AN: Hi everyone! Thank you for the reviews and follows, but just a reminder, if you are logged in I can response to your reviews. I can't if you're a guest.
I do want to answer some of the questions I got though:
Damon POV is not coming yet, but I will tell you that things will be revealed over time. I don't like to lay out my hand right away :P But we will find out how Damon feels later in the story.
Damon did not kill Isobel. How she turned will come up eventually.
Stelena is not endgame lol I don't like them either, but it fuels the story in the direction I need it to.
Oookay that's all I'll say for now without divulging too much! 😊 Thanks for the support - Vanessa
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Chapter 11: Domino Effect
The next morning, Stefan found himself waking up and looking forward to the day. Helping Caroline had been a pleasant distraction from the cravings he'd experienced since tasting Elena's blood. Every time he closed his eyes, the memory of her blood flowing down his throat, coating it like crimson silk came to him in scandalous flashes.
He headed down the stairs, and when he rounded the corner, he bumped right into the girl that had been plaguing his mind. The force nearly knocked her over, but he was quick to reach out and steady her, causing a cute laugh to escape. "Elena…you're here early. I thought you went home last night." It was almost 9am. He took a moment to look her over. She was fresh faced and dressed in a navy-blue tank top and black yoga pants, with mesh cut outs on the outside of her legs.
She pulled her ponytail out, letting it fall in a curtain of freshly washed natural waves around her shoulders. "I did, but I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come here at hit the bag for a bit." She jerked a thumb in the direction of the training room. "I'm going to make some coffee; you want one?" She started to move around him and he turned to call out to her before she made it to far down the hall.
"Elena, about the other night…" She stopped, and turned slowly to face him, and unreadable expression on her face. "What you did was dangerous. I know you were just trying to help me, but…" he swallowed painfully, his next words so quiet, she barely heard them. "I could have killed you."
Her face softened as she nodded, biting her lip regretfully. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Her tone was low and demure.
He shook his head. "No, you don't understand." He closed the distance between them in three long strides. "I can't stop thinking about it." The strain and emotion were clear on his face, as was the frantic pitch in his voice. She instinctively took a cautious step back. "Your blood is in my veins…and it's literally taking everything inside me not to go back for another taste." He was caught between being angry with her and desperate for her; he wasn't sure what side was winning. His face was only inches from hers. "I feel like I can't control myself around you now." He whispered, as his face shifted and the veins spider webbed from under his eyes.
For some reason, she was as calm as a summer breeze, as her fingers came up to trace the veins, and then down over his cheekbones, until the pad of her thumb ran over his bottom lip. "Maybe I don't want you to." She whispered back; her mouth dangerously close to his. Stefan's eyes closed as he nuzzled into her gently caresses. "We both want this…why fight it?"
In an instant both of his hands shot out and trapped her the wall behind her, crushing his lips down on hers with a predatory growl. She smiled wantonly against his kisses, draping her arms around his neck and pressing her body flush to him. A particularly loud clearing of a throat broke the heated moment, and they both turned to see a decidedly disgruntled Caroline with her arms crossed. It was Stefan who pulled away first, awkwardly, and the brunette offered a shame-filled 'excuse me', before slipping away out the front door.
"Sorry…" he offered lamely, swallowing thickly.
The blonde's brows shot high on her forehead. "What are you apologizing to me for, you don't owe me anything." Her tone was sharp, and laced with indignation.
He ducked his head. "I do. You're mad." She shot him a glare and he continued tentatively, like he was side stepping bombs. "We've…bonded, the last few days. I know that you…feel something for me." He added gently.
Caroline scoffed loudly, tossing her head back defiantly. "Well that's presumptuous of you!" She dropped her arms and some of the fire left her tone. "Okay, so I had this silly little crush on you months ago, but I'm way over that now, so," she waved her arms out to her sides, "by all means, don't let that stop you from kissing whoever you want." She huffed. "Even if that happens to be Elena." Her words trailed off, betraying the hurt in her voice. "Now I'm hungry." She spun around and headed for the basement.
…
An hour later, Bonnie entered the boarding house, and sat down next to Caroline on the couch, who was sullenly drinking from a blood bag like a capri sun. "Hey…is Elena here?"
