CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | DO NOT GO GENTLE

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THE LAST THING ON RILEY'S MIND WAS ATTENDING THE SCHOOL DANCE. And, considering their history in school dances, something always went wrong. Riley couldn't remember the last normal school dance that she and her friends had actually attended. But, Stefan insisted that it might do Riley some good to actually have fun— something she hadn't done in a long time.

"I don't want to." Riley firmly glared at both Stefan and Caroline who stood with folded arms at the bottom of her bed. "Do you really think that I, Riley Evans, depressed witch, will be fun to be around? God, even I hate being around me right now."

"You're going," Stefan's voice was stern whilst his arms remained folded over his chest.

Riley tilted her head backward dramatically and rested it on the headboard of the bed. "Okay, what happens if I get upset and I use my magic to accidentally kill someone, huh? What then?"

"Right, now you're just being dramatic." Caroline jumped into the bed beside her the witch. "You can come with me since Stefan's going with Elena and Damon's is clearly a no-go."

Riley exhaled deeply. "You're not gonna let me out of this, are you?"

"Nope." Both vampires spoke confidently once they knew that Riley had no choice but to attend the dance.

"I haven't even got anything to wear." Riley finally interjected the hope that maybe they would relent on their mission to get her to leave her bedroom. "Guess that means I can't go, right?"

"Wrong," Stefan smirked and pointed toward the dress Caroline had laid out on the back of a chair. "We came prepared."

"Of course you did." The strawberry-blonde mumbled to herself before she exhaled sharply and sat up. "Fine, fine! I'll go to the stupid dance."

"Good, because we've got a tight schedule to keep to so that I can get this—" Caroline waved her hand around Riley's tired exterior. "—looking amazing."

Riley narrowed her eyes toward the Salvatore who just stood there wearing a smug grin on his face. She knew that Stefan was trying to help her cheer up and get out of the house, as was Caroline. The strawberry-blonde sarcastically smiled and shot the pair a thumbs up before she threw the covers from herself. "Great, well. I'm going for a bath. Or, do you guys need to come with me just to make sure I don't drown myself?"

Stefan watched his best friend walk out of the bedroom, her sigh echoed through the halls as she went. "She's hurting. Whatever's going on between her and Damon, it's clearly taking its toll on her."

"She's in love with him, Stefan." Caroline shrugged with a sympathetic look. "He was her first love, I don't really think you ever get over that. And, to be honest, I don't think she will."

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Riley was right for not wanting to go to the Decade Dance, it was just another reminder that she was completely and utterly single. Most of her friends were dancing with their other-halves. Elena and Stefan were in the middle of the floor while Stefan was quite clearly trying to teach Elena some moves from the 1920s. Bonnie was on her first date with Jamie, who she met through her mother all while Caroline and Tyler were defying every risk just to be together.

Riley was stood alone, by the punch bowl and sipping her drink from a plastic red cup. Her attention was soon taken by Damon, who wandered straight in with his eyes fixed on the strawberry-blonde. "We need to talk."

"What? Why?" The witch raised an eyebrow.

"Where's Stefan and Elena?"

At the mention of their names, Stefan and Elena wandered over to Riley and Damon with raised brows. The eldest Salvatore ushered the group into the hallway. Damon told the group that Alaric hadn't been taking the herbs that Bonnie had made for him to keep the darkness at bay, and now he was completely unreachable. Nobody knew where he was.

"If Alaric's sick then we need to find a cure," Elena spoke in a determined tone of voice. Alaric was the closest thing that she had to a parental figure and there was no way she was letting something happen to him. "Something."

"We tried medicine. We tried magic."

"Why don't we get him off vervain? Compel him?" Stefan suggested with a raised eyebrow, though the Evans witch shook her head in disagreement.

"No, I don't think that'll work." The strawberry-blonde heavily sighed as she readjusted her headband on her head. "His alter-ego is made up of all the dark parts of him. You can't really compel it away and get him to pretend to be his old self."

"The guy that we know is gone. We're talking about someone who not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathizers. Which makes two of his most obvious targets— I don't know, the two of you!" Damon's gaze drifted between both Elena and Riley.

"What, you think he'd go after Elena and Riley?" Stefan asked while Damon returned him a look of irritation.

"So, wait," Elena interjected. "What are you suggesting we do?"

"I'm suggesting that we put him out of his misery." Damon's eyes were hard but they lacked remorse.

"Hang on a minute—" Riley began until their conversation was interrupted by Jeremy Gilbert who appeared behind Damon. His eyes were widened at the mention of killing Alaric.

"No way in hell."

"Oh, come on. It's what he would want. It's a mercy killing."

The youngest Gilbert narrowed his eyes toward Damon, a look of disgust on his face. "You are out of your mind."

"Jeremy." Elena took a step forward and tried to reason with her brother, but he just let out an angry breath and walked away. Elena turned to face the rest of the group with a sympathetic look, then disappeared after her brother.

"There's no way that we can do this, guys." Riley heavily sighed at the plan they had come up with. "I mean, this is Ric. He's one of us."

"Well, what the hell do we do?" Stefan exhaled whilst the three wandered down the corridor.

