CHAPTER TWELVE | THE DESCENT

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AFTER THE DRAMA OF ELIJAH'S VISIT TO ELENA'S, RILEY WENT HOME WITH THE INTENTION OF EXPLAINING TO DAMON BUT INSTEAD WAS MET WITH DISASTER. During the day, it seemed Damon had antagonized a werewolf, Jules, who was looking for Mason. Jules had come after Damon, but instead, Rose jumped in the way of Damon and gained herself a werewolf bite in the fall-out.

"I was born in 1450. That makes me five-hundred and sixty years old," Rose spoke softly, a hint of concern lacing her voice. "So, I can die. I've lived long enough."

"You know, if you're going to be maudlin, then I'm just gonna kill you myself just to put me out of your misery." Damon joked as he grabbed a tumbler and poured blood from a blood bag into it. "Come on. It's just a little werewolf bite—"

"—Just a little fatal-to-a-vampire werewolf bite." Rose corrected with a bitter look as Riley shook her head.

"Woah. No. Don't think like that, okay." Riley tried her best to comfort the woman that Damon had seemingly formed some sort of friendship with. "Blood heals, right? So, drink up."

Rose nodded slowly and then hesitantly slipped the blood from the glass Damon had handed her. After a few sips, she nodded slowly. "Yeah. It does feel like it's working."

"Let's have a look. Come on." Damon told the vampire as she turned around to let Riley and Damon examine her werewolf bite. Riley slid the arm of her dressing gown to the side to reveal the werewolf bite— worse than before. "Definitely better. Right, Riles?" Damon raised an eyebrow in the girl's direction.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's not bad." Riley shook away the guilt that appeared to wash over her face and replaced it with a smile in an attempt to set Rose's mind at ease.

The sudden appearance of Elena entering the room caused Damon to raise an eyebrow toward the female. "Where's Stefan?"

"He left." She breathed aloud. "I need you to talk to him. He's convinced that he has to find Isobel but I think that's gonna upset Elijah."

"God. Really?" Riley exhaled in disbelief as Elena nodded. "He wouldn't listen to you?"

"I'm with Stefan on this one," Damon stated as he began to refill Rose's tumbler with blood. "But, if you and Riley could play nurse for a little while—" Damon's gaze flickered between both females.

"It's not necessary." Rose shook her head, desperate not to be a burden on anyone.

"It is necessary. Elena is a do-gooder. It's in her nature, she just can't resist." Damon smirked softly, then his eyes flickered to Riley. "And, Riley, well, I couldn't think of anyone better to nurse me back to health." He wandered over to the Evans witch and dragged her away. "Any problems, you call me, okay?"

"Okay." Riley smiled softly. "I'll see you, later."

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Whilst Elena was preparing some more blood for Rose, Riley figured it would be a good idea to get Rose into bed so that she could rest. Rest always worked. So, they headed up to Damon's bedroom and Riley helped the vampire into his bed.

"I hate this," Rose complained as she held onto Riley's arm to keep herself from falling over. "I'm a vampire. I haven't had a cold in five centuries."

"It's gonna be okay," Riley told the woman as she peeled her dressing down from her shoulders. "Just get in bed and try to rest as much as you possibly can."

"We don't get sick." Rose protested again. "When we die, it's fast and sudden. And, it's certainly not drawn out in illness."

The vampire eventually laid down, so Riley began to pull Damon's sheets over her. "You're not gonna die."

"Such a human thing to say," Rose muttered under her breath before her eyes were drawn back to Riley. "You're lucky, you know? No one has ever loved me the way that you're loved."

"No, come on. I'm sure that's not true. You've been alive for five centuries, right?"

"And that is exactly why I can tell you that I have never experienced anything like what you have." Rose's voice was weakened, though she was still desperate the make the conversation with the strawberry-blonde witch.

A small scoff left Riley's lips. "Humor me. What makes you think I'm loved?"

"You truly are unaware of it, aren't you?" Rose muttered quietly as Riley's eyebrows knitted together with confusion. "The way that Damon looks at you says all that needs saying. I don't think even he's worked it out from himself yet, so I can't expect you to, either."

"What're you talking about? Damon's not in love with me." The strawberry-blonde witch furrowed her brows once more as her heart began to pound in her chest.

