Ch 15. Free him or let him rot?

Damon growled as he tried to sit up straight, his neck at an unnatural angle. Failing, as it felt like all the strength in his body had disappeared, he just gave up going back to laying on the muddy surface. Gawking at his surroundings he eventually realised where he was. The cell in the basement. Damn it! Before he could think over what the hell did he do for him to end up in this situation he caught a glimpse of Stefan standing by the cell barrier.

At the abrupt feel of something missing, Damon looked down at his left hand only to find his daylight ring missing. In a fit of rage, he demanded voice cracking from the lack of blood, "Where is my ring?".

"Won't be needing it anymore", Stefan answered not even slightly fazed by his anger.

"How long have I been here?", he continued to question the angry in his voice still evident even though he was running out of breath.

"Three days", Stefan answered remaining placid.

"What are you doing?", Damon asked though he had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Yet he was slightly relieved at the fact that not many days had passed and he still has time to work on his plan. There wasn't much time for the Night of the Comet Festival, where he planned to open the tomb door and be reunited with Katherine. If only he could find a way out.

"During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment. They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them", his younger brother said capturing Damon's attention. The history lesson that no one asked for cause him to roll his eyes.

"You know what will happen if I don't...feed on blood", he implored with much difficulty, successful cutting off Stefan rant.

"You'll grow weaker and weaker. Eventually, you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. EVER", Stefan declared openly, stressing on the last statement.

"So what, you're just going to leave me in the basement, forever?", Damon asked in disbelief.

"I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can re-evaluate", his younger brother replied prompting the dark-haired vampire to scoff in return.

"Sure Stefan after 50-60 years. I will forget all about you caging and desiccating me then we will hug it out, getting right back to being good old pals. Thereafter, we will both go on to write a book together. The Brotherhood of the Salvatores", he sassed with a husky tone still somewhat breathless, annoyed with Stefan sanguinity. Like that was believable. They both know that them being on the same page will never happen again.

"That's sound perfect actually", Stefan said sarcastically.

"I'm stronger than you think".

"You always have been. But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we both know it. I'm sorry. Didn't have to be this way", Stefan said before walking off leaving the unstable and weak Damon behind.

"Bonnie I am not dating Damon. Trust me I would never go there. He's not my type", Caroline announced as she looked into the mirror working on her makeup for the day while Bonnie lounged on her bed, fiddling with a candle that she had found. They had a sleepover last night where they binged watched all their favourite movies, starting from Mean Girls, which Elena had missed for reasons unknown. Nonetheless, Caroline wasn't much disappointed about it, if she was being honest. Presently they (or more like she was since Bonnie was done a while ago) were getting ready for school.

After the whole stunt Damon pulled on the founders day party, this was the 100th time she had to try convincing Bonnie that they won't involved, at least not like that. Furthermore, whatever Elena had said to her friend had only made matters worse. And to top that off she hasn't heard from Damon in 3 days and a small part of her was worried, even though she knows shouldn't be. He's a vampire for crying out loud. It's been one hectic week, to say the least

"Oh come on, Caroline he's exactly your type. Hot older guy, tall dark and handsome, mysterious, has some major issues, looks like a freaking supermodel, the epitome of a bad boy. Totally your type", Bonnie said stating out the obvious.

"That's kinda specific", Caroline joked trying to divert the topic. At Bonnie's raised eyebrow and her don't try me look, she carved, "Okay, maybe somewhat my type".

"But as I said, I would never go there and we are not like that. He's...um...my.

...um...friend, YES! my FRIEND and that's all it's ever going to be", she lied. Honestly, she didn't even know if one could call them friends. Sure they spend a lot of time with each other this past 2 weeks but that was because they had no other choice. Right?

"Okay, I believe you. I wouldn't want you to be dating him anyway not when he was hurting you", Bonnie mumbled with contempt. She didn't get good vibes from Damon whenever she has comes across him. And after what Elena had told her, she just knew that she had to keep Caroline as far away from him as possible.

