When Scott, and Stiles arrived to where Matt went, their steps slowed to find themselves standing before their group of friends.
Stefan Salvatore was standing there, holding Elena Gilbert’s hand firmly in front of everyone—a clear sign that their relationship had become official and public on this very night.
Beside them stood Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler Lockwood (who was frowning with irritation), Allison (with remnants of anger toward her father still etched on her face), Lydia standing next to Jackson Whittemore (who had his hand around her waist with his usual narcissism), and finally Jeremy, who was glaring angrily at Tyler.
Scott and Stiles quickly made their way behind Matt Donovan, who was still running with panic etched across his face.
They arrived together at the town square where the crowds were gathered under the enchanting purple sky, but the atmosphere among the friends was anything but enchanting; it was charged with immense tension and utter chaos.
The group rushed toward Matt, Scott, and Stiles.
Silence fell for a moment before Jeremy Gilbert burst out anxiously, turning to everyone and breathing sharply:
“Has anyone seen Vicki?”
Tyler Lockwood turned to him, a look of condescension and sharp mockery on his face, and answered coldly:
“You’re the one stalking her. You tell us.”
Jeremy furrowed his brows in anger and frustration, trying to restrain himself as he said:
“I can’t find her.”
Tyler let out a mocking, provocative laugh, took a step toward Jeremy, and said in front of everyone:
“Maybe she found someone else to spend the night with. Sorry, pill-pusher, looks like you’ve been replaced.”
Jeremy’s face flushed with humiliation.
He stepped directly up to Tyler until their chests practically collided, and said in a low, threatening tone:
“You want to do this right now?”
Tyler didn’t back down; he looked at him with contempt and added:
“She’s never going to be into you.”
Jeremy smirked with a bitter, triumphant smile, looking directly into Tyler’s eyes to drop his bombshell:
“She already was. Over and over again.”
Tyler’s eyes widened in a mixture of shock and rage.
He shook his head in denial.
“Yeah, right.”
At that moment, Caroline, unable to suppress her curiosity and shock, asked loudly and incredulously:
“Did you sleep with Vicki Donovan? I mean, did Vicki Donovan sleep with you?”
Lydia smirked and said ” oh what a surprise”.
Jakson looked pity at Tyler and said ” oh man i am fellinf sorry for you i mean you girlfriend cheating on you with Jeremy gilbert of all people what a shame”.
Bonnie replied sharply ” Jackson shut the hell up!”.
Jackson shrugged and said ” what? i am just saying the truth, i know its hurting but its the truth”.
Tyler shouted in severe annoyance, looking at Jackson before snapping back to Jeremy:
“No way Vicki slept with you!’ You’re liar!”
Jeremy gave Tyler a cold look of victory and said:
“And I didn’t even have to force her, either.”
Wait what?.
Stiles said in shock and everybody looked at Tyler in disbelief.
Matt’s expression changed instantly.
Anger and confusion consumed him as he listened to this disgusting talk about his missing sister.
He turned to Tyler in shock and yelled:
“What the hell is he talking about, Ty?”
Tyler tried to wiggle out of the situation, raising his hands and stepping back as he looked at Matt:
“It’s nothing, man. Just ignore him, he’s a douche.”
“I am pretty sure he is not”.
Scott said with disgust.
“What do you mean McCall? Do you want to got yourself kicked in the ass?!”.
Tyler replaid with a sharp look.
Scott was about to reply but Matt completely lost his patience.
He screamed in their faces, his voice filled with terror, despair, and tears welling in his eyes:
“You know what? How about you all shut up and help me find my sister?!”.
A heavy silence fell over the group after Matt’s outburst.
Bonnie cleared her throat, trying to diffuse the explosive situation.
She grabbed Caroline’s arm and said decisively:
“We’ll check the back.”
Matt nodded, breathing heavily.
“I’ll check the square.”
Immediately, everyone split up to search for Vicki across the darkened square.
Stefan and Elena headed toward the side alleys, while Jackson and Lydia walked toward the parking lots, and Jeremy and Tyler stormed off in opposite directions in anger.
In the midst of this chaos and separation, Scott and Allison found themselves standing next to each other for a few brief seconds before moving.
A heavy, awkward silence hung between them, each carrying the weight of what had happened earlier.
