CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
fool me once

Samuel walked along the edge of the driveway as his boots creased inward, he rolled his eyes as he glared holes into the wooden door in front of him. He would've normally caused a scene or even just pretend he didn't care but deep down he did. His fist smacked onto the wood and he felt it shift as he kept pounding on it. "What!" Damon looked annoyed as he pulled open the door "go and bother someone else".

Samuel huffed in annoyance "you idiots can't even watch my sister for even a second without her being kidnapped or taken. This is absolutely ridiculous, I leave town for not even an entire day and I get a message from Stefan of all people that Elena was kidnapped. Talk about a never ending drama!".

Damon sighed as Samuel walked inside and sat down on the sofa, "well not my problem, did you really come all the way over here to yell at me? Stefan's the one obsessed with Elena, go bother him for once".

Samuel glared at Damon slightly "don't you think I've called! Your stupid brother doesn't pick up his phone, and he's the one who told me about Elena in the first place, figured I'd try my luck here".

Damon rolled his eyes "she's clearly not here, and even if she was you'd think I care?". Samuel looked at the doorway slightly "okay, then where did Stefan go? He's obviously looking for her so he'd find someone who could help him figure it out".

Damon walked past Samuel and grabbed onto his glass of bourbon "why don't you go and find him yourself, I'm not my brother's keeper". Samuel was silent for a moment as he watched Damon closely, he stood up off the couch "you're up to something".

His gaze meant with Damon's as the man chuckled slightly "and what makes you say that? You're the one who came here with a mission, your sister isn't here so why don't you just go home. Leave me alone". Samuel groaned in annoyance "don't tell me you're already trying to open the tomb, I told you I'd help you figure it out when the time was right...".

Damon looked angry "when the time is right! If you think for a second I'd let some stupid human help me, you're mistaken, you're an idiot for even thinking I'd let you help me, I don't need help, especially yours!". Samuel huffed slightly as he paced along the rug "you have no idea what you're even tampering with Damon, your heads so damn cloudy and full of this obsession with opening the tomb that you don't see how dangerous it is. I mean you'll end up getting a bunch of people killed if you actually open it".

Samuel grunted when Damon slammed him into the wall, his eyes were dark and he looked like he was on the verge of biting Samuel's head off. "I don't care who dies! I will do everything in my power to open that tomb, even if I have to drag your sorry ass into it myself to prove just how right I am! Stop acting like you're some big hero, you can't stop me".

Samuel sighed "you're not thinking rationally about this Damon, the second that tomb is open do you have any idea what could come out of it, if any of those vampires get out....". Damon let go of Samuel "they won't! We'll burn them all, no one is getting out except the one person I need to get out of there. She's already been suffering for too long, it's time I get her out, the second I find her I'll be gone".

Samuel looked at Damon "Katherine is as good as dead if you get her out, you have no idea what you're dealing with, this is way more bigger then some stupid tomb full of vampires and it's gonna bite you in the ass when it all comes crashing down".

Samuel stormed off towards the door "I'll find Elena myself, you Salvatore's clearly can't keep her safe". Samuel pulled open the front door and angrily slammed it shut behind him as he walked off.

—

Samuel would've given up by this point, finding Elena was a task apparently he couldn't do alone. He was rather surprised when he got a call from Stefan claiming Elena was fine and safe. How he ended up outside of a graveyard was beyond him, but the things he did for the sake of keeping Elena safe was a never ending list. He would've thought he'd stopped caring about her the second he left town, yet he came back and now things were just starting to get worse.

It wasn't even about the tomb anymore, Samuel knew deep down a lot more was going on around here and apparently no one else cared enough to see it. He walked along the pathway, his gaze spotting Elena as she awkwardly handed Stefan a flashlight. The boy smiled at her before he climbed into the ground.

Samuel knew the tomb was likely beneath where he was standing as he got closer and sighed slightly. He looked into the darkness and saw the shadow of Stefan placing torches along the ground. He moved back slightly and his gaze looked at Elena "you're really letting them open this thing?".

Elena looked surprised by his words as she looked at him, half of the time he didn't really care what people did. He never questioned people's decisions or actions, he just watched them realize their mistakes far too late and it was almost sickening to witness.