"For the last time, Damon wasn't hurting me! Elena once again jumped to conclusions and just assumed the wrong thing like she always does", Caroline yelled, startling Bonnie with her sudden outburst. The blond despised Elena for whatever she had said to Bonnie and loathed the sympathy looks she was getting from both of them (even Stefan sometimes) Why was it always Elena's word over her's?

After calming herself down, Caroline requested in a soft tone, "Can we just not talk about this, ok? Don't want to talk about Damon. I don't want to talk about any of it. Just want to go back to normal".

When she didn't get a reply, she looked at Bonnie reflection through the mirror, finally noting her weird behaviour. "What are you doing with that candle?"

"Um...nothing", Bonnie answered, placing the candle on the side table. That's when she noticed some kind of necklace on the very same table. Bringing it close to her for a better look, she inquired, "What's this?"

Glimpsing at what was in Bonnie hand Caroline whispered to herself, "Damon's crystal!!! What the hell??? How did that get here?"

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing. It's just me being silly", Caroline dismissed as she put on some rosy lip gloss.

Closing off the tube, she arose from her seat in front of the mirror, walking towards Bonnie before fabricating,

"Damon gave it to me. Or he was going to give it to me. All I know is, it's mine now".

"It's ugly", Bonnie remarked with distaste still starting at the yellow crystal.

"Well, get your grubby hands off it", Caroline announced, grabbing the crystal and moving to the other end of the room making sure to place it in the drawer which had a lock, securing it shut.

"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fundraiser, for god's sake", ordered Caroline sternly before walking off.

"Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened", Elena said in disbelief.

"She's in denial", Bonnie uttered keeping her voice low.

Caroline who had heard the entire conversation between her friends, rolled her eyes at the foolishness as she pinned up tomorrow's fundraiser's poster. No matter what she says they just wouldn't believe her and honestly she now thinks that communicating with them is like banging your head against a brick wall.

Today she was in a no-nonsense mood. Things have been going wrong all day. First Tiki messed up the car wash banner. And then 4 of the guys and 2 of the girls backed off from the fundraiser and now she needed to find replacements last minute. To be honest she was pretty distracted. She wasn't on her A-game and that annoyed her.

After the huge revolution she unravelled 3 nights ago, her mind has been all over the place. And to add fuel to the fire Damon was nowhere to be found. Which was wired since he would climb into her room every night. She had to locate him. There were so many questions in her mind and she needed him to answer them for only he could decipher them.

Noting Stefan entrance, she made a sudden rash decision, handing (more like shoving) the rest of the posters to Eve, one of the cheerleaders on her team, who was passing by, without saying a word. Eve in return looked back at Caroline in confusion as she watched her move to stand in front of the green-eyed vampire.

"Stefan, where is Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do", she implored, skipping the small talk and getting straight to point.

"He's gone, Caroline", Stefan answered with phoney sympathy.

Anyone else would have believed him, but not Caroline, she could see right through him. Something definitely has happened to him. There's no way he would just up and leave like this.

She could see that Stefan hoped that this was the end of the conversion as turned to look at Elena, but she wasn't one to give up easily, so she pressed, "When is he coming back?".

"He's not coming back. I'm sorry", he replied truthfully this time and she could see that. That just confirmed her suspicion that Stefan was victorious in capturing Damon.

"This is a good thing, Caroline", Elena asserted. The blonde knows that she was coming from a good place but she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the comment.

"Sure, it is", she replied sarcastically with a scoff at the end, once again walking off towards Eve who was still standing there with an uncertain expression, still having no idea why she was handed the posters in the first place.

Damon cursed himself. How could he have let this happen? He'd let his guard down for one minute and to his surprise, (well it really wasn't much of a surprise) his little brother pounced on it. He really didn't think he'd try the same trick twice. Well, he thought wrong.

After dropping Caroline off, he had a bite or two from the unsuspecting couple making out outside the grill where he had stopped by to get some bottles of their most expensive bourbon since Stefan had messed with his. His fool of a brother had stopped following him halfway to the grill so Damon just believed that he had finally given up on his pursuit of imprisoning him, oh how wrong he was.

