I'd initially wanted to combine this chapter and the next (which I haven't written yet) into one big chapter, since big chapters are kind of a thing in this story, but then I realized this would probably stand better as is. Hope you enjoy it!

CHAPTER 4

KILL WILL

.

Angela leaned against the hood of the car. "Well," she sighed, "that could've gone worse."

"A lot worse," Sheila said as she unlocked the driver's seat door. She reached in and grabbed the candle.

Angela watched her bring it up to her mouth – her moving mouth – but couldn't hear what she was saying. Not that it made much difference anyway.

Anna had agreed to meet them in front of the tomb at eight o'clock tomorrow night, around thirty minutes past sunset. Damon wouldn't know that she was coming, and Angela would do her best to pretend she didn't know either. All she knew about Anna, all she knew about A, was that she wanted her to help free Katherine.

She saw the faint orange glow of a flame light up, and Sheila covered it with the snuffer. How that didn't put it out she had no idea, though she supposed it was called magic for a reason.

"Here," Sheila handed it to her, "don't get caught. It'd be a shame to after everything."

She nodded and tried to say "I won't," but no noise came out of her mouth.

Sheila chuckled at her look of wonder. "Good." She entered the car. "I'll be back by tomorrow night. Stay safe."

She simply nodded again and watched her drive away.

Apart from constantly glancing around her, Angela's walk back to Sheila's house was relatively calm. She saw a few people at one point, a group of friends it looked like, but it had been easy to stay out of their line of sight. And then, just as she was about to cross the street to enter the cluster of trees, she heard a car pull up to her.

Her heart dropped. Is it a Camaro? Is it a blue Camaro? How could she ever forget that car? Lucky for her and her heart, though she couldn't make out its exact color, it looked far more modern than she knew Damon's car to be.

"Gilbert." Oh and how could she ever forget that voice: the voice that was ever-so-present in her exam-induced nightmares?

Tanner?

Through the rolled-down window she could make out his frowning face. "Why are you walking by yourself so late at night?"

She blinked in bewilderment. "Why is that any of your business?" was the first reply that came to mind. Then, she remembered he wouldn't be able to hear her no matter what she said. Then, she started panicking. Oh, God. Oh, shit. I can't just ignore him, that'll make me look super suspicious. Not to mention how embarrassing it'll be. I won't be able to sleep for weeks. She glanced up, straight ahead of her. The house is right there. I can make it, can't I? I did what I had to, anyway. Yes, she decided, I can make it. And with a sigh, she let the candle slip from her fingers.

"Oh!" she gasped as the glass shattered. "Sorry. You caught me off-guard." She bent down to pick up the pieces, but his sharp voice interrupted her.

"Hey, don't do that! You'll cut yourself."

She winced in embarrassment she didn't much have to fake and stood back up. "Sorry…"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to give you a lecture, but it's not safe to be out so late by yourself."

"W-well, I'm almost home, so…"

She couldn't see too much of his face, but from what little she could make out, he seemed genuinely concerned – lips in a tight line and eyebrows furrowed. "Are you sure you don't want me to give you a lift?"

Genuine concern or no, that question made alarm bells go off in her head. She laughed nervously. "Ah. No, thank you. I'm alright."

She saw his eyes widen briefly, as if realizing how his words might've been interpreted. He cleared his throat. "Right. Well… stay safe, Gilbert."

She gave a tight smile. "You too, Mr. Tanner."

She waited until his car was all the way out of sight before speed-walking across the street. Come on, come on, come on, it's only a few dozen feet, come on. She all but slammed through the back door and shut it as quickly as she could. Fuck. If he's here, he definitely heard that. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

When she looked up, she was greeted by the wide, brown eyes of her sister. She could see Bonnie, Caroline, and Tyler, all panicked-looking, in the living room.

In a split-second, Elena was next to her. "Oh, man," she said with a slightly manic giggle. "Well, I didn't see a raccoon out there, but I did manage to scare myself with my own shadow." She grabbed her arm and mouthed "match my footsteps."

Caroline's laugh was more a squeak. "Of course you did."

"Anyway, I'm gonna go see if I woke Angie up with that."

