his brother piss off the much older vampire, “Guess he didn’t trust you very much, although he did love you, poor guy.”

Another brief pause before he snarked, “Aw, did I put a kink in your master plan?  I’m so sorry.”

Ren tried to listen carefully to the muffled voice, though her hearing wasn’t as good as Stefan’s, who could probably hear everything the doppelganger said, but she gathered the next words were not reassuring as Damon’s arrogance slowly receded.  He hung up and lifted his eyes a bit guiltily to his brother who still looked at him in disbelief.

“What?  What’d she say?  It clearly wasn’t good,” the youngest Salvatore asked.

“Uh, well—”

Stefan cut him off quickly, though he continued to stare accusingly at his reckless sibling, “Damon pissed her off by interfering and she basically said she has a myriad of back up plans.  So, we should expect her to retaliate at any moment for his screw up.”  Stefan turned and stormed out of the room.

Damon watched him go before glancing at his niece, who just looked disappointed, before he opened his mouth.

“I was just—”

Renfri waved her hand for him to stop, “I know what you were doing, but that doesn’t matter now.  Uncle Damon, I know you hate her for what she did to you and you want to hurt her in any way you can, but you need to remember that you’re not the one she’s going to take it out on when there are plenty of other innocent people she can get to that would do more lasting damage.”  She shook her head sadly, “I hope that whatever she does isn’t permanent, because it would be partially your fault.  Please remember that the next time you have the urge to waste the only leverage we have on your personal petty revenge fantasies.”  With that, she scooped up the tarp and called for Ash, who stood and trotted after her, leaving the dark-haired vampire alone in the room.  

Ren put the tarp into the basement storage and made her way back up to the main floor before collapsing on a couch in the den.  Ash hopped up beside her, settling between her splayed legs just as her phone buzzed under her butt.  She sighed tiredly before shifting to pull it out from under her.  She held it up over her face and opened the message from Elena before sucking in a sharp breath.

“ Fuck .”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ren was still in the den a while later, cuddling the Dutch Shepherd, when the front door opened and allowed a thin figure in.

“Elena, oh my god,” she leaped to her feet and hurried over to the girl, pulling her into a tight hug.  “How’s Jenna, is she gonna be okay?”

The brunette nodded, though her face made Ren think otherwise, “The doctor’s said she was lucky, the knife missed her vital organs.  She’ll recover, it’ll take time and rest though.”  She held onto the redhead for a long moment, allowing herself to be comforted, before pulling back, “Do you know where Stefan is?  I need to talk to him.”

Renfri held her friend’s arms as she looked at her with concern, noting the redness in her eyes but also the hard determination.

“He’s in the big study,” she said quietly, pointing down the hall.  Ash had come up behind her to greet the visitor, nosing Elena’s leg.  The girl paused to smile sadly down at the dog and softly stroke his head before moving with stiff determination down the hallway.

There was a rush of wind and Damon appeared beside her, watching the doppelganger turn the corner while Ash startled and moved away towards the fireplace.

“You were right,” he murmured, “it’s my fault.”

She glanced at him sadly, but said nothing.  Ren patted his shoulder before turning to make a cup of hot chocolate for herself in the kitchen.  The teenager walked into the kitchen with an aching chest as she thought of Jenna in the hospital after having stabbed herself due to compulsion.  Katherine really knew how to hit where it hurt and drive a point home.  She leaned back against the island counter as she watched a mug full of milk rotate in the microwave.  She didn’t know what they were going to do from there on, especially if Elena was going to do what Ren thought she was, judging by her expression when she arrived.  

After closing the new microwave door and stirring cocoa powder into the hot liquid, she tossed a handful of marshmallows into it and returned to the den.  She found Damon sitting on the couch opposite the one she’d been occupying, sipping on a glass of amber liquid.  He stared into the fire that Ash lounged beside, the crackling of the flames the only thing breaking the silence.  She watched as Damon furrowed his brow a little further before taking a big gulp from his drink.  He must be listening in to his brother and Elena, though she didn’t know why, it wasn’t going to help that guilty conscience.  Although, she thought it might drive home the pain he caused Elena by acting recklessly in the moment.

