Mystic Falls: Salvatore Boarding House

Stefan, Y/N, And James are all still processing the situation they are now in. Every single Tomb Vampire has escaped and is now on the loose, whether it'd be in Mystic Falls or somewhere else, wilderness or another town. Not only that, but they are stronger than the entire council plus Stefan and probably even James and Bonnie combined. So not only are they out-numbered, but they are out-gunned too. 

But, that's not even the worse news. The worse news is on the floor, all three of them looking down at it with sad expressions, especially Y/N. 

Alaric's dead corpse.

"So.... what should we do with it?" James asks cautiously, wanting to bring the dark truth that they are potentially going to have to deal with it themselves. "Do we cover it up? Or......?" He suggests with a shrug. "I mean, the police aren't going to believe us, right?"

"You'd be surprised...." Y/N quietly responds, his eyes still on his mentor's body. James notices the look in his eyes and glances at Stefan, who visibly confirms them to be close people, at least in a mentorship sense. 

"We could call it a break-in." Stefan suggests, taking in the fact that they broke through the window and also look the part as criminals, wearing mostly black. The only issue would be that it's night, and unlike the movies, no smart burglar actually breaks into a home at night. "Say that she killed Alaric and then attacked us, his cause of death isn't anything supernatural."

"They know, though.... don't they?" Y/N brings up as he looks at Stefan, who's face doesn't deny it as he remembers the troubles he went through at the hands of the council. "Why don't we just tell them? Even if they'll pretend to think we're crazy, they have to know."

"And then what do you think will happen?" Stefan questions as he immediately jumps to shooting down that plan. "Look, I know this may sound selfish, but I can't risk getting staked the second they figure out that I'm one of them."

"So, it's true..." James deducts as he takes in Stefan's choice of words carefully. "You're a Vampire." He identifies him, and seeing how he's a Bennet, he nods.

"And I take it you're a Warlock?"

"Yup."

"Look, we'll focus on the exposition dump." Y/N quickly cuts in with a hand as he grits his teeth while looking down at Alaric. "Just....." He takes a deep breath so whatever emotions he's feeling don't surface up at this inapropriate time. "Just help me take care of the body, maybe we'll put in the woods or-"

Before he can finish his sentence..... the blade pops out of Alaric's chest, and the man shoots back to life with a gasp, causing all of them to take a step back in shock. "Argh..... my ribs...." The teacher groans as he feels the area where he was impaled, before looking up at everyone who looks like they're staring at a zombie. "What?"

"Wha- What on God's Green Earth do you think, what?!" Y/N exclaims as all of them are pretty much thinking the same thing right now. "You just died and rose back up!" He tells him as he points to the bloody knife that is now on the floor. 

"W-Wait..... died?" Alaric utters in extreme confusion, looking around as his mind finally flashing back to everything that just happened in record time. "Oh my gosh..... I didn't even see it coming." He states as Y/N begins kneeling down and observing the man as if making sure he's not in a dream. "How did...?" He asks as he looks at all of them.

"You must have had Vampire blood in your system." Stefan assumes, as that's the only possible explanation for coming back to life. In a hundred years, he hasn't learned any other way. 

"No.... no, I didn't." Alaric states with a shake of his head, knowing the symptoms of that and not feeling it at all. He doesn't look at Y/N or James and get a taste for their blood. "I... I think..." He then looks down at his hand, which the three follow his gaze, and they notice a ring in a very similar style as Stefan's. "I think this ring saved me."

Y/N blinks.

"Saved you, how?"

.

____________________________________

Wilderness: Gibbons Home

That night, after getting his gut stabbed by a wooden spoon, Fredrick spends the rest of his time carving into this piece of wood, hoping to make a stake he can use for the potential future. He stands arounds the campfire, a small reminder of what he lost tonight and the rage he still feels deep inside.

At one point, his super-hearing picks up footsteps getting closer, footsteps that he can tell the ownership of by way of mannerisms.

"We're running low on blood." Frederick reports to Pearl, having just checked their current supply, and Mrs. Gibbons is currently out of juice, needed some time to pump back more into her system before she potentially dies. "You might wanna send Anna up to the hospital for some more."

"I'll send her out for some tomorrow." Pearl informs him with a blank expression and tone, still clearly disappointed in his actions since those feelings don't just disappear an hour later.

"Maybe I could go with her." Frederick volunteers, sitting down on one of the many empty chairs, his eyes focused on the thing he's carving. "If the storm keeps it dark enough, I might be able to go out during the day, no sun and all...." 

"I'm afraid not. Not after your stunt at the Salvatore House tonight." Pearl declines his request, crossing her arms.

"He and that kid who got in my way deserved it." 

"And where did that get you?" Pearl questions as she marches around the room until she knows that he can see her in the corner of his eye. "Your girlfriend, Bethanne, is dead, and you have no one to blame but yourself." She scolds him, causing Fredrick to scratch the wood a little harder with his knife at the mention of her. "We cannot live our lives about revenge. We have to have better control of our emotions."

"I understand, Mrs. Pearl..." Fredrick answers in an emotionless tone, as if not to prompt another stabbing by her hands, and to hide his anger at her bringing up Bethanne. "I just wish I knew what you were up to."

Pearl mentally sighs as she's still able to guess what he is feeling. He sits down on another chair closer to him. "I'm going to make an exploratory visit into town tomorrow to asses who's under the influence of vervain and who isn't." She tells Frederick, since she did still consider his report of people in the town using the stuff when he tries to get a quick snack out of the people. Only the teenagers were mostly clean of the stuff. "Anna tells me that the players haven't changed much, aside from the Salvatores who have no new member after the death of both Zack and Damon. There's still the Lockwoods, The Forbes, the Fells-"

"And now there's also the L/Ns. Lander's little family that he's left behind." He says as his bloodlust comes out in the way he twirls the knife around and cuts into the wood as if it was a human's throat. "We should kill every single one of them, including that traitor's legacy."

"We are smarter than that Frederick." Pearl appeals to Frederick's human side, however much of it is life. "These people are not our enemies. We don't hold grudges or resentments. We'll get our town back. We just have to have patience."

Frederick doesn't respond to this, just keeps carving the wood. Pearl takes that as the end of the conversation and stands up to leave the room. The second she's gone however, a small group of the Vampires walks into the room. All of them waiting for him to acknowledge them.

"You heard her.... no revenge.... patience.... self-control...." He talks to them, referencing Pearl's words in a sarcastic way. He sets the knife on the coffee table and stands up, observing the new weapon he's now created. "She seems to have it all figured out, doesn't she?" He mockingly asks the group, who don't stare at him as if he's lost his mind.

They stare at him as if he's a leader.

  _____________________________________

Mystic Grill: Next Morning

With the weatherman declaring hints of bad weather coming their way, the four of them all agreed to hit the famous diner and catch everyone up with their points of view as well as discuss what they are going to do next to solve their little Vampire problem. Needless to say, what James shares with them isn't looking too good.

The only technical good news is that the Vampire number is somewhere closer to twenty-five, not a hundred, thank lord.....

"So, they're out, every single one of them?" Alaric questions James as if double-checking, pretty much having the same reaction Stefan and Y/N had when they heard the news. "And they're all in town?"

