The Desiccation Ramification
I wake up this morning feeling strangely happy, despite the fact that I know I will be receiving round two of my punishment at some point today. Nothing can take away the feeling of waking up safe and sound in my big brothers arms, protected and loved.
I'm feeling kinda stiff for not moving since a fell asleep last night, so I stretch out my limbs.
"Good morning sleepy head." Damon asks me.
"Morning."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm good! What time is it?"
"It's a quarter past ten." I jump off my bed like my sheets are made of hot coals.
"What? I'm late for school! Why didn't you wake me?"
"You snooze - you lose, little sisterY!"
"Seriously? You're gonna joke right now? God Damon, I'm gonna get a detention now."
"Relax... I told Stefan to take care of it, tell them your sick or whatever. Today it's just you and me."
I can't help but smile knowing I get Damon to myself for the whole day.
"What's brought this on?" I ask him. Although I don't really care what the reason is, I'm just happy regardless.
"I wanna have a bit of fun, blow off some steam. Maybe we can go out of town, catch a movie, have a little snack?" He puts on his vampire face whilst comically biting his teeth, exposing his fangs. I shake my head.
"No! Damon I... I don't"
"Calm down, I'm joking. I know you don't feed off humans." Although I drink human blood, I haven't actually fed straight from a human for many years. I only drink from blood bags.
"Has anybody ever told you how UNfunny you are?"
"Unfunny huh?" He looks at me with his eyebrow raised as if in deep thought before he vamps up and throws me on the bed, pinning my hands above my head.
Before I even realise what is happening, he's tickling me, making me giggle like a ten year old.
"Aah haha, get off me! Damon get off me. hahaha please?" I am ridiculously ticklish
"not until you admit that I am incredibly funny and tell me that I am the funniest person you've ever met?"
"NEVER!" I shout.
"Never? We'll see about that" he releases my arms so he can tickle me with both hands.
"Haha ok, ok. I give up. You're the funniest person I've ever met!"
"There we go. That wasn't so hard now, was it?" I jump away from him and catch my breath. I walk over to the door before turning around to face him.
"Did I say funniest person? I meant funniest LOOKING person!" I try to keep a serious look on my face but it's impossible.
"Oh it's on, little wench." I run through the house with Damon hot on my heels.
We spent the day cruising around in his blue Chevy Camaro Convertible, only stopping for pizza, a movie and for Damon to feed.
We're back home now and as good as today has been, I know I will have to face Stefan sooner or later. Preferably later!
"Do you want a drink, Soph?" Damon asks me as I flop down on the sofa.
"Bourbon?" I know he means blood but it worth a shot, right? "Yeah... No!" "I thought not. And no, I'm good. Thanks anyway!".
Stefan comes home 30 minutes later carrying a mixture of Chinese food. I find myself walking on egg shells around him. I'm hoping, by some miraculous turn of events, that he has forgotten about my punishment. I know it's unlikely but one can hope, can't they? And trust me, I'm hoping so hard.
"What's your plans for tonight, brother?" Damon asked Stefan.
"Elena and I are going to the Grill to meet Bonnie, Caroline, Matt and Tyler." My hopes have just been raised, tenfold. Maybe he has forgot? I keep quiet, not wanting to draw any attention to myself.
"You?" Stefan returns the question.
"I'm staying in with our little teenage rebel over here." He nods in my direction.
"Speaking of which... Are you going to dole out your part of her punishment?"
I stare at Damon, open mouthed.
"Way to ruin a perfectly good day, Damon!" I can't believe he has just threw me under the bus like that. What an absolute dick!
"I will take care of it before I leave." Stefan informed him. How can they be so blasé when talking about inflicting pain on me? Don't I have the best big brothers?
"I don't mind if you wanna leave it and just go out?"
"I'm sure you don't, little sister, but it's not going to happen!" Yep... That was my failed and feeble attempt at getting out of it.
"Come on then, it's time to pay the piper" Stefan said.
"Oooh. Do we have to?" I whine. I could literally kick myself realising just how young and pathetic I actually sounded saying that.
