Hey guys!
I've seen a lot of alert subscriptions of late. I request you to please leave a review. It really helps to keep me going, without it I really don't feel like continuing. TinyDancer, thank you! You have been a constant support! :)
Here is the next chapter!
Happy reading :)
CHAPTER 9:
Bonnie had already called Damon and reiterated the events of the day in their entirety right from how they had pried answers out of Luka to the startling discovery about Alec and the Klinsman family to Elijah's surprise visit to Aralyn. However, there was one piece of information that bothered him more than the rest – Bonnie had said, Lyn was a crucial element for breaking Klaus's curse. She hadn't figured out how, but she knew. This changed things and it changed things dramatically.
He found himself standing in front of Lyn's door, waiting for someone to open. He was taken aback to see the figure that stood on the other side. Her face was ashen and pale, eyes drooping and red, and hair tied in a loose bun which didn't quite keep it all together. She looked exhausted from crying.
"What happened?" Damon asked, a furrow appearing on the bridge of his nose.
"It's been a long day. Come on in." The invitation had been sent although Damon wondered if she did so unknowingly because once he'd cross the threshold, there was no turning back."You sure?" he arched and eyebrow.
She sighed, "Look if you had to kill me – you'd have done it long back. Just come in."
"I heard about your encounter with Elijah." He stated casually as they headed towards the kitchen where she got back to scrubbing the kitchen island. "Hmm." Her reply was non committal.
He waited for her to speak, but she continued scrubbing. She gasped when she turned around to wash her hands. He stood only inches away, "Darling, we can sit in silence as long as you like, but that'll get us nowhere." His voice was soft, eyes inquisitive as if they were searching for answers in her tearing ones. She pulled out her gloves and leaned against kitchen counter, her hands folded across her chest, holding herself tightly as if she'd fall apart if she didn't.
Damon didn't push her as she continued looking away. As minutes passed and the silence grew, Damon moved closer and placed his palms on either side of her face, making her look straight at him. He didn't need to say another word. Silent tears escaped from her eyes and she leaned into his figure, seeking comfort. Neither of them said another word, he just held her. "Why is this happening to me Damon?" she cried silently. "Wasn't it enough to deal with Lydia and Arthur's death? To shoulder their responsibilities? I wasn't ready for this Damon… I wasn't ready for this." She sobbed into his shirt.
"Hey, hey, listen. You are not alone in this, okay. We're all there for you. We'll be looking out for you. I'll be looking out for you." The sincerity of his words stunned him as he realized what he was promising.
"What is he doing here?" Alec's voice echoed from the door.
Damon swiftly moved from around the counter to stand directly in front of Alec "I'll tell you what I'm doing here. I am informing your aunt about something which should have come from you hours before." Lyn stood puzzled.
"What are you talking about?" her voice cracked. Alec looked guiltily at the floor as Damon stood towering in front of Lyn with his hand folded across his chest.
"I know its going to sound crazy but…" he hesitated to continue. Alec looked around to check if Amy was still in her room and not in hearing range. He quickly closed the door.
"Lyn, I don't know how to say this…"
"He's talking about Klaus's curse." Damon whispered into her ear as he grabbed a bottle of bear from the fridge. "She knows about it – move on." Alec looked at her, incredulous.
"What about it?" She gulped with fear.
"We are a part for breaking that curse." He concluded. "Our blood." He sighed.
"How did you know about this? Alec, tell me honestly, what were you upto earlier in the day when I left?" With a sullen and guilty face, he confessed their deeds of having drugged Luka and made him spill the beans about Klaus. What however hadn't been expected was for was their involvement in the whole situation. Lyn started pacing the room. She had forgotten about her vision in the midst of the tumultuous day she was having. "That makes sense now." She muttered, catching Damon's attention.
She sped back to Damon, "I had a vision this evening. A witch and Klaus. They were talking about me. I couldn't get her name but I'm sure she was a witch. She was showing Klaus an image of mine." She started rambling, her fingers trembling. "Did you see what he looked like?" Damon asked, cautious.
"No. I just… he…" she collapsed to the ground before completing her sentence as Damon and Alec both looked on, shocked.
"I've been waiting for you." Greta smiled, opening her eyes.
"I'm here, love. What is it?" the same velvety voice.
"I might have found your backup."
"Fantastic! And what have we found now?" Lyn's body twitched in Damon's arms.
"Mystic Falls. Virginia." The girl pointed to a photo of Elena Gilbert with Stefan Salvatore.
"She looks, just like Katerina." His voice was husky. His facial expressions turned putrid however as his eyes shifted towards the man in the picture. "I believe it's time to pay a visit to my old friend, yes?" he smirked.
She was sweating profusely, her body temperature kept escalating. The wet towels that Alec and Damon had put on her forehead in an attempt to keep her ever increasing body heat under control were failing. Suddenly her loud shrill cries pierced the night air. She cringed into a ball on the couch against Damon's form.
"Now tell me about my failsafe." There was an air of arrogance in his voice.
"Theres three of them. Two female, one male." She shifted towards a desk and picked up a file and handed it over to Klaus. It was a company file. It was her file. "This one however, will help you narrow down your choice."
He looked at the picture attached to it and smirked wickedly. "I think I shall see this for myself."
It had been four hours and Lyn had yet to gain consciousness. Bonnie and Alec sat at the foot of her bed as Damon and Alaric made conversation below. The sweating had stopped and she looked much more at ease than she had. Amy had woken up upon hearing Lyn's agonized cries but had fallen asleep soon after.
