#12144

Lily felt so far removed from the life she was living before being imprisoned, tortured by her actions in a fit of rage and destruction that left thousands of bodies in their path. Her entire focus had been on reconnecting with her morality and her children to become harmoniously living people in the new world. Still, she had regrets. Things she left behind when she left this world. People she wishes she could have saved. Upon seeing Enzo her head tilts, almost awestruck at seeing him again. “Lorenzo?” She calls to him as she quickens her step to catch up to his side, hands resting on his shoulders and brushing them off almost as if she was doing a wellness check on him. “I feared I would never see you again.” 

And with his name called, there’s a tense in his body. Reality set in. A small level of discomfort as yet another important person in his life comes back in. He’s not even sure how important he was to her and that’s what makes him uneasy. He thought they’d all left him. Left him like his parents had on the streets as a child to fend for himself. It’s a hard pill to swallow that there was actually some other cause. Which is why he responded so bitterly to Hattie as the messenger. Seeing Nora reminded him that he was supposed to be a part of that family but he hadn’t and lead a life again, of solitude and being alone with people leaving him. Damon is the most significant. Though the warm of her touch isn’t unwelcome, it is a foreign concept. Intimacy is something Enzo lacks. “As did I...” he responds in a soft tone. His nerves clearly present also. “Hattie caught me up. You don’t have to explain anything.” Despite the fact, he’d said that, he still would like one. One from Lily’s point of view.

“Not great. Acting like it doesn’t matter kind of makes it easier than me thinking about it for too long. My whole life has been about me looking out for myself because nobody else would so I guess some things never change. It would be nice to be shown a little appreciation now and then. Not that anyone appreciates me, that is. Is is sad Damon is the only person that I consider family but I’m not sure he considers me a brother in the same way? Not by blood like himself and Stefan. I heard so much about Stefan when we were in the Augstine but then again, I’ve never really had family before so...Who am I to say anything?”

“what are you going to do if you can’t find an antidote?” sam asked. the town was full of vampires. probably more vampires than there were humans. if he was stuck with this vamp blood virus, the best bet for him was to go and find a place somewhere where there was no vampires at all. at least he could live a semi normal life. “everyone in this town is messed up. even people who aren’t from this town come here because it attracts messed up people.”

“Then I’ll do what I have to do. Like I’ve always done.” It's a simple answer but it's still all facts. Enzo's always had to fend for himself his entire life so he's built for it. As much as he wants family and friends, he's not sure he can even have that. Ever time that opportunity comes, something happens to shatter it in his face. "I pinky promise you won't have to put me down. It's just a matter torturing the doctor and compelling him to tell me where the antidote is or force him to make one if there isn't one." All whilst the vampire has a huge grin on his face. He takes pride in that thought actually. He can't wait to kill Dr Maxfield for all he's done to him. "And that's what you think about yourself? I know as much you aren’t from Mystic Falls. You still think you're a monster because of what happened in the past?" He raised the question. "Because you are the devil's vessel?”

Spencer’s always been good at telling when someone’s lying, and while being a vampire certainly helps, majoring in psychology and interning with a research group studying micro-expressions helped even more. Jail, that’s strike one, but it doesn’t begin to set her off until he asks if she’s Gen. Strike two, McBloody. “Yeah, I was, but I’m not Genevieve. I’m Spencer.” She’s clocking the exits now, where her regulars are setting, if they’re in proximity to danger. Two lies to a bartender isn’t abnormal in the slightest, but there’s something sinister about the vampire - something wrong. Forgetful, there’s the twitch. Strike three. “You can have the bourbon, but I’m gonna need some things from you beforehand. First,” she turns around, hands locking in vice grips around Enzo’s wrists to keep him from moving as her expression hardening, “you’re going to quit lying. Liars upset me, and things tend to get messy when I get upset.”