"Not all of them, I don't think, but most of them." James replies with a confirming nod, not helping anyone's worries. Stefan looks down at the wooden table, thinking about what this means, while Y/N rubs his face with his hands, as if tired of it all. "And I think... I think Candor was trying to warn me about them.... like some kind of attack."

"Yeah, I figured that out. What I'm still trying to process is how a person I saw dead right in front of me come back and contact someone, and one of them is not me." Y/N sarcastically comments as he takes what feel like is a much-needed drink from actual soda and not beer this time. 

"It's a connection between Warlocks, I think it's pretty self-explanatory." James explains with a look that urges the teen to get back on track. Y/N sigs as he leans back. "Look, I think the point I'm trying to get to at, is that we should probably find the Vampires before they find us, and I think by this point, we're all on their hit-list by now. We just killed one of their own."

"And how are we supposed to find them in the first place?" Y/N questions the Warlock, since he's making it sound like they have a GPS location they can follow. "There's so much woods around this town that it'll take forever to find which abandoned warehouse they're living in."

"I think there's a way." Stefan replies to that with a fairly positive tone of voice, causing everyone to turn to him. "Bonnie and Shelia were able to find people with their most closest objects." He tells them before turning to James. "And since you're a Bennent as well, I think your magic should do somewhat the same." He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a fabric of the jacket she was wearing "Here, this should work."

"You thought of that immediately after almost getting killed?" James asks with a slight impressed hum as he takes the fabric and sets it on the table. He then looks around to see how many people are close to them before hovering his hands over it and closing his eyes. However, his expression isn't as calm as it probably should be.

"Is it working?" Alaric questions with a look towards Stefan, not able to tell.

"Doesn't look that way." Y/N says while taking a bite out of the 30 box pack he ordered, scanning James expression which he notices feels similar to Bonnie's when she's panicking. "Nothing?"

"Uh.... it's a been a long time, hold on...." James nervously says as an excuse, shifting in his seat before doing the process again, though visibly trying harder which makes Y/N squint at him.

"Okay, now it just looks like you're taking a crap."

"Something's wrong...." James utters in complete terror as he realizes that he's not feeling a thing, causing everyone else aside from Stefan to blink in confusion.

"With your.... with your powers?" Alaric guesses.

"With me. I-I think." James replies, bewildered by it himself. "I don't get it. Usually there's a sign, or a vision, or.... I hear someone's voice. But.... nothing." He shares with the others, crushing their hopes all at once.

"Maybe because you're scared?" Stefan suggests as he looks at James with a knowing look, since this happened not that long ago. "Bonnie had the same problem when she discovered her heritage."

"But that doesn't make any sense, I just mind-fucked a Vampire not that long ago." James points out with an even more extremely confused face. "I shouldn't be this juiced out." 

"Maybe it's just something you don't know yet." Y/N suggests with a shrug, having absolutely no clue himself. "Maybe, like a........ a no-tracking-policy ward?"

James blinks at him. "That's not how it works, you dipshit-"

"Okay, okay, okay, I'm gonna stop everyone here...." Alaric instantly chimes in, noticing the irate attributes radiating off of both younger men at the moment. "Look, clearly we're all just very tired. So how about we take a quick break and check back at...." He checks his watch. "Somewhere after the morning?"

James and Y/N share a look before the latter lets out a sigh. "He's right, the rain's gonna pick up soon anyway, so we should hurry before we regret not bringing our rain jackets." He adds. Stefan also agreeingly nods.

"I need some time before we go anyway." Stefan brings up as they all stand up and prepare to head out. He needs his strength back up if he's going to be of any use. "That punch from that Vampire took some out of me, I need to hunt for some more blood." He states, causing everyone's heads to snap towards him. "Animal blood."

"Right...." Alaric slowly nods, knowing that he should probably accept it as that. "I'd need to grab all of our stuff anyway. I left a lot of my weapons stashed in very cryptic places after the last attack on Y/N."

As they all begin to grab their rain jackets and split up, something crosses James's mind. "Hey!" He calls out to Stefan, causing him to stop and turn around as James approaches him. "Does Elena know?" He asks the Vampire with a serious tone, and the man quickly understands what he's saying and nods.

"We should tell her first." Stefan reads his mind, and James agreeingly nods as they head out to go do that before anyone starts hunting. 

Meanwhile, Y/N gets himself a to-go box since these wings are really tempting his stomach, more than so lately. He read Isobel's notes, and it looks like all of the eating he's ben constantly doing are a result of the.... thing, inside of him, his soul if you want to get specific. Thankfully, despite his checks on many scales, he has never gotten anymore weight.... which could be a bad thing as well as a good thing, depending on what it means. 

He feels a small tap on his back and turns his head over to see Alaric. "Hey, make sure you stop by the farm earlier tonight." He relays to Y/N, the farm being an abandoned place he's turned into a personal shooting range. "There's some weapons I want us to try out before we risk our lives again."

"You mean, you didn't give me everything that was needed to take on Damon?" Y/N playfully queries with a humorous brow. "Or are you actually going to tell me you made this stuff up over-night?"

"You'd be surprised." Alaric quips with a small chuckle before tapping Y/N on the shoulder again as he heads out so he can beat the storm.

While he's waiting however, a new addition enters the grill, and obviously due to the mention of her, It is someone that he recognizes...... Peal That name usually prompts him to walk right out of the building without getting anything else. But instead, he stares and shares eye contact with her.

Anna's calm-happy expression instantly drops at the sight of him, the two stare each other down before she eventually takes his staring as a request, aka demand, to talk. She glances back at the door before walking towards him with her best face that makes her look like she isn't bothered by anything in the world. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me?" She asks with a clearly hint of anger behind her nonchalant tone.

"You didn't like what happened last night." Y/N notes with a small, satisfied nod. "Thank gosh, I thought I was gonna have to actually shoot you so you can keep yourself alive."

"Okay, now you're threatening me?"

"I'm helping you." Y/N instantly replies, which makes Anna glare at the guy, no doubt thinking that he has some nerve to talk to her like he has the moral high ground. "I'm a threat to you, and the last thing I want is for you to..... to get yourself killed when you just got your mother back. And that's only excluding the council who has an even worse opinion of you."

"Oh, and I'm so grateful of your reminder, really." Anna remarks with an overly-sarcastic voice, before she turns around as she already has enough reason to ignore him now. "What would I do without your honesty?"

"At least I'm more honest than you." Y/N quips with a sassy tone, knowing exactly what to say before she walks away. "Speaking off, when were you gonna tell me that you were having a sleepover with all of the Vampires from the tomb?" He then queries, and right on cue, Anna pauses and turns back around with a shocked face.

"Wait.... they attacked you?"

"No, they attacked Stefan, but I was there, and now I'm next." Y/N tells her, causing Anna to blink as all of her emotions rapidly change at once. "So, if you want to avoid a war, you need to tell them to back off before a lot of people get hurt."

"They won't." Anna is quick to let him know, remembering the discipline that her mother gave to Fredrick last night. "My mother made sure of that. They won't make a move on you like that again."

