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CHAPTER NINE
save me
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( rose )

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Harper's POV.

*Abandoned Old House 300 Miles Away from Mystic Falls*

I feel someone carrying me.

Where am I?

It's not long before yesterday's events come flooding back into my brain. Oh God.

Horrified by my last memory, I start to flail my body around. However, whoever's carrying me has too firm of a hold. I soon realize that my arms and legs are bound together by ropes.

Oh God! I've been kidnapped.

I stop struggling once I realize it's futile. 

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" says the man carrying me.

The tone of his voice ignites something foreign within me. "Let me go! Let me go!" I begin to scream, flailing my body around with even more force than before.

At some point, he carries me into a new room with a couch and a bunch of old chandeliers, lamps, and strings of lights everywhere. He practically throws me down on the couch.

"If you're a good girl, I might untie you," he says as he sits down on the couch beside my feet.

Taking this into consideration, I calm myself down and remain still. Who knows if he was telling the truth or if he was just messing with me, but with not many options to choose from, I take his word for it because there's no way I'm gonna be able to make it out of here with my legs and hands tied together.

The man eyes me for a moment.

His physical features register in my brain. He's somewhat slim with long, messy brown hair.

He then starts untying my legs before moving on to my hands.

So he was telling the truth. Now what?

"I'm feeling a little hungry, you know?" the man says suddenly, and it makes my stomach turn.

Is this guy a vampire? Don't tell me he's a vampire!

He looks down at me hungrily. "Mind if I have a taste?" he asks. All of a sudden, his eyes turn red, dark veins protrude beneath his eyes, and he's leaning in towards my neck.

I immediately scramble back on the couch and let out a yelp.

"Trevor!" snaps a demanding female voice.

The man, who's name I now know is Trevor, freezes and looks back at the woman.

"Control yourself," the woman orders.

Trevor gets up off the couch. "Buzzkill," he says in disappointment before moving passed the woman and walking away, leaving me and her alone.

I'm able to get a good look at the woman now. She has dark brown hair that's cropped in a short bob.

She stares at me like I'm a ghost. "My God, you look just like her," she says.

I suddenly find my voice. "I'm not Mary," I say as I move into a sitting position on the couch. "I know I look like her, but I'm not. We're two different people."

"Be quiet!" the woman snaps at me.

I fall silent, and a cold chill runs down my spine. It's times like these that remind me why I barely talk in the first place.

"At least you know how to follow orders," she muses. "Now stay here and be quiet." The woman turns on her heel and leaves the room.

Once I'm sure I'm alone, I allow myself to relax a bit so that I can focus my thoughts better. That woman has to be a vampire too. She and Trevor are both vampires. But what do they want with me? Do they want to keep me as a human blood bag or something?

No . . . then why would that woman not let Trevor drink from me if they plan to use me as a blood bag? Unless . . . they're saving me for later . . .

I have to get out of here! Now!

My body wants to jump up and run, but I don't let it—not yet. They're vampires. It would be stupid to try and make a break for it now without putting any thought into it.

So I slowly stand to my feet and start quietly wandering around the room I'm in. When I get comfortable walking around at such a slow pace and get a feel for the type of floor I'll be walking on, I venture further out into the hallway.

I can hear Trevor and the woman talking somewhere up ahead. They sound closer to my position than I would like. But I've gotten so far already that there's really no turning back now.

"So you called him?" I hear Trevor ask.

"No, I called one of his contacts," the woman says back. "You know how this works."

Who are they talking about? There's more people involved in this? Oh great!

I slowly inch my way forward.

"Look, did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?" Trevor continues to interrogate.

"They say 'he got it,'" the woman says.

Suddenly, both Trevor and the woman appear in front of me in the hallway, making my heart catapult. They were closer to me than I had originally thought.

I'm frozen in shock staring at them.

"You!" the woman snaps angrily. She marches forward before glaring down at me. "I thought I told you to stay put," she says before pausing and then adding, "There's nothing around here for miles. If you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong. Understand?"

"Yes," I respond without hesitation.

"Good," she says.

I watch the woman and Trevor walk away down another hallway. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

This new information has just ruined everything. There's nothing around for miles. I can't escape. I'm stuck here with them for whatever reasons they need me for.

I wander back into the room with all the old lights when something white on the couch catches my eye.

I walk over and pick it up. It's a folded-up piece of paper. Curious, I unfold it and discover a secret message written on the inside.

Stefan and Damon are coming for you.

