The Descent

*AGE CHANGE FROM 12 to 14; Birthday no longer on Founder's Day*

Emma was in a mood. A very bad mood to be exact. She did not get any sleep the night before due to the fact that she stayed up reading the book Elijah gave her. And on top of not sleeping, she had to go to a stupid doctors appointment with Jenna.

"Okay, Emma, you're arm looks great, but I think we should give it another week before we take the cast off." the doctor said, scribbling something down on his clipboard.

Emma let out a groan, which earned her a slap on the arm from Jenna.

"What Emma means is thank you." she said, politely smiling at the man.

The doctor chuckled. "Of course she did. Now, to schedule th-"

At that point, Emma tuned the man out. She couldn't stop thinking about that book. It kind of helped her understand who she was. It turns out that her ability to see the future was called divination and were messages from the ancient Greek gods. Normally, she would have doubted something like Greek gods being real but thanks to certain people, she believes in the impossible.

"Alright, well, thank you, doctor, and we'll be seeing you next week." Jenna said, shaking the man's hand.

Emma nodded in his direction and followed Jenna out of the hospital to the car. The car ride was somewhat quiet, with Jenna trying to initiate conversation and Emma giving one word replies or sounds. After Jenna shut the car off, Emma got out of her seat and trudged upstairs to her room.

"It was nice talking to you!" Jenna shouted from the base of the stairs as Emma shut her bedroom door. Jenna shook her head and mumbled, "Teenagers."

The youngest Gilbert laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling in boredom. She glanced over at the book Elijah gave her that was on her desk and decided to go to the boarding house. The only problem was how she was going to get there. She couldn't ask Jenna, given how it would have been a little weird and also the vampire drama going on there. Couldn't ask Jeremy since he disappeared this morning. Elena? Probably already there and it would have been a hassle for her to drive all the way home and back. Then she remembered. She remembered the bet. Reaching for her phone on the nightstand, Emma called the world's most annoying vampire.

"What." Damon answered, already knowing who was on the other line.

"Aw, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Emma joked, sitting up.

"Ha-ha. What do you want?"

Emma sighed. "I need a ride."

"A ride?"

"Yes, a ride."

"To where? And what makes you think I'm going to do it?"

She smiled. "Well, my destination is your house. And you have to do it."

Emma could hear laughter on the Damon's end. "You, short stack, are one funny girl. Yeah, I'm not picking you up."

She got up from her bed and went over to her desk with the book. "Yes, you are. Because, if you remember, you lost a bet that I won." There was a minute of silence before she spoke again. "I'm assuming you remember now?" She picked up the book and held it in her arms. "I expect you to be here in 5 min-"

She was interrupted when a pair of hands grasped her shoulders suddenly. Emma let out a shriek as she felt a gust of wind and was thrown backwards. She held onto the book tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. Her back hit a soft surface and when she opened her eyes, she saw Damon standing in front of her.

"There, you got your ride." he said, tossing her her phone.

Emma was confused, that's for sure, and when she noticed that she was in the boarding house, she became angry.

"Hey! That does not count!" she argued, standing up tall.

Damon lazily shrugged. "Sadly, you don't make the rules."

Emma rolled her eyes. She saw in his hands a bag of blood, making her grimace in disgust. Damon smirked and waved it in front of her face.

"Thirsty?"

Emma rolled her eyes once again. If she keeps doing that, she'll end up straining her eyes.

"Who's it for?" she asked.

"Rose." Damon replied, motioning Emma to follow him as he began to walk to the library. Emma had yet to meet Rose, considering she was semi helping them stop Klaus.

As she followed Damon, though, she felt a little uneasy, like there was something off. Entering the library, Emma saw a woman with short hair, who she assumed was Rose, sitting by the fireplace.

"I was born in 1450. That makes me 560 years old." she said, staring into the fire.

"If you were a bottle of wine. . ." Damon joked, opening the blood bag.

"So I can die. I've lived long enough." Rose continued.

Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

Rose looked over at the young girl in curiosity.

"Right. Rose this is Emma. Emma this is Rose." Damon introduced, as he grabbed a glass.

"I was bit by a werewolf." Rose explained. Emma's eyes widened in shock.

"Come on. It's just a little werewolf bite." Damon reasoned, filling the glass with blood from the blood bag.

Emma looked up at Damon as if he was crazy. "You do realize it's a vampire killi-" Stopped talking when Damon was frantically signalling for her to shush.

"See? She knows." Rose pointed out, pulling her jacket closer.

"Well. according to legend, which is a notoriously unreliable source." Damon said. He handed Rose the glass full of blood. "Drink up. Blood heals."

