Bad Feelings (Zach's Daughter series, Book Five, The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter 18__Resident Evil

Enzo was here, just chatting it up with Damon.

And I was staying as far away from both of them for the moment, as I could in the mansion that was the Salvatore Boarding House. 

I was in the library, pouring blood into a glass when I sensed someone behind me, and it wasn't Stefan, Damon, Elena or Caroline. "Get the hell out of here before I rip your heart out and feed it to you."

"Well, Damon was right," Enzo told me. "You will be a remarkably brilliant vampire . . . once someone teaches you the ropes." 

"I've lived with two," I told him, slowly turning to face him. "For years, now. I think that I know." 

"Oh, no, you don't," Enzo told me. "You don't know the rush, the feeling of power, the feeling of being able to do anything in the world. Seeing as how you were before you turned, you're gonna be even better now. And being that I'm half the reason you're the way you are now, I figured it could be the least I could do to show you the way." 

"No, the least you could do is get the hell out of my house and go away," I told him, walking forward. "Go far away." 

I walked past him. 

Enzo turned after me. "So you're not even the least bit curious about what you could do?" 

"I'd rather burn in the sun than talk to you," I told him.

Enzo took my hand in his, looking at my daylight ring.

"Where'd you even get this thing, anyway?" Enzo asked. "I thought Bonnie Bennett lost her powers." 

"I got it fro Liv," I told him, pulling my hand away from him forcefully. "But, please, feel free to stick around and be a dick and ruin more lives around here while you're at it."

I turned around and walked away.

~~~~~

Stefan and Elena were having weird dreams about each other. They called Liv to get help on it, to explain it, to make it go away.

There was a loud knock on the front door.

I opened it to see a blonde guy that I had never seen before. "We're all good on bibles, thanks." 

I started to close the door.

He put a hand out to stop me. "I'm Luke Parker. Liv's twin brother." 

"Liv has a twin?" I asked. Damon and Elena walked into the foyer. I looked at them. "Is it possible for there just to be one of someone around here?" 

Elena looked at Luke. "Where's Liv?" 

"Busy," Luke answered.

I sighed. "Come on in." 

~~~~~

"What do you mean, you can't stop their visions?" Damon asked.

"Our magic doesn't work like that," Luke told us. "We're not bigger than the universe." 

"Then why are you in my house?" Damon asked. I cleared my throat. "Sorry, our house?" 

"Because we need your help," Luke answered. "We think the Travelers are about to make their move. Their leader Markos is here." 

"From where?" I asked. "Chant camp?" 

"The Other Side," Luke told us. "He's been dead for centuries, and we think the fire sacrifice allowed him to escape." 

"Perfect," I said. "A dead ol guy with a mysterious, evil plan. I'll take another drink now." 

"Stefan just called," Caroline told us. "He said the scrap yard's been completely cleared out." 

"And let me guess," Damon said. "The witches don't know where Markos is." 

"You guys said the visions are trying to draw Elena and Stefan together for something," Luke told us.

"For our Doppelganger blood," Elena told him. "The Travelers need it for some prophecy." 

"And if the Travelers are the  ones who need you blood, doesn't it make sense that you're not only being drawn together, but also . . ." Luke trailed off.

I nodded in understanding. "Being drawn to them."

"Well, this just keeps getting better and better," Damon told us.

"Wait," Caroline told us. "I don't get it." 

"If the visions are a road map, then we need more clues," Enzo told him. "Break out the popcorn, blondie. Elena's little sex romp isn't over yet." 

~~~~~

Elena had sat through the visions until she had seen an address, and Damon and Enzo had left to go find it. 

They found Markos. Enzo was MIA. Damon had convinced Markos to stop the visions on Stefan and Elena. Markos had told him about the war between witches and Travelers, and a curse that the witches had put on Travelers, which made sure that they couldn't reunite. Something would always kill them. Natural disasters, plagues, anything you could think of. Damon had also found out that they were putting passengers into the townspeople of Mystic Falls. 

The visions were over.

I was in the library again, looking at the sword on the wall. I slowly walked toward it, taking it off and holding it, raising it.

Stefan walked in, seeing, rushing toward me and taking the sword away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I tried to push past him. Stefan grabbed my arm. "Nicola." 

"I thought that I could do this, Stefan," I told him. "I thought that I could push through despite everything that has ever happened to me, and I thought that I could be better than this. But I'm miserable. Everything is different now. I shouldn't be here. I--I . . ." I looked down, close to breaking. "I should've just let myself die." 

"Hey, no, don't even think like that," Stefan told me. "Nikki . . ."

"What am I supposed to think, Stefan?" I asked. "That everything is supposed to be okay? I spent most of my life fighting, and I am still fighting, but I am tired of fighting. And I know that you wanted me to live, to stay, that both of you did. If my dad could see me right now, he would hate me. It doesn't matter what I do, nothing is the same, and nothing is just going to--" 

I couldn't even finish.

Stefan wrapped his arms around me, letting the sword fall to the floor. 

I leaned my head against his shoulder, crying silently. 

"Listen to me, listen to me," Stefan told me. "Everything's gonna be fine. I know I couldn't be around before, but I'm here now, and I'm not gonna let you fall apart, okay? I'm gonna teach you." 

"Stefan . . ." I trailed off.

"It's okay," Stefan told me. "Everything's heightened right now. You'll be fine."

"When?" I asked.

"Soon," Stefan answered.

I sensed more than heard Damon standing in the doorway behind me, knowing that he felt guilty for what he had done to me.