Chapter 4 – Saving My Brother
Damon's eyes open, he knows that he is no longer laying on the floors of the tunnel. There is chanting and movements in front of him. He slowly sits up realizing that he is laying on the couch in the living room. He sees Stefan crumble on the floor under Elena's coffin with Bonnie on the floor right in front of him. She is chanting a spell and touching the invisible barrier, "Hell, that didn't work either!" throws a grimoire, stands up, and walks to the table where another grimoire, where ingredients are gathered. Damon saw her wipe the blood away from her nose. He knows she is exhausting her magic. He drops his legs off the side of the sofa and tries to stand, then flops right back down, he is lightheaded. Caroline vamp sped to him, "Damon, can you hear me." Damon nods, "Yes, Blonde, I have human hearing, I'm not deaf. Now help me get up, I need to get to Stefan." She takes his arm and pulls him gently, and he stands. They head over to Stefan. When they are standing in front of Stefan's unconscious body, Damon asks, "Stefan. What's wrong with him?" Caroline answers, "Nearest we can figure out, we think the burns have caused an infection, he has a fever. We can't get to him to get him medical care. Bonnie is trying every spell she can." Damon demands, "Bonnie, stop, they aren't going to work. None of them are going to work. It isn't that type of magic. It's brother-powered magic; it is powered with element energy." Bonnie and Caroline look at Damon like he is crazy, he looks at Stefan, he is so weak, he is shivering, and sweating. Damon has seen this so many times before on the battlefields of the civil war. Damon starts to unravel, his emotions of guilt, fear, and frustration are channeling the "old" Damon. He grabs the table in front of him and turns it over, glass crashes to the floor. He looks up and sees all of his friends, he thought 'No, my family' looking at him. His stare back at them revealed the pain in his heart. Caroline walks over to him and wraps her arms around him saying, "Bonnie is going to figure out how to get to him." Damon feels it, the love coming from Caroline, straight to his heart. He remembers all that Demetrius says, his words shock everyone, "I cast the spell that has Stefan trapped, I'm the witch/warlock who has to undo the spell". He continues the explanation about Demetrius and Silas, the curse, the cure, Amara, and doppelgangers. Damon paused for a moment, he looked at his friends, who haven't said a word. "Trust me, I know exactly what you are thinking and it isn't anything I didn't already think, and told my great 200 times grandfather Demetrius. The important thing is. I can fix this. I just have to figure out how."
Damon starts thinking out loud. If Bennett's blood and power can't help, her knowledge can. He talks directly to Bonnie, "Demetrius says that our bloodline's magic is pure magic directly from Gaia Earth Element. The 4 elements are divided among the brothers, and that love is our core magic. Stefan's are Fire and Water, which make sense since he has always had such a problem with finding a gray area in life, living off the edge is where Stefan had to be. Demetrius said mine is Earth & Wind. I cast the spell while I was on the ground and when the fire touched Stefan. If we use the other elements we will be able to lower the barrier. I have to channel wind and Stefan water. Water... Stefan…"
Damon's thoughts continued, our love was the power, I was connected to the earth, and Stefan was connected to fire. Then, if I'm connected to wind/air and Stef is connected to water…. His thoughts stopped as he heard a familiar voice…
"That's it, Damon – Keep going, you're almost there. You have it almost figured out." How can I be hearing Enzo's voice? Damon looks up and sees the transparent outline of Enzo's body standing in front of Bonnie. He could see Bonnie clearly through Enzo. His mind races to a conversation with Demetrius "Your love sent him here". Just as Bonnie's love for Enzo made and sent Enzo into his own personal ghostly plain.
Damon let out a soft, confused tone, "Enzo, you're here". Bonnie walks over to Damon, walking right through Enzo. Damon watches as Enzo's outline turns shades of blue. Enzo continues to speak, "Damon, you got it, Mate." Damon starts to speak directly to Enzo as if he was in physical form that all the others could see. Damon starts repeating the story that he heard of the events that lead to Stefan killing Enzo. He asks, "When Bonnie created your plain, where were you two?"
The room stayed quiet, they heard Damon clearly and saw Damon looking in the direction of the bookshelf. The pause was deafening. Damon was the only one to hear Enzo's response "on the ground, in the dirt" Damon continued "Do you remember if Bonnie's tears fell on your body?" The answer came from Bonnie "Yes", she paused "Is Enzo here? Are you speaking directly to him?" Damon looked at Bonnie, standing right next to him, he put his arm around her and opened his mouth to speak. Bonnie's eyes filled with tears, and she cried "Enzo, I see you!" She moved to go to Enzo, but as Damon's grasp released her, Enzo disappeared. She moved back into Damon's arms and Enzo reappeared. Bonnie looked up into Damon's eyes and said, "You have magic". Bonnie immediately realized as long as Damon was holding her completely, she could use his magic to see Enzo.
Back to the challenge at hand, Damon's mind races – I used my love for Stefan to bring him here and trap him (he corrects himself – protect him). Fire & Earth are protecting Stefan, so does that mean Water & Wind will free him? And his magic? "Wind, isn't a problem" looking at Bonnie, "You can conjure up a bit of a breeze, in here?" Bonnie nods her head, yes.
"Water is the problem, alright everyone, how do we get Stefan to touch water, threw a force field that nothing can get through." All sorts of ideas are spoken. Then Ric's voice says "tears". All the voices in the room were immediately quiet. Ric continues "What if Stefan were crying? The tears are water and they are on his skin."
Damon did not use his devilish sarcasm, responding "Finally, a reason to be thankful my brother is the world's biggest sap." "Great idea, Ric"
This can work, we need to create a ritual, a magical ritual. Damon became very uneasy, he realized he knew nothing of magic. He'd been a vampire for 173 years, asking that mind compulsion, feeding, taking human life, but magic. He tried hard to remember things that Emily had taught him, the spells that Bonnie had conjured. All this magic that he was trying to remember was Bennett magic, not his magic. He needed Demetrius.
"Demetrius, please show yourself, I don't know what to do, I need to learn," Damon said out loud, tired of all