Once again, the table fell silent—this time thanks to Damon's unexpected arrival.
"Wow, why so quiet? I could hear you guys laughing from outside," Damon said, stepping into the dining room with that smug little grin.
I appeared on Elena's cheek. "Everyone's quiet because an uninvited guest decided to show up."
Damon blinked in surprise. "Okay… that's weird."
"Let me take control, Elena," I said.
"Whoa, whoa—hang on," Damon said quickly, throwing his hands up. "I didn't mean anything by it. Just… surprised, that's all. No disrespect."
"Why are you even here?" Bonnie asked, clearly unimpressed.
"Like I said earlier, I want us all to be on the same side," Damon replied smoothly. "Sure, we got off on the wrong foot, but I'm sure we can fix that."
"You killed people," Bonnie shot back.
"I stopped," Damon said with a shrug.
"After I kicked your ass twice," I reminded him.
"And honestly," Elena added, smirking, "the first beating should've taught you not to mess with him."
Bonnie and Elena chuckled. So did I.
Damon, though, had that curious look on his face—the kind you only see when someone's scheming.
"So… you can still see what he sees, even when he takes over your body? Interesting," he said, clearly fishing. "But what I really want to know is how this even happened. I mean, how does a powerful sorcerer end up inside a teenage girl?"
He's trying to figure out how to kill us. Obvious.
"Long story short? She ate one of my fingers," I said. "Didn't die. Now we're bonded."
"Wait—you ate his finger?" Damon asked Elena, eyes wide.
Elena groaned. "I was five."
Damon grinned but kept poking. "Okay, so that explains how you're in her body. But I'm curious—how'd you die? I mean, Stefan says you just… vanished. Seems odd. A sorcerer as powerful—and evil—as you just disappearing one day? Who managed to pull that off?"
"No one," I said flatly. "I didn't die. I got bored. So I cursed all twenty of my fingers, scattered them, and set myself up for reincarnation. Figured the next era might have something more interesting to offer."
Damon squinted at me, skeptical. "You expect me to believe that? You got bored and just… let yourself go?"
"Yes," I said simply. "After a thousand years of fighting, slaughter, and conquest… yeah. It got repetitive."
Damon clearly wasn't buying it, and I could see him trying to read between the lines—looking for a crack, a loophole, anything useful.
"Okay, I'm officially bored now," I said. "You're asking stupid questions, hoping to find a weakness."
"What? No," Damon said, feigning innocence. "I'm just curious—"
"Don't play me for a fool, Damon," I interrupted, voice cold. "That pisses me off. I'm over a thousand years old. You're what—barely past your first century? I've seen better manipulators than you try and fail to get information out of me."
My presence darkens the room.
"Trust me, little vampire. If I had a weakness, you'd be dead already for even trying to find it."
Damon looked scared—and not just a little. I guess he really is afraid of Elena letting me take over again, especially after what I did to him last time.
Now it's my turn to ask the questions.
"Have you infiltrated the council yet?" I asked, voice cold and to the point.
"Not yet," he said, trying to stay calm. "Still working on it."
"Work faster," I snapped. "Because when I open that tomb, I'm getting a few vampire allies of my own. And unlike you, they won't be as much trouble. So I suggest you prove yourself useful—before it's too late."
Damon's eyes narrowed. "So that's why you want the tomb open so badly. You're after allies."
"Just three," I said with a grin. "The rest? I'll kill."
"And you're still saying Katherine's not in the tomb?" Damon asked, clearly still clinging to hope. "Then where is she? If she wasn't trapped, why didn't she come find me?"
"Simple. She doesn't love you. She never did. The only thing Katherine's ever cared about is her own survival."
His face hardened in defiance. He clearly didn't want to believe me.
"To be honest," I continued, "I wanted to kill her. But Elena sees her as family and wants to help her. Don't ask me why."
Damon swallowed his pride and turned serious. "You said survival. Help her with what? Who's she running from?"
"One of the Originals. Klaus," I said plainly.
Stefan stiffened. "Original?"
"Yeah," I said, locking eyes with both of them. "You really think your race just popped into existence? The Originals were the first family of vampires—immensely powerful and unbelievably dangerous. That's who Katherine's been running from for over five hundred years."
Damon scoffed, though his confidence was clearly rattled. "And no one's tried to take them down? Just group up and stake them?"
"You don't kill the Originals like you do any other vampire," I said with a smirk. "You need a specific type of wood to do it—White Oak. And even then, it's risky. Killing an Original kills their entire bloodline. So if one of them sired you—or the vampire who sired you—you die too."
That wiped the smirk off Damon's face.
"Still want to pick a fight with the Originals?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "Because if so, I suggest you do something useful first. Starting with that council."
"Okay, I see your point. Don't mess with an Original," Damon muttered.
"Well, me and Elena don't exactly have the luxury of avoiding them," I said flatly. "Klaus is coming after her."
"Why? Because she looks like Katherine?" Stefan asked.