"Would you rather I do it here?"
"No! Definitely not!"
"Hurry up then or right here is where it going to happen."
I follow Stefan up the stairs at a ridiculously slow pace.
"Move it Sophia."
"Ok, ok, I'm coming" why would I rush somewhere when I know what awaits me when I get there? I feel like a dead man walkin' on the green mile.
Once we reach my room, Stefan walks over to my bed and sits on the edge. I hover by the door.
"Come here, Sophia." He points to the floor beside his right leg. I gingerly walk over as instructed. "Why are you receiving this spanking?" Why does he always have to do this? Doesn't he realise it's embarrassing enough?
"Because I went to the party when I was grounded." He pulls me over his lap, so my upper body is resting on my bed and my legs dangle at his side.
Stefan always gives a warm up when spanking. He swats me about twenty times with only a small portion of his strength. It is enough to create a sting but that's about it. Stefan's spankings have always been the same, so he takes me totally off guard when he raises my skirt and starts to swat my panty clad bottom. It's crazy how much of a difference one item of clothing can make when it comes to reducing the sting.
As soon as I recover from my initial shock, I reach back and try to pull my skirt back over my butt.
"Ah ah, none of that!" Stefan says as he swats my hand. "Move your hand or I will remove your panties!" Holy shit! What has gotten into him? I move my hand back and tuck it under myself so as not to reach back again. The last thing I want is a spanking on the bare. That's far too embarrassing! And painful!
He swats me methodically - all over my butt, sit spots and thighs. It goes like this: right cheek - left cheek - sit spots - thighs - repeat. He makes sure no spot is left untouched before he starts all over again. I am bawling like a baby and scissor kicking my legs after just the second round.
"Please Stefan... I'm sorreeeey... OOOW! I won't... ARGH... I won't disobey you OW! anymore! Please... ah hahow... please stop!" My begging is futile as he doesn't stop. If anything, his speed increases. After 2 more rounds, my body goes limp as I give up fighting but my tears continue to fall. He stops after one more round.
As soon as he has finished, he stands up, pulling me up with him. He holds me, whispering soothing things in my ear as he strokes my hair.
"It's ok Soph, it's over now." I hold him tight and try my best to stop crying. After a minute my cries have reduced to sniffles with the occasional hiccough.
Stefan knows that spankings always leave me feeling exhausted.
"Would you like to lay down for a bit, or do you want to go back downstairs?" He asks.
"I wanna go and sit with Damon, please."
"Come on then." He carries me down, in his arms, like a small child and gently lowers me on to the couch. I immediately twist myself so I'm on my side, keeping my butt clear of any pressure.
Stefan is ready to leave to go and meet his friends,
"I'm going, I'll be back soon."
"Bye Fabio, send my love to Elena" Damon said.
"Bye Stef, have fun!" I said.
"I will. Oh and Sophia" I look over at him,
"behave!" I roll my eyes whilst stating
"I will!" Like I'm going to get myself in to more trouble. Not this soon anyway - I'm not stupid!
Damon and I are both reading. He is reading a smelly old copy of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and I am reading The Iron Queen, book 3 of the Iron Fey Series written by Julie Kagawa on my iPhone. At least one of us has kept up with the times.
I am struggling to find a comfortable position.
"Damon?" I ask.
"Hmmm" he answers without taking his eyes away from his book.
"Why do we have these ugly, old, uncomfortable sofas still? Why can't we buy some new ones?"
"I like these sofas, they fit the ambiance of the place."
"Ambiance? You know that they're about as comfortable as a park bench, right?" He laughs.
"You could always go and sit on your bed." He said. I let out a deep sigh.
"I know. I just..." I trailed off
"You don't want to be on your own?" How does he know me so well?
"No, not really."
"How about we grab some snacks and go to my room?"
"That sounds like a great idea!"
Damon's bed is huge and super comfy! We settled down and start to eat our snacks. Damon also grabbed 2 blood bags and a can of Pepsi for me and a glass of bourbon for himself. After scoffing our way through 2 family size bags of chips and umpteen candy bars, I feel my eyes starting to droop. I yawn rather loudly.
