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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
lost cause
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( fool me once )

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sunday, November 13, 2009

Harper's POV.

*Sheila Bennett's House*

We got Elena and Bonnie back. Turns out, not only was Elena captured, but so was Bonnie. Her date with Ben McKittrick was really just a ploy to get her kidnapped. Ben is apparently working with Anna to help get the tomb opened. However, unlike Damon, they have a different motive for wanting the tomb opened. Anna just wants it open because her mother is one of the other vampires trapped in there.

I don't know how to feel about that. I know that not all vampires are bad. Stefan is living proof of that. But I also know that Anna thought it was okay to kidnap and threaten my friends. Who knows what type of person Anna is outside of her urgency to get her mother back.

We're now currently at Bonnie's Grams' house, debating our next move. Being a witch herself, Sheila had been the one to use a locator spell to find Bonnie and Elena. She's now our greatest ally against Damon, Anna, and any other vampires trying to get the tomb open.

I'm sitting at the dining table with Bonnie and Sheila. Stefan and Elena are in the living room having a private couple conversation.

"How did you know where we were?" Bonnie asks her Grams.

Sheila takes her time to answer her granddaughter's question. "Many things can fuel a witches power . . . worry . . . anger. . . After Stefan told me that they had taken you, I had a lot of both." Sheila runs her fingers along the grooves in the table. "Simple locator spell was easy after that," she adds.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie apologizes, her bottom lip quivering. "About all of this."

Sheila smirks. "Not as sorry as they're gonna be."

At this moment, Stefan and Elena come back into the room.

Elena sighs loudly. "So what do we do now?"

"For now," Stefan says, "you need to stay here."

"A prisoner, in my own home?" Sheila arches an eyebrow. "I don't think so."

Stefan shakes his head. "I can't protect you if you leave the house."

"We'll protect ourselves," Sheila states firmly, referring to her and Bonnie, and their witchy abilities.

"We need to let him have Katherine back," Elena speaks up. She exchanges a glance with Stefan then with the rest of us. "He's not gonna stop until he gets her. If we help him, maybe that ends it."

"No," Bonnie scowls. "He doesn't deserve to get what he wants."

"What other choice do we have?" Elena argues.

A moment of silence fills the room.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems," Sheila laments disapprovingly. "As much as we tried to do to stay out of it." She looks up at Stefan. "I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire," she makes clear. "Then this will be all over."

Stefan crosses his arms. "We still have to get Damon to agree," he reminds.

"He already agreed once," Elena says.

"Yeah," Stefan says, "and then we double crossed him. So now he's angry."

Elena tilts her head. "He's hurt. There's a difference." She pauses for a moment. "I think I know what to do." She exchanges a look with me.

Uh oh.

*Time Skip*

"I am not going to do that," I say firmly to Elena. She and I are speaking privately in Sheila's living room. Of course, it's not completely private cause I'm sure Stefan can hear every word.

"Please, Harper," my cousin begs with her arms crossed. "Damon isn't going to trust me anymore after I lied to his face. You never lied to him, so he'll trust you."

"I technically did lie to him," I remind her. "I was in on it with you and Stefan. He knows I was helping you guys go behind his back even if I never actually lied to him."

"I know," she says. "But between the two of us, you have a better chance of getting him to listen. Anything I say he'll just disregard, but with you, we might have a chance."

I hate that she might be right.

But I don't care.

"I am not going to do that," I repeat myself. Why won't Elena just let it go? I hate that she's being persistent and annoying, and I hate that she wants me to do something that I desperately don't want to do.

No way in heck am I ever talking to Damon Salvatore alone, not ever again. I can't even fathom the idea anymore. The very thought makes my insides feel like they're twisting into knots.

Elena comes forward and places her hands on my shoulders. "Harper, listen to me. You are the last chance we have. We can't open the tomb without the spell book, and Damon has it. Anna and whoever else wants to get into the tomb are just gonna keep going after Bonnie and who knows who else until they get what they want." She pauses, making sure I'm giving her my full attention.

