It's a beautiful day, as Stefan and I get out of our car on the side of the road and walk towards my car, me carrying two large containers.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIYhZxgzmh
"If they so much as even scratched the paint on my car…," I start.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7iuoTltUp
"Well, just be grateful Sheriff Forbes was able to track down the car after you let them, ah, you know—steal it from you," Stefan interrupts.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hqqAzSjvN
"Remind me to send her some mini-muffins. Do we really need 10 gallons of gas, or are you making me just lug this around as punishment?" I say.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeUL2HzoOn
"Well, they ditched your car after it ran out of fuel. You gotta fill it up. Got a hundred miles before we get to Willoughby."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqkH698OuN
"Yeah, well I don't remember that name from the list of places I got from New York."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNRoflBYjA
"Oh, the list? The list they stole from right under your nose, after you let your guard down? They'll be there. Sheriff Forbes tracked down the car they stole after yours," Stefan amusingly says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2NI74b54N
"Screw the muffins. I'll get her champagne—if Elena is wherever it may be," I say, as I fill my tank with gasoline.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJiTER7Kzm
He smiles.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo38ThhzniX
"Willoughby. Creamed corn capital of Pennsylvania. They'll be there. Let's just hope we get to them before they get to the cure."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeoKsq18T6
"Ooh, silver lining: if Rebekah takes the cure, then she's mortal and we can just kill her right then and there."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WFbnEnuLJ
"Ooh, dark cloud: Elena stays a vampire forever. Look, why don't you just table the revenge fantasies for now, and just keep your eye on the prize. Find Katherine, get the cure, get out before you get your neck snapped—again."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPKB8krnur
"Believe me, I learned my lesson. Elena without humanity is a stone-cold bitch, and I won't trust her until we get the old Elena back."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcugdzVtCS
"Look at that. We're finally on the same page about something."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgooS9Ksjxa
"Look at that," I agree.
Later that day, we're walking along the street, still in search of Rebekah and Elena.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGNnG8yaiJ
"Something's not right. Katherine Pierce does not hold up in Hickstown, P-A.," I announce.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjD5inkZwhU
"Well, this is definitely the car they stole. We're in the right place," Stefan says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyyATuAqbJ
"Points to them for their choice of vehicles," I say.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUrujqwL5J
"So let me ask you something. What happens when we find Elena? How do we get her back to Mystic Falls? I mean, she's not exactly gonna go quietly, and she has an Original vampire as her bodyguard."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bq1qZAlx2
"We do whatever we have to do. I don't care if we have to throw Rebekah under a school bus and wrap Elena up in a burlap sack. We do whatever we have to do."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8YxwPIknN
"I'm serious."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hv0rH3jqw
"I am, too. I don't care what Elena wants right now. She's this close to going off the rails for good and that ain't happening. She's a pain enough as it is."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCn2yea5Ro
"So what happened to the guy who thought Elena should embrace being a vampire, let the chips fall where they may?" Stefan asks me.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnBtTFlbGG
"That guy got his neck snapped in New York and this guy is royally pissed off," I answer him, and start to walk away.
When we find them, they're sitting in a diner in a booth. Rebekah is seated next to Katherine, but Elena isn't there.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oaweRYkm5
Stefan and I walk in and walk up to them.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrMlSUWyHR
"Ladies, playing nice?" Stefan asks them.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNe8J130QQ
I sit down in a bench across from them, amused, and Rebekah let's go of Katherine's hand.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CByiooZTk
"There goes the neighborhood," Katherine comments.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6O222wrXz
"I see you got Katherine already," I say, before telling Katherine, "You're losing your touch, evil one."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdo7Xpe8Hd
We all stare at one another.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9WvQqIih5
"Where's Elena?" Stefan asks Rebekah.
"So let me get this straight: I tell you where Elena is, you shove the cure down her throat, and then I end up in a box, right? I don't think so," Rebekah says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBGbuP2UJ1
"What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?" I ask Katherine.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnET0ULoLy3
"I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qk0jLaR3P
We wait for Katherine to elaborate, and after a moment, she does, saying, "She went to meet up with a friend of mine. You may know him—an Original brother, impeccable taste."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfML2OG28b
"Elijah," Rebekah realizes.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpLT3Ozz8L
"Elijah's here?" I question.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjtzIdQrNX
"Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you," Stefan tells Katherine.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GhI0shzY1
"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1u9cUgxat3
Rebekah and I groan in disgust, figuring out what she's getting at. Katherine and Elijah are in love.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YAkPrc18P
"It probably took him about 10 seconds to realize that she wasn't me, at which point he probably yanked her heart right out of her chest," Katherine says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyeAlgv4wkI
"All right. Where are they?" Stefan asks her, but Katherine smiles and doesn't say anything, so Stefan says to Rebekah, "Rebekah, you do realize if something should happen to Elena, you have no chance of finding the cure, right?"435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsosPGZSOKo
"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park," Rebekah answers.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcARAHGUdlv
"I'll go talk to Elijah," Stefan says, getting up from the bench.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdm5E9FzSJs
"You go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure," Rebekah tells him.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4H7KhtPNO1
"No, she won't. The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus," Katherine interjects.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaJWuHFiOh
"You're gonna break a deal with Klaus?" I ask her.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡER1t5YrfUI
"No. She's gonna get Elijah to break the deal for her. That's why you need your little friend, isn't it? Some things never change, Katherine," Stefan says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5xY8DZ8NH
"Nope," I say.