"Tired princess?"
"Yep" I reply, rubbing my right eye and stretching. "I suppose I had better go to bed." I say gloomily.
"You could always sleep here. I mean, it's not like I've got any place better to be on a Friday night." He gives me a sideways glance with a sideways smirk to match.
"Our social lives really are ones to be envied, eh brother?" I laugh.
I wake up at 7:30am and head back to my room to shower and get ready. Today I am officially ungrounded so I'm hoping to be able to go out with my friends. Two weeks of seeing nothing but school and the boarding house is highly depressing. I can't even remember what I was grounded for in the first place.
I can hear Stefan talking in the kitchen. I go in and see Zach standing by the sink rinsing out two cups. I can smell the aroma of blood mixed with coffee in the air.
"Hey Zach!" I greet him.
"Hi sweetheart!"
"How was your trip?" I really like Zach.
"It was good. I done what needed to do." That sounds ominous but I don't ask him to elaborate as I know he won't tell me.
"Stefan, is it ok if I go to the mall today with some friends?" I ask.
"Of course you can. Make sure to take your cellphone incase I need to get I touch with you."
"I will do."
I meet up with Sarah and we drive over to get Emma. We spend the day trawling around practically every shop in the mall until we have everything we need for the annual Founders Party tonight being held at the Lockwood's estate.
My phone rings whilst I'm in the car. Looking at the caller ID, I see its Stefan.
"Hey Stef, what's up?"
"Where are you?" He asks me. He doesn't sound right.
"I'm on the highway, heading back to Sarah's. Why, what's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong. I was just wondering where you were. Are you getting ready for the party in Sarah's?"
"I was planning to, if that's ok?"
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you at the party."
Well that was weird, but I don't pay it too much thought as we start talking about how we are going to wear our hair tonight.
We get back to Sarah's and decide to start getting ready straight away. I'm wearing an ankle length, royal blue, tight fighting dress with a heart shaped bust, silver shoes with 6 inch heels and a silver clutch purse. My hair is curled and pinned to the side with loose bits pulled out to frame my face and diamanté grips placed throughout.
Sarah has on a short red dress with black shoes and black purse. Her shoulder length, brunette hair was straight and sleek. She also has a small tiara on. Emma is wearing a pale green, floor length dress with white shoes and a white purse. Her long blonde hair is curled with a bouffant on the top.
We arrive at the party, fashionably late, and everyone is already here. Stefan is with Elena, and Damon is with Caroline. Tyler, Matt and Jeremy are together and it looks like they are drinking.
Sarah, Emma and I spend the night dancing with the boys and having a good time. I decide against drinking with them as I don't want a repeat of the last two nights.
I'm dancing with Tyler when I see Elena storming over to Damon like a girl on a mission. It looks like she is shouting at him. I make my way over to them and Elena walks off just before I get there.
"What was all that about?" I ask Damon.
"None of your business! Go back to your friends." He snarls and walks away. What the hell is going on? I look around for Elena but I can't see her anymore, so I go back to my friends.
Stefan comes over to me a couple of minutes later.
"Hey! Will you be able to stay at one of your friends tonight?" He asks me.
"I don't know. Probably. Why, what's wrong? I've just seen Damon and Elena arguing, has it got something to do with that?"
"Nothing is wrong, I just have a few things I need to sort out and Damon has disappeared."
Before I know it, he has disappeared also. I went back over to Sarah asked if it would be alright to stay at hers. She said yes without even asking for permission off her parents. We left the party soon after and went to her house. Her parents didn't even bat an eyelid when Sarah informed them of her saying I could stay there. I wish my brothers were like that. Stefan won't let me have friends stay at the boarding house incase Damon drains them. I doubt he would but you can't put anything passed him.
The rest of the night is spent laughing, eating, joking and watching movies. We eventually fell asleep around 7:30 in the morning. I wake up at 11 o'clock feeling more tired than when I went to sleep.