It's not like I have a choice . . .

Elena continues, "We have a chance to give Damon what he wants, and protect our home. I promise you. If you talk to Damon, I won't let him hurt you."

"You can't promise that," I mumble. Oh God, I'm losing. This is how it always goes whenever Elena tries to get me to do something. She wins, every, single, darn time. I'm always too much of a pushover to stand up for myself, even with my own family members.

"You know what I can promise?" Elena says. "That I'll be there, with you. I'll be outside the whole time you're talking to him, and if you don't come out after ten minutes, I will go in after you."

How is my cousin this persuasive? There comes a point where it's impossible to deny her anything.

"Okay, I'll do it."

I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth.

*The Salvatore Boarding House*

Elena is in her car, and I'm walking towards the front door of the Salvatore Boarding House.

I've never been here before. The humongous mansion has always just sorta been that one house off the road that you think would be cool to live in, but you never actually go there yourself.

I know my dad has been here a few times, though, to visit the old owner of the house — Zach — who I now know was a Salvatore himself.

Oh God, Damon killed Zach. I forgot Elena told me about that. What type of monster kills his own family members? I may be putting myself on the line here by going to talk to him, but Elena was right, we have to do what's necessary to get Damon to leave. I know for a fact that Elena would have jumped at the opportunity to talk to him herself, but like she said earlier, she already blew that by lying to him yesterday.

As soon as I reach the front door, I wish I had walked slower and taken my time. But it's too late now; I'm here, and there's no turning back. If Elena weren't watching me from her car, I probably would just stand here at the front door for a while until I could get the guts to go inside. However, I can practically feel Elena's eyes on me, and I have no doubt she's silently urging me on from within her car. If I don't go inside soon, she'll probably jump out of her car, give me another speech on why I have to do this, and shove me inside herself.

Not really, but something to that affect.

I reach out a tentative hand to open the front door. Elena said it should be unlocked, and she's right. It comes open easily. Two vampires are the only ones who live here, so I guess they don't really have to worry about security too much.

With the door now open, I have no other choice but to go inside. I try to be as discreet as possible as I step into the house and shut the door softly behind me. I feel like a perpetrator in a place I shouldn't be, and this is the last place I should be.

I find myself stuck in a stalemate beside the door. What do I do now? I have no desire to venture further into the house. I have no idea where Damon is, and I'm not ready to see him yet. Heck, I shouldn't even be here. What am I doing? This was a terrible idea.

I keep myself busy for a moment by observing the front of the house. It perfectly matches the outside — old fashioned with tall ceilings. I'm standing on what appears to be an extremely old, expensive dark red rug with intricate gold detailing. The walls are paneled dark in the somewhat narrow hallway I'm standing in, leading to what looks like a much larger room. Little lamps are set up on small, decorative tables leading the way ahead.

"Wow," I breath, getting lost in the beauty and majesty of the mansion. Then I remember the owner has super hearing, and I just made a huge mistake by opening my mouth.

I can't do this. I frantically turn around and reach for the door when a rush of air blows from behind. Startled, I whip around and come face to face with Damon.

Inhaling a sharp breath, I freeze as my heart beats erratically in my chest. Our eyes meet for a split second, but I quickly drop my gaze, unable to remain sane if I keep looking into his blue eyes for any longer.

"What are you doing here?" he questions firmly as if I'm interrupting something important.

"I—" I stammer, "I came to tell you that Elena and Stefan wanna help you get Katherine out of the tomb." My words come out in a rush. I just want this to be over already. I hate confrontations. I hate that I'm the one having to confront the intimidating Damon Salvatore who scares me more than anyone I've ever met.

His eyes narrow. "I've heard that one before. What pray tell has changed?"

He's irritated. I can feel it coming off him in waves.

"This time Bonnie wants to help," I answer quickly. Please let him be convinced. Please let him be convinced . . .

