I wake up to see one of The Five. I realize that I'm tied to a tree with vervain ropes around my neck and hands. I see that one of The Five is crouched by a campfire. I try to get out of my bonds, but I can't. They're vervained, which causes me pain and eats at my skin.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqL9V6vzQS
"Something botherin' you?" he asks me.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMv3D1xPz2
"Would you believe me if I told you mosquitoes?" I ask him.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8MnlhX0Oa
"Aye, I would. How does it feel when a relentless eating machine is draining the blood from your veins?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUocIbLxs1t
"Itchy."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M3U5CuGzE
"Your friends from Mystic Falls think you're funny, Damon?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnawM5tuuQ
"You obviously know who I am and where I'm from. Have you been spying on me?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTsPuYRbLg
"Aye, I have," he answers, getting up. "You and Stefan, Elena, your witch, Bonnie. You need her to cast the spell written on your pal, Jeremy's Hunter's mark..." he continues and sits down again. "...the tattoo that looks exactly like this?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnp5KiPX0m
I look at his tattoo.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr4rzPKUxG
"You wanna know something, just ask," I tell him.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkc7oxcHu2h
"I've been killing vampires my entire life. Still, this thing refused to reveal itself to me. That was, until three days ago and it just magically completed for no apparent reason."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYlVykepY2
"Come on, man. Do I look like I know anything about tattoos? Look at my skin. It's flawless."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrV6D6S8P27
"Ah! You're not taking me seriously."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8x2R05UfKo
He walks over to me.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsa6ypdgn4o
"I don't blame ya. You don't know me."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6s06Jxo8TE
He holds up a pointy wooden stick that he's been holding over the fire. "So let me introduce myself."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0a7Eu1kD1
He stabs the stick in my neck.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3PcF19HzG
"My name is Galen Vaughn, and you'd better start talkin'."
It's a beautiful day, as Galen and I walk through the woods, a vervain rope still around my neck and hands.
"Mind telling me where we're going?" I ask him.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7PM3NL12T
"At the wishing well lies an entrance to a crypt. In the crypt lies Silas. And with Silas lies the cure, which will allow me to kill Silas, bring the mission of the brotherhood of the Five to an end. You're my leverage, Damon. I use you to get your witch friend to open the passage to Silas' crypt for me."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfN5sFirGtu
"Wait a minute, you're using me to get to Bonnie Bennett? Whoa, brother. Ha! You picked the wrong vampire."
"I guess we'll see about that."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNNOySgIX6
"Here's the deal, Shrek. My witch friend will open the passage for you. No leverage necessary. We don't care about Silas. All we want is the cure, so you cut us in on your share, and we'll get out of your hair."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk004pDGtss
"You really don't understand, do you?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlO2deSY6v
"No, I don't understand, so why don't you explain it?" I say in a slight accent, mocking Galen's.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vLzvomog2
"Silas is immortal. I have to cram the cure down his throat in order to kill him."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4m71Q4nL6
"Yeah, what does that have to do with me and my friends?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDUWelerhy
"I need to use the cure against Silas. Your friends, they can't exactly have it, now, can they?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FGqkrBxoo
"So you use it on Silas, and we'll use it for whoever wants to use it. You don't want to share it with us?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabe7fRLNIY
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKJdwXdEno
"And why can't you share it?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuTVakAE8l
"So it is written. There is only one dose. "605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPP7qxDcFWs
I'm still walking ahead and he shoves me.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdtZbYgkid
"You touch me again--" I start to say.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHB4xz9ghZP
"And you'll what? Threaten me? Sorry if you're upset about the cure, Damon, but we've got road to cover."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUgH39wHPQ
"I don't care about the cure. In fact, I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to be a vampire. You know what? If I wasn't a vampire, then I wouldn't be able to do 9 of the things I'm gonna do to you when I'm free."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZYR81YP6c
Galen shoves me again.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyek2c23FI
"Make that 10," I add.
"Right."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3fdPXCmwS
"All right, I admit it, okay? My friends want the cure, and I want them to have it, and I get very upset when I can't provide for my loved ones. But tell me something, Vaughn, if all you're worried about is Bonnie the teenage witch, then why'd you save Jeremy and Elena yesterday?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBmoLEXlJm
"How did I do that?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aZcNq7R4K
"Big guy. White paint all over him. You stuck a hatchet in his spine."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6l2uoVMtO
"I don't remember doing such a thing."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSOVBD97Kk
He pulls on the rope, but I resist, refusing to walk.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XIJUEUm24
"We're on a remote island. There's you, me, and a bunch of unpleasant locals. You expect me to believe that someone else took out that monster truck of a human being that went after Jeremy and Elena?" I say.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBY7FF6zuP1
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2PC7VufL0Q
He shoves me forward again, but we stumble across a body. He's dead with his throat slashed.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6ECUMsutX
"Was that you?" I ask him.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Cuns82xLr
"No. You?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0MUPZsa3y
"No."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiLWiQQOJB
He looks around, as he says, "Well, I reckon there really is someone else on this island."
We continue walking, but stop when his tattoo starts to disappear.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWedcNvCt9
"Looks like your witch is casting her spell," he says.
