Having been separated from Elena upon their arrival at Marcel's, Tyler was less than pleased. He hadn't questioned it, really, but since his transition to hybrid, he found himself following Klaus' requests with no hesitation. Especially where Elena was concerned, he truly believed that the Original only wanted the best for the girl. And, if she would stop being so obstinate about everything, she might realize that. After all, he'd rescued her from a life spent looking over her shoulder. No one could hurt her while she was under Klaus' protection. And if not his, then Tyler obviously needed to step up.
He'd taken to pacing his room, arms crossed as he fumed, mind whirling. He needed to get out of here, needed to get Elena and get back to safety. He had no idea how he was going to go about it, though. He'd been in this room, stewing, for what felt like hours. Obviously Marcel was more fixated on Elena and what she meant to Klaus. The thought alone made Tyler uneasy. If Marcel discovered…
His musing was interrupted at the sound of someone approaching. In a split second his decision was made, Tyler quickly moving to stand behind the door. Just as he hoped, it soon opened, a vampire stepping in seemingly unaware. Perhaps he'd expected Tyler to still be out, but hybrids healed just as quickly, if not even faster than vampires. Ready to seize the opportunity, Tyler's hands shot out, settling on the newcomer's neck and snapping it quickly. The body caught, he lowered it gently to the ground before glancing around and darting out the door. He needed to be careful, he needed to not get caught. If he was, he wouldn't get a second chance at this escape.
Luckily his heightened senses allowed him not only to evade the one or two vampires that appeared to be patrolling the hallways, but also to follow a faint and familiar scent. Pausing at the door, Tyler listened a moment, and inhaled deeply. Just the one person in the room then. One girl, locked in a room he didn't have the key to.
Tyler took a deep breath, grasping the knob tightly as he twisted, breaking the mechanism. And that done, he pushed the door open.
"Tyler?" Elena had been seated on the bed, but she rushed toward him, arms winding around the boy. "I thought…I was worried about you."
"Yeah, me too," he answered, arms winding around her in return. But only for a minute before he pulled back. "We've got to get out of here, Elena."
"Tyler- "
"I know he said that Caroline and Bonnie and Damon were here but they obviously aren't, Elena," he answered. "If they were, I can't think of a good reason why we wouldn't be able to see them, can you? And there's no reason to lock us up away from one another."
Lips parted, ready to remind him exactly why they'd been shown to separate rooms. Marcel didn't want Tyler trying some ill-advised escape attempt. And that's exactly what this was. Tyler wasn't thinking clearly if he thought that they could just waltz out the front door. Marcel had a plan to ensure that the Original family didn't take his town back. She doubted he would back down from it.
"It's okay," he continued, ignoring any attempt she made to interrupt him. "I can get us out. You don't have to worry. We'll get back to Klaus and everything will be alright."
"No, Tyler, you don't understand…" Elena tried once again.
"I understand that if anything happens to you, Klaus would kill me." And he didn't mean that figuratively.
Elena sighed softly, her head ducking. "Yeah," she agreed. "Because I'm the doppelganger."
"Because he needs you," Tyler answered. "Because you're important to him." Did she not really understand what an honor that was? A shake of his head. They were wasting time. "We can argue about it later. For now we're getting out of here." One hand closed around her arm, tugging her forward. He would make sure that they got back to the plantation home safe and sound.
They wound through the hallways and out through the courtyard, Tyler glancing furtively around. It was amazingly easy. Almost too easy, though he wouldn't question their good luck. Just as they moved through the doorway, Elena couldn't help looking back over her shoulder. There in the shadows stood Marcel, their eyes meeting a moment. A short nod from him and then they were gone, Tyler guiding her outside.
TVDTVDTVDTVDTVDTVDTVD
Groaning, Damon shifted slightly in his chains, wincing as his skin tore anew. He'd been so drained of blood that he wasn't healing quite as quickly as he normally would have. And yet, weak though he was, he couldn't afford to simply give up. He needed to escape. Needed to find Bonnie and Caroline. Needed to find Elena and, he supposed, the wolf, and get the hell out of Dodge. He'd figure out some way to evade Klaus' seemingly inescapable clutch. And they'd all live happily ever after.
The door slid open slowly, a familiar face peering in, though he could barely focus long enough to recognize it. "…Elena?" The words were whispered, lips barely moving. Could it really be her? Would Klaus let her just wander around freely? Somehow he couldn't quite believe it, as much as he seemed to treasure her.
