04. "An Eternity Of Misery"

"Did you sleep here?" Alaric asked, entering the armory and seeing Aria laying on the couch.

"Maybe" a sheepish Aria admitted, sitting up and stretching.

"Here, you look like you need it" Alaric said, handing Aria a cup of coffee.

"Thank you, you're a life saver" Aria said, taking a sip of the coffee.

"Where's Kol?" a curious Alaric asked.

"Gone to check on the triplets" Aria informed, "But he'll be back for his and mine little date with the siren".

"Oh, hey" Georgie greeted, entering the armory with some coffee and breakfast.

"Uh, I thought I told you not to come in today" a confused Alaric said, wondering what Georgie was doing here.

"Well, I heard there was a coffee shortage and came running" Georgie said.

"Well, actually, we're in the middle of a major project" Alaric said, "So why don't you take the day off".

"Major project? Sounds sketchy" Georgie commented, "Got a girl tied up in the basement?", immediately Aria and Alaric exchanged panicked looks both wondering if Georgie knew something she shouldn't, "Jokes" Georgie said, seeing the panicked looks on both Aria and Alaric's faces, "Okay, I'll leave you to it".

Once Georgie walked away, Alaric let out a sigh, "I can only deal with one temptress at a time" he told Aria.

"If it's any consolation, that temptress is pretty cute" Aria teased.

"Moving on" Alaric quickly said, making Aria chuckle, "Any word from Damon?".

This time Aria let out a frustrated sigh, "Nope, just dead silence, and that worries me immensely".

***

Damon pulled up to a repair shop, getting out of his car he made his way over to the one mechanic present, "Hey!" he called, but the mechanic didn't listen, "Hey! Earth to Planet Redneck", Damon tapped the mechanic's helmet, finally gaining his attention, "Are you Peter Maxwell?".

"No, Pete owns the place, I'm just the hired help, name's Lou, what can I do for you?".

Damon stared at Lou's outstretched hand, "I really need to talk to Pete".

"Well, have it your way" Lou said, "He should be back in a bit, hey, what exactly brings you out here?".

"You know, it's hard to say" Damon replied, "To be honest, I'm not even the one that cares about finding your boss, there is a woman--and I use that term loosely--named Sybil, who wants to, so, inexplicably, here I am".

"Sounds like that gal's screwing with your head" Lou said.

"Oh, you have no idea" Damon mumbled, turning his back to Lou.

"You'd be surprised, I've been married five times" Lou said.

Damon turned to Lou, "Oh, I take that back" he said, "You do get me Lou, see, the catch is, Sybil and I had a thing, but it's done, in theory, I'm a free man, but I still find myself doing whatever it is I think she'd want me to be doing and if all that wasn't enough, there this other girl, her name is Aria, she's someone I didn't even know I knew but for some reason I can't stop thinking about her, hell between me and you, if Aria or Sybil asked me, I'd probably kill for both of them, only difference is for Aria it will be willingly, but for Sybil it won't be my choice".

Lou looked at Damon with a little bit of uncertainty in his eyes, "Pete'll be back soon, I should get back to work" he said, no longer wanting to talk to Damon, he turned to leave but Damon used his vampire speed to come infront of him.

"No, you should do everything I say" Damon compelled, "Just answer one more question for me, what's the worst thing you've ever done?".

"I murdered one of those wives I told you about" a compelled Lou admitted, "Made it look like an accident".

"Don't move" Damon ordered, walking into the garage, "Oh, damn, I was rooting for you Lou", Damon grabbed a petrol tank, "I really was", Damon started pouring the petrol over Lou, who just stood there extremely terrified, "Now, like you said, get back to work".

Lou grabbed the fire sparker he was working with and as soon as he created sparks, he was set on fire, while he was screaming in pain, Damon walked further into the repair shop.

***

Once Kol had come back, Alaric left the armory and both Aria and Kol walked downstairs to talk to Sybil.

As they stood infront of the cell Sybil was trapped in, Kol banged the tuning fork against the glass window, immediately causing Sybil to hold her head in pain.

"It's pathetic really, that the all powerful siren like you got captured by a fork" an amused Kol taunted.

"What is it about this fork that causes you so much pain?" a curious Aria asked.

"It's not only me it hurts Aria, ever try using it on your kids?" Sybil taunted.

"What?" a confused Aria asked, wondering what her kids had to do with this.

