Casting Shadows

Chapter 8 – The Historical Ball

A week later...

In the boarding house, Jeremy was sitting on a chair in the parlour while Damon stood next to him.

"So, as we know, in a psychotic lapse of judgement," Damon smirked, "Bonnie brought you back to life and died in the process." He raised his glass to where he thought she was in the room, "May she rest in peace."

Jeremy pointed to the other chair, across from where he sat, "She's actually right over there."

Bonnie waved from the chair across from Jeremy.

"Whatever. Look." Damon rolled his eyes then told Jeremy, and the unseen Bonnie, about his plan, "The whole point is, I just happen to know a supernatural being who just happens to want to die, and in the spirit of nature needing balance and life for a life and all that stuff, I just think it would be a huge waste of a perfectly good death."

Jeremy creased his brow in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Something Elena doesn't need to know about until it works." Damon stressed, not wanting Elena to find out and possibly ruin the plan.

"Wait." It suddenly hit Jeremy what Damon was saying, "You want to work with Silas?"

"From the beginning, Silas' whole bad guy plan was to kill himself, pass on to wherever he was gonna pass on to, and reunite with his dead girlfriend, Amara." Damon shrugged his shoulders smirking, "I want to use his death to bring Bonnie back to life."

Jeremy gave Damon his full attention, his heart beating erratically at the thought of finally being able to touch Bonnie and actually feel her skin against his.

Damon continued, "To die, he has to be mortal. If he's mortal, then he's a witch, and if he dies as a witch then he's stuck on the Other Side forever."

"He already tried to bring down the veil to the Other Side." Jeremy flicked his gaze between Damon and Bonnie, "He failed."

"Maybe he has a plan B." Bonnie grew more worried as she thought that Silas had other plans than just what they thought, "Maybe he wants to do more than just drop the veil and let all the ghosts out."

Damon noticed that Jeremy was paying attention to Bonnie. He looks at the empty chair that contained Bonnie, and then raised his eyebrows at Jeremy, "She knows I can't hear her, right?"

Jeremy finally pulls his gaze away from Bonnie to repeat what she said, "She thinks Silas wants to destroy the Other Side completely."

"Powerful spells are bound by something even more powerful; the moon, a comet, a doppelgänger." Bonnie frowned, "The Other Side was made two thousand years ago, and it still exists. That means she must have bound it to something that could exist just as long."

"Back to my original question. Let's say Silas destroys the Other Side, cures himself, becomes a witch." Damon paused a moment before asking the important question, "Is it supernaturally possible that he can do a spell that swaps her life for his life once he, pfft, kills himself?"

"Supernaturally, yeah, it's possible, but this is the same Silas who murdered my father." Bonnie's eyes darkened with anger as she recalled standing there powerless as Silas cut her dad's throat, "He's ruthless, and whatever spell he could do, there'll be some consequences. There always is." She crossed her arms over her chest and answered resolutely, "So no. My answer is, definitely not."

"What'd she say?" Damon asked annoyed at watching Jeremy stare into space without telling him what Bonnie was actually saying, "Tell me?"

Jeremy smiled wide, nodding his head quickly, "She's in!" Bonnie stared at Jeremy in shock as he totally did the opposite to what she wanted, "What?!"


Stefan knocked on Caroline's dorm room, and waited for her to answer the door. She had invited him over, and he hoped it was so that they could finally talk about their heart pounding, absolutely amazing kisses that they'd shared. He had not brought it up in the last week to be respectful to Caroline as she grieved for her lost friend, but that didn't mean that he didn't think about it constantly, almost on a loop in his head.

Caroline pulled the door open, grabbed his hand, and pulled him inside. She was radiating with excitement, jumping on her toes, her smile bright, her eyes practically glowing. Not even saying hello she announced, "We are going out tonight to the Whitmore historical ball."

"We are?" Not that Stefan was complaining about spending time with Caroline, because he wasn't, he would never ever turn her down, its just that he was unaware that they had any plans, "Since when?"

"Since I need a night away from unbearable grief." Caroline's overly bright smile was obviously fake, but she continued smiling anyway, hoping that this version of Stefan wouldn't realise just how false it truly was.

He noticed.

Stefan's face pulled down in a frown, as he could see right through Caroline, and he knew that she was still hurting. He took a step toward her, and placed his hand on her shoulder, "Caroline..."