"I'm sorry," Damon says. "I don't believe you." He purses his lips together.

Something snaps within me. "But it's the truth," I insist a little too loudly than I had intended.

He sighs. "I wish I could believe you . . . but I can't."

I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. A tense silence engulfs the air between us as I rack my brain desperately for a solution. I suddenly become aware of the necklace around my neck.

Without even thinking, I open my mouth to speak. "I know how I can prove to you that I'm telling the truth."

Already set to go through with my idea, I take both hands and unclasp my vervain necklace. Once it's off, I place it down on one of the decorative tables along the wall. "Now I can't lie to you," I say.

I don't know where this courage is coming from. I guess I'm just really desperate to get this over with already.

An expression of surprise forms on Damon's face until he returns back to his serious, composed self. He slowly walks forward and stops right in front of me, making me feel small beneath his focused gaze.

I can't believe this. I'm about to be compelled by a vampire. I hope it doesn't hurt or feel weird.

However, what I don't expect is for Damon to lean to the side and grab my necklace from off the decorative table.

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. What is he doing?

Meeting my gaze, Damon shakes his head, making me even more confused. Without warning, he takes my necklace in his hands and brings it up and around my neck. Instead of flinching away, I let him clasp it in place. His long, soft fingers brush against the sensitive skin, filling warmth into my stomach. God, he feels . . .

Before I'm ready, Damon removes his hands from around my neck, flicking my hair out of the way in the process. His eyes lock intently on mine.

This time, I don't drop my gaze.

"I'm not going to compel you." He pauses. "I believe you."

I'm speechless. He could have just easily compelled the truth out of me. Why didn't he?

"I'm trusting you," Damon continues. "Don't make me regret it." He turns around and walks away further into the house, leaving me alone by the front door.

His words ignite something within me that I don't understand. Well, that was . . . not what I was expecting.

*Time Skip*

Elena drives me to the woods by the old cemetery. It's going down tonight. We're opening up that tomb. And with Damon willing to work with us, we'll have the grimoire to be able to accomplish that. He's taken his own car to get here.

The three of us start walking to where the tomb is located. Of all nights, this one probably wasn't the best to do this on. There's a party going on in the woods being held by this Mystic Falls alumni who goes by the name Duke. It's drunks and beers galore out here, and, unfortunately, we're forced to walk through it in order to get to Fell's Church where the tomb is.

"The Duke party. I forgot. I hope they stay clear of the church," Elena worries.

"Your hope, not mine," Damon retorts dryly.

"Elena, Harper, hey," says the voice of Matt Donovan. He and Caroline walk up to us.

Oh great, we really don't have time for this right now. We're kinda busy. They literally have no idea.

"Hey, Harper," Caroline greets first. Her eyes then go to my cousin. "Oh my God, Elena, where have you been?"

That's when I notice Caroline intertwining her fingers with Matt's hand.

For goodness sakes, we really didn't have time for this right now. We have better things to worry about than petty boy drama. Besides, Caroline may be so insecure that she can't see it, but Elena is completely over Matt. The blond has nothing to worry about from her.

Instead of Elena, Damon answers Caroline's question. "Long story, no time to tell it," he says impatiently with an innocent smile.

Darn, this must look pretty weird out of context — me and Elena . . . arriving with Damon to the party . . . and no Stefan in sight.

Caroline glares at Damon. "Wasn't talking to you," she seethes.

"Sure you were." Damon smirks back at her.

"We haven't met," Matt speaks up, holding his hand out for Damon to shake. "I'm Matt."

Damon ignores Matt's outstretched hand. "Matt, there's a reason we haven't met." He then grabs Elena's arm and mine as well, gripping them somewhat tightly, but not enough for it to hurt.

I really hope Damon doesn't do anything stupid in front of all these people. Just the sight of us arriving with him has probably gotten people talking. It's crazy how even in serious situations like this, I'm still thinking about my image. What does that say about me?