"Yeah," Tyler's frantic eyes shifted to the blinder-covered window, "good idea."

Slowly enough for Angela to be able to time her footsteps well, yet not so slowly it would draw undue attention, they finally made it to Bonnie's room. Her sister nodded towards the bed and mouthed "sit down." She hesitantly did as she was told.

"Sorry, twinny," Elena said and sat down herself. "Didn't mean to wake you up." The look she shot her very clearly said "play along."

Angela made her voice sound groggy. "What was that?"

"Thought we heard a raccoon or something skittering around outside." Quick thinking. "I didn't see anything, though."

You wouldn't happen to have seen a vampire skittering around, would you? Do vampires skitter? She suppressed a laugh at the thought of Damon frantically running around on all fours. Wow, I'm tired. And… hysterical? Do I qualify as hysterical yet? She hummed in acknowledgment but then frowned. "Wait. What are you doing here?"

Elena ran a hand through her sleek, brown hair. "Bonnie sent a text. Said you got lonely and decided to pay her a visit. Which," she pretended to look at her sternly, but the upward curve of her lips betrayed her, "I don't approve of, by the way. You weren't feeling good. You should've stayed in bed."

She patted the pastel purple duvet with an amused raise of the brow. "I thought I did."

Her sister rolled her eyes and pulled her into a tight hug. After a moment she spoke softly; hesitantly. "Are you… feeling better?"

"Did everything go as planned?" you mean.

She hugged her back and nodded into her shoulder. "Almost completely," she muttered back.

"That's good."

"Yeah. It is." Much better than I'd hoped for, anyway. She wondered if that meant that the next thing she tried would backfire horrifically, but tried to force the thought to the very back of her mind. She needed to calm down. You're surrounded by family. You're holding it in your arms. You're safe right now. You're safe. You're safe… right now. What about tomorrow? Will you die tomorrow? She pulled back with a smile, forced and uncomfortable-feeling. "So… since everyone's here, should we just have a giant sleepover?"

Elena's smile was tender and bright. "Absolutely."

.

It felt like summer.

The sun was hot on her skin and had begun to border on unbearable. I should've worn sunscreen. Did I wear sunscreen? She felt her shoulder and found it to be wet, but couldn't be sure if it was only because of her sweat. Am I sweating? I don't look like I'm sweating.

All she could focus on was the 7-Eleven in front of her. She walked and walked until she entered it, but there was no jingle from her pushing the door open. Is there a jingle? Do you push or pull? It's bigger in here than I thought it'd be. She could see aisles upon aisles of products, lit brightly by the windows lining the walls, and when she couldn't find anything saying where the sunscreen was, decided to pick a direction and walk.

First she walked to the right, and when she couldn't walk to the right any more, turned around and went left. Should I be entering the aisles? No, what would be the point in that? God, my skin hurts. She brought a hand up to her shoulder again and winced in pain. When she glanced down at it, she saw the blisters on her palm. They were giant, and red, and angry-looking.

She looked further down her arm. The outside of it almost looked to be peeling off, but not in the white film type of way it did that one time she'd stayed out in the sun a bit too long. The entire outside of her right arm was red – deep-fried – and had started to slide clean off the bone. Trying to move it back into place only made it come looser, and by the time it flopped off her body and fell onto the floor with a big, wet shluck, the skin around her hand had come loose as well.

How annoying.

She turned around to look outside, the sun shining bright in her eyes. She held a hand up to her forehead, though without the flesh it didn't make for much of a shield. It's alright, she thought as her forehead slid between her finger bones. It's bright, but it doesn't hurt.

Her skin didn't hurt as much either, come to think of it. And neither did the flame crawling up her foot, or the sight of the dead cashier by the door. And the taste of blood in her mouth? That was, for lack of a better word, divine.

"Angela." The cashier. How does she know my name? The flame had reached her knee, but if she didn't have eyes to see she wouldn't have been able to tell. "Angela." Her lips weren't moving and her cold, dead eyes stared through her. "Angela." Her lips moved then, and curled into a grin that split half her face apart. The flame was tickling her chest. How do you know my name? "Angela," she said, and the bones in her arms cracked and grew longer until her hands could caress her face.