Caroline shrugged off Stefan's hand, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay, and tried to smile a bit more genuinely at him, "I just need not to think about Bonnie for one night." She wiped away a tear from under her lashes before it could fall, and gazed pleadingly at Stefan, "And I really hoped my best friend would help me have fun tonight."

Stefan pushed back his disappointment that Caroline was still too upset to talk about their kiss. He smiled warmly at her, taking a chance and running his fingers down her arm to curl with her fingers, "It would be my pleasure to make you happy tonight."

Caroline looked down at their joined hands, instead of taking her hand away she accepted his touch for the moment, as she just really needed to feel the love and attention of another person right now. She smiled, before lifting her gaze and meeting Stefan's green eyes, "Thank you!"

Stefan just smiled back wider, his eyes crinkling in the corner, his gaze never leaving hers, "You are more than welcome, Caroline."

Caroline squeezed Stefan's hand in gratitude. She knew he wanted to talk about their kiss, but she was not in the right mind right now, and she can't handle possibly hurting his feelings. She pushed it to the back of her mind, she would talk to him just not yet, and she let some of her earlier excitement brighten her smile again, "I got you a costume!"

"A... costume?" Stefan frowned, he may not actually know himself right now but he was pretty sure that he wasn't a costume wearing kind of guy.

Caroline released his hand and went into her closet. She pulled out a shopping bag, skipped back over to Stefan, her grin wide on her face as she handed the bag over, "It's James Dean. Nothing too out there for you."

Stefan took the clothing out of the bag and examined it. It wasn't as bad as he thought, not too different from his everyday wardrobe. Jeans, white shirt, leather jacket. He smiled over at Caroline's expectant face, and admitted, "I don't hate it."

Caroline giggled, "I went easy on you."

Stefan smiled at the sound of her giggles, the sweet sound lightening his heart. He put the clothes back in the bag, and casually asked, "What are you going as?"

"I will be Bonnie, no Clyde though." Caroline pouted for a moment before grinning wide, "I don't need a man to be a sexy serial killer."

Stefan raised his eyebrows, his lips twitching in amusement.

Caroline placed her hands on either side of Stefan's face, ignoring the flash of want that appeared in his eyes at their close proximity, "When you get your memories back that will make a lot more sense to you." She tapped her hand against his cheek in affection before spinning around and lying down on her bed.

Stefan couldn't resist asking, "Why didn't you make me your Clyde?"

"I know you, Stefan." Caroline's gaze was bright and sincere, "I know you hate these things, and I'm usually the one dragging you to them." She laid her hand against his on the bed, stroking her thumb against him, "I wouldn't do anything that would make you uncomfortable."

Stefan laid down beside her, propping his head up on his hand, he reached across with his other and tucked her hair behind her ear, saying with complete honesty, "You could never do anything that would make me uncomfortable, Caroline." He stroked his thumb across her cheek as he gazed at her in awe of her beauty, both inside and out, "I want nothing more than to spend time with you."

Caroline swallowed, her heart racing wildly in her chest, her eyes locked with Stefan's. She slowly closed the gap between them, and hesitantly placed her lips against his. She placed her hand on his chest, slowly moving her lips with his.

Stefan's eyes slid closed at the unexpected kiss from Caroline. He gladly opened his mouth to her, his hand coming up to cradle her cheek, as he so gently tasted her lips. His heart was beating frantically in his chest, hope spreading through his veins as she initiated this kiss between them. A kiss full of feelings, instead of the lust of their previous one. He could only hope that she was realizing that his feelings were genuine.

Caroline curled her fingers in his shirt as she continued to kiss him, she could feel the beat of his heart under her fingers and it gave her a thrill to know she had this affect on him. She touched her lips to his for a few more perfect minutes before pulling back, not far though, just enough to bump noses with him and to stare into his bright eyes. She smiled and sighed, "I really need to stop kissing you."

Stefan chuckled, "I have no objections." He tilted his head and gave her another tender brush of lips, "Feels good to me."

"I never said it didn't feel good." Caroline replied before gasping as she'd realized what she'd just said. She bit her lip and lowered her gaze, the heat rising in her cheeks.

Stefan made a happy noise in the back of his throat, nuzzling his nose against hers, "You're making it very hard for me to not want to kiss you again." He kissed the side of her mouth, and smiled against her.

