CHAPTER TWO | THE HYBRID

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RILEY WAS STILL ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED FROM STEFAN'S OUTBURST AT ELENA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY. The minute that Damon found Riley slumped in the corner of their bedroom, he hadn't let her go. She remained in his hold the entire night. She put so much faith into getting her best friend back when he clearly didn't want to be saved. It broke Damon to see Riley so upset and heartbroken, and all he wanted was to make everything okay for her.

The entire night, Damon and Riley had been screening Elena's calls. Riley didn't want to speak to anyone, and his girlfriend was Damon's top priority— Elena had to wait.

"You've been dodging my calls." Elena's voice carried as she sauntered, uninvited into Damon and Riley's bedroom. "You both have."

"Been a bit busy, Elena." The strawberry-blonde quietly responded as she finally lifted her head upright. The minute that Riley spoke, Elena knew there was something very wrong.

"What happened?" Elena tilted her head, fear within her eyes as she gazed at the witch.

"Stefan came here last night. He— he made it very clear that he didn't want to be saved. I swear I have never seen him like that before."

An exasperated sigh escaped Elena's lips as she threw her hand up to her forehead in distress. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't do that to you, not last night." Riley simply shrugged in response. "It was your birthday, Elena. You deserved to spend the night without drama, you know?"

"What was she supposed to say, anyway?" A small scoff of disbelief left Damon's lips as he rolled his eyes. "Happy Birthday, Elena. Stefan came dropped by and threatened Riley. Cake?"

"He called me. Stefan called me last night." The doppelganger blurted out once more. "He didn't say anything. But, it was him. I asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call's origin."

"Okay. Did she find anything?" Riley's eyes widened as she tossed the fuzzy blanket off of her shoulders.

"It came from Tennessee."

"Where he's binge drinking on the country folk. We've been through this, Elena. Stefan's gone. If last night wasn't already an indication of that, he'd never hurt Riley. Ever." Damon sighed once he got up to his feet, grabbed the paper from Elena, and tossed them into the fireplace.

"If he was gone he wouldn't have called."

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Apparently, Elena had taken matters into her own hands once she knew that Damon and Riley didn't want to continue looking for Stefan. She enlisted Alaric to help her hike up the Smokey Mountain to find Stefan, though Alaric had called Damon and Riley— which Elena was completely unaware of.

Upon their arrival, Damon sped straight forward and pushed Elena into the nearby lake. A chuckle escaped Riley's lips, whilst the doppelganger swam back up to the surface to see the Evans witch and the Salvatore vampire were stood beside Alaric. "Damon, Riley?! How are you even here?"

Damon glanced over her shoulder at Alaric, a smirk on his face. "Thanks for the tip, brother."

A scoff of disbelief left Elena's lips whilst her eyes moved toward Alaric. She trusted him not to tell Damon what she was up to, and he betrayed her. "You sold me out."

"You think I'd take you to a mountain range of werewolves on the full moon without back up?" Alaric questioned the female with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"You can't do this, Elena. It's way too dangerous." Riley folded her arms as she leaned against the nearby tree.

"Get out of the water, Elena." The Salvatore rolled his eyes with a bored tone of voice.

The doppelganger stubbornly shook her head and glanced between Damon and Riley. "If I get out of the water, you two are gonna make me go home."

"Yes, because we're not idiots like you." The vampire quickly retorted with his arm rested against Riley's shoulder.

"Right now, you're both acting like idiots." Alaric huffed in the distance.

"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh?" Damon raised an eyebrow toward the stubborn doppelganger. "You gonna walk into a campsite of werewolves, roast a marshmallow and wait for Stefan to stop by?"

"My plan is to find him, and help him." Elena sighed heavily. "Guys, this is the closest we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home."

"Elena, Klaus is under the impression that you died when he broke his curse. Right now, you're safe. But, being here? It's not safe." The little witch tried her best to reason with Elena, though she didn't seem as if she were backing down. "

"I'm not leaving before we find him."