Scott looked at the ground in shame and frustration, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Then, he slowly raised his eyes to Allison and said in a low, hesitant voice:
“Allison… I… I’m really sorry about what happened with your dad. I didn’t mean to just run away like that and leave you… but…”
Allison cut him off with a pale, embarrassed smile.
Her eyes avoided looking at him directly because of the lingering stares from her friends earlier.
She said in a quiet tone:
“No… it’s okay, Scott. The real embarrassment is that my dad acted in such a dramatic way in front of everyone. I’m just… I’m sorry you had to deal with him.”
Scott swallowed hard, feeling the wolf inside him calm down slightly at her gentleness.
However, the atmosphere was so charged and awkward that he didn’t know how to hold her hand or step closer.
He muttered nervously:
“I’m going to go… I’ll go help Stiles and Matt look for Vicki.”
Allison nodded gracefully, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Okay… and I’ll go with Bonnie and Caroline. Take care of yourself.”
As Allison walked away, Scott and Stiles pulled aside under the shadow of a massive tree, away from public eyes, and began to converse in deep anxiety.
Stiles turned to Scott, whispering with extreme caution and a grave tone:
“Scott, think about it… do you think Stefan is the one who did it? I mean, what if he’s the one who kidnapped Vicki or… you know, fed on her?”
Scott shook his head quickly in objection, saying in a low, hesitant voice:
“Stiles, we don’t have any proof! Stefan might not even be a vampire! He could just be a regular teenager who moved to our town!”
Stiles clapped his hands together in exasperation and replied with suppressed frustration:
“He’s not regular! I am telling you, Stefan is not normal at all! All these weird attacks started in this town the exact moment he arrived! And you told me yourself that you smelled something strange and suspicious on him, didn’t you?”
Scott sighed, trying to think logically.
“Yeah, the scent was different, but…”
Stiles cut him off urgently:
“I might not have other solid, tangible evidence right now, but this is the only lead we’ve got! You have to trust your instincts, man.”
Scott looked toward the crowds in confusion, trying to find a natural explanation.
“Stiles, what if it’s much simpler than all this? What if the reason Vicki disappeared is… you know, drugs? Everyone knows she’s been struggling with that lately. Maybe she just passed out somewhere.”
Stiles went silent for a moment, appearing to consider Scott’s words.
Silence hung between the two friends for a single second…
“Ahhhhhhhh! Help me!”
A sharp, blood-curdling scream pierced the quiet night.
Vicki’s voice echoed nearby, filled with terror and agony, coming from the direction of the dark alleys near the square.
The blood froze in Scott and Stiles’s veins.
They exchanged a quick look of pure shock before sprinting madly toward the source of the sound.
Scott and Stiles moved with fast, silent steps through the dark alleyways surrounding the square, tracking the echoes of the scream until they reached a semi-abandoned corner overlooking the back courtyard of an old building. Read the latest chapters at g.com.
There, under the faint purple light of the comet, Stiles’s eyes widened in horror as he spotted three shadows standing in the darkness.
Stiles gripped Scott’s arm tightly, pointing a trembling hand toward the back, and whispered in breathless gasps:
“Scott! Look over there… it’s Stefan, and Vicki is with him! And there’s someone else… someone I don’t know! Listen… try to listen to what they’re saying!”
Scott closed his eyes, focusing intensely, tuning out the noise of the distant town square.
Suddenly, the voices amplified in his ears, becoming as clear as if they were standing right next to him.
Vicki was groaning in severe pain, clutching her neck as she stumbled backward.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, the strange shadow moved.
It was Damon Salvatore, smiling with cold mockery as he looked at his brother, Stefan.
He spoke in a tone dripping with malice and sadism:
“Oh! You’ve faded, Stefan. Your lifestyle choice has made you weak. A few vampire tricks don’t compare to the power you could possess—the power you *need* right now. But you can change that… human blood gives you that power.”
Vicki cried out, semi-conscious, as if under the influence of a compulsion:
“Yes!”
Damon turned to Stefan coldly, pointing at the exhausted Vicki on the ground.
“You have two choices, Stefan. You can feed her your blood and make her forget everything. Or, you can let her run off screaming ‘vampire’ through the town square.”
