Chapter 33: The Founder's Day Festival - Part 1
The town square looked like someone had vomited colonial America all over Mystic Falls. Red, white, and blue bunting hung from every lamppost, food vendors hawked funnel cake and lemonade, and families wandered between booths selling handmade crafts and overpriced souvenirs.
Caroline walked beside me, her blonde hair catching the afternoon sun as she pointed out various historical inaccuracies in the parade preparations. She'd spent weeks organizing this festival, and her pride was infectious.
"The uniforms are completely wrong for 1864," she said, gesturing toward a group of Civil War reenactors. "Those buttons are from the wrong regiment entirely."
I squeezed her hand, feeling the familiar warmth that came with her presence. The System had been quiet all morning, no urgent quest notifications or crisis alerts. For once, I could almost pretend we were just two normal teenagers enjoying a town festival.
Almost.
My four clones were positioned throughout the square like pieces on a chessboard. Mind Shield clone perched on the courthouse roof with Sensory clone, scanning for threats. Defensive Shield clone stayed close to Caroline, invisible but ready. Strength clone patrolled the festival perimeter, keeping watch on the approaches.
"Contact," Sensory clone's mental voice cut through my peaceful moment. "John Gilbert, two Council members, northwest corner by the historical society booth. They're discussing 'alternative measures.'"
My stomach dropped. John Gilbert had been released on bail that morning, his lawyers arguing that the basement explosion was a tragic accident and their client was clearly not in his right mind. The compulsion Damon had used was holding, but barely.
I closed my eyes and focused on the mental link with Sensory clone, letting his enhanced hearing reach across the crowded square.
"—device was destroyed, but that doesn't mean we're defenseless," John was saying. "Wooden bullets, tips coated with concentrated vervain extract. During the parade, when they're all gathered in one place."
My blood turned to ice. Caroline noticed my sudden tension.
"Sam? What's wrong?"
"Emergency." I was already pulling out my phone, fingers flying across the screen. Group text to Stefan, Damon, Pearl: "John has vervain bullets. Vampires can't attend the parade."
But even as I sent it, I could see Stefan and Damon across the square with Elena, laughing at something Bonnie had said. Pearl stood near the bandstand with Anna, both of them looking almost human in the afternoon sunlight.
Too late. They were already here, already exposed.
"John's men are moving," Sensory clone reported. "Three shooters taking positions around the parade route. Military-grade weapons, wooden ammunition."
"Caroline," I said carefully, "I need you to do something for me."
"Anything."
"Walk toward the church. Slowly. Don't run, don't look panicked, just... get away from the crowd."
Her blue eyes sharpened with understanding. "How bad?"
"Bad enough."
The Founder's Day parade was already starting. Mayor Lockwood led the procession in a horse-drawn carriage, waving at the crowds like some colonial-era politician. Behind him came the marching band, the cheerleaders, the various town dignitaries.
And scattered throughout the crowd, John Gilbert's shooters were taking aim.
"First target: Damon Salvatore," Sensory clone fed me tactical data. "Shooter on the museum rooftop, clear line of sight."
I activated the mental link to all my clones simultaneously, the psychic connection burning through my concentration like fire.
"Intercept pattern Alpha. Shield, protect civilians. Strength, neutralize shooters. Mind Shield, coordinate from elevation. Sensory, feed me everything."
The first shot rang out just as Mayor Lockwood's carriage passed the fountain.
Time seemed to slow as the wooden bullet traced its arc toward Damon's back. But my vampire ally wasn't the one in danger—Mayor Lockwood had stumbled from his carriage at exactly the wrong moment, directly into the bullet's path.
My Mind Shield clone blurred into motion, using the Enhanced Speed I'd lost when—
No. Wait. Mind Shield didn't have Enhanced Speed. That was gone, sacrificed when I'd saved—
"I've got it." My Strength clone was already moving, legs pumping as he sprinted across the square. Not superhuman speed, but determination and the knowledge that Richard Lockwood was about to die and trigger Tyler's werewolf curse decades early.