When she blinked the world turned dark. No. Not dark. Just darker. She followed the cashier's hands – her warm hands – up and up until she saw Elena's young face. "Hey," she whispered. "Get up. Join me on my morning jog."

Her shoulder was wet. She turned her head to the left and saw Caroline laying next to her, her mouth open slightly and drooling on her.

"Okay."

She was cold.

.

"Did you sleep well?" Elena asked when they were a block away.

"I slept great."

"That's good. After last night, you deserve some peaceful rest."

She glanced at her. She couldn't possibly be talking about Anna, could she? In public?

"You don't still feel dizzy, do you?"

Oh. "No, I feel fine. Just tired. Speaking of… How come we're jogging today?"

"Because," Elena grunted as they turned right, "I felt like it. If I'm gonna continue cheerleading, I should stay in shape."

"Well, that's all well and good, but… ah," she panted, "maybe I should rephrase. How come I'm jogging today?"

"Why?" her sister looked at her teasingly. "Feelin' the burn?"

"No," she snapped through her panting. "Not at all. I'm doing fine. Just peachy."

Elena laughed and slowed to a stop in front of a bench. "To be honest," she breathed and sat down, "I wanted to talk to you about something. Alone."

She rested her hands on her thighs as she caught her breath. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She took a sip of water. "I want your advice."

Angela joined her on the bench. "My advice? That's new."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know that's not true, I come to you all the time."

She chuckled. "What's so important you had to drag me out of bed – er – floor at the ass-crack of dawn?"

Her sister adjusted her ponytail with a huff. "Now that I think about it, it's actually kinda silly."

"It might be. But I'll convince myself it's not so I don't strangle you for waking me up." It wasn't like having a few more minutes of nightmare was going to change anything for the worse. Not really.

She chuckled. "Very reassuring, thank you. It's… actually about Stefan."

Angela moved her hand in a "go on" motion.

"I… um…" She was silent until she sighed. "I'm gonna be honest? I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean, a part of me – a huge part of me – is super attracted to him. Like… wow. But, another part of me is screaming that if I go for it, things will end terribly. People will get hurt. I'd be… I'd be disappointing Mom and Dad." Aaand there it is. Say what you want about Angela Gilbert, she could read her sister like a five-word-long book. "And I don't know what to do."

"Well… I suppose it just boils down to what every choice boils down to: what would you regret doing more? Would you regret going for it, giving into what your heart wants, and seeing what happens more? Or would you regret pushing that part of your heart down so deep in your chest you won't be able to look at him more? Potentially finding your soulmate or potentially disappointing two corpses?"

Elena glared at her sincerely since what felt like a lifetime ago. "They're not just two corpses and you know it."

"No, they're our parents, too. And I love them just like you do. But they're not here anymore, Lena. And I know that if they could see you right now they'd tell you to start living for yourself. Not for a pair of-"

"It's not the same!" she stood. "It's not the same for you and me. They're the only parents I had."

For a moment she couldn't breathe. She stared up at her in shock before swallowing to try and force the lump in her throat away. "They're the only parents I remember."

Elena's expression melted into one of remorse. "I… Angie, I'm sor-"

She shook her head and pushed herself off the bench. "Let's just head back. Okay? The sooner we get today over with the sooner I can fall asleep." And escape having to think for a while.

.

She'd spoken little with her sister since the morning. It wasn't that she was too proud to accept her apology; pride has never been an issue of hers. It was that she was simply too tired to. She was too tired to do much of anything, yet she did it because she had to. But this? She could hold off on doing it for a bit, even if she knew it was selfish of her.

She'd gotten most of her homework done during her free period, and now only her geometry assignment was left. Thankfully, she had detention.

She grabbed her things from her locker as she heard Mr. Tanner yelling at a pair of jocks to get a move on. Apparently, he'd decided they would practice today even though it was a few school days too early. It was odd, she thought, how much her opinion of him had changed in only a few short hours.

When he'd seen her entering History class he'd nodded at her with what could almost be called a smile and said "Good to see you got home safe." She was bewildered to say the least, and so she made a note to confront him about his behavior.