"No," Elena answered. "It's because he needs me to break his curse."
"Curse? What kind of curse are we talking about?" Stefan leaned in.
"Klaus is a hybrid—half werewolf, half vampire," I explained. "But his werewolf side is locked away."
"Wait, werewolves exist?" Damon looked surprised. "If they do, why haven't I seen any?"
"Be thankful you haven't," I said. "Werewolf bites are lethal to vampires. And most werewolves are good at hiding. Not to mention, a lot of them haven't activated their curse yet."
"Their curse?" Stefan echoed.
"Yes. Werewolves are cursed to transform during a full moon—but only after they take a human life. That first kill is what triggers the curse. Before that, they're just... human. A bit stronger, a bit tougher, but still human."
Everyone at the table stared at me, wide-eyed.
"In fact, there are two untriggered werewolves living in Mystic Falls right now," I added.
"WHAT?!" they all said in unison.
Elena and Bonnie looked especially shocked.
"Guess I forgot to mention that. It's Tyler... and his father," I said casually.
"Wait—Tyler's a werewolf?!" Elena gasped.
"An untriggered one, yes. But trust me, it's in his blood. Same goes for his dad. They just don't know it yet."
Damon narrowed his eyes. "You said werewolf bites are deadly to vampires. How deadly?"
"Deadly as in 'slow, agonizing death' kind of deadly," I said. "And before that thought even forms in your head—yes, if you go after them, I will kill you. There's no known cure."
I smirked.
"Well... except for me. I can probably heal it. Probably."
"Hey, you don't have to worry about me," Damon said, holding up his hands. "Like you said—everyone in this town is yours. I know better than to test you now."
"And who says an old dog can't learn new tricks?" I smirked.
Everyone chuckled—except Damon, of course.
"Alright, let's get back to the Klaus problem," I said, tone shifting.
The room went quiet again. Everyone's attention locked in.
"Klaus's werewolf side is sealed away. The only way to unlock it is through Elena—he has to kill her to break the curse. That's why we're working on getting stronger... because when the time comes, we plan to make a deal," I said.
"A deal? With Klaus?" Damon raised an eyebrow. "And why would he even listen to you?"
"Simple," I replied. "We know how to make more hybrids. And that's exactly what he wants. If he wants that knowledge, he's going to have to play nice. But here's the issue—if he's stronger than us, he'll just take what he wants by force. That's why I'm hunting down the rest of my fingers. Once I'm strong enough, we offer him a trade: his curse gets broken, and we walk away alive."
"But you just said Klaus has to kill Elena to break his curse," Stefan cut in, confused.
"Correct," I said without hesitation. "And he will."
Elena tensed but didn't speak.
"…But I'll bring her back."
Damon blinked. "Just like that?"
"Just like that."
Damon leaned forward, curious. "So how do you even make more hybrids?"
I grinned. "That's for me to know."
"Why?" Damon pushed, clearly annoyed.
"Because I don't trust you," I said flatly. "Frankly, I'm still debating whether I should've killed you the moment you disobeyed me the first time."
"Hey, come on," Damon tried to joke. "Everyone makes mistakes."
"And that was your last one," I said, locking eyes with him. "If you screw up again, your life ends. You're not valuable enough to keep around if you're just causing problems."
The air in the room felt heavier.
"So I suggest you start acting right, Damon. Now leave. You weren't invited, and we were actually having a decent time before you showed up," I said coldly.
"Shame. I was hoping for dessert," Damon smirked, but his fake charm was wearing thin.
He finally left, and as the door closed behind him, the tension in the room dissolved. Everyone slowly eased back into the evening, conversation picking back up. I disappeared back into Elena's soul, letting her finish the dinner in peace.
The Next Day
Nothing major happened. The school day came and went without much excitement. Dinner the night before actually ended on a good note—Bonnie even started to warm up to Stefan, which is a win in my book. I'd rather not have potential allies glaring daggers at each other during every conversation.
Today's Friday, which means it's game day. Big football game tonight. Elena's going because Bonnie's on the cheer squad, and she wants to support her. Whether Mystic Falls wins or loses doesn't matter to me.
What does matter is that tonight, Mr. Tanner dies.
No big show. Just a quiet, mysterious death.
I already planned how it's going to happen—simple and untraceable. I'll command one of my crows, filled with cursed energy, to dive straight through his chest. If it dies in the process, so be it. A small sacrifice for a necessary cause.
And no, I'm not telling Elena.
She won't suspect anything either. Sure, it'll be considered a strange death, but I'll make sure any trace of me is wiped away clean. No footprints, no magical residue—just a dead man and a stunned town.
Let's be honest… he's an arrogant, miserable bastard. Who's really going to miss him?
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AN: I have to say I'm pretty surprised almost everyone picked Rebekah, I mean it's just crazy overwhelming, so yes, Rebekah will be the love interest for Elena. Again surprised how fast this happened on my Marvel and DC fanfiction it took weeks for people to pick.