- B

A wave of relief washes over me, and a smile forms on my face.

This whole time I haven't let myself dwell on if anyone has been looking for me, because I honestly didn't think anyone was, or, at least, not yet. But this confirmation from Bonnie has answered that question. My friends have realized that I'm missing and are looking for me!

I just have to survive until they come. I just wish I knew how much time I have left and what this whole "Elijah guy" business is about.

Please, Stefan and Damon, hurry.

3rd Person POV.

*Bree's Bar*

Dressed for a night on the town and an expensive handbag over her shoulder, Ella Branson sashays towards the bar. She sets herself down in a seat beside a tall woman with long dark hair and cocoa brown skin—Lucy Bennet.

"I knew I'd find you here," Ella says smugly.

With a glass still in her hand, Lucy turns to look at the blond bombshell. "What do you want?"

"You know . . ." Ella trails off, "a witch used to run this place." She glances around at their surroundings. "But just like my sister, Damon snuffed her out."

"I know about what happened to Bree. Your point?"

Ella leans forward and says quietly, "Unless you wanna die like Bree, I suggest you do what I say."

"You think that after what you did to me at the ball, that I'd be willing to help you?" Lucy scoffs, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, honey, but you are greatly mistaken."

"Not convincing enough for you?" Ella says sweetly. "What if I were to take things up a notch and threaten your sweet little cousin Bonnie?"

Lucy's face darkens. "You stay away from Bonnie."

"Oh, but it would be so easy." Ella digs out her cellphone from her handbag and holds it up for Lucy to see. "All I would have to do is call Mary, and—"

"You wouldn't dare." Slight fear enters Lucy's eyes.

"Oh, I would dare," Ella assures.

Lucy draws back. After a moment, her expression changes to one of cool calm. "How about we take this outside?" she suggests.

Ella smiles, pleased. "Alright."

Once the two leave the bar, Lucy wastes no time and performs an aneurysm spell on Ella in the parking lot.

The blond vampire clutches her head in pain as the blood vessels in her head pop over and over again. She falls to her knees. However, just like how she got used to the pain of her fangs coming out of her gums, she adjusts to the pain in her head rather quickly and learns to ignore it.

But before Lucy can do anything more to her, Ella rushes to her feet and rips Lucy's heart out.

The Bennett witch's eyes widen in horror as she falls limp to the ground, her dead body thumping against the asphalt.

Ella continues to hold Lucy's bloody heart in her hand. "Well, I guess I'll just have to find another way to get Kat out of the tomb." She looks down at Lucy's dead body. "So long, Luce. You could have been one of us. Too bad you were a liability." She loosens her hold on Lucy's heart to let it roll out of her hand. It lands on the ground with a noisy plop.

After stepping over Lucy's body, Ella struts away.

Harper's POV.

*Abandoned Old House 300 Miles Away from Mystic Falls*

The longer I sit on the couch, the more nervous I become. Stefan and Damon are still not here, and I don't know how much time I have left. And then, even if Stefan and Damon do manage to make it here on time, will they even be able to overtake that woman and Trevor?

I could be doomed for all I know.

The bobbed-haired woman enters the room. I suck in a breath. Ever since she yelled at me to be quiet, I've been too scared to move even a muscle around her.

I watch her as she picks up a pair of old shoes off the floor and places them into a travel bag.

I hope this doesn't mean we're leaving soon.

All of a sudden, Trevor rushes into the room. "He's here," he announces hastily. He marches up to the woman. "This was a mistake."

No! I'm not ready yet!

The woman tries to calm him down. "No, I told you I would get us out of this. You have to trust me," she urges.

"No!" Trevor yells back. "He wants me dead! Rose!"

Rose? So that's her name.

Trevor starts pacing back and forth frantically.

"He wants her more," Rose insists, pointing towards me.

They must be talking about Elijah.

"I can't do this!" Trevor cries."You give her to him! He'll have mercy on you but I need to get out of here!"

Rose slowly approaches Trevor and grabs his hands. "Hey!" she gets his attention, "what are we?"

Trevor tries to calm himself down by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "We're family . . . forever," he finally replies.

He and Rose exchange a few nods of reassurement when three imposing knocks sound at the door of the house.

My heart skips a beat. Elijah. 

With Trevors' hands still in hers, Rose looks back at me on the couch before returning her gaze to Trevor. "Take her to the balcony room and don't make a sound," she commands. After that, she lets Trevor go and hurries towards the front of the house.

