Chapter 59: The Liz Forbes Crisis - Part 2
POV: Sam Barton
The vampire nest at Whitmore College reeks of old blood and newer violence, and I'm operating on four hours of sleep across three days when the System notification finally hits.
[ROGUE VAMPIRE NEST ELIMINATED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: +600]
[LEVEL 26 → 27 ACHIEVED!]
[+5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE]
[PROGRESS TO LEVEL 30: 3 LEVELS REMAINING]
I allocate the points immediately—two into Vitality because I'm taking too many hits, two into Wisdom for better MP regeneration, one into Perception to catch threats faster. The power settles into my exhausted body like caffeine that actually works.
My phone buzzes before I can catch my breath. Caroline's text is clinical in its brevity: "Mom's getting weaker. Doctors say maybe four months now."
Four months. Down from six last week. The cancer's accelerating.
"You look like hell," my Sensory clone observes, manifesting beside me in the trashed apartment that used to house five vampires.
"I feel worse," I reply, already moving toward the next target. Bonnie's witch contacts identified a dark object trafficking ring operating out of Durham—high risk, high experience reward.
My phone rings. Damon.
"I'm busy," I answer.
"You're killing yourself," Damon counters, and I hear a car engine in the background. "Caroline's terrified you're going to collapse before reaching Level 30. Where are you?"
"Whitmore College. Why?"
"Stay there. I'm ten minutes out."
He hangs up before I can argue.
Damon arrives in exactly nine minutes, pulling up in his blue Camaro with the engine growling like it's personally offended by vampire nests. He's out of the car before it fully stops, taking in my blood-splattered clothes and the dark circles I can feel under my eyes.
"When's the last time you slept?" he asks.
"Define sleep."
"Hilarious. Come on, I'm helping whether you want it or not. Caroline made me promise to keep you vertical until Level 30."
I want to argue, but my Precognition clone—who I've been running almost constantly despite the MP drain—shows me futures where I pass out mid-combat and get killed by threats I should have handled easily.
"Fine," I concede. "There's a witch coven in Durham trafficking cursed objects. Bonnie says they're the real deal—blood magic, sacrifice rituals, the works."
Damon's grin is sharp. "Now you're speaking my language. Let's go ruin some witches' day."
We hit the Durham coven at 2 AM with my five clones deployed in perfect coordination.
The witches are prepared—protective circles, barrier spells, even a few combat-trained warlocks who've clearly dealt with vampires before. But they're not prepared for Damon Salvatore's century of combat experience combined with my tactical clone network.
My Mind Shield blocks their mental attacks. Defensive Shield creates safe zones that their magic can't penetrate. Magic Absorption drains their spells mid-cast, turning their power against them. Sensory tracks every movement. Strength coordinates with Damon for physical takedowns.
The fight's over in twelve minutes.
[DARK MAGIC COVEN ELIMINATED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: +900]
We don't stop. Damon's apparently made it his mission to power-level me, and he knows every supernatural threat within two states.
The vampire trafficking ring in Raleigh falls next—compelled humans being sold as blood bags to wealthy vampires. My clones free the victims while Damon stakes the traffickers with clinical efficiency.
[HUMAN TRAFFICKING RING DESTROYED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: +800]
The cursed cemetery outside Chapel Hill takes longer—restless spirits trapped by dark magic, unable to pass on. Bonnie meets us there, channeling Bennett ancestors to break the curse while my Magic Absorption clone drains the residual dark energy.
The spirits scream their gratitude as they're released, dissolving into peaceful nothing.
[CURSED CEMETERY CLEANSED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: +700]
[LEVEL 27 → 28 ACHIEVED!]
[+5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE]
[PROGRESS TO LEVEL 30: 2 LEVELS REMAINING]
The power surge hits me like physical electricity, muscles reinforcing and magical capacity expanding. I allocate points on instinct: two Vitality, two Intelligence for MP pool, one Agility for combat speed.
[CURRENT STATS: STR 10, AGI 26, VIT 40, INT 40, WIS 46, PER 25, CHA 25]
[HP: 1,000/1,000, MP: 750/750, MP REGEN: 46/MIN]
Damon watches the brief moment where I go still processing System updates. "You leveled again."
"Twenty-eight," I confirm. "Two more to go."