When he returned to the Salvatore boarding house, he was craving a shower in the privacy of his own home. After his nice relaxing bath, he moved straight towards the newly brought bottles of bourbon, one of them he had already open in the car. He was exhausted as it had been a long day, plus the liquor was just calling to him. After all, he was a sucker for a glass or two after a nice hot soak. But this is what he got, for trying to be civil one time and not disturbing his supposed sleeping brother when he got home.

Now he was stuck in a cell in the basement. In a locked room, his body was injected with a ton of vervain that would slowly weaken him to the point of no return. He needed help, and he needed help fast. By his estimation that was later confirmed by Stefan, it had been three days. He needed to find a way out. But how?

Caroline was the only name the came to mind. She was the only one who could get him out of here. But why would she help him? Why would she, when she could finally get rid of him? Nevertheless, he had to try anyway. She was his only option. Who knows, maybe she was worried about him. Blondie is his partner in crime after all. She could help. If he could get her to come to the boarding house, that is. He'd need to call out to her somehow. And he knew just the way to do it. He was a stud of a vampire after all.

As Damon was going through his plan to get his Blondie to come to rescue him, he heard footsteps coming towards the cellar door. Turning in that direction he recognised the intruder immediately.

"I'm full of vervain. I've been putting it in my coffee for 16 years. My blood will only make you worse. Damon", Zach voiced out knowing very well what Damon was thinking about.

"So it was your vervain. Good for you. Good for you. Family only runs so deep", Damon said with a hint of anger in his voice. He regrets not killing Zach the second he got here. If he had gotten rid of Zach before he would be in this situation.

"We're not family, Damon", Zach stated causing Damon to once again roll his eyes. "Only in the most dysfunctional sense. In fact, I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you".

"I don't guess I could talk you into bringing me a rabbit or something?", Damon amused. "I'd settle for Stefan's diet at this point".

"You know I can't do that", his great...nephew asserted. Zach hint of happiness at his condition aggravated Damon. Oh, he just can't wait to sink his teeth in his jugular.

"You succeeded, Zach. I'm shutting down. You're like your grandfather. He didn't like it when I came to visit, either", Damon taunted knowing that his grandfather was a sour subject for his descend, smirking at the frown on Zach's face. He was the one who has killed him of course.

"But you don't visit, Damon. You appear, unannounced, reminding me that this isn't my house; that you're just permitting me to live here", Zach recounted angrily. "Hell, that you're permitting me to live".

"Someone had to mow the lawn", the blue-eyed stud shrugged.

"I came to goodbye. Bye Damon", Zach announced with a hint of a smirk of his own. He thought that this was the end of it. That this was the last time he was seeing the vampire. How he couldn't be more mistaken.

Before Zach could walk off, Damon flashes up to the door, grabbing Zach by the throat. Immediately, cutting off his oxygen supply.

"Unlock it. Unlock the door, Zach", Damon yelled, tightening his grip on Zach's neck as he struggled to breathe.

Stefan who was on standby by the basement door as he had an idea that his brother would pull something like this, rushed in wrestling Zach out of Damon's tight grasp.

"Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you expend, the faster you'll go", Stefan said after successfully pulling Zach away from Damon. Watching as his brother let go, landing on the floor when he was hit with sudden weakness.

"Caroline. Caroline".

"No, Tiki, do not do the one-piece, ok?", Caroline ordered as she squatted on the armchair by her bedroom window, trying to solve Tiki dilemma. "I've seen it on you. Trust me".

"Yeah, but you're going for a stripper pole vibe this year", she counters with amusement at Tiki's reasoning.

"Caroline".

"Yeah, maybe we should wash the cars in slow motion", she jested as she chuckled at her own joke, getting up from her seat, moving towards the mirror grabbing the cherry lip balm.

"Caroline."

Noting a dark figure reflecting in the mirror seeming standing behind her, she quickly turned around only to find that it was all in her mind. This was creepy. The whole day she could felt like someone was calling out to her. Asking for her help. She even felt eyes on her. Just thinking about it gave her chills. This just added to her predicament. The whole day all she could think of was Damon. Should she go save him or let him rot? Honestly, there were a lot of pros than cons in leaving him to deteriorate in his misery. For her as well as for everyone around her. At least the population reduction that Damon was causing in her boring little town would reduce. And she wasn't going to lie she appreciate the full

8 hours of sleep she had gotten from him being missing.