Trevor strides towards me on the couch. "Your stay with us is coming to an end," he says. "Time to go." In a flash, he lifts me up and vampire-speeds the two of us into another room.

He lets me down so fast that I wobble a bit before stabilizing myself. The room we're in now is a lot like the other one, just larger with two stair cases leading up to a balcony, hence the name "balcony room" as Rose had called it.

Not knowing what to do with myself, I cross my arms and shuffle my feet nervously. I have no idea what's about to happen.

I hear footsteps from the balcony and turn to see Rose and another man enter the room. This must be Elijah. He's wearing a suit and also has short brown hair and a noticeably strong jawline. He's staring down at me with hard eyes.

I inhale a sharp breath, and, in two seconds, the man is in front of me. My heart starts pounding hard.

He takes a step closer to me, and I don't know what to do. He begins to lean in close to my neck.

His breath brushes against my skin, and I'm sure he's about to sink his teeth into my neck. My chest rises and falls with every desperate breath of air, possibly the last breaths of air I'll ever take on this earth.

Unexpectedly, Elijah pulls away, and a feeling of relief washes over me.

He stares straight ahead, as if in contemplative thought. "Human," he breathes out. "It's impossible." He looks down at me again. "Hello there."

Beneath his gaze, I feel helpless.

He takes a step back away from me. "Well, we have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going."

I look desperately behind Elijah at Rose and Trevor, hoping that they have more to say to stall for time. I didn't think he would come to take me away this fast.

"One last piece of business," Elijah announces. "Then we're done." He turns away from me and approaches Trevor who has his head down.

His focus turning away from me gives me some sense of relief. I have more time now. Stefan and Damon, where are you?!

Trevor looks up at Elijah. "I've waited so long for this day, Elijah."

The said man starts circling Trevor.

Trevor looks down again. "Truly, very sorry," he adds.

Elijah stops circling him. "Oh no, your apology is not necessary," he assures.

"Yes, yes, it is," Trevor insists. "You trusted me with Katerina . . . and I failed you."

Wait, why are they talking about Katherine?

Elijah begins circling Trevor again. "Well, yes, you are the guilty one and Rose aided you because she was loyal to you. That I honor." He stops in front of Trevor and looks him in the eyes. "Where was your loyalty?"

Fear enters Trevor's eyes. "I beg your forgiveness."

"So granted," Elijah says.

The corners of Trevor's lips slowly pull up into a smile when Elijah raises his arm. He hits Trevor's throat hard enough to send his head flying off his body.

The air leaves my lungs, and I can't think straight. My head is spinning with horror and fear as my hands clamber around my head for some sense of security. This is a nightmare.

I can vaguely hear Rose wailing up on the staircase.

Elijah's leather shoes come forward into my line of sight. "Come," he says.

I immediately draw back. "No! No! No!" I begin to wail, unable to stop the tears from flowing. Please, anyone, save me!

"We're wasting time. Come, now," he orders.

"Leave me alone!" I scream.

"What is this doing around your neck?" He reaches forward, grabs my vervain necklace, and rips it off. I watch him toss the necklace to the floor.

I almost forgot I was wearing it, and now I feel even more vulnerable than before.

He can compel me now.

Unexpectedly, Elijah pulls away and takes a step back. He seems to be distracted by something above us. "What is that?" he demands.

"I don't know," Rose responds from the staircase.

Elijah looks back at Rose. "Who else is in this house?"

"I don't know," Rose repeats more firmly.

Without warning, Elijah grips my arm roughly and begins to tug me along. "Move!" he orders Rose, and the three of us make our way up the stairs and to the front of the house.

All of a sudden, something moves quickly from behind us, which makes me jump a little.

There is someone else here, and they're a vampire. Stefan or Damon?

Roughly, Elijah pushes me into Rose who prevents me from falling. That's when another blurred figure speeds past us.

"Rose?" Elijah inquires seriously.

"I don't know who it is," Rose says.

The blurred figure goes by again, but is this time followed by a voice. "Up here."

I immediately look up the stairs. I know that voice. It's Stefan's. I swear.

Elijah follows the voice and speeds halfway up the stairs.

"Down here," taunts another voice.

Now I'm sure that's Damon's voice.

I feel a rush of wind from behind, and the next thing I know, my back is up against a wall and a finger is pressed to my lips. My gaze flicks up, and my eyes meet those of Stefan. My body immediately relaxes. But I know this is not over yet.