Caroline ran her hand across his back to hold him close and sighed, "Can we just," she bit her lip, and stared pleadingly into his eyes, "not talk it about just yet?" She kissed him once more, softly and lingeringly, "Please?"

Stefan pulled her back to him for another sweet peck of lips, before rolling onto his back and away from her tempting lips. He placed his hand next to hers and interlocked their fingers together, "I will let it go for now, Caroline."

Caroline breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't ready enough to discuss what was happening between her and Stefan.

Stefan brought their hands up to his mouth where he kissed her knuckles, "But we will talk about this." He locked eyes with her for a moment, letting his resolve show in his eyes before he sat up and asked, "So... what time am I picking you up?"


Silas was at the bar, nursing a drink in his hand, when Damon sat beside him, "So, why did you call me?"

"Same reason you answered." Damon signalled the bartender for a drink, and smirked at Silas, "You need help, and I'm gonna help you."

Silas turned to look at Damon, and raised his eyebrows, "What makes you think that I need help?"

"Well, for starters, you're still here, as in," Damon widened his eyes at Silas, amusement showing in his eyes, "why do you suck so badly at killing yourself?"

Silas looked nonplussed, not bothered in the slightest by Damon's words. He had other plans.

Damon narrowed his eyes at Silas, remembering what Bonnie had told him about what his plans could possibly be, "Unless... if you become mortal, you'll be a witch again, and if you die as a witch you'll just end up on the Other Side. Not with your girlfriend."

Silas didn't move, but a muscle in his jaw twitched as he swallowed.

Damon shook his head and chuckled to himself, "Bonnie was right." He picked up his glass and swallowed all of the contents, "You are planning on destroying the Other Side completely."

"You got me, Damon." Silas turned in the stool, his hands up in surrender, and an amused smile curling his lips, "I am going to get rid of that place completely so that I can be reunite with my love."

"You sure you still want that?" Damon shrugged his shoulders, "What with Caroline and your love for her and all." He smiled devilishly as he wiggled his eyebrows, "Don't you want to be with her now? Though I think you might have competition in the shape of my brother. Which is ironic considering you have the same face." He chuckled in amusement, "Just who will she pick? Spoiler alert," he pointed his finger at Silas, "I don't think it will be you."

Silas wrapped his hand around Damon's throat, and slammed his head against the bar hard, spilling blood. He leaned in close, and hissed into Damon's ear, "What makes you so arrogant as to want to rile up someone who could kill you within a second and not think twice about it." He released him, and casually went back to drinking, "Don't push your luck, Damon, because one day it's going to run out, and someone's going to either rip your head off or tear your heart out." He grinned, and raised his brow, "I could do it, I would be glad to do it, and Caroline wouldn't care in the slightest because she hates you." He moved his hand quickly and bent Damon's hand back, breaking his wrist, causing him to cry out, "For a very good reason."

Damon swallowed, finally feeling some fear at the very clear threat Silas posed to him. He needed his help to get Bonnie back, so he tried to push back his natural need to be snarky and reminded him, "Stefan would hate you, and Caroline will hate you with him, so do it, if you want to lose any good feelings between you and barbie."

"I suppose you are right." Silas chuckled, and slapped Damon on the back, "Then you had better stop making me want to kill you, because there is only so much I am willing to let slip, before I rip you apart." He shrugged his shoulders, "Whether Caroline hates me for it or not."

Trying to get back on point after setting his wrist Damon asked, "So what do you need to do to destroy the Other Side which has existed for two thousand years?"

"A mystical anchor. That's what binds her spell to the Other Side. I want to destroy it. Qetsiyah, or Tessa," Silas waved his hand dismissively rolling his eyes, "or whatever the hell she's calling herself these days, she wants to protect it. So, she's the only person that knows where the anchor is hidden, but fortunately, she will be at the Whitmore Historical Ball this evening."

Damon's eyes shot up in surprise, "Really?"

Silas nodded, "Mm."

"I thought you said you lost all of your psychic powers." Damon frowned in confusion.

"Oh, I did, but I still have my incredible powers of observation," Silas tilted his head and smirked, "and I observed her buying a Cleopatra costume today."

Damon narrowed his eyes at Silas, needing to know, "So, we have a deal."

"Well, we have half a deal." Silas leant against the bar, tilted his head to the side, and quirked his brow, "I'm resurrecting some witch with my death, but we have yet to discuss how you're helping me."