Rose sighed and took a sip. Emma watched intently as Rose nodded in content.

"Yeah, it does feel like it's working."

Damon smiled. "Alright, let's have a look."

Rose turned to the side with her back facing Damon and Emma. Damon peeled her jacket back from her right shoulder. Emma held in a gasp and covered mouth with her hand in shock when she saw the werewolf bite. She had no idea how it looked like when Rose was first bitten but Emma knew that the blood was not healing the wound at all. And by the look on Damon's face, it must gotten worse.

"How is it?" Rose asked, resting her head against the opposite shoulder.

Damon pushed Rose's shirt strap to the side as he examined it. "Definitely. . . looks better." He saw Elena enter the room. "Right, Elena?"

Elena was shocked when she saw the bite but got the hint when Damon and Emma gestured to Rose. "It's not bad." she said as Rose turned and faced the older girl.

"Where's Stefan?" Damon asked.

"He left. I need you to talk to him." Elena said, leaning against the pillar. "He's convinced that he has to find Isobel. But I think that's going to upset Elijah."

Damon refilled Rose's glass with blood. "No can do. I'm with Stefan on this one. But if you two could play nurse for a little while. . ." he said, setting the blood bag down and walking over to Elena.

"It's not necessary." Rose tried to reason.

"It is necessary. Elena's a do-gooder. It's in her nature. She just can't resist. And Emma's a follower." Damon said, walking out of the room with Elena on his tail.

That left Emma standing next to Rose, alone.

"I-Is there anything I can get you?" Emma asked, setting the book in her hands down on an end table.

Rose slightly raised her glass. "I would like some more, um. . ."

Emma took the glass from her hand and walked over to the bag of blood. She picked up the bag and gagged a little when she felt how squishy the bag felt. Rose began to stand.

"Emma, it's okay. You don't need to-"

"No, no. Please, this is the least I can do. I got this." Emma assured, pouring the blood. When she felt there was enough, she went back to Rose and gave her the glass.

"Thank you." Rose said.

Elena reentered the library and set her side bag on a chair. "Rose, I think you should lie down. Here," She walked over and reached out her hand. "let us help you."

Emma and Elena helped Rose up the stairs to Damon's room. When they got there, they began to guide the vampire to the bed.

"I'm a vampire. I haven't had a cold in 5 centuries." Rose said, reaching out for the bed.

"You just need rest." Emma said, setting the glass of blood on the nightstand as Elena took off Rose's jacket.

"We don't get sick. When we die, it's fast and sudden. And it's certainly not drawn out with an illness."

"You're not going to die." Elena said, tossing aside the jacket.

Rose chuckled. "Such a human thing to say." There was a brief silence as Emma helped Rose settle in the bed. Rose broke it when she saw Elena looking around. "You've never been in Damon's room before, have you?"

Elena looked at the pile of books Damon had and scoffed at the one on the top.

"Not what you expected?" Emma asked, carefully climbing onto the bed with Rose.

"It's just a room with a bed." Elena said, following suit. "Maybe I expected there to be silk sheets."

The girls laughed at the joked.

"You're both lucky, you know. No one's ever loved me the way you're loved." Rose commented, staring up at the Gilbert sisters.

"I doubt that." Elena said.

"Trevor was my best friend. Nothing more. I spent all those years on the run from Elijah. I just never thought it was a good idea to set up roots. The whole idea of a family is not exactly compatible with being a vampire." Rose explained to the girls.

It really made Emma think about the life Damon, Stefan, and Caroline were stuck with. They were stuck being vampires with no cure. If they wanted a family, it would be impossible. And if the person they fell in love with was human, there would be no way for them to stay together forever, unless their significant other decided to turn. That made Emma think of Stefan and Elena. What was going to happen to them in the future?

"Why are you so eager to give up?" Rose asked, watching Elena pick up the glass.

"I'm not giving up on anything. Here." Elena said, handing the glass over.

"What do you call this whole deal with Elijah?" Rose questioned.

"I call it my best option."

"It's your easiest option."

"Whoa, that's not fair." Emma interrupted.

"You really think your witch friend destroyed the moonstone?" Rose asked the two, trying to create doubt.

"I spoke with Bonnie and I know she had the help of another witch. Assuming it's Elijah's witch, so, no, I don't." Elena said.

"You really are determined to die, aren't you?" Rose's comment made Emma look over at Elena and couldn't help but believe it was true. "At least I ran. You're not even trying." Rose handed the glass to Emma and buried herself deeper in the pillow. "I'm so tired."