She stirred lightly, slowly coming to her senses. It was suffocating and hot. She wrestled with the blanket wrapped around her. A cold hand soothed her anxieties momentarily. She felt at ease as it kept stroking her face. With a lot of difficulty, she struggled to open her eyes. Bonnie and Alec's curious faces came into view. "Lyn." Alec smiled, relieved.
"Is she awake?" The familiar voice sounded from the door as Bonnie helped her sit with her back against the head board. Damon. In a second, he was sitting in front of her, his hand cupping the side of her face, face tensed. Her hand instantly rested on his and she smiled, weakly at the pained expression on hi face.
"Umm, I think – I'll go get her something to… eat maybe." Bonnie stood up abruptly and signaled Alec to join her downstairs. Alec was puzzled at Lyn and Damon's interactions but left the two of them, nonetheless.
Alaric took the single sofa. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm… okay now. Thank you for coming." She whispered, shifting to make herself a little more comfortable.
Damon and Alaric tried to shift the focus of the conversation from what had coursed through the day into more light hearted banter clearly noticing Lyn's tensed expression. Bonnie and Alec returned with soup which she drank, realizing that she was positively starving.
The three of them were laughing at Damon's sarcastic humor when she abruptly spoke again, "I think I saw Klaus." An uncomfortable silence settled in the room again. "How about you get some sleep tonight. We'll talk about this tomorrow." Bonnie smiled. Everyone began to leave one after another. "Oh Bonnie? Stay over tonight. It's not particularly safe to be out now." She nodded and smiled before they left the room.
Damon stood and just turned when Lyn caught his wrist in a feeble attempt to stop him. "Don't go." She barely whispered as he returned to her side, stroking her hair softly. "I wasn't going anywhere. Thought switching the lights off would make you feel better?" As much as she was amazed by his affectionate gesture, she was glad. He did care. No matter how much he'd deny, she knew she had someone to trust. She could realize she was falling for him. Love had never been her cup of tea. In every experience, she had just gotten hurt, yet, the heart didn't stop loving and hoping.
He slid to her side, helping her gently as if she were made of fine glass, afraid that if handled her without caution, she'd break. "Damon, I'm scared." She confessed while he held her hand, her back against his cold, firm chest. "I know." He couldn't reassure her, couldn't make her promises that things would be fine, but he did know this much – he would be there for her whenever she needed him to be.
As the night passed, she reiterated all the events that had coursed through the day to Damon. She told him about the visions she had had about Klaus and though she couldn't recollect with clarity his exact features, she did give him a vague description of how he looked.
"Whats going on?" Stefan's voice came through the phone as Damon stood at the corner of the room, looking outside the window.
"Well, I showered. I shaved. I saved lives and rescued a damsel in distress. Had a quiet day so to speak."
"Well that makes the two of us." He could hear Stefan sigh.
"I did hear one piece of good news and one piece of bad news though. Which one would you like first?" He turned around momentarily to see Lyn change her position.
"The good news – Tyler Lockwood ran away from home last night." He could find himself smirking. He told him the source of his information – Sheriff Forbes.
"And whats the bad news?" Damon contemplated before finally putting them in words. He spoke in a low hush not wanting to wake Lyn from her sleep as he iterated the events that had coursed.
"Great!" Stefan sighed in frustration. "Where does that leave us now?"
"I don't know. Answers. And when it comes to that I can think of only one person."
"Isobel." Stefan concluded.
"Bingo!" Damon enthused with mock interest.
"Damon, she cannot be trusted, you know that." Stefan cautioned.
"Oh I know that mighty well, but if you do have a solution, please enlighten little brother!" Frustration was getting the best of him. After a momentary silence, "Which brings us to…" Damon urged.
"Killing Elijah."
"I think my intelligence is rubbing off on you, brother." Damon smiled amused.
"Well its not going to be easy killing him. He's crafty." Stefan sounded doubtful.
"Well I've got a crafty little dagger."
"He's an original. We don't know what all that encompasses." Stefan pointed out.
"Oh trust me Stefan. I'm gonna dot all my T's. I don't want any surprises this time." He said, with a sinister edge to his words.
"Wow, Damon, tell me for once you're going to be careful."
"Yes Stefan, I've become you. How tragic for both of us." He muttered sarcastically, enjoying the light hearted banter with his brother. He found Lyn tossing and turning on her bed again, beads of sweat beginning to cover her head. "Does a certain Klinsman have anything to do with it?" Stefan decided to pry a little further.
"Got to run. I've a murder to plan and an elusive vampire to find. Busy day." He hung up without answering Stefan's question. Stefan chuckled at his brother's abruptness. Could it be possible he was beginning to care for someone again? Someone other than Elena after learning about Katherine. It felt oddly familiar to have a conversation with Damon which didn't involve snide comments and sarcastically offending humor. He certainly hoped Aralyn Klisnman held the key to that little chest of emotions that were locked away somewhere deep down in his brother's heart.
Damon returned to Lyn's side. Her wild dark hair contrasted the white sheets of her bed. Damon tucked a strand of hair that stuck to her face behind her ear and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She seemed to relax under his cool touch. He sighed, not knowing the emotions that coursed through him. For once, in a long time, he felt responsible for someone, he felt duty bound, he felt sorrow. For once, he felt like, someone was stirring that dangerous feeling of love in his cold heart again. He simply watched her as she slept, relishing the sight of her, knowing she was safe.
I'm really enjoying writing this. So I hope you do give me the incentive to continue!
Please be nice and review :)