"Yup." She said accentuating the P. "Probably making out with Stefan." She mumbled bitterly, slurping the last of the bag.
Bonnie raise a brow. "Oookay…what was about?"
Caroline rolled her eyes, tossing the empty bag on the table. "Ugh…I don't want to talk about it." She forced a cheery look to her face. "What's up?"
Hesitantly, Bonnie continued, although she was concerned if she should be bothering her friend with this when she was obviously upset. "Well, I don't want to alarm Elena yet, but I think Isobel and her friends are still in town." She pulled out her phone, and showed Caroline the news article with the headline: 'Wild Animal on the Loose – Several Attack in Recent Days'. "All of them have been bitten on the neck and all of them drained of blood."
The blonde straightened from her slouch. "Well what else could they possibly want? Didn't she make her point?"
"I don't know," she put her phone back in her pocket. "but whatever it is, they aren't being subtle. We need to get them out of here."
The door swung open, and Elena strolled in, Damon not far behind. "Hey guys…Damon's home!" She smiled brightly, gesturing behind her. He offered a nod, and headed to the basement to grab himself a much-needed blood bag. As she was shrugging out of her jacket, Stefan strode into the parlor room, and Caroline bounced up and quickly made herself scarce with a scowl firmly set on her face. "What's up with her?"
Stefan pinned Elena with an intense stare. "Elena we should talk."
Bonnie immediately felt uncomfortable with being the third wheel in the room. "I'll go check on her." She hurriedly followed after Caroline.
Elena's eyes shifted. "About what?" Her brows tightening in concern, when he just looked at her, his green eyes piercingly penetrating. "What happened?" She glanced over to where her friend had run off to, hoping that something didn't happen to her. "Is Caroline okay?"
He shook his head. "You can't just pretend it didn't happen. I know I can't." He took a few steps forward, and she felt herself walking back, put off by his wolfish demeanor.
Her lower back hit the credenza, and she balked at him. "What are you talking about?"
He became impatient. "This morning…in the hall."
Elena blinked rapidly with a little shake of her head. "I-I just got here. Damon and I have been at my house all morning." Her back straightened and a cold feeling rippled through her. "What happened this morning, Stefan?"
"Oops." A sultry, velvety voice flitted from the hall, followed by the clicking of heels, as they walked up behind Elena. "Guess my cover's blown."
Stefan stiffened, staring blankly ahead of him as realization came over him. "Katherine."
Elena's head whipped around and took in a sharp inhale. "No..." She looked her up and down; a waterfall of curls, a blood red lace tank top showing an ample amount of cleavage, black skinny jeans and black peep-toe pumps. The resemblance was uncanny, and if she didn't know any better, she'd think she was looking in a mirror.
Katherine canted her head to the side. "You must be Elena." She drawled, sizing her up as she sauntered passed her, to her ex lover.
Stefan crossed him arms defensively. "What the hell are you doing here?" He uttered grimly, feeling cheated and humiliated.
She smiled prettily. "Damon didn't tell you?" She looked over her shoulder at Elena with a raised brow. "I'm here to help."
A rumbling groan came from down the hall that led to the basement. "Didn't I tell you to keep a low profile?"
She shrugged. "I tried…but Stefan had other ideas." She bit her lip coyly, staring up at the younger Salvatore from under her lashes.
"You weren't exactly honest with me, but then again, when are you?" He turned away, avoiding Elena's confused glance and his brother's narrowed glare.
Elena rounded on Damon, not wanting to think too hard about what had happened between them. "You've been home for hours, why didn't you tell me she was coming here?" Her tone accusatory.
He grimaced. "Wasn't the right time."
"Oh, but this is?!" She gestured wildly. Elena's hands came up to rub her temples. "You were supposed to get the moonstone."
Damon walked further into the room heading to the bar. "And I did…" he poured himself a drink. "It just came with strings." He gestured with his full glass to Katherine before downing it in one gulp.
Elena frowned at her double with guarded apprehension. "You have it?"
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Well it's not on my person…do you think I'm stupid? It's in a safe place." She pointed a slender finger at Stefan. "Now what I want to know, and I'm sure I'm not the only one," her eyes snapped to Damon deliberately. "…is what happened the other night that had you spilling your guilty little guts to Elena, aka me, hm?"