"Well, you've yet to tell me what you want." Damon reminded, preparing himself for what Silas would want from him. Anything to do with Caroline and Bonnie was screwed.

"Oh, it's fairly simple, actually." Silas grinned, poured them both a drink, and pushed the glass over to Damon as he revealed, "I want you to kill your brother."


Caroline and Stefan entered the ball together, Stefan's hand around Caroline's waist, smiling with happiness that she was there with him, that she had chosen him to accompany her tonight. He turned his head to look at her, and he only smiled wider at how cute she looked. He leant over to whisper in her ear, "If I haven't told you already, you look gorgeous, Caroline."

Caroline smiled and blushed, rewarding Stefan with a kiss on his cheek and a giggled, "You look hot tonight, Stefan."

Stefan could only smile. He took her hand in his, twirled her in a circle, and asked, "Would my lady killer like a drink?"

"I would." Caroline giggled, before she reached for his other hand, held both of their palms up so that they were flat against each other, and smiled widely at him as she swayed her hips, "But first." She slid her fingers through one of his hands, lowered the other and winked at him, "You are going to dance with me, Stefan." She spun around and led him to the dance floor.

Stefan followed her without a word, his eyes never leaving her, her beauty and happiness captivating him completely. He twirled her again, just to see the full smile on her face, and then he did it again, this time so that she would spin back into his arms. He curled one of his arms around her waist, his hand splayed against her back to hold her, his other hand he kept locked with hers, smiling as she wrapped her arm around his neck.

Caroline smiled as she gazed into Stefan's eyes, her fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck, his eyes fluttering at the feeling of her touch. She was lost in the warmth of his gaze, his large hand stroking against her back making her heart flutter. She really had no clue what was happening with them, and she had no idea what she would say to Stefan, or how she could possibly explain what they had been doing when he got his memories back.

But that was a problem for another day.

Right now, Caroline was just going to enjoy being in Stefan's arms and being the centre of his attention.


Damon was on the other side of the room. He had just spotted Stefan and Caroline dancing. She might pose a little problem to their plan. He took out his phone and text Silas:

Stefan's here. Caroline's with him. Problem?

He read Silas's reply, scoffed and put his phone away. He watched and waited for the opportune time to get his brother away from Caroline so that he and Silas could act out their plan.


Silas was standing outside of Whitmore waiting for Damon to give him the okay to go inside. He didn't particularly relish working with him, but needs must, and he was willing to kill his own brother so that he could get inside his ex's head. A small price to pay to get one step closer to Amara.

His phone buzzed indicating he'd received a text. He pulled his phone out and read the message. He frowned briefly after reading it before he quickly sent one back:

No problem. I can deal with Caroline. YOU deal with your brother.

He put his phone away, prepared to play his part, and entered the ball.


Tessa entered the ball room dressed as Cleopatra. She scanned the room and saw that Stefan was alone drinking at the bar. She walked over and stood next to Stefan, smiling as she caught his attention, "Where I come from, open bar meant ceramic jugs of Phoenician wine."

Stefan raised his eyebrows as he rolled his eyes, "Okay."

Tessa lost her smile instantly, "You have no idea who I am, do you?"

"No offence, but actually, I have no idea who a lot of people are." Stefan raised his glass to his lips for a drink. He eyed the woman with suspicion, something inside him not comfortable with her presence.

"Tessa, formerly known as Qetsiyah." Tessa introduced herself.

That explains the distrust I'm feeling, Stefan thought as he said aloud, "The girl who wiped my memories."

Tessa looked apologetic, "Nothing personal, little ex-boyfriend drama. Let me make it up to you." Her eyes turned hopeful, "Buy you an "I'm sorry" drink?"

Damon walked up to them, placing his hand on Stefan's shoulder as he leant against his back, trying not to glare at the bitch who stole his brother's memories of him, "More like an "I'm sorry" keg."

Tessa looked at Damon unimpressed.

"Pardon us." Damon slapped Stefan's shoulders, and pulled him up walking him away from Tessa.

Tessa rolled her eyes as she watched Damon take Stefan away.


Damon led Stefan into another room, where they appeared to be alone.

Stefan looked around the room before asking Damon, "So, what exactly, are we doing here?"

Damon looked behind Stefan's shoulder where Silas had just appeared, "Well..."

Silas tilted his head as he made his presence known to Stefan, "Hello, me."

Stefan turned around to look at Silas and Damon took this opportunity to break his neck, Silas watching as he falls to the floor dead.

