The Aftershock
(Summer Solstice)
4

Be warned: includes character death.

Slain

Stefan raised his head, too weak to bother with doing anything else. He felt absolutely shattered – watching Klaus pull himself off of Elena finally and kiss her on the forehead. Stefan thought it was all his fault, and his head screamed insults at him, questioning why he couldn't have saved her.
Klaus swung out of the bed and started dressing again, Stefan shutting his eyes and turning his face away in detest. Elena was unconscious, lying on the bed, her pale skin shining like porcelain.

"So, Salvatore, how was it?" Klaus sneered, fully clothed. He stood in front of Stefan and smirked at him, cocking his head on one side.
"I'll tell Neve," Stefan growled, even though his voice lacked any power. Klaus could tell he'd won just by looking at him.
"Go ahead. Tell her – she won't believe you." Klaus laughed, turning away from him and opening the door. The rest of the house was still asleep and Stefan had had to put up with five hours of this torture. Elena had fainted around half an hour ago but Klaus refused to stop when he could still see Stefan was in pain.

"Smallwood!" Klaus called down the stairs. There was movement on the ground floor and people started shuffling about, awake again. Tyler nearly jumped out of his skin and he ran upstairs. He must have fallen asleep
"Y-Yes?"
"You wanted me to help you, well here I am!" Klaus announced, smiling. Tyler nodded and let Klaus follow him downstairs.

Stefan wanted to scream, to yell out – to do something other than stand here and wait for the others to find him like this. Worst of all for anyone to see Elena so vulnerable. Bowing his head, he decided to wait.


Damon flung the gates open and started stomping up the hill upon recognising Tyler's car outside the mansion. Bonnie followed him, trembling. If he was going to launch himself into this…

The door was wide open as far as Damon could see, the tomb on his right looming closer. The front door of the house was too. As Damon stepped inside the smell of smoke filled his lungs and he coughed, violently. Bonnie waited outside.

Night had fallen long ago and Damon was thankful that he was a vampire for once. At least he could see well in the dark. Before him lay an upturned bowl, its golden colour glinting in the moonlight. He stared at it for a while, curious. It was big enough to take a bath in – who knew how deep it actually was! Blood was running from it. Damon didn't know whose blood it was. It smelt like it, but it was black in colour…
Matt groaned and opened his eyes, staring up at Damon. "Stefan?" he whispered.

Damon bent down and shook his head. "Matt, it's me – Damon. I'm gonna get you out of here."
"Damon? I-It's r-really y-y-you?" Matt stammered, trying to grab hold of Damon to see if he was real and not a figment of his imagination. Damon smiled and pulled the human from the floor, holding him close as he suddenly swayed, dizzily.
"It's Klaus… he took Stefan," Matt murmured, coughing as smoke rose and swirled about them like a mist.
"Matt, Klaus is dead," Damon frowned, carting Matt outside. He was imagining it… Klaus wasn't actually here.
"Tyler… h-he brought him back," Matt blurted out before collapsing in Damon's arms.

Bonnie locked Matt in the rental car she and Damon had brought and dropped him down on the backseat. "Stay with him," Damon had instructed and she planned to do just that, tears stinging her eyes as well as making it impossible for her to speak. She wanted Damon… she was worried about him. The thought of him was exploding in her mind and she reached out in her head to try and remember every single detail of him before anything could hurt him. She cared so much for him now it was painful to even look at him.

Damon glided up the stairs as if he were a ghost, hardly noticing that his feet only just touched the floor. He wasn't making any sounds – alert for any sign to show where Klaus was hiding. He was glad to find, though, that Klaus and Tyler were in the garden – waiting for the full moon to come out of the clouds.

A woman was bustling about downstairs, talking to Meredith about 'family honour' and Caroline was asleep. Bonnie and Matt were still in the car. The night blanketed Florence with a stillness that made it possible for Damon to hear out into the centre of town, where some rowdy tourists and students were having a good time. Damon never felt so in touch with himself before – his skills were flourishing before his eyes.

He could feel Stefan's pain. It wasn't so much physical, but a mental torment. It was as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Damon reached out with his mind, but nothing answered his question of where Elena was. He could only locate people if they were conscious… or alive.

He quickened his step, terrified of being caught by Klaus before he could save his brother. He was desperate to get to him, to help him in any way he could – to just tell him that he loved him and would always be there for him.