Stefan replied, his eyes burning with rage and helplessness before his brother:
“Is that what this is about? You want to expose me to the town?”
Damon snapped sharply, his tone angry:
“No! I want you to remember who you are!”
Stefan took a step forward, yelling in Damon’s face in despair:
“Why? So I can feed? So I can kill? So we can remember what it’s like to be brothers again? You know what? Let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them stake me, let them put me out of my misery, because at least I’ll finally be free of you!”
Scott snapped his eyes open, taking a step back as he gasped for air, his face completely masked in shock and dread.
He turned to Stiles and whispered in trembling panic:
“Stiles… you… you were right the whole time! They aren’t human… Stefan and that other man, they’re real vampires! They’re talking about blood, about driving stakes through hearts, and arguing about exposing themselves to the town!”
Stiles nearly collapsed from the shock, pressing his hands against his head.
“Damn it! Damn it, damn it! I knew it! But… wait, what are we going to do now?!”
Scott clenched his fist decisively, his eyes beginning to gleam with a faint golden light.
“I’m going to intervene. I can’t let them hurt Vicki.”
Stiles quickly grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him back in sheer panic.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! How are you even going to get over there?! It’s too far, and there’s a broken wall and an entire building roof separating us from them!”
Scott looked up toward the ledge of the roof overlooking the back courtyard.
He felt a warm, powerful surge of energy course through his legs and muscles.
He answered with absolute confidence:
“I can do it… I feel like I can clear that distance and reach that roof in a single jump. I’m sure of it, Stiles.”
Stiles stood directly in front of him to block him, speaking in a voice full of fear for his friend:
“Think about this, Scott, please! They are vampires! Supernatural creatures that have lived for centuries! They will kill you in cold blood if even a fraction of the legends we read about are true! You don’t stand a chance against them!”
Scott replied sharply and firmly, his eyes now glowing completely.
“I can’t just stand by and watch Vicki die or suffer at their hands, Stiles!”
Stiles cried out in despair, grabbing Scott’s arms:
“And why?! Why put your life on the line for her?!”
Scott shot him a sharp look filled with heroism and a sense of duty, saying:
“Because I have the power to stop them! And I won’t just stand here as a bystander while someone else’s life is in danger!”
In the back courtyard, Damon grew fed up with Stefan’s words and stubbornness.
A dark, sadistic smile spread across his face.
“We’ll see about that, brother…”
With a lightning-fast movement, he grabbed Vicki by her hair, bit her neck viciously as she screamed, and lifted her into the air—preparing to hurl her over the ledge to drop her right in front of the crowds.
Scott moved instantly.
He planted his feet into the ground with supernatural force and launched himself like a missile, channeling every ounce of his werewolf strength into a massive, explosive leap.
He soared through the air across several meters, clearing the wall, and landed with a heavy, violent thud on the edge of the wooden roof overlooking them.
The loud impact immediately drew the eyes of Stefan and Damon straight to him.
Scott stood proudly on the edge of the roof, his eyes glowing a brilliant, piercing gold amid the dark purple night.
He roared with a fierce, thunderous rage that shook the shadows of the courtyard:
“Stop!”
Damon stopped abruptly, his hand left hanging in the air as it gripped the shirt of the semi-unconscious Vicki.
His sadistic smile vanished for a moment, replaced by a sharp look of curiosity mixed with shock as he stared at the boy standing atop the roof.
The boy’s golden eyes blazed, and his heavy breathing sounded like the snarl of a wild animal.
Damon let out a low whistle, carelessly dropping Vicki to the ground in front of him.
He took slow steps forward, scanning Scott from head to toe, and said in a mocking tone that barely concealed his astonishment:
“Holy hell! Look at this… a werewolf… new in town? And judging by the looks of it, you haven’t even finished high school yet.”
Damon narrowed his blue eyes as he cautiously sniffed the air, then added with a sly smirk:
“And the scent… oh, it’s the scent of completely fresh blood. Looks like you were bitten recently? You’re not a pureblood wolf, are you, kid?”
Damon suddenly turned to his brother, Stefan, who was standing quietly to the side.
Noticing his brother’s gaze, Damon smiled with biting sarcasm, slowly clapping his hands as he said:
“You don’t look very shocked, Stefan. Which means you knew there was a new ‘Alpha’ in town—or at least one of his little pups—and you didn’t tell me!”