"Fine," Katherine says, before saying to Rebekah, "Move. You have to follow me."
We follow Katherine to her place and stop just outside the door.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZMg9FND4T
I push Katherine inside and then tell her, "No sudden moves. No tricks either. No Katherine-ing."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDCxDQoo5G
She walks further into the house, while we look around.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXn2VmNz1Fl
"Wow. A quilt inside a fish aquarium. Who the hell are you?" I say.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXX35PGug2h
"A very old lady with dreadful taste," Rebekah answers me.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheNBEpRzKv
Katherine has been removing things from a bookshelf and opens a hidden safe. She moves her hands around inside it.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtetmjMdlo
"It's gone. The cure, it was in the safe, but it's not there," she tells us.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQh36ymo7vY
I imitate a buzzer and then say, "Not falling for it. Where is it, Auntie Katherine?"435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7v5IgT27cZ
"I swear it was in the safe," she insists.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDiOVJEdHrV
"What, just like Elijah's really your boyfriend and this is really your life? And for all we know, this isn't even your house," Rebekah says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzk7HR4oCn
"Yeah, it doesn't look like the Katherine I know," I agree.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6qyg8BWi0
"Maybe you don't know Katherine at all. Did it ever occur to you that you have no idea who I really am?" Katherine says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyMnm8o9oM
"Did it ever occur to you that you're not that deep? This whole small-town girl thing, we all know it's an act," I say.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnf5NBPaMX
"Where is the cure?" Rebekah asks her.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6WiCYhy9R
Katherine looks at her with a hint of a smile and Rebekah vamp-speeds at her. I throw my arm out to stop her.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatABuBlTL6
"Whoa, whoa. Hang on. We need her alive. The cure's not here. You check upstairs. I'll check down. I got this," I tell Rebekah.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoW5PESlB3
Katherine smiles, while Rebekah walks away to go upstairs.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqj1OjXtE4
"So if I was a paranoid, distrustful sociopath, where would I keep my most prized possession?" I say.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7CpUugDUH
"This should be fun," Katherine says, chuckling.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyw2UteoW8
I search the room. "Because I'd want it to be close, but not on me. Accessible but not obvious. I'd want to keep it safe, but not so safe that it'd be too difficult to grab and run."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIfTmpMgNE
I stop in front of the fish tank.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYHz07yaGB
"Well, that is a fancy little treasure chest—in a tank with no fish." Katherine doesn't say anything and I continue. "I think I'm gonna have to check that out."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNARTLYUISS
I stick my hand into the water, but it immediately burns my hand.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2tRaLiJHJ
"Aah! Gah! Vervain water. Looks like we have a winner."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7T0olmQIJU
I pick up a large net to scoop out the chest. Before I can, Katherine vamp-speeds at me and shoves my head into the vervain water, holds me there for several seconds then throws me to the floor. I writhe in pain and Katherine gets the chest out. She runs to the door, but Rebekah appears in front of her.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwpxxCFdEy
"Give it to me, or you're dead."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNFMrqyQrj
"You're gonna kill me anyway. So what's more important to you, huh? Killing me or getting the cure?" Katherine says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVnOruh02Y
She holds up a small pill-shaped object and throws it into the air behind her. Rebekah runs to catch it, and Katherine dashes out the front door. I'm still on the floor, but my face is healing.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGWwg2fddU
"Look, Rebekah... Don't even think about it," I rasp.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XJSr74l7I
Rebekah gets up, still in awe that she finally has the cure. My voice still sounds very raspy.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7zb4ziWGE
"Let's just talk about this, like the two rational vampires that we are. Rebekah?"435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1Rn3wcxbL
"Oh, give it a rest. Me taking this cure is the best thing that'll ever happen to you," Rebekah says, as she stares at the object in her hand.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlHKiVhjH8
"Don't do anything stupid," I try to reason.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCuSlhUUs0
"Admit it. You don't want human-Elena running back to Stefan whilst you're left out in the cold again. Go on, Damon. Tell me why you want Elena to have the cure," she says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWTamc1rDe
I don't say anything, still on the floor.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SvFyxqAvR
Rebekah smiles and says, "That's what I thought."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57gZb7NZVm
Rebekah pops open the pill when Stefan arrives at the open front door. She tosses it back into her mouth.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7S6jU7IkG4
"No!" Stefan yells.
