CHAPTER THIRTEEN / ACT ONE

I Can't Let You Die

The sharp sting of vervain brushed against Angelina's cheek, awakening her from her slumber. She let out a loud groan of pain as her eyes slowly adjusted to her dark surroundings.

The cold air made her tremble, but she couldn't warm herself as her wrists were bound to a chair. She looked around the dimly lit space, realizing she was in a basement packed with various tools. She gazed down at her body and observed ropes around her ankles and wrists, but her focus slowly turned to the figure who bowed down to reach her eye level.

Her bones felt like they were on fire and she almost couldn't breathe. Her skin was as cold as snow and an odd taste lingered in her mouth.

She casted a glance to the side of the room, where a swarm of other men, presumably other vampires that she was too distracted by the current situation to recognize, stood watching her.

"Finally," The voice said, which she recognized as Fredricks. "You're awake." He said, though she remained quiet and glared at him.

"Pathetic." He spat before plunging a wooden stake in the side of her stomach, a loud scream from her mouth, the pain from the stake feeling 100 times worse. "145 years left starving in a tomb thanks to you and your sister." He began.

"First two weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that can drive a person mad. I thought you might've wanted to get a taste of that before I kill you."

"Trust me," The Petrova muttered, her voice hoarse and weak. "I've dealt with far worse pain than you can do ever give me. So you might as well just kill me now."

He softly chuckled before rising from the ground, grabbing gloves from a nearby table and sliding them on his hands. He then took a step over to the ropes that were holding the brunettes' hands together and pulled as hard as he could. Angelina's bloodcurdling screams echoed across the room once again as she felt her body worsen.

"This isn't right!" A voice entered the room. She glanced over in the direction of the door to see another one of the tomb vampires entering the room, protesting against him.

"She killed Bethanne." Fredrick replied harshly, referring to the night before as he stepped closer to his friend. "One of us, Harper. And don't you think for a second she wouldn't kill you if she had the chance."

"Pearl says we're not here for revenge, right? I say that's exactly what we're here for." He went on, taking a sharp knife from the table and grasping Angelina by the chin, forcing her to face him in the eyes before running the knife along her cheek, her blood running down the side of her jaw and onto her knee. "Starting with this."

"And then her sister, the Salvatore's, and anyone else that gets in our way."

"This isn't right!" The vampire continued to protest against him, attempting to pull him off of her but was put to a halt when Fredrick grasped him by the neck.

"You're gonna want to let go of me!" Fredrick yelled.

"Miss Pearl will be home soon." He replied, his tone shaky.

"Miss Pearl is no longer in charge." The vampire responded lowly before turning towards his men that stood in the background. "Tie him up, and then stake him down!"

The vampires all grabbed him and forced him to a chair in accordance with his orders. Just then, yelling and loud knocking on a door could be heard from upstairs.

"It's the Salvatore's!" A voice yelled into the cellar. Fredrick smirked as he approached Angelina. "Untie her and take her upstairs." Before leaving the basement and going upstairs to answer the door, he ordered his men.

He opened the door to find Stefan and Damon in front of him, both drenched from the ongoing storm. "Mm, beautiful weather." He sighed as he looked out the window. "Not a ray of sun in the sky."

"Where's Angelina?" Stefan asked in a sense of urgency.

Fredrick grinned. "Billy!" He summoned one of his men, who took Angelina by the arm and dragged her out of the darkness, her body limp as she panted heavily, her hair a mess.

"Let her go." Stefan gave the order as he attempted to enter the house but was stopped by a force that prevented him from doing so.

"Woah, I'm sorry." Fredrick taunted him. "You haven't been invited in."

"Miss Gibbons?" He summoned an elderly lady, who appeared from around the corner and stood behind him, evidently under compulsion.

"Yes, Fredrick, honey?" Miss Gibbons asked calmly.

"Never let these bad men in."

"I'll never let them in." She replied before walking away, her tone creepy and monotone.

"You have a nice day." He mocked before closing the door in their face.

Elena, Stefan, and Damon walked through the halls of Mystic Falls high school together in search of help to save Angelina. They weren't going to give up on rescuing their friend just because she was locked in a home full of spiteful vampires. But, because neither of the Salvatores could get inside, and they didn't want Elena to go in alone or she might be mistaken for Katherine, they needed another human.

Which was where Alaric came in.

