14. Down The Rabbit Hole

Damon groaned in pain, as the vervain ropes around his neck and wrists burned him, and kept him tied to the tree.

The hunter who had captured Damon, looked at him, "Is something bothering you?".

"Would you believe me if I said mosquitoes?" Damon asked sarcastically.

"Aye, I would" the hunter replied, "How's it feel when an relentless eating machine is draining blood from your veins?".

"Itchy" Damon replied.

"Your friends in Mystic Falls think you're funny, Damon?".

"You obviously know who I am and where I'm from" Damon said, "Have you been spying on me?".

"Aye, I have" the hunter replied, "You and Kol, your witch Aria, you need her to cast the spell written on your pal Jeremy's Hunter's Mark, the tattoo that looks exactly like this", the mysterious hunter showed Damon his hunters mark.

"You wanna know something, just ask" Damon snapped.

"I've been killing vampires my entire life" the hunter said, "Still, this thing refused to reveal itself to me, that was, until four days ago, when it magically completed for no apparent reason".

"Come on, man, do I look like I know anything about tattoos?" Damon asked, "Look at my skin, it's flawless".

"Ah, you're not taking me seriously" the hunter said, "I don't blame you, you don't know me" the hunter placed a metal rod just below Damon's neck, "So let me introduce myself", he stabbed Damon in the neck, making him grunt in pain, "My name is Galen Vaughn, and you better start talking".

***

"Tell me you're not serious" Caroline told Rebekah.

"You think I'll joke about something like this" Rebekah said into the phone, "When me and Kol got back from looking for Jeremy, Shane, Aria and Damon were all missing".

"We think Shane took Ri and Jeremy" Kol said, "He needs Ri to cast the spell on Jeremy's tattoo that will led them to the cure and ultimately to Silas and Damien, I knew there was something wrong about the guy, should have never left him alone here".

"Well, where's Damon in all this?" Caroline asked.

"We don't know" Rebekah replied, "Me and Kol went to the beach to check on him where we saw signs of a struggle".

"Meaning what?" Caroline asked concerned.

"Meaning while Jeremy and Ri are with stuck with Shane, Damon has been captured by someone else" Kol replied.

"How do you know it's not Shane who took Damon?" Caroline asked.

"Because that would be stupid of him" Kol replied, "Damon hates Shane, he would have killed Shane by now, and Shane knows that,plus his not strong enough to take Damon on".

"And we're sure Shane took Jeremy and Aria?" Caroline asked.

Rebekah and Kol exchanged an uneasy look, "We're not sure Caroline" Rebekah replied, "But it's better then thinking about the other alternate".

"That someone we don't know has them two and is doing god knows what to them" Caroline whispered, fear rising in her heart for her sister and Jeremy.

"Yeah" Rebekah whispered.

"God, I wish I was there to help you guys" Caroline said.

"Actually, there's something you and Nik can do for us back home" Kol said.

"What?" Caroline asked confused.

"Shane's looking for the cure" Rebekah replied, "If we want to find Jeremy and Aria and possibly Damon, we need to find the cure cause that's where they are all probably heading".

"April took photos of Jeremy's tattoo" Kol informed, "You and Nik need to take those photos and use the hunters sword to translate the map".

"We're on it" Caroline assured, "I'll get the photos from April and me and Klaus will translate the map and call you back".

"Thanks Caroline" Rebekah said, hanging up.

"Something wrong?" Klaus asked, entering the room and seeing Caroline's worried face.

"We have a problem" Caroline replied.

***

"This is as far as I go" Massak said, after leading Shane, Aria and Jeremy to the magical well.

"We're on the brink of a monumental event in human history" Shane said, "We're gonna raise the two most powerful immortal creatures there ever was, our work's not done yet".

"Mine is, you said get the kid and the witch, I did, I wanna get paid now" Massak said.

Shane opened his bag and took out the tombstone and handed it to Massak, who then turned to Jeremy and Aria, "I'll say a prayer for your souls".

"So the tombstone meant nothing?!" Aria asked, after Massak had left, "You just wanted it so you could pay off your little mercenary?".

