❝a busy day❞

"WHAT'S GOING ON?"

"Well, I showered. I shaved. Had breakfast. Very relaxed." Damon smirks at his reflection in the mirror as he talks to Stefan.

"Well that makes one of us."

Damon rolls his eyes at his brother's commentary. "Tyler Lockwood ran away from home last night."

Stefan frowns. "How do you know?"

The raven haired vampire frowns at Rose as he walks into the kitchen, seeing her standing before the stove with a bowl of batter next to her. She waves him off and he sits at the counter before her, ignoring her disdain. "Well, I heard it from Sheriff Forbes, who heard it from a very distraught Carol Lockwood. Thus, ending our werewolf chapter, bringing us to,"

"Killing Elijah."

Damon shared a wince with Rose, who flipped a neatly browned pancake on the stove. "Exactly."

"Well, it's not going to be easy. He's crafty."

Damon huffs a silent laugh at his brother's ire. "I've got the dagger,"

"He's an Original. We don't know what all that encompasses."

Rose pushes a plate of pancakes towards him, covered in butter and syrup. Damon looks at her confusedly and she makes an over-exaggerated gesture of taking a bite, making him roll his eyes at her. "Don't worry, Stefan. I'm gonna dot all my T's. Don't want any surprises."

"Wow, Damon. Tell me you're actually gonna be careful for once."

"Yes, Stefan," He sighs. "It's like I've become you. Newsflash, it's horrible." He doesn't wait for a response as he stuffs a bite of pancake in his mouth. "Gotta run. I've got a murder to plan– busy day."

He hangs up the phone and chews the pancake in his mouth, groaning at the wonderful taste. "These are amazing!" He points his fork at Rose. "How did you have time to learn how to make pancakes when you were on the run?"

Rose rolls her eyes at him. "I was a human once, too, you know that, right?"

Damon shrugs her off, looking around. "Where's Elijah?"

She flips another pancake, and grabs a plate for herself. "He left early. Something to do with Jenna, if I recall."

Damon perks up, his face lighting up with a devious smirk. "Where there's Jenna, there's Alaric."

Rose furrows her eyebrows at him. "What's that got to do with us?"

He stands up, pushing away his plate. "It means I've got to go meet Ric, because if I know him at all, he's done something to make an ass out of himself. I'll be back later, Rose, don't worry."

He walks towards the door, and grabs his jacket, pausing to look back over his shoulder. "And don't die, okay?"

"Okay," She watches him go confusedly, shutting the door tight behind him. She frowns as she looks at his half-eaten breakfast. "Terribly rude of him to leave without finishing."

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"Other than your lecture on the history of Mystic Falls, did you get anything out of Elijah?" Damon takes a sip of his drink, eyeing Alaric who's sat across from him in a booth at the Grill.

"No, it was boring," He smiles wryly, the bitterness seeping into his face with the action. "Of course, Jenna thinks he's charming."

Damon huffs a laugh at the irony. "You sound a bit jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Alaric frowns at his friend, wiping a hand down his face. Damon smirks at his denial, and his eyes shoot up to the door as two familiar faces walk in and he briefly falters before plastering a smug look on his face again.

"Oh, look, there's Jenna and her new boyfriend."

Ric turns around and frowns at the sight of Jenna laughing with Elijah, and gives Damon a glare when the vampire waves them over to their booth.

"Hi,"

Jenna walks over with a grin. "Hey, guys."

"So I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today."

Jenna shrugs, glancing at Elijah. "Yeah, I guess you could say that,"

Alaric shifts, smiling uncomfortably. "Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I've got papers to grade."

Damon taps the table a few times as Alaric gets up, glancing to Elijah who is smiling smugly at Alaric's discomfort. "No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have dinner tonight, my place."

Alaric glares at Damon. "I don't know if tonight works–"

"I'm free tonight," Jenna interrupts him, glaring defiantly at Alaric before she looks back at Elijah.

Elijah shrugs. "It'd be a pleasure,"

Damon grins and gives Alaric a quick wink. "Great."