"She's here!" Jeremy yelled out once he sprinted back into the hallway to meet Stefan, Damon, and Riley. The three furrowed their brows. "Esther. She's here."

At the mention of Esther, they all hurried out of the hallway and straight for the entrance of the school, but the looks of determination on their faces soon faded when they noticed both Elena and Esther were gone. They strode further afield, but Stefan and Damon were unable to leave the threshold of the school.

Their attention was taken by the line of salt that was spread across the front of the school and divided them. "Salt," Riley whispered softly. "It's a binding agent for a spell."

"We're trapped here."

Riley stepped forward and extended her hand against the barrier spell, she closed her eyes and muttered an incantation before she watched Stefan try and step over the boundary. "It didn't work." He sighed.

"I don't know how the hell to do this. I need to find Bonnie."

"Come on, Riley." Damon grabbed hold of Riley's hand and wandered back into the school with her. "Let's go find your witchy pal."

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Bonnie and Riley were both stood in Alaric's classroom surrounded by candles. They held hands, had eyes closed, and muttered softly in Latin whilst the rest of the vampires all waited patiently for the spell to be lifted so they could stop Esther.

"What's taking so long?" Klaus impatiently called out, arms folded across his chest as he glared at the witches. "All boundary spells have a loophole."

Matt suddenly pushed through the doors and strode into the classroom. "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier."

"If Matt and I can leave, we can stop Esther ourselves. We gotta find out where she is." Jeremy suddenly suggested.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Suicide, Jeremy."

Klaus sped forward and grabbed Jamie, Bonnie's date, by the throat. "Suicide would be disappointing me. Now, work your magic, witches, or I'll start killing people you fancy. Starting with this chap, and ending with Damon Salvatore."

"Ah, don't be stupid, Klaus." Stefan strode forward in an attempt to reason with the Hybrid. "The only reason Bonnie's helping right now is to save Caroline and Tyler. And, as for killing Damon to get to Riley, well, that would just be stupid, wouldn't it?"

Klaus finally released Jamie from his grip and rolled his eyes just and Bonnie and Riley grabbed hold of a map and extended it across the table. Jeremy and Matt had disappeared to find Esther, which left the witches with the vampires.

"Here." Damon walked in and handed the girls a vial of blood while Klaus stood behind him. "Jeremy made a little Gilbert blood donation for your locator spell."

Bonnie glanced at the vial of blood. "We have to do this with you two lurking over us?"

"You're still mad at me for what happened to Abby." Damon let out another sigh. "Let me apologize. I'm sorry Elijah forced us to turn your mother into a vampire to save Elena's life. Didn't exactly have a choice."

"Okay. Look, can we just do this, please?" Riley rolled her eyes and begun to pour the blood over the map. The witches grabbed each other's hands and began to chant. "Esther's fighting us."

"Esther couldn't possibly have this much power," Klaus spoke softly and he glared down at the map. "Unless she's channeling something."

"A hotspot." Bonnie nodded.

"Get the humans ready. I know where she is." Klaus turned his attention to Damon with a confident look on his face.

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Riley and Bonnie managed to drop the boundary spell, and Alaric was almost turned into a weapon to not only kill all vampires but the people he cared for the most. They managed to stop Esther just in time, but Alaric had already died with vampire blood in his system. The Saltzman had decided not to go through with the transition, and Jeremy and Elena were in the tomb whilst the rest of the group waited outside.

After a short while, Jeremy and Elena joined their friends while Alaric looked over to the group who had all come out to pay their respects. Nobody wanted to lose Alaric but everybody knew that if Alaric went through with the transition, they'd lose him for good. After a moment of appreciation for his friends, he finally turned around, walked into the tomb, and carefully closed the gate behind him.

In the end, everyone went left and the only people that remained in the graveyard were Damon and Riley. The Evans witch knew that Damon was hurting, especially considering Alaric was his best friend. She gave in to her feelings and headed over to him whilst he sat on a bench outside the tomb. She rested her head against his shoulder while he held onto the White Oak stake and a bottle of bourbon.

Dr. Fell suddenly walked out of the tomb and broke the awkward silence between the two. "I gave him a sedative. He'll fall asleep first. He'll go comfortably."

"Well, I offered to snap his neck, put him out of his misery, but he didn't take me up on it." Damon sarcastically rolled his eyes and took a sip of his bourbon.

"You seem surprised." Meredith raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you'd just think a guy so used to dying wouldn't want to drag it out." He let a small scoff escape his lips as he took another sip of his bourbon.

"Well, it was nice of you to give him the option."

"Apparently, my choices have been a little controversial lately." Damon shrugged lightly though his eyes drifted to Riley.

"I don't think you should let him go through this alone," Riley told Damon as she pulled her jacket over her. The cold air caused the witch to shiver uncomfortably.

"It's what he wants."

"Is it really what you think he wants?" Meredith gave him a look before she finally walked away.

"She's right, Damon," Riley spoke finally after a few moments of complete and utter silence. "He's your best friend, it's not right. Him doing this alone. If it were me, I'd want—"

"What?" His eyes looked up with hopefulness despite their current situation.

Riley pondered for a moment, almost like she didn't know how to answer his question. "Just— go in there. Be with him. Say goodbye. And, I'll see you at home."

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