Chapter 26: Blood and Badges
POV: Sam Barton
Sam's Sensory Enhancement clone counts heartbeats like a supernatural GPS system as eight vampires infiltrate Mystic Falls with the coordinated precision of a military assault. Their scent signatures carry the distinctive markers of tomb vampires—ancient, starved, and radiating the kind of supernatural rage that comes from 145 years of imprisonment.
"They're targeting Founding Family descendants. Mayor Lockwood, Sheriff Forbes, Elena Gilbert. Revenge for being trapped in that tomb since 1864."
Through enhanced hearing that spans three blocks, the Sensory clone tracks their movement patterns with tactical accuracy.
"Three heading toward Lockwood Mansion. Two approaching the Gilbert house. Three making a direct line for..."
"Caroline," Sam breathes, terror spiking through his enhanced awareness.
The Forbes house. Sheriff Liz Forbes, head of the Founding Council. Caroline Forbes, innocent of her ancestors' crimes but guilty by bloodline association.
"They'll kill her to hurt her mother. They'll murder Caroline because her great-great-great-grandfather helped trap them underground."
Sam mobilizes with the efficiency of someone who's drilled for exactly this scenario. Enhanced Speed clone dispatches toward Lockwood Mansion to provide early warning. Defensive Shield clone races toward the Gilbert house to protect Elena. Sam himself sprints toward the Forbes residence, texting rapid alerts to Stefan and Damon while calculating arrival times and tactical odds.
"Eight tomb vampires. Three clones. Two Salvatore brothers if they respond fast enough. Sheriff Forbes has wooden bullets and vervain, but not nearly enough firepower for this level of supernatural assault."
Sam reaches the Forbes house as three vampires breach the front door with enough force to crack the frame. Through shattered windows, he can see Sheriff Liz Forbes firing her service weapon—modified with wooden bullets and vervain solution—at supernatural attackers who shrug off impacts that would drop human assailants.
Caroline screams from somewhere inside the house.
"No. Absolutely not. Not her. Never her."
Sam's Defensive Shield clone blurs through the broken front door, barriers springing into existence between the vampires and their targets. Sheriff Forbes finds herself suddenly protected by shimmering blue energy that deflects vampire claws and provides breathing space to reload her weapon.
"What the hell—" Liz gasps, staring at the supernatural shield that appeared from nowhere.
Sam's Enhanced Speed clone materializes beside her, moving at velocities that blur human perception as it attacks the nearest vampire with vervain-soaked stakes. The coordination is seamless—Speed clone strikes while Shield clone protects, creating tactical advantages that neither could achieve alone.
Sam himself tackles the third vampire through pure desperate courage, using damage relocation positioning to ensure that if he's about to die, one of his clones takes the lethal blow instead of his primary body.
"Stay alive long enough for the Salvatores to arrive. Protect Caroline and her mother. Win through superior tactics and supernatural teamwork."
The Forbes house becomes a supernatural battlefield. Vampires with 150 years of combat experience clash against human determination backed by impossible abilities. Sheriff Forbes empties clip after clip of wooden bullets while Sam's clones coordinate attacks that force the vampires into defensive positions.
Caroline emerges from her bedroom wielding the vervain taser Sam gave her, blonde hair streaming behind her like a battle flag as she joins the fight with Forbes family courage.
"Mom! Behind you!"
Liz Forbes spins and fires point-blank into a vampire's chest, wooden bullet finding its mark and dropping the supernatural attacker permanently. But the other two vampires adapt quickly, using speed and strength to overwhelm human opponents despite Sam's clone support.
The living room becomes a chaos of shattered furniture, supernatural speed trails, and the distinctive sound of wooden stakes meeting vampire flesh.
Then Stefan and Damon Salvatore arrive.
They blur through the damaged front door like avenging angels, moving with vampire coordination that turns the tactical balance completely. Stefan's controlled precision combines with Damon's vicious efficiency, and suddenly eight supernatural combatants fill a space designed for normal human occupation.
"Okay, I admit it," Damon shouts while ripping the heart from a tomb vampire's chest, "the clone thing is actually useful!"
Sam's Enhanced Speed clone fights beside Damon with perfect synchronization, both figures moving at supernatural velocity to corner and eliminate threats. Stefan coordinates with Defensive Shield clone, using barriers to funnel vampires into positions where they can be staked efficiently.
