13. Into The Wild

"So you're in the middle of nowhere, right now?" April asked Jeremy.

"Pretty much, yeah" Jeremy replied.

"Just be careful, okay?" April said.

"I will" Jeremy assured, "I promise".

"Jeremy there's something I need to tell you" April said.

"What?" Jeremy asked confused.

"I--" April hesitated, "Actually, nevermind".

"April--".

"Look, just come back to me safely, and I'll tell you" April said.

"You have yourself a deal" Jeremy said, a smile on his face.

"Couldn't they have hidden this cure in Hawaii?" Damon asked, sharpening his sword, "Where the hell did you take us?".

"Two hundred miles off the Nova Scotia mainland" Shane replied.

Originally it was only meant to be Damon, Aria, Rebekah, Kol and Jeremy who went to retrieve the cure, Caroline and Klaus stayed in Mystic Falls keeping an eye on Elena, Stefan and Bonnie, but when the group of five reached the airport, they were met with Shane, who no matter what they did, refused to let them leave without him, so against their better judgement they let Shane lead them to the cure, deciding if he betrays them, they can at least call Klaus and Caroline and ask them to decode the sword.

"The whole point was to hide the cure on the most obscure, desolate island" Shane said.

"Oh, yeah?" Damon asked, as Aria walked over to them, "I thought the whole point was so that no one found Silas and Damien, the oldest, deadliest, two freaks in the world".

"Yeah, that too" Shane replied, he then turned to Aria, "So, how are you feeling?".

"Excuse me?" Aria asked confused.

"You took Bonnie's magic from her, you merged her magic with your own, meaning you now have expression" Shane replied, "You need to be really careful Aria, your magic is no longer in your control".

"I don't need your advice Shane" Aria snapped, "My magic is completely fine, maybe you should worry more about getting us to the cure and less about me".

"Yeah, she has her boyfriend for that" Damon said, glaring at Shane.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you" Shane said, pulling out a bottle of sunscreen, "Sunscreen?".

"Is that a joke?" Damon asked.

"Right" Shane whispered, slightly embarrassed.

***

"Why am I tying a knot and not you?" Rebekah asked, tying the boat to the shore.

"You always talk about girl power sister, so show me some of your power" Kol replied, glaring at Shane.

"Glaring at Shane isn't going to make him disappear" Rebekah said.

"There's something wrong about him" Kol said, "The way his so interested in Jeremy and Ri, I don't like it, you know, his lucky all I'm doing is glaring at him, not ripping out his eyeballs".

"You are way to overprotective over Jeremy and Aria" Rebekah said.

"I am not overprotective of Jeremy" Kol said.

"Sure" Rebekah said sarcastically, "You can admit it Kol, you care about Jeremy, he was your first proper friend, even before Damon, dare I say it, his your best friend".

"I don't have to admit anything" Kol snapped, making Rebekah smile, "Specially not to you".

Rebekah chuckled, "You don't have to admit it to me, I already know".

"Just shut up" Kol said, finally helping Rebekah tie the knot on the boat, hoping that would keep her quiet.

***

Damon walked over to Aria, who was looking out at the sea, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What you thinking?" Damon asked.

"I never realised how much I like the ocean" Aria replied, "The sound of the waves are so soothing".

"Hmm" Damon said, "So, I know you didn't want to tell Shane, but tell me, truthfully, are you okay?".

Aria sighed, "I'm not going to lie to you Damon, there's something dark inside me, I feel it, but it's not taking control over me, it's not like Shane said, I still have control over my magic, but I do feel on slight edge, but I'll be fine as time goes on".

"You sure you want to do this?" Damon asked, "Let's just screw this cure".

"Just cause we both don't want it, doesn't mean the others don't want it either" Aria replied, she then turned around and looked at Damon, "Actually, we never talked about that, and I know this is probably the worst timing ever, but do you want to be human?".

"Do you?" Damon asked.

"I don't know" Aria replied honestly, "I don't mind being a vampire, don't get me wrong, if I didn't get to keep my magic then I probably would have been the first one to take the cure, but I have my magic, I don't really have a reason to turn into a human, you?".

"How about we decide this when we find the cure?" Damon asked.