I stagger into the cave in the upper chamber with Galen behind me, vervain ropes still around my neck and hands. We then see some ropes hanging down that we can use to go down into the lower chamber.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRoNvivF0O
"Well, here we are. Looks like someone beat us to the punch," I announce.
"That's a shame, Damon. I have no use for you anymore. Hate to kill ya."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1puxZTuZR9
"Ditto. You know, that pesky hunter's curse and all."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxNEBQrVGk
He nods.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpweWmMeMap
"All right. How do you want to do this?" I ask him.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikO9POP9lc
"I'll make it quick and painless," he replies.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXwVbeU1H8
He pulls on the rope tied to my neck.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDU4n2BoI8P
I resist and grab onto the rope, and the vervain sears my skin.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXCTM3sPoq
"Wish I could make the same promise," I tell him.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lQBEZul7S
He cuts the rope at his end and flings it towards me.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi248oeps2w
I pull the rope off my neck, groaning in pain, and pull off the ones around my wrists. He then takes out a gun and prepares it.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXysYi1kwfX
"I'm gonna kill you. And then I'm gonna get to that damn cure, and I'm gonna give it to the girl that I love," I tell him.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZwcqHSYpY
"Your attachment to your friends will be the end of you."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaBLlf3iJQ
We hear footsteps from the entrance and I smile.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXMTaUTpk3
"You don't know my friends," I say. I then add when Rebekah appears, "Or my enemies."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4wcE1qxfO
Rebekah and I go and stand on one side of the cave side by side, Galen on the other side with his gun trained on us.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNZ05Aqe9c
"Are we gonna dance or are we gonna play?" I ask him.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPonCFSVIk
"You know he can't hurt me, Damon, unless he's got the white oak stake."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtm5fryFqLp
"Oh, he doesn't, but he's got other toys," I tell her.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpBt7d8EgF
He shoots Rebekah three times and she runs towards him at vamp speed and grabs his throat, but he stabs a grenade with wooden spikes protruding from it into her chest.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbWBjWKbGx
Rebekah looks down at it.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgUzHp5rWK
He holds the fuse that he pulled out and the grenade detonates, sending wooden spikes through her body, all the way through her back. She falls down, neutralized.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7YfHvfZWq
I run towards him and we engage in hand to hand combat.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvr6UnrZTHV
He withdraws his weapon and fires it at me and it throws a lasso-like device covered in vervain, which secures me by the neck to a pole behind me.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2ELf3mdgf
I groan and make choking noises.
"Damon!" Stefan yells in the distance.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXPPUkPhIc
Galen grabs a rope going down the shaft and slides down it quickly and disappears.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfK67OBBSr
I see Elena and Stefan enter, just as I hear Galen reach the bottom.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpVMjgA1qO
Stefan goes to my side and tries to get the rope off of my neck while I groan in pain, but it burns Stefan's fingers.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QpI1dTmea
"You're wasting time. Just get the cure. Go," I tell my brother.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wwnPKvMlx
"We're not gonna leave you," Elena says to me.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGnnbvsRlj
"No, we're not," he says to me, and then says to Elena who's at his side, "You need to go ahead. We'll be right behind you." When she hesitates, he adds, "Go."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZ56zzBNJH
She looks at us both a moment longer, before she jumps down into the shaft.
I fall to the ground when Stefan finally manages to free me from the rope.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uIniwtdpp
"All right, come on. We have to catch up," he says to me.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRtdAZlTHT
I breathlessly say to him, "No, it's okay. I just need a minute. I'm only gonna slow you down. Go. She only needs one of us."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYrIHHnwIa
"And what? You don't care to be that one anymore? You finally decided it was easier to just walk away?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JyiqRxdYx
"There's only one dose of the cure, Stefan. She wants to take it, you want her to. I don't. Just do what makes her happy, Stefan."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WQR6o9dBd
"Things have changed. It's not that easy anymore."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxeJJQp2U82
"It is right now," I loudly tell him. " Get your ass down the well. Help Elena get the damn thing."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHcNFuSz0z
Stefan hesitates and I add, "Come on."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHjFtgWAnG
Finally, Stefan jumps into the well, while I sit and watch him go.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvk0nzi4hHA
I drag myself over to Rebekah and start pulling the spikes out of her. And after the last one, she coughs and starts to wake up.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtOCg6NUa3
"You're alive," she says to me.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmoR9vOmhQ
"Yeah."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJi515e43xB
"Why didn't you go with them?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eZ5ZyiW0e
"Needed a siesta."
"You gave up, didn't you?"605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLpTzrnBjo
I groan, as I try to sit up.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiuXAO2kUf
"I didn't give up. I just realized... you can't control everything... no matter how hard you try. Let's just say I made peace with that fact."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpcuNjHCWR
She sits up.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNhNdRd8uU
"Peace? You love Elena. You always will. If she becomes human, she may not feel the same way about you. You'll never know peace."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAl09eLig9B
"Life sucks. Get a helmet."605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhlmfXPx8u
She smiles.605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47Zl7liv8m
"You did something selfless, Damon. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were becoming a halfway decent person."
