Gwen led Caroline and Hawk into the house.
Stefan, Elena, and the witch Bonnie were still outside.
Oh.
And in just about an hour, with the sunrise, Damon would die—reduced to ash amid endless pain and silent screams.
But…
Damon didn't want to die.
"Stefan, Stefan…"
Hawk had only removed the gag—Damon's limbs were still bound. Seeing Stefan walking toward him with an unreadable look, Damon hurriedly called out, as if begging Stefan to save his life.
Stefan stopped in front of him. Looking into Damon's eyes, full of a desperate will to live, he shook his head bitterly. "Damon, you kicked an iron wall this time."
That was also why he never used compulsion to win a woman's heart.
Of course—
Mainly because he didn't need to. Second, because compulsion was despicable and, frankly, criminal.
If no one pursued it, fine. But once someone did—and that someone was far stronger than they were—they didn't even have the right to complain.
Because Damon was the one in the wrong.
Damon compelled Caroline first. Caroline might not have the strength to take revenge on him, but Caroline's cousin… had a terrifyingly strong fiancé who could knock both him and Damon out with a single glance.
So…
Stefan shook his head at Damon. "I can't do anything this time."
If he were stronger than Hawk, he might have forced a rescue—claiming Damon didn't know better and that Caroline wasn't physically hurt.
This wasn't about morality; it was about power.
If he were stronger than Hawk, he really would have done it.
Trash as Damon might be, he was still his brother.
Unfortunately, Hawk was someone who could knock him out with a look.
And Hawk could snatch Damon away from a distance.
Against someone like that, he didn't stand a chance.
Most importantly—
He couldn't even take the moral high ground against Hawk. Hawk had clear cause.
Damon struck first.
Always compelling this one and that one—well, he finally compelled the wrong person and compelled himself into an early grave.
Elena, watching Damon bound and helpless, parted her lips but ultimately said nothing.
Bonnie looked at the trussed-up Damon and shrugged. "Be a good person in your next life, Damon."
Damon was stunned.
He stared at Stefan—who had just declared him doomed—at the speechless Elena, and at Bonnie, who'd just told him to be a better man next time. He was completely thrown.
Wait.
This wasn't right. Shouldn't the three of them try everything to save him? Even setting Stefan aside, why were Elena and Bonnie looking at him with disgust?
He'd only compelled Caroline.
It wasn't like she was the only one—he'd compelled countless women over the years.
Was it really that big a deal? They were going to let him die for this?
Why?
Thoughts racing, Damon glanced at the whitening sky and then toward the direction Hawk's group had gone, and shouted, "Caroline, I—"
His mouth opened.
But though he worked his jaw, no sound came out.
Back on the downstairs sofa, Hawk—having re-muted Damon—smiled and turned to Gwen. "Go on."
Gwen frowned. "Is there a way to turn Caroline back to normal?"
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
Caroline spoke up, looking at Gwen. "Cousin, I don't want to go back."
Gwen looked at her.
"But you're only seventeen."
"I know, but I prefer who I am now to being an ordinary person. I can hear far, run far, I might even live forever."
Caroline described the surge in her senses after becoming a vampire and that near-immortal lifespan. "And I've seen another world. I don't want to go back."
Gwen listened and remembered something Hawk had said earlier. She glanced at him.
Their eyes met.
Hawk shrugged, as if to say, See? I told you.
Easy to go from frugal to lavish; hard to go the other way.
Once again:
A normal person who becomes a vampire and experiences that overwhelming strength and speed—almost none of them choose to return to gasping-for-breath normalcy.
Like in the X-Men world:
When the mutant "cure" was developed, who lined up to take it and go back to ordinary life?
Those who wanted to be "normal" again were the lowest rung—mutated only in appearance, with no real abilities at all.
Even Professor X—so protective of humans—never chose to give up a mind that could learn everything with a thought.
Most people chase benefits.
Yes, vampires have many drawbacks, but compared to those, the near-immortal lifespan alone outweighs the rest.
And—
Hawk glanced at Caroline, then met his fiancée's eyes and shook his head. "Vampiric conversion is irreversible. Besides, even if I could, you wouldn't want me to change her back."
Gwen frowned.