"Fine by me" Aria replied, "Now I'm going to go and figure out the story on Jeremy's tattoo, April already took photos of the tattoo before we left so I don't need to do that, but I still want to figure out the story, you need to make sure Kol doesn't murder Shane".

"Kol won't be able to kill Shane if I kill him first" Damon said.

Aria chuckled, "Just tolerate him for a few more days, then kill him, eat him, I don't care".

"I don't want to taste his blood" Damon said, disgust shown clearly on his face.

Aria chuckled, "You're so picky, you know that?".

"I know" Damon replied, placing a kiss on Aria's lips, "Weren't you going somewhere?".

"Hmm" Aria whispered, looking at Damon's lips, she put her hand behind his neck and pulled him into a deeper kiss, "Now, I'm going".

Damon chuckled, "You are something else".

"I know!" Aria yelled, running away from Damon, making him look at her in amusement.

***

"Okay, so the symbols on the left side of your chest are our way to find the cure" Aria told Jeremy, "And the right side of your chest, I'm guessing tells the story of Damien, Silas and Adriana, according to Professor creepy, Silas and Damien asked Adriana's best friend Qetsiyah for help in making a immortality spell so they could ask Adriana to become immortal with them, Adriana chose to be immortal with Damien, angering not only Silas but also Amara, somehow, someway, Adriana ended up dead, we don't know exactly how, there's too many legends surrounding her death, but when Qetsiyah found out about her best friend's death, she freaked out".

"What did Qetsiyah do?" Jeremy asked.

"Killed Amara, and buried Silas and Damien alive" Aria replied.

"With the cure" Jeremy realised.

"With the cure" Aria repeated, "Silas and Damien were immortal, even if she wanted to Qetsiyah couldn't kill them, so she decided to make them suffer for eternity".

"So Amara was Elena's doppelganger?" Jeremy asked, "And Adriana was yours?".

Aria nodded, "Yeah, they started this whole thing, they doomed all Petrova and Connor's to be enemies forever, well minus my parents of course".

"You mean Amara started this" Jeremy pointed out, "Adriana didn't do anything, it was Amara who was jealous, not Adriana".

"Are you seriously defending Adriana?" Aria asked amused.

"Of course, she had the same face as my best friend, I'm obviously going to defend her" Jeremy replied.

"Technically, I have the same face as her" Aria pointed.

"Same thing" Jeremy said, "Tell me, does my tattoo say anything about the hunter's purpose in all this?".

"I was wondering when you'd ask" Shane replied, walking over to the duo, making both of them frown, "Qetsiyah created a cure for immortality, and she buried it with Silas and Damien, hoping they'd take it and die, and end up on the other side, not receiving peace, never reuniting with Adriana, but Silas wouldn't give her the satisfaction, and rumor says it Damien didn't take it because he wanted to suffer".

"Suffer?" Aria asked confused.

"In all legends regarding Adriana's death, there's one common thing, Damien never managed to save Adriana, now whether it was from himself, Amara or Silas, no one knows, people just know that Damien decided to punish himself for eternity for not being able to save the love of his life".

"And you believe he killed Adriana?" Aria asked shocked, "There's absolutely no way".

"It doesn't matter what you and I think, because centuries later, Qetsiyah's descendants created the hunters to find, cure and kill the brothers, you know what? I'll explain on the hike, come on, we gotta get going".

"Come on, we better not leave him alone with Damon and Kol" Aria said, following Shane along with Jeremy.

***

"Damon, do you love me?" Aria asked suddenly, as they were walking up the hike.

"Of course I do, what kind of question is that?" Damon asked confused.

"So you will do anything for me?" Aria asked.

"Define anything" Damon replied.

"Piggy back ride?" Aria asked, giving Damon her innocent eyes.

"You're a vampire Ri, how are you tired?" Kol asked amused.

"I'm not tired, I just don't like walking" Aria replied.

"We can tell" Rebekah said, "With you tripping on nearly every rock on this island".

"I'm clumsy" Aria defended.

"You're a vampire" Kol reminded.

"I'm a clumsy vampire" Aria corrected.

Damon chuckled at his girlfriends antics, "Come on then".