The tension in the room tightened and both Stefan and Elena dropped their eyes to the floor or around the room respectively. Damon's glass hit the bar loudly. "What happened the other night?"
"Nothing." Stefan snapped.
"It wasn't a big deal." Elena mumbled at the same time.
Katherine smirked to herself, proud at her ability to ruffle all their feathers within a matter of minutes. With raised brows, she slinked away, grabbing a bottle from the bar before heading up to her temporary room, fully committed on listening to the blow up from afar.
Damon walked towards Elena, intent on getting the answer from her. "What happened?"
"She's just trying to get under our skin, Damon." Stefan sighed, knowing this wasn't going to end well.
Damon ignored him; his eyes still locked on the girl in front of him. "What happened, Elena." He demanded, drawing out each word.
She swallowed nervously. "He got hurt…he was bleeding out, so I fed him my blood." She explained timidly.
His blue eyes turned dark and cold, as he stepped dangerously close to her. "You what." The low timber of his voice vibrated through her; the fury clear in his whispered words.
Her breath hitched in her throat as his proximity. "I was scared, Damon! You didn't see him…there was so much blood." She felt sick thinking about it.
"He could have killed you Elena!" He yelled, unable to hold in the shaking rage.
She stood straighter. "But he didn't! And after he healed me, I was totally fine." She tried to calm him down, but somehow that only made him even more livid.
His lips tightened in a thin line and his eyes widened wildly, but they never faltered from Elena's. "Stefan…you better get the hell out of here before I kill you myself." His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, until he heard the whoosh a few long seconds later indicating that his brother listened to him for once. Finally, he was able to let out the breath he was holding, and poured himself another full glass, knocking it back and pouring another.
"Damon! He's your brother! What's wrong with you?" She screamed at him, shocked that he would even consider it.
After finishing the second glass, he slammed it down so hard it shattered in his hand. "No, what's wrong with you Elena! Do you have any idea what you did! Never mind, the fact that Stefan is fully capable of ripping your head off, you let him drink from you! You shared blood with him! He craves you now, do you have any idea what that means!? What that means to him?!" The veins in his neck bulged; the muscles beneath them corded and strained.
Her whole body trembled. He'd never lashed out at her like this before, and she realized how terrifying it was to be on this end of his bad side. "I thought he was going to die!"
"Decapitation, fire, stake, ripping out the heart." He counted on his fingers impatiently; she knew this. "Those are the only ways to kill a vampire. He would have had a nice little nap and woken up a few hours later hungry enough to eat a moose."
Elena's jaw tightened at his snappy remark. "I needed his help; we couldn't just leave her there." She recognized her mistake instantly and her lips pressed together.
"Leave who where?" He picked the glass out of his hand begrudgingly.
"Caroline…" she let out a deep sigh, knowing that everything was about to come out now. With one domino, the others would soon fall. "One of Isobel's lackies turned her into a vampire." She uttered under her breath, but knew he heard her when his head swung in her direction.
He winced, feeling a twinge of sadness that she was subjected to that fate. "Isobel? She was here?" Damon let go of some of his anger, his face immediately showing concern for her well-being. Meeting her mother was not something he wanted her to go through alone. Elena nodded sourly. "Why?"
Coming down the steps into the sunken living room, Elena took in a shaky breath. "She was making a point. I didn't listen…" she eyed him, carefully choosing her next words. "At the bar, by Duke…I was ambushed by a vampire in the bathroom." She avoided his hard glare. "She told me to stop looking for her…that there would be consequences." Her voice trailed off in a whisper, as a tear slipped down her cheek.
Instinctively he reached out to brush is away. "What did you do?"
"I called Isobel. I found her number in the book."
"Damnit, Elena!" His jaw clenched. "Why would you do that?" He articulated each word slowly.
She swung her arms out, exasperated. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't just give up! She knows something Damon…there's something bigger that she's keeping from me, and I need to know what it is!" Her mind wandered to the words she read in her journal, over and over. She can't ever know the truth. The fire left her voice, and she continued on a helpless whimper. "What else was I supposed to do?"