"He thinks he's not. His actions suggest something more. He's in love with you, whether he wants to admit it or not. And, I think there's a small part of you that feels the same." Rose nodded slowly, whilst Riley shook her head. "You forget, I'm a vampire— I can hear your heart beating."

Elena stepped back into the room with another tumbler of blood. "How's she doing?"

"Uh—" Riley awkwardly cleared her throat. There was no way that she wanted to repeat to Elena the conversation she just had with Rose.

"No. Stop. Wait." Rose called out once her eyes fluttered shut. "Tell them to prepare the horses."

"It's okay, Rose. Just get some sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up." Elena assured the sick vampire with a soft smile just as she and Riley attempted to head out of the room to let her sleep.

"Trevor, don't be so stupid. We're never gonna make it there before the sun—" Rose trailed off with a look of horror on her face when she realized whatever she was saying was a hallucination. "Elena. Riley. I need more blood."

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Elena ran over to the bedside table and grabbed the tumbler of blood. "Here." Slowly after Rose took large sips of the blood from the tumbler, she violently began to gag and cough as she vomited it all back out onto Damon's white bedsheets.

"It's okay, Rose," Riley told the vampire just before she ran into Damon's bathroom to get a washcloth for her. Just as Riley stepped out of the bedroom, Rose's coughing stopped and she saw the vampire had pinned Elena against the wall by her throat. "Rose, stop! It's Elena."

"It's all your fault, Katerina!" Rose sneered with Elena in her hold, the veins underneath her eyes were prominent and her eyes glowed a darkened red color. "You, Katerina. You did this! You betrayed us."

"Rose. It's not Katherine, it's Elena!" Riley yelled out whilst Elena kept repeating herself over and over until Rose finally stepped away from the doppelganger with an ashamed look on her face.

"Elena? Oh, my God. Elena, I'm so sorry. I don't know what's happening to me." Rose stammered softly as Riley carefully walked her back over to Damon's bed.

"It's alright." Elena nodded. "You're gonna be alright."

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Since Elena happened to look like the woman that ruined Rose's life, Riley told Elena that it probably was not a good idea to be around Rose whilst she was hallucinating. The doppelganger was reluctant to leave Riley with the sick vampire, but she knew that her staying may have only caused Rose further upset. The vampire was unable to differentiate between Katherine and Elena due to her sickness.

Once Riley had finished saying goodbye to Elena, the witch headed back upstairs to see Rose, but the vampire had disappeared from Damon's bed. As her heart pounded, she checked Damon's bathroom but the vampire wasn't there, either.

She wandered down the staircase, quietly searching every room that she passed but there seemed to be absolutely no sign of Rose anywhere. She pulled her phone from her pocket, and absentmindedly scrolled to Damon's caller ID. "Damon? Why aren't you answering your damn phone? Rose has taken a turn. Look, please just come home." A sudden loud thud caused the witch to slide her phone back into her pocket. "Rose?"

Riley followed the sound of the thud to the basement, where she found an emptied blood bag on the ground. She picked it up and headed into the room which continued the fridge full of blood, where she saw Rose with dozens of blood bags around her.

Once Rose's eyes turned to the witch behind her, she dropped the blood bag in her hand and snarled. "I'm hungry, Riley."

"No, no." Just as Rose lifted herself from the ground, Riley ran out of the basement room and slammed the door behind her. She ran up the staircase, only to see Rose behind her. "No, Rose, stop. It's Riley, you don't wanna do this!"

Rose halted for a moment and Riley swore that everything would be fine, but suddenly the veins underneath Rose's eyes grew once more before she attempted to lunge at the strawberry-blonde. Riley jumped out of the way which caused her to tumble to the ground, but before Rose managed to get to the female, Riley used her magic to thrust open the curtains. Sunlight soon flooded into the room and burned Rose's skin.

Whilst Rose was on the floor crying in agony as her skin sizzled, Riley used that time to make her escape. She sprinted right to the front door but just as she opened it, Rose appeared behind her and grabbed her by the throat.

"No, no, please!" Riley cried out loudly as Rose attempted to feed on her neck like a savage beast, but the witch took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and used her magic to throw Rose across the hall which such force that she broke her spine.

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Riley had locked herself in her bedroom, the curtains were open so that even if Rose managed to enter, the sunlight would harm her. Though, once the sun had begun to set, there was nothing but silence that radiated through the large Salvatore house. The witch furrowed her brows and carefully unlocked the door with a piece of wood in her hand for defense.

