CHAPTER SIXTEEN | HEART OF DARKNESS

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BEING IN A CONFINED SPACE WITH DAMON WITH THE LAST THING THAT RILEY WANTED TO ENDURE RIGHT NOW. The Evans girl had unwillingly been pulled on a trip to Denver with Damon and Elena to recover Jeremy. Their goal was to work out exactly who their bloodline originated from, and since Jeremy could speak to the dead, they wanted her to contact Rose.

As they wandered through the baseball courts, Elena glanced around in search of her younger brother. She knew that baseball was something he had grown to enjoy since he moved from Mystic Falls. "There he is!" Gilbert yelled the moment she saw him.

The three watched Jeremy who was inside one of the cages. He swung for the ball and missed, which caused the Salvatore to scoff. "Next time we compelled him, remind me to make him better at baseball."

Riley rolled her eyes and turned around to face him whilst Elena wandered inside the cage to speak with Jeremy. "Do you seriously think there will be a next time?"

"Who knows with Elena." Damon playfully nudged her Riley with a pointed look on his face. "There might even be a time after that. Shocker."

The three filled Jeremy in on their current dilemma, as well as what had been going on in Mystic Falls since he departed. "Katherine sired us. Rose sired Katherine, all we need to do is find out who sired Rose." Damon explained.

Jeremy placed his baseball bat back in the holder, then raised his eyes between the three. "So you three traveled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?"

"As selfish and as odd as that sounds, yes we did," Riley chuckled softly, then folded her arms across her chest.

"Well, I can't. I could talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them. I never even met Rose."

"What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" Damon glared harshly back at the Gilbert boy, who scoffed in disbelief.

"Rose spent a long time running from Klaus, as well. She and Damon were close so maybe we can use him as a connection?" Elena suggested in her slightly less intimidating voice.

Jeremy stood silently for a moment as if he were thinking over his options. "Fine, fine. Can we do this later? My friend just got here. And, yes, Damon, I actually have some. I'll call you when I'm done." As Jeremy walked away and toward his friend, the three turned around to notice that Jeremy's friend was actually Kol Mikaelson.

"Guys, It's Kol!" Elena yelled out as she and Riley backed away from the Original. As soon as Damon turned around, Kol hit Damon straight across the face with a baseball bat.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Jeremy called out to Kol with a bewildered look on his face as he watched Damon fall to the ground.

"Jeremy, he's not your friend. He's an Original!" Riley yelled in the direction of Jeremy who stood a little behind Kol.

"No hard feelings, mate. But, we're not buds." Kol pulled out an aluminum bat from the rack. "You know, I'll never get used to aluminum. But, hey, at least it won't break."

Kol went to take another swing at Damon, but Riley used her magic and caused the vampire to drop to his knees her clutch his head. Damon took that as an opportunity to grab the broken stake Kol had used on him, and stake him with it.

"You're welcome, by the way." Riley breathlessly told Damon, who shot her an appreciative smile.

"Did you kill him?" Jeremy looked down at the Original with widened eyes.

"No. But, it'll give us a head start." The Salvatore's first instinct was to walk over to Riley and pull her by the hand, but instead, he just gripped her shoulders and pulled her with him. "Come on."

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"For the record, she's the one who wanted to stop at a motel. Not me." Damon pointed accusingly at Elena, who was carrying some bags while they walked up the staircase to a motel room.

"Actually, I could have used a stop, too. So, shut up?" Riley snapped back. She was desperately trying her best to act like she didn't care or even like him, but Damon knew it was a cover-up.

"So, where are we?" Jeremy Gilbert inquisitively asked.

"The corner of somewhere and nowhere where Kol can't find us. Riley's gonna put up a protection spell, just to be safe." Damon nodded in the witch's direction who just glared back.

"Am I?" The strawberry-blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Aw. Thanks, Riley. That's so kind of you."

Jeremy chuckled quietly at Riley and Damon's exchange, then exhaled. "I can't believe Kol was a vampire."

"Well, didn't you find it weird that you made a friend so fast? Have you met you?" Damon taunted again.

"Not helping." Elena glared when she opened the door of the hotel room. "This should work, right, Jer?"

"Yeah, it doesn't really matter."

"Alright, Whoopi, what do you need?" Damon spoke as he began to draw all the curtains. "Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?"

"That's not how it works, dumbass." Riley shot him a look again.

"I know, I know. They push from the Other Side and you pull from this one." Damon rolled his eyes whilst he shook his leather jacket from his arms.

"Alright, you, uh— you got a picture of her?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow toward Damon, who scoffed in response.

"Picture? From what? Our trip to Disneyland?" Damon started to look around the room as if he was speaking to a ghost. "Come on, Rose. You're not gonna actually make us wait, are you? I know you're obsessed with me."

The three humans just scoffed. "Alright. Tell me something about her."

Damon nodded and sat down on the bed beside Riley. "She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came, she didn't fear it."

"I mean, I can't speak for Riley. But, when I was with her, she definitely wasn't in paradise." Elena raised an eyebrow, then she turned to the Evans witch who nodded.

"It was in the dream he gave her." Jeremy finally spoke up with a sigh of relief. "She's here."

"Is she lonely on the Other Side?" Elena suddenly asked from beside her brother, who's attention was placed in an empty spot where they assumed Rose was stood.

Jeremy smiled. "She says not to worry. She's happy."