"Why?"
"She died before the transition, remember? That's what triggered the conversion sequence to bring her back."
"…"
Gwen recalled the process Caroline had described and looked at Caroline, who clearly didn't want to be human again.
Just then—
The phone rang.
Gwen pulled it out, checked the screen, and handed it to Hawk. "Natasha."
Hawk took it, stood from the sofa, and put the phone to his ear.
"Natasha."
"G—Hawk, we have results."
"You were right."
"The Dr. Merrick we captured—his DNA telomere length doesn't match normal human lengths."
"His bone age test is off too."
"Outwardly, this Merrick is identical to the one in our database, but his skeleton shows no microtrauma, no signs of day-to-day wear."
"His bones are smooth—like a baby that hasn't even seen a full moon."
At S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ, Natasha stared at two reports on her monitor, incredulous as she spoke with Hawk. "But I don't get it. You said clones don't have souls—yet he does."
Hawk smiled.
"Clones shouldn't have souls."
"Then he—?"
"I know why."
"What?"
Natasha blinked, puzzled. Wasn't Hawk in Georgia on vacation? How did he suddenly know why?
Hawk chuckled and didn't hide it from S.H.I.E.L.D. "It's related to a war of dimensions. As for why I got pulled in, I'm still investigating. When I've got it, ask me again and I'll tell you."
A dimensional war?
Natasha understood "dimension" only so far—but she knew "war."
Her guard shot up.
"Does S.H.I.E.L.D. need to do anything?"
"Not for now."
Hawk's tone was easy. "All right, that's it for now. I'm hanging up."
He ended the call and looked out toward the lawn, which was brightening with the rising sun.
In sight—
As the sun climbed, Damon—bound in place—reached the end of his road.
Thin wisps of smoke began to curl from his body.
He gaped his mouth wide.
He seemed to want to scream, to howl in agony—but his voice was sealed; his mouth opened and shut and no sound came.
Hawk glanced sideways at Gwen, who had walked up beside him, arms folded, watching calmly.
"Want to hear him scream?"
"Will it wake Grandpa?"
"No."
"…Forget it."
Gwen thought it over, then shook her head and looked at Caroline. "This is a vampire: if they lose that ring and stand in the sun, they die. You still insist on being a vampire?"
Caroline watched Damon out on the lawn—mouth distended, face contorted, smoke billowing off his body—and then said to Gwen, "Cousin, the human Caroline is already dead."
Gwen looked at her.
After a moment—
She sighed, pulled out the daylight ring Hawk had taken from Damon, seized Caroline's cold right hand, pressed the ring into her palm, and spoke with a trace of helplessness. "Keep a spare on you."
"…Thank you, Cousin."
Caroline stared at the ring in her palm, stunned for a beat. Then she understood, lifted her head to Gwen, and beamed.
Meanwhile—
Damon vanished from the lawn.
Vanished in the physical sense. Compared to being vaporized by Hawk's Phoenix beam, at least death by ultraviolet left a trace that he had once existed.
Stefan stared strangely at the pale print left in the grass.
Elena felt a nameless mix of emotions.
Only Bonnie looked at that white imprint and had a single thought:
Thank God. The scourge is finally gone.
God could be her witness—Bonnie believed many of the town's troubles traced back to Damon stirring things up.
Now that Damon was dead, Bonnie truly felt that 90% of Mystic Falls' headaches would vanish overnight.
Gwen withdrew her gaze and looked at Hawk. "I'm going upstairs to rest for a bit."
Hawk arched a brow. "I'll keep you company."
Gwen smiled, didn't refuse, and headed for the stairs.
Caroline, standing there, watched her turn away. "Cousin, then I—"
Hawk shot her a look.
"You should say thank you."
"Thank you."
Caroline blurted it out, then watched Hawk—who turned and followed her cousin without a backward glance.
"Then I—"
"Do whatever you want. We're here to keep Grandpa company and to take a vacation."
Without looking back, Hawk said it and hurried after Gwen, heading to their room to catch some sleep.
Soon—
Their figures disappeared around the stairwell.
Caroline only pulled her eyes back once they were gone, then walked out of the manor to Bonnie and Elena.