"We're going that way," Damon announces, starting to drag us away. I fumble a bit, but fight to stay on my feet. There is no way in heck I'm letting myself fall. That would be absolutely humiliating.

Elena looks back at Matt and Caroline as we're being pushed along. "Ah, I'm sorry, guys," she apologizes for our impromptu retreat.

Not wanting Matt and Caroline to get any ideas about why we're letting Damon Salvatore lead us away, I look back at them as well. "See you guys later," I say as casually as I can.

Soon, we make our way to the others over at Fell's Church. Stefan is there along with Bonnie and her Grams.

Damon whistles to get their attentions. "Brother. Witches," he greets as he strides past them with the grimoire and descends down the stairs underground. There's clearly only one thing on his mind right now: his determination to save Katherine.

Elena and I walk over to the others.

"Everything okay?" Stefan asks us.

"Yeah," I say.

"I just wanna get this over with." Elena sighs. "Are we ready?"

"I guess so." Bonnie nods.

Next thing we know, we're underground at the tomb's entrance. Sheila and Bonnie stand close to the entrance while the rest of us watch from the base of the stairs. Of course, I subconsciously placed myself nearer to Stefan and Elena since Damon is still very much unpredictable, even though he's agreed to work with us. It's pretty tight down here, and I don't like it. I'm not claustrophobic, but anyone would be uncomfortable in a small room underground with a human blood feeding vampire in their midst.

Sheila is lighting torches one at a time. "Air . . . earth . . . fire," she names off.

"Water," Bonnie finishes, holding up a water bottle.

Sheila takes it from her and starts sprinkling the floor with water.

"That's it?" Elena questions, leaning against the wall. "Just water from the tap?"

Sheila continues to sprinkle the floor with water. "As opposed to what?" she asks.

"I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something," Elena says.

Sheila smiles at Elena in amusement before setting the now empty water bottle down on the ground.

The sound of plastic crinkling gets my attention. Damon pulls out a blood bag from within his jacket and begins to unravel it.

"What's that?" Stefan inquires, shining a flashlight on the blood bag.

"It's for Katherine," Damon answers. "Gotta have something to get her going." He looks back at Elena. "Unless your girl's offering a vein to tap."

Elena looks at Damon, unamused while Stefan sighs, putting his hands in his front jacket pockets.

Damon leans over to his brother. "Admit it," he says quietly. "You can't wait to get rid of me."

Stefan chuckles. "I can't wait to get rid of you," he affirms.

"Hmm." Damon grins in an amused I thought so manner.

Bonnie and her Grams have placed Emily's grimoire on the ground with them crouched above it. Bonnie looks up at us. "We're ready," she announces.

Standing closer to Elena, I watch Bonnie and her Grams chant in words I don't understand. They're reciting a spell with their eyes shut and hands interlocked.

Truth be told, I don't really wanna understand what they're saying. I have no interest in understanding the darkness and evil of magic. Just being down here in its presence alone is making me feel uncomfortable.

Damon looks back at Stefan. "What are they saying?" he asks.

"Sounds Latin," Stefan answers.

Elena shakes her head. "I don't think it's Latin." She looks at me. "Do you know what it is?"

"Nope," I respond. I'm just good at school and problem-solving, not a nerd. However, I bet most people assume I'm a nerd just because I get good grades. Elena sometimes forgets that.

Bonnie and her Grams continue to chant. After a few more seconds of reciting the spell, the torches flare up.

I press my back against the wall for fear of getting burnt. I hope they're almost done because if anything else happens, there's not going to be enough room to get out of the way.

Frightened by all the fire, Elena clutches Stefan's arm. "What's happening?" she asks.

All of a sudden, a loud creaking sound comes from the tomb door. It slowly slides open.

Bonnie and her Grams stop chanting and look up.

"It worked," Bonnie says in disbelief.

"Of course it worked," Sheila says.

Damon looks at Stefan. "We have some fires to build," he says to him.

Stefan turns to Elena, touching her shoulder. "I'm gonna go get the gasoline," he tells her. "I'll be right back."

