Few minutes ago, they heard a scream. Stefan had disappeared immediately after it started. He didn't stop to think. Or even slow down at all to listen to Elena, he simple tore down the hall with a pounding heart, every instinct screaming that he'd made a mistake leaving Damon alone after learning Vickie might attempt to kill him.
But as he left, behind him unseen and smiling, Vickie Donovan watched him go.
She lingered only a second before drifting the opposite way, toward the living room where warm light spilled across the familiar face of her target.
Elena sat on the couch, knees pulled close to her chest as she tried to steady her breathing. Alaric stood near the table with his arms crossed, tension written into every line of his posture.
"That scream," Elena said softly, eyes darting to the hallway. "That was Damon."
Ric frowned. "Yeah, sounded like somethings happened to him."
Elena shook her head. "He sounded—" She swallowed. "He sounded hurt Ric."
Ric turned, about to say something reassuring when something lifted from the other end of the room. The vase, it rose slowly, as if an invisible hand didn't wantRic to see it coming.
Elena stood immediately after seeing the vase and the look on her face confused Ric whose back was facing the floating vase, "Vickie?" she whispered.
The vase slammed into the back of Ric's head with a sickening crack.
He went down instantly, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.
"RIC!" Elena screamed, rushing forward then stopping dead as the air in front of her moved.
The lights flickered and a cold crept along her skin, "I know you're here," Elena said, voice shaking as she stared into empty space. "Please. You don't have to do this."
A low sound echoed through the room that made her shiver.
"Vickie," Elena pleaded, tears burning her eyes. "I know you're angry. I know you're hurt. But this isn't you. You don't want to hurt people. You don't want to hurt me."
The rope slid across the floor towards her and before Elena could react, it snapped up around her throat.
She gasped in shock and panic, her hands flying to her neck as the rope tightened, lifting her slightly off her feet. Panic flooded her chest as she clawed at it.
"Please—!" she choked. "Vickie, stop—!"
The rope yanked her backward, slamming her into the wall. The books on the shelf fell on the floor as she struggled and knocked over the glass bottle. The bourbon spilled on the carpet along with shattered glass as Elena struggled with her legs kicking and her vision blurring slowly.
Then, the door exploded inward.
"Elena!" Damon shouted.
He rushed forward, hands swiping through the air, grabbing at the rope and yanking it off of her with force and throwing it away, "Come on!" he snarled as he stood back up, swinging wildly.
Elena collapsed to the floor, sucking in air greedily between broken breaths.
Stefan was there in an instant, scooping her up. "I've got you," he said urgently. "I've got you."
She clung to him, trembling.
SHNK.
A fire poker punched through Stefan's back.
His breath left him in a sharp, shocked gasp as he staggered, losing his grip on her. Elena slipped from his arms and hit the floor.
"STEFAN!" Damon roared. Stefan fell to one knee, blood soaking through his shirt.
Damon lunged toward him but pain exploded through his leg. A knife sliced clean through his tendon.
Damon screamed, collapsing hard beside Stefan. "Son of a…!"
He clawed forward anyway, reaching for his brother as another slit opened up Stefan's throat and he started choking on his own blood, "Stefan, Stefan damn it!"
Vickie's presence pressed down on the room, heavy and suffocating.
The knife lifted again, Elena looked up, eyes wide with terror, as the blade angled toward her heart.
Vickie smirked when suddenly everything snapped away and the world lurched violently and she was yanked sideways.
Vickie gasped as she was torn away and slammed back into the spot of the ritual earlier on.
Matt knelt down nearby and infront of him was Bonnie who was also on the floor, hands shaking with her hands clasped together, and her eyes closed as she chanted under her breath.
"No," Vickie hissed, stumbling. "No!"
She turned to the side and froze.
A man stood in the shadows, watching her like she was a particularly entertaining problem. His eyes glowed a deep, predatory red. He had a particularly amused smile on his face while eating something… gummy bears?