Aria smiled, she got on to Damon's back and placed a kiss on his cheek, just as Rebekah took a photo of the two, "I love you".

"You're lucky I love you too" Damon teased.

"First Nik, now Damon, only Aria has the ability to make psychopathic vampires give her piggy back rides" Kol said.

"Don't give me your label Kol" Damon said.

"Satellite phone lost its signal" Shane said, interrupting the group's banter.

"That's a good sign" Damon said sarcastically.

"This island definitely has it's creepy aspects" Aria mumbled.

"Agreed" Rebekah said, "Okay, let's recap everyone's jobs, Jeremy has the spell on his body, Aria's the witch that unseals the cure, Shane is the human compass, though he is easily disposable, and I have the tombstone, which does god knows what".

"You forgot about Damon and Kol" Jeremy pointed out.

"Damon has a nice behind" Rebekah said.

"Hey, eyes off of my mans behind" Aria joked, making everyone chuckle.

"And me?" Kol asked.

"Backup muscle" Rebekah replied.

***

"Centuries after Qetsiyah died there were these miners who were excavating a well on the island, suddenly went mad" Shane explained, as night fell upon the group, Aria finally off Damon's back, now they were walking together, hand in hand, "They bled themselves dry, no apparent reason, so legend spread that these miners, in exchange for a drop of their blood, saw visions of their lost loved ones in the well they were digging, so word traveled, and explorers sought out the well to see if the legend was true".

"So what?" Aria asked, "The well had some kind of magic to it?".

"You know, some people believed the voices of lost souls were just a wind vortex whipping through the caves, and the visions were caused by inhaling the island's poisonous plant life".

"And what do you believe in?" Rebekah asked curiously.

"I believe in magic" Shane replied, "My wife and my son died within months of each other, and so I decided to try the well out for myself, I saw my wife, I saw her eyes, her smile, my blood let me see her again".

"Yeah, got it, don't eat the poisonous flowers" Damon said, clearly not interested in Shane's story.

"Wait, stop, stop, stop!" Shane told everyone, kneeling on the ground, "Is anybody paying attention? Our first lesson is survival", Shane threw a rock infront of him, which triggered a net trap, "Stay together, keep your eyes open".

"Oh, I'm out of water" Jeremy complained.

"Here" Kol said, throwing a water bottle towards Jeremy, "I don't drink water".

"So magic well?" Jeremy said, wanting to know what Kol thought.

"I don't believe anything that comes out of his mouth" Kol replied.

"But would you?" Jeremy asked, "Would you want to see Finn again?".

Kol sighed, "Of course I would" he said, "But I'm not getting my hopes up Jeremy and neither should you".

Kol started walking away from Jeremy, when suddenly Jeremy heard a bow behind him, turning around her saw a stranger pointing an bow and arrow at him, but Kol, hearing the same thing, quickly speeded him out of the way, the stranger went to attack them again, but a hatchet was thrown on his back, killing him.

"What the bloody hell just happened?" Kol asked confused.

"Somebody just saved my life" Jeremy replied, quickly confused.

"The question is, who?" Kol asked, looking around worried.

***

"What is this place?" Kol asked confused, as Shane led them to a campsite.

"According to island lore, a group of college kids came here for spring break" Shane replied, "A few weeks later they were all found dead, completely drained of blood".

"Well, tragic for them, brilliant for us, who sleeps where?" Rebekah asked.

"Well, that's lovely" Damon said, "There's a mystery man with a hatchet lurking in the woods, and we're just gonna camp".

"We're safer here than we are hiking in the dark" Shane said.

"Shot gun on the bigger tent" Jeremy said.

"No I want the bigger tent" Aria said, running after Jeremy.

"Hey, wait for me" Rebekah called out, running after the best friends, while both Damon and Kol stayed behind with Shane.

"Let's just keep going, you know?" Damon said, "Get the cure, get in, get out".

"Where's the cure, professor creepy?" Kol asked.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Shane asked.

"We think you're very stupid" Kol replied.

"You're stupid enough to raise two immortal witches, so Kol's right, you're incredibly stupid" Damon said.

"You know I'm shocked you both want the cure" Shane said, "Considering, you both have the most to lose if Aria decides to be human".