"Caroline?", Tiki voiced when she didn't get any response from the blonde.

"What? oh, um, no, sorry. Um, so I'll just see you tomorrow. Two-piece. Ok, bye", Caroline let out flustered, hanging up the call as soon as Tiki said Okay.

Turning her attention to her window when she heard a clicking sound, that's when she noticed a crow sitting at her windowpane.

After a weird staring contest with the bird, Caroline flung her pillow towards it, yelling as she continued to swing at the stubborn crow, "Shoo, shoo! Shoo! God!"

Things didn't look bright for Damon. Pun intended. His body was shutting down and it would take a day or two until he will weaken to the point of desiccation, which will essentially turn him into a statue-like state until someone else feeds him. And to make matters worse Caroline just wouldn't take the hint. He was trying to get her attention by calling out to her and he hoped that she would hear him and come to help him. He even sent his compelled crow to follow her around (who he named Blackie. Yeah he wasn't very creative in the naming department) hoping that she would take the hint but to no avail. Nothing seemed to be working. It would have been easier if she was his compelled doll, like he had planned for her to be. Though a small part of him was glad that she wasn't. She's perfect, just the way she is. Compelling her would have made her lose the fiery personality that he liked so much. And he couldn't let that happen now, could he?

The only reason he could call out to her in the first place was because they had blood shared when they first met. Twice if you think about it.

The first time was when they were making out on the way to her room. She had unconscious cut her tongue with one of his fangs. In retaliation, he also pricked his tongue cause it was just so hot. Their blood mixed together as they continue to kiss while simultaneously stripping each other of their clothing. This was probably the first time he had blood shared and with a human at that. And all he could think of was why hadn't he done this before.

The second time was when he had bitten into her resulting in her losing consciousness. He had to admit that he might have taken a little bit more blood than needed but in his defence, her blood just tasted so delicious that it was difficult for him to stop himself. He had to feed the unconscious blonde beauty some of his blood. Just enough to keep her alive but not enough to close up the open bite wound. He just hopes that she cares enough to come to save him. She had called them comrades after all.

"I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself, aren't you?", Damon asserted, his voice shaky, when he saw his younger brother through the cellar door. What was with his constant, annoying visits? Did he like to gloat?

"Not particularly", Stefan replied, watching his brother struggled.

"You won. You got the bad guy. Now nothing could come between you and Elena. Except for fort the truth. The lies will catch up to you, Stefan. As long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are", Damon said, a small smirk gracing his lips as he watched his words affect the bunny eating vampire.

"The beauty of you in there and me out here...is that I can walk away", Stefan said as he left the fragile Damon was walked out the basement.

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here", Caroline instructed the brunette who was sitting at the opposite side of the pay here counter.

"No we are not", Elena narrated firmly with a nod.

"Hi", Stefan said after he walked up to them.

"Hey!", Elena replied happily, whereas Caroline just acknowledged him with a small smile as she safely put the ward of cash she had taken out for counting back into the tin box, locking it in place and putting the key that was hung on a silver chain around her neck before standing up along with Elena.

Gawking them both from top to bottom with distaste, she said with a judgement tone "The event is called sexy suds, you know".

"Did we just get scolded?", Stefan asked as he watched Caroline walk towards the blue Bentley Continental that had just arrived.

"And judged, yeah", Elena asserted.

"Wow".

"Hey, we're out of towels and those shimmy things", Elena announced to Caroline who was sitting by the counter.

"I'll go get some more. Mind the money", the blond ordered as she stood up from her seat

What was Caroline doing here? She left to get more towels and those shimmy things as Elena so poetically put it. But here she was standing in front of the Salvatore Boarding house with nothing but her sunglasses in hand, still wearing her black two-pieces red and white Striped Hem Triangle Bikini Top along with matching shorts.