Emma and Elena scooted off the bed and began to leave the bedroom to let Rose rest but stopped when Rose called out to them.

"No, wait. Tell them to ready the horses." the vampire said, reopening her eyes.

"It's okay, Rose. Just get some sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up." Elena said.

"Trevor, don't be so stupid. We're never going to make it there before the sun." Rose muttered, turning slightly in the bed.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Trevor?"

Just then, Rose began to groan in pain. "Oh, I-I need more blood."

Emma raced over and handed the glass to Rose again. Only, when she took a sip, Rose gagged and spit out the blood, leaving her in a coughing state.

"Elena?" Emma cried, her eyes wide in horror.

Elena pointed towards the bathroom. "Emma, go get a towel with water."

Emma nodded and ran over to the sink. She grabbed the closest towel she could find and turned the faucet on to let the water soak the towel. "Elena, here." she said, holding out the towel as she walked out the bathroom. Elena met Emma half way and grabbed the towel. Emma heard a whoosh and looked behind Elena.

"Uh, Elena? Where'd Rose go?" Emma asked, seeing the bed empty.

Elena looked at the bed in confusion. Then, all of a sudden, Emma felt herself being thrown to the side. Her back hit the wall on the opposite side of the bedroom.

"You, Katerina. You did this!" She heard Rose say. Emma groaned in pain and slowly brought herself up to an upright position. She looked straight ahead to see Elena pushed up against the door by Rose.

"Rose, Rose, I'm Elena!" Elena yelled, pushing Rose back.

"You traitor!" Rose bared her teeth.

"I'm not Katherine!" Elena shouted.

From her spot on the floor, Emma saw Rose calm down and step away from Elena.

"Elena?" Rose looked to the right and noticed Emma on the floor, rubbing her back. "I'm- I'm so sorry. I don't know what's happening to me."

"It's all right. You're going to be all right." Elena assured, gently grasping Rose's arm. Emma stood up and moved herself closer to the door as Elena took Rose back to the bed.

"My mind. I'm-" Rose began but stopped mid-sentence.

"It was only a second." Emma said, trying to act as calm as she could.

"I'm sorry. Don't be scared of me."

"We're not." Elena looked back at Emma. "We're not. You just need to sleep."

"I'm scared." Rose admitted.

"You're not alone. We're right here." Elena said.

Rose sat up quickly. "Here? Where's here?"

Elena pushed the ill vampire back down. "Damon's bedroom. You're in Damon's bedroom."

"I want to go home." Rose pleaded, tears forming in her eyes.

"Tell us about it." Elena suggested, gesturing for Emma to walk back over. Emma shuffled to Elena's side and stayed there.

"St. Austell. 30 kilometers south of London." Rose started. "With fields and trees and horses." She smiled at the memory.

"Sounds beautiful." Emma commented.

"When you live long enough, everything disappears. So much time wasted. I just wish I hadn't been so afraid." Rose admitted.

Emma felt bad for being scared of Rose. It wasn't her fault she lashed out like that. It was the werewolf venom. Emma reached out and patted Rose's leg as the vampire drifted to sleep.

"Is she going to be alright?" Emma asked Elena as she stared at Rose.

Elena shrugged and shook her head. "At this point, I'm not so sure." Elena stood up from the bed and walked to the door. "I'm going to get some clean sheets. Please watch her." Before Emma could protest, Elena had already shut the door behind her.

Emma sighed and glanced at Rose, an itching feeling telling her something bad was going to happen once again. She got up and went to the bathroom sink. Turing on the faucet, Emma splashed some water on her face and patted her cheeks. She let out a sigh. Sometimes, situations like this just takes so much energy out of her. Just as she finished drying her face, Emma froze heard the door open. Dropping the towel, Emma ran out of the bathroom to see Rose gone from the bed and the bedroom door wide open.

"Ooh, no." Emma whispered, mentally kicking herself. She had one job to do. Emma rushed out into the hall way and raced downstairs, looking around for the vampire. She didn't see anyone in the living room so she went to the library next to come up with the same result.

"Emma?"

Emma let out a gasp and turned around to see Elena standing by the door frame leading into the library.

"Oh, my gosh, Elena."

"Where's Rose? I went back to Damon's room and both of you were gone. What happened?" Elena questioned, making her way closer to Emma.

"That's the thing, I don't know where Rose is. She just disappeared." Emma explained.

Elena sighed and pulled out her phone, probably calling Damon. "Hey, I think you should come back. I'm worried about Rose."