Damon opened the door to Stefan's chamber and swung inside, shutting the door behind him as quiet as possible. Stefan, on his right, raised his head and his eyes widened in disbelief. "Damon?" he whispered, genuinely happy to see him.
Damon crept over and looked down at his brother. He seemed so weak – so fragile. Stefan's face was pale and waxy; he looked as if he was dying. In reality, Stefan hadn't eaten for four days, possibly more, and he was finding it hard to keep awake.
"Don't you die on me, brother." Damon whispered – acknowledging Stefan, for the first time, as equal. He wasn't 'little Stefan' or 'baby brother' any more. He was dying – and that was all that mattered.

"Elena…" Stefan began, his voice faltering. Damon turned and saw the naked body lying on the bed - her figure twisted into painful angles and her golden hair lying about her, raggedly.
"Oh my…" Damon sucked in a breath and looked around the room.
"Get Elena out…" Stefan murmured, close to tears.

Damon walked up to the bed and folded Elena up in the sheets – untouched after all these years. The room looked as if it hadn't changed, the whole house hadn't changed. It was as if when the brothers had stopped ageing, so had the house.
When Elena was wrapped from the neck down, Damon lifted her up and sent a sympathetic look at Stefan. His brother was smiling, faintly, and a tear dropped down from his cheek.
"You were right, Damon. You said you'd have her in the end. T-Take care of her…" Stefan sobbed. Damon scowled.

"No Stefan. I'm with Bonnie now - I love Bonnie. You and Elena, you've got something special. You can't j-just…" Stefan sniffed and Damon wracked his brain for something else. "Stefan please – I haven't even begun to make up for all the times we argued. You're my brother… I need you." Damon pleaded, going over to his brother to untie his bindings.
Stefan shook his head and when Damon got close enough, he looked up and bore his teeth, kicking his brother's heels. "Go Damon, go! You don't need me! You always were the tougher brother. Take Elena and go!"

Damon felt the tears run down his face and he refused to leave. Tyler was howling outside and thankfully it drowned out the noise of Stefan's shouts.
"I can't leave you, not now…"
"You have to, you have no choice." Stefan sighed, turning away. Damon stuck out his chin, defiantly and glared at his brother.
"Oh, I have a choice alright! I make the rules, Stefan – me." And with that he cut through the ropes holding his brother in place and flung him over his shoulder, carrying him and Elena out of the room.

"I'm going back in." Damon announced, handing Elena and Stefan over to Bonnie. Stefan was still trying to argue with Damon, hissing as quiet as he could so Klaus didn't hear. Bonnie gasped when she saw Elena and pulled the girl onto her lap, tears flowing down her cheeks as she brushed the girls hair and hugged her tight.

Damon walked back in the direction of the house, not looking back.


Neve looked up and frowned in the direction of the door.
"The other brother," she murmured, standing in front of Meredith.
"W-What?"

That instant, the door opened and Damon stepped in. Neve glared at the intruder, as did Damon – staring at the woman as if she had three heads.
"Who are you?" he asked, fully aware that she was hiding Meredith from his view.
Neve smiled and bowed, slightly. "Neve Armani. You must be Damon Salvatore." She replied, her gaze unblinking.
"That's right. Now are you gonna let me walk out of here with that girl or are you going to make it very hard for me?" Damon asked, smoothly, flashing a smile that only Damon could produce.

Neve's eyes flashed and she bent in a fighting stance, balling her hands into fists. Purple fire blazed from her fingers and wrist and she smirked, evilly. "Only if you promise to keep her safe," she said, her muscles tensing. Meredith stood up and looked over Neve's shoulder to see the dark figure standing in the doorway, his black jeans and jacket complimenting his slick hair and dark eyes.
Damon nodded and beckoned to Meredith. "I promise. So long as you keep Klaus busy, I won't do anything I shouldn't." he grinned. Meredith looked from Neve to Damon and decided that the vampire opposite her meant freedom. She took a step closer to Stefan's brother, her eyes never leaving her grandmother's face.