"Stay safe until I got home. That's it!" He ran a hand over his face. "Stefan was supposed to protect you, and he fucked everything up."
"Don't blame Stefan. It was all me. You were right. Isobel is not who I'd hoped she'd be; she's evil, and heartless…and now my best friend is a vampire." She cried as she stepped into his arms, burying her head in his chest for comfort. "This is all my fault. I'm sorry I didn't tell you; please don't be mad." She mumbled the tears wetting his shirt.
For a moment he just stood there, and then slowly, his arms came around holding her to him, his hand running soothingly over her hair. "One month…I'm gone one month and everything falls apart." He teased lightly, and she sobbed a laugh that was slightly muffled. "Everything is going to be okay. How's Caroline adjusting?"
She pulled away, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "Good, I think. Stefan's been teaching her."
Damon scoffed. "Don't even get me started on the irony of that statement…blind leading the blind." He smirked.
Elena's eyes looked up to the ceiling and her voice lowered. "Can we trust her?"
"No." He snorted contemptuously. "But right now, she's all we got. Just…be careful. She likes to stir the pot."
A sarcastic laugh escaped as she shot him keen look that told him that was an understatement. "And she's apparently taken to impersonating me. I can't imagine what happened with Stefan that got him all riled up."
Damon's eyes narrowed as the focused on the flames flickering in the fireplace. "Oh, I have an idea." He grumbled; his upper lip curled bitterly. "And I'm sure Stefan enjoyed every second of it. It's no secret how he feels about you."
She walked over, tilting her head to look at him. "But it wasn't me…Whatever he said or did; it wasn't with me, Damon."
He finally met her gaze with a meek smile that pulled at his lips. "I know." He whispered. He stared at her for a long time, finding himself relieved.
Elena broke eye contact first, dropping her glance to the floor between them briefly, before forcing a smile. "I'm going to check on Caroline. I think she's mad at me." She squeezed his shoulder. "I'm glad you're home." She backed away, her hand slipping off his arm and leaving a trail of warmth behind.
…
Later that night, Damon exited his en suite bathroom, a towel slung low on his hips and he halted when he saw her laying in the middle of his bed, propped up on her elbows wearing a black silk robe and a black lace matching bra and panties, her curls tumbling over her shoulders. "You shouldn't be in here." He snapped as he crossed to his dresser, and shamelessly changed into a pair of loose dark grey pajama pants. Nothing she hasn't seen before.
Her eyes raked over him seductively. "I was hoping we could finish what we started the other night." Katherine watched him as he came around one side of the bed, and flipped the covers roughly so he could slip in, blanketing her nearly naked body. Her face changed to an expression of disgruntlement, before she used her speed to straddle him. "You were a little hard on your precious Elena today." Damon tried to push her off, no intention of entertaining this little game of hers, but her thighs gripped her tighter. "You were mean…I like it." Her hand clasped around his neck, firmly but not crushing. "Why does it bother you so much that she shared blood with him, Damon, hm?" She leaned down, her hand loosening to coast over the expanse of his chest, looking deeply into his eyes as if she could find the truth buried in them.
Damon didn't back down from her intense stare. "Why don't you go find some other poor soul to torment…like my brother." He retorted, completely avoiding her question.
She raised her brows in a mischievous flash. "Been there, done that." Without faltering, she continued. "Is it because you don't trust Stefan?" She traced little patterns on his bare chest. "Because he craves her now?" Katherine taunted knowingly, the tip of her nose just barely grazing his. "Or is it because deep down a part of you knows that you're just repeating history?" Her eyes darted back and forth between his. "You want to fall in love with me all over again, don't you?" She whispered concededly, the corners of her mouth curling in a sassy smirk.
"Katherine…" He whispered, his hands slipping up to cup her face. "Sweetheart…" She hummed in response, her eyes closing against his touch. "You just don't do it for me anymore." He shoved her face to his left, causing her to tumble to the other side of the bed. He settled in, closing his eyes. "There are six other room in this house. Pick one."
She scoffed, shocked to be cast aside when she was so shamelessly offering herself up to him. Katherine allowed herself a little smile as she slinked off the bed and out of the room. She did enjoy a challenge though.