"Well," he drawled casually, tilting his head, "hello there."
He took a step closer, gaze locking onto hers.
"Up to no good, I'm sure."
Vickie staggered back, her eyes widened and her breath hitched as she stared at the man before her.
"You," she whispered and then, realization sharpened her fear. "You are Michael!"
The way she said his name was weird to say the least. Yes she definitely has seen him around but still the way she muttered his make made Micheal pause.
Michael's smile didn't reach his eyes. She turned abruptly to Matt and then to Bonnie, panic bleeding into her voice. "Matt… what is she doing?"
Matt forced himself to look up from Bonnie, his eyes were rimmed red with regret and pain at what he is about to do, "Fixing my mistake."
Her head snapped back to Matt. "Then make her stop! Please, make her stop!"
"Bonnie, hurry up!" Matt said.
Bonnie's voice trembled as she chanted, "The spell is working but she's still here..."
Michael's gaze burned into Matt and finished Bonnie's sentence, "Because of you, bus boy."
Matt flinched but then he straightened, shoulders squaring as he stood up and stepped forward toward Vickie. "I can't let you hurt anyone else."
Vickie shook her head desperately. "Matt, please. I won't. I swear, I'll stop."
"This is wrong," Matt said quietly. "You shouldn't be here."
The candles around the room flared violently, flames shooting upward. In a blink, Michael was in front of Vickie.
He tilted her chin up with two fingers, forcing her tear-filled eyes to meet his glowing ones. "The witch that sent you back," he said softly, dangerously. "Tell me, what else did she promise you, hmm?"
Vickie's lips trembled. Tears spilled freely now. "She said… she said I'd be free. If I killed Elena."
Michael's eyes narrowed.
"But," Vickie continued, voice cracking, "there was another person, a man."
That made Michael still.
"A man?" he asked, his voice dropping low.
"He promised me something more," she whispered. "He promised me purpose and power so I wouldn't be taken advantage of again. He told me to kill as many vampires as I could… on my way to the Salvatore house."
The flames roared higher as the spell continue. Michael's eyes ignited, burning brighter and hotter as he looked deep into her eyes, "What man?"
Vickie swallowed. "He called himself… Cade."
"Enough, Michael!" Matt shouted.
Michael turned slowly.
Matt met his gaze, fear etched deep and in a last effort to muster whatever resolve or courage he had in him, he looked at Vickie one last time. "Goodbye."
Bonnie then stopped chanting as the candles extinguished all at once, snuffed out as tye spell finally did its function and Vickie vanished.
Michael stood unmoving with a hard expression carved into his face.
Then, quietly, he said
"Fuck."
————————————
The knife had clattered to the floor back at the Salvatore house after Vickie disappeared.
Rebekah stepped out of her room, heels crunching over broken glass as her eyes took in the blood, the chaos of scattered booms and the bodies of the brothers on the floor, "What the bloody hell happened here?"
Damon, his tendon finally healed, grunted as he braced Stefan and pulled the poker free from his back. "The dead do hold grudges it would seem."
Rebekah blinked. "What?"
Damon glanced toward Elena, who was already rushing to Stefan's side, hands shaking as she pressed down on the wound. "It's nothing."
He turned away as he headed back to his room, "Our friendly neighborhood witch probably solved it already… again"
——————————————
The Welcome to Mystic Falls sign passed by in a blur.
A van rolled down the road with its engine humming steadily. The driver's face was calm and focused on the road.
A car sped past in the opposite direction, heading out of the small town, it's headlights flashing across the van's side mirror.
For just a second, the reflection of the man changed showing a pale woman in black robes sitting behind the wheels, she had a hollow eyes in her eyes.
Then, as sudden as it came the mirror flickered again and showed only the man driving.
Behind him, in the back of the van, lay the twisted remains of the car's former driver, looking like a husk and barely recognizable.
Beside the corpse rested another thing, the mummy Ankhar with its eyes closed.