She saw Stefan—who had somehow produced a plastic bag—scooping pale ash off the lawn. She was about to apologize.
Then she remembered something.
She was the victim.
So—
Caroline closed her mouth on the words she'd been about to say and swallowed them.
Bonnie stepped up beside her and lowered her voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were being controlled by Damon."
She'd never liked Damon. And when Caroline had backed him, Bonnie hadn't liked Caroline either.
Now she knew why.
Caroline smiled at her apology.
Elena hugged Caroline and offered her own apology.
As for Stefan—
After gathering his brother Damon's ashes, he stood, glanced at Caroline, twitched his lips, and said the words himself:
"Sorry."
"It's over. Damon…"
"He was never a good person."
Stefan cut off Caroline's attempt at a gentler phrasing. "So maybe death is a kind of release for him."
Damon was his brother.
But—
If someone had killed Damon for no reason, Stefan would have avenged him no matter what.
But Damon caused his own death.
Again:
You compelled someone. Their family found out, got furious, and killed you.
How was he supposed to avenge that?
Most importantly—
When Stefan said death might be a release for Damon, he added silently in his heart that maybe it was a release for him, too.
Because—
Damon stirred up trouble and never cleaned it up.
To be blunt: the tourists coming to town—the young, pretty women—how many of them hadn't been bitten by Damon? Every time, Stefan had to rush around, erasing memories and cleaning up after him.
Most of all—
This brother had fought him over Katherine in the past, and now he was fighting him over Elena.
Good riddance.
All the same—
Stefan tucked the bag away and looked at Elena. "But without Damon… when it comes to the Original, Klaus…"
They had already learned Klaus's aim from Elijah.
And they'd struck a deal: if they helped find the Moonstone, Elijah would ask his brother to forgive their offenses—wipe their slate clean.
But now, without Damon—their strongest fighter—
The Moonstone…
They might not even get a shot at it.
Elena stiffened at the mention of Klaus.
Caroline noticed and said to her, "Don't worry. Hawk will step in."
Elena looked at Caroline.
"He will?"
"Why?"
"He said so."
"Uh…"
Under their intent stares, Caroline repeated Gwen's earlier words—"We won't be needing that anymore"—then told Elena, "So, don't worry."
Elena nodded. "Thank you, Caroline."
Caroline smiled. "We're friends. Once my cousin wakes up, I'll confirm it with her."
Elena forced a small smile and nodded.
"What?"
"You're saying Katherine is an angel?"
"But isn't she a vampire?"
In Hawk and Gwen's room—
Gwen tugged the quilt over herself as Hawk rolled aside. Cocooned in the blanket, she looked at him and blinked. "And didn't you say Heaven got driven out by Hell?"
In his brief post-glory calm, Hawk stole a glance at Gwen—irresistible even wrapped in a quilt—and smiled. "Clearly, they've made a comeback. And Katherine isn't an angel—I said her soul comes from the Heaven dimension."
Gwen nodded, then asked, curious,
"What's it got to do with you? Wrestling over life and death on Earth—that's Mephisto's business. How did you get dragged in?"
"Yeah, I'm curious too."
Hawk chuckled, shifted now that he'd recovered a bit, drew Gwen into his arms, breathed in her scent, and voiced his own guesses.
"First: it was an accident."
"The real Dr. Merrick probably struck a deal with the Heaven dimension—using cloning tech to funnel more souls to Earth, speeding their quiet takeover of Hell and Earth."
"Second: it was deliberate."
"Merrick is Heaven's proxy. He covets my power—and he wants to copy it for himself."
Gwen was his fiancée; as he'd told her, as his bride-to-be, the future Mrs. Phoenix, she shared in everything of his.
He and Gwen had started from nothing; he had nothing to hide.
Hawk wasn't a courtier.
He was a saint-fighter.
You hear stories about courtiers ditching their first wives after entering the capital—never about warriors doing it.
Gwen listened to his two theories, then looked up at the light in his eyes.
"Which do you think it is?"
"I hope it's the second."
"Hm?"
"You hope Heaven picked a fight with you on purpose? Why?"
Hawk's mouth curved.
"Because—"
"The rougher the seas, the higher the price of fish."
"…"
(End of Chapter)
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