"How much experience?" Bonnie asks, studying me with concern that matches Caroline's.
I check the System interface. "Thirty-eight hundred to Level 30. Maybe more depending on quest modifiers."
"That's a lot," Damon observes. "What're you planning—another week of suicide missions?"
"I don't have a week," I reply, Caroline's text burning in my memory. "Liz has four months. Maybe less."
Bonnie pulls out her phone, scrolling through messages. "The witch council's been asking for help with a possessed house near Duke. Five malevolent spirits bound to the structure, attacking anyone who enters. They've lost three witches trying to cleanse it already."
"Experience reward?" I ask immediately.
"Probably twenty-five hundred if you succeed," Bonnie says. "It's high-level spirit work. Dangerous even for experienced witches."
Twenty-five hundred would push me to Level 29 and most of the way to 30. Combined with whatever smaller missions I can complete...
"I'll do it," I decide.
"Sam—" Bonnie starts.
"I'll do it," I repeat firmly. "With your help, if you're willing. But I'm doing it either way."
Bonnie exchanges glances with Damon, some silent vampire-witch communication I'm too exhausted to decipher.
"Three days," Bonnie says finally. "I need to prepare the banishment ritual, gather components, coordinate with the Bennett ancestors. You need to rest, recover your strength, and not die from exhaustion before we even attempt it."
"Two days," I counter.
"Three," Bonnie insists. "Or I don't help, and you face five malevolent spirits alone. Your choice."
I concede because she's right and I know it.
Damon drives me back to Mystic Falls as dawn breaks, my clones dismissed except Sensory maintaining passive surveillance. The exhaustion hits me like a physical weight now that adrenaline's fading.
"You're a good boyfriend," Damon says unexpectedly. "Stupid, reckless, probably going to get yourself killed. But good. Caroline's lucky."
"Thanks," I reply, too tired for sarcasm.
"Don't die on that possessed house mission," he adds. "I've gotten used to having competent backup."
From Damon Salvatore, that's practically a declaration of friendship.
I visit Liz that night at the hospital with Caroline, and the sight of her stops my breath.
She's lost weight since last week. Her skin's gone from pale to almost translucent, dark circles making her eyes look sunken. The hospital gown hangs loose on her diminished frame.
But she smiles when we enter, and that smile is pure Liz Forbes—strong despite everything.
"Caroline says you're doing something crazy to help me," Liz observes, her voice carrying less strength than I remember.
"Relatively crazy," I admit, pulling a chair beside her bed. "Nothing I can't handle."
"Don't kill yourself for an old sheriff," Liz says, but her hand finds mine and squeezes with surprising firmness.
"You're Caroline's mother," I reply. "That makes you worth any risk."
Caroline's crying quietly, perched on the bed's edge holding her mother's other hand. The three of us sit in silence that feels both peaceful and desperately fragile.
"Sam's reaching Level 30," Caroline explains to her mother. "When he does, he can transfer his healing ability to you. Cure the cancer completely."
"At what cost?" Liz asks, focusing on me with the sharp perception that made her an excellent sheriff.
"Permanent loss of the ability for me," I admit. "But I'll still have my other capabilities. And you'll be healed."
"That's not a fair trade," Liz protests weakly.
"It's the only trade that matters," I counter.
Liz's eyes water, and she pulls both of us into an awkward three-way hug that's more meaningful than any words.
"You're a good man, Sam Barton," Liz whispers. "My daughter chose well."
Caroline sobs harder, and I hold them both, feeling the weight of what I'm about to attempt.
Three days until the possessed house. Two levels until I can save Liz Forbes.
And somewhere in the Salvatore basement, Klaus's dagger is weakening as his Original vampire physiology heals around it.
But tonight, those problems can wait.
Tonight, I'm just Sam Barton holding the woman I love and her dying mother, promising silently that I'll move mountains to keep this family together.
The System chimes softly, visible only to me:
[EMOTIONAL BOND STRENGTHENED: CAROLINE FORBES]
[RELATIONSHIP STATUS: SOULMATE LEVEL]
[BONUS: +10% ALL STATS WHEN PROTECTING CAROLINE OR HER FAMILY]
I dismiss the notification and focus on what matters—two people who've become my family in this impossible supernatural life.
To supporting Me in Pateron .
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