"Again, or ever again?" Y/N then questions with a pointed look, causing Anna to roll her eyes which makes them let out a small exhale. "I'm sorry.....  I'm sorry..... I know I'm being Tyler 2.0 right now, I'm just...... really stressed out after my mentor almost died by that attack." He apologizes before she considers cussing him out, which makes her blink in surprise. 

Did he just say that he's sorry? 

"Hey, look at this..." Y/N points out as he idly touches a tiny statue of a person in what looks like ropes that has spikes on it. On the center of his chest is that Ouroboros symbol, you know, the one with two dragons eating each other's tails. And in the center, is a what looks like a splash of paint or something, thought due to the statue being color-less, it's hard to tell. "Wonder who this is based on." 

"Trying to make small talk with a Vampire?" Anna bitterly quips as she gives Y/N a reminding look. "I thought my kind was too dangerous to keep close?" 

"Doesn't hurt to pretend that isn't the case everyone once in a while." Y/N responds as he sets the statue down, though humming as if to say 'touché' to Anna. With that conversation over, the girl walks away, now down with him. 

And Y/N sighs as he glances around and see Matt and Caroline kissing goodbye to each other like a happy couple, not having any hard issues to solve at all.

They have no idea how lucky they are....

______________________________________

Mystic Falls: Gilbert Residence

James and Stefan pull up to Elena's place with the former's car. They don't waste time in walking up and knocking on the door. It thankfully doesn't take too much time for her to open it. "Stefan, James...." She says both of their names in way that immediately understands the bad news radiating off of them, not even needing to see their faces to notice it. "What's going on?"

Stefan and James share a look before the former finally says something. "You should.... probably sit down for this."

The second they are all in the kitchen and have finished relaying everything that happened last night, Elena has downed at least five cups of something drinkable and has needed several pauses mid-story to process what she just head. "I'm guessing.... we just ruined your entire day?" James comments with a face.

"Oh, no, I'm feeling a lot better about knowing that a Tomb of Vampires is on the loose and pissed off at the town. My day just got a lot better actually." Elena replies in a sassy manner, causing James and Stefan to blink at her.

"Elena, was that.... sarcasm?"

 "You mean after hearing that we could all potentially die because we all thought opening the tomb was a good idea? Yeah, I think I've earned sarcasm." Elena confirms with a nod while giving James a look, who just chuckles at her.

"Oh no, this is actually great. I have not heard this side of you in a long time." James assures Elena, causing the girl to roll her eyes before confessing to a slight smile. "Did you do something to her?" He then asks Stefan with a pointed look.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Stefan answers with a shrug and amused smile, before the mood quickly dies down the second the important part is remembered by all of them. 

"So.... what happens now?" Elena then asks, glancing between all of them with a curious look. "I mean, you guys do know what you're going to do next, right?" 

"We have something, yes." Stefan confirms with a nod. "However, it's going to take a little bit. It's all a little bit harder than we thought." He then reports, while not specifying as to not embarrass James more while he looks at the ground while pressing his lips together.

"I gotta use the bathroom real quick." James abruptly announces as he stands up and heads towards the stairs. "You two catch up or whatever, I'll be right back." He says for the sake of it as he marches away.

"Um, okay...." Elena quietly responds with a perplexed brow as they both watch them quickly storm into the bathroom. 

James checks Jeremy's room, but sees that it's empty and he's nowhere to be found, which is a shame. But that doesn't really matter at the moment. He quietly steps in and closes the door behind him before setting the fabric from earlier onto the bed and pretty much does the same thing he did at the grill, with the slight difference that he's sitting on the floor. 

He knows that the Vampires are somewhere in town, that even this thing that the woman's been connected to for a brief hour or so should still tell him something. He focuses....

And focuses..... deeply, trying to remember something, but nothing comes. 

He mentally sighs frustrated.

"It's true, isn't it?"

James jumps at the sudden appearance of Candor, who's looking outside the window, at the heavy rain. "Geez, you could at least try to hint that you're about to chime in from ghost town?"

"I used to be afraid once, too, until I made that deal with the Ancient One....." Candor brings up without addressing Jame's snarky comment, smiling a little bit as if getting a wave of nostalgia. "Then, when I finally helped the wrong person, my death came with little emotion to it." He concludes with a small chuckle. "Ah, the irony......"

"What is it this time?" James questions with a slightly annoyed face, always getting a bad vibe whenever he appears. "I thought the last time I saw you would be just that, the last time."

"I'm here because you're once again lying to the people you claim to be friends with." Candor answers as he gives him a look. "You're scared, and it's affecting your magic. But it's not as easy as Bonnie is it? You can't just go to a place and have it be the end of that, am I right?" He assumes, and it looks to be correct according to James's face. "Let me see if I can figure this one out...... You just lost your grandmother, and now think your sister hates you more than she originally did. Those two things together make you worry that you'll now fail your friends, don't they?" He queries with a raised brow. "Or, more specifically..... Elena?"

"I'm not scared of that, I'm a goddamn Warlock."

"You sure?" Candor queries with a raised brow. "You know why I helped Y/N and his family? It was because the second I was given the gift of halt-aging, I realized that I didn't need to have everyone depend on me. I was just there to help them on the path of the foreseeable future."

James blinks.

"What future?" He queries with a curious brow, finding it odd the way Candor phrased it. The dead man just smiles at him, before slowly fading away into the air. 

"You'll see...."

With him gone, James then stares back at the item, trying to decipher the parts of Candor's dialogue that made any sense. Then, he tries again.... holding his hands up..... closing his eyes.... focusing on the fabric....

And that's when it hits him.

___________________________________________

Mystic Falls: Wilderness

On his way home to get some shuteye he didn't earn last night, Y/N can barely see a damn thing in this rain. The mud makes his motorbike a little bit hard to control in this weather, and it's not suitable for dirt trails anyway, so he always makes it there on foot. Besides, the thing would probably create an alarm bell for the twenty-something Vampires anyway, even if the storm did block out most of that noise. Hope that means that Alaric is trying to do the 'silencer' thing he was hinting at that one time. 

 While he's jogging though, he hears a strong gust of wind zooming past in a way that feels stronger than what he's currently been hearing. He pauses briefly and looks around, hoping that it's not his imagination that's making him paranoid.

However, when he looks in one direction, he sees a person in a rain jacket standing behind a tree.... then he glances off to the right, and there's another....

Then, he feels someone's breath behind him. However, the second he turns around, he sees the face of the Vampire that attacked him last night and survived, even under that hood. 

Frederick smiles before grabbing Y/N by his head before he can pull out a stake or a gun, and headbutts him at vampiristic-speed, that, and his species' standard strength delivers a powerful blow that knocks him out in an instant.

The other Vampires than surround the boy's body with him.

"Nothing much without Stefan Salvatore, is he?" 

_______________________________

Mystic Falls: Gilbert Residence

James then stares back at the item, trying to decipher the parts of Candor's dialogue that made any sense. Then, he tries again.... holding his hands up..... closing his eyes.... focusing on the fabric....

And that's when it hits him. He quickly walks back down the stairs, though quickly pauses when he sees Stefan and Elena. The way the man holds his girlfriend in a comforting embrace after she's heard bad news, the way the fully look happy with each other.