"And here I thought you two had me all figured out" Sybil taunted, "Guess not".

Aria grabbed the fork from Kol's hand and banged it on the wall, "If this fork stops your psychic abilities, why the hell is Damon still your little puppet?".

"I tinkered with the deepest reaches of his subconscious" Sybil replied, "If Damon's still serving me, it's because deep down he wants to".

"Because he thinks your the love of his life" Kol realised, "You replaced Ri's memories with yours, so Damon obviously wants to serve you because he thinks he's in love with you".

"Bingo" Sybil said.

"Why Damon?" a confused Aria asked, "Why choose him for you little side quests?".

"It's all Damon, Damon, Damon" Sybil said, standing up from the bed, "Aren't you even a little curious about who I am?".

"Not really" Kol admitted, "All we care about is saving Damon from your clutches".

"So why don't you tell us how to bring Damon back and we will all go our merry way, huh?" Aria said.

"Well, fortunately, the answer to your question is a story, about me" Sybil said, "You like stories, don't you, Aria?".

"Not from my enemies" Aria stated.

"Trust me, you'll love this one" Sybil said, "A long time ago, in a little Mediterranean village there was a girl, as she came of age the village girl began to manifest psychic abilities, a trait that had been forbidden in her land for as long as anyone could remember, the fate of psychics was exile, which is how our poor, innocent, forsaken village girl ended up on a raft, the current carrying her into the rocks of a cold and distant shore, but abandoned though she was meant to be, alone she was not, there she met the girl of the island, exiled together, connected in psychic ability, two sisters in everything but blood, destined from that moment to one day become, the sirens", Sybil sat back on the bed and looked at Aria and Kol, "My sister will do anything for me, the same way you Aria will do anything for Caroline, and you Kol for your siblings.

"Wait, did you just say will do?" a shocked Aria asked, "As in present tense? As in she's somewhere out there right now?".

"Oh, did I forget to mention there are two of us?" Sybil mocked, "Me in here, and her out there".

Kol grabbed the fork from Aria's hand and banged it on the wall.

"Ugh!" Sybil groaned in pain, "Would you please stop doing that? It is complete overkill".

"What the bloody hell do you mean by two sirens?" Kol asked.

"I thought you were the original who had the most knowledge about the mythical creatures" Sybil taunted, "Every single mythological interpretation of who I am mentions sirens, plural".

"Those same bloody myths say waist down you should be a freaking bird" Kol snapped.

Sybil let out a laugh, "Well, luckily for us all, you can't believe everything that you read".

"Enough small talk" Aria snapped, "Who is your sister and where is she?".

"Patience, Aria" Sybil teased, "I promise you'll find out soon enough".

***

Peter Maxwell jumped out of his car and immediately his eyes landed on a burning Lou, he quickly ran into his shop to grab the fire extinguisher, but his way was blocked by Damon

"You must be Peter Maxwell" Damon said.

"Who the hell are you?" a confused Peter asked.

"Damon Salvatore AKA", Peter tried to rush past Damon but Damon shoved him back, "The guy that barbecued your little grease monkey over there", once again Peter tried to rush to Lou but once again Damon shoved him back, "No offense Pete, but I don't think that extinguisher's gonna work, Lou's got a date for an eternal burn", a shocked Peter placed the extinguisher on the ground and pulled out his phone, "Uh, before you make that phone call, I want you to ask yourself one question, if I just murdered your faithful manservant in cold blood, why would I have any problem murdering you?", Peter took deep breaths trying to calm himself down, "Good boy" Damon said, snatching Peter's phone, "But that was a trick question Pete, I can't actually kill you, yet".

"Well, that's comforting, I guess" Peter taunted.

"You ever meet a girl named Sybil?" Damon asked, "About yay high, hot as hell, face rots off when she doesn't feed on human flesh?".

"You're insane" Peter stated.

"I'm gonna take that as a no, Pete" Damon said, "Then again, you could be lying to me", Damon shoved Peter to the wall and started compelling him, "Now tell me the truth, do you have any idea what I'm talking about?".

"No" Peter replied, "Everything you're saying sounds crazy".

"Damn it" Damon said, putting his hand on Peter's shoulder and walking with him, "I'm gonna make this as simple as I can, you have something Sybil wants, I'm gonna deliver it".

"You can take whatever it is and just go" Peter pleaded.