They sat in silence for another minute, sipping at their respective comfort drinks, until they heard footsteps coming back up the hall at a faster pace than before.  A ragged sob reached their ears as Elena turned the corner and went straight for the front door, yanking it open.

“Elena,” Damon called out, jumping to his feet, his guilt moving him forward.  The girl turned to look back at him, revealing the mess of tears and mascara around her eyes as she sucked in a shuddering breath.

He moved towards her, into the foyer, “I riled Katherine up.  I wasn’t thinking, I didn’t think –”

“It doesn’t matter, Damon,” Elena interrupted, the defeat in her eyes plain to see, “she won, Katherine won.”  The two Salvatores watched helplessly as she hurried out and closed the door behind her.  Renfri’s eyes tracked Damon’s facial expression while he visibly swallowed the guilt that clawed its way up his throat.  She got up as he turned to slump back onto his couch, pouring him more bourbon to wash the regret down.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Text

“Here,” Damon said as he handed a glass of his bourbon to the blonde sitting on the leather couch in the large study.  She let out an unsteady breath as she accepted the glass with a weak smile.

“I’m still shaking,” the girl commented before taking a much needed sip of the alcoholic beverage.

Renfri stood next to Caroline and watched her with concern as Ash sat next to the girl and rested his head on her knee.  Caroline’s lips twitched and she patted his head, appreciating the dog’s keen sense of knowing when someone was upset and needed comfort.

“What happened?” Stefan asked as he walked down the steps by the door.

Damon tipped his head at his brother, “Go on, tell him.”  He turned to Stefan, “You’re gonna love this.”

Caroline sighed, “I saw Katherine today.”

Stefan’s eyebrows raised, “Where?”

“At the Grill.  I just stopped by to gawk and quasi-stalk Matt,” Caroline reluctantly admitted the last part.  “When he saw me, I had to come up with an excuse to be there, so I said I had to ‘use the little girls room.’”  She rolled her eyes hard at her own behavior before Damon interjected.

“Skip the teen drama and get to it.”

Caroline glanced at the redhead standing beside her, but Ren just shrugged and gestured for her to go on.

“Then I had to pretend to use the bathroom, even though I didn’t really have to go, ‘cause I’m a doofus .  But when I went in, Katherine came up behind me, pretending to be Elena and acting concerned.  When I tried to run, she blocked the door.  She wanted me to deliver a message.”

She looked between the three Salvatores nervously as Stefan prompted, “Well, what was the message?”

The girl took a breath, “She said to tell you that she wants the moonstone or she will rip the town apart until it rains blood.”

“Don’t forget the most important part,” Ren prodded.

“She wants to meet tonight, at the masquerade ball.”

Stefan shook his head, “She wants to do it in public, ‘killing’ Mason threw her off guard.”

“She’s running scared,” Damon argued, “What she did to Jenna was desperate, she’s out of tricks.”

“We can’t underestimate her, we have to play this smart,” Stefan insisted.

“In this case, I agree with Stefan,” Ren chimed in, “Katherine doesn’t seem the type to run scared, especially not from vampires a lot younger than her.  She’s used to having the upper hand on everyone else because she plans for almost anything in order to stay on top and stay alive.  Do you really think she’s just acting desperately?”  Renfri shook her head, “She may be moving more urgently and lashing out, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still calculated or that she doesn’t have other options at her disposal.  We need to be careful and plan for anything, just like she does.”

Caroline looked worried, “Can’t we just give her the moonstone so she’ll leave?”

Damon’s nose wrinkled at that, “No, Katherine’s not getting dick .”

Ren sighed, “Care, there’s no guarantee that she’d leave once she has it, we don’t know exactly what she plans on doing with it in regards to the curse it’s connected to.  She forced me to kill you, forcing your transition, and in turn triggered my curse.  If the moonstone is connected to breaking this sun and moon curse, which I’d make a hefty bet requires the presence of a vampire and a werewolf, then I don’t think she’s done with us.”

“I’ve had it,” her older uncle snapped, “I’m gonna go to the masquerade ball and I’m gonna kill her, tonight.”

“You’re not gonna kill her,” his brother told him, making the blue eyed vampire become immediately defensive.

