Stefan was the picture of stillness as he leant lazily against the wall, a bottle clutched loosely in his hand. He set it down, unsettling its turbid green contents. The air was dense: a mixture of sweat, blood and herbs. His grim expression illuminated by a lone candle, he pushed himself from the wall, striding confidently across the darkened room. In the corner lie Tyler Lockwood, bound heavily to the stone walls by solid iron chains; he dozed quietly, unaware of the vampire looming over him.
Stefan observed the hybrid in silence. He pitied the boy and the pathetic existence he had for a life. It was no life being eternally bound to the world's most powerful supernatural force, and Elena had taken a great risk in bringing him here, to his home, to be put under his charge.
"Just, please, make him better," she had begged him, her eyes wide and soft as she watched Damon secure her prisoner. Her voice was thick with determination. "He needs this. Maybe if you make him turn enough times, make him realise he can break himself from the sire-bond…"
"Why me?" Stefan asked her. He wanted nothing to do with her suicide mission and was all too eager to point out the wrath that would soon come bearing down on all of them. Caroline, he knew, would not be pleased at all. "Why not Damon?"
"Because I know you'll do the right thing by Tyler," she said quietly, her steely gaze burning. "By anyone."
She shook her head, her expression resolute. Elena let out a quiet sigh, the weight of the world heavy on her martyred shoulders. She ran her fingers through her long hair, her stare focused solely on an unconscious Tyler. "I won't give up on him. He deserves to be free."
Still, he could not bring himself to say no to Elena. He cursed himself for such weakness. She was his love, and though she now loved another, the feelings he fought desperately to bury remained stubbornly in place. He would do this – not for Tyler's wellbeing, and not as a petty act of revenge against Caroline, but for her: the girl he loved.
"Fine," he told her reluctantly.
"Do what you need to," she nodded surely. Elena pressed a generous sprig of wolfsbane into his open palm. With one last fleeting glance, she cleared the room. She hadn't dared to set one foot downstairs in the hours that would follow.
Now, in the present, he watched as Tyler's breath came in harsh, laboured rasps. He nudged the sleeping hybrid with the toe of his leather boot, rousing him from his light slumber. Tyler's chains rattled as he shifted, clothes rumpled and reeking of sweat and beer. He peered up at him through dark, hooded eyes.
"What do you want?" he groaned, eyeing the other vampire disdainfully.
"You know what I want, Tyler," Stefan answered quietly.
Tyler laughed cynically, the effort reducing him into a fit of hacking coughs. He spat blood onto the dank stone floor. Some of it landed onto Stefan's shoe.
"You can't make me."
Stefan lowered himself; his body compacted into a crouch. His eyes level with the hybrid, he gazed coldly back. He could see the unabashed stubbornness in Tyler's dark eyes, and he knew his task was not an easy one. Tyler, by nature, was stubborn. He was the stereotypical alpha male – infamously popular, the school bully, and captain of the football team and all its meat-headed cronies. More than that, his stubbornness and arrogance combined with the sire bond produced an annoyingly uncompromising disposition. The only person who ruled over Tyler was Caroline. And it would only be a matter of time until Caroline would begin her hunt. Stefan dreaded her anticipated arrival; when she did, and he knew she definitely would, someone was going to pay.
"Turn."
"No," Tyler sneered. "You don't control me."
"That's true," he shrugged arrogantly, lips pressed into a thin line. "You don't seem to mind that Caroline does."
"I owe her my life." Tyler lurched forward, his face now inches from Stefan's; so close he could smell the blood and wolfsbane on his breath. His eyes flashed an angry yellow, which secretly pleased Stefan.
If only he'd get angry enough, he thought to himself.
"Why?" He asked, the sarcastic contempt now oozing freely in his voice. "Do you like being her little hybrid pup? She doesn't care about you. Not really."
"You wouldn't know," Tyler turned his head. He fell back onto the stone wall, his gaze falling anywhere but on Stefan. He rubbed at the cuffs locked tightly around his wrists. From where Stefan stood, he could smell his wounds; where the rusted, unyielding metal had rubbed his skin raw from the strain of Tyler's struggles.
"Don't you see, Tyler? Don't you see what she's turned you into?"
"I'm better off as a hybrid than I was a wolf," he answered calmly. Jaw tightly clenched, his fingers ran back and forth along the dirt. Stefan knew it was all an act. His attempt at casual arrogance was completely transparent. Stefan could not help but notice the minute twitches that corresponded with his every move. The hybrid's senses were finely attuned and overstrung.
"Look what you've become," Stefan began. He cocked his head to the side, his expression as equally as arrogant and mocking. "Her little lapdog. Tell me, Tyler: do you like being used by her? Is that it? Some sick part of you actually enjoys-"
Tyler's fidgeting ceased.
