Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

91. It's Complicated

"Hello again," Enzo said. Tripp had managed to evade capture after driving Damon and Enzo across the border, but Enzo wasn't gonna let the guy who kidnapped him run free. "That was quite a mess you made at the border last night."

He was standing in the man's cabin with Matt, Riley and Stefan. The cabin was dark and empty, the same as it had been when Enzo was stuck there.

"So, what's your deal?" Riley asked the vampire hunter, frowning. "You just go around hunting down vampires minding their own business and drive them over the border for no reason?"

"I'm a founding family member," Tripp said, as if this was an appropriate answer for everything he'd done.

"You almost killed four people that I care about last night," Riley reminded him. "Try harder."

He looked away from her, refusing to answer. Getting bored of waiting, Enzo grabbed his shoulders in the threatening manner, causing the hunter to gasp in shock.

"Come on, Enzo," Stefan protested. "Ask him what you want to know, let's get this over with."

Enzo grabbed the man's neck as he spoke. "Stefan has already made a very passionate argument in favor of snapping your neck, whereas in a surprising role reversal, I've opted for the 'let's think this through, get all the information before we kill him' method."

"Don't be a dick." Matt looked disgusted, both with Enzo, and the situation that he found himself in. "You know you can dry the vervain out of him, compel him to forget everything, and he'll never set foot in Mystic Falls again."

"You don't really think he's a one-man vampire busting operation, do you?" Enzo asked incredulously. "While Tripp tortured me for the names of your friends, I had a front-row seat to quite a few urgent phone calls and visits from mysterious right-hand men. I'd just like to know what they're up to while he's here with us."

"Probably patrolling the streets for more vampires," Riley guessed through gritted teeth. "Am I right?"

Again, Tripp chose to say nothing. Tired of his silence, Stefan grabbed a hammer and bashed it into Tripp's hand, making both Matt and Riley wince. Tripp screamed out in pain.

"They're tracking vampires!" he answered, looking at Stefan. "Like your friend Caroline Forbes."

Riley's brown eyes widened. "They're tracking Caroline?! How the hell do Tripp and his mindless goonies know about Caroline?" She was clearly accusing Stefan of something, and he knew it.

"Tripp stole Ivy's phone," Stefan explained, turning to Enzo. "Take two hours, get the names of his men and what they know. After that, get rid of him," he instructed, leaving the group to their own devices. Enzo was more than happy to oblige.

"I thought I could make the world a better place by getting rid of them," Tripp said, so quietly that the humans had to strain to hear. He looked up at Matt. "You're on the wrong side."

"I'm not on the wrong side, man," Matt said. "My side's just really freaking complicated."

"That's what happens when you make friends with vampires," Riley said under her breath. "Look, Tripp, I get it. I may not be from a Mystic Falls 'founding family', but I come from a family with a long history of hating vampires. If you're in this world, and you're not on their side, then you're pretty much dead."

"And you don't think that's wrong?" Tripp asked, looking between her and Matt. "You let vampires run your lives and you're not strong enough to do anything about it."

Riley gave a humorless half-laugh. "Actually, it's the opposite. We're strong, Tripp. So strong that we can live our lives alongside vampires. Why do you think we're still here?"