"The core of the tombstone is made up of both Adriana and Qetsiyah's calcified blood" Shane replied, "In some witch circles, that stone's more valuable than the Hope Diamond", Jeremy and Aria looked down at the steep well in uneasiness, "So who wants to go down first?".

***

"You mind telling me where we're going?" Damon asked, as Vaughn led himself.

"At the wishing well lies an entrance to a crypt" Vaughn replied, "In the crypt lies Silas and Damien, and with Silas and Damien lies the cure, which will allow me to kill Silas and Damien, bring the mission of the The Brotherhood of the Five to an end, you're my leverage, Damon, I use you to get your witch friend to open the passage to Silas' crypt for me".

"Here's the deal, Shrek, my witch girlfriend will open the passage for you" Damon said, "No leverage necessary, we don't care about Silas or Damien, all we want the cure, so you cut us in on your share, we'll get out of your hair".

"You really don't understand, do you?" Vaughn asked.

"No, I don't understand, so why don't you explain it?" Damon asked.

"Silas and Damien are immortal" Vaughn replied, "I have to cram the cure down their throat in order to kill them".

"Yeah, what does that have to do with me and my friends?" Damon asked.

"I need to use the cure against Silas and Damien" Vaughn replied, "Your friends, they can't exactly have it, now, can they?".

"So you use it on Silas, and we'll use it for whoever wants to use it" Damon snapped, "You don't wanna share it with us?".

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't" Vaughn replied.

"And why can't you share it?" Damon asked, getting frustrated.

"So it is written" Vaughn said, "There is only one does".

"No" Damon snapped, "That doesn't make any sense, there's two brothers so how can there only be one does".

"Simple, you shove the cure down one brother's throat, kill him, take his blood that will be the cure and shove it down the other brother's throat, therefore killing them both" Vaughn explained, a smug look on his face.

***

Aria used the ropes to get down the well, Jeremy waiting for her below, before Aria could land, her foot slipped causing her to crash to the floor.

Jeremy quickly ran over to Aria, "You okay?".

"Yeah, you know, clumsy me" Aria said, she groaned seeing a piece of rock stuck in her hand, Jeremy very carefully took the rock out.

"You're bleeding pretty heavily Aria" Jeremy said, worried.

"It will heal, don't worry Jer" Aria said, looking around the well in uneasiness.

"What's with the look?" Jeremy asked curiously.

"Death" Aria whispered, looking at Jeremy in worry, "Jeremy, I sense death all around me, someones going to die".

"Yeah, probably Shane, from the hands of Kol and Damon" Jeremy said, trying to ease Aria's worry.

"What if it's not him?" Aria asked worried.

"No one we care about is dying Aria, I promise you" Jeremy replied.

"Don't promise me something that you have no control over" Aria whispered, standing up but clinging to Jeremy, she didn't like it down here.

Jeremy didn't say anything, just hugged Aria and kissed the top of her head, "We're going to be fine".

"I hope so" Aria whispered.

"Hey, guys, I'm coming down!" Shane yelled.

"What do you think will happen once you cast the spell on my tattoo and there's nothing in between Shane, and Silas and Damien?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm not going to let him" Aria replied, "I'm not going to let him raise Silas or Damien".

"Just don't do anything stupid" Jeremy said.

"Have you met me?" Aria joked.

"Aria, if the expression that you took from Bonnie, get's out of hand, Shane is the only one that can help you keep it in control" Jeremy said.

"No" Aria said, shaking his head, "Shane was the only one who could keep Bonnie in control, Damon said that I have it in me to control myself, and I believe that, plus I have you by my side, if I'm your anchor then you're mine too, I know if I have someone I care about by my side, I will be fine".

"You sure?" Jeremy asked, still a bit unsure.

"I'm sure" Aria replied, "But just know this, if Shane tries to hurt you or me, his dying, I will do what Kol and Damon have been dying to do since they met him".

"I'm sure they will appericate that" Jeremy said, making Aria chuckle.

***

"Hello?" Rebekah answered.

"Hey, it's me" Caroline said, "Me and Klaus translated the tattoo, we're emailing you pictures of the map and instructions right now".

"Got it, thanks you guys" Rebekah said.

Klaus and Caroline exchanged a worried look, "Rebekah, there's something else you need to know" Caroline said.