Rebekah gasps for a few seconds and falls down onto the sofa.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdxM2Ts40l
I rest my head on the floor.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Ifj3zWzDA
Rebekah is still unconscious on the sofa, as Stefan looks at the fish tank while talking to me. I've finally gotten to my feet and am drying myself off with a towel from the vervain.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwOxSoM4u3
"Did you even try to stop her?" Stefan asks me.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yw0QcnD6e
"You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5U6whitubf
"All you had to do was stall her, Damon."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7Abe6p0zC
"Sorry. It's Rebekah. I didn't have a pony to distract her, Stefan."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9GMIORUhd
"You let her take it, didn't you? You were never on my side. Now Elena will be a vampire for the rest of her life just like you wanted."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWjMuqPzMo
Suddenly, Rebekah gasps, waking up.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzks2BRuUun
She sits up, looking refreshed, her mouth open in wonder. I'm standing by a bookshelf and Stefan sits down on the coffee table opposite her.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnq9DR5eJnQ
"How do you feel?" Stefan asks.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIu61yeUKd
"I-- I feel good. I... I feel great. I feel alive," she answers, smiling.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddWQ6g1KYS
"Slight problem with being alive--I can kill you, you know," I comment to her.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DkfwdZYfB
I throw a letter opener at her and she catches it with vamp speed. We all watch, as the cut on her hand heals. Rebekah gasps in horror, while Stefan sighs in relief.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAxpYtByHy
"I'm still a vampire. The cure didn't work."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KZh57DP2L
"It worked just like she wanted it to. The cure was a fake. It must've been a concentrated shot of vervain or something," Stefan says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsdtV7UsXn
Rebekah is still in shock, her mouth hanging open.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMXQq2cjmm
"Katherine," I say with a slight admiration.
That night, Stefan and I walk down a sidewalk.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0qouwkx8G
"All right, you're right. I let Rebekah take the cure." I stop and turn to face Stefan. "I thought for a second—I mean, literally just a second—If Rebekah takes this, then all my problems go away. And I couldn't think of one good reason to give it to Elena. And then Rebekah took it. And I realized how badly I screwed up," I admit.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbwWlg3EL7
"So what's your point, Damon?" Stefan asks me.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qQcHaq1T0
"My point is, I'm sorry, okay? I had a moment of weakness, Stefan. It's my thing. It's like you and I falling for the same girl. It's our thing," I say.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRQ7HPfSAD
"Was our thing. Look, we've been making the same mistakes for 150 years. We can judge Katherine all we want, but we keep repeating our own history just like she is. Nothing ever changes. It has to stop, Damon."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU22xmRHu8y
"What are you talking about?" I ask him.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhIpyoFceu
"I'm done. I can't keep reliving my life like this. I owe Elena her shot at being normal again. Once we give her the cure, I'm getting her out of my life, and I'm getting a life of my own."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa23IuBmBn4
I nod and say, "Okay. Okay, let's just get the cure, and then we'll talk about you riding off into the sunset all by your lonesome."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8FldgkxgOc
"You still want to get the cure, even if it means you might lose her?" he asks me.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDSBPYuNeO
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Stefan."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzNOdq8TVu
"Well, I guess all we have to do is, uh, convince her."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6K4k6JJeV
He walks past me and we enter the same diner we had earlier, when Rebekah and Katherine had been there. Elena is sitting at a table by herself. Jolene, the waitress, sees us walk in.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQwje1SozF
"Sit anywhere you'd like," Jolene greets us.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohxyYcmHgS
We slide into the booth where Elena is seated at.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6N6kYr26ZD
"You all right?" Stefan asks her.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWA9XJDKD7z
Elena looks at us, but doesn't say anything.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJ9j1Qew4I
"What's up with the silent treatment? You're the one that texted us and wanted to meet up," I say.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UWLAoqo9J
"You know I don't want the cure. You need to know that I never will and I'm done talking about it. So... will you accept that and let me be who I am, or not?" she says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsIBVlsWDG
Stefan and I exchange a look.
"Yeah...no," I answer her.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bIjEvJOuh
"Elena, this isn't you," Stefan says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMJLt204qB
"It is now. And you two really need to accept it. Because if you don't, there will be consequences."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRubxTkAXjs
Elena takes a sip from her mug and we look at each other again.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wtt2tUtRe
"Listen, I was in the exact same situation that you're in right now. My emotions were off. I wasn't me. And you refused to accept that. You didn't give up on me. You didn't stop until you pulled me back," Stefan says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETmcWPT1DP
Elena sets down her mug. Jolene comes back.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lKjQ5nGyR
"Let me just top that off for you," Jolene says.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oagA4fIh8
Elena smiles and says, "Thanks."435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhvBbOXKOy
Elena vamp-speeds up and snaps Jolene's neck. Her body falls to the floor as the pitcher of coffee shatters.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojPajPoy1Q
"Like I said, consequences. That's one body you're responsible for. If you keep trying to fix me, there'll be a second, a twentieth, and a hundredth. It's your choice," Elena tells us.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBpzuO4Nxg
She walks away and leaves the diner, as we look at the body.435Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmUPseRE5d
"Still ready to ride off into the sunset?" I ask my brother.
