Chaos (Satisfy Series Book Five, The Vampire Diaries)

Ch. 3: Original Sin

Katherine and Elena had had the same dream about Stefan last night, about where he was at a bar.

Damon and I were going to save him.

Downstairs, Elena wrote in a notebook, then paused to pick up Stefan's daylight ring and looked at it pensively.

Damon was pouring himself a drink.

I walked into the room. "So I've found nine bars along Route 29, and none of them are calle 'Joe's'."

"I had a feeling that there was something wrong all summer, and I ignored it," Elena told us. "But I was right. Stefan was in a safe, and probably killed whoever it was that found him. I know it sounds crazy, that I'm following some psychic dream, but it's the only lead that we have." 

"It doesn't sound crazy," I told her. "It is crazy. But I'm open-minded."

Katherine walked in. "Shot gun." We looked at her. "What? I get car sick in the back seat." She looked at Elena. "Another charming, human side effect you stuck me with."

Elena looked at Damon and me. "Please tell me that she's not coming."

"Trust me, I have no interest in Katherine's well-being, but for some reason, Silas wants her real bad, and if Silas wants her, we want her more," Damon told her.

"Can't we just stash her in the cellar?" Elena asked. "Or maybe a deep, dark well with a pair of water wings?" 

"Do you really think that I wanna take a road trip with you, America's most boring, self-righteous vampire?" Katherine asked. "Just remember, Damon and Kaylin wouldn't have to play bodyguards if you hadn't shoved that Cure down my throat." 

"You were trying to kill me!" Elena told her.

"I will admit, though," Katherine told her. "I take great pleasure knowing that you wasted your one shot at a human life on me."

"All right, play nice, or I'm gonna revisit the deep, dark well idea," I told them.

"I wanna find Stefan just as much as you do, and not just because I don't wanna be a pawn that you can trade off for his life," Katherine told her. "I care about him. I always have. And since we've been having the same dream . . . makes me think you care about him just as much."

Damon looked troubled.

"Okay, train's leaving the station," I told them, walking toward the door. "Choo-choo!" 

*****

I was driving in my black Austin Martin Vanguish down the road. 

Damon sat next to me in the passenger seat. "I forgot how awesome this car is."

I smiled. I let it fade as I looked out of the window. "You sure you know what you're looking for? Last bar had a red awning and a neon sign." 

Elena and Katherine were sitting in the back seats. 

"I'll know when I see it," Elena told us.

"Me, too," Katherine told us. 

"Didn't ask you," I told her. 

"I'm just trying to make conversation," Katherine told us. "Anything to drown out the sound of eggshells breaking. So, Elena, I couldn't help but overhear. You've been dreaming about Stefan all summer? That must be really stressful on a new relationship, especially when you're having those kinds of dreams lying in bed next to his brother." 

"They weren't dreams," Elena told her. "It was just a bad feeling, like something wasn't right with him."

"Oh, no, yeah, sure," Katherine told her. "I totally get it. There's still a connection between you two. Maybe deep down, you know that he was your one true love and breaking up with him was a big mistake."