Elena nods before Stefan bounds up the stairs. All attention then goes to Damon. He looks from Bonnie and Sheila, to Elena, and then me.

"You ready?" he asks, his line of sight still directed towards me.

"What?" I question, completely confused and not sure what he means.

Damon ignores my question. Instead, he directs his attention at Sheila and Bonnie. "You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" he says.

Without warning, Damon reaches a hand out towards me, and before I have a chance to get away, he grabs my arm and pulls me roughly to his side. I don't like this. This wasn't a part of the plan.

"Don't take her in," Sheila threatens. "I'll bring the walls down."

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't," Damon retorts. "You think I trust you?"

"As much as I trust you," she says back.

Elena takes a step towards us. "Damon, don't take her in," she pleads. "If you need someone to be your leverage then take me."

"You forget I don't trust you anymore," he tells her.

I've kept my mouth shut this whole time. Do I wanna go into the tomb alone with Damon? No. Would it be the right thing to do? Probably. I told him we would help him get Katherine out. Going in with him would be upholding my part. Besides, in the greater scheme of things, once we're done here, Damon will leave town with Katherine and none of us will have to worry about him again.

I look up at Damon. "I'll just go, okay," I tell him. I hate this, having to submit to a terrible person for the greater good.

He looks down at me. "That's more like it," he says in a pleased tone.

When no one objects this time, Damon lets my arm go and reaches over to grab a torch. "May I?" he asks Sheila in a somewhat cocky voice. It's obvious he's so pleased with himself for getting his way.

Sheila and Bonnie just glare at him. Elena comes up to me and hands me her flashlight. "Be careful, okay?"

"I'll try," I respond, forcing myself to appear confident.

With the torch in his hand, Damon heads for the tomb's entrance and goes inside. I follow him with the flashlight a little slower so I don't trip on anything.

Never have I ever thought I would be desperate to be close to Damon Salvatore, but it's so dark down here that even with the torch and flashlight, I'm having trouble seeing the way ahead. I hope there's nothing alive down here, well, except for the vampires of course. I just wanna get out of here as soon as possible.

Suddenly, I start hearing some eerie whispering sounds. Shivers of fear run down my spine, making me inhale a sharp breath. "What is that?!" I blurt out.

"They can sense you," Damon responds.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for me to be down here then?" I inquire, slowing my pace a bit. It's funny that all it takes is a little adrenaline to get me to talk for once.

Damon doesn't answer my question. Instead, he passes the torch from one of his hands to the other. "Now, where is she?" he wonders out loud before taking off faster ahead.

"Damon!" I call out after him. I stop in my tracks once he's out of sight.

I lost him. Oh great.

I'm too scared to venture further on my own, so I turn back around. Damon left me, so he obviously doesn't care about or need me anymore. If I hurry, I can get out of here soon. I start to trudge my way back towards the entrance when a short girl with dark hair appears in my path.

I stumble back, freaked out. It takes a moment for me to recognize her as the same girl Jeremy was talking to at the 50s decade dance. Oh shoot, this must be Anna.

She slowly stalks towards me. "You must be Harper."

I take a step back.

"We haven't met," she says. "I'm Anna."

When she gets too close, I take a bigger step back. My foot steps on something hard, and I trip backwards before regaining my footing.

"Mother!" Anna cries, shining the flashlight on what I had tripped over.

I thought it was a big stick, but it was actually a female vampire's corpse. There are vampire corpses all around me, and I didn't even notice.

Anna crouches down in front of her mother's body before looking back up at me. "Your friends did this, you know."

"I'm sorry," is all I'm able to say.

Anna rises to her feet. "But you know who else did this?" she asks. "Johnathan Gilbert. I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. I had Jeremy all ready to go, but . . ."

"No!" I cry, raising my hands at her to stay back.

It's pointless, however. Anna easily grabs my arm and sinks her teeth into my wrist.