Neve had tears in her eyes and she smiled at Meredith, relaxing her body. "Then I cannot object. Forgive me… Meredith." She whispered, no longer addressing her by 'child' any longer.
"Goodbye, grandma." Meredith replied, still calm even in this situation. Damon was taken aback by this response but said nothing, just watched intently as the two parted. Neve opened her mouth to cry out in sadness but she clenched her fists and frowned, her face growing pink with withheld grief. The next instant she ran out the backdoor, arms flailing as she ran in the direction of Klaus.

"Let's go," Damon murmured, pulling Meredith out and directing for Caroline to follow. She'd been standing in the hallway, waiting, and the three ran outside into the night.


They ran down the hill until they were near the car when suddenly Meredith turned back and stopped. "Oh no…" she whispered, shaking in fear. "Grandma!"
"Neve? What do you think -?" Klaus breathed, watching his wife pounce upon him, trying to sink her teeth into his neck. "No!" he howled, furious, trying to pull the woman off of him. Neve clung on tighter and only let the thought of killing Klaus run through her mind.

Shouts of: "No! Grandma!" and "Meredith, no!" echoed around the lot, making Tyler howl in pain as he span about, furiously. He spotted Damon, Meredith and Caroline near the foot of the hill and grinned, running down to greet them. He was a lot faster now that he was in his werewolf form once again.

Caroline shrieked and ran towards the car. Damon cried out, furiously, and let go of Meredith's hand as the girl scrambled up the hill. The next few moments were a blur. There was a scream as Meredith reached the front garden only to see Neve shot twenty feet in the air by a lightning bolt from her own husband.
"No!" Meredith sobbed, yelling up into the sky, watching her grandmother fall to the floor with a thud. Klaus was laughing, maniacally, and the sky rumbled with thunder. "Traitor!" he cried over the noise of the weather, his hair spiking up all over his head. He turned to Meredith and smiled, before looking back at Neve.
He clicked his fingers and a stake appeared in his hand. For those horrible moments, Meredith just stood and watched as her grandfather plunged the weapon into his wife's chest, frowning, now.

"I loved you, Neve, and this is how you repay me?" Klaus hissed, slapping the woman across the face as the stake drained her life away. Neve spluttered a few threats, her black hair blowing wildly in the wind. As her face began to pale and her hands reached up to stroke Klaus' face, she smiled and whispered her last words.
"I did it for our granddaughter." Her eyes shut and Klaus stood up, watching the blood form in puddles about the woman he'd fallen in love with all those centuries ago. He looked up at the sky and Meredith covered her ears as Klaus screamed.

Tyler collapsed before Damon as soon as Klaus had cried out. Werewolf ears were sensitive and couldn't withstand sounds at such a high pitch. Damon yelled out in pain and covered his ears, dropping down to the floor and burying his head in the grass. Caroline was locked in the car and the three conscious people, dropped their heads and slammed their eyes shut, blocking out the sound with their fingers in their ears.

Klaus stomped over to Meredith and plucked her from the floor. He looked her up and down and slapped her across the face. "If you are my granddaughter then you are going to do everything I say!" he cried, grabbing her by the wrists and pulling her in the direction of the house.
Damon looked up and his mouth dropped open. "No…" he gasped, and started following Klaus.
"Stay away Salvatore – this is nothing to do with you!" Klaus growled, pulling an unwilling Meredith behind him. The girl who was normally so calm and collected was hysterical, trying to tear away from the vampire's grasp.

"I can't do that until you let her go, Klaus!" Damon replied, desperately running to try and catch up with him.
Klaus turned, snapping around so fast that he dropped Meredith on the floor. As soon as she was free she ran away, sprinting as fast as she could down the hill to the car parked outside the Salvatore gates. Klaus growled, inhumanly, and sent a bolt of lightning directly into Damon's chest.
"NO!" Bonnie screamed from the car, yanking the door open and running outside, her hands twining around the wires of the large gates, reaching out desperately in the direction of Damon.

Damon shut his eyes to avoid being blinded and the lightning struck him right by his heart, spasms erupting up and down his body. He looked at Klaus, only to find he'd disappeared, and without moving the top half of his body so much, he turned to see the grieving Druid clawing at the gates, trying to get through to him. Meredith passed her and she didn't even seem to realise.

Damon smiled and held his palm out to her, his head twitching as the electricity ran through his body. His top half was twitching every which way and his eyes danced in the moonlight. He was just close enough for Bonnie to see and to hear him say his last words.
"I love you Bonnie," Damon cried out, happily, before dropping dead to the floor.