Damon shook his head in mock sorrow and added:
“Classic Stefan… always keeping the fun secrets to himself. Were you planning on making him your new lapdog?”
From atop the roof, Scott roared, his voice carrying a feral edge as anger began to consume him:
“I don’t care who you are, and I don’t care about your stupid games! Leave the girl alone and get out of here right now!”
Damon turned to Stefan and winked, then brought his gaze back to Scott, speaking with lethal coldness:
“And who’s going to make us, bright-eyes? You? Your jump was impressive, but you still don’t even know how to control your claws.”
At that exact moment, an overwhelming surge of adrenaline rushed through Scott’s body.
He didn’t wait another second; he unleashed a deafening, savage roar and leapt straight from the roof into the courtyard, landing heavily on his hands and feet.
The impact left a faint crack in the dirt ground as he stood tall between the vampires and the slumped body of Vicki.
Stefan took a step back, shouting in an attempt to defuse the situation before it turned into a massacre:
“Scott! Back down! You don’t understand who you’re dealing with; Damon is not someone you can reason with!”
But Damon didn’t give anyone another chance to speak.
With supernatural speed far too fast for the human eye to track, he vanished from his spot and reappeared right in front of Scott.
Small black veins throbbed beneath his darkened eyes, exposing his long fangs.
He delivered a swift, powerful strike to Scott’s chest that sent him flying backward, crashing into the building’s wooden wall.
Scott groaned in pain, but his werewolf anatomy absorbed the shock rapidly.
He stood back up on his feet, his claws now fully extended, and his golden eyes burning even brighter.
Unleashing a wild roar, Scott lunged at Damon with all his might.
However, Damon vanished in the blink of an eye using his vampire speed, reappearing behind Scott to deliver a brutal kick that launched him toward the wall of the abandoned building.
The wood shattered under the force of the impact, and Scott crashed inside the dark structure, with Damon following him in a flash.
A bloody, violent brawl erupted inside the building.
Scott attacked with a frenzied animalistic instinct, slashing his razor-sharp claws and tearing through the air with rapid, consecutive strikes.
Yet Damon moved with incredible agility and fluid grace, dodging the blows with a tilted head and a cold, provoking smile, without Scott managing to touch even his shirt.
“Is that all you’ve got, pup?” Damon mocked, before landing a lightning-fast punch to Scott’s jaw that sent blood flying from his mouth, followed by a harsh strike to his chest that floored him.
Scott tried to stumble back to his feet, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.
Damon rushed him, pinning him down with a foot to his chest.
He then leaned over, dragging Scott up by his shirt to lift him in the air with a single hand, clamping his grip tightly around Scott’s neck to choke him.
Scott’s golden eyes began to dim; he gasped for air, desperately clawing at Damon’s rock-solid hand.
Damon stared into his eyes, baring his fangs as he sneered:
At that moment, Stefan rushed into the building, his voice tense and warning:
“Damon! Stop! If you kill him now, you will become the direct enemy of the Alpha who bit and turned him! And then, nothing will save you from being torn limb from limb by his bare hands… werewolves show no mercy to those who kill members of their pack!”
Damon turned his head toward his brother, a sadistic, mocking smile carving into his lips as he tightened his grip around Scott’s throat, who was now losing consciousness:
“Don’t worry about his pack, Stefan… this doesn’t concern you, and I’ll handle his big dog when he shows up.”
Damon’s fingers pressed harder against Scott’s windpipe, the intent to kill glaringly obvious in his eyes.
At this point, Stefan’s patience snapped completely, consumed by a raging fury he hadn’t experienced in years.
He took a step back and unleashed a sharp, angry roar that shook the walls of the decaying building.
Suddenly, his features began to morph horrifically; thick, web-like black veins spread beneath his eyes, his hands contorted, and his finger bones visibly elongated into sharp, claw-like talons as his palms grew in size.
The whites of his eyes turned entirely blood-red, while his irises went pitch-black like a dark night.
Stefan screamed in a terrifying, raspy, booming voice, his red eyes gleaming with malice:
“I’ve had enough of your games, Damon! Enough of your tyranny and sadism! I will not let you kill this boy tonight!”