Silas bent down and took the leather jacket off of Stefan as he lied unconscious on the floor.

"So you want to explain to me why I just killed my brother?" Damon asked, still not knowing why Silas wanted him to break his brother's neck.

"Well, Tessa's spell mentally linked us." Silas explained as he put Stefan's jacket on, "I lost my psychic abilities. Stefan lost his memories."

Damon frowned, "And this severed the link?"

Silas stared at Damon as he looked inside his head, "Yes, Damon. I can read your mind again. No. I'm not lying, and maybe you enjoyed breaking your brother's neck just a little bit too much." He smiled as he finished, amused at the now uneasy look on Damon's face.

Damon glanced at his brother before looking back to Silas, "Sold."

"I'll cozy up to the witch and sift through her mind, figure out where she's hiding the anchor, and you, all you got to do is keep him dead." Silas pointed to Stefan.

"Isn't Tess going to be slightly suspicious when the man whose brain she just fried is all of a sudden showing interest in her?" Damon asked, suddenly seeing a hole in the plan as Silas explained what he was about to do.

"Of all the men here, Tessa went straight for Stefan." Silas gestured at his own face as he told Damon, "This face won her heart before. See, a woman never forgets her first love, no matter how badly it ended." He couldn't resist throwing a little dig at Damon, and his insecurity over Stefan and Elena's previous love. It amused him as Damon had no idea that Stefan had actually already moved on from Elena.

Damon had one more question that needed answering, "What about Caroline?" He widened his eyes as he gestured at Stefan's prone form, "You don't think she's gonna notice when you pay attention to someone other than her? You know that Stefan has been all about her lately."

Silas placed his hand on Damon's shoulder, "Let me deal with Caroline." He slapped his shoulder and smiled, "Okay?"

Then Silas left to deal with the two girls in the party that he had two very different emotions for.

Damon stayed back, looking guiltily at his brother. He hoped whatever Silas was going to he would be quick about it. He then bent down to pick his brother up, and he carried him over to the nearby chair.


Silas, dressed as Stefan, entered the ball room. He surveyed the room, he could see Tessa still at the bar drinking on one side of the room, on the other he spied Caroline talking to one of the guests. He made his way over to her first, he tapped her on the shoulder, as she turned he quickly wrapped her in his arms, and winked at the girls she's been talking to, "Excuse us, ladies."

Caroline laughed as Stefan led her back to the dance floor, he was supposed to be getting them drinks, but he had been awhile. She smiled up at him as she curled her arms around his neck, "Stefan! What are you..." She looked into his smiling eyes, gazing deep into his green orbs, her eyes widening in realisation, "Silas! What the hell are you..."

Silas quickly cracked Caroline's neck, tightening his arms around her as she fell limply into his arms. He didn't want to have to hurt her, but unfortunately his girl was too smart to not notice the difference between him and Stefan. He glanced down at her beautiful face, rubbing his thumb under her eye, and pressed a loving kiss against her forehead, "You are just too perceptive, lovely girl."

He led her across the room, hiding her face in his neck, and trying to make it look as if she'd had too much to drink. He went back to the room where he'd left Damon and Stefan.

Damon's eyes widened as he saw Silas carrying an unconscious Caroline in his arms, "What have you done to her?"

"Just broke her neck." Silas gently sat Caroline atop of Stefan, their unconscious heads falling against each other. He smirked, even in death they were drawn to one another.

Damon was starting to panic, so he hissed through his gritted teeth, "What do you expect me to do with both of them?"

"If they wake up..." Silas shrugged his shoulders, "Just break their necks. Problem solved." He smiled at Damon before turning around and leaving to go to Tessa.

Damon growled at Silas' retreating back, "You better be able to get her to talk."

Silas spun around and winked, "Oh, I will." Then he left.

Damon clenched his jaw, and now looked at Stefan and Caroline for any sign that either of them were about to wake.


Back in the ball room, Tessa was having a drink at the bar. Silas, acting as Stefan, approached her, sitting beside her.

"Ah, look who's back." Tessa tilted her head and resisted the urge to smile, "Am I in trouble?"

"Well, according to my brother," Silas looked straight into her eyes, and deepened his tone, "I am supposed to hate you."

Tessa couldn't hide her vulnerability, "And do you?"

"I'll tell you after that drink." Silas flirted, lowering his eyelashes and looking at her through hooded eyes.

