CHAPTER EIGHTEEN;
fireworks

—»✦⁑✦«—

ELENA HAD FORGOTTEN TO TELL CAMILA that Jeremy knew about vampires. It had slipped her mind. He had come to ask her where Anna was, worried, and had told her he knew everything. So now, Camila had to face her brother, who was certainly furious, as she and Elena walked into his room. And find a way to tell him what she knew about Anna.

"Jeremy," Elena started, "we have to talk about all this."

Jeremy glared at them. "No, we really don't."

Elena huffed. "I don't know what Anna told you but there are things that you need to know."

"Yeah?" Jeremy scoffed. "Because I'm pretty sure that your journal covered it."

"You read my journal?"

"I've read your journal," Camila admitted quietly and Elena glared at her. "It was boring, Lena. I didn't read more than a page."

"Save me the speech about invasion of privacy," Jeremy said, "because I read a section about Damon erasing my memory, about what happened to Vicki."

Camila winced. "Jer—"

"I trusted you!"

"Jeremy, please, you don't understand." Elena tried to step forward. "The night that Vicki died, it was like mom and dad died all over again. It was all over your face and it hurt so much to see you like that. I just wanted to take away your pain. I'm so sorry—"

"Just, get out," Jeremy cut her off.

"No, Jeremy—"

"Elena! Just get out. Both of you. Please."

Elena only stared at him before nodding. Camila stopped her.

"No." Camila stood her ground, staring at him. 

"Camila—"

"Anna's mother died, Jeremy," Camila cut him off and Jeremy froze.

"What?"

"That's why she's been missing, Jer." Camila sighed. "She's safe but she needs time."

"Did you speak to her?" Jeremy asked, suddenly very interested in what his sisters had to say.

"Not since she told me about her mother." Camila pressed her lips together. "Look, Jer, we're not the bag guys, alright? A lot is going on in this town, more than what Elena wrote in her fancy mind-numbing journal—" she ignored Elena's huff of annoyance, "—let us tell you. Please. Like it should've been from the beginning."

"No. You can't fix this that easily, Camila. You messed with my head." Jeremy clenched his jaw as he walked to his door, holding it open. "Something like this doesn't just get fixed."

"Jer—"

"Get out. Please."

Camila watched the Founder's parade with Bonnie, laughing alongside the girl at the enactment of the battle of Willow Creek where Jeremy (who still wasn't speaking to her), Nathan, and Tyler were, dressed like soldiers. They smiled at the Miss Mystic Fall's court, all of them decked in costumes out of Gone With the Wind.

Camila let out a loud whistle at Caroline and her sister, clapping with a laugh when Caroline winked her way and her sister waved. She was there to witness Damon thanking Bonnie, genuinely, and telling her that he owed her one and to enjoy the parade. He had winked at Camila before leaving.

"Bonnie—" Camila started, trying to finally talk to the witch about the elephant in the room. The device was still highly active.

Bonnie cut her off, sniffing as if stopping herself from reacting. "I know I fucked up, Cami. But there's no turning back."

"You could always try to help. Once they eventually get it active."

"Help?" Bonnie looked at her in bewilderment. "I did it for a reason, Cami."

"Well, I'm just saying that reason might bite you in the ass. Elena—"

"Will never forgive me."

Camila smiled sadly. "Never say never, Bon. But you should say something—"

"I can't." Bonnie looked panicked. "You won't tell, will you?"

"Not unless it becomes a danger."

Camila had no time to warn anyone. And it cost her a lot fucking more than she expected.

She'd tried to talk to Jeremy at the Grill, and he'd told her to go to hell. So now, Camila was slumped against a booth, leaning her head against Nathan's shoulders as Caroline tried to convince Matt to reconcile with Tyler, who was playing pool nearby.

"There was this time when we were ten," Caroline was saying, telling the story Camila was sure would be about the time the two of them fought over which of them should have which part of their best friend's necklace. "Cami and I were in a fight and we swore that we would never talk again, because of the half of the heart that said best, and—"

Matt sighed. "Caroline, give it a rest."

Nathan snorted, about to say something when he stopped. "Guys, Mayor alert."

Camila raised her head from his shoulder, spotting the Mayor walking over to Tyler. Like always, their interaction took a quick turn to near abuse and Caroline, quickly jumped off her seat and went up to them. Camila, Nathan and Matt followed after her.

"Mayor, is everything okay?"

Mayor Lockwood froze, his jaw clenching as he looked around the teenagers before he turned back to Tyler. "Please Tyler; I need you to go home, now. Take your friends with you."

"Why?" Matt asked, echoing Camila's thoughts. "What's going on?"

Just then she got a text from Elena, subtly she looked down at her phone. Tomb vampires r here. Get out.

"I can't explain. All of you need to get home, now. Please."

Camila's heart sank. Something was seriously wrong if the Mayor was worried about them. She looked around, trying to see where Jeremy was as the mayor passed Tyler the keys to his car.

"It's out back," he told them, "You guys, go with him."