What if he ruins that?

After how many seconds or minutes it took, Stefan than reluctantly pulls away and James realizes he's been staring all this time and quickly goes back up a few steps to make it look like he wasn't just watching them like a complete weirdo. It works, kinda, as he goes down right as Stefan passes him in the hall.

 "I gotta go get that bloody really quickly." Stefan informs him as he heads out the door. "Be right back."

"Got it, no problem." James says with an understanding nod, as if that's not the first time he hears about hunting for blood from a person before. Just an average day of the week y'all. "Just don't take too long, I think I know where they are!"

"Got it."

With the door closed, James then turns to Elena who leans against the doorway of the kitchen with an innocent smile directed at him. She's completely unaware of how much of a weirdo he was honestly being. He knows, he'll do better next time.

"You okay?" Elena then asks as her expression quickly changes when she sees the odd look on James's face, causing him to awkwardly chuckle a bit. Dang it, he lets his true self appear around her way too easily. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. I'm just thinking about stuff is all. Which is.... probably a bad time, considering what's happening." James answers as he keeps his cool effortlessly while approaching Elena. At least, he thinks he is cool. "Hey, can I ask you something?" 

Elena blinks at him, curious, before she then nods. "Of course." She requests as they then walk back into the kitchen where's she then opening the fridge to grab her favorite drink again to pour into her cup.

"Okay, this might sound a little weird, but....." James bites his lip. "Have I...... been getting out of character lately?" He asks her, hoping that makes any sense, though the look from Elena's face makes it seem like that isn't the case this time.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, to be honest, Red..... I've been lying to you a little bit lately, and that's obviously not cool. Like, at all." James admits to Elena, which clearly gets her attention. 

"Lying? H-How did you-?"w

"Elena, I never went to any of Duke's lame ass parties." James confesses to her with a slight chuckle, the idea of him actually going there is kind of funny. "I mean, the others go, sure, but I never really liked being part of the 'cool kids', especially when I saw how it made Bonnie feel." He tells her, briefly glancing down with a swallow before he continues. "Elena, I'm...... I'm a Warlock." He finally reveals. "Or.... witch, to be short."

Elena stares at him, hearing his confession, and then saying...... "Okay, and?" She then asks, causing James to blink.

"And?" 

"James, I know that Vampires exist, so why would I not know about Bonnie's secret?" Elena remarks with a humorous smile, slightly amused at James reaction, even more when she brings up his sister. "And, yes, I got it from her."

"Right, of course that's what happened...." James mutters as he now mentally face palms, feeling really stupid. "Now I know why you're still dating Stefan, you're really good at taking these things, aren't you?"

"Oh, no, I actually did not take Stefan's secret very well, actually." Elena admits with a giggle, thinking about that dilema when school first started. "So..... what actually happened?" She then asks, the obvious next question, and James blows out some hair as he considers how he's going to phrase this. 

"Well, I.....geez, how to explain this." James mutters as he sits down in front of the kitchen island. "Well, on my sixteenth birthday. My party become one of the what was supposed to be the coolest moments of the year into my worst, Krampus's wet dream, that kind of thing....." He looks away from Elena as if playing it in a flashback. "It was time for me to blow the candles, and then I just..... I don't know what happened,  I was so excited in a way that when I moved my hand just.... slightly fast.... I burned one of the football guy's face straight off." He finally reveals, shaking his head in shame. "He needs plastic surgery, my family was sued, and... Grams literally had to fight to put me in New Orleans to control my powers instead of having me put in a psychic hospital because I kept telling people that I started the fire. It was really something for two weeks..."

The story is now over, leaving Elena to react and for James to wait, ready to accept whatever her response is next. "James... have you been failing the locating spell?" Elena then finally deduces, causing James to look at her surprised before instantly changing to defeat. 

"Wow, I am easy to read when I'm around you." 

"That's... kind of your fault, honestly." Elena quips with a small smirk, to which James admittedly nods. "But seriously.... what's wrong?" 

"I'm...... scared, Elena." James finally confesses, giving her a genuine look. "I thought coming back here would help Bonnie, but she had to leave because I wasn't there for her, I wasn't there for anyone after twenty or something 'animal attacks' happened all over town. All because.... I was scared of myself, that I would burn someone else's.... your face off. And that scares the holy ghost out of me." He tells her with a face of true guilt. 

"Yeah, and that's okay." Elena replies with a shrug as she gives him empathy. "It sounds like you really needed to leave for those four years."

"Yes, but that is four years. Four years, and stuff has clearly been happening when I was gone. Jeremy's girl is dead, half a dozen others, Stefan's brother....." James brings up, holding up a hand when Elena opens her mouth. "But... but my worst sin was not being there when your parents died." He then points out, winning the 'bring the mood down' competition with that one. "I didn't even leave a text message, and that's the bare fucking minimum." 

Elena slowly nods, the mentioning of her parents does bring some dark thoughts, but she pushes them away as he looks back at James with a strong look. "You're right..... but, you're here now, and right now, that's all that matters." She tells him before putting reaching over and putting her hand on his, which causes him to look down at them. "And you shouldn't be scared, because... despite me losing my 'fun' I know the real world, and I'm learning how to take care of myself." She states, sounding oddly confident about it which the other guy can't help but respect. "So, please..... don't be scared." 

James looks up at her in the eyes, before slowly nodding. He separates their hands and puts the fabric onto the kitchen island. This time, he really focuses, and has a lot of an easier time pushing his feeling away as he puts as much magic into the spell as required.

Finally, he gets something.....

He opens his eyes. "I know where he is..." 

Right at that moment, the front door slams open, and it's not Stefan, but Alaric who frantically walks in. "Hey, have you guys seen Y/N?" He quickly asks the second he sees them in the kitchen. "I've called him six times but he's not responding."

"No, I thought you two were at the farm." James replies with a shake of his head, perplexed.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, but he never showed up." Alaric responds as his tone and expression become more frantic and worried by the second. "Speaking of never showing up, where the heck is Stefan?"

"I'm here." Stefan suddenly appears and every looks over to see him coming through the front door as well, setting his rain jacked down where it can dry safely. "What's wrong?"

"Y/N's M.I.A" James answers as he points towards the man who delivered the news. "Has he called you?"

"No...." Stefan answers with a shake of his head, knowing that that has to be a bad thing. All four of them then share a look, the same bad outcome now playing in their head but in different ways. 

"We're all thinking the same thing, aren't we?" James queries everyone with an expecting face.

And everyone nods.

_______________________________________

Wilderness: Gibbons Home

James now knows the location of the Tomb Vampires, meaning that it doesn't take much for Stefan, Elena, Alaric, and James to take off into the wilderness, despite the harsh rain. They got a teenager to save, and for the sake of their conscious, they are not going to let him die, no matter what their relationship with him is.

"Pearl! Are you in here?!" Stefan says as he knocks on the door, only to be purposefully delayed when they wait for someone to open it. "Pearl! You got two minutes to open the door before I force it open! You've crossed line!"

He and Alaric stand there impatiently, causing the latter to consider setting the bursting the door wide open. Thankfully though, they are finally responded to when the door moves with a creak.... and they see Frederick being the one that opens it. "Pearl's not home." He tells them with a blank expression. He then leans his head forward and stares at mother nature. "Hmm.... beautiful weather, not a ray of sun in the sky."