"Excuse me," Elijah calls out, his voice amplifying off the walls. "To whom it may concern, you're making a grave mistake if you think that you can beat me. You can't. Do you hear that? I repeat." The sound of something getting broken comes from below us. "You cannot beat me. So I want the girl, on the count of three or heads will roll." A cracking sound. "Do we understand each other?"

Stefan brings his face extremely close to mine, so close his breath fans my face. "I need you to distract him for me," he whispers.

I immediately start shaking my head. Oh God! I don't want to do that.

"Okay," Stefan whispers back in understanding, which I'm grateful for.

Then the reality of our situation sinks in. There's no way we're gonna get out of here. Elijah isn't just going to let us go. He has to be taken care of. I can't just sit back and do nothing and be a liability. I have to do something. God help me.

"Stefan," I whisper weakly. "I'll do it."

He mouths back, "Are you sure?"

I nod with serious eyes.

After Stefan hands me one of Alaric's vervain grenades, I tentatively walk out to the top of the staircase. I look down at almost the same time Elijah turns around and looks up at me. He has a pointed stick in his hand which would explain the cracking sounds from earlier.

I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out but a shaky breath of air. I just stand there staring at him like a deer in headlights.

He zooms forward halfway up the stairs, making me flinch. "What game are you playing with me?" he asks condescendingly.

"I—I'm not playing any games. I'm just—"

Frick it.

As fast as humanly possible, I activate the grenade and throw it down at Elijah. It explodes in his face and burns his skin.

I hold my arms out over my face to protect myself from the flying pieces of glass. A few small pieces scrape against my arms before falling to the floor, but, luckily, I don't feel any blood drawn.

I look back down at Elijah, and, to my horror, he's barely immobilized. He yells ferociously before getting back on his feet. The burns on his face heal almost immediately.

With a threatening look in his eyes, he continues his ascent up the stairs.

My eyes widen, and I stumble back. I loose my footing and fall harshly on my butt. Ignoring the pain, I scramble backwards on all fours until my back meets the wall.

Just when I think it's all over, a small stake embeds itself into Elijah. Stefan comes out of his hiding spot and fires more stakes into him. However, Elijah takes every hit as if it's nothing.

Realizing that the stakes aren't working, Stefan tosses the stake gun away and instead tackles Elijah around the waist. They go tumbling down the stairs and out of my sight.

Not wanting to get in their way, I wait a moment or two before crawling forward so that I can look out at what's going on downstairs. I see Damon standing in front of what appears to be Elijah's dead body impaled to the front door.

Feeling more at ease, I slowly stand to my feet.

Probably having heard me, Damon turns around and gazes up.

I notice Stefan closer to the base of the stairs, and something comes over me. I rush down the steps as fast as my legs will allow and practically tackle Stefan in a hug like my life depends on it. But, of course, being a vampire, my small body barely moves him at all.

His hand strokes my back soothingly. "Hey, are you hurt? Are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm fine," I say in a small voice.

I know I owe Damon my thanks for saving me as well, but I still haven't forgiven him for almost killing my dad. This doesn't change things—not yet.

On the ride back to Mystic Falls in Damon's car, I spend most of my time in silence gazing out the window. Let's just say, I'm pretty shaken up. Apparently, Mary had pretended to be me while I was gone, and, on top of that, I'm still traumatizing over my surreal kidnapping experience.

Things could have very easily gone a different way.

"Do you want us to pick you up some food?" Stefan asks from beside me in the back seat, taking me out of my thoughts.

"No, thank you," I respond weakly. Food is the last thing on my mind right now.

A moment or two passes before I feel a poke in my side. I flinch away immediately.

Broken out of my deep thought, I turn to look at Stefan in confusion.

He has a grin on his face as one of his hands inch towards me again.

My eyes widen as I realize where this is going. "No!" I squeal, backing up against the side of the car to avoid him.

Stefan's green eyes dance with mischief. "I'm just trying to make you smile," he says innocently before reaching out both hands.

Helpless because we're in a car and Stefan has his vampire strength, he tickles me in the sides which makes me burst into laughter. I struggle against him to no avail as I laugh my head off.

"Don't tire the poor girl out," Damon says from in front of us in the driver's seat. However, Stefan doesn't listen, of course, and continues his tickle attack on my sides for a few more minutes.

I laugh the entire time, more than I ever had in a long while.

*Later That Night at Harper's House*

As I brush my teeth in front of my bathroom mirror, my nerves are on high alert. Every other second, my eyes scan what's behind me through the mirror, unable to trust what could be lurking in the small room.