"What?" Rebekah said, not liking Caroline's worried tone.

"There's only one dose of the cure" Klaus revealed, shocking Rebekah.

***

Vaughn pushed Damon forward, making him glare at him, "You touch me again--".

"And you'll what?" Vaughn replied, "Threaten me? Sorry if you're upset about the cure, Damon, but we got road to cover".

"I don't care about the cure" Damon snapped, as Vaughn pushed him forward again, "Frankly, I don't know why anyone wouldn't wanna be a vampire, you know what? If I wasn't a vampire then I wouldn't be able to do nine of the things I'm gonna do to you when I'm free", Vaughn pushed him again, "Make that ten".

"Right" Vaughn said.

Damon leaned against the tree, "All right, I admit, okay? My friends want the cure, and I want them to have it, and I get very upset when I can't provide for my loved ones, but tell me something, Vaughn, if all you're worried about is Ria, then why'd you save Jeremy and Kol yesterday?".

"How did I do that?" Vaughn asked confused.

"Big guy, white paint all over him" Damon replied, "You stuck a hatchet in his spine".

"I don't remember doing such a thing" Vaughn said, pulling on to the vervain ropes, making him groan but not move from his spot.

"We're on a remote island" Damon said, glaring at the hunter, "There's you, me and a bunch of unpleasant locals, you except me to believe that someone else took out that monster truck of a human being that went after Jeremy and Kol?".

"I'm telling you it wasn't me" Vaughn said, dragging Damon along.

As they were walking, both of them came across a dead Massak, whose throat had been slit.

"Was that you?" Damon asked.

"No" Vaughn replied, "You?".

"No" Damon replied.

Vaughn looked around the island, "Then I reckon there really is someone else on this island".

***

"It's just amazing, isn't it?" Shane asked, looking around the cave in wonder, "Once we raise Silas and Damien, all our sacrifices will have been worthwhile, we'll all have what we want".

"Or they will murder us all" Aria snapped, "Or better yet, I kill you before you can reach them".

Shane turned to Aria, ignoring her threat, "You're gonna see I'm right, and if you're scared Aria, know this, neither Silas or Damien will ever hurt you".

"Why because she looks like Adriana?" Jeremy asked.

"That's exactly why" Shane replied, "Also Aria, don't get any ideas, remember, if anything happens to me something worse will happen to you".

"Yeah, see that's not happening" Aria said, "But I will entertain you, I will let you guide us to where the cure is, and right before your about to raise Silas and Damien, I'm going to rip your heart out, and I know you don't think I will but don't underestimate me Shane, you have no idea what I will do to protect the people I care about".

"Now that we have that clear, where's this stupid magic passage she needs to open?" Jeremy asked, running out of patience.

"Just look for anything that looks out of place" Shane replied, not taking Aria's threat seriously, "Anything not occurring in nature, a drawing or inscription or--", Shane looked under him in shock, "--a geometrically perfect circle", Shane removed the dirt and dust, "This is it, this is the spot".

Aria and Jeremy looked at each other in worry.

***

Aria stood infront of Jeremy, her hand on his chest, trying to open the passage, but it was proving harder then she thought.

"You're doing it, just breathe, focus on what you can do, don't be afraid of what you can't" Shane instructed.

"Just shut up" Aria snapped.

"You can do this" Jeremy assured, "Remember, just like you taught me, you're in control".

Aria nodded, Jeremy's words helping her, closing her eyes, Aria concentrated.

"That's it, it's just like drawing a breath, now, just pull the power into you" Shane instructed, but Aria ignored him and focused on the mark.

Suddenly, Jeremy felt a weird sensation shoot through his body, looking down, he saw the tattoo slowly disappear.

As Aria continued the spell, rocks started falling from above them, both Aria and Jeremy held on to each other to stop from falling over, while Shane ran to grab cover.

***

"Aria?!" Jeremy called out, standing up and looking around for his best friend, "Aria!".

"I'm here" Aria called out, standing up behind Jeremy, "You okay?".

"I'm fine" Jeremy replied.

"Look Jer, it worked" Aria said, a huge smile on her face.

"You did it" Jeremy praised, wearing his shirt.

"I couldn't have done it without you" Aria said, as her and Jeremy started walking ahead, but Shane's voice stopped them.