"Where's Y/N?" Alaric questions angrily the second he sees the man's face. Already knowing what he is.  "We know you have him you blood-sucking monster." 

Frederick smirks at him, not fazed by his anger at all. "Ah, right, Y/N.... that's his name. He's the one who killed Damon Salvatore, correct?" He brings up, before then raising a brow at Stefan. "Wasn't he your brother? Why would you help a pathetic human like him, much less someone who took your blood away from you?"

"Where is he?" Stefan repeats the question, not wanting let Fred taunt him with his losses. He has his reasons, and he doesn't plan to share it with someone like him. 

Frederick, a little disappointed in the lack of answer, still smiles in amusement as he leans his head over his shoulders. "Billy!" He calls for, and a few seconds later, a couple vampires come into the hallway, carrying a battered Y/N by his arms as they drag him across the floor. Alaric is now forced to see his weak state, his face has a nasty bruise, and his clothes are slightly torn up after whatever beating they gave him the second they tossed him inside. 

"You son of a-" Alaric growls, only for Stefan to hold him back when he considers marching into the cabin with just a stake.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, boy. It would take only three of us to rip the both of you apart. Limb from limb, without even blinking." Frederick warns Alaric with a taunting and menacing look.  "Now, maybe if you had the Vampire with the animal diet, you could technically stand somewhat of a chance, but you haven't been invited it, have you?" He then also brings up. Alaric and Stefan shares a look, to which the Salvatore slowly shakes his head at Bennet, advising him not to do what he's probably thinking. "Miss Gibbons!"

An older lady then walks into their sight the second her name is called. "Yes, Frederic, honey?"

"Never let this bad man in." Frederick orders, compelling her to follow her orders, and the woman nods like an obedient servant. "And if you see any of these men with him, warn us about it."

"I'll never let him.... and scream when I see his friends." Miss Gibbons repeats as if being a robot that's received a code, and walks away to continue her motherly duties. Stefan mentally groans as he wishes that this wasn't the case, though knew it was going to happen if the owner was still alive. 

(Forget the plot hole I made earlier in this book) 

After that, Frederick then turns back to the group. "You know, I was gonna torture you to death first." He tells Stefan specifically with a glare. "One hundred and forty-five years left starving in a tomb thanks to Katherine's infatuation with you and your brother." He criticizes the Vampire as if he was responsible for all of her actions. Well, he probably knows that he isn't but he also knows that it's much easier to get revenge on someone close by than travel the entire world in search of Katherine. "However, it was Zander, her servant, that sold us all out to the founding families. And you would never image the look on my face when I finally recognized his last name." He then looks over at Y/N, who's too busy grunting in pain to look up Alaric clenches a fist, his urge to reach for his gun with wooden bullets builds up more and more with each word that comes out of Frederick's mouth. "And I know that he hasn't activated the Wendigo spirit yet. So.... I think I'm gonna take my time with him before I eventually rip his head off. No amount of regeneration can fix loosing a body part like that. Now, you all have a nice day."

With that, he then shuts the door, not allowing them entry. Alaric cranks his neck, but Stefan puts a hand on his shoulder. "No, not yet." He tells him while giving him a look to calm down. "We need a plan. They'll just kill Y/N if we just go in and tear the place apart."

The two then head back to the car, where Elena and James waiting for them with a massive umbrella so she doesn't get herself soaked in this weather. "What happened? Where is he?" Elena questions them, worried as if she and Y/N have some kind of actual rapport.

"They have him, we can't get in." Stefan admits with a shake of his head.

"Why not?"

"Because the woman who owns the house is compelled to not let me in. And, they pretty much have Y/N has a hostage, we'll get him killed if we go in loud." Stefan answers as well, causing James to sigh as he believes his story.

"But... Matt.... he's already lost Vicki, if he hears that he lost Y/N-"

"Don't worry...." Alaric then says, giving Elena a reassuring look. "We'll get him back. You and me won't have to tell Matt or Jeremy any kind of bad news."

He can promise that.

_____________________________________

 Gibbons Home: Basement

Y/N eyes are now always forcing themselves to shut by the time he's dragged back downstairs every he was displayed like a Picasso painting in front of his mentor, guy he just met, and brother's killer, who has no motive whatsoever to save his sorry ass. He's been forced out of his jacket and shirt for reasons that don't take algebra math to handle. Part of him wonders if he deserves this punishment, if he deserves the aching feeling inside of his ribs. And honestly?

He's leaning more towards yes.

Eventually, his vision does come back, but not before having the Vampires effortlessly hoist him up and tie him up to the ceiling by his hands, as well as roping his feet together to she can't kick any of them, not like it would do much. The rope has an odd stinging feeling that makes him hurt all over. Not vervain since he's not a Vampire, so something else made purposefully for him. He feels like utter garbage, helpless. The notes said that his IT would come to his aid during a moment of life or death. Well, where the heck is it?

In front of him, Frederick walks over, looking up him and down while the other Vampires hold him up. He chuckles a bit as he sees the sight of him. "You know, I'm still trying to figure out how someone like you killed Damon, even if he was a much weaker Vampire." He comments as he grabs a sharp tool from the workbench. "But that doesn't mean we haven't prepared you a gift. It's called amaranth. Something that Zander didn't like all that much... And we doused the rope in it." He says before abruptly pulling on the ropes, causing Y/N to growl loudly in pain. "That's gonna sting, doesn't it?" He sadistically remarks, before looking at one of his loyalists who hands him a big syringe. "Speaking of which..." He then orders his men to force Y/N's head upwards, allowing him to empty it all over Y/N's left eye, making every single eye drop he's taken in the past now feel like a soother.

"This isn't right!" A Vampire that suddenly runs into the room yells, causing everyone to look over and see Harper, who looks at Y/N with his new makeover, eyes widened. "These humans are different. They aren't our enemies!"  Frederick, Billy, and the other Vampires don't like the interruption, however.

"He killed Bethanne." Frederick reminds Harper with a seething and vengeful growl, not gonna change his mind for anything in the world. He then gets in the Pearl loyalist's face. "One of us, Harper. And don't you think for a second he wouldn't kill you if he had the chance. He's a human, humans were the ones who tried to burn us all alive." He tells him with a serious look, before turning back towards Y/N. "Pearl says we're not here for revenge, right? I say that's exactly what we're here for!" He exclaims, and almost all of the Vampires look at him in agreement, fulling on board with his plan a hundred percent. The leader of the revengers then re-takes the tool and re-approaches Y/N. "Starting with this...."  

He then puts the blade on Y/N's torso and slices it very slowly across his skin, forcing him to feel every inch of pain that comes with his cut that he delivers. Y/N groans even loud as the pain increases, before suddenly having his throat grabbed by Fred. "And then his friends, Stefan, and everyone else who gets in our way. Especially Anna, if she decides to come crawling back to her little boyfriend here...." 

"This isn't right!" Harper yells again as he grabs Frederick's arm before he slice Y/N again, much to the annoyance of the other Vampires.