Tessa couldn't help but smile.


Later, Silas and Tessa are still at the bar drinking shots. They both drank one back and slammed their glasses onto the counter.

Silas sucked in a breath, a flirtatious smile on his lips, "Good. You like tequila."

"Yes, but not as much as bacon. In my day, it was all about lamb." Tessa shook her head as she thought back, "No one thought to cure pig fat." She chuckled, before smiling brightly.

Silas chuckled, keeping the flirtatious smile on his lips as he upped his flirting, "God, you have the most beautiful smile."

Tessa turned to him, keeping her face blank, while her eyes showed her interest, "You're gonna stare at it all night or are you gonna ask me to dance?"

Silas smiled in satisfaction, he tried not to let it show too much on his face. He carefully schooled his features, held out his hand for her, which she took with no hesitation, and he led her out to the dance floor.

Tessa placed her hand on his shoulder, smiling as he placed his arm around her waist, and she held his hand in hers as they danced.

Silas smiled at Tessa and asked, "So, what brings you to a college costume ball?"

"Look at me." Tessa remembered standing tragically alone at what was supposed to be her wedding, "Last time I looked this good, I couldn't enjoy it."

"Oh, that's right," Silas narrowed his eyes as he said, "the whole "being stood up at your wedding" thing."

Tessa stared at him upset, "You shouldn't know that. I told you that before I fried your memories."

Silas almost panicked before recovering quickly, "Okay. You got me. I might have asked around about you." He smiled, chuckling flirtatiously, humming in the back of his throat.

Tessa closed her eyes in relief, "And I'm paranoid. That's what I get for trying to marry a lying, manipulative bastard."

"Oh, come on. The guy must've had some redeeming qualities. I mean, we know he was obviously extremely good looking..." Silas smiled at her playfully, and Tessa started to laugh, so he added, "But, I mean, was the guy at least funny?"

"Are you defending him?" Tessa asked, amusement still in her voice.

"No, no. It's just that you've been on this revenge kick for two thousand years, and maybe hating him is an excuse to keep him in your life. There's a part of you that still loves him." Silas didn't even need Tessa to answer, he could read the answer clear as anything in her mind.

Tessa laughed, "Now, I really hope he thinks that. I want to see his face when he realizes just how wrong he is."

"Okay. I got to admit, there's a part of me that just wanted to hear you say that you still love me." Silas looked straight at Tessa, an arrogant smirk curling his lips as he showed her who he truly was, "That's how big my ego is, but since you're obviously in denial."

"Oh, my God. Silas..." Tessa gasped in horror as she realised who she'd been flirting with all night.

"Okay." Silas started to compel her, "Now, where's the anchor to the Other Side?"

"I don't know. I'm looking for it too." Tessa answered, completely caught in Silas' compulsion.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Silas narrowed his eyes at her, "You created it."

"Yes. I created it, but the Travelers hid it after they killed me. They move it," Tessa closed her eyes in annoyance, "constantly."

Silas furrowed his brow, "So, what are you doing here?"

"My pendant is in one of these displays. It's a magical talisman that enhances my power. I need it to do a locator spell so I can find the anchor." Tessa answered.

"Well, then," Silas smiled as he got all the information he wanted, "get to it and forget everything we just spoke about."

Tessa stared off into space for a moment as the compulsion wore off, confused a little before she shook herself together, "Thank you for the dance."

"Thank you." Silas brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand. He watched Tessa leave, and then he staggered and gasped in pain as he started to get a headache. He grabbed his temple, as the pain worsened. Stefan must be starting to wake up.


"Uh!" Stefan grunted in pain as he started to wake, he brought his hand to his neck to rub the soreness there, "Hey, hey, breaking my neck, huh?"

Damon turned around to face them, "Yeah."

Stefan continued to rub his neck, his throat croaky with pain, "Pumping me full of vervain. All we need is a Damon-sized rationalization."

Damon sighed in annoyance, "Oh, the new you sucks."

"How would the old me deal with this? Barrel full of laughs?" Stefan finally opened his eyes to see Caroline sprawled across his chest unconscious. He glared at Damon, "And you've done this to Caroline as well?"

"She'll be fine and so will you." Damon made his way subtly closer to Stefan, "The old you would have known that it wasn't about you."