Suddenly, there was a cluttering sound coming from the basement of the boarding house. Emma and Elena both looked in the direction of the noise and started to walk to the basement. As they walked, Elena bent down and picked up an empty blood bag off the floor and showed it to Emma. They continued onward and saw Rose surrounded with a mountain of more blood bags as she drained the contents of the one in her hand. Rose sensed the girls and looked over her shoulder at them.

"Katerina." she sneered, dropping the blood bag.

"No." Elena said, pushing Emma back up the stairs but not before she pulled down an old door to slow Rose.

Emma reached out and tried to open the first door to her right but it was locked. She felt herself being pushed forward again when she turned around to see Rose advancing slowly toward them.

"Rose, stop, stop, it's Elena. I'm not Katherine. You're hallucinating." Elena said, holding out a hand at Rose to keep her back. Elena had made Emma stand behind her. "I'm not Katherine."

For a minute, it seemed like Rose was coming to, as her eyes returned to their normal color and her teeth retracted. But it only lasted a brief second before Rose growled and pounced on top of Elena. Emma let out a shriek as she saw Elena wrestle Rose. Emma looked behind her and saw the blinds covering the window. She pulled on them and a ray of sunshine hit Rose, burning her skin as she screamed in pain.

Elena pushed Rose off of her and grabbed Emma, running to the front door. But alas, Rose caught up with them and slammed the door shut. Emma was knocked down and Rose trapped Elena against the door. Quickly, Elena dug her fingers deep in Rose's wound, making her fall down in pain. Emma followed Elena away from Rose to Stefan's room, where Elena locked the door and Emma helped her push the dresser in front of the door.

The two of them backed away, gasping for air.

Elena nodded towards the balcony. "Go to the doors."

Emma went to the curtains and threw them open, allowing sunlight to flood the room. She opened the double doors and went back to Elena's side, who had broken a table leg to use as a stake.

The door handle shook, causing the sisters to jump.

"Emma? Elena? I know it's you and not Katherine." Rose said from the other side of the door. She then started coughing and gagging frantically. "Please, I need your help."

The sisters ignored her, though. They said nothing for a very long time. So long that it soon became night time. Elena and Emma ended up sitting side by side on the floor as Elena twirled the makeshift stake in her hands. The sound of crickets filled Stefan's bedroom which made Emma notice how silent it was. Standing up, she slowly made her way to the door.

"Emma." Elena whispered, but Emma held up her index finger to silence her.

Emma bent down and looked under the door and did not see and shoes on the other side. Establishing a firm grip, Emma pushed the dresser to the side and unlocked the door. She paused for a second and looked at Elena for the all clear. Elena nodded, with the stake ready, and Emma opened the door, anxiety shaking her body. Pulling the door wider, the girls saw no one outside the door. They stepped out and went downstairs.

With Elena in the front, they walked down the hall and peered around the corner to look in the living room but no one was there. Emma felt a breeze behind her and turned around to see the front door wide open. There was a sudden movement and the Gilbert sisters let out a scream when Damon suddenly appeared.

"You guys okay?" he asked, surveying the area. "Where's Rose?"

Emma shrugged. "Don't know."

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma and Elena stood outside their school, where the annual barbecue was taking place. Elena had called Stefan multiple times but he didn't answer any of her calls.

"Please call me. It's important." Elena said, before hanging up her phone.

Emma looked around and saw Damon coming towards them. "Damon." she called out, getting his attention.

Elena turned to him. "Have you heard from him? Do you know what he's up to?" she asked.

Damon didn't look at the girls at all, just constantly looking from side to side. "Baby brother's not exactly my priority right now." He reached inside his pocket and pulled out two stakes for the girls. "Here, take these." He placed the stakes in their hands. "Let's go." Damon grabbed onto their arms and pulled them away from the police.

They went further into the parking lot, the area where less people were. As they made their way through the many cars, there was a loud crashing noise and a woman screaming. The three ran towards the commotion and saw Rose biting the neck of a blonde girl.

"Rose, stop!" Damon shouted, making Rose let go of the girl.

Rose advanced towards Damon and lunged at him. Damon easily used his vampire strength to switch positions with Rose, pinning her on the road. Emma stood ready with the stake.

"Rose, Rose! It's me. It's Damon." Rose stared at Damon and began to calm down. The veins around her eyes disappeared as she came to.

Rose saw the blonde girl's body on the ground. "Did I do this?" she asked, tears flowing down her cheeks. "No! I didn't mean to. I never wanted to hurt anybody." she sobbed.

"It's okay, let's get you home." Damon said, trying to get her up.

"No, I don't have a home. I haven't had a home in so long! Make it stop! Please!" Rose pleaded, struggling against Damon.