Yesterday night she had decided to let it go. To let Damon deal with his own problems and that it wasn't any of her business if he lives or dies. But she couldn't stop herself. She needed answers. The questions on her mind were eating her alive. What can she say, she was curious. Well, they did say that curiosity killed the cat. But they also said that satisfaction brought it back.

Caroline just needed the truth and for that, she had to release him from wherever he was trapped. She will deal with the consequences later. She knows that Stefan has trapped Damon in this house. Stefan would not kill him. He's his older brother after all.

Clenching onto her hoddie, that she had worn on top of her outfit for warmth, the blond thought about what she should do next. She needs a plan. Zach car is out here which means he's inside so she will have to be extra quiet and make sure she doesn't let out a sound.

Now, where could Damon be? Not locked in his room grounded like a teenager that's for sure. So where? THE BASEMENT! yes, the basement. From what she has learned from all crime movies and TV shows she watched, it's always the basement.

Moving toward the entrance Caroline pushed the wooden door open, the door making a screeching noise causing her to halt in her tracks. After making sure her path was clear, the blonde step in steadily looking around for any clues, not like the interior one bit. She hadn't ever seen the boarding house from the insides so she doesn't know to go. Looking around she eventually came across a stairway leading downwards. That must be the way to the basement.

As she was striding to the stairway, she knocked down a bunch of books that were laying on the side table by the couch. Abruptly, she paused when her eyes caught something fall out of one of the books.

"Wow, you look awful", Caroline voiced out looking at the drained vampire who was laying on his back staring at the ceiling, "Stefan sure did a number on you, huh?"

Her voice catching Damon attention. He hadn't even heard her enter. How would he with his senses all over the place?

"Caroline! What are you doing here?", he asked, struggling to stand up straight, surprised with her unexpected arrival.

He had given up on crying out to her, cause the girl just wouldn't get the memo and doing so was just taking up to much of his energy. As a last ditched effort he had to eat his compelled crow. That sucked cause he kinda liked him. The blood leaving a bad aftertaste, not doing much for his system. The truth of the matter is that he had practically given up and excepted his fate. So colour him surprised when he saw his Blondie at the cellar door his looking hot as hell in that bikini she was wearing.

"I have come to save you of course. Why else would I be here?", she shrugged once again astonishing the barely conscious vampire.

"Why?", he uttered.

"And what do you want in return?"

From all of his years of living in this world, one thing Damon had to learn, that there wasn't such thing as a selfless deed. He was sure that she had some sort of wish she wanted him to fulfil. Maybe some things along the lines of asking him to get the hell away from this town. He will agree to whatever she wanted so that she would let him out, only to later dismiss it later. But her request was not what he had expected. At all.

"I want to know the truth. The whole truth. I want to know why you are here in Mystic Falls and why now", she revealed firmly. "That's it."

"Okay", he agreed as her request was doable. She hadn't revealed his secret before so why would she now.

"That won't do. I need a guarantee", Caroline declared.

"Okay, I promise just get me out of here", Damon implored as he tries to control himself. He could smell her blood from here. The hear her heart thumping. Could hear the blood flowing through her veins. All the vampire in him wanted to do was sink his fangs in her neck.

That wasn't much of a guarantee but she would take it, for now. Moving closer to the cellar door she noticed something from the corner of her eye as she asked in confusion, "Is that a crow?"

"Omg is that the same crow I kept on seeing for the past 2 days? Wow, you can compel animals as well? How cool is that. If I get a dog, you can compel him to be well behaved and I wouldn't have to through the mess of potty training as well. That would be so great", Caroline rambled totally forgetting the situation at hand.

At his impatient look, she realised what she was doing.

"Yeah, Not the time. Sorry".

"Caroline, I need you to listen to me", the blue-eyed vampire ordered huskily. "As soon as you open the door, I run as fast as you can. Don't look back just bolt".

"Why?", she implored in confusion.

"The vampire in me is unstable and wouldn't be able to stop himself from draining you dry. I don't have my daylight ring so I won't able to follow you out. So I want you to run and keep on running till you get in the sun", Damon disclosed. He liked her. And she had come to help him willingly without him having to mess with her mind. That was rare and that's why he couldn't let her go just yet.