I'm trying to phone Damon for the fifth time to ask him if he can pick me up, but it keeps ringing out. I really need my own car! I phone Stefan and he answers on the second ring.
"Sophia?"
"Hey Stef! Do you think you could come and pick me up from Sarah's, please? I've tried Damon's phone but it just keeps ringing out."
"Yeah, um, I'll be there in 20 minutes."
"Thanks! See you soon. Bye."
Stefan has just pulled up outside, so I say goodbye to Sarah and thank her parents for letting me sleep over and run out the house and to the car. Elena is in the passenger seat so I climb into the back.
"Hey Elena, how are you?"
"Hi Sophia, and I'm good thank you!"
"Why was you arguing with Damon last night?" I ask her. Well there is no point beating around the bush, is there?
I see her looking at Stefan as if wondering what to say. Stefan gives her a small shake of his head. Do they think I'm blind or just stupid?
"Well?" I said, growing impatient.
"Damon and I didn't argue last night" she lied.
"Don't lie Elena, I seen you!" I spat. Annoyance clear in my tone.
"Watch your mouth, Sophia!" Stefan warned.
"No! If she is going to blatantly lie to my face, then I've got the right to pull her on it!" I tell him. He looks pissed at me but I don't care because I'm pissed at him too.
"Damon and Elena did not argue, they just had a... Disagreement."
"Yeah, whatever you say, Stefan." I drop the subject, for now, and lean my face on my hand as I stare out of the window. Not another word was said by either of us for the whole journey home. I'm glad because I didn't want to hear any of their bullshit.
We pull up outside the boarding house and I get out the car and slam the door shut behind me.
"Don't slam the door." Stefan said. I just look at him angrily and walk off. Stefan left again to drive Elena home. As soon as I see Zach, I ask him if he has seen Damon.
"Um.. No I er.. I haven't seen him" what the hell? He's lying to me, too?
"Err.. are you um.. sure? Because you don't sound it!"
Three days have passed and I still haven't seen Damon. Everyone is acting weird too. Stefan hasn't left the house, at all. Elena hasn't been over and Stefan and Zach keep having hushed conversations. Something dodgy is going on and today I'm going to find out what it is, no matter what!
I wait for Stefan to get in the shower before I put my detective hat on and go snooping. I find nothing in his bedroom. I check Zach's room whilst he is in the kitchen - nothing there either. I head down to the basement to get myself a blood bag and think of my next plan of action.
As I open the chest fridge, I hear a strange moan coming from somewhere in the basement. I follow the noise and it appears to be coming from the cell we have down here. I stand on my tip toes and look inside, through the metal bars, and let out a loud gasp. Damon is in there.
I can't believe what I am seeing. Damon is laying on a cot against the wall, desiccating. It takes me a moment to find my voice but when I do I shout "Damon!" It takes a few seconds for him to register that I'm calling him. He slowly turns to look at me.
"Sophia... Help me!" His managed to say. His voice is dry and croaky.
I reach for the sliding bolt that is keeping the door locked when Stefan comes vamping up to me.
"NOOO!" He shouts and he pushes me away from the door.
"Stefan... What are you doing? Damon is in there!" I reach for the bolt again then Stefan grabs my hand, pulling me away.
"Sophia I am warning you now - if you open that door I'm going to paddle your ass every night for a month!"
I stare at him, shock clearly evident on my face because Stefan places his hands on both sides of my head and tells me to go upstairs in a soft tone.
"Stefan... W-What's going on?"
"Come upstairs and I'll explain everything to you". He takes a hold of my hand and gently pulls me along with him, sneaking a peek at Damon as he passes the small window.
"Explain" I say as we enter the living-room.
"I will but take a seat first."
"I don't want to sit down. Just tell me what is going on, Stefan!" I feel nervous, scared but most of all angry. For the last few days he has let me worry about Damon and he knew where he was all along.
"I'm sorry Sophia, but he left me no other choice." I decided not to say anything until I have heard all he has to say. "He has been killing people in town and people are getting suspicious. He has also been feeding on Caroline. He attacked her the other night, tried to kill her, but she had vervain in her system."