"You're gonna want to let go of me!" Frederick barks at him as he glares at Harper, annoyed that he's still trying to help the vermin he's torturing. He grabs Harper's throat, thought that still doesn't stop the man from speaking.

"Mrs. Pearl will be home soon......."

"Mrs. Pearl..... is no longer in charge." Frederick tells him up-front, boldly stating that the time for diplomacy is over. He then looks at the Vampires who are loyal to him. "Tie him up and stake him down." He orders, and his men follow without question, grabbing who they see as another traitor and pull him away from Fred.

As he's forced away, Frederick is now alone with Y/N, allowing him to enjoy this moment as long as he can. "You know what's funny? I bet you think your 'friends' who just visited will actually come back to save you. Or..... no.... maybe you think Annabelle will make it home early and fight all of us off?" He mockingly interrogates the teen, who grunts as he looks up at him. "But remember, who freed all of us in the first place? Who's the one that killed Stefan Salvatore's brother? Who's the one who's only purpose is the thing inside of him? The only one who could save you now is Anna, and she stabbed you in the back." He brings up before continuing his slicing into Y/N's flesh, making it hurt even more than it felt previously. "You're all alone." 

He grabs him by his hair and forces Y/N to look him in the eye.

"No one's coming for you."

He then resumes the torture....

___________________________________

Mystic Falls High:

Alaric then brings everyone back to the school where he left a few of his self-defense rifle, with the addition of the stuff he's brought from the farm. It's not much, but with Y/N's life at stake, they don't really have much time to go to every single stash he's hidden. "Take only what you need. The Vampires will take you lightly if you appear less armed."

"Geez, you made yourself a stake rifle?" James questions with extreme interest as he holds it up and aims it at the wall, to which Alaric quickly takes it from him with a look that states that that's the one item he can't have. "Fine... you get the cool toys."

"Yeah, and I don't like sharing." Alaric responds with a somewhat snarky look for a man his age. 

"What are these?" Elena points at the section of Alaric's display that has at least half-a dozen of syringes. Interestingly enough, her and Stefan notices that a lot of what Y/N used in the fight against Damon is not really here. Did he make all of that himself? 

"Those are tranquilizer darts, filled with vervain." Alaric answers with a confident tone, personally proud of how these ones turned out. "One shot or inject will send the Vampire crying on the floor for at least an hour, long enough for a stake."

"And.... what's the plan we've all been constantly referencing that we should have?" James queries next, mostly looking at Stefan. "We just go in, sneak through a back door and pull Y/N out?"

"There should be two doors to the basement, one from the living room and one from outside." Stefan states with an oddly knowing voice, as if he built the lay-out himself, which he probably did for all he knows. "The only one that probably isn't locked from the outside is the less preferable choice, so I'll have to sneak through the front door in order to drag Y/N out through the other."

"You'll still need to be invited in." Alaric then brings up, which has an obvious obstacle there. "Which is now impossible since the lady has been compelled otherwise."

"I can actually fix that." James responds to that, causing them all to look at him. "I've.... never really done it before, and it'll depend heavily on how long that women's been compelled, but I can remove her compulsion, provided that I get the opportunity."

"But, is there a plan B?" Elena then asks, the human with no supernatural advantage still can't hlep but feel a little afraid, despite the group they currently have. "What happens if they realize that something's off, will you just fight them all by yourself?"

"Hopefully, it doesn't come to that." Stefan simply replies with a mental shrug. Not really the answer Elena was looking for, but it's not like that's not what this weaponry they're getting is for. 

Then, to their genuine surprise, Elena then takes one of the darts. "Whoa, what are you doing?" Alaric chimes in with a hand, giving her a crazy look as well as everyone else when they see what she's doing. The girl gives them a look as if she's doing something perfectly sane.

"I'm coming with you guys."

"Nope! No, no, no, no...." James instantly shoots her down with a massive shake of his head, wondering when this girl lost her mind. "No way, not in a million years. That's like throwing yourself into the Lion's den, only without praying for the man upstairs to keep their mouths shut."

"What? You need me." Elena retorts with a small glare. "I-I can get it. You distract the Vampires, and I'll pull Y/N out." 

"Red, listen to me." James steps towards her with a very serious face. "I appreciate the bravery, but you are physically or mentally prepared for any of this. You literally told me that you only became aware this year, we've all known much longer than that, even me. So, call me an asshole for saying this or not, but you're just gonna get everyone killed if you go in there." He bluntly tells her, watching her stare at him as if she's just been stabbed in the heart. "Why are you insisting so much anyway?"

"Because, James, you're not the only one who's been feeling like... like shit for the past few weeks." Elena snaps at him a little bit, causing the air to now fit the storm outside. "You may not have been there, but when it comes to Stefan and me, the signs were all there that Y/N was going to kill Damon. And we failed to stop him." She states passionately before swallowing a little bit. "I may only know him through Matt, but I also know that I couldn't live with myself if I didn't help him out this one time." 

"You didn't need to stop Y/N." Alaric argues as he stands behind his desk, arms crossed. "He did the right thing, Damon deserved to die." He then boldly makes eye contact with Stefan. "And I stick by that." 

"Stefan...." Elena then pleads to the Vampire next, who's been oddly quiet the entire time. "Please..."

"Elena...." Stefan says her name with a small sigh. "You're not going." He tells her, siding with both James and Alaric. Elena looks at him as if he's crazy. "We don't know how many Vampires there really are in there, and if they see you, they can snap your neck in an instant, or rip out your heart. I....I can't protect you all the time." 

"There, cased closed. You get to be in the car but you're not going in the house." James then concludes, turning back to Alaric. "So.... once I'm done, if you hear fighting and Stefan isn't out, then's the time for you and me to come in and back him up so he can get Y/N out of there. Good enough for plan B?"

"Good enough." Alaric says with a small nod.

"See? We have a plan B too now." James tells Elena with a snarky smile, who obviously isn't as much in a humorous mood as he is.

"All right, let's get moving." Alaric says as he sets his belt of weapons back into his bag, and the three of them all begin to head out, Elena taking a minute before eventually following. 

Hopefully, they won't need a plan C.

_________________________________

Mystic Falls: Mystic Grill

While hostage situations are being handled in the same town, the rest of the friend group or whatever you want to call it are still pretty much in the Grill with absolutely no idea that one of their friends is being beaten and cut. Matt, while on the job, is currently trying to multitask by calling with Caroline with the storm now in affect. 

Seeing him there and noticing that everyone on his good, shit, and please don't talk to me list is here aside from one person, Tyler Lockwood waits for Matt to finish before walking up to him. "Hey, have you seen Y/N anywhere?" He asks the guy, since he's pretty much Y/N's non-blood bro he talks to. "I tried messaging him about James, but he isn't responding."

"What are you, his boyfriend?" Matt teasingly asks in response, earning himself a look from the guy. "No, no, I haven't. I've been working all day." He tells Tyler before letting off a shrug. "Maybe his messenger died?" 

"Yeah, maybe..." Tyler mutters, slowly nodding, though not really believing that himself. He then looks over at his dad, who's currently talking with the woman that just showed up in the Grill all of a sudden, said her name was Pearl or something. "Guy's not even subtle about it...." He critcizes, the scene causing him to down the rest of his glass.