Shane walked away from the duo, just as Aria walked over to them.

"His wrong" Aria told the vampires, "I don't want the cure".

"So no part of you wants to be human?" Kol asked curiously.

Aria sighed, "I-I like being a vampire Kol, I'm good at it, or I think I am, what good would I be as a human?".

"You will still be powerful" Damon replied.

"Guys listen, I'm happy as I am, I don't want to be human, I want to be what I am now" Aria said, "And I know you both are worried, you both love being vampires, so you're not going to want to turn into a human, and if I turn human--".

"We will eventually lose you" Kol finished.

"You two, get one thing in your head, I'm here, I'm a vampire, I'm immortal, just like you both are" Aria said, "And I plan to stay immortal until my stupidity ends up killing me, the tribrid me, not the human me".

After stating her point, Aria walked away from the two vampires, leaving them alone with their thoughts.

***

"You bought s'mores?" Rebekah asked amused, as Jeremy and her sat either side of Aria, right infront of the fire.

"Well, none of you did" Aria said, handing each of them a s'more.

"Why do you have that?" Jeremy asked, pointing to the headstone in Rebekah's hand.

"We are a day away from finding the bloody cure, I'm not letting whatever this thing is out of my sight" Rebekah replied.

Suddenly, the trio heard animal cries coming from the distance, causing Aria to latch onto Jeremy, while Rebekah latched on to Aria.

"Did you hear that?" Rebekah asked, slightly scared.

"Oh I heard" Aria replied, equally scared, "I think we are surrounded by ghosts".

Jeremy chuckled at the two girls, "Aria I love you, but you're kind of crushing my arm".

"You're a hunter, deal with it" Aria replied.

"Do you both realise, that you", Jeremy pointed to Rebekah, "are an Original vampire", Jeremy then turned to Aria, "and you're the first ever tribrid, right?".

"Which is precisely why you should stop teasing us" Rebekah replied, "We are very powerful".

After a moment of silence, Jeremy spoke again, "So Aria, you really don't want to be human again?".

"Ah, so that's why you both are here" Aria realised, eating her s'mores, "You heard me talking to Kol and Damon".

"Yeah" Rebekah replied, "Was it the truth or were you just trying to make them feel better?".

"It was the truth guys" Aria replied, "Human me and vampire me, don't feel too different, I still feel kind of human, I don't want the cure, you can take it Beks, if your happiness lies in that cure, then go be happy, but my happiness lies with Damon, Caroline, Nik, Kol, Elijah, you, Jeremy".

"I'm human" Jeremy reminded, "One day, you're going to lose me".

"That one day is far away, can we not think about it right now?" Aria asked.

"Fine" Jeremy replied, "I'm just letting you know, one of your best friend's a mortal".

"You know, witches do some spells that can extend their life span, it's not black magic, it's pure magic, if you want maybe in your forties, I can do that to you" Aria suggested.

"Sounds like a plan" Jeremy said, smiling.

"So, let me get this straight, you don't want the cure, neither does Caroline, am I the only one turning into a human?" Rebekah asked.

"Seems like it" Jeremy replied.

"Just promise me something" Aria said.

"Anything" Rebekah said.

"Don't take the cure, until you're hundred percent sure you want to be human" Aria said.

Rebekah nodded, "I promise I will first be hundred percent sure before making any decision".

"Good" Aria whispered.

***

While sitting at the bonfire, Aria decided to find the spell on Jeremy's tattoo, but to her surprise, there was no spell, which is why Aria was now confronting Shane.

"What game are you playing?" Aria asked.

"What?" Shane asked confused.

"I've been looking at Jeremy's tattoo over and over again, but there's no spell on it, anywhere" Aria snapped.

"Well, expression doesn't require a written spell" Shane said.

"I don't know expression" Aria snapped.

"But Bonnie did, and when you took her magic, you took the expression from her as well" Shane reminded, "Just think of it as a way of accessing magic that already exists inside you, you just have to want it bad enough".

"And I'm just suppose to take your word for it?" Aria asked, "I'm suppose to trust you just because you told me to?".

"Aria, listen, even without expression, you could have easily got to the cure, but with expression your job got easier" Shane replied, "And I'll be right there with you the whole time, promise".