I let out a blood-curdling scream. I've never felt pain like this before in my life. I've been bitten by an angry house cat before, but nothing like this. The pain steals my vision, my thoughts, my sanity. All I can do is thrash helplessly in her grip.

Before I know it, Anna thrusts me to the ground on my back in front of her mother's body. Pinning me down, she takes hold of my bloody wrist and puts it up to her mother's hardened mouth.

"No! No!" I beg just as I begin to feel a rush of blood leave my wrist, my vision becoming spotty due to blood loss.

I faintly hear someone yell "let her go!" before I'm abruptly pulled to my feet. My head is spinning, but I can make out Stefan's face.

I'm saved.

"Go. Go. I'm right behind you," he tells me.

I don't need to be told twice. Despite my hazy state, I high-tail it out of there. I reach the entrance quickly and run out the tomb door, letting out a breath of relief.

Bonnie and her Grams are standing there with the grimoire in their hands. Elena is beside them. When my cousin sees me, she runs up and gives me a hug. "Harper, you're okay."

"Yeah," I say, hugging her back but being mindful of my bloody wrist.

Elena lets me go, and panic fills her face. "Stefan went in there after you. He can't come out."

"What do you mean he can't come out?" I demand, confused.

We hear footsteps behind us, and our attention is drawn to the open tomb door. Stefan is standing there just inside the tomb to where we can see him.

"The spell is still up," Bonnie explains. "We can't get them out yet."

"Oh my God." I gasp, my eyes traveling to Stefan.

"I heard you scream," he says.

Tears are brimming in Stefan's eyes, and it hurts me more than any vampire bite ever could. He went in there not knowing if he could come back out just to save me, just to save me.

"We have to get them out of there," I say.

"We will," Elena says determinedly.

"Even if we're able to break through the seal," Sheila speaks up from behind us. "We won't be able to hold it for long."

Stefan nods in understanding before going back into the tomb. I assume he's going to get his brother and Katherine to hurry up.

Sheila and Bonnie begin chanting again. I sit down near the base of the stairs while Elena frantically walks around. This is even harder for her than it is for me. To me, Stefan's a friend who I owe so much to for saving my life not once but twice, but to Elena, Stefan is the love of her life.

Once again, the chanting causes the torches to flare up. Elena takes a moment to check out the tomb door. "I think it's working," she says hopefully.

From my seated position, I spot motion from within the tomb. I think it's Stefan at first until the figure reveals itself to be Anna and her mother.

I shoot to my feet and back away from the base of the stairs, knowing that that's where they'll be heading.

Elena remains by the tomb door, watching Anna and her mother warily. 

"I just wanted my mother back," Anna explains to her. "Jeremy's fine. He's outside. We won't touch him." Together, Anna leads her weak mother away up the stairs.

I can't believe she almost used Jeremy to awaken her mother. What she did to me I wouldn't wish upon anyone, and I especially wouldn't let it happen to someone that I love. I got lucky that Stefan saved me in time. Jeremy might not have been as lucky, and the thought makes me sick to my stomach.

The firelight from the torches begins to falter, casting violently moving shadows along the walls. I look to Bonnie and her Grams, knowing that something must be wrong.

The two of them are trembling with stress. I had no idea magic could take such a tole on you, but I shouldn't be surprised. It does have evil origins after all.

"Bonnie, keep going!" Sheila urges in desperation. Somehow keeping it together, the strong old woman manages a glance at Elena. "They better hurry," she warns.

Elena turns back to the tomb. "Stefan! They can't hold it much longer!" she shouts. Suddenly, one torch goes out, and the next thing that I know, Elena races back into the tomb.

"Elena!" I yell after her, running up to the entrance of the tomb and stopping right in front of it. She's crazy, thinking she can go in there while Bonnie and her Grams are struggling to keep the door open. What if she gets trapped in there as well? I can't lose her too.