"Who is that?" Matt asks curiously, giving the woman a quick glance at best. Tyler just shrugs, not really knowing nor does he want to. All he can tell is that she's someone who reminds his dad about how unhappily married he is.

"It's not my mother..."

__________________________

Wilderness: Gibbons Home

"Tell me something.... which hurts more?" Frederick queries Y/N as he circles around him, the situation at the cabin hasn't changed, except for Harper being added to the count, and the teen now looks even more worse for wear. The weirdest part, however, isn't just that a Vampire actually stood up for him, it's the fact that in the back of his mind, he's thinking about how he hasn't gotten anything to eat. The only thing he's had were the wings from this morning, but that was morning, now night has fallen.

He's so... hungry.

But why is he thinking about it so much? Why? 

"Is it.... this?" Frederick questions before abruptly impaling Y/N's gut with a hook that came from the workbench, causing him to gasp and grunt as the Vampire then drives it slowly upward until he reaches his neck before pulling it out. There's now a vertical line in his torso. "Or... maybe this?" He then decides to take a plate of steel that's been purposefully armed up for this moment. He punches it into his shoulder, sparking a scorching pain that feels like it sets Y/N's entire body on fire. "Or maybe... both hurt the same? Guess we'll have to keep playing until we figure out the answer to that."

"Hey, Frederick." Billy then walks in, announcing himself carefully so he doesn't frustrate the man by ruining his fun. "There's a nig..... a man, outside our front door, begging to be let inside." He reports while also saving himself. Frederick sighs as he takes this as a hint that he's supposed to handle this.

"Lucky guy, once again..." Frederick quips as he reluctantly sets the two tools down before following Billy upstairs so they can leave the prisoners to wait in anticipation for their next medicine.

"You didn't have to do that..." Y/N quietly tells Harper, his voice kind of weak as he hasn't spoken in six hours. "I didn't deserve for you to stand up to me. I've killed at least six of you guys so far..." He confesses to the man tied up in a chair in front of him, who doesn't visibly react.

"What they did wasn't right....." Harper simply says as he looks at the ground, causing Y/N to chuckle a little.

"As you say...." He sarcastically quips before beginning to grunt again. Not at any pain from Fredrick's torture, but at something else. Harper looks up, confused, and sees something horrifying...

His torso is like.... pulsating.

And it's.... glowing.

Meanwhile, Frederick marches over and opens the front door, revealing James outside who's currently put on an innocent and lost man's persona. "Oh, good, someone's home." He says as he rubs his hands together, wet and shivering in front of them. "Could I.... could I use your phone? My-my car broke down a few miles up the road and this is the first house I saw."

"Well, lucky you." Frederick sarcastically comments, wondering how a car breaks down if it's supposed to drive one person to another location. 

"Yeah, lucky me." James sheepishly replies with an awkward laugh. "It's no trouble is it?" He then asks, hoping that he says yes since Plan A will immediately be shot down if it doesn't. Frederick clearly thinks on it for a moment before deciding to oblige him.

"Not the slightest."

"Great, thank you." James eagerly steps inside, secretly confirming to Frederick that he's not a Vampire. "Thanks for the help, man, it's rougher and wetter than my last fling in New Orleans out there." He sort of complains with a small laugh. The old Vampires obviously have no fucking idea what he's talking about.

"Billy, show our visitor where the phone is in the kitchen." Frederick orders, while James looks around and notices some of the other Vampires staring at him. "And get me something to drink."

"Yeah, sure thing." Billy obeys with a small nod before nodding James over to follow him. James makes sure to take a mental note of the layout inside, just in case it's needed for either versions of the plan. "Hey, Miss Gibbons? This guy wants to use your phone."

"Oh, sure honey, it's right there." Miss Gibbons happily complies as always, to which James nods and thanks them both before heading towards it. 

Then, exactly as suspected, Billy's eye veins turn black the second his back is turned. The Warlock instantly snaps his head around and hits him with a mind attack while holding his mouth so he doesn't make too much noise. Thankfully, the loud rock music that's playing in the background helps out with this.

Speaking of hearing, James quickly turns on the sink, the blender, and then grabs Miss Gibbons and pulls her into a wide pantry-closet. "W-What's happening?" The poor woman utters, her compelled state confused from everything.

"Sorry about this, miss." James apologizes before hand as he then begins the spell. Thankfully, the order he needs to remove didn't happen that long ago, and hopefully Vincent's training pays off here. 

"But... this will hurt."

A few seconds later, record time, we know. James comes out of the front door with a still compelled, but slightly less so Miss Gibbons. Alaric and Stefan waiting for him. "Miss Gibbons, these men are with Pearl, can you please let them inside?" He then asks politely, causing the woman's face to light up.

"Of course, any friend of Pearl's is a friend of mine." Miss Gibbons says just like she did the other time she's heard a familiar line. "Please do. Come in." She then invites them, allowing Stefan to walk in without much issue. 

"Thank you." Stefan says with a nod before clearing his throat. "Get her out of here, I'll grab Y/N and meet you back in the car." He then instructs them, and the two men nod as they then guide a still confused lady out into the rain so she doesn't become a victim of an angry outburst. With that obstacle now removed, the Vampire then quietly closes the door behind him. His old experience has made him realize that he has actually seen this interior before....

Using his mind, he avoids the Vampires that are shooting pool in one room, using the kitchen to sneak around and take the alternate route to the door that leads to the living room. During which, he sees Billy standing up and handing Fred his blood as if nothing happened to him. Wow, how did James pull that off?

Stepping downwards into the basement, he sees one of the Tomb Vampires at their post and quickly scoots back into cover, before taking a more closer to look to see where the guard is facing. Actually, it looks like he's listening to some headphones he's recently acquired. That is.... cliche, but welcoming.

Before he can consider a way to handle him however, a squeaking creak followed by glass shattering wakes the guard up and he goes over to investigate, the opposite direction of where Stefan is. This prompts him to keep moving and basically follow the guard. Who looks around for a few seconds before getting into an alarmed stance.

"HEY!" 

Acting fast so his position isn't given away, Stefan speeds over and injects the Vampire in the neck with the tranquilizer dart, causing him to grab the wound while groaning before he's slumped over on the ground, completely weak to say or do anything. He then looks over and sees what got his attention.

Elena.

"You're not supposed to be here..." Stefan criticizes the second he sees her, to which Elena pops out from behind the corner with a deviant tone.

"Well, I did, I'm sorry, but you need-" Elena speaks before Stefan quickly puts his hand on her mouth to shut her up. His hearing picks up another door opening, likely someone that isn't Alaric or James. 

"Hide." He orders her before grabbing the unconscious body and dragging him over to a quickly and temporarily effective hiding spot. Holding Elena close so she doesn't do or say anything that can give them away, they watch as a group of the small Vampires enter the basement once again, Frederick being one of them.

"Where on earth did Trevor go?" Frederick questions out-loud with a small sigh, before looking over and seeing nothing changed in his personal torture room. "Forget it, let's go." He nods his men over, and they all show excited or blank expressions as they walk in. "I think it's time you all have some fun too."