Damon sighed, "That's not an option Pete" he said, "I don't exactly know what I'm looking for".

"Then how are you supposed to find it?" a confused Peter asked.

"We Pete, we" Damon corrected, "Here's the deal, all I consciously know is that it's a Maxwell family heirloom, but subconsciously, I'm pretty damn sure I'll know it when I see it, okay? So where should we start looking?".

"I-I have no idea" Peter admitted, "Look, the only family I have is my son".

"I need you to think real hard, cause your life depends on it" Damon insisted.

"A couple years ago my grandmother died, all right?" Peter said, "She left me a box of stuff".

"Sounds promising" Damon said, "What kind of stuff we talking about?".

"I don't know, I never opened it" Peter informed, "Family's a bit of a sore spot with me".

"Trust me, I know the feeling, man" Damon said, "Where's this box, Pete?".

"It's somewhere in the storage room" Peter replied, "My son was looking for it a while back, maybe he found it, all right?".

"Oh, good" Damon said, "Call Junior, get him over here, now".

***

Kol took his phone out of his pocket, "Damn it, it's Seline" he informed Aria, "You got this?".

"I've got this" Aria assured, "You go make sure the triplets are okay".

"Seline" Sybil asked, after Kol had walked away, "Suspicious name, very siren-y".

"Can we just go back to you and your sister?" a frustrated Aria asked.

"I think I'll just wait for Kol to get back" Sybil said, grabbing the chair from the corner and placing in the middle of the room.

Aria banged the fork on the wall, causing Sybil to hiss in pain.

"Stop stalling, Sybil" Aria snapped, "Who is your sister?".

"You think hurting me is gonna speed this up?" an angry Sybil asked.

"I honestly don't care" Aria said, "I'm enjoying seeing you in pain, it brings me immense pleasure", Sybil glared at Aria, "Start talking" Aria snapped.

Sybil sighed, "Now, despite enjoying each other's company, the girls had another constant companion, hunger, the one who had survived on the island this long had a plan, to use our voice to get the ship to see us, which worked and for a second the innocent village girl thought they would be saved, but the girl on the island knew better, she had done this before, called out to passing sailors with her mind, but no matter how keen her psychic reach, the shoals around the island were sharper".

"So what, you beached the ship?" a confused Aria asked.

"Try annihilated" Sybil clarified, "Dashed upon the rocks, dooming its sailors to death, but, silver lining, their sweet, sweet, provisions would soon wash up on shore".

***

"So, uh, what do you think?" Peter asked, showing Damon an ornament.

"I think it's a hood ornament Pete" Damon replied, "Vintage Rolls-Royce", Damon threw the ornament to the floor, "I also think that you're in danger of losing a real life".

"I'm doing what you asked" a frustrated Peter said, walking away from Damon.

"Oh are you? I compelled you to find what I needed" Damon reminded, "You keep bringing me a bunch of junk", Damon's eyes landed on the watch on Peter's hand, "Where'd you get that watch?".

"My son gave it to me, what difference does it make?" a confused Peter asked, "Considering that it's a family heirloom, quite a bit, hand it over".

Peter sighed, but nonetheless took the watch off his wrist and threw it to Damon, who caught it but the immediately dropped it to the ground when the watch ended up burning him.

"You're on vervain" Damon realised.

"I don't know what you're taking about" an extremely confused Peter said.

"You lied to me Peter" Damon said, grabbing a tool that was near him, "And you know what happens to liars", Damon speeded over and stabbed Peter in the stomach, "They go straight to hell", suddenly someone shot Damon in the stomach with a wooden bullet, turning around Damon was shocked to see Matt, "Donovan?", Matt shot Damon in the head causing him to fall to the ground unconscious.

"Dad!" Matt yelled, rushing over to Peter.

***

"Look Sybil, none of us had anything to do with the armory keeping you captive, you have no reason to be our enemy" Aria said, trying to reason with Sybil, "The reason I hate you so much, is because you took away the man I love with everything I have, so just let Damon go and we never have to see each other again".

"God, you sound just like her, the victim to the last" Sybil said, "She insisted the island would nourish them, and when it didn't her faith was shaken, god did not provide, that was up to her sister, the other side of the island was the wild boars' domain, it was dangerous, but she knew she must hunt, and behold, god was good".

"But there weren't boars on the island, were they?" Aria asked, slowly connecting the dots, "You two kept luring ships to their death, killing them for their provision".

"And do you want to know the sickest part of all?" Sybil asked, "There were no provisions on the ships, only sailors, and so, an innocent girl became a monster, all because her older sibling forced her to adopt her lifestyle, even if it meant killing and eating men to stay alive".

"I think I'm going to be sick" Aria whispered.

Sybil smirked, "Oh you will be" she said, making Aria look at her in confusion when suddenly Georgie appeared and rendered her unconscious by injecting her with vervain.

***

Aria woke up and immediately she was confused seeing herself laying on the grass near a lake.

"What the hell?" Aria whispered, slowly standing up.

"Hey, Aria".

Aria turned around and came face to face with Sybil, she immediately groaned in annoyance when she finally realised what was happening, Sybil was in her head.

"Did your sister knock me out?" Aria asked curiously.

"You'll know soon enough" Sybil replied, "Right now, we have other things to deal with, also can I just say, it was not easy getting inside your head, I guess you are more powerful then I gave you credit for, come on Aria, walk with me".

"Just get this over and done with Sybil" Aria said, in no mood for games, "Come on, just attack my psyche and make me your minion like you did with Damon, save both of us the small talk, please".

"Normally, that is what I'll do" Sybil said, "But after seeing your determination to save Damon, the boss decided he has other plans for you".

"The boss?" a shocked Aria asked, "You have a boss?".

"Mm-hmm" Sybil confirmed.

"And who is this boss of yours?" Aria asked curiously.

"All you need to know Aria is that my boss thinks you're worthy of hearing the whole story" Sybil replied, "Shall we continue?".

"You're saying like I have a choice" an annoyed Aria said, walking behind Sybil.

"For years, my sister and I lived as cannibals" Sybil informed, as the two girls walked into a cave, "One willingly, one blissfully ignorant, until I discovered this", Sybil and Aria both walked over to the bunch of skeletons present in the cave, "Where my sister had buried the sailors she had murdered, only visible at low tide, it was the perfect hiding spot".

"Wait, you discovered this?" a shocked Aria asked, "That means you're not the girl from the island, are you? You're the village girl".

"I tried" an emotional Sybil whispered, "I tried so hard to be good, my sister forced this existence on me".

"Did you bring me here so I can have sympathy for you?" a confused Aria asked, "You took my children's father away from them, I can't have sympathy for you, I'm sorry but I just can't".

Sybil sighed, "Trust me Aria, I don't want anything from you, I'm just following my bosses orders, he's taken a liking to you, he wants to know how far you will go to make sure your family survives".

"I can't answer that question Sybil, because even I don't know how far I'll go for my family's survival" Aria admitted.

***

Sybil picked up a skeleton head, "I couldn't believe it" she whispered, "All those years, my sister tricked me into eating human flesh, but I had to hear the truth from her mouth, so I confronted her, you should've seen the look on her face, oh, wait, you will, here she comes now".

Aria watched as a girl entered the cave, her eyes widen in shock when she recognised who the person was.

"No" a shocked Aria whispered.

"Aria, you've met my sister" Sybil said, "Seline, the woman you trust your kids with".

***

"Why do you three want to sleep here tonight?" a confused Seline asked, as the triplets rushed into Damon and Aria's room.

"Because we miss mom and dad" Mia said, as the triplets climbed into bed one by one, with Mia laying in the middle.

"Well, I'm sure your parents will be here soon" Seline said, "Come on, let's tuck you guys in", as Seline was tucking the triplets in, her phone started ringing, "Oh, one second guys", Seline walked to the corner of the room where the triplets couldn't hear her and answered her phone, "Hello?".

"Kol is trapped" Georgie replied from the other side, "Why did you make me do that?".

"Just pull over wherever you are and stay there, I will find you" Seline instructed, "We'll talk about it then".

After hanging up on Georgie, Seline walked over to the triplets, "Seline, will you tell us a bedtime story?" Mia asked.

"Sure sweetie, what kind of story?" Seline asked.

"Nothing sad" Alec replied.

"Hmm" Seline said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, "Okay, I know just the one, but we'll have to keep it between us, no telling mommy or daddy, it is called, the legend of Arcadius".

***

"Seline?!" a shocked Aria yelled, "My children's nanny is the other siren? She's your sister?!".

"What's more shocking?" Sybil asked, "That she secretly fed me human flesh? Or that she's now masquerading as a friggin nanny?".

"Okay, you need to get out of my head, now Sybil!" Aria yelled, wanting to get to her kids as soon as possible.

"Why, so you can go to your kids?" Sybil mocked, "You're assuming that I'm gonna let you remember this when you wake up, sorry, orders from above, well, below".

Sybil suddenly placed her hands on either side of Aria, and though it was difficult, she did manage to make Aria forget what she saw.

In the present, Aria gasped and sat up from the ground, immediately she looked at Sybil, "What the hell did you do to me?" she asked, feeling like she was forgetting something very important.

"You tell me" Sybil said, a teasing grin on her face, "What do you remember?".

Aria stood up from the floor, "I remember you telling me about confronting your sister because she turned you into a cannibal against your will".

"And who exactly is my sister?" Sybil asked.

Aria opened her mouth to tell Sybil, but for someone reason she couldn't remember the name, she knew that Sybil had told her about her sister, but she couldn't remember what her name was or what she looked like.

"I don't remember" an extremely confused Aria whispered.

"How frustrating" Sybil teased.

"Why didn't you run away?" a confused Aria asked, "I was unconscious and you were in my head, why didn't you use that opportunity to run?".

"And leave you with such a dramatic cliffhanger?" Sybil asked, letting out a small chuckle, "I'm not that evil, I was about to answer your question, how you can save Damon, because as it turns out, I was wrong about you Aria, you are worthy, you're ready for the truth, when I learned the truth about what my sister had done for me, I did the only thing a decent person could do, I threw myself off the cliffs, as I lay dying, I prayed, for mercy, for love, for forgiveness, but god never answered me, instead, he did, Cade did, my sister made a deal with Cade, immortality, beauty and youth, for the two of us, if only we served our new Lord and master, we feast on the flesh to keep us beautiful, and he collects the souls of the wicked, in hell".

"Please tell me we're not talking about literal hell here" a shocked Aria said, "And who the hell is this Cade? What is he?".

"He's the answer to all your problems, Aria" Sybil informed, "You want to save Damon? All you have to do is kill the Devil".

"No" Aria said, shaking your head, "You're lying, I don't believe you".

"Which part?" Sybil asked, "We covered a lot of ground".

"Hell and the devil, those things don't exist" Aria argued.

"Did you believe in vampires before you fell in love with one and became one yourself?" Sybil asked, "That's the trouble with facts Aria, they're true whether you believe in them or not, I promise you, just as my sister promised me, there was a man named Cade, the people he loved damned him, and only at the very end did he finally give up on them, only when the smell of his burning flesh was searing his nostrils, did he see them for what they really were, monsters, just like you and me, so, Cade damned them in return, with his last breath, he let loose a psychic blast so powerful that it created its own world, call it hell if you want, it doesn't matter what name you give it or whether you believe in it or not, either way, that is where Cade feeds on the souls of the damned, it's where he waits for you to make a choice".

"A choice?" a confused Aria asked, "What choice?".

"Between Damon and Kol" Sybil revealed.

"I'm sorry what?!" a shocked Aria asked.

 "Both Damon and Kol are monsters Aria, they both have done awful things in their lifetime and now Cade wants one of their soul, and he wants you to pick whose" Sybil replied.

"No" Aria whispered, "Damon and Kol both have changed, hell they didn't want to become monsters in the first place, vampirisim was forced on both of them, this isn't fair, you can't make me choose between them, I can't, I won't".

"It doesn't matter why they became monsters" Sybil said, "The stain will always be on their souls, no matter how hard they try to wash it away".

"Cade wants someone's soul, right?" Aria asked, "Then tell him to take mine, I'm not a saint and I never claimed to be, tell Cade to take my soul, I'll gladly give him my soul in return that he leaves Damon and Kol alone".

"Damon's fate is already sealed" Sybil informed, "I reached into his mind and gave him a look at what awaits him, and even that little spoonful was enough to make him flip his little humanity switch, he chose to serve Cade for all eternity rather than experience another second in that kind of torment, Damon believes in hell, and soon Kol will too, because he is just as doomed as Damon is".

***

Presenting 8x04 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Damon not being able to stop thinking about Aria despite not having any memories of her?

Thoughts on Sybil telling Aria her story because Cade wants Aria to know?

Thoughts on Sybil telling Aria that Cade wants Aria to choose between Damon and Kol to send to hell?