"It's a full moon tonight, Elena."

"Then, we'll find him before then." Elena continued to protest as she glanced between Damon and Riley. "Please, guys."

"Okay, okay." Damon huffed as he rolled his eyes and turned around. "But we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait."

"I promise." Elena nodded in agreement.

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The hike up the mountain was long and grueling. It was times like these, Riley genuinely considered becoming a vampire. Stamina was not an issue for Damon, whereas her breathing sounded as if she had completed a marathon. "How much further?" Riley breathed out, whilst Damon extended his hand in an attempt to drag her along.

"We got about a mile left." Alaric glanced down at the map in his hand, then turned around to the trio who walked behind him.

The Salvatore glanced up to the sun in the sky that was barely visible. A sigh left his lips. "The suns about to set."

"I can see that, Damon." Riley sighed heavily. She hated the idea of Damon being on the mountain range with a dozen werewolves on a full moon, but she couldn't help but think about Stefan.

"The moon doesn't reach its apex for a while. We have time." Elena bluntly responded from the back of the group.

Their footsteps became slower as twigs and branches began to snap in the distance. Damon pushed Riley and Elena behind him for safety, whilst Alaric aimed a crossbow in the direction of the noise until a man walked out. The man seemed dazed, confused, and was absolutely covered in blood. Riley and Elena's breath hitched in their throats when they clapped eyes on him.

"Stay where you are," Alaric warned confidently whilst the man barely took any notice of the crossbow that was pointed at him.

His nostrils flared, almost as if he were sniffing the air and then his eyes fixed viciously toward Damon. "Vampire."

He sped straight for Damon, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him against the nearest tree. The two struggled, as the werewolf attempted to bite down on Damon's forearm, but to no avail.

Riley focused her eyes on the werewolf that was attacking Damon and caused both of his legs to suddenly break. The man dropped to his feet in agony just as Elena tossed a wolfsbane grenade toward Damon, who let it explode in the werewolf's face. The wolf desperately tried to scramble up to his feet, but Damon swiftly kicked him once more.

"What the hell was he?" Riley exhaled deeply whilst she tried desperately to calm herself down.

"Let me guess." Alaric raised an eyebrow toward the Salvatore. "Hybrid."

"Let's find out, shall we?" Damon smirked whilst he and Alaric lifted his body up against the tree. The human headed over to his duffle bag and pulled out some ropes, in an attempt to keep the Hybrid secure when he woke. However, ropes were all they had and as the sun began to set, he would surely only get stronger.

"These ropes aren't going to hold him much longer." Damon glanced over his shoulder to Elena and Riley, who were preparing ropes steeped in vervain. "What else do we have?"

"Ric, here. Take these," Elena called out to Alaric just as she finished pouring the liquid onto the ropes.

Absentmindedly, Damon swung his arm around to Elena in an attempt to grab the rope from her hold. But, instead, once his skin made contact with the rope, it began to burn and sizzle. "Ah! Ow!"

"She said Ric, dumbass." Riley rolled her eyes in disbelief whilst Damon continued to grunt in pain as his skin healed.

"Alright, that's the last of the Vervain." Alaric took the ropes from Elena and began to use them to tie around their Hybrid hostage. "We don't have enough stuff to hold him. I don't think we're gonna make that ridge before the full moon."

"If we can get him to talk, we don't have to." Elena began to step closer to the captive Hybrid.

"Elena, be careful. He's dangerous." Riley cautiously spoke as she watched her best friend edge toward the Hybrid. Suddenly, his eyes jolted open and his neck broke whilst he screamed out in pain. "No. No, he is turning?"

The doppelganger backed away fearfully and moved beside Alaric with widened eyes. "That's impossible. It's still daylight."

"Tell him that." The vampire hunter scoffed in disbelief.

"There aren't suppose to be any werewolves out here until the moon is full."