The bullet hit my clone center mass.
He exploded into shadows.
The feedback pain slammed into me like a freight train. My knees buckled, and I tasted copper as blood filled my mouth. Around me, people screamed as a human-shaped mass of darkness dissipated in broad daylight.
Tyler Lockwood stood frozen three feet away, his father alive and confused behind him. The teenage werewolf's eyes were locked on the space where my clone had just died, and I could see his mind struggling to process what he'd witnessed.
"Sam!" Caroline's voice cut through the chaos, but I was already moving. More gunshots cracked across the square as John Gilbert's backup plan went live.
Two of Pearl's vampires went down, wooden bullets finding their hearts. The ancient vampire herself moved with inhuman grace, but she was outnumbered and outgunned.
My Defensive Shield clone materialized in the middle of the crowd, blue barriers erupting around Caroline and a dozen civilians. The magical energy was visible now, glowing like neon in the afternoon sun.
Another bullet came my way—meant for Stefan, but the angle was wrong. It was going to hit Caroline.
I didn't think. Didn't calculate odds or consider alternatives.
I dove.
The vervain-coated wood tore through my shoulder like liquid fire. Every nerve in my body screamed as the vampire poison spread through my bloodstream, and I hit the ground hard enough to see stars.
Caroline was screaming my name, her hands immediately pressing against the wound as blood soaked through my shirt. The world tilted sideways, and I could hear Sheriff Forbes shouting orders, could see Stefan and Damon moving like deadly shadows to neutralize the shooters.
"Target neutralized," my Mind Shield clone reported from somewhere very far away. "John Gilbert in custody."
I tried to respond, but my mouth wasn't working properly. Vervain in the bloodstream of a human was like injecting liquid agony directly into the nervous system.
Caroline's face appeared above me, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You idiot. You absolute idiot. Why did you—"
"Couldn't let you get hurt," I managed to whisper.
She pressed harder against the wound, and I gasped as fresh pain lanced through me. "You're more important than—"
"No." Her voice was fierce. "I'm not. And if you ever, EVER do something like that again, I will kill you myself."
Sheriff Forbes appeared beside her daughter, her face grim as she surveyed the chaos. "Ambulance is coming. What the hell happened here?"
"Terrorist attack," Caroline said without missing a beat. "John Gilbert and some accomplices. Sam threw himself in front of a bullet meant for me."
Liz Forbes looked down at me with something that might have been respect. Or maybe that was the blood loss talking.
"You've got brass, kid. Stupid brass, but brass."
The ambulance arrived in a blur of red lights and sirens. As the paramedics loaded me onto a stretcher, I caught a glimpse of Tyler Lockwood standing exactly where my clone had died, his face pale with shock.
He'd seen too much. The explosion of shadows, the impossible barriers, the way I'd seemed to know exactly when and where to move.
[QUEST PROGRESSION: SURVIVE FOUNDER'S DAY]
[MAJOR MILESTONE: MAYOR LOCKWOOD SAVED]
[REWARD: +500 EXP, TYLER'S WEREWOLF CURSE REMAINS DORMANT]
[CLONE 1 DESTROYED: STRENGTH CLONE SLOT EMPTY]
[HEROIC ACTION BONUS: +300 EXP]
[WARNING: SUPERNATURAL EXPOSURE DETECTED]
[TOTAL EXP: 4,800/10,500 TO LEVEL 11]
The numbers floated in my vision as the paramedics worked, clinical and cold against the backdrop of Caroline's worried face. My Strength clone was gone, the first casualty in what felt like a war that was just beginning.
But Tyler's father was alive. The werewolf trigger had been prevented. And Caroline was safe, even if she was currently planning my murder for making her worry.
Small victories.
The last thing I saw before the morphine kicked in was John Gilbert being led away in handcuffs, his face a mask of impotent fury. Sheriff Forbes had arrested him for domestic terrorism, using my injury as evidence that his attack had been indiscriminate.
"Round one goes to us," I thought as consciousness faded. "Let's see what round two brings."
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