"Hey, guys, I need a hand, my leg's broken" Shane said.

Aria and Jeremy glanced at each other, both coming up with the same idea, "I think this is what we call karma" Aria said, walking away.

"Stay off your leg" Jeremy said, following Aria.

"Aria, wait, Aria!" Shane yelled, "Help me, come on! Please! Help me!".

***

Vaughn and Damon entered the well site, to see three ropes going down.

"Well, here we are, looks like someone beat us to the punch" Damon said.

"That's a shame, Damon" Vaughn said, "You're no use to me anymore, I hate to kill you".

"Ditto" Damon said, "You know that pesky hunter's curse and all, all right, how do you wanna do this?".

"I'll make it quick and painless" Vaughn replied, pulling on to the vervain ropes, but Damon didn't move, instead he held on to the ropes, ignoring the pain.

"Wish I could make the same promise" Damon said, as Vaughn cut the rope, freeing Damon, who then took it off from his neck and wrists, grunting in pain, Vaughn pulled out a gun from his back pocket, "I'm gonna kill you, and I'm gonna get to the damn cure and then me and the girl I love are happily going to get off this dreaded island".

"Your attachment to your friends will be the end of you" Vaughn said, as Damon slowly made his way to him.

"You don't know my friends" Damon said, as they heard footsteps coming towards them, "Or their little sisters" he said, as Rebekah entered.

***

Rebekah and Damon stood side by side, glaring at the hunter infront of them.

"Where's Kol?" Damon asked curiously.

"I lost him" Rebekah replied.

"Of course" Damon mumbled, "So, are we gonna dance or play?".

"You know he can't hurt me Damon, unless he's got the white oak stake" Rebekah replied, as Vaughn pointed his gun at her.

"Oh, he doesn't, but he's got other toys" Vaughn said, as Rebekah started to walk towards him, he repeatedly shot at the Original, but she speeded to him and tried to attack him, but Vaughn stabbed her with one of his toys, Rebekah looked down at it in shock, and then fell to the floor, temporarily dead.

Damon speeded over to the hunter and tried to attack him, but he headbutted him, he then used his gun to push Damon against a pole, then slang a vervain rope around his neck, trapping him.

"Damon!", Damon and Vaughn heard Kol yell.

Just as Kol entered, he saw Vaughn jump into the well, using the ropes Shane, Aria and Jeremy left behind.

Kol speeded over to Damon and tried removing the vervain rope.

"You're wasting time, just get the cure" Damon breathed out, "Go".

"I'm not going to leave you, Ri will kill me" Kol said.

"She needs one of us to be there for her" Damon said.

"She needs both for us to be there for her" Kol said, "Not just me".

***

"Look at us two best friends go" Aria teased, as her and Jeremy walked further into the cave, "One of us is a newbie hunter, the other is a witch, who accidently mixed her magic with black magic, out of everyone how did we both manage to make it the furthest?".

Jeremy chuckled, "I have no idea, but if I had to be here with anyone, I'm glad it's you".

Aria playfully nudged Jeremy, "Everyone else would have done your head in".

"Exactly" Jeremy said, "Also, where are we?".

Aria started looking around, when suddenly she froze, "This way" she whispered.

"How do you know?" Jeremy asked confused.

"Following my instinct" Aria replied, looking in the direction, and seeing her father, Lucas Conner standing there.

"Hello, Aria" Lucas greeted.

"Dad?" Aria whispered shocked.

Jeremy looked in the direction Aria was looking, but frowned when he saw no one there.

"How can I see you?" Aria asked confused, "How are you here?".

"This place allows the living to talk to the dead" Lucas replied.

"Aria, what's going on?" Jeremy asked confused.

"I'm so sorry" Aria cried, "You died because of me, I'm so sorry".

"It's okay, you're here now" Lucas said, walking over to Aria, "And you are this close to bringing me and your mother back to life for good".

"No!".

Aria and Lucas turned around to see Amelia Connor standing there.

"Mom?" Aria asked shocked, she didn't know what was happening.

"You can't be here Aria" Amelia snapped, "You need to leave".

"Don't listen to her" Lucas told Aria, "This is your destiny, you have to wake them up".