I don't understand. Why would he attack Caroline? I mean, I know she is annoying but she is also really sweet. None of this makes sense.
"So what do you plan on doing with him?" I ask.
"We are going to wait until he has desiccated, then we're going to put him in the family crypt."
"And then what?"
"Then we will re-evaluate in 50 years." He says this so calmly, you would think we were planning what's for dinner, not locking up our mummified brother.
"50 YEARS? Are you serious? This is Damon we're talking about Stefan. Our big brother!"
"I know that Soph, but what other option do I have? I can't let him go on killing people. Not anymore!"
I don't know what to say or what to do. I know that he has a point, Damon can't keep on using and killing people, but he's my brother, how could I possibly live my life knowing I had let this happen to him? Live everyday knowing he is starving? The answer is I can't! I am going to have to speak to him and try and talk some sense in to him before it's too late.
"Damon?" I whisper from outside the cell. He's not answering me. I don't know whether it's because he is asleep, unconscious due to lack of blood and the vervain in his system or whether it's because he is angry with me, but I call him again. "Damon?" My voice was raised this time, half way between normal voice and a shout. He slowly turned to look at me.
"How are you feeling?" I ask him. He gives me an incredulous look whilst coughing a weak laugh.
"You mean besides thirsty, weak and tired? I'm feeling betrayed. Hurt that my own siblings could torture me this way." I feel a stab to my heart like he has just plunged a wooden steak right through it.
"Damon, please? I don't want this to happen." I can feel stinging tears forming in my eyes. "You have to believe me?"
"Open the door and then I will believe you!"
"I-I can't... Not yet." I throw a blood bag over to him. "Here, drink that and then hide the evidence. If Stefan finds out I've give you it, he'll be pissed and it won't be pretty for me!" With a lot of effort, he sits up straight and sucks out every last drop before folding the empty bag and slipping it in to his back pocket.
The colour is coming back to his face. He is also gaining his strength back as he stands with no difficulty and walks towards me.
"Thank you, little sister!" His words are genuine and it makes me feel a tad better.
"I promise I'll get you out of here, Damon, but you have to promise me something?"
"What would that be, piccolo?" Piccolo? Damon hasn't called me that in years.
"You have to promise me that you won't kill anyone, anymore? At least, not here in Mystic Falls. Stefan and I like it here, we have friends and the resemblance of a normal human life. We don't want to leave. Not anytime soon, anyway."
"I promise." Is all he said.
"Good! I'll talk to Stefan and sort it out. It may take a couple of days, because you know how stubborn he can be."
"That I do, little sister." He smiles and winks at me before making his way back over to the cot bed.
"Bye Damon. I'll come back later with some more blood." I say as I turn and leave.
"See you soon." He shouts after me.
Back upstairs I find Stefan in the kitchen talking to Zach. They both stop talking and look at me as I enter the room.
"Is everything alright, sweetheart?" Zach asks me.
"No. I don't think we should let Damon desiccate." The both look at me like I have grown an extra head. Stefan speaks first.
"Sophia, you know why we are doing this, we have no other choice."
"Yes we do! I have just spoke to Damon and he has promised me that he will not kill anyone anymore, at least not around here."
"You can't believe him, baby" Zach said. "He will say whatever it takes to get out of that cell.
"You're wrong! You're both wrong! I think we should let him out to prove it."
"Absolutely not!" Stefan tells me, his voice raised.
"Why? How can he prove himself if you don't give him a chance?" I counter.
"I am not discussing this any further. I will not be letting Damon out of that cell and that's final!" Stefan crosses his arms over his chest and stares at me. An angry look marring his features.
"Well if you don't - I will!"
"Sophia, I mean it. Do not test me on this. I want you to stay away from Damon. If I so much as even see you near the basement, you will be sorry!" He threatens me.
"Stefan?"
"No Sophia!"
"But?"
"I SAID NO, SOPHIA! End of discussion. Do not mention it again."
"ARGH I FUCKING HATE YOU!" I scream in desperation before running out of the house and into the woods before he could chase after me.