Stefan roared again, then lunged at his brother in a blind rage.
The sheer force of the tackle blindsided Damon, forcing him to release Scott, who collapsed to the floor, coughing violently as he gasped for air.
Damon and Stefan flew together, shattering the internal wooden stairs as they blasted upward toward the roof from the raw momentum.
Stefan shoved a sharp wooden fragment into Damon’s face, fracturing his jaw and gashing his cheek, forcing him back.
But Damon rebounded with lightning speed, countering with a punch to Stefan’s stomach, followed by a brutal elbow drop to his back.
Stefan didn’t back down; instead, he grabbed Damon by his jacket and threw him with all his strength into the wooden support beams of the roof.
The beams snapped, scattering splinters everywhere.
The fight was so fast that the sounds preceded the sights—the echoing thuds of bodies crashing into walls, splintering wood, and Stefan’s terrifying roars reverberating through the area.
Their hands locked in a pure contest of strength.
Stefan’s mutated claws dug deep into the skin of Damon’s hands, drawing dark blood, while Damon pressed back with all his might, trying to break his brother’s wrist as he shouted:
“Is this all you’ve got, Stefan?! You are so weak!”
Spitting blood from his mouth, Stefan pushed Damon back with a concentrated burst of power.
They launched into the air once more, entirely collapsing the wooden roof above their heads.
They fell through the cascading debris and collapsing ceilings down to the lower floor amidst a thick cloud of dust and scattered wreckage—their fight still raging fiercely, never pausing for a second even as they plummeted.
Amidst the thick plumes of dust and falling debris, Damon moved with flashing speed.
With a violent, twisting motion, he delivered a supernatural kick aimed directly at Stefan’s chest.
The immense force sent Stefan flying through the air, smashing through the remaining internal wooden walls before crashing heavily onto the dirt floor of the backyard.
Stefan’s body came to a halt near Scott, who was suffering from a volatile cocktail of surging adrenaline, fear, and rage.
This volatile mix triggered the full explosion of Scott’s werewolf power.
“ARRRAAAAHHHHH!!”
Scott unleashed a roar that shook the very foundations of the place.
His body visibly bulked up, his shirt tearing at the shoulders due to the sudden muscle growth.
His sharp claws elongated into small daggers, long fangs protruded from his open mouth, and a thick, coarse beard sprouted along his jawline and the sides of his face, accentuating monstrous features that stripped away any semblance of humanity.
Stefan stood back up slowly, blood trickling from his forehead, his eyes still inverted in red and black.
Standing beside the fully transformed Scott, he snapped his head sharply toward Damon, who was drifting gracefully down from the gap in the shattered ceiling like a feather.
Stefan opened his mouth, unleashing a terrifying, enraged hiss at Damon—a sharp, continuous sound exactly like a massive serpent coiled to strike.
Damon stood a few meters away from them, nonchalantly brushing the dust off his jacket.
He looked at Scott’s bulked-up, monstrous form, then at his brother’s mutated features, and found it entirely amusing.
A smug, mocking smile formed on his lips, and he said in a taunting voice:
“What a beautiful sight! Vegetarian Stefan and the rabid pup on the same team. Trust me… I won’t even need to transition or show my dark side to kill both of you tonight.”
Damon slowly raised his right hand, beckoning them forward with a provocative curl of his fingers:
“Come on… show me what dogs and vegetarians can do.”
In that fraction of a second, Scott and Stefan launched themselves together with devastating power.
The ground shook beneath their feet as they charged at Damon like a hurricane.
Scott lunged first with a feral leap, bringing his right claw down in a vertical slash capable of splitting a tree trunk or shattering boulders.
However, Damon leaned his torso back by mere millimeters, dodging the claws as they sliced through the air with a sharp hiss.
At the exact moment Damon evaded Scott’s attack, Stefan exploited his blind spot, driving upward from below to land a sharp strike with his bony claws directly into Damon’s midsection, launching him into the air.
Scott didn’t let him fall.
Spinning around with brutal speed, he caught Damon by his leg mid-air and slammed him with all his might against a nearby brick wall.
The wall completely collapsed over Damon’s body, but the latter didn’t wait for the dust to settle.
He emerged from the rubble with lightning speed, suddenly appearing on Scott’s back and driving his knee into his spine with a sickening crack of bone.