Confused they all nodded, heading out back of the Grill but Camila didn't get in the car. Instead, she told them to get going and turned to leave just as Nathan grabbed her hand.

"Come on, Cami—"

She shook off his hand, shaking her head. "I need to find Jeremy. You guys go!" 

Without waiting for an answer she rushed away, hearing Nathan running after her and the other ones driving away. She got on the street, trying to find her way back to the main square. 

If the Mayor was worried it meant something was wrong with the vampires. Which meant the device would be activated. The council wouldn't waste an opportunity on just Damon and Stefan, they had to have known there were more vampires around. The vampires would either attack, or they would be hurt. She needed to warn Damon and Stefan. She needed to warn Anna. She'd seen her earlier on the square.

"James! What's wrong?!" Nathan grabbed her arm stopping her before she could turn into the main square. They were guarded by an alley, but Camila didn't care about safety. She needed to get her siblings to safety.

"Nate, let me go—"

"Tell me what's going on!"

"I can't! I need to find my brother and Elena—"

"James! What's happening? Why can't you tell me anything—"

"Because I don't want to ruin your life!" She shook him off, hesitating at the hurt flashing across his face at her tone. Camila's breathing was shallow as she started to walk away, only to hear him shout.

"Fine! I'm done, Camila."

Camila staggered in her step and turned to look at him, her brows furrowed. "What?"

Nathan looked heartbroken but his jaw was tightly shut. He looked resigned. "I love you. I do. But I can't pretend anymore, James."

"Pretend what?" Camila asked walking closer to him.

He looked at her helplessly. "Pretend you'll ever fall in love with me! You're hiding everything from me! You wake up crying in the night and yet never even speak to me about it! You disappear sometimes without an explanation! You keep hanging out with your sister's boyfriends and his creepy brother and you don't talk to me anymore. I thought I was fine with it, I know we're friends, you're a good friend, but I feel like you're using me, James."

"Nathan, please, this is not the time. I swear I'll explain everything, I just need to find them—"

"Camila!" Nathan stopped her, his face looking at her in disbelief. "Are you even listening to me?"

"I am!" Camila stepped closer to him, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "I'm sorry, alright? What else do you want me to say? That I know I've been a shitty girlfriend? That you deserve the whole fucking world and I can't give it to you? I don't know what to do! I can't control what I feel, and I wish I could! Fuck Nate, I would do anything to be able to fall for you."

"But you can't." His voice broke.

Camila shrugged helplessly. "I'm trying. You deserve that. Fuck. You deserve at least that. But I..."

He shook his head, cutting her off as he stepped in front of her. He grabbed her face in his trembling hands and kissed her forehead. Camila blinked back tears. "It's fine. I knew what I was getting into. You forget, but I was your best friend before being your boyfriend."

Camila let out a sob, glancing back at the street as the sounds of the fireworks started. "Nate, I'm so sorry."

"I know, baby," he said with a sad smile, and his voice was but a whisper as he added, "We can be friends again."

Camila smiled, a shaky laugh leaving her throat. "I'd like that."

Before he could say anything else, she threw herself in his arms, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, holding the back of her head as he kissed her hair, burying his head in her neck. It felt like goodbye like they were waving away the relationship they'd tried to have. The one she fucked up.

Her heart felt like it was shattering even as he held her. But something inside her felt a lot like relief. They'd have to work through it, she'd have to give him space, but they'd go back to normal. No pretences. They were friends long before getting together. And Nathan deserved a lot more than her. He deserved a girl who could fall madly and irrevocably in love with him.

And now he was free to have that. She'd ruined his life enough as is.

"You deserve the world, Nate," she whispered, "I'm sorry—"

A piercing sound rammed into her skull. 

Gasping, Camila let go of Nathan, stumbling against a wall of the building as she felt her brain turn to acid. She grabbed at her head, muffling a scream through gritted teeth, breathing harshly as the pain grew stronger.

"James, what's wrong?"

Camila looked up at him, a pained groan leaving her lips. "My head—" She let out a moan, the feeling of needles piercing against the back of her eyes, the pounding in her head growing stronger. 

Nathan looked helpless as he approached her, trying to keep her up, trying to understand what was happening. Camila had only one guess. The device had gone off.

"Another one!" Someone shouted from the end of the street, and between the pain, Camila turned to see a man in police uniform pointing a gun her way, stalking towards them and telling Nathan to step aside. 

"What's happening?" Nathan said, still holding her up, and turning slightly to hide her from view of the gun.

"Step aside," the deputy barked at Nathan, who didn't move a muscle. "She's dangerous."

"Like fuck she is." The device stopped, and Camila collapsed against Nathan, her head pounding. "Lower your gun."

"Step aside," the man said as Camila tried to stand on her own. He kept his gun pointed her way, hands shaking. He was scared of her. "Don't move!"

"Please," Camila said with a gasp, holding onto Nathan's arm as she stood. "I'm not one of them, I swear."