"SHUT. UP." He growled, lunging forward. His chains groaned as he propelled himself towards Stefan. A guttural cry ripped from his throat, bouncing off the stone walls of his cell. The sound echoed in Stefan's ears. He calmly took a step back, his neck a mere hairsbreadth from the hybrid's bared teeth. He'd be damned if he showed any sign of fear or weakness.
Tyler's skin seemed to jump; as if his muscles danced underneath his clammy skin. He let out a painful groan, his back bending an unnatural angle. A low rumble sounded from deep within his breaking body, and patches of clothes began to rip under the strain of his twisting limbs. Stefan watched on with morbid curiousity as the hybrid writhed in agony.
"NO!" he growled, his eyes now a fierce amber. "NO!" he repeated once more. The room fell silent, save for Tyler's breathing. Inhale, exhale, inhale. Moments passed. The dense tension that threatened to snap dissipated, and the air in the room cleared. His breath slowed until he was almost silent, and he fell back with a sigh of relief. His irises were dark when he opened his eyes once more.
Stefan decided to change his tact.
Hours had passed and his attempts to coax the hybrid into turning proved unsuccessful; the latest incident was the closest he'd gotten so far. He was running out of time. Abandoning Elena's ill-thought plan, Stefan figured he might as well learn something useful whilst playing prison guard.
"Oh, but you do," He continued his taunting whilst he paced the length of the room, his hands grasped idly behind his back. "You like being her servant. And I'm willing to bet you know something. I'll make it easy for you – you tell me something worth knowing, or-"
"You'll what?" Tyler questioned. His stormy gaze fell on the bottle behind him. "You'll douse me with wolfsbane again?"
Stefan smiled wryly, the humour failing to reach his eyes. "I see you know this game."
Tyler fell silent. He watched as the vampire crossed the room and reached for the dreaded bottle. Stefan's footsteps echoed ominously as he made his way back towards the shackled hybrid.
He shook the bottle, taunting. The smile had completely vanished from his sharp features. "Let's begin."
The screams would forever haunt Klaus.
He'd lived through countless rebellions, coups, the Terror, both World Wars, endless bloodshed, and yet he'd never heard such agony in the strained cries of a living creature. The sound struck him deep, and he quickened his pace as he ascended the stairs that would lead him to the dungeons. He found himself at the end of a dark hallway, immediately drawn towards the door that was the source of all the anguish. He could hear Tyler's grating cries from within, the metallic clink of his chains as he railed against them.
Stefan's voice carried through the dense wood of the door. "TELL ME."
Klaus took a step back, his hands balled into tight fists. The door gave way immediately under his body as he haphazardly slammed into it. He surveyed the room, finding Stefan hunched over a huddling mass of blood and sweat. Despite having only disappeared the night before, Klaus was horrified to find that Tyler was reduced to a quivering mess. His clothes were in bloody, dirty tatters, and the boy himself appeared to be fading in and out of consciousness; his body unable to cope under the intense duress. For the time being, he remained alert and awake, roused from his faint by the disturbance.
"Klaus?" Stefan turned, startled. A look of relief momentarily flashed across his pale features. It disappeared within the blink of an eye, so brief Klaus had barely time to register it. He immediately straightened, stalking menacingly over to the blonde vampire. "Leave. This doesn't concern you."
"You're not supposed to be here," Elena stepped forward from the shadows. Her expression contrite, ever the peacemaker, she laid her hand across Stefan's back, seemingly preventing the dark haired vampire from advancing on his friend.
"Oh, great," Tyler rasped. The vampires turned their attentions to the sweaty, trembling hybrid; an incredulous grin spread across his dark features. "Of course you're here. Did she send you, or did you plan this whole thing yourself?"
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked, turning to face Klaus. He stepped away from Elena's grasp, his attention diverted to their intruder. "Who sent you? Caroline? Why would she send you?"
"Nobody sent me," Klaus stepped warily into the room, his eyes locked with Stefan's.
"What is going on?" Stefan asked suspiciously.
"You don't know?" Tyler spat. A vicious smile spread across his bloodied mouth. His sudden turn in demeanour surprised all of them. Their meek prisoner had instantly become spiteful with the turn of events, which proved to be in his favour. "They've been fucking. Your boy has been sleeping with the enemy."
Elena gasped, her small mouth dropping open into a perfect 'o'. "Is this true?" She asked. "You and… and Caroline?"
"Caroline is going to kill you," Tyler laughed maniacally. He looked at Stefan. "All of you."