"That's the problem" Aria snapped, "I don't want you near me".

"And you didn't answer the trust part" Damon said, waking over to the duo.

"All right, let me put it this way" Shane said, "You need me to help you through it, Aria, because as Bonnie's demonstrated, expression can get messy, believe me when I say I've seen it get a lot worse".

"How much worse?" Damon asked.

"When we lost our son in the car accident, my wife kind of lost it" Shane replied, "She tried to resurrect his body using magic".

"Your wife was a witch?" Aria asked shocked.

"She was a powerful witch" Shane replied, "But incredibly undisciplined, she tried to bring our son back using expression and it overwhelmed her and she died".

"You taught Bonnie the magic that killed your wife?" Aria asked shocked, "The magic that's apparently in me now?!".

"Yeah but look the upside is, I learned the warning signs alright, I can keep expression from consuming you" Shane replied.

"Downside is, my girlfriend might turn into a bomb that only you can dismantle" Damon snapped, not liking this at all.

"Don't you think I know how this ends?" Shane snapped, "I came here to raise Silas and Damien so that they could bring back the dead, but you're never gonna let that happen, the second I point to a cure, you're gonna kill me, but I also know how much you love Aria, so if you want to keep her alive, you're going to have to keep me alive".

After Shane left, Aria turned to Damon, suddenly very scared, "Damon--".

"Nothings going to happen to you" Damon interrupted, "You hear me? Nothing at all".

"I didn't mean to take expression from Bonnie" Aria said, slightly panicking, "I don't do black magic, I've never had, I--".

"Hey, listen to me Ria" Damon said, making Aria face him, "It's not Shane whose going to keep you alive, you're going to keep yourself alive, you're fighter Aria Connor, just like your mother, and Natalie, and Adriana, you're going to fight through this expression, and not by a stupid professor's help, but because you are so strong, the strongest women I've ever met, and I promise you, that you will not let expression win over you, I know that and I need you to trust my word over Shane's".

Aria nodded, "I trust you".

"Good" Damon whispered, hugging Aria, "You're going to be okay, we all are".

***

"Jeremy!" Aria yelled, as her and Damon walked around looking for the hunter who had somehow gone missing during the night, "Did you find him?".

"He's not on the trail" Rebekah replied.

"His gear is still here" Shane replied, coming out of Jeremy's tent.

"He's not at the quarry either" Kol informed.

"Let's split up" Damon ordered.

"I will stay here and do a locator spell" Aria said, walking into Jeremy's tent.

"Okay, I'll stay here, I'll make sure she's safe" Shane said, making both Damon and Kol glare at him.

"I'll stay here to make sure you don't try anything with my girl" Damon said.

"Me and Kol will keep searching the island" Rebekah said, making Damon nod.

***

"Thought it didn't work" Damon said, entering the shed and seeing Shane with his satellite phone.

"Yeah, I'm just checking the signal" Shane replied.

"So you can call someone?" Damon asked, walking over to Shane, "Like whoever took Jeremy?".

"This place has a habit of getting to you, doesn't it?" Shane asked, shoving the phone towards Damon, "See for yourself".

"I'm done trusting you" Damon snapped, forcing Shane to sit on the chair, "Where's the cure?".

"You remember that magical well I was telling you about?" Shane asked, "Silas, Damien and the cure are buried deep below it".

"So you've seen it?" Damon asked.

"No" Shane replied, "But you could say I heard it from a reliable source, if a single drop of blood can give you a vision could you imagine what two liters could do?".

"What's your dead wife have to do with the cure?" Damon asked confused.

"She's got nothing to do with the cure but she has everything to do with Silas" Shane replied, he then explained to Damon how his wife told him he needed a spell to get Silas out and bring her back, "And that's when she explained everything that I had to do, complete the hunter's mark to access the spell and either find a descendant of Adriana who can perform it, or empower a descendant of Qetsiyah".

"Aria and Bonnie" Damon realised, "So Bonnie Bennett's related to Adriana's best friend?".

