Mother of God, I am so sorry that it has been so long! I got my iPad back, and I've been curled up with the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. And then I had gotten Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter and I haven't been off of my ass since the end of Spring Break.
This is more of a short filler chapter, but it has some important points. The next chapter will be up much quicker than this one.
Without further ado, Chapter 7!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries *sniffle*. It belongs to L ..
He paced around the room, repressed fury coming off of him in waves. Caroline was out, using Klaus' odd fascination with her to good use. Light needed to be spread on the situation, and the only way to do that would be straight from the source. Bonnie was sitting on the couch, trying to cast a spell – how that would help was lost to Damon. Stefan was nowhere to be found.
"Stop pacing," the witch murmured. "I can't concentrate with you wearing a hole in the floor."
Damon ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I can't help myself. Why would she go to him?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out," she gritted.
He sighed and lifted his tumbler to his lips, but frowned when he realized that the glass was bone dry. He scowled – he was out of liquor.
Without alcohol to distract him, his thoughts drifted to Elena. He wanted to curl up into a ball and scream at the same time. Why would an angel like her run to a devil like him? It wasn't like her. She didn't run from her problems, and certainly not to the monster that caused them. But he saw it with his own sky blue eyes – tear-stained and beautiful, standing behind Elijah and the younger one, Kol.
He stopped mid-stride. Could she have been compelled? He entertained the thought briefly. It would explain why she didn't want to leave. But he still idly wondered about the way Kol had stood up to him. He supposed it wasn't so shocking – she was essential to Klaus' plan – but it wasn't simply an original doing his job. There was a fire in his eyes that burned azure, and Damon was all too familiar with that look.
It was the look he got when he felt the need to protect Elena.
Why would Kol – of all people – feel that way? Doing your job is one thing, but this went beyond business and straight into personal territory. It was-
"There is no way Elena could've been compelled," Bonnie interrupted his mind rambling.
His eyebrows knit. "Why not?"
"Because," Bonnie murmured. "She was wearing the necklace."
Damon grimaced. He thought he saw metal flash at her neck.
Caroline chose that moment to blur through the door, lips pushed out in a pout. Damon raised an eyebrow at her as she plopped down next to Bonnie.
"What did you find?" Damon asked.
Barbie huffed. "He didn't even glance at me. It was as if all of his infatuation with me had vanished overnight."
Damon narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to think about why that might be.
"That's odd," Bonnie stated.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Tell me about. One minute he's buying me a birthday bracelet and giving me a heartfelt spiel, the next, he acts as if nothing significant had happened between us."
Bonnie arched an eyebrow. "You sound upset about that."
Caroline snorted. "As if." But it didn't reach her eyes.
Damon could see the hurt in Caroline's eyes as she spoke of how Klaus' attitude changed, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. He was too busy seething about Elena.
"Maybe Stefan will know something," Bonnie suggested.
"Yeah, but in order to ask, we would need to know where he is," Barbie pointed out. Both girls simultaneously looked to Damon.
"Don't look at me. I don't have a clue where he is," he said.
Bonnie slumped back against the couch, but Caroline bit her lip. "He wouldn't…would he?" She mumbled.
"Would he what?" Damon asked, his interest thoroughly piqued.
She hesitated. "When I was approaching Klaus, he was talking to Elijah. Someone has been killing Klaus' hybrids again, and Klaus was positive it was Stefan."
Damon rubbed his jaw and leaned against the mantle. That would explain why Stefan disappeared for a few hours every day. Damn it – why did Stefan have to be so stupid?
"I'll have a word with him when I see him," Damon muttered. He didn't need this right now.
"Have you spoken to Rebekah?" Bonnie asked.
He grimaced. Yes, he had a long talk with the hybrid's sister. He almost chuckled at the memory.
He was sprawled on the couch facing the fireplace, bourbon in hand, shirt unbuttoned and hanging open. Flashes of the previous night plagued his mind, and regret began to build. Should he have hooked up with Klaus' sister? He was upset with Elena, and at the time, it seemed like a good idea. But looking back on it now, he realized that Elena hadn't meant what she said, and he had probably hurt her a great deal. The sick part of his mind found satisfaction in that, but the rest was angry at him for being such an ass. Of all the things he could've done, he went to Rebekah.
"Damon!" A voice shrieked.
Speak of the devil.
He braced himself as knocked down the door, red faced and raging. He was hoping that he could wash his hands of her and be done, but fate was having different plans.
"What?"
"Can you please explain to me why your little bitch is hanging all over my brother?" She seethed.
His brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
She cocked her head to the side in an inhuman gesture. "You mean you don't know?"
"Know what?"
She laughed humorlessly. "God, you really are clueless."
His jaw clenched. "Stop speaking in riddles and tell me what the hell is going on."
"I just saw my brother, in the lake, sucking the lips off of your doppelgänger."
His eyes widened. "What?"
She sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Is that your new catchphrase or something?"
He ignored her. "Are you sure you saw right?"
"I'm positive. Klaus and Elena," she said her name with venom, "were making out."
His jaw dropped and he slumped. Elena – his Elena – was wrapped in the arms of the man who had made her life hell. It pained him more than he could bear.
"She was compelled," he whispered. Yes, that was it. It had to be.
"But that doesn't explain why he was kissing her. I know my brother, Damon. He doesn't make out. He doesn't kiss or hug. He may fuck, but that's the extent of his affections. And we can't blame it on compulsion, because the only person who could compel an Original is dead."
During Rebekah's rant, the anguish in Damon had built to unimaginable heights, until he was shaking with vehemence. The world fell away from him and he began to see red. He stood abruptly, cutting Rebekah off, and without so much as a glance in her direction, he blurred out of the door, ready to give Klaus a taste of his wrath.
"Well?" Bonnie snapped him out of his memory.
"She didn't have anything to say about it." At Bonnie's glare, he rephrased. "Anything important to say."
"What are we going to do?" Caroline asked.
Damon sighed – they weren't going to like this. "Nothing."
"What?" They both choked.
"Nothing. We can't focus on Elena right now, not when Stefan is slaughtering his hybrids. We need to take care of that before we try to get Elena back." It killed him to say it, but it was the sensible thing to do.
It took a moment, but Caroline's eyes lit with understanding. "Stop Stefan from killing hybrids-"
"-in exchange for Elena," Damon finished.
Bonnie nodded. "I'll start tracking Stefan right now. Do you have anything I could use?"
Without a word, Damon blurred up the stairs, then blurred back down, a leather-bound journal clutched in his left hand. He passed it to the witch. "His diary should work."
She closed her eyes and began to chant in Latin. He sat down in a chair heavily, wishing more than anything that he had a bottle of bourbon to drown his sorrows in. Caroline stood, straightening out her knee-length pink skirt.
"I'll see if I can get any more information, though I'd be surprised if I got friendly 'hello' with his change of attitude," she said as she made her way out of the boardinghouse. "I'll be back soon."
"Good luck, Barbie," he called after her. "And bring back some bourbon."
You know the drill – R&R please! I love them, they make my day. And constructive criticism is welcome, as well as suggestions. How am I supposed to make readers happy if I don't know what they want? I always try to appease to my readers, while keeping to my original plot. So leave me a review!
Thanks so much to all who do review! Y'all are awesome.
Colbey