“Don’t give me that goody-goody crap—”

“Stefan—”

“You’re not gonna kill her,” Stefan repeated, cutting them both off, “because I am.”

Damon looked surprised for a moment then smirked as his younger brother smiled mischievously at him.  

They glanced at their niece, who returned it with an excited grin of her own, “Oh, we’re really doing this, huh?”  

Ren rubbed her hands together enthusiastically before clasping them as Caroline looked on nervously, “It’s time to put the old bitch down.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Stefan and Ren crouched in the shadowed foliage on the forest floor, hidden from the view of the little farmhouse in the distance.   Renfri held a pair of old binoculars up to her face  then held them out to Stefan.  He took them as she pulled out her phone and typed out a message on her screen for him to read, not wanting to take the chance of being caught by talking aloud.

Movement in the window on the far right, second floor.

Stefan glanced at the message then held the binoculars to his eyes as well, scanning the view carefully until he saw a slim figure pass in front of the window while holding a dress aloft by a hanger.

He nodded then looked again, his eyebrows furrowing.  Ren looked at him curiously and let him take the phone from her hands to tap out his own message.

She’s not the only one in there, another woman is with her.

Ren frowned and looked down in thought briefly, then met his eyes

Can you get close enough to hear them without getting caught?

He paused before nodding slowly.  His niece tipped her head toward the house and he disappeared in a light gust of wind as she looked through the lenses again.  She could see the slow moving figure of the elderly woman who owned the place, Mrs. Flowers, on the first floor where it seemed the kitchen was.  She shifted to see three vehicles parked by the house, two in the gravel driveway and another on the other side of the house on the grass, blocked from view if one was approaching the front door from the driveway.  She returned her view back to the window just in time to see the stranger walk up to the window as Katherine turned towards her.  Ren could see a tall woman with light brown skin, dark brown hair with what looked like highlights, and sharp cheekbones.  The woman held up an ornate golden mask with glittery detailing to her face playfully before lowering it and smiling at the centuries old vampire.

Renfri jumped but managed to stifle her reflexive gasp as Stefan appeared beside her again.  He jerked his chin behind them and she nodded, shooting one last worried look at the innocent looking farmhouse before turning and following her uncle away from it with silent footsteps, careful to avoid any sticks or twigs and only stepping on the soft moss or dirt.  Once they were far enough away, Stefan grabbed her and sped the rest of the distance back to the boarding house.

He placed her down outside the front door and they walked in together.  Ren scratched Ash under his chin in greeting as he trotted up to her happily and followed them into the den.

“So what did you hear?” Ren asked as she threw herself onto one of the couches, glancing at Damon and Ric who were going through the arsenal of vampire hunting weapons laid out on one of the long decorative tables that had been cleared off earlier.

Stefan sighed and rubbed his neck, “You were right, she brought someone in to help her as back up, Katherine asked her to go with her to the masquerade ball tonight.”  Damon and Alaric looked up at this, pausing their conversation.

Ren raised an eyebrow, “And?”

Stefan’s eyes roamed over the others in the room before landing back on her, “I didn’t hear them explicitly say it, but I think she’s a witch.”

The werewolf’s head dropped back as she groaned, “Great.”

“Then it’s a good thing we have our own witch, right?” Damon said just as a knock was heard at the front door by the supernaturals in the room.  Caroline answered it and let Bonnie Bennett in to join the rest of them.  She came striding in with a thick book in her hands.

“Hey, I got Stefan’s message,” she came to a stop when Stefan turned to face her.

“Hey, you brought the grimoire, thank you.”

The young witch looked around the room that was unusually full and busy, “What’s going on?”

Before Stefan could answer, Jeremy came up behind her from the hallway with a box in hand, “We’re gonna kill Katherine.”

When Bonnie looked shocked and concerned, she turned to Stefan and Ren who both glanced at each other then shrugged at her.

“I can explain,” the vampire said quickly after seeing her expression.

She nodded, “Please do.”

He paused, then realized not much more had to be said, “We’re gonna kill Katherine.” He just stood there awkwardly for a moment before Bonnie’s attention was drawn to where Alaric was explaining to Damon and Jeremy how his various hunter weapons worked.