***

Aria grabbed Jeremy's shirt and sat on the ground and started chanting, suddenly a fire started infront of her, Aria looked at the fire in confusion, not knowing what was happening, but something in her told her to throw Jeremy's shirt into the fire, so that's exactly what she did, and after a moment, a path started forming from the fire, and without wasting even a moment, Aria started following it, hoping it would lead her right to Jeremy.

***

"So you have the rock, the hunter, the Connor witch" Damon listed, not realising that Aria was gone, "What about the dozens that died in sacrifice? Where do they fit in?".

"As you can imagine, that was not an easy pill to swallow" Shane replied, as he told Damon how his wife promised that Silas would bring back all the dead.

"Which is how you manipulated the pastor to blow up a farmhouse full of people" Damon realised.

"He just wanted to see his wife again" Shane informed.

"You need three massacres" Damon said, "Fire at the Young farm, holiday hybrid slaughter, what mass bloodletting am I forgetting?".

"You're not" Shane replied.

"You're not finished" Damon realised, "Is that why you brought us all out here in the middle of nowhere? To complete massacre number three?".

"Doesn't work that way, Damon" Shane replied.

"I think you need to tell me where this magical well is" Damon said, bending down to Shane's level.

"You know I can't do that" Shane said, refusing to back down.

Damon looked down seeing the ropes and smirked, he then turned to Shane, "Oh, I know", he patted Shane's shoulder, "I know".

***

"Still trapped?" Caroline asked Klaus, as he came and sat next to her, after checking on Bonnie, Elena and Stefan, who were still trapped in the Gilbert's living room.

"Yeah" Klaus replied, "Still trapped and still complaining, any news from the others?".

Klaus put his arm around Caroline, as she put her head on his chest, and both of them stared at the fireplace infront of them.

"No, still nothing" Caroline replied, getting worried.

"I'm sure they are fine" Klaus assured.

"I hope so" Caroline said, "We should have gone with them".

"Nothing we can do about that now, plus they are all old enough to take care of themselves" Klaus said.

"I know, it's just since they've left, something doesn't feel right, I feel like something bad is going to happen" Caroline said, expressing her fear.

"You feel that because your not there with them" Klaus said, "They will be fine, trust me, they will all return safely to us".

"I hope so" Caroline whispered, as Klaus paced a small kiss on her forehead.

***

"Where's the cure?" Damon asked, after tying Shane up.

"Does it matter?" Shane asked, "I think we both know you'd rather just torture me, torture gives you a sense of control, with your relevance slipping away", Damon grabbed a metal pipe, "Now look at you, here you are, hours from breaking Elena's sire bond, and despite Aria saying she doesn't want the cure, your still afraid, your terrified that she's going to change her mind and take the cure, listen want my advice? Leave, go, don't put yourself through this".

Damon hit Shane's legs with the metal pipe, "You don't know a thing about me and Ria, so keep your stupid advice to yourself".

"Fine, okay" Shane said, "Let's say what she said to you was true, how long before you screw up? She's pure Damon, and you're not", Damon hit Shane in the face, "You both are doomed Damon, in more ways then you think".

Damon looked at Shane in confusion, "What are you on about?".

Shane smirked, "Did you think you and Aria are the first soulmates? Let me tell you something, you're not, there has been many before you two, and all their stories ended in tragedy, just like their ancestors".

"Ancestors?" Damon asked confused.

"You know Aria descends from Adriana, but do you know who you descend from?" Shane asked.

"Something tells me you're about to tell me" Damon snapped.

"Damien" Shane replied, "You and your brother are Damien and Silas's descendents, I told you that there story repeats through their descendents, who did you think I was talking about?".

"Through me, Aria and Stefan" Damon realised, shocked with the new information.

"Like I said Damon, the second you and Stefan entered Aria's life, you doomed her to her death" Shane spat, making Damon glare at him, and hit him across his face again.

"Stop talking" Damon snapped.

"Why?" Shane asked, "Because you know I'm saying the truth? Since you entered her life, has anything good happened to her?".

"I could kill you, and no one would ever find you" Damon threatened.

"We established that you can't kill me without sending Aria off the deep end" Shane said, "But you can leave the island, listen have a modicum of self-respect, don't stay here and kill Aria".