"If it's what it takes to get Damon out of town then I'm not going to stop them from opening the tomb. This could be a good thing, Damon is trouble". Samuel looked at Stefan below him as the boy pushed rocks and dirt out of the way of the entrance of the tomb. "Stefan's trouble too, even if his intentions are good he could still end up being trouble for you".

He let his words sink into Elena's head as he moved away from her, he watched as Stefan climbed out of the ground. He was covered in dust and dirt as he set the shovel down onto the ground carefully.

"Cleared the debris away. Set the torches like you asked. We can get down now without getting hurt". Samuel chuckled slightly at the sight of Stefan grabbing cans of gasoline "gonna burn them after all? Didn't take you for the violent type Stefan".

Stefan sighed deeply "it's the only way to get rid of them, if destroying a few vampires saves people then what does it matter if they burn''. Samuel shrugged as he handed a flashlight to Bonnie "you clearly can't do this alone, that's why you have Bonnie and Sheila helping you get it open in the first place".

Sheila sighed deeply "I don't bother with vampire business but this will put an end to Damon's threats towards Bonnie, I ain't letting her get used just by nobody now, so let's finish this once and for all".

Samuel turned at the sound of footsteps, his gaze meant with Damon's as the man looked around at everyone. "Brother. Witches and of course you're here as well Samuel, doesn't surprise me".

"Someone has to watch over you idiots" he trailed behind Bonnie as he made his way inside the tomb. It was slightly dark aside from the torches Stefan laid out along the ground. Dust and grime coated most of the ground and it made Samuel look around in discomfort as he looked at the tomb entrance.

He felt a deep sense of dread looking at it, it reeked of blood and death as he looked away from it to ease his mind. "This place is ancient, crazy to think a bunch of vampires are just rotting away behind a simple door".

He turned at the sight of Sheila walking along the room and lighting the torches "air, earth, fire" she pauses as she grabs a bottle of water from Bonnie's grasp "water". The water coats the ground and Samuel moves back when it hits his shoes slightly, Elena looks almost amused by the sight of the water bottle.

"That's it? Just water from the tap?" she questions the Bennett witch in front of her and the older woman looks at her. "As opposed to what?" Elena shrugs as she looks away in embarrassment "I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something". Samuel chuckles as he pushes his arms over his chest slightly "kinda glad I came here, I'm watching history happen right in front of my eyes".

"we're ready" Bonnie says as she smiles nervously, those words make Samuel feel the urgency of this entire situation. Damon was practically on the verge of breaking down as he grasped tightly onto the blood bag in his hands. Katherine was his main concern in all of this and once the tomb was open Samuel knew everything after that was gonna be a disaster.

Samuel kept his distance away from the tomb entrance as he listened to the chant of Bonnie and Sheila. He's personally never seen many witches perform spells in person, aside from the ones who were wishing him harm. This time felt more peaceful as he heard the loud creak of the tomb door pushing itself open. The stone looked almost weightless and creepy as it forced itself open.

"It worked" Bonnie smiled proudly as she looked at her grandmother with a look of gratitude. Samuel looked at the tomb with a sense of wonder as he felt his insides shift in discomfort at the thought of what lurked inside its walls. It was almost as if he could sense the vampires inside, the hunger and rage was so strong and intense it made his head ache.

His eyes couldn't look away from the darkness in front of him as he heard the whispers coat the inside of his ears. Such soft whispers, it made him wanna walk inside and never look back, the feeling faded away when he heard the distant sound of Elena.

Damon held onto her arm as he dragged her towards the entrance of the tomb. Sheila looked angrily at the vampire "don't take her one I'll bring the walls down" the woman raised her hands and Damon smirked.

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?" He scoffed as he tugged Elena back more. Sheila rolled her eyes "as much as I trust you" Elena sighed deeply as Samuel stood in front of her and moved her away from Damon.

"You're insane if you think she's going in there where a bunch of hungry vampires are waiting. That's a death sentence just waiting to happen". Elena moved forward "enough all of you. Look, he needs leverage, he needs to know that you're not going to shut the door when he gets inside. I get it. I'll go".