The Forbes house siege lasts less than three minutes. When the violence ends, four tomb vampires lie permanently dead, wooden stakes through their hearts. The other four fled when they realized they were outnumbered and outmaneuvered by opponents who fought with impossible coordination.
Sheriff Liz Forbes stands in her destroyed living room, service weapon smoking in her hands, staring at Sam and his three clones standing together beside Stefan and Damon Salvatore.
The moment of supernatural revelation she's been avoiding for months has finally arrived.
"You've been protecting Caroline this whole time," Liz says quietly, her voice carrying the weight of someone processing impossible information. "You and the Salvatores."
"No point denying it now. She's seen everything—the clones, the vampire speed, the coordinated supernatural combat. Either she becomes an ally or she becomes a problem."
Sam nods cautiously.
"Yes, ma'am."
Liz looks at Stefan and Damon, noting their inhuman speed, their supernatural awareness, their casual treatment of violence that would traumatize normal humans.
"You're vampires."
Stefan inclines his head with formal courtesy.
"We are. But we're not your enemies, Sheriff Forbes."
"And you," Liz turns to Sam, studying his three identical forms with the analytical attention of someone trained to solve impossible puzzles. "What ARE you?"
"The moment of truth. How much can I reveal without exposing transmigration, the System, or the full scope of abilities I'm still developing?"
"I'm human with unusual abilities," Sam replies carefully. "Psychic manifestations that let me create temporary copies of myself. I've been using them to protect people from supernatural threats."
Liz Forbes has spent her law enforcement career distinguishing truth from deception. She stares at Sam for several heartbeats, weighing his words against evidence of her own eyes.
"Human?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"With supernatural abilities?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"That you use to protect innocent people from vampires and other monsters?"
"That's my goal."
Caroline moves to stand beside Sam, her hand finding his with the kind of trust that comes from shared battle and absolute commitment.
"Mom, he saved our lives. They all did. Sam's been protecting me from supernatural threats since the day we started dating."
Sheriff Forbes looks around her destroyed living room—broken furniture, bullet holes in the walls, vampire ash scattered across hardwood floors. Then she looks at her daughter, alive and unharmed despite being targeted by creatures that could kill entire families without effort.
"I'm not reporting this to the Council," Liz says finally, her voice carrying the weight of a decision that could cost her career. "You saved my daughter's life. That matters more than protocol."
"Sheriff Forbes becomes an ally instead of an enemy. One more person who knows the truth but chooses to protect it rather than expose it."
"Thank you," Sam says with genuine gratitude.
"Don't thank me yet. Sam, whatever you are—human with abilities, psychic manifestation, supernatural hybrid—you're now responsible for Caroline's safety. Completely responsible. Because I'm choosing to trust you instead of the Council's vampire hunting protocols."
The weight of maternal trust and desperate hope settles on Sam's shoulders like a lead blanket.
"I understand. And I won't let you down."
As the Salvatore brothers prepare to leave, Damon pauses at the destroyed front door.
"Diet Nostradamus," he calls back with something approaching affection, "you're still weird as hell, but you're OUR weird now."
"From Damon Salvatore, that's practically a declaration of brotherhood."
Stefan nods more formally.
"You fought well tonight. If you ever need backup again, call us."
[QUEST COMPLETE: DEFEND AGAINST TOMB VAMPIRE REVENGE - PART 1]
[REWARD: +700 EXP]
[CURRENT EXP: 1,250/8,500 TO LEVEL 10]
[RELATIONSHIP UPGRADE: SHERIFF FORBES - RELUCTANT ALLY]
[RELATIONSHIP UPGRADE: DAMON SALVATORE - GRUDGING RESPECT]
[FOUR TOMB VAMPIRES ELIMINATED, FOUR STILL AT LARGE]
[CAROLINE SAFETY: MAINTAINED THROUGH SUPERIOR TACTICS]
After the Salvatores depart and the immediate crisis passes, Sam helps Sheriff Forbes survey the damage to her home while Caroline makes coffee for everyone with hands that only shake slightly.
"Four vampires dead, four escaped. But those four know now that Mystic Falls isn't defenseless. That attacking Founding Families brings swift retaliation from supernatural allies they didn't expect."
"Sam," Sheriff Forbes says quietly, settling into her kitchen chair with the exhaustion of someone whose worldview has been fundamentally restructured. "I need you to understand something. I've spent my career protecting people from things that go bump in the night. Most of the time, those things were human criminals. But lately..."