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Damon pushed the blood-filled bottle underneath Katherine's nose, his face set in an irritated frown. Katherine comes to in a few seconds, ripping the bottle from him and gulping down the blood desperately.

"I come bearing gifts," He leaves the blood with her and stands upright again, walking over to the brown bag he'd brought into the tomb with him. "I didn't have time to properly shop, but I did get a couple things."

He pulls the clothes out and gestures to them, hanging them on a part of the iron fence that weaves through the tomb. When he turns back around, he smirks at the sight of her more lively state. "Wow, that blood really did the trick. You're almost pretty again."

Katherine glares at him. "What is it you want, Damon?"

"Guess who's back in town?"

She gives him a hesitant look, almost fearful to get the answer. Damon smirks at the weak woman sitting before him, finding pride in the way she cowers because of his unexpected power over her. "Your old friend, John Gilbert."

Her fear dissipates slightly. "Really? Why?"

"Says he loves his daughter. Wants to protect her from Elijah and big, bad Klaus."

Katherine smirks sarcastically as she heaves herself up from the ground using the stones in the walls to lean on for support. "Touching,"

"I know, right?" Damon smirks at her struggle, making no move to help. "He just so happened to tell me this old wives tale about how to kill an Original."

"And you want to know if it's true," Katherine rolls her eyes, though her tone is slightly smug. "If it was, I wouldn't tell you."

"Now, why not?" He watches her walk over to where he's hung up the clothes for her to change into. "I mean, you want Klaus and Elijah dead as much as the rest of these people."

"Klaus, yes. Elijah, no. He's compelled me to stay in here. If he dies, I'm stuck forever."

Damon fakes a wince. "Sucks for you,"

"Why do you want to know if it's true anyways? Don't you know everything about your Original buddies, including how to kill them?"

"Not necessarily,"

Katherine sighs, shaking her head at him. "Killing Elijah would be a suicide mission. Forget it, Damon. You can't do it."

"Can so,"

"Can't,"

Damon folds his arms over his chest. "Even with a dagger and a little white oak ash?"

Katherine stiffens at his mention of the dagger and the ashes as Damon feels his satisfaction begin to flood him at the checkmate he's just achieved. Katherine slowly turns around to face him, her fear back in full force. "Damon, if you kill Elijah, then I'm stuck in here forever."

"You're really scared," He feigns a frown, though his curiosity is obvious.

She shakes him off, desperation clear in her tone. "Just get me out of here first and then I'll help you. I'll– I'll help you kill Elijah, or protect Elena. Whatever you want."

"I get you out of here and your ass is sipping Klaus-free margaritas on some unknown island somewhere. Not happening."

Katherine shakes her head furiously. "That's not true. I'll stay," Her voice cracks ever so slightly and she curses herself for being so weak. "Damon, just please don't do it."

"Well, thank you. You've told me everything I need to know."

"I've told you nothing,"

"You have. You've told me you know how to kill an Original, which means your free ticket out of here has officially expired." He sighs wistfully, but his unabashed vindication gives away any facade he might've tried to put up. "You know, Elijah was set on you not knowing anything. If you were clueless, you wouldn't be a threat, but now, well– sorry, Kitty Kat."

"Damon, what are you saying?"

He heaves a sigh, taking a few steps away from the doppelgänger. "You see, John Gilbert is the one who gave me the dagger and the white oak ash in the first place. If he knows how to kill an Original, he's got to go. But you?"

He scoffs, gesturing at her carelessly. "You can just stay in here for the rest of your life and slowly rot, wondering how someone like me got the drop on someone like you,"

"If you kill John, Elena will never forgive you. You'll turn Stefan against you!"

"You're under the impression I care about either of those things," He shakes his head. "You're wrong. Have a nice life, Katherine."

He turns and leaves, a gust of air the only thing in his wake as Katherine slides back down to the ground, trying to figure out how the hell she was going to get out of this situation.

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author's note; poor katherine,, i actually love her in the show but she's the bad guy in this book 🥴 or one of them at least

edited and published; 3.31.22.

- liz