The man's gun didn't waver, and the moment Camila tried to take a step forward, to calm the situation, it went off.

The deafening sound of the bullet piercing through the air made time freeze. Camila watched, her heart on the ground, as Nathan pushed her behind him. Weakened, she stumbled against the wall not able to react, aside from a scream tearing through her throat when she saw him fall.

Nathan clutched his chest with a gasp, as he stumbled to the ground on his back. He fell with a thud on the pavement. The only sound that reached her ears as Camila screamed so loud her skin prickled with fear.

He wasn't moving. He was just laying there. Looking up at the sky. Blood pooled beneath him. Between his fingers. He wasn't moving.

"No, no, no, Nate!" She scrambled towards him, grabbing his shirt. His eyes moved slightly until he was staring at her. He was just staring, a hint of a pained smile on his face but it was more ghostly than anything. Other than that he was just bleeding, no sign of life. "Nathan! Please!"

"Step away from him!" The deputy shouted, his voice wavering and then Camila heard something snap.

Her vision was blurry with tears, Camila turned her head to see the deputy falling on the ground. Unconscious or dead. She didn't know. She hardly cared. Wiping her tears, away, her hands sticky with blood, Camila's eyes focused on the figure that stood behind him.

Her face was exactly like Elena's.

The girl, Katherine, she assumed, rushed towards Camila, and without another word she knelt next to Nathan, held her wrist to her lips, tearing into the veins before she shoved it against Nathan's lips.

Camila's eyes snapped to his. Holding his head, her hands holding his face as she waited. Waited for the blood to work, for his eyes to blink. She waited for anything. For one of his smiles. For his voice. For a simple James to echo in the night. But Nathan's face remained motionless, his eyes unseeing, and his lips parted and coated with blood.

A sob racked through her body and Camila hugged him to her. "Please, Nate."

"I'm sorry, Mila." Camila looked up at Katherine. She looked nothing like the vindictive manipulative girl they'd made her out to be. The Katherine in front of her looked heartbroken, she was staring at her so earnestly, that Camila cried harder, and didn't pull away when Katherine hugged her. "I'm so sorry. I promise, Mila, I'll make it up to you."

Camila walked home as if in a trance. 

Katherine had vanished as soon as the sounds of other people were heard, and Camila screamed for help, trying to get anyone to hear. She remembered the ambulance, she remembered the sound of the zipper from the bag they put Nathan in. She remembered the paramedics speaking to her, she remembered refusing their ride home. She was at a loss. 

Camila walked home. Her face smeared with tears and blood, the emptiness in her heart deeper. She couldn't understand it. She tried to grasp the facts. Nathan was dead. But she couldn't take it.

He couldn't be dead.

He just couldn't.

The lights of an ambulance made Camila wince as she approached her house. She looked around, seeing the paramedics, and an officer standing by her door, and for the millionth time that night, she felt her heart drop.

In a rush she ran inside the house, bumping past an officer. Not finding anyone downstairs, Camila rushed up the stairs, bursting into Jeremy's room, to find Elena and Stefan inside.

Stefan was grabbing Jeremy's face. None of them noticed Camila.

"I am very sorry about Anna," Stefan was saying and Camila's lips parted, "but it's very important that you listen to me right now. With every passing moment, Anna's blood is leaving your system. If you try to kill yourself right now, you could really die."

Jeremy looked away, and his eyes landed on Camila. His eyes widened in horror and he pushed Stefan off him, rushing towards her, "Cami! Are you hurt?"

"Camila?"

Camila looked down at her clothes, closing her eyes tightly when she saw they were stained with blood. Nathan's blood.

"Camila, what happened?" Stefan asked as Jeremy grabbed her arms, worried.

"I'm sorry about Anna," Camila said, her voice scratchy, worn out from screaming. Jeremy frowned. "I'm sorry, I... " Her breathing grew ragged, and Camila shook her head as Jeremy hugged her tightly.

"It's not your fault, Cami," Jeremy whispered and Camila shook with a sob.

It was her fault. She didn't warn anyone about the device. She was too confident, too reckless. She didn't go with her friends and dragged Nathan along with her. Nathan died preventing her from being shot. It was all her fault.

"Caroline will be fine, Cami," Elena's voice shook as she spoke, trying to reassure her.

But as the words registered in her head, she realized Elena wasn't reassuring her of Nathan. Camila's poor heart stopped yet again. She pulled away from Jeremy, staring at them with wide eyes. "Caroline?"

Stefan nodded. "She's in a hospital. They got into a car crash."

"Oh my god," Camila let out another sob, slumping against Jeremy.

"Are you hurt, Cami?" Elena asked carefully.

Camila blinked up at her sister, and her voice cracked as she spoke, "Nathan's dead."

—»✦⁑✦«—

that's the end of act one.

thanks for reading!

act two will be a little different, a little darker, and elijah and klaus will surely make an appearance. everything will make sense soon if it doesn't yet. and poor cami, she'll be alright. we just have to wait a little longer.