Enzo’s beyond impressed that she saw through his little innocent charade. He just grins in amusement as she grabbed his wrist. “Well, you are a smart cookie, aren’t you?”He’s not even patronizing her. It’s genuine.  The Augustine's gaze on her turned from impressed to his vampire highlighted veins. He’s faster. He’s stronger and he had her where he wanted her. He’s quick to flip the roles. He grabs her wrist, even tighter. Possibly crushing bone without meaning to. He’s not even the same guy that walked into the bar. He’s become something else entirely. He’s become the virus itself. “You want the truth? I can do that” He finally let go of her wrist, throwing them down for her freedom. But not for long. “I’m a new kind of vampire. Just human blood won’t cut it, I suppose.” He’s trying to drop hints but he’s not sure she’d get it. Fine. He’d appreciate the chase. It’s a shame. He did like her for what it was worth. But this part of Enzo was toxic. It was called the Ripper virus for a reason. And Ripper’s don’t stop.

“He did, huh?” Damon scoffed. “Just because I didn’t do what he wanted, doesn’t mean I wasn’t trying to find you. I have files that prove that I was. And to be honest, it’s a little weird that the guy refused to help me save you unless I gave him a vampire to put in your place, but then he suddenly decides he’ll save you all on his own.” He replied. It was hard for him to trust in a guy who believed that the Augustine Society was doing a good thing and would gladly give them another vampire to be used as a lab rat. “My days as a revengeful vampire are over. Count me out on our revenge plan.” He replied, before frowning. “And what the hell is this virus you are talking about?”

“Funny. That’s what he said to me.” Things were starting to connect now. And any faux doubt that Mateo had tried to instil in Enzo’s brain was done in an instant. Why would he even believe Mateo over his friend of years? “I thought about it. Giving him a vampire and I said yes so he’d let me out and give me the information I wanted. But I can find other means and I wouldn’t submit anyone to the kind of torture you and I went through for that. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone in their worst nightmare.” Enzo is just glad to get this stuff of chest really. He’d carried this weight since his escape of feeling in debt to Mateo. Not anymore. Damon had made him think straight. Though he’s a little disappointed Damon won’t join him, he can understand that. And he accepts his choices. That’s what friends do. “I get it.” He gave his friend a simple nod.  “The doctor engineered this virus that makes me feed on vampires. It’s his twist joke for an insurance policy if I escape, I suppose. It’s not any fun. I’m doing all I can to resist not biting you, really. That and I ate before I got here.” It’s also partly why he didn’t hug Damon. He couldn’t risk putting him in danger. That’s the last thing he wanted when trying to get his friend back.  “It’s hidden in Augustine's other base which I haven’t the foggiest of where it could be.” He shook his head but then quickly turned into a grin. “I’ll figure it out. Now I’ve caught you up on me, what have you been up to?”

“Please, do that. And then maybe he’ll understand why I could and wouldn’t deliver a vampire to the Augustine Society.” Damon replied. Maybe old Damon would’ve done it in a heartbeat, but the man he became was compassionate and wouldn’t put someone through what he went through. “Aaron… He’s already dead. I killed him three years ago.” Damon replied. His long term revenge against the Whitmore had come to an end the day he killed the last one of them. Or at least that’s what he thought. “Heidi? I thought Aaron was the last Whitmore.”

“Tempting. You know, he tried making me think you weren’t looking for me?” This would either confirm his original thoughts that Damon still cared about him or go a different direction. He didn’t think it would though. The information of Aaron’s death was actually music to Enzo’s ears in all honesty. The only thing he wished was that he was there when Damon did it. He didn’t care about Heidi. It was nothing personal. Just years of her family torturing vampire kind and Enzo wanted his revenge. He needed Damon in on this. He wouldn’t keep that secret from him. “Fantastic! That explains why I couldn’t even find him.” Enzo rubs his hand in excitement. “Nope. Secret sister. I saw her name on a list of the Whitmore families’ descendants on Dr Maxfield’s lab but I knew you took care of the rest. So when I got out, I planned to kidnap them both and let you have at it. But, if Aaron’s dead and I’ve recently escaped again thanks to the FBI agent, you want to kill her?” He raised the suggestion. “Or no matter, you can help me get the antidote to this bloody virus Dr Wes was testing on me when I was his personal guinea pig and blow up the rest of the Augustine so they’re gone once and for all.”