Riley quietly and carefully edged her way down the staircase whilst she adjusted her grip on the wood within her grasp. She wandered to the living room to see that there was absolutely no sign of the rabid vampire, then she saw the front door was left wide open.

Whilst she examined the door, she felt someone's presence behind her. As she twirled back around and plunged the stake forwards on instinct, Damon caught her hand before it made contact with his chest. "Whatcha' doin', Buffy?"

"Damon! Oh, my God." Riley breathed out a sigh of relief. She dropped the stake to the ground and immediately threw her arms around his neck. "I thought you were Rose."

"Perhaps you should stick to spell books and leave the vampire-slaying to Alaric." Damon pointedly quipped with a small chuckle as the witch broke away from his hold. "You okay? Where's Rose?"

"I don't know." The witch exhaled. "She— she just started hallucinating. She came after me so I locked myself in my bedroom, but now— we need to find her, Damon."

"Hey, I know. It's okay. I'll find her, you stay here. Okay?"

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Eventually, Damon had found Rose feeding on a few locals and then brought her back to the Salvatore house. He tucked her up in his bed, whilst Riley stood silently in the doorway. She admired the way that he looked after Rose, even though he barely even knew the woman

Once Rose's eyes slowly fluttered open, a small smile appeared on the Salvatore's face. "Hi, there."

"I'm sorry." A look of regret immediately washed over Rose's face once she remembered everything she had done whilst battling against the werewolf bite.

"You went on a murderous rampage," Damon smirked, then shrugged. "It happens."

The moment Rose noticed Riley in the doorway, she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Riley. I don't like taking human life, I never have. That's the worst part about it. The hunt. The need to kill. The thirst— the pleasure it brings you afterward. It wasn't meant to be evil. It hurts."

"Then stop talking about it," Damon lowly growled in Rose's direction. He could deny it all he wanted, but he was having a hard time admitting that she was going to inevitably die.

"Damon's a lot like me," Rose told Riley, who had stepped up to where Damon was previously stood. "He wants to care, and when he does he runs away from it. I'm sorry for what I've done today."

"Don't be. Don't be— it's okay. I swear it is." Riley coaxed the vampire with a sympathetic smile on her face.

"What we spoke about earlier— please, don't waste any more time, okay? Because, believe me, I spent a lot of time running from things, and look how well that's turned out for me, huh?" The wounded vampire softly chuckled, but the chuckle turned into a violent cough.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. You're going to be just fine." Riley breathed out softly as she attempted to comfort Rose the best she could.

Rose smiled and melted into her hold. "Why are you so nice to me?"

"Because everybody deserves a little good in their life." Riley simply responded with a smile as she turned her head to Damon, who raised an eyebrow toward her.

"Riley, I think it's time—" Damon cleared his throat. "It's time you went back to your room. Okay?"

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Riley laid on her side of the bed looking up at the ceiling. She knew that once Damon had asked her to leave the room, Rose surely didn't have very long left. Riley felt a presence in her doorway, and her eyes drifted over to see Damon stood there with an unreadable look on his face. "She's gone. Isn't she?"

"Yes." He simply responded just he stepped into her bedroom her perched on the bed, just beside her.

"She and I spoke." Riley began as Damon's gaze flickered back to her. "This morning, I mean. She said— I mean, I thought she was just hallucinating or something, but she said she thinks you're in love with me."

"Oh." At the mention of the word love, the Salvatore's eyes involuntarily widened. "Well, that was nice of her."

"Nice of her?" Riley answered back with a small scoff of disbelief. "So, she was wrong?" She was met with nothing but silence. A comfortable, yet irritating silence. "You know, what? We don't need to have this conversation now. Rose has just— she's gone."

Riley nodded to Damon softly, who looked back at her with a thankful gaze. The strawberry-blonde witch moved her head against Damon's chest and listened to the soft sound of his breathing. Damon, however, didn't know how to react to Rose completely outting his feelings to Riley. Instead of speaking, the two just laid comfortably wrapped up within each other's embrace.

After a while, Riley had seemingly drifted off within Damon's hold. He gently peeled the strawberry-blonde's head from his chest, and carefully slipped off of her bed. He extended his hand and gently caressed the witch's cheek. "She wasn't wrong, Riley. But, you can't know that. You deserve better." And with one final glance, Damon left the room.

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