She gestures toward the living room where vampire ash still glitters on broken furniture.
"The monsters are real. And my daughter is dating someone who fights them." Liz meets his eyes with cop-level directness. "That terrifies me and comforts me in equal measure."
"She's trusting me with the most important thing in her life. Caroline's safety, Caroline's future, Caroline's survival in a world where vampires exist and view humans as food."
"I'll protect her," Sam promises with absolute sincerity. "With my life, if necessary."
"See that you do. Because Sam, whatever supernatural politics are playing out in this town, whatever ancient vendettas and immortal grudges are colliding here—Caroline is an innocent caught in the crossfire. Keep her that way."
Caroline brings coffee for everyone, settling beside Sam with the kind of closeness that comes from shared trauma and deepened trust.
"Mom, are you okay? Really okay?"
"I will be. Eventually." Liz sips her coffee, studying Sam over the rim. "Though I suspect my quiet little town just became significantly more complicated."
"If only she knew about Katherine Pierce. About Klaus Mikaelson. About the ritual that requires Elena's death and could destroy everyone we care about. Tonight was just the opening skirmish in a war that's been building for centuries."
"There are more supernatural threats coming," Sam admits carefully. "Ancient vampires, werewolves, witches with agendas that could hurt innocent people. The tomb vampires were just the beginning."
"And you'll be there to face them?"
"All of them. For as long as it takes."
Sheriff Forbes nods slowly, acceptance settling over her features like armor being donned.
"Then I guess the Forbes family is officially involved in supernatural politics. God help us all."
As Sam drives Caroline to Pearl's safe house for additional protection while the remaining tomb vampires are still at large, she leans against his shoulder with the comfortable intimacy of someone who's shared battle and emerged stronger.
"Your mom took that well," Sam observes.
"She's tougher than she looks. Forbes family trait." Caroline tilts her head to study his profile. "Sam, tonight was terrifying and amazing and I've never been more grateful that you're impossibly powerful."
"Just powerful enough to keep you safe."
"Promise me something?"
"Anything."
"When this is all over—the vampires, the ancient grudges, whatever supernatural war is coming—promise me we'll have a normal date. Dinner, movie, no life-or-death situations."
Sam kisses the top of her head, tasting vanilla shampoo and residual adrenaline.
"Caroline Forbes, I promise you the most aggressively normal date in the history of teenage romance. Complete with awkward small talk and terrible movie choices."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
[CURRENT STATUS: LEVEL 9 (1,250/8,500 TO LEVEL 10)]
[FORBES FAMILY: ALLIED]
[SALVATORE BROTHERS: COOPERATIVE]
[TOMB VAMPIRES: FOUR ELIMINATED, FOUR AT LARGE]
[CAROLINE PROTECTION: PRIORITY ONE MAINTAINED]
Through his Sensory Enhancement clone's expanded awareness, Sam tracks the heartbeats of everyone he cares about—Caroline beside him, steady and safe; Sheriff Forbes in her damaged house, elevated pulse from stress but alive; Elena at the Gilbert house under Stefan's protection; Bonnie at home with her magical abilities growing stronger daily.
"Four tomb vampires eliminated through superior tactics and supernatural teamwork. Sheriff Forbes becomes an ally instead of an enemy. Damon's hostility reduced to grudging respect. Caroline safe despite being directly targeted."
But through that same enhanced awareness, Sam detects something that makes his blood run cold. Four vampire signatures moving through the woods beyond town, not fleeing as he expected but regrouping.
"The surviving tomb vampires aren't giving up. They're planning something worse."
His phone buzzes with a text from Pearl: "The remaining tomb vampires broke our treaty by attacking Founding Families. I will handle this personally. Consider my debt to you fulfilled through their elimination."
"Ancient vampire justice. Pearl's going to hunt down the survivors and execute them for violating the peace treaty. Problem solved through supernatural politics rather than endless combat."
Sam allows himself one moment of satisfaction as he watches Mystic Falls' lights twinkle below them, each glow representing lives he's helped protect.
"Level 9 achieved. Three clones with complementary abilities. Sheriff Forbes as an ally. The Salvatore brothers willing to fight beside me. Caroline safe and more in love than ever."
"We're winning. Against impossible odds, against supernatural threats, against ancient vampires and modern hatred—we're actually winning."
But in the distance, something howls. Long, mournful, and definitely not human.
"Or maybe the war is just beginning."
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