"Tell me he's lying," Stefan asked, sceptical. "Tell me that my friend, the one whom I've known for centuries isn't fraternising with that evil-"
"Now, now, Stefan," came a voice from the doorway. "I'd be very careful in choosing those next words if I were you. They may be your last."
All three heads snapped in the same direction, finding a blank faced Damon obscuring the only entrance and exit to the room. His empty stare was made all the more confusing by the stake he juggled precariously in his hand. Something is not right, Klaus' senses screamed at him. The voice that had so suddenly rendered the room silent did not belong to the alarmingly vacant Damon. It was soft and mocking, the velvety smoothness distinctly feminine: something Damon was most definitely not.
Finally, Damon stepped aside, revealing an impassive Caroline; her calm, collected demeanour rendering her all the more frightening. Her lips twitched laughingly at their recognition of her sudden appearance. Klaus felt his blood run cold. He had expected a rampaging murder spree of epic proportions, not a suspiciously quiet Caroline. He'd seen her tears, her panic as she fretted over her hybrid progeny. This reaction was not in one of the many scenarios his frenzied mind had so morbidly imagined. This was worse.
"Damon…" Elena moved to rush towards Damon, her hand outstretched in concern.
Stefan grabbed her wrist, yanking her back towards him. "No, Elena."
Studiously ignoring Klaus, Caroline turned to address Stefan and Elena. "You have something of mine," Caroline uttered.
"He's not yours," Elena objected, breaking free from Stefan's clutches, she boldly stepped towards Caroline.
"Uh, uh," Caroline tutted, shaking her head derisively. "You see, since you have Tyler, it's only fair that I get something of yours. An eye for an eye. And once I get him back, maybe I'll return him."
She turned to Damon. "Go get him."
"Damon, no! Don't do this," Elena cried helplessly, watching as Damon freed Tyler from his bonds. She moved, her hand reaching to still his arm.
"Step back, Elena," he muttered coldly, shrugging her off. "I don't want to hurt you."
"What?" She breathed shakily.
"He's under compulsion," Stefan explained darkly, all too aware of Caroline's mocking gaze.
"That's right," she smiled smugly. "I've programmed Damon here to kill anyone who gets in his way. I wouldn't touch him if I were you. He might interpret that as an intervention."
Klaus watched as the room fell silent once more, the tension thick in the air. He kept his mouth shut, wishing the earth beneath his feet would suddenly open and swallow him whole. He was afraid of what was to come, the consequences his friends would suffer under the wrath of Caroline. At that point, there was no way in telling what she would do. Even in her better moods, Klaus had always struggled to stay one step ahead of the Original. He watched as Tyler limped weakly over to Caroline, his eyes scanning their faces apprehensively as he slowly, and painfully crossed the room. Damon followed behind, waving the stake in warning as Elena sobbed quietly.
"I can't imagine they fed you anything at Casa Del Salvatore." Caroline addressed the hybrid, a malicious glint in her eye. Despite having Tyler back, she was far from done with this group of vampires. They continued to watch the events unfold with bated breath. "You must be starving."
"Damon," she snapped her fingers, and the vampire immediately came to her side. She brought Tyler before him. "I know you prefer food, but under these circumstances… we'll have to make do."
Caroline's slender fingers caressed the smooth paleness of Damon's skin. She wrenched his head aside, exposing his neck, offering it towards Tyler as a sacrifice. "Drink," she ordered, to Elena's dismay.
Enough was enough.
Klaus stepped brazenly forward, his expression hard as he forced Caroline to notice him. Though he was torn between the two, he could no longer stand to bear witness to her sadistic punishments. A swift death was not enough for them. No, she was being unreasonably cruel. The sickening sound of Tyler happily draining Damon made him nauseous.
"Enough, Caroline," He blurted, his knees feeling weak. He steeled himself in anticipation of her retaliation. Klaus only hoped that she'd kill him swiftly, unlike Damon, who was slowly dying at Caroline's behest. "You've got Tyler now."
"I am not done with you yet," she shook her head. "I am not at all pleased that you've damaged my goods. I think it's only fair that Damon be returned in a similar state."
"Caroline, please," Elena pleaded through a thick veil of tears. "Take me instead. It was my idea. Not Damon's."
"No," Stefan interjected. "Take me. I did it. I bound your hybrid. I shoved the wolfsbane down his throat."
Caroline laughed haughtily. There was no doubt she was enjoying having the two vampires begging at her feet for redemption. They were completely at her mercy, and she revelled in the power she held over them.
"No, I quite like this arrangement. This way, I get someone who means something to both. Of. You." Caroline giggled, as if she were having a ball. She sobered, her expression hardening under their shrewd gazes. She stared back with bright, amber eyes, her voice piercingly cold. "Now you know how it feels."