Alaric's eyes flickered over to Damon, who had strode forward in an attempt to keep the Hybrid from breaking free of the ropes. "You know, those ropes aren't going to hold a wolf."

"No, I'm sorry, Elena, but we need to get the hell out of these mountains." Riley told the doppelganger before she stepped forward and yanked her boyfriend away from the Hybrid. "Damon, now!"

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The sun had set and they were running through a pitch-black mountain range, hopeful that they wouldn't get caught by another one of Klaus' creations. Suddenly, Elena stumbled in front of Riley but once she tried to get back up to her feet, there was a werewolf in front of her.

"Don't move!" Damon shouted toward Elena, who looked up and came face-to-face with a werewolf.

"Heye, doggy, doggy." Damon teased the werewolf just before he sped off into the distance, hoping that the wolf would follow. And, without fail, it did.

"Dammit!" Riley stressfully breathed out once she helped Elena up to her feet. Riley knew Damon's luck with werewolves, and she didn't want him to end up with another werewolf bite. "I need to— I can't leave Damon."

A breathless sigh escaped Alaric's lips as he tried to usher the girls to keep running. "He can handle himself. Let's move."

"No, Riley's right. If he gets bit, he'll be dead. I'm the reason he's out here!" The doppelganger protested once she saw the look of fear in Riley's eyes.

"No, I am the reason he's out here. I told him where we were." Alaric sternly spoke toward the girls, then he set his eyes on Riley. "Damon would want you safe, off this damn mountain, okay? So, we keep moving!"

Reluctantly, Riley started running again. The fear almost made her feel like she was running faster than she was before. Eventually, they made it back to Alaric's truck that was parked in a field just before the mountain.

"Stefan's out there somewhere and, now Damon, and we're sitting in this car." Elena stressfully remarked as she, Alaric, and Riley jumped back into Alaric's truck.

"Let the vampires fight the Hybrid-Zombie-Mountain man. I'll take care of keeping the humans safe." Alaric hummed back as he rested his head against the window.

"I thought you were checked out of taking care of people?" Elena raised an eyebrow toward Alaric. The man had pretty much shut down ever since Jenna's death— truth be told, he was a wreck.

"I know what you're doing. Don't." Alaric sternly rolled his eyes. "There doesn't need to be a lesson here."

"Ric, taking care of people is kind of who you are." Riley slipped her head in between the two front seats of Alaric's truck. "You're just lost right now. And, lost people usually tend to find a way back to themselves one way or another. You just have to be open to doing that."

Damon's figure suddenly appeared in the distance as he strode toward Alaric's SUV. Riley jumped out of the truck the moment that she saw him and ran into his arms. "Damon? Damon, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Bit-free." He spoke whilst he placed a gentle kiss on the witch's head. "Come on, let's get the hell outta' here."

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Damon had been silent the entire ride back to Mystic Falls and Riley wanted to know why. She figured that he would open up to her a little more once Elena had gone home. So, she saw that as an opportunity to get some answers.

"Okay, so, now you can tell me what really happened." Riley raised an eyebrow toward her boyfriend as they parked just in front of the Salvatore house. "What did you see out there?"

"I was wrong, Riley." Damon's voice was soft, but as he spoke, the witch's eyes widened. "I thought Stefan was gone, but I was wrong."

"Wait, you saw him?" Riley's heart began to pound at the thought of Stefan being within the mountain range, surrounded by wolves. "When? Oh, my God. Was he— was he okay?"

"No, he's not okay, Riley. He's an insufferable martyr that needs his ass kicked. But, he can be saved."

"But you, said—" The female raised an eyebrow. "—you changed your mind? Why?"

"Because, even in his darkest place, my brother still can't let me die. So, I figured I owe him the same in return." Damon placed his hand on Riley's thigh and squeezed it gently. "I will bring him home, Riley. We will, together. I will bring your best friend back to you, I swear it."

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