"Damon?" Glancing back over her shoulder, she stepped in, quickly closing the door behind herself. And then she all but launched herself across the room, stopping short as she took in his current position. She wasn't entirely sure how to even go about releasing him without causing more pain still. "How did you… Tell me what to do."
"How are you here?" He gritted, gazing blearily at her. "I thought Marcel…"
"Yeah," she agreed. "He did."
"But how- "
"It's not important," Elena shook her head. "What's important is getting you out of here." Reaching up, she fumbled with the traps holding him up, struggling with all her might to open them. Even as Damon barely stifled his yelps of pain, Elena didn't stop. And she finally forced first one and then the other open, Damon dropping to the floor like a stone.
"…have to leave me," he all but gasped, eyes pleading. "I'm not strong enough, Elena." In case she hadn't noticed, he'd been bled out. He was weaker than a human at this point.
"No. I'm not leaving you," Elena shook her head, crouching by him, earnest eyes gazing back at him, full of determination. "I can't leave you. I've been waiting for you. Ever since that night…" Her voice trailed off. "I knew you'd find me," she finished.
"Course I would." Damon would do anything for her, would kill himself if it meant saving her from harm. Elena deserved so much more than the shitty hand life had dealt her. Dead parents, curses, thousand-year-old hybrid dicks who made her life a living hell… He had to concentrate to make his hand shift, reaching for hers, fingertips just barely grazing hers. Elena surprised him, though, when her own hand shifted, squeezing his.
"You need your strength," she answered. "Feed from me." Her hand slipped from his, finger moving to rest on his lips before he could even think to say something else. "I want you to." Her free hand shifted, pushing a curtain of hair back off her neck. "Please, Damon." Elena leaned in closer, all but closing the gap between them.
Almost against his will, Damon inhaled the familiar scent, eyes sliding shut. He couldn't fight her. Though as soon as he gave in, fangs slipping out in preparation, the scene faded away, Damon once more feeling the traps biting into his skin. It hadn't been real then, the whole thing placed in his head as a game of sorts.
Eyes slid open to find his own brother smirking up at him. "Hello, brother," Stefan greeted.
"That was a real dick move, Stefan. That's supposed to be my role." Damon was the screw-up, the big bad brother that everyone hated. Stefan was supposed to be the one that everyone adored. The ripper with a heart of gold, eaten up by guilt and remorse.
"It was until Elena bewitched you with those big brown eyes of hers," he agreed.
Damon snorted at that, groaning almost immediately in pain. "She bewitched you first, brother. The whole reason you stayed in Mystic Falls, remember?" He couldn't help quoting the diary that he'd flipped through in one of his fits of boredom. "I had to know her."
"Well I'm not under her spell anymore. No humanity, none of those pesky feelings of love or guilt or loyalty…" Just enjoying the simple things in life.
"What happens when the pendulum swings back again?" Damon had to question. "C'mon Stefan. A hundred and forty-five years of back and forth. She'll bring you back." As if there were any question as to who he meant.
Stefan's smirk widened at that. "Not this time. I've pushed her away enough that she won't be trying quite so hard to get me back. Which is exactly how I want it. The guilt, the feelings…they were exhausting."
"No middle ground with you." And that was the problem in Damon's eyes. Stefan had no moderation in anything he did. Martyr or devil and nothing in-between. "So what, you're going to kill me?"
"Don't be so melodramatic, Brother. Death would be too kind. You promised me an eternity of misery once. Maybe I should do the same to you. An eternity spent wondering whatever happened to Elena, where she went, how her days ended…ruminating on what a failure you were." But even as he watched the anger bloom over his elder brother's face, Stefan's head tilted to one side, very obviously enjoying tormenting Damon.
"Or maybe not." He turned then, ready to leave his brother alone once more. "We'll just see how things turn out, won't we," he called back over his shoulder. "Maybe Klaus will have a use for you yet."
"You're pathetic," Damon advised. "Acting like a lap dog."
Stefan did pause then, turning to face his strung-up sibling once again. "I wouldn't stand in his way, Brother." A word of advice. "What was that saying? Better to be the right hand of the devil than to stand in his way? And aren't you the one who used to tell me what a relief it was to flip the switch? To not be weighed down by emotions? You should be happy. I'm doing what you wanted." His lips tilted upward in a sardonic smile, eyes cold.
"Klaus will get what he wants, Damon. He always does." That said, he turned once again, leaving his brother alone for the moment. "I'll be back later. Just…hang tight." He hadn't been able to resist the dig.