Scott groaned with a painful roar and dropped to his knees, only for Damon to deliver a sidekick to his face that sent him skidding meters away.
Stefan moved instantly to shield Scott, ambushing Damon from behind and burying his elongated, mutated claws deep into his brother’s back.
Damon let out a pained grunt, trying to elbow Stefan in the ribs, but Stefan responded by digging his sharp nails even deeper into his brother’s back, dark blood staining their jackets.
“Get off me, Stefan!” Damon roared in fury.
With a violent, acrobatic maneuver, he threw himself and Stefan backward, slamming them hard against a massive iron pillar.
The sheer force of the impact knocked Stefan loose.
Damon instantly rebounded, unleashing a barrage of rapid, lightning-fast punches to Stefan’s face and chest, causing internal bleeding that made Stefan stumble back, coughing up blood.
Just then, Scott charged out from the shadows once again.
His bulked-up body seemed fueled by the raw fury of a pack, and he blindsided Damon from the flank, clamping his jaws and fangs directly into Damon’s shoulder.
“AAAHHHHHH!!”
Damon screamed in genuine agony this time, feeling the werewolf’s fangs pierce through his flesh and bone, followed by the sensation of venom pumping into his system.
In blind rage, Damon jammed his free hand onto Scott’s fur-covered face, squeezing his head violently in an attempt to force him to let go of his shoulder.
Taking advantage of the total distraction, Stefan gathered every ounce of his remaining vampire strength, launching a double-palm strike straight into Damon’s chest.
Stefan’s powerful shove coincided with Scott releasing Damon’s shoulder, sending Damon hurtling across the backyard once more.
He crashed heavily into a pile of wooden crates, showing signs of exhaustion for the first time since the battle began.
Scott stood panting heavily, blood coating his mouth and thick beard.
Beside him, Stefan’s enraged hissing continued unabated, both of their eyes locked on the rubble, waiting for Damon to rise again.
Damon felt a scorching heat spread from the bite mark on his shoulder, tearing through his veins like wildfire.
Werewolf venom—the most excruciating toxin for a vampire.
His vision blurred for a split second, and the black veins under his eyes flared vividly as the venom began to sap his strength.
His shock morphed into a blind, feral rage unlike anything he had ever felt before.
“You little mutt!” Damon bellowed, a sound that shook the entire courtyard.
With supernatural speed driven by insane fury, he tore toward them like a destructive cyclone.
Before Stefan could even assume a defensive stance, Damon flanked him, grabbed his head in a swift, seamless motion, and twisted.
*SNAP!*
He snapped Stefan’s neck in an instant, causing Stefan to drop to the ground as a lifeless corpse.
Scott froze in pure shock.
Before he could even process Stefan’s temporary death, he found himself tackled violently to the ground.
Damon mounted him in a blind rage, raining down punch after punch.
Blow after blow shattered Scott’s jaw and face as Damon vented all his fury from the agony of the venom.
Not satisfied with just that, Damon grabbed Scott by his shirt and flung him away like an insect, sending Scott’s body flying several meters before bouncing violently off the asphalt.
Due to the sheer force of the trauma and shock, Scott’s monstrous features began to recede.
The fur and thick beard vanished, and his claws retracted, leaving him completely back in his weak, human form, groaning and bleeding from everywhere.
Damon walked toward him with heavy, menacing steps, his eyes dripping with malice.
He picked up a sharp, pointed metal rod from the building’s debris, and without a shred of mercy, drove the rod straight into Scott’s abdomen!
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” Scott screamed in agonizing pain that tore through his vitals, blood spurting from his mouth and stomach.
Damon began twisting the metal rod inside the wound to torture him, leaning over him to snarl in a voice dripping with mockery and contempt:
“What exactly did you think you were going to achieve by exposing yourself to me like this? All of this for what? For a girl you’ve only known for a week? Did you want to be some kind of hero? You stupid, pathetic little boy!”
Damon pulled the metal rod out slowly and tossed it aside.
With a lethal, sadistic glare, his vampire claws extended, and he drove his hand directly into Scott’s chest, ripping through flesh and skin until his fingers wrapped tightly around Scott’s violently beating heart, prepared to rip it out and end his life.