Book Four: Solitude (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Matt and April are in the backroom. Matt looks through the window into the Grill. He quickly moves to a shelf with a tool chest and opens it.

"When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me these scary stories about vampires." April admits, Matt pulls out some tools and moves to another shelf.

"They're just stories." Matt pulls the shelves away from the wall.

"Not to that man out there. There's something so familiar about him."

"Look, this is a messed up situation, but the last thing you want to do is buy into that guy's craziness." Matt pulls off a panel on the wall and reveals. "You're gonna be fine. We're getting out of here." Matt assures her, she notices what he is doing.

"What is that?" She asks him.

"It's from the old air conditioning unit" Matt answers. "It's why it's always so cold in here" He grumbles and pulls away the cover to the hole where the old unit used to be. "The owner was too cheap to fill it in." Light pours in through the hole and Matt and April share a look.

"How did you know that was there?" April asks him.

"I told him" April and Matt look through the hole to find Diana crouched on the other side. "Give me a hand" she holds out her bow and quiver and April takes them from her before Diana starts climbing through the hole. "Can you two get through that?" She asks them as she takes her bow and quiver back from April. Matt nods.

"Yeah" He answers.

"Good, when you get out....go to my apartment, tell Damon, I'm sorry..." Matt frowns a little but nods, he stops Diana when she goes to move passed him.

"Diana, that guy is armed. If you go out there, he's gonna kill Jeremy." Matt warns her.

"No one's killing anyone." She assures him and then nods at the hole. "Go."

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

Inside the Grill, Connor finishes setting up the werewolf venom bomb. Jeremy sees a stake and slowly walks towards it.

"You may be a potential hunter, but if you make one move, I'll break all twenty seven bones in your hand." Connor points out.

"They're not all bad, you know. Some of them, they're my friends." Jeremy admits.

"Your friends, huh? Yeah, I had a friend like that once. She got turned by this vampire I was hunting. He thought it would be ironic."

"What happened to her?"

"I didn't want to hurt her. She promised that she would keep it under control, but...a vampire's like a loaded gun. Eventually it's gonna go off." Connor shows Jeremy his tattoo. "That's why I got this." Jeremy looks down at the piece of his tattoo near the crook of his elbow.

"So, you killed your own friend?!"

"Listen, if you're gonna be like me, you need to understand. Vampires kill humans, hunters kill vampires." They hear a noise near the front. "We've got company." Connor turns off the lights and turns on the music very loud. He grabs Jeremy and pushes him down to the floor. A hybrid opens the front door and carefully inspects the doorway. He looks down and sees a tripwire. He looks right and sees a loaded bomb. He carefully steps over the wire and onto the mat. A light goes off under the mat and the bomb is activated. He closes the door carefully behind him. When he lifts his foot from the mat the bomb goes off. The hybrid goes flying through the air due to the force of the explosion. But the noise gives Diana the break she needs, she darts out of the back room and throws out her lasso, it snatches around Jeremy and she yanks, Jeremy is pulled towards her out of harms way. She drops the lasso and moves across the Grill behind the bar whilst Connor shoots the gun at her multiple times but misses. Diana ducks down and hides behind the bar as she pulls her bow from her back and readies an arrow. Connor turns to approach Jeremy who takes a step back and onto another mat with a switch that activates another bomb. Connor walks around, keeping the gun pointed to where Diana is.

"Connor, you don't have to do this!" Diana shouts.

"Di!" Jeremy shouts, Diana hears the noise of the bomb ticking. Jeremy stands completely still as the bombs are right next to him and he's standing on the pressure-sensitive mat that triggers them.

"Connor, we can end this right now! Just put down the gun and come with me!"

"Sure. Come out, I'll hand the gun over." Connor mutters sarcastically.

"Think about this. No one has to die. I'll tell you everything you need to know!"

"I don't make deals with vampire sympathisers!!!" Connor shouts at her.

"Listen to me, if you die right now, then your whole life, all that killing; it'll all be for nothing." Diana points out. Elena approaches one of the entrances to the Grill. She pushes her hair behind her ear and listens to Stefan talking to Connor. "I can give you the truth. Just put down the gun and let Jeremy go!" Diana states. Elena opens the front door and enters the Grill. Connor is still holding the gun towards where Stefan is hiding. He turns his head and sees Elena.

"Please!" Connor points his gun towards Elena. "Don't hurt him." Elena pleads. Connor points the gun on Jeremy.

"You come any closer, he's dead."

"Elena, get out of here!" Jeremy scolds.

"They are the only family that I have left. Just – just let him go." Elena begs.

"You hear that?" Connor shouts at Diana. "Your sister is watching. I will shoot the boy right in front of her! On the count of three! One! Two!" Diana stands up and raises her hands in surrender, she shoots Elena a look as Connor points the gun at Diana instead. Elena rushes at Connor. He shoots his gun and hits Jeremy in the stomach with a bullet. Elena throws Connor to the ground and sits on top of him. She grabs him by the throat and starts choking him. Jeremy is bleeding profusely and clutching his wound. Diana notices that the bomb is about to go off and she rushes towards Jeremy, grabs him, and throws herself and Jeremy over a table. The bomb explodes. Elena looks up.

"Jeremy?! Diana!" Elena begs. In her moment of panic, Connor manages to rip her hand off his throat and tosses her to the side. He rolls on top of her and grabs her by the hair. He goes in to stake her, but Elena grabs his wrist and fights back. Diana rushes at Connor and knocks him off Elena. She kneels down next to Connor, grabs him, and rushes off. Elena breathes heavily and gets up. She looks around the Grill, but doesn't see Connor or Diana anywhere.