"Oh, who's it about Damon, huh? About you?" Stefan curled his arm closer to Caroline, and held her protectively against his chest. He wanted to break his neck in return for hurting Caroline.

Damon stood until he was right in front of them and said, "I'm gonna get her best friend back, okay?" When Stefan tried to sit up he broke his neck again.

He blew out a breath, and took his phone out.


Back in the ball room, Silas' headache stopped, and his cell phone began to vibrate. He pulled it out, it was a text from Damon:

Hurry up.

Silas put his phone back in his pocket, and went off to quickly find Tessa.


Tessa entered one of the rooms that are supposed to be closed to the public. She looked in each of the displays to look for her talisman. She saw it on a table and grabbed it, a smile on her face at being reunited. She wraps the straps around her fingers and starts to chant. Silas, who Tessa still thought was Stefan, walked in. She smiled at him, "Stefan. Come to see the show?"

Silas walked further into the room, "What are you doing?"

Tessa nodded her head to her talisman, "I'm using this pendant to find something I'm looking for, and I found it."

"Good." Silas tried to read her mind, but before he can go deeper enough he is in pain again, "Uh!"

Tessa looked at him concerned, "Stefan?"

Silas fell to his knees, grabbing his head as he groaned in pain, "Ah!"


Stefan moved his hand, but his eyes were still closed.

Damon noticed the movement, "You awake?" He walked closer, "Stefan? He patted him on his face, "You alive again? Huh?"

Stefan quickly headbutted Damon away and, because Damon was still dizzy, he managed to break his neck, "How does it feel, brother?"

Stefan had to throw Caroline off him to get to Damon, which meant she was sprawled out on the floor. He went over to her and picked her up in his arms bridal style, he kissed her on her cheek and whispered, "Sorry."


Back in the other room, Silas was still on the floor, clutching his head in pain.

Tessa approached him in concern, "Stefan... Stefan, are you okay?"

Silas can't talk, only grunt, "Uh!"

Stefan walked in the room, still carrying Caroline in his arms, as he warned Tessa, "Silas. Tessa, that's Silas."

"No..." Silas turned around to see Stefan behind him.

Stefan carefully placed Caroline on the floor, and then he punched Silas in the face. He grabbed his hand and forcefully takes his daylight ring from Silas finger. He placed it back on his own finger and told Tessa, "He's working with my brother. Everything he said to you was a lie." He turned to leave, picking Caroline up as he left.

Tessa scoffed, "That's all he knows how to do," she hissed at Silas, "lie. You know where the anchor is. Too bad you won't be around to find it." She lifted her hand palm up, and started to speak in a foreign language, casting a spell.

Silas groaned in pain, smiling through greeted teeth as he reminded Tessa, "You can't kill me."

"I don't have to kill you," Tessa grinned, "yet." She continued to speak in a foreign language.

"You love me. You know you love me." Silas said smug.

Tessa huffed a laugh, tears in her eyes, "I did love you... And then you broke my heart, and now I'm gonna break yours..." She put her hand through Silas' chest, "Or at least stop it from working so your blood can't flow and your veins dry up and you rot from the inside out so the world can see you exactly as you are," she glared at him as she watched as he gasped in pain, "a cold, gray, hideous monster."

Silas veins blackened, his skin turned grey, and he exhaled his last breath.

Tessa removed her hand from Silas' chest, she closed her eyes, and released a shuddering breath.

Silas' dessicated body falls to the floor with a thump.


Stefan opened Caroline's dorm room, walked into the room, and closed it with his foot. He laid her down on her bed, removing her hat from her head so that her blonde hair could flow freely against the pillow. He laid his head down next to her, placed his hand around her waist, and waited for her to wake up.

It didn't take long for Caroline's eyes to shoot open, and the first name on her lips was, "Silas!"

Stefan soothingly rubbed his hand against her stomach calming her down. He swallowed back the hurt that that was the first thing to come out of her mouth after she woke, "It's Stefan."

Caroline turned her head to the side and looked Stefan up and down. She noticed he wasn't wearing his leather jacket from before, just the white shirt she had bought him. She stared deeply into his eyes, searching for the truth of who he was, and she sighed in relief, "Stefan..."

Stefan smiled, "You can always tell us apart. How?"

Caroline lifted her hand to trail her fingers down the side of his cheek, "It's your eyes." She smiled at him, her thumb stroking his cheek, "I can tell it's you because of your eyes."