"Why are you being nice to me?" She'd made sure to be the last to leave so she could talk to him in private.

He'd looked at her, unimpressed, and said "I have a girl a few years younger than you. Just because I punish you and your classmates accordingly doesn't mean I want to see you harmed."

Much as the man angered her, when she found out he had a young daughter she felt immensely guilty at having said that he enjoyed the company of little girls. Pride has never been an issue of hers, and so she'd apologized for it.

"Get to your next class," he'd said in response, but she took it as acceptance anyway. That was when she decided she would try and protect him. She would find another way to get him to leave the school so that Alaric could come. A peaceful way. For his daughter if nothing else.

And now, as she sat in detention with her books open, all she could think about was if tonight would be resolved peacefully, as well.

They don't have any reason to kill each other. They both basically want the same thing. Then again, Damon as he was now didn't really need a reason to be a dick. That was his default setting, if anything. She shook her head. She couldn't wait until he started acting better – for his own sake as well as hers. He would still be impulsive and frustrating at times, but it would help him live longer. She cared about him in theory, just like she cared about the Original siblings, but if he remained a threat to her and the people she loved, she couldn't make any promises to protect him. She was born a Gilbert, for better or for worse, and so she would act like one.

She took a deep breath and started on her assignment.

.

"Hey…" her sister hesitantly approached her after detention. "Bonnie had to go home to her dad, but Caroline and I are watching Ty and Matt play football if you wanna join."

She mulled it over for a moment. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. She'd already hidden the moonstone yesterday, before visiting Anna, and now she just had to wait until Damon undoubtedly approached her for the talisman. She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Elena smiled in relief and nodded. "Great. We got snacks. You still like jelly beans, right?"

She decided to put her further out of her misery, and so she nudged her playfully. "What kind of lunatic doesn't like jelly beans?"

She pouted. "I don't like jelly beans."

Really, she and Stefan were perfect for each other with how oblivious they were to joke customs.

.

"God, he's hot." Caroline was staring, cross-armed and frustrated, as Tyler scored a touchdown.

Angela brought a jelly bean up to her mouth. "You're right, you're so over him."

She swerved her blue – literally and metaphorically – eyes towards her and huffed. "Oh, shut up! Not my fault you never got broken up with…"

She hummed affirmatively. "I was always the one doing the breaking up with."

Caroline threw a piece of popcorn at her as Elena chuckled. The sound seemed to spark an idea in her, as her upset eyes turned devious. "You know who else is hot? Stefan. Right, Elena?"

Angela rolled her eyes. She was just about this close to getting sick of hearing about Stefan.

It seemed Elena was, too. "Yes, Caroline," she deadpanned. "Very hot."

"Ugh, I just want to live vicariously through you. Is that so bad?"

Elena smiled softly and looked down at her can of Coke. "No, it's not bad…" She squared her shoulders and looked at them determinately. "You know what? I'm going to ask him out tomorrow. On a proper date."

She ignored the way her stomach ached and smiled at her sister. "Good. I'm gl-"

Caroline squealed so loud a few members of the team turned to look at her. Her smile was blinding. "Finally! God! It only took you, what, forever?"

Elena rolled her eyes fondly. "Yeah, yeah. Here, eat some jelly beans in celebration."

Angela threw her hands up. "Okay, seriously, what is with everybody stealing my food lately?"

Caroline giggled quietly as she received the handful of beans. "I don't know, but I'm not complaining." She looked at Elena. "Just promise you'll make me a bridesmaid."

"Wow, this really made your day, didn't it?" her sister raised an amused brow.

Caroline rolled her eyes, though it seemed she couldn't wipe the grin off her face. "Shhh."

They watched the team play in silence before Elena spoke. "You know… I'm actually kind of glad Bonnie isn't here right now. There's something I've been meaning to talk to the two of you about."

She and Caroline shared a confused glance, but it was Caroline who spoke. "What can you not say in front of our surrogate sister?"

Elena flashed a smile. "Well, it's about your favorite subject. Ever since yesterday afternoon, she's been acting kind of… off. About him. Like, telling me to wait and not rush into anything, which wouldn't be too weird, since she generally is a careful person, but… wasn't she saying that going out with him will help things go back to normal? And her body language screams don't ever date him. You know?"