She grabs a torch and sighs deeply "we'll be in and out, don't even worry about me". She walks inside and Samuel looks at her as she slowly disappears into the darkness. That same feeling from before comes back and this time it's stronger, he grumbles to himself as he grabs a torch and walks towards the entrance. "Samuel, don't you go in there after your sister, she's perfectly capable of handling herself". He sighed at Sheila's words "someone's gotta make sure this doesn't turn into a shit show, besides I'll be fine, I've handled vampires before".

He walked inside and he could hear the sound of voices pushing themselves through his ears. They all sounded so angry as he kept walking in search of Damon or Elena. Even with the torch in his hand he could barely see what was surrounding him. He kept walking and groaned when he tripped over something, his eyes widened when his wrist was grabbed roughly.

The vampire looked mummified as its fingers pryed themselves apart. He heard the soft grumble leave its mouth as its eyes ripped themselves open, they were so dull and dark as he felt the sharpness of fangs sink into his flesh. He winced as he pushed the end of the torch against the vampire's face, it hissed out in agony as the hold loosened. Samuel forced himself to stand up quickly before he moved back to avoid being eaten alive by a feral vampire.

He turns at the sudden sound of Elena's scream bouncing off the tombs walls "shit Elena". He went to run to search for her but he yelped when his ankle was grabbed roughly as his face planted into the ground. He let out a heavy breath as his hand reached for the torch beside him, his eyes widened at the sight of a bunch of vampires all lying along the walls. They were looking right at him, perhaps coming into the tomb wasn't the best idea after all. Then again his impulse kept leading him here, the second that door pushed itself open he knew he needed to walk inside.

The vampires that lurked inside were calling out to him and he felt the lingering scent of death that coated the air. He needed to help these people, such creatures that once held a sense of peace and hope as they lived among humans. Now they were rotting away into nothing but empty vessels as they cried out.

They were like broken statutes and he could see the flesh snapping apart as he pushed himself into the wall for support. His hands rested on his knees as the torch flame began to flicker to an end, his wrist was bleeding slightly and his face was covered in dirt.

He let out a heavy breath as he felt himself calm down, the moment of silence and peace slipped away when he felt fingers pry around his wrists. "Oh you gotta be kidding me!" he grunted as he stood up quickly, the torch began to flicker like crazy and he looked at the vampires that surrounded him.

The one that managed to drink his blood even if for a split second was moving toward him. The flame went out and Samuel screamed when he was pushed into the wall, he felt the fangs tear into his neck harshly and he could feel the blood running down his skin and seeping into his shirt.

He went to stab the end of the torch into the vampire's chest but he screamed when his hand snapped. The torch hit the ground with a weak thud and he felt himself being pushed into the ground as the other vampires surrounding him began to twitch.

It was clear these vampires were using him as a source of survival, the one that held more strength than the others dragged Samuel closer to the rotting vampires. Samuel ignored the pain in his hand as he tried to reach for the torch, he couldn't see much but he could feel the hands that touched him.

He blinked and found himself being carried, he shielded his eyes from the bright light when he was pushed out of the tomb. His body smacked into the ground roughly and he turned and glared at Damon angrily "asshole". Damon didn't look impressed by Samuel's words "well if it weren't for this asshole, you'd have been killed by those vampires. I should've left you there, but I didn't so you're welcome!",

Samuel huffed in annoyance as he pushed his broken hand against himself "gee thanks Damon for not being a complete asshole for once in your life". Samuel didn't care when Damon left, the tomb felt so much quieter as he watched the torches all burn out. He felt a big wave of death hit him as he looked at the tomb entrance. He sighed deeply before he slowly made his way outside, no matter what he did he was always ending up being attacked by vampires.

It all started the second he stepped foot back into mystic falls, maybe him coming back wasn't the best decision he could've made. Then again with what was lurking in the shadows he knew he was trapped. Elena may have been able to take care of herself but this entire thing was going to end badly for everyone.

—
authors notes:
the way this shit took me an entire week to write... I can't even... this was suppose to be updated on Monday, it's literally Sunday. I struggled so damn hard to write this but then out of nowhere inspiration hit for literally all of my tvd fics so expect updates slowly through the week. My update schedule literally went down hill so fast but I'm gonna try my best to keep following updates in order of the days they are set for, I'm gonna do better I promise!