To everyone who reads and gives me feedback. Do you know how cool that is?
by Jessica French (Midnite363@aol.com)
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Char was lost. Well, not technically. He knew where he was. He was in Germany. Where in Germany he was not sure, but that did not really matter if he thought about it. He raised the thin cigarette to his lips and sucked in rich smoke deeply. His eyes narrowed, focusing on the door to the small house that was a few yards in front of him. The upstairs window was lit with the warm glow of an evening fire. Char wished he was in there. It was fucking freezing out here! The German winters were not nice, even to vampires. So he did not curse himself when he shivered inside his fur lined coat yet again. The only warmth was the burning in his chest as he sucked in another lung full of sweet smoke.
The tree he was perched in was bare of leaves, but the branches were thicker than the trunks of many of the other trees scattering the German countryside. They hid him well from anyone in the house who may look out the window. The house belonged to a man and woman who lived just outside the village of Broch. They had a farm a few miles down the path. The house was rented out to Stefan Salvatore who was traveling with another man who looked old, smelled sick and reeked of the grave. Char wondered what Stefan was doing hanging around such a joke of a human.
Damon had been right when he told Char that he would enjoy this job. Char loved tracking people, stalking people, watching people. It was a game, an even funner game when the person was actually a vampire. Vampires were suppose to have keener senses than normal mortals, but Stefan was weak. It made Char's lip curl in disgust. Stefan was a waste of good flesh and even better blood. That thought made Char think about the time Damon had took him to Italy and they had "ran into" Stefan. Actually Damon had sought Stefan out, Char wasn't sure why. He had never met Stefan Salvatore, but he already didn't like him. Weak vampires, like the sick man in the home, were jokes.
Damon had saved his brother's life, throwing Char off the younger man's throat and into a table. Damon had done it with casual ease, and then, turning to his brother who was wiping spilt blood from his pale neck, Damon had told Stefan if he ever saw him again, he would kill him. They had left and....
The slamming of a door brought Char out of his thoughts. Someone was leaving the house. Stefan. Silently Char dropped from the tree's branches, landing in the soft snow and moving forward all in fluid movement. He was almost behind Stefan when the younger Salvatore turned around and threw his hands up to protect his face and neck. Char could almost laugh, but he held back his laughter and stopped short.
"All right Stefan, I will not kill you tonight, put your arms down little man." His cultured English voice gave away the laughter he was trying so hard to keep under control. "Now look," he said when Stefan refused to lower his arms, "I am not here to hurt you dammit. Put your arms down before I do it myself, you hear me?"
Stefan lowered his arms, "Then what do you want Char? Is Damon around? I was not aware you were in Germany." His eyes narrowed as he sent out his own probe for Damon. "What do you want."
"I am here on Damon's behalf, as you already know he is not around. He is somewhere that way." He waved his hands to the west. "I came to warn you. Are I not nice? Well I am feeling nice, I am fucking freezing, but I still feel nice. Any way, I came on your brother's behalf to try and convince you to return back down to Italy. Your presence is too close. It is simple, and what the hell are you doing with that retched bag of bones in there?" Char jerked a thumb back to the house. "I can smell his decaying stench all the way out here for Christ's sake."
"He's sick."
"No shit."
Stefan huffed out a breath, "Look Char, tell my brother I am not leaving Germany anytime soon. I am happy here. It has nothing to do with him, and I refuse to be pushed out again. He did this a few years ago when I went into Spain. If he wants to forget me so badly, and if he hates me so much, he should just steer clear of me, and leave me alone." He turned back to the path and started walking quickly, eager to get out of the presence of Char who never failed to give him the creeps and shivers.
"Would you like me to quote you? I would love to be part of the reason your brother rips out your throat. Little Stefan Salvatore trying to be tough. Endearing, but should I quote you?"
When Stefan turned around again to call back to Char the road was empty, but Char was still around, Stefan could sense him. He whirled quickly only to see the road was empty behind him too. "Char, stop with these mind games. Stop showing off your Power, I am unimpressed."
"So turn around and look at me when I talk to you."
The voice was right behind him, and before Stefan could turn around to face Char, he was on his stomach in the snow, his face being pushed into the icy coldness, and his arms being pulled back to be clasped at his sides.
"The younger generations are so stubborn. Always think that they are right, never show their elders the respect they rightfully deserve.... HEY!" Char moved from simply kneeling on Stefan's back to actually sitting on it. Stefan was trying to buck his legs and turn around. "Stop squirming, you are just like a little worm. If you do not lay still and listen to me I will be forced..... FORCED!.... to do something unpleasantly drastic" To show he was serious he lifted one of Stefan's pinned arms and pryed the wool glove from his hand, exposing his fingers to the freezing wind and air. "Now listen once again. Nod if your answer is a yes, remain still if the answer is a no. Shall I quote you on your earlier bravado? Do you want me to tell your big bad brother Damon that you itty bitty Stefan want him to stay away from you? That you, in fact, demand it? Answer now?"
Stefan's head jerked, a nod.
Char smiled because he was enjoying this, "All right big boy. Up you go." Char hauled Stefan to his feet and let him go completely, offering his glove back to him. "Your death wish has been granted."
"It's not a death wish," Stefan muttered as he brushed the snow from his clothes and slide his blue hand back into the glove. "Damon won't come after me anytime soon. He has better things to do than harass me. Why do you think he sent you to threaten me? He could of done it himself if he wasn't occupied with something else."
It was all Char could do not to snarl in Stefan's arrogant little face. "Hey Salvatore, you're pretty smart you know? Yeah you are. You're smart enough to know that the only thing keeping me from ripping out your fucking throat myself is your brother. But Damon won't care for much longer, and when he gives up all this shit, I'll still be here." He smirked, but his eyes narrowed when Stefan failed to react to his own threats. Then he shrugged good-naturedly and smiled, "Well, I am very cold right now, and if you want to stay in this iceberg, hey that's up to you." He turned to go, and heard the soft crunch as Stefan turned to leave in the opposite direction.
Char reached back and grabbed the collar of Stefan's thick coat. He turned and jerked back violently, this time sending Stefan crashing to the snow on his back. Quick as a wolf Char was on him, grabbing a handful of Stefan's dark hair and slamming it into the ground, grinding it into the snow. Char hand tore at coat, sweaters and shirts till Stefan's bare chest was exposed to the air. And there, laying against the pale perfection of Stefan's chest was a small gold ring with a blue jewel like Damon had described to him so very carefully.
Stefan's response was instant despite being stunned by Char's blow, and the air being pushed from his lungs by the freezing exposure of icy wind to his bare flesh. His hand came up in a fist and punched Char in the jaw. The other man cried out in pain, outraged by Stefan's speedy recovery. Stefan's assault had Char clasping a hand to Stefan's throat and squeezing, cutting off the air to his lungs.
Stefan struggled though he knew it was useless, Char was a much stronger man and vampire than Stefan. Before he blacked out though, he felt the sharp sting of his necklace with Katherine's ring being pulled from his neck, and then, for the first time in many many years, he felt the absence of it from his body. Char had taken Katherine's ring. Stefan pulled and struggled to rise from the ground and his foggy brain, but Char had thrown a veil over Stefan's mind. He would not recover anytime soon. "Char...Katherine... DAMON!" He knew why Char was here, he had come to claim Stefan's last momento of Katherine, the woman he loved.
"Pleasant dreams little guy," Char cooed into Stefan's ear and let his head fall back into the snow. He tucked the ring into his pocket and shivered muttering, "It's fucking cold here" as he walked down the path and back into Broch to catch the fastest way to Scotland.