"Hmm," Caroline furrowed her brows. "That is kinda weird."

She had to admit, it was a tiny bit frustrating that the only thing Bonnie knew about vampires was that they were monsters. It would make things so much easier if she knew they weren't all like that. "Maybe you should take this up with her, Lena."

"I have, but she keeps dodging the subject."

She shrugged. "Well, I don't know what to tell you. Give it some time, maybe?"

"But, if this is upsetting her," Caroline motioned towards Elena, "shouldn't Bonnie answer when asked?"

Angela raised a brow. "Sometimes we hide things from people because we don't think they can handle the truth the way we want them to."

"But that makes it even worse!" Her eyes were wide in indignation. "If she can't trust Elena or you or me or Tyler after all the times we've been there for her, then that's her fault."

She blinked in shock before it turned into a low-burning anger. "Caroline, you know life's not that simple. People like to overthink things. You of all people should relate. And who's to say we haven't done or said something that made her feel unsafe to express her thoughts?"

"You're both right," Elena hurried to placate them, "to a certain degree. I think I should tell Bonnie that she's safe to tell me anything and that it hurts to know she's keeping things from me."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "That's not gonna work. You know how she gets. She's an expert at dodging questions." She ate the last piece of her popcorn and stood. "If you don't get the answer out of her by tomorrow, I'm interrogating her myself."

"Caroline…" Elena watched as she walked away and turned her gaze onto Angela. "What got into her?"

She shrugged and pursed her lips sarcastically. "You know how she gets."

Elena shook her head with an exhale. "Guess so." As the team started wrapping things up, she downed the rest of her Coke and stood. "Should we start heading home?"

Angela helped her gather the trash. "Good idea."

The sun was warm on her skin as they passed by the boys high-fiving each other. The chatter of the team became quieter as they stepped behind the bleachers and headed in the direction of the parking lot.

Elena's gasp caught her attention. She followed her wide eyes and her heart stuttered in her chest when she saw Damon, dressed all in black, only a couple feet away from them.

Well, that was sooner than expected. "Hello," she greeted him with narrowed eyes.

"Hello, Angela," he smirked and stepped closer. He turned his eyes onto her sister and they flashed with an emotion she couldn't quite discern. His smirk widened and he stuck his hand out. His left hand. Why his left hand? "You must be Elena. Your sister told me all about you."

Elena swallowed nervously before smiling and giving him her own. "Hell-" as opposed to shaking it like a normal person, he brought it up to his lips and kissed it. "o…"

His smirk turned into more of a smile as he shifted his eyes onto Angela. "Didn't she tell you about me?"

"I didn't think it important to," she answered for her sister. "It's not like you and I are close or anything."

"Ah," he tilted his head and let go of her hand. "I see."

"Elena," she gently squeezed her shoulder, "maybe you should go home without me. I'd like to talk to Damon for a bit."

Even though Elena was very visibly nervous, she did her best to smile and nod. "Alright. Nice to meet you, Damon."

That seemed to amuse him somehow. "Yes, it was."

Angela watched as her sister walked away, occasionally glancing back at them, until she could no longer see her. She turned to look at Damon and her heart leapt to her throat when she found him far closer than he was before. "I assume you're here for the necklace." She brought her hand up to his chest to push him away from her, but he trapped it there. "I'll give it to you at eight o'clock tonight in front of the to-mb…"

He leaned down until his face was barely an inch from the vein in her neck. He breathed in deeply, and she must've forgotten how to breathe herself, because if she hadn't, the rise of her chest would've had her brushing up against him.

"That's raspberry, isn't it?" His breath was hot against her, sensual almost, but the goosebumps it made break out on her skin were from pure, unadulterated fear. "No. Wait." Another deep breath, this time complete with an "ahhh" as he exhaled. "Strawberry. It's strawberry, isn't it?"

"W-what are you talking about?" Her voice was much too weak for her own liking.

He finally pulled back. "Your moisturizer. It's strawberry-scented, isn't it?"