Damon collected Rose into his arms and carried her bridal style out of the parking lot, with Elena and Emma in tow.

~~~~♡~~~~  

When they had returned Rose to the boarding house, they had changed her out of her clothes into fresh ones and laid her on Damon's bed again. Damon had kicked the sisters out of his room, but that didn't stop them from creeping back into his room.

"I'm sorry," Rose apologized from the bed, sensing the girls. "I don't like taking human life. I never have."

"It wasn't your fault." Emma said, giving Rose a sad smile.

Damon looked behind him and saw them. "You two shouldn't be here." he snapped.

Rose saw their distraught faces. "That's the worst part about death. . . the hunt. The need to kill. The thirst. The pleasure. I wasn't meant to be evil. It hurts."

"Well, then stop talking about it." Damon ordered.

"Damon's a lot like me." Rose admitted. "He wants to care, but the minute he does, he runs away from it."

Emma couldn't help but agree. Damon is just afraid to make attachments because he doesn't want to get hurt.

"You need to fight." Rose told Elena. "I know that you're scared, but you have to do it anyway." Emma hoped that message got through to Elena.

Rose coughed again and Emma placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Rose smiled up to the girl.

"Why are you so nice to me?"

"Us humans." Emma answered.

"You can never forget it. What it's like to be human. It haunts me. It's the only thing that's kept me going. It doesn't hurt as much."

Emma huffed out a a sort of chuckle at her comment. Rose groaned, then screamed as she hugged herself.

"What do we do?" Elena asked Damon.

"Go." he said, pushing aside Emma and Elena to sit on the bed. He cradled Rose in his arms. "Just go. I got this."

As they left, Rose's cries of pain could be heard all around the house.

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma and Elena sat on the couch in the living room, waiting for Damon to return from outside. When he entered, he narrowed his eyes at them.

"I thought I told you guys to leave."

"We did, but we wanted to make sure you were okay." Emma explained, watching as Elena handed a glass full of bourbon to Damon.

"I'm just glad it's over." he said, taking a tip.

"You know there's no way we believe that." Elena said, resting a hand on her hip.

"Go home. It's a whole new day tomorrow." he pleaded, pointing towards the door.

Emma sighed. "Damon, we're you friends."

"I'm well aware of that."

"And friends help each other." Elena finished.

"What do you want to hear? That I cared about Rose? That I'm upset? Well I didn't and I'm not." Damon moved to leave.

"There you go, pretending to turn it off, not to feel. You're so close. Don't give up." Elena begged.

"I feel, okay? It sucks. And what's worse is that it was supposed to be me. Jules was coming after me."

"You feel guilty." Elena pointed out.

"That would make me human, right? Well I'm not. You're one to talk about giving up. All you do is give up. Go home." Damon said again.

"Okay, I will." Elena said, grabbing her jacket and going out the door. Emma stayed behind, much to Damon's disappointment.

"Emma, please. I've had enough of one Gilbert for the day, don't add on." Damon asked.

Emma looked at Damon with sad eyes. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him. He stiffened at first but then slowly loosened up. He ended up wrapping his arms around her as well and held onto her tightly. But it was only brief. He let go of the young girl and walked off. Emma frowned and went outside to a waiting Elena.

The girls drove home. When they entered the house, Stefan walked out of the kitchen.

"Stefan, you're home." Elena said.

"Rose?" he asked, leaning against the banister. The girls sadly shook their heads.

Emma began to ascend up the stairs. "I'll leave you two alone."

"Wait." Stefan said, stopping the girl from going any further. "I called Isobel."

"I know. It's okay." Elena said. "Did you find her?"

"Not exactly." A voice said from the kitchen.

Emma leaned forward over the banister and saw her uncle John emerging from the kitchen.

"Uncle John," Emma said, sighing. "What a lovely surprise."

~~~~♡~~~~  

Hello hello hello~

Okay so I replaced the authors note that I put up with a new chapter, so don't be confused. I also left the question I had for you guys right bellow this so I can still get your opinions.

*Do you guys want it written all in one book or split up into multiple books?*

I'm asking because I do have an idea of how I'm going to continue the story in each book, and yes there will be major cliffhangers at the end of each book I plan to write. But, I don't want to do it if you guys aren't up for it. I know sometimes having to go from one book to another is a bit of a hassle but having all the chapters in one book might be a little overwhelming. So, I leave it up to you. Please comment where ever you like.

Thank you for being so patient with this chapter. I was determined to get this done for you guys and I hope you liked it. Remember to leave comments and make sure you vote for the chapter. Thank you again and I love you guys <3

See you in the next chapter!