Humanity 5 "The Beginning"

Chapter 20

DAMON'S POV

I tap my finger angrily against my glass as Luke sits by the fireplace chanting. This is taking forever. I get impatient and throw an ice cube at him.

"That's not helping." He snaps, keeping his eyes closed.

"Well, you've been failing now for an hour, so at this point, I can't imagine it's hurting." I scoff.

I look towards the doorway as Stefan walks in. "Damon, I know you're out a friend, but...I'm not sure this guy's the best replacement." He tells me.

"I don't think this guy's the best anything if his locator spell skills are any indication. Where's your sister?" I ask Luke.

She seems to be much better at magic than he is.

"She's tired of being almost murdered." Luke says. "Look, I can find any person anywhere on the planet, okay? There's just something weird with your friend, Enzo. I can't get a read."

"Enzo?" Stefan asks curiously. "Didn't he, uh, go to cape horn?"

"He flipped his humanity switch. There should have been a body count all the way to the airport." I tell Stefan.

It doesn't matter where Enzo is. It's a matter of how many people he's killed without feeling any guilt in doing so.

"Well...why are you looking for him?" Stefan asks.

"I don't know, Stefan." I say sarcastically. "Vampire with no humanity who wants me dead for killing his girl."

"Well, maybe he hired a witch to block whatever Luke's doing. Is that possible?" Stefan asks Luke.

"A cloaking spell? I guess." Luke shrugs.

"That would mean that he doesn't want to be found, so, uh...why don't you just drop it?" Stefan asks me.

Before I can snap at him to stay out of my business with my friend, Tyler Lockwood walks into the house. Great.

"We have a problem. Markos turned Sloan into a vampire, had her drink the doppelgänger pureblood hybrid blood, and after some chanting ritual thing, she turned human again." Tyler explains.

He's been kidnapped by travelers, which means we probably can't trust him fully, but right now, he seems to be a reliable piece of information.

"He cured her?" I frown.

"He cured her to death. The blood took away her vampirism, but left her in the state that she was in just before she turned." Tyler clarifies.

"The state of being dead. Got it." Stefan says and I nod.

"So, it kills vampires. What does the spell mean for the witches?" Luke asks.

"No one cares. Keep going." I tell Tyler, wanting more relevant information.

"The point is they feel if they can get rid of all magic, they'll break some lame ass witch curse." Tyler explains.

"Markos said they can't settle anywhere without evoking earthquakes or hell fire, but they break the curse, and they move right into Mystic Falls." I conclude, remembering my conversation with Markos when I wanted to stop Ashley's dreams about Stefan.

"And come after Ashley and me today...as in now." Stefan puts the pieces together.

Goddamn it. Why do my brother and my...ex girlfriend...have to be caught up in this mess?

"Okay, well Markos had a good week or two in the land of the living. Now, where is he so we can kill him?" I ask Tyler, wanting to end this.

"No idea." He shrugs. "They were moving camp when I got out."