Staring hard into the tomb, I run a hand through my hair. I hate this, this feeling of helplessness. I wanna do something, but there really is nothing I can do. Keeping the tomb door open is all up to Bonnie and her Grams, and running inside like Elena did will only put me at risk as well with no guarantee we'll all get out.

I hear Bonnie gasp loudly behind me. I whip around to see her kneeling over in exhaustion. "Oh my God," she cries. "I can't!"

"Yes, you can," Sheila encourages, hoisting her granddaughter back up.

The sight of Bonnie in pain makes me mad. She shouldn't have to go through this. Like Sheila said back at her house, witches shouldn't have to suffer at the expense of vampires.

All of a sudden, my ears pick up sounds from within the tomb. Hope surges into my chest.

"Keep going!" I shout at Bonnie and her Grams. "I hear them!"

In a last ditch effort, the two witches latch hands and chant with all they have. Just a moment later, Damon comes out of the tomb followed by Stefan and Elena. The tomb door then closes, and the torches die out. Elena hugs Stefan with relief.

I finally allow myself to calm down and breath. Caught up in the moment, I hurry over to Stefan and Elena, hugging Elena first, then hugging Stefan. "Thank you for saving me," I murmur against Stefan's shoulder.

After letting him go, a thought hits me. Weren't they supposed to save Katherine? Where is she?

I look over at Damon. He's staring at the closed tomb door with a downcast look on his face.

She wasn't in there . . . was she? This was all just a freakin waste of time. I decide not to say anything about it out loud. Now is not the time.

Remembering that Anna said she left Jeremy outside, Elena and Stefan hurry up the stairs to make sure he's actually okay. I go with them, not wanting to be alone with Damon while Bonnie and her Grams are busy talking.

We find Jeremy lying on the ground just outside the tomb. Stefan and Elena crouch down beside him, and I stand above them, watching.

Jeremy groans, starting to wake up.

"He's okay." Stefan sighs. "He's all right."

At this moment, Damon comes up the stairs behind us. All our attentions turn to him. He doesn't do anything but just stand there, staring at the ground with an emotionless expression.

A pit forms in my stomach seeing him so sad. I'm confused when a wave of guilt, sympathy, and sorrow washes over me. I shouldn't feel bad for him, but I do. He's spent the last 145 years waiting to save Katherine, a woman whom he loved so dearly and who could bring him joy, only to discover that she wasn't even in the tomb. All that torturous pining and longing for nothing. He may have done terrible things, but all he wanted was love just like anyone else. Who knows, maybe if he did get Katherine back, he would have changed for the better. But we'll never know. Now, all he's left with is a broken heart.

My cousin, ever the compassionate soul, goes over and gives him a hug. She shakes her head into his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly, the need to comfort him as well pulls at my heart. I told Damon we would help him get Katherine out of the tomb, and that didn't happen. In a way, I betrayed him by being the person to give him hope for something that never would be, even if I didn't know it at the time.

He deserves better.

After Elena stops hugging Damon, I slowly walk up to him. Rising on my tiptoes, I wrap my arms around him.

After a moment, a drop of something cold and wet lands on my head — a tear.

Oh my God, he's crying.

Damon Salvatore does have a heart . . . and it's hurting mine.

*Later That Night in Harper's Bedroom*

Using a cleaning wipe, I wince as I dab the remaining blood from the bite mark on my wrist. All that's left are two little holes, a stark reminder of the horrors I experienced tonight.

I can't help but think that if vampire bites turned you into a vampire like they do in fiction, I would be in transition right now.

I throw away the bloody wipe. I'm just about to say my prayers and lay down for bed when my phone starts to ring. I glance at the caller ID, Elena.

"Hey," I answer tiredly.

"Harper," she croaks out. "Bonnie's Grams is dead."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

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a/n:

I named this chapter "lost cause" for two reasons. One, because trying to save Katherine was a lost cause. And two, Harper sorta realizes in this chapter that Damon isn't a complete lost cause. He does, in fact, care about certain people and has a heart.

-- roxy

( word count: 5.9k )