Bonnie pulled Stefan aside as Caroline made her way over to join the mini lesson on vampire slaying, Ren’s focus had stayed on the witch though.  She still hadn’t forgiven her for betraying them and trying to kill Damon because Caroline was turned, though she could admit that they might need Bonnie to give them an edge against Katherine, especially given her recent house guest.

“I know you love Elena and you want to be with her, but it’s risky.  Too many people can get hurt,” Bonnie told him.

Stefan shook his head, “Look, I want Elena back, yes, but it’s more than that, and what Katherine did to Jenna crossed a line.”  He moved to stand directly in front of her, “She has to be stopped before it happens again.”

The anxiety was clear on Bonnie’s face, “I don’t know, Stefan.”

Ren sighed and got up to walk over to the two, “Look, Katherine has the advantage right now.  She’s older, which means she’s stronger and far too experienced at manipulating and threatening people into getting what she wants and coming out on top.  Not to mention she might have a witch on her side.”

The dark skinned girl raised her eyebrows, “A witch, are you sure?”

Renfri raised a brow in return, “I said might, so no, but there’s a good chance.  We scouted out the place she’s staying at based on what Mason told us, and someone was there.  Stefan heard her invite her to the masquerade ball and, honestly, it makes sense she’d get her hands on a witch sooner rather than later anyway.”

“What makes you say that?” the Bennett girl asked curiously.

Renfri began to tick off her fingers, “She turned a vampire, triggered a werewolf’s curse as well as brought another one to town, and hunted down the moonstone all at the same time.  These are three of the four things needed for the alleged Sun and Moon Curse to be broken, and the fourth would be a witch to do the spell.  It only makes sense she’d bring one in eventually, she needs them for breaking this curse, or whatever it is.  I still don’t think everything we know about it is entirely accurate.”  Ren threw up her hands in an ‘oh well’ gesture, “Regardless, we’ll likely need you to deal with her and whatever spells she concocts to fuck with us on Katherine’s orders.   She’ll probably expect us to try to interfere anyway, so she’ll have the witch do something to ensure we give her what she wants, I just don’t know what yet.”

Bonnie looked extremely unsure of the whole thing, “This is a lot.  Guys, I’ve been practicing and I’m definitely better than I was before, but I don’t know if I can go up against another witch.”

Stefan stepped up as Caroline glanced at the group from beside Jeremy, still keeping an eye on the hunter’s explanations, “Katherine knows me, she knows I’m not going to try something in a crowd full of innocent people, so it gives me an edge.  I can catch her by surprise.”

“Maybe, if we plan it carefully,” his niece chimed in and he gave her a quick look that silently told her to shut up.

Bonnie silently watched the group around Alaric for a few seconds, thinking before she said, “I could do a spell to trap her, like the tomb spell.”

Stefan leaned in, “Right, so we can isolate her away from the others.”

“And maybe once you’ve done that, you can find her witch lady friend and keep her occupied, maybe even convince her to stop helping the bloodsucking bitch,” Renfri added.  

Bonnie nodded thoughtfully, “If you’re right and they’re only helping her because they owe her a debt, I might be able to persuade them to stop helping her or even to help us stop her.”

“So?  Are you with us, Bonnie?” the broody vampire asked with pleading eyes.

Bonnie let out a big breath and nodded decisively, “Okay, I’m in.”  

When Ren gave her a small but grateful smile, the witch eagerly returned it, a spark of hope in her chest for their tattered friendship.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The soon to be executioners gathered in the center of the room around the two couches in front of the blazing fireplace.  Jeremy leaned on the back of a chair and Damon propped a foot up on the coffee table and leaned on his knee while the rest stood facing each other.  Renfri sat back on the couch with her legs crossed and fiddling with a wooden crossbow bolt from Ric’s arsenal.

“Sure you don’t want me there tonight?” Alaric asked, moving to sit on the armrest of the couch Ren sat on.

Stefan shook his head, “No, I need you to stay with Elena, I don’t want her to know about this, okay?”

Ren raised a hand, “And why is that?  If Elena is kept in the dark about this, she’s gonna be pissed, and if she realizes that something’s off, she’s gonna stick her nose into it to find out what’s going on and potentially put herself in danger.  I think it’s a safer bet to at least tell her we’re doing something but she should stay home to keep an eye on Jenna.”