They paced through the dimly lit corridors, searching every room for the history teacher. They eventually turned a corner and were met by Alaric walking in their direction. "Well, don't you look... alive." Damon said sarcastically, staring at the frightened man.

"You can't hurt me." Alaric answered hoarsely.

"Oh, I can hurt you, all right." He taunted.

"Mr. Saltzman," Stefan spoke up. "We need your help."

"What is it?"

"Angelina—the vampire you met a couple days ago. She was kidnapped by some other vampires." He informed the history teacher as they all migrated into his classroom. "They lady who owns the house is compelled to not let Damon and I in, we need you."

"I would go, but—" Elena spoke up after a long period of silence.

"Your life is valuable." Damon answered for her before turning his head back to Alaric. "Yours on the other hand.."

"Your ring," Stefan began once more.

"What about it?"

"Let me recap," The dark haired vampire opened his mouth once more. "You tried to kill me, I defended myself, you died. Then according to my brother, your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving anything out?"

"Yeah, the part where I try and kill you again." Alaric stepped closer to the vampire. "Only this time, I don't miss."

"Alaric, please." Stefan stood in his way. "If you won't do it for Damon then do it for me and Elena."

Alaric stared at the Salvatore in the eyes for a short moment before shaking his head no. "I'm sorry, Stefan. But it's not my problem."

"That's a shame." Damon sighed sarcastically. "Because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife."

"You're lying."

"Am I? Why don't you ask her for yourself? Coward."

Damon left the classroom while Stefan and Elena reluctantly followed behind. Just as they met the doorframe, Alaric yelled out for them to stop. "Alright, wait!"

"I'll go."

"Good choice."

Alaric knocked on the door to Miss Gibbons home, drenched by the water from the rain as he waited for an answer. The door opened and there stood Fredrick, a faint smile falling from his lips. "Oh, good, someone's home! Uh—could I use your phone? My car broke down a few miles up the road, this was the first house I saw."

"Well, lucky you." Fredrick answered bluntly.

"Yeah, lucky me.. it's no trouble, is it?"

"Not the slightest."

"Great." Alaric faked a smile, successfully entering the house and making his way further inside almost immediately. "Hey man, I really appreciate it, it's rough out there." He thanked him, rubbing his hands together to warm himself up.

"Billy, show out visitor where the phone is in the kitchen." Fredrick order his friend. "And get me something to drink."

"Sure thing," Billy said whilst nodding and motioned towards the kitchen, prompting Alaric to follow. The two entered the kitchen, where Miss Gibbons was chopping cucumber slices with a smile on her face, as if everything was normal. "Hey, Miss Gibbons, this guy wants to use your phone."

"Oh, sure honey!" Miss Gibbons smiled as she pointed towards the phone which hung on the wall in the corner. "It's right there."

"Thanks." Alaric responded, approaching the phone as if everything was normal, and carefully pulling a small pocket knife from his jacket pocket. Billy immediately recognized the dagger and lunged at the vampire hunter without hesitation, but was stabbed in the chest before he could attack.

Alaric quickly turned on the sink and the blender to make some sort of noise to drown out Miss Gibbons' voice as she questioned the situation.

"I'm really sorry, but you're gonna need to invite a friend of mine inside." He instructed her as he lead her to the back door and opened it up to where the eldest Salvatore brother stood on the other side.

"Oh, I'm sorry. He's not allowed in the house."

"Yeah, I know but you gotta make an exception."

"Get her out of the house, now!" The dark-haired vampire gave him the order, and he pushed her outside onto the back porch as Damon began to compel her. "Tell me the truth, Miss Gibbons."

"Are you married?"

"No."

"Parent's, children, anyone else who lives on this property?"

"No, it's just me."

"No? Good." He grinned before snapping her neck and speeding inside the house.

"You were supposed to compel her!" Alaric argued with him, grabbing him by the jacket.

"It doesn't work that—"

"She was human!"

"And I'm not, so I don't care!" The Salvatore yelled as he pushed him out of the house. "Now, get out of here. Get rid of the body!"

The vampire crept around the house's corner, checking for any vampires. Though they were too preoccupied playing games and socializing at a pool table in a small room together to notice. He snuck into the kitchen quietly, grabbing a knife from the counter as he heard footsteps grow louder and louder.

When he turned around, he saw a vampire enter the kitchen and plunged the knife into his heart before anyone could hear his screams, knocking him unconscious.