"Okay, I will", Caroline promised surprised by the earnestness and desperation in his voice. She didn't know that he cares so much. And here she thought he would get rid of her the first chance he gets.

Just before she was going to unlatch the door, Damon yelled out, "Caroline. Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me. Help me".

"I already am? what about you...?", she started. Hearing the stomping coming towards the basement

"Oh, I get it",

"No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!", Zach yelled trying to stop Caroline.

Turning towards Zach, she at him looked with guilt knowing very well that she had signed his fate as she whispered, "I'm sorry",

Bolting as soon as she unlocked the door, she ran right out of the trying her very best to ignore Damon's growling, getting right into her car and driving off without a second glance.

Zach was dead and it was her fault. All because she let Damon go. This thought was constantly popping up in Caroline's head as she sat on her bed now changed in her most comfortable set of

strapped high waisted beige trousers that she had paid up with black and white stripes, short loose-fit t-shirt.

It was too late to repent now. It was her decision to free the blue-eyed vampire and she has to learn to deal with the consequences. But that didn't make her feel better.

"I didn't see you at the car wash", Liz Forbes spoke as she entered her daughter's room still wearing her uniform.

"Left early", Caroline replied not showing any interest in the conversation. Her mind still fluctuated elsewhere

"Honey, are you ok? Anything you want to talk about? Is it a boy thing?", Liz asked, her worried tone changing to awkwardness as she implored the last question.

"Mom, if I want to talk to boys, I'll call dad. At least he's successfully dating one", she fired back. Why does everyone always think that all her problems in life led up to a boy? Though this problem did lead up to a boy. Not that it mattered.

Her annoyed expression quickly distorted to regret as soon as she saw her mom's face drop.

"I'm sorry Mama, that was uncalled for", Caroline apologise as she pulled her mom in for a hug which she immediately returned. "It's just that I have this huge test coming up".

"And today fundraiser didn't go as planned", she wasn't lying. Can you believe that one of the cars had caught on fire? This is exactly why Caroline liked to do everything by herself.

"It's okay, I understand", Liz replied with a smile elongating the hug. To be honest, she needed this as well. Her day had been heated as well with vampires in town and the meeting with Logan. This hug took away all her stress. It felt like home.

"When are you leaving?", she asked after noticing the packed duffel bag on the bed, finally letting go of her daughter. Caroline would visit her dad every weekend in Duke which was a 2-hour drive. But little did Liz know, she hadn't visited her dad for like a year now.

"In an hour time", Caroline responded with a smile.

"Great, how about I heat up yesterday lasagna and you can tell me all about your day", Liz suggested causing the younger blondes smile to widen.

"I would love that".

Stefan entered the Salvatore Boarding House, the stench of blood immediately filling up his nostrils making it hard to stop the veins from appearing under his eyes.

Worried he rushed to the basement only to find a dead Zach and Damon missing.

"Zach! Oh, no, Zach..."

"Donovan?", one of the guys offered, laying on his back, wiggling the bottle of whiskey at Vicki.

"No, I'm good", Vicki replied. Her mood has been off since the fight with Jeremy.

"Not it. Not it. Not it Ah, Vicki", the drunk couple making out next to her yelled when the music turned off.

Standing up, she went over to the car to restart the music. That's when she noticed someone standing by the trunk, looking somewhat sick.

"Hey, man, you ok?", asked Vicki as the man continued to cough.

"Come here. Come here", he groaned.

"You don't look good", she said as she moved nearer.

"Come closer. I have something...that I have to tell you", he let out, his voice cracking.

When he was about to collapse, Vicki grabbed a hold of him helping him stand up straight, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I got you, I got you. It's ok. it's ok".

That's when the man's faced change, his eyes blackening as veins appeared below his eyes as he harshly bit down her neck.

A/N: Finally that marks the end of chapter 15

I was going to update yesterday but I wasn't happy with what I had so far so I scraped the entire chapter and rewrote it

So how did you guys like it???

In the next chapter, we are finally going to meet all of my OC characters

Anyway, please share your thoughts and opinions. I love reading them

Until next time