Her uncle still shook his head, “I’m not gonna take the chance, if we tell her she’ll just try to convince us not to do this and get in the way.  I get that she’s worried about other people getting hurt by Katherine, but it’s our choice to do this, not just hers.”

Renfri sighed, “Fair enough, I guess she wouldn’t react well either way.” She looked to Ric, “Don’t tell her that we’re all going to the masquerade, she’ll know something’s up if you do.  You can tell her I went with Bonnie and Caroline, maybe dragged Damon along as a chaperone in case Katherine tried something, but not that Stefan and Jeremy are gonna be there.  They’re the last ones that would voluntarily go to town events, she’ll question it immediately.”

Alaric nodded firmly, “Got it, good call.  I’ll make sure she doesn’t leave my sight.”

Stefan nodded gratefully, “Good.  Alright, if anybody wants to back out, I’ll understand.”  They all glanced around the room at each other.

Damon’s sharp blue eyes pierced each person, “Yeah, any cold feet, speak now.  I don’t want this going wrong if someone chickens out…Caroline.”

Despite the nervous energy causing her to fidget, Caroline’s voice came out strong as she responded, “Oh, I won’t.  Look, she made Ren kill me, fair’s fair. As long as there are no werewolves running around, no offense, Ren.”

Ren waved her off and nodded encouragingly, “None taken.  Mason’s out of town and Tyler won’t trigger his curse unless he kills somebody, accident or not.  Regardless, it’s a half-moon so we wouldn’t change anyway.” She grinned at her friend, “You’ll do great, Care, you’ve got the acting chops and I’ll know you’ll fool her.  She certainly won’t expect it from you since you’ve been playing her mole and acting like a scared little mouse, it’ll be quite the surprise.”

The blonde beamed and the fidgeting calmed a bit.

Damon shrugged, convinced, before his eyes found the nervous witch playing with the necklace hanging from her throat, “You with us, Judgy?”

Bonnie looked at him, then Stefan, then her friends and teacher before stepping forward and nodding, “But no one gets hurt.”  

Renfri inwardly sighed and glanced at her older uncle and met his eyes.  She knew there was no way they could guarantee that when it came to dealing with Katherine, but she wasn't about to voice it in case the witch backed out, she was vital to the plan. 

The look in Damon’s eyes confirmed that he knew this as well, but he hid it well and declared, “Except Katherine.”  He smirked and looked around at them all, “Tonight, Katherine gets a stake through her heart.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The rumble of Damon’s Camaro was the only sound in the car as they pulled into the driveway of the Lockwood mansion and parked.  The two brothers were decked out in matching black suits with white dress shirts, but their masks differed.  Ren had picked out their facewear, and when she handed a matte black mask in the shape of a butterfly with shiny black stones on it, he’d looked at her as if she was joking.  She only smiled at him and held it out, so he rolled his eyes and took it as she snickered under her breath.  Stefan chuckled at the exchange and happily accepted his mask that was a very dark red with simple lines but more delicate and elaborate designs in the ridges of the swirls.  She donned a black cloth mask with a sleek, cat eye shape, embroidery, and a few shiny black rhinestones.  As she stepped out of the back of the Camaro in black open-toed heels, she smoothed the dark red fabric with black chiffon layered over it.  The A-line strapless embroidered dress hugged her chest and waist then flared out the sleek skirt that hung to just above her knees.  Renfri never listened to people that said redheads shouldn’t wear red, she knew how to choose what suited her fair complexion and auburn hair.

She walked between her uncles as they made their way up the drive and through the crowded mansion, detouring to set up their equipment in the chosen room, before heading to the back patio and lawns where there were fire dancers and other performers adding to the mysterious atmosphere.  Stefan and Damon stopped to stand near the top of the stairs and look down over the crowd and Renfri paused a step above them to scan the throngs of people for their target.  The fact that everyone was wearing masks made it more difficult, but Renfri figured that Katherine would find them first, unfortunately.

“See her?” Damon asked, eyes still searching as well.

“Nope,” Stefan responded curtly before asking, “You sure you can do this?”

Damon scoffed and glared at him, “Who are you talking to?”