He crept past the crowd of tomb vampires and into the basement as quietly as he could. Soon after entering, he noticed Angelina's pale and weak body tied to a chair, half conscious, fresh wounds surrounded her body, and crimson blood stains covering her clothes, along with the vampire chained to a chair next to hers.

He dashed over to her and attempted to untie the ropes, but was stopped by the sting of vervain.

"What are you doing here?" Angelina inquired, her tone shaky.

"Helping you, what does it look like?" He replied harshly as he took the gloves from the side table and put them on before uniting her wrists and ankles.

"Why?" She continued to question as he helped her stand up. "You hate me now, don't you?"

"Yeah, and if anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me." He remarked before leading her out of the room, but was stopped when Angelina tugged his sleeve and turned towards the other vampire who tried to save her sat there with stakes in his legs. "Save him too."

"Fine," He groaned. "Go run, now."

The doppelgänger obeyed his commands and exited the basement through a dark and foreboding passageway that led directly to the outside as fast as her legs could carry her. When she opened the door at the end of the dark corridor, she was met by Stefan, and immediately fell into his arms as her legs gave out from pain.

"Stefan—"

"Shh, you're safe," He reassured her, holding her close. "Don't worry, everything's gonna be okay." Angelina nodded as he grabbed her by the hand and ran into the woods to avoid being seen.

"Thank you," Angelina panted.

"Worry about that later, we just gotta get you home safely."

The two dashed down the hill as fast as they could, eventually reaching the car. Elena, who had been waiting in the car the entire time, stepped out and ran to the backseat before opening the car door as Stefan safely placed Angelina inside.

Stefan sat beside her, while Elena returned to the front seat and hurriedly searched for the keys. She searched the cupholders, seat crevasses, and the glovebox, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Stefan.."

Suddenly, the car windows smashed, and the Salvatore was yanked out of the car by Fredrick, who mercilessly beat him to the ground. Angelina panicked as she looked over in the direction of her doppelgänger, who had fallen out of the car due to the impact of the attack.

Weakly, she rushed out of the car with a sense of urgency and rushed over to the fighting vampires.

"This is for Bethanne," Fredrick shouted as he stabbed Stefan with a large tree branch. "And this is for the tomb!"

"No!" As he stabbed him in the chest, aiming for his heart, Angelina grabbed him by the wrist and twisted hit with all the strength she had left in her body, snapping his arm as he fell to the ground in pain.

Stefan fell down with the stick still in his chest, scraping against his heart as he groaned in pain. "It's gonna be okay, Stef." She assured him as she pulled the stick from his chest and threw it to the ground.

"Y-You haven't fed, have you? You're weak, you need blood!" She yelled as she bit into her hand and fed it to him, though he still remained feeble. Tears began to well up in her eyes, making it difficult for her to see. However, through her tears, she noticed a small sliver of blood on Elena's hand out of the corner of her eye and took her hand without hesitation and placed it on his mouth.

Stefan tried to protest by shaking his head to avoid the blood, but she fought back. "No Angelina, run-"

"Please Stefan, drink!" As her voice began to break, she pleaded. "I-I can't let you die." As her tears fell onto Stefan's face, they both looked each other in the eyes. He hesitantly bit Elena's hand, causing the Gilbert to awaken at the sudden pang and adjust to her surroundings.

Angelina grinned as she let go of Elena's hand and turned to face her doppelgänger, who sat up and let her boyfriend suck the blood from her hand. Stefan let go of Elena's hand just as Fredrick rose to his feet.

"Elena, get in the car!" Angelina gave her instructions, and she followed them. Stefan got back to his feet, picked another stick from the ground, and dashed over to Fredrick, pinning him against the tree, dark veins forming beneath his eyes.

Stefan stabbed the stake repeatedly into his chest, rage and fury overpowering him as the tomb vampire's body fell limp, though he continued to plunge the stake into his chest.

"Stefan!" Angelina grabbed him by the wrist, stopping his outburst. "He's dead... you can stop."

The Salvatore turned to face her and then back to Fredrick before dropping his lifeless body to the ground. Angelina bit her lower lip, terrified, as she stared at him. She took a step closer to him, hesitantly, and despite feeling as if she could pass out at any moment, she hugged him.

Well aware she had just unleashed a monster.

AUTHORS NOTE
i was gonna say something here but i forgot so....

THE WAY ELENA ONLY SAID FIVE WORDS THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER LMFAO