"Right, because if I'm not here then I can't get in between you and whatever you're planning with Silas and Damien" Damon snapped, "I'm not that easily manipulated, professor, and there is one flaw in your logic, Aria Connor is the strongest women I've ever met, she doesn't need anyone to help her, she has been through much worse then you realise, she's not Bonnie whose going to need you, she's going to get through this, without your help".

Damon went to snap Shane's neck, "Then where is she?!" Shane yelled, stopping Damon, "In your attempt to torture me, you completely forgot about the girl you claim to love".

Damon stepped away from Shane, he realised Shane was right, he was been too busy torturing Shane, that he completely forgot that he hasn't seen Aria in hours, quickly leaving Shane behind, Damon ran out the shed.

"Aria!" Damon yelled, looking around for the young witch, "Aria!", Damon looked around concerned when he found no sign of Aria anywhere.

"Where are you Ria?" Damon whispered, guilt rising in his heart.

***

"Found anyone?" Rebekah asked, as a concerned Kol walked over to her.

"No" Kol replied, "Everyone's gone".

"First Jeremy, now Shane, Damon and Aria" Rebekah said, frustrated, "Where did they all go?".

After searching for Jeremy and finding no sign of him, Kol and Rebekah came back to the campsite, but to their shock, there was no sign of anyone anywhere.

"I don't know Rebekah, I don't know" Kol said, running his hand through his hair in frustration, he suddenly realised something and looked at his sister in shock, "The tombstone".

Rebekah looked at Kol in shock and quickly speeded over to her bags, trying to find Silas's headstone, but it wasn't there, she turned to his brother in shock, "The tombstone's gone".

"Dammit!" Kol yelled.

***

Shane ran through the woods, Silas's headstone in his hand, and towards Jeremy and his kidnapper, having manged to escape from the ropes Damon tied him up with.

"Jeremy" Shane said, "It was a bit of a scare yesterday, thanks for fending off his attacker".

"His attacker?" The mystery man asked confused.

"Jeremy was attacked by an islander" Shane replied, "I assumed you were his hatchet-flinging guardian angel".

The man shook his head, "That wasn't me".

"Well then I guess there's somebody else on this island is desperate to keep our hunter alive" Shane realised.

"How did I get here?" An confused Aria said, walking over to the trio, "What the hell did you do Shane?".

"I see you locator spell worked" Shane said, ignoring Aria's question.

"The path behind me--".

"Magically disappeared?" Shane finished, "You can thank the talents of Massak, he's a witch, should you try to escape, he'll ensure that you never find your way back".

Aria glared at Shane and suddenly he was on the floor, having trouble breathing.

"Don't ever threaten me" Aria said, glaring at the professor.

Suddenly, Jeremy was also on the floor, screaming in pain, though his scream was muffled from the cloth tied around his mouth.

"Jeremy!" Aria yelled concerned.

"Stop your magic on him" Massak said, "And I'll stop my magic on your friend".

Aria glared at Massak, but nonetheless, stopped her magic on Shane, letting him breath and Massak let go of Jeremy.

Aria bent down and removed the cloth from Jeremy's mouth, "Are you okay?".

"I'm fine" Jeremy assured, "Are you?".

"I don't know" Aria whispered, making Jeremy look at her in concern.

"So the gang's all here" Shane said, after catching his breath, "Silas and Damien await".

***

Damon walked through the woods, still looking for any sign of Aria, but finding none, he refused to go back though, Damon refused to go back till he found Aria.

"Aria!" Damon yelled, "Come on, where are you?".

Before Damon could walk any further, an arrow was thrown into his arm, he took it out and looked at it in anger, "You gotta be kidding me".

Suddenly someone jumped on Damon and kicked him to the floor, Damon quickly recovered and got on top of the attacker and tried to snap his neck when he saw the mark on his hand, it was the hunter's tattoo, "You're one of the five" Damon realised.

Realising Damon was distracted, the hunter quickly flipped Damon over and very easily snapped his neck.

***

Presenting 4x13 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Shane companying the group to find the cure?

Thoughts on Aria now having expression?

Thoughts on Shane telling Damon about his ancestors?

Thoughts on the group now being separated into three different groups, with Aria and Jeremy with Shane, Damon with the hunter, and Rebekah and Kol by themselves?

Next chapter: Deaths >.<