Stefan only shrugged, “I had a chance to kill her and I hesitated.”

“That is the fork in the road between you and me, my friend, I don’t hesitate.”

“You spent 145 years loving her, it could happen,” the younger brother replied simply.

Renfri nodded and crossed her arms, “He’s got a point, Uncle Damon, you held a flame for her for a hell of a long time.  Although, she did rip your heart out, so I’m hoping your first instinct is to return the favor rather than to give in to any lingering desires.”

Damon sneered, “Red’s got the gist of it.  I’m more inclined to tear her heart from her chest than anything else, I won’t hesitate.”

The two brothers looked at each other for a moment before Stefan tipped his head, “Okay.”  He made his way down the steps to roam the dance floor idly while Ren turned to head back into the house.

“I’m gonna find Tyler, I haven’t seen him lately.  I’ll be brief and be right back.”

Damon nodded wordlessly and didn’t turn away from watching the guests, so she quickly crossed the patio and made her way inside.  She searched the main rooms quickly and came up empty, though she did find Bonnie and Caroline.  She stopped them to take a quick selfie.  She intended on being thorough in backing up Ric’s story.  She sent the photo of them posing for the camera along with a brief message to Elena’s phone.

Slaying at the masquerade, wish you were here. <3  Say hi to Jenna for us!

She sighed and hoped that was enough to curb any suspicion Elena might have, but she couldn’t do more than that, they had more important things to focus on.

She finally found her friend holed away in his dad’s old office with a couple bottles of alcohol and a tipsy Matt, Aimee, and Sarah.  

“Hey, look who’s here!” the blonde jock announced with a lazy smile and his arms up, bottle in hand.

“Hey Matt, looking sharp in that suit!  Enjoying the party, I see,” she raised her eyebrows in amusement as he wrapped her in a hug and she patted him on the back. “You deserve a night to let loose.  Just don’t get too wild, ‘kay?”  Matt grinned and nodded as he pulled away and took another swig from what seemed to be a liter of tequila.

“Omg, Ren, I love your dress, it’s gorg!” Aimee gushed and Sarah nodded in agreement.

Ren smiled obligingly, she wasn’t close with the girl but she was nice enough, “Thanks, Aimee, yours is lovely as well.  You too, Sarah, the color suits you.”

“Hey, am I invisible or something?”

She turned to grin at her dark haired friend as he held out his arms in false indignation, “Who are you again?  You seem familiar.”  He snorted but grinned as she moved in for a hug, “Hey, Ty.  Sorry I haven’t been around in a bit, I’ve been busy and kind of dealing with some personal shit lately.  How have you been?  Outside of school, I mean, at least I get to see you there.”

He nodded and handed her the bottle, “Okay, I guess, I made co-captain for basketball this season.  Did you hear that Mason went back to Florida?”

Ren smiled at his news as she took a swig of what turned out to be vodka, but it fell quickly at the following question, “No, but I’d noticed I hadn’t seen him around town.  How are you doing with that?  I know you guys were getting along.”

He accepted the offered bottle as he shrugged with a frown, “Yeah, well, I should have seen it coming.  He never stuck around before, why would he now?”

Ren patted his shoulder, glancing at the other three who were drinking and dancing.  She heard Amy slur something about the bathroom before stumbling off. 

“It’s okay to be mad that he left, but he might visit again, you never know,” she told her friend.  Tyler nodded but didn’t seem to believe it, so she added, “I promised Caroline and Bonnie a dance, so I’ll see you around, okay?  Enjoy!”  She called out the last part to the dancing fools with a wave and they cheered after her tipsily as she left the room.  

She smiled and shook her head as she made her way back to the patio and lawns filled with people.  She stopped on the top of the steps leading down to the designated dance floor when she saw who they’d been looking for, dancing with Stefan and looking like a devilish vixen in red lipstick and a black lace fitted dress and mask.  She turned her body slightly away and snagged a glass of champagne off a passing tray to sip casually at as she attempted to focus on the pair’s conversation without drawing attention.

“—so you and I will have to go get it together,” Stefan had been saying as they swayed together.

The doppelgänger hummed then replied breezily, “I have a better plan.  You go fetch it and I will try not to kill anyone in the meantime.”