"Is she still hot?" Damon playfully grinned in an attempt to get a rise out of Riley, but the witch remained quiet.

The Evans girl noticed Jeremy furrow his brows. "She misses you. Both of you." He glanced between Riley and the Salvatore before he turned back to his sister. "And, you, too."

A small flicker of a small appeared across Riley's face. "Uh. Rose, who sired you?"

There was a moment of silence whilst Jeremy listened to what Rose was saying. "She was sired by a woman named Mary Porter."

"Oh. Scary Mary." Damon rolled his eyes. "Well, where is she, Rose?"

"She said just sit tight and she'll see what she can find out."

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Whilst they were waiting for Rose to give them a location on Mary, Riley took a breather outside. The light wind brushed against her face and caused her to pull her jacket around her body tighter. She felt like she couldn't breathe in the motel room because she just felt so overwhelmed. Riley cared about Damon more than she could comprehend and more than she cared to admit. The way that she felt about him defied logic itself.

"Huh. You thinking?" Damon spoke up from behind her. She turned her head to look over her shoulder and she saw him stood a short distance behind her. "So, come on. Why'd you always come outside to think?"

"It's simple, really. Thinking inside just isn't as fun." Riley simply shrugged when she felt him stand beside her.

"What're you thinking about?" Damon whispered, then used his elbow to gently nudge her.

"You, mostly." She admitted with a heavy sigh once her eyes connected with his. "I know that you didn't sleep with Rebekah. But, you have to admit it looked questionable as Hell. I just— you didn't even tell me what you were planning, Damon. You could've told me. But, instead, you left me in the dark. I don't understand—"

"—I didn't think." He cut her off immediately. "I just didn't think. I guess I've taken you for granted a little. I never thought to tell you about the plan because I didn't think you'd be upset. And, I know that's stupid now, considering how it looked. I really am sorry."

"I know you are. I know, I just—" Riley nodded slowly when she felt him grip her hand, but before she could say anything further, Jeremy stepped into view. "Uh. Jeremy, what's up?"

"Rose found Mary." He spoke suddenly. "She lives in Kansas."

"Okay then. Let's go."

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Damon, Riley, and Elena all walked cautiously up the abandoned house in which Jeremy had been told Mary lived. As they walked inside the house, Damon instinctively kept Riley close by out of protection while Elena walked ahead with her torch.

"Ooh. It's like Vampire Hoarders," Damon commented when Elena cast a light on the room that was completely flooded with books.

"Who is this Mary person?" Elena whispered.

"Scary Mary. She's really old. Super creepy."

"And, how exactly do you know her?" Riley spoke out as she tried her best to seem unbothered by Damon's connection with the vampire in question. while the vampire smirked. "Right. Why doesn't that surprise me."

"What? I said creepy, not ugly." A loud noise crashed from another room which caused the three to look at each other. Damon finally entered the room, followed shortly after by Elena and Riley. Elena moved the torch around the room to reveal a vampire who had been staked to the wall. "Mary."

"Quite contrary." A voice boomed as the lights flickered on to reveal Kol sat in a chair with a baseball bat in his hands and a smirk on his lips. "Shame about Mary. She used to be a blast. Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie."

The doppelganger took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow. "And, were you her favorite?"

"You mean, did I turn her? I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair." Kol chuckled. "I spoke to my brother, I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now, you never will." He patted the baseball bat against the floor and grinned toward Damon. "So, where did we leave off?"

Kol hit Damon's legs at full force with the baseball bat, which caused him to fall on the ground while Kol continued to beat him. "Riley, Elena, get out of here!"

Elena rushed for the door but Kol just sped in front of her and blocked her way. "According to my brother, you're off-limits. Please, don't test me." The Original threw Elena to the ground before he turned to Riley. "And, you. I've always thought redheads naturally tasted better. Let's see, shall we?"

Kol hissed and attempted to lunge at Riley's neck, bit Damon pulled himself from the ground and slammed Kol against the wall. "Don't touch her!"

Kol raised an eyebrow and threw Damon away with ease. "Oh, dear. I've hit a nerve. Relax, darling. I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck. You killed my brother and then you humiliated me." Kol rapidly hit Damon a few more times with the bat. "There, now we're even."

Kol simply tossed the baseball bat to the ground and disappeared outside of the house. "Elena, check on Jeremy." The witch told her before she quickly sprinted outside, which left Riley and Damon alone.

"Are you okay?" The vampire quietly muttered once he lifted himself up to his feet and brushed her hair from her neck. "He didn't bite you, did he?"

"No. He didn't. I— I'm fine." She took an instant shaky breath then turned in the direction of the door.

"Wait a minute, Riley. Just wait." Damon gently pulled her back by the hand and twirled her around to face him. "You didn't have to come today. You could've just carried on avoiding me. You could've stayed in Mystic Falls with Stefan, but you didn't. Why?"

The witch scoffed in disbelief and then snatched her arm back from Damon's grip. "Because Elena asked me to come."

"You could've said no." He countered simply.

"I'm not doing this." Riley breathed. She turned away but he sped in front of her again. "What do you want me to say, Damon? That I wanted to come and make sure that you didn't die? Even when I don't wanna be near you, I can't stand the idea of you being hurt. So, yes, I wanted to come because I care about you." There was a short pause as they both stared at each other silently until Riley finally walked out of the house.

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