What if Rose returns to get me? Or Mary pays me a visit now that she's likely been invited into my house while she was pretending to be me during my absence? How safe is my house now, really?

Still scanning my surroundings through the bathroom mirror while I brush my teeth, the silhouette of a person appears in the corner of my left eye.

I whip around in a defensive stance, my toothbrush gripped in my hand like a weapon. However, no one's there. My eyes had simply played a trick on me by forming the shape of a human body with the clock on the wall as the head and the decorative table beneath it as the body.

With a sigh, I turn back around and grab my spitting-cup. I take a sip of water from it and spit it back out.

I'm going to have to dig out the old night light tonight or just leave my bedside lamp on because there's no way I'm getting any sleep tonight if my room is pitch black.

After drying my mouth, I walk out into the hallway and into my room. I almost have a heart attack when I see Damon sitting inside on the windowsill.

We've been here before . . . History will NOT be repeating itself.

"Cute pj's," he muses, smiling.

Fazed, I find myself looking down at what I'm wearing for him to start with that: a blue short-sleeved button-down shirt with matching shorts. Nothing too special. I really need to stop letting his comments get to me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask. He knows he shouldn't be here.

Damon stands and approaches me slowly. It takes everything inside of me not to back away.

He lifts his arm, revealing a dangling necklace in his hand. "I brought you this."

I take a better look at the necklace and realize it's my vervain necklace. "My necklace," I breathe out, completely having forgotten that Elijah had thrown it away.

"I found it on the floor adorning some dust bunnies," he says, amusement lacing his tone.

"Thank you," I say before reaching out for the necklace.

He hands it to me.

After the initial thrill of having my necklace back, I realize Damon hasn't left yet. "Thank you," I repeat, hoping he'll read between the lines and take the hint that it's time for him to leave.

However, Damon remains standing in front of me, his soft eyes bearing into mine. "I have something to tell you," he says.

My gut twists. "What is it?"

"I know you hate me and I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness." He comes even closer, stopping a hand's breadth away. "But I love you, Harper, and I need you to know that."

My heart stops beating.

"What I did to you was terrible and you don't have to forgive me. But I needed to tell you—at least once."

I'm not sure I'm breathing anymore, and before I even know what's happening, Damon kisses me on the forehead. He backs away slowly, studying me for a few heartbeats. "If you want to forget this day ever happened, you can. It's up to you." He turns, about to leave.

All of a sudden, it feels like the world is slipping out from under my feet, like sand washing away from the shore. And if I don't move fast—

"Wait."

He stops in his tracks, turning back around to face me. A mixture of hope and concern fills his eyes.

My breath shudders before I say, "I forgive you."

And it was as if the whole world had just lifted from his shoulders. Damon's eyes shine the brightest I have ever seen them.

I move forward to hug him, having to rise on my tiptoes to fully wrap my arms around him. "Thank you for saving me," I say since I still owed him a thank you for saving me from Elijah.

"You're welcome," he murmurs back.

We let go of each other, and that's when it sinks in that there's still a lot left to be said—mostly from my side. I shift uncomfortably on my feet. "Look. Things can't exactly be like they were before," I begin. He knows what I'm talking about. "But I'm good with us just being friends," I say hopefully.

Damon swallows. "If that's what you want, then . . . alright."

He doesn't sound mad, but he doesn't sound all that happy either.

"I hope you're okay with that," I say.

He nods. "I understand." He takes a step back towards my window. "Good night, Harper."

"Wait," I say again.

His eyes flicker to attention.

"I don't wanna be alone tonight. Could you maybe stay?"

Damon doesn't hesitate to answer. "Sure," he says with a smile.

I walk over to my bed, and after setting my vervain necklace down on the bedside table, I slide in under the sheets. That's when I realize the lights are still on. Stupid me was so distracted by Damon's presence I forgot to turn them off.

However, faster than my eyes can keep up, Damon wooshes around my room. First, he turns off the lights. Then, he hops into bed with me as I feel the bed dip beneath his weight.

In the darkness of my room, he reaches for me and pulls me against his chest. The warmth of his body surrounds mine, lulling me to sleep. "Thank you for staying with me," I say softly into the night.

"Of course," he whispers back.

Maybe I will be able to sleep peacefully after all.

The last thing I remember before falling asleep is Damon pressing a kiss into my hair.

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( word count: 4.8k )