(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Forty

Elena presses her fingers into Cassandra's head and she hums in response. It does a lot to elevate the pain there. It's not gone but it is better. She's not sure if it's the head wound or a telepathic pain. She can't tell the difference any more. Which isn't a good thing. She shouldn't get hit in the head this much. She gets it. Why they do it to her. But come one, give her one stupid villain that doesn't know to take her out.

"Tell me more," Elena tells Rose who gives her a look back as Cassandra rolls her eyes.

"You don't have the same pull your sister does" Rose scolds.

"Captivity has made her pushy, eh?" Trevor teases moving into the room. "What do you want to know doppelicious?" He asks Elena.

"Who were you running from?" Elena asks him.

"The Originals" Trevor answers.

"Yeah, she said that. What does that mean?"

"The first family, the old world. Rose and I pissed them off." Trevor admits.

"Mm-hmm." Rose scolds and gives Trevor a look.

"Correction, I pissed them off" Trevor corrects himself. "Rose had my back and for over half a millennium, they wanted us dead"

"What did you do?" Cassandra asks and waves off Elena who pulls her fingers back from her head.

"He made the same mistake countless others did: he trusted Katerina Petrova" Rose answers, Cassandra raises an eyebrow.

"Katherine" She corrects, Rose hums and nods.

"The one and only, the first Petrova human Doppelgänger" Rose offers.

"I helped her escape her fate and now I've, sorry, we've been marked ever since" Trevor adds.

"Which is why we're not gonna make the same mistake again" Rose warns the two girls. Cassandra and Elena turn to share a look. Before Cassandra pulls a very pained face.

"Ah" Cassandra complains and falls to her knees.

..........

Damon reaches up for his head and groans. Stefan is quick to lean over and take the wheel.

"What is happening?" Stefan asks.

............

"My head" Cassandra complains and then throws her head back, her eyes glowing red.

............

Stefan watches Damon, worried as he almost claws at his hair.

"Judgey" Damon complains realising that Bonnie is doing something. Affecting Cassandra's powers. He gets that she is trying to send a message, he can feel that much, but it doesn't help him right here, right now.

..............

Elena touches Cassandra's shoulder, Elena's eyes glowing red as Cassandra makes telepathic contact with her own sister. The two of them share a look and they both hear the incoming radio message from Bonnie. 'Stefan and Damon are coming for you'. Elena fights a smile but a look from Cassandra stops her. Game faces are needed right now. Cassandra shifts her wrists in her binds.

"She needs to lay down," Elena tells Rose. "Please....." Rose looks at Cassandra who does really seem like she is in pain. Rose then nods.

..............

Damon is looking at the red marks now forming on his wrist. The phantom pain was fine, he could deal with that. But this means that things are not getting better for Cassandra. They're keeping her hands restrained by the wrist and it's starting to rub away at her skin. Stefan glances over at his brother from the passenger seat.

"What are those?" He asks, Damon lets out a breath and pulls his sleeves down over his wrist.

"Cas" Damon answers. "We're....connected" He teases and smirks a little. Stefan gives him a look. Damon sighs a little, rolls his eyes. "Someone's hurting her" Damon manages through his clenched teeth. "And when they do...I get this pain or...marks now apparently" He rubs his wrist again. "Ally tried to explain it to me but she started rambling about magic and....funky stars and moon phases and squirrels" Stefan looks at Damon. "Okay, I stopped listening to her, alright?" Damon admits. "She started talking about magic and I just zoned out" Stefan shakes his head and looks down at his phone.

"We're getting close. Jeremy said there's an access road just past mile marker 6." Stefan reads from his phone. Damon takes a blood bag from the back seat. He starts drinking and casually looks over at Stefan.

"If you want some, just ask," Damon tells him.

"I want some" Stefan admits. Damon was honest with him about how he feels about Cassandra, it is only fair he offers something back. Damon snorts.

"Ah, that's so sweet" Damon mocks slightly. "You're gonna be all big and strong" He teases. "Save your girl but don't worry, I've got your back. It'll be fine"

"I'm not joking. I've been drinking a little every day. I'm slowly increasing my intake and building up my strength" Stefan counters. Damon gives him the blood bag. Stefan drinks. Damon is actually a little surprised.

"Does Elena know you're drinking blood?" He asks.

"I've been drinking hers"

"Hmm, how romantic" Damon mocks, Stefan gives him a look.

"You drank from Cassandra" Stefan points out.

"Ah, bad day" Damon argues. "Doesn't count...." Damon then drinks some blood in the blood bag in his hand. "Since we're road trip bonding, remember the days when all you lived for was blood? You were the guy who ripped someone apart just for the fun of it"

"You mean when I was more like you?"

"Yes, Stefan, exactly" Damon comments. "Back when you put blood into me so I could be a big bad vampire. I wonder if Elena would be so quick to open her veins to that guy. By the way, what happened to that guy? He was a hoot"

"I guess he found something else to live for" Stefan comments and then smirks. "Just like you" Damon clutches to the steering wheel and tenses his jaw. Oh boy, getting called out like this is not a good look for him. He knows he admitted it, but it is a little soon for it to be used against him.