Stefan and Elena sharing a look, knowing what they likely means. Y/N is here. Even if they are possibly a little too late, they're here now, so if they try to kill him, the two can step in with their vervain. 

However, as they get closer, they notice a weird sound coming from the room, some kind of humming, it seems to have cut off the other voices of the Vampires inside, or maybe it's made them silent. He gives Elena a signal to stay back a few feet before he tip-toes over to a window that gives him a small view inside.

Taking his time so he doesn't get seen, he leans slowly....

and slowly.....

................

and slowly....

..................

and slowly....

Until....

*CRASH!*

A Vampire with a bloody face slam into the window, looking directly at Stefan who jumps a little bit before he sees the Tomb Vamp sliding down, allowing him to see his horrible scratches. 

Then, the ceiling light breaks and creates a strobe effect as Elena steps back in horror while Stefan watches the entire thing.

One Vampire ripped in half....

One thrown into the wall so hard, it busts his head open....

One is horribly crawling onto the floor with only lower torso removed, his blood scraping across the ground.

Males and Females crying and begging....

One's back slammed against the wall, only for his stomach to be torn open and his insides to pour out like messy spaghetti noodles....

One's head twisted around and ripped right off....

One's face is impaled by sharp claws that go into his eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and cheeks.... out the back.... before the head is ripped off.

One's heart is ripped one from his/her chest within seconds....

The one that is crawling is then grabbed by the monster who digs its hand into his back, pulling out his heart which he tosses away because it is undead.

Stefan looks at all the bodies, so bloody, so torn part, so gruesome, he's never seen Vampires killed like this before....

*Imagine the first forty seconds of this scene as reference, but with Supernatural elements. Warning, strobe lights.*

https://youtu.be/7NVpjqa_Uf0

It then makes eye contact with Stefan. It's gnarly teeth, it's glowing eyes which has no pupils, it's messed up head, it's naked but hard skin, it's fur on its shoulders and other places....

It's.... It's Y/N.... but something else.

And he roars deafeningly at them. With the roar Stefan heard in the woods that one time ago... Only it's even louder.

Abruptly Harper bursts out of the room. "RUN!" He screams at them before taking off without checking if they are behind them. Stefan and Elena don't need to be asked twice as they decide to just head out through the basement without a Y/N with them.

Frederick also jumps out of the room, tripping and getting himself up as he goes another direction. Fortunately for them, the transformed Y/N follows the Vampire at super-speed, hopping from wall to wall instead of walking or running.

They now realize how dark it is now as they find themselves outside, wondering if the basement really was that much of a maze to navigate through or if it's just their imagination. Guess that's not important, since with the lack of rain in sight, they can hear the screams, yells, and loud noises coming from inside the house, reminding them to keep moving. 

During which, however, Elena trips on a branch at the worst time possible, causing Stefan to turn back and help her up. Harper is now gone at this point, having gotten his speed back and took off to escape the scene. 

However, after she's back on her feet, Elena looks up and sees the horified look on Stefan's face, something she never expected her to see. "What-?"

"LOOK OUT!" Stefan abruptly shoves her out of the way before horrifying monster comes up from behind her and swipes his claws, slashing the Vampire's stomach instead. Elena, frozen, has no choice but to witness Stefan looking down to see his body not regenerating before he collapses onto the leaves and mud.

His paralyzed face is still able to share eye contact with Elena as his life seems to be fading fast. 

And at that moment, Elena is swiftly grabbed by her mouth and pulled behind a tree by James who appears in time to save her life at the very least. "Don't.... move" He whispers very, very quietly into her ear before she starts panicking. "Don't move a muscle...."

On the other side of the tree, the monster then begins searching, knowing that there was an actual piece of living meat somewhere a few moments ago. It's head then snaps towards their hiding spot.... catching something........

It then looms closer......

and closer.....

"HEY!" Until a loud shout from Fredrick brings it's attention over to the arrogant and stupid Vampire, distracting it from James and Elena. "You fucking fuck! YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD!" He yells with absolute fury before revealing Y/N's secret piece and shooting it at him multiple times until the clip is empty. 

However, the gun ends up being as useful as a broken condemn. The monster than roars at him before lunging and brutally swiping his head clean off just like how he did earlier in the torture room.

It then roars into the night before sprinting away, wondering where it's previous victims have gone. 

With that in mind, James lets go of Elena, allowing her to do what's expected and run over to the other Vampire's side. "Stefan? Stefan!" She calls out to him as she tries shaking him awake to no avail.

"Quiet!" James reminds her with a harsh whisper, not wanting to be insensitive, but also wanting to survive. "It's attracted by noise!" He reminds her before reaching out his wrist. "Here, we're gonna have to force him to betray his diet if he's going to survive. It's our best hope at this point." 

"No...." Stefan weakly utters out, his body finally moving. Despite the current situation, it brings Elena and admittedly James a little bit of glee that he's still breathing. "I can't..."

"Stefan, you'll die if you don't." Elena tells him with tears roaming down her face before looking at James pleadingly. "Please.... let me do it." 

"Are you sure?"

"No... " Stefan still raps out.

"Yes, I am." Elena says with a quick nod before putting her wrist into Stefan's mouth. "Stefan, you need more blood, just do it, please..." 

 "No, Elena... run... run..."

"No... I trust you..." Elena insists as they depend on him to bite the holes in that will feed him. She nods pleadingly, and Stefan, combined with his urges and survival instincts, gives in and bites into her veins. Although it hurts, the girl stays where she is, and James mentally helps her a little bit while also looking around for the sight of the monster. 

Right after, the hear the screeching of the monster again, only that it sounds much farther away this time. The monster has seemingly taken off for other food to eat, and hopefully it doesn't come back. 

A car then pulls up at the road next to them, and thanks to lady luck herself, it's Alaric that steps out. "Come on!" He encourages them, knowing that they might be losing time as they stay in the wood. James and Elena than carries Stefan with a now bloody mouth into the back of the vehicle before they take their respective seats "What happened to him?"

"It got him." James reports with a still calm tone that's surprising to Elena, given the situation. The mention of 'it' then sparks a very big question.

"What.... was that thing?" Elena emotionally asks James with a very terrified expression. The Bennet turns around to face her with a knowing look that's heard of the creature before, and knows all that it is capable of.

"That was...... the Wendigo." 

And last but not least, at the body of Frederick, another Vampire silently steps over and looks down at it. The Vampire that spoke to Harper when Fred and Bethanne rebelliously left the Gibbons home that one night. 

He looks down at the body of Frederick....

And gets thoughts of vengeance.

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(A/N) AT LAST! FINALLY! THE ACTUAL DEBUT OF THE MODERN WENDIGO!

You guys have no idea how much I've been waiting for this episode and that massacre scene, the horror sequence that follows, and everything after. (Except for the Stefan blood thing, that was a quick addition just to explain what causes him to need to drink Elena's blood this time)

So... yeah. Y/N L/N is now fully tapped into his Wendigo spirit, meaning that the rest of Season 1 and after is going to be a wild ride from here on out. He's going to be a slightly new character starting now, at least, that's how I see it.

Plz vote and comment, any counts as feedback, and I'll see you in the next one!