Stefan couldn't not kiss her after she said that. He lowered his head, and gently covered her lips with his. He moved his hand more across her waist, to pull her even closer to him.

Caroline kissed him back for a few more minutes, her fingers never stopping their strokes against his cheek. She pulled back and asked, "What happened?"

Stefan told her all that happened tonight. Damon repeatedly breaking his neck, him working with Silas. Silas breaking her neck, and him tricking Tessa into believing he was Stefan. How Stefan finally got away from Damon, and him telling Tessa that she had really been with Silas all night. Him punching Silas, and getting his daylight ring back.

"I am going to kill him!" Caroline growled in anger, "How dare he thinks he can get away with just breaking my neck when he wants me out of the way... or having your own brother break yours because Damon is stupid and would listen to a two thousand year old ass!"

Stefan was amused hearing Caroline rant. She was beautiful, and to be honest he could probably watch her all day and still be as fascinated by her. He frowned when he saw that she was putting her jacket on, "Where are you going?"

"If I know your idiot brother like I do, he will be going back to the boarding house." Caroline grabbed her purse and keys and headed to the door.

"So why are you going out?" Stefan was confused why she was going anywhere right now.

"Because I am going to give your brother a piece of my mind." Caroline opened the door, and looked over her shoulder, "You coming or going?"

"Coming!" Stefan rolled his eyes at himself as he joined her in the hall, he was so whipped for her. If he was going to be dragged along he was going to make it worth it.

Stefan reached for her hand, and slid his fingers through hers. He held her hand the whole ride to Mystic Falls.


Caroline and Stefan walked into the boarding house together, she releasing his hand for the fist time since her dorm once they entered the house.

Caroline stormed in, and she immediately started having a go at Damon, "Damon! How the hell could you do that to your own brother? Break his neck just so you could fulfil some evil plan with..." She trailed off as she saw Silas' dessicated corpse on the couch, she felt a twist in her gut at the sight and her steps faltered, even though she was mad at him she still found that unbelievably she actually cared about him, "Silas..."

Stefan smiled as he saw Silas' greyed body, "I see Tessa dealt with him." He glared at him, "Good."

Caroline walked over to Silas, and sat beside him on the couch. She couldn't stop herself from running her hand through his hair, his skin was cold to the touch. He had broken her neck so that she wouldn't ruin his plan, but some part of her felt bad for him. She swallowed back the lump in her throat and asked Damon, "What happened?"

"Tessa dessicated him." Damon stared wide eyed down at Silas, "Which really puts a spanner in our plan."

Caroline turned to Damon, "What plan?"

"The plan where we use Silas' death to bring back Bonnie from the Other Side." Damon answered, and then smirked when he heard someone approach the front door.

Caroline's breath stopped and her eyes widened, "What?"

Katherine didn't even knock, she just walked right in like she lived there, "Why did you call me, Damon? In case you forgot I'm on the run." Then she spotted Silas on the couch, and a grin spread across her face, "Well, what do we have here? Damon you have finally done something right."

Damon stared at Katherine, a wild look in his eyes, "Yes, I have." And then he vamped over, grabbed Katherine and sped over to Silas holding her head above him.

"No, Damon! Please, don't!" Katherine cried, tears falling from her eyes, "I don't wanna die, Damon. He has to have all my blood! Please don't do this!"

"Goodbye, Katherine." Damon said, as he pushed her closer to Silas' mouth, and he turned away as she began screaming.

Silas groaned as he drank the cure from Katherine's neck, his hand twitching as the blood began to work through his system, and bring his previously dead body back to life. Finally able to move his hand, his raised it to hold Katherine's head against him as he drank her dry.

Caroline watched with wide eyes as Silas drained Katherine. When Damon dragged her over she had to jump up from her spot next to Silas. She could feel Stefan's hand against her back as he too watched what was happening in front of them.

Silas' hand went limp and fell to the side as he stopped drinking. Katherine fell to the floor seemingly dead, blood seeping from the wound on her neck. Silas was back to normal, the grey veiny look gone, and replaced by colour in his cheeks. He was unconscious.

Silas had just drunk the cure from Katherine's veins. He was no longer immortal any more.

TBC

AN – I know this had like A TON of dialogue from the episode, but those scenes were really important and I wanted to include them. I wanted to end this further along, with a certain moment, but unfortunately this grew too long and I wouldn't be able to include that. Next chapter ;)

I hope you all enjoyed it!