She blinked and took a shallow breath. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He smiled, and it would have been kind if his eyes weren't so cold. He brought her hand up to his nose. "Did you know that I can smell something from as far as fifty feet away? Not very accurately, I admit. I'd have to get closer for that, but… when something is right in front of me," he squeezed her hand, "I can smell traces of things you can't even imagine. And when I found a broken candle on the sidewalk today…" she felt her legs go weak "well, I didn't find it too odd, but then I wondered why there were a bunch of herbs scattered around it. And when I brought it up to my nose and made out a hint of not raspberry, but strawberry, I wondered where I'd smelled it before. But then I remembered."

She swallowed, feeling like she was about to faint. "I don't understand." She wanted to say more. She wanted to say so much more, but she could barely think enough to keep her body standing.

His smile twitched and he looked at her with a mocking sort of sweetness. He caressed her hand as he slowly let it go. "No, of course you don't, do you? And I'm sure you don't understand why… Elena" he purred her name in a way that revolted her "recognized me today. Do you?"

She was going to die. She was going to have a heart attack and die. She took a shallow breath. "I don't-"

"You're a liar, Angela. Aren't you? And you're not the only one with a vervain tattoo." Her eyes widened in sick realization. Her left hand. He took Elena's left hand. She was going to die.

She moved her mouth, but no words came out. She wanted to say something clever. What it would be, she didn't know, but if she could only make some sort of noise, she might just figure it out.

"Who the hell are you?" Tanner. She snapped her wide eyes to find him turning the corner from the football field to where they were. Oh, no, no, no, not now.

Damon sighed in fake disappointment and petted her cheek with the back of his fingers. "It's not very nice to lie to people, you know."

"Hey!" Please just leave.

"That would make you a bad person, Angela."

"I'm talking to you!" Don't throw your life away.

"And it would make me have to teach you to be good. Wouldn't it?"

"Is he bothering you?" Not now that I decided to save you. But she couldn't save him, could she? Not really. She was so stupid, thinking she could be a hero when she was so incredibly weak. She was the stupidest person alive.

He drew his hand away from her face. He tried to look at her sadly, but could barely suppress his laughter. "Maybe this'll help put you on the right track."

And then he was on him. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the shock on William Tanner's face, which quickly turned into horror. She couldn't stop watching as his hands clawed at Damon's head and he kicked his legs, trying with everything he had to wrench his assailant away from his throat. She couldn't stop hearing the muffled screams that escaped the prison of Damon's hand. She couldn't stop her legs from giving out, just like she couldn't stop her eyes from watching the life slowly drain out of her History teacher's body. Finally, when his arms and legs went from sluggishly resistant to unmoving, Damon threw his corpse off of him and onto the green grass. His cold, dead eyes were staring through her.

Damon wiped the blood away from his mouth and licked it up from his fingers with a moan. He stepped closer to her, but she couldn't think enough to move her body. He crouched down in front of her and caressed her face with a smile. "See you at eight, Angel-cake."

Then, he was gone.

Then, she was cold.

A bit of a darker chapter, but it's not all sunshine and rainbows in this fic. Unfortunately. That'd be great for everyone involved if it was. Except for me, because I'm incapable of keeping things light and fluffy.

Angelicsailor: Awww! I accept your virtual hug with great honor.

LadyScatty: Your long reviews give me *chef kiss* l-i-f-e. Oh yeah, that was Katherine's plan, wasn't it? I forgot, oops, thank you for reminding me! I don't know about Kat, but I sure as hell wouldn't wanna go up against Pearl. Usually the people that worry the most about being bad people are the ones that are the farthest thing from being bad people. Angie's not evil at all. Stefan suspects there's something a bit off about her, not because he knows about the whole parasite thing, but because while he was watching Elena during the summer (how he knows about her even though he didn't save her will come up eventually by the way, don't worry) Angela seemed very mature for her age. And not in the way kids are mature for their age. In the way he's mature for his "age." Damon doesn't care too much for her either way. He doesn't care for anyone too much, the way he is right now. She does irritate him a bit because of the contract thing, but for the time being, she's just a means to an end.

MageVicky: Of course! I have too many plans for this story to abandon it just yet. Aw, I'm glad you thought so haha.