"What?" Aria asked confused.

"Silas and Damien can bring us back" Lucas replied, "All you have to do is go over to them and feed them".

"No" Amelia said, "Silas and Damien don't deserve to be woken up, they are suffering for a reason, walk away Aria, now!".

Lucas grabbed Aria's wrist and started taking her towards Silas and Damien, "Come on, don't you want to reunite with your parents, they died to protect you, now it's your job to bring them back".

Amelia grabbed Aria's other wrist, stopping her and Lucas from walking any further, "Your parent's death wasn't your fault Aria, but if you wake Silas and Damien, the hell they will bring on this earth will be on you".

Seeing Aria walking further in, Jeremy ran over to her and grabbed her, "Aria, stop!", he forced a hazy Aria to face him, "Hey, look at me Aria, you're not seeing your parents, if they were here, I'd be able to see them and I can't, it's not their ghost, it's a hallucination, what you're seeing, it isn't real, it's me, your parents aren't here, I'm here, I'm real, okay?".

Suddenly, Aria gasped, and looked around confused, her parents no longer there, "What's happening?" Aria cried, "Jeremy, what's happening to me?".

"Nothing is happening to you Aria" Jeremy comforted, "It's not you, it's Silas and Damien, they were in your head, they were trying to control you".

Aria shook her head, "Not both of them" she whispered, "One of them was trying to stop me, Jeremy, I think one of them is manipulating people like Shane and me, the vision Shane saw of his wife, that wasn't real, that was either Silas or Damien controlling him".

"So one wants to be free and the other doesn't?" Jeremy asked confused.

"Seems like it" Aria replied.

"Aria it doesn't matter if one of them is good, you need to block both of them out of your mind" Jeremy said, "Close your eyes", Aria obeyed and closed her eyes, "Listen to my voice and only my voice, I'm gonna get us there".

Jeremy grabbed Aria's hand, and slowly the two best friends made their way towards Silas and Damien.

***

Kol finally freed Damon from the rope, causing him to fall to the ground in pain, "Get up Damon, we need to get to Ri".

Damon nodded, he slowly stood up and both him and Kol jumped into the well, both eager to get to Aria, not knowing that they were too late.

***

"Hey" Shane greeted, still laying on the floor, as Kol and Damon walked over to him, "Don't suppose any of you will share a little vampire blood".

"Where's Jeremy and Ri?" Kol asked.

"I have no idea" Shane replied.

Damon grabbed Shane by his collars, "Stop lying!" he yelled.

"I'm not lying" Shane whispered, "If you both help me, I will take you the rest of the way, I promise".

"This whole time, did you know that there was only one dose of the cure?" Kol asked, as Damon stood back up.

"What?" Shane asked shocked, "No, how could I? I've never seen it, look, everything I ever said or did was just to bring back my family, I swear".

"You had hope" Damon said, glaring at Shane, "And now you know what it feels like when that hope is taken from you, let's go Kol".

Damon and Kol went to find Aria and Jeremy, leaving behind a screaming Shane.

***

Jeremy and Aria finally reached the crypt in which both Silas and Damien laid, Jeremy walked further and saw a small box, in between the two brothers, each holding on to the box with one hand, "Is this it?" Jeremy asked shocked, "This is the cure? How is that supposed to cure every vampire in the world?".

"I don't think it's supposed to Jer" Aria realised.

Jeremy glanced at Aria, then turned back to the crypt and tried to take the cure out of the hands of the brothers, but failed, "It's stuck, help me move it".

Aria walked over to Jeremy, and both the best friends tried to take the cure out but even with Aria using her vampire strength and Jeremy using his hunters strength, they couldn't free the cure.

"It's fossilised" Aria said, still trying to get the cure out, "This isn't working Jer", Aria stepped back, when a thought crossed her mind, "Oh, crap".

"What?" Jeremy asked confused.

"Silas and Damien have been frozen like this for over two thousand years" Aria replied, "If we want the cure, there's only one way Jer".

"Which is?" Jeremy asked.

"By feeding them our blood" Aria replied, making Jeremy look at her in shock, "If we want to get the cure out of their hands, we have to wake them up".

***

"Come on!" Jeremy yelled, hitting the cure with a rock, trying to free it from Silas and Damien's grip.

Aria stayed back and tried to think of another way, "There has to be another way" she whispered, "Waking them up can't be the only option, maybe--", before Aria could complete her sentence, Vaughn came up behind her, he drove a metal pipe through her stomach, making Aria yell out in pain, and fall to the floor.

"Don't listen to the witch, boy" Vaughn said, shocking Jeremy, "We have to raise Silas and Damien".

"No" Aria whispered, trying to remove the pipe but failing.

"And we have to do it now" Vaughn said, ignoring Aria.

"Aria!" Jeremy yelled, running over to the tribrid, while Vaughn walked over to Silas and Damien.

"I'm fine Jer, stop him, you have to stop him" Aria breathed out, as she tried to remove the pipe.

Jeremy nodded, he turned to see Vaughn cutting into his hand, "What are you doing?".

"What you should've done already" Vaughn said, placing his bloody hand just above one of the corpse, "I'm gonna raise Silas and Damien, then I'm gonna kill them".

Jeremy quickly grabbed Vaughn and pushed him away from the bodies and both the hunters started fighting, "You're a mite confused, Mr. Gilbert, we're on the same team" Vaughn said, holding Jeremy in a headlock, when Jeremy suddenly kicked him on his knee.

"You stabbed my friend!" Jeremy yelled, hold Vaughn in a headlock, just as Aria finally managed to remove the pipe from the stomach, but Vaughn quickly flipped him over.

"I don't mess around with witches" Vaughn said.

"You shouldn't" Aria said, giving Vaughn a aneurism, "I'm not going to let you wake them up".

"Aria, the hunter's curse" Jeremy reminded, as Vaughn started coughing out blood.

Aria nodded, she grabbed Vaughn's head and banged it on the wall, knocking him out.

Jeremy and Aria looked at each other and smiled, "That was badass" Jeremy said.

"Thank you" Aria smiled, but her smiled turned into a yell when a wooden stake was pierced through her heart.

"No!" Jeremy yelled, as Katherine Pierce dropped Aria to the ground.

"God, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that" Katherine said.

"No, no, no" Jeremy yelled, as Aria slowly started desiccate.

"Da-Damon" Aria whispered, her skin eventually greying, and Aria Connor finally dying.

"No!" Jeremy cried, "No! Wake up Aria! Please wake up!".

Katherine grabbed a hysterical Jeremy, and pulled him away from Aria, "Sorry, little Gilbert, mourning will have to wait".

Katherine bit into Jeremy's neck and fed him to Silas, after Silas grabbed Jeremy, Katherine grabbed an unconscious Vaughn and fed Damien, after the cure was loose, Katherine grabbed it and ran away, while Silas snapped Jeremy's neck, causing him to fall to the ground, next to Aria, dead.

***

"Hurry up Kol" Damon snapped.

"I'm walking as fast as I can" Kol snapped, both the vampires on edge, "Do you even know where we are going?".

Before Damon could reply, both him and Kol fell to the floor, pain shot through their chest, causing both the vampires to let out loud screams.

Aria Connor's death had officially broken her connection with Damon Salvatore and Kol Mikaelson.

***

Presenting 4x14 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter? Don't hate me for what I did, trust me it hurt me as much as it hurt all you of to kill such an iconic character, all I'm saying is that this isn't the end of Aria Connor's story, so just be patient, I did this for a reason😭

Thoughts on Silas and Damien using Lucas and Amelia Connor to talk to Aria?

Thoughts on Kol and Damon leaving Shane to die?

Thoughts on both Aria and Jeremy dying because of Katherine?

Thoughts on Silas and Damien now awake?

I know this chapter was sad, but I do have some good news, today is the 7th of August, which means tomorrow is the 8th of August, meaning tomorrow is... ONE YEAR OF COLD HEARTED!🎉🎊, one year ago a eighteen year old girl decided to start a wattpad just to write a story on Damon Salvatore, based on how she wanted the show to go, in that one years time, you guys have given DARIA so much love, that at times its overwhelming, thank you to each and every single one of you for supporting me in the past year and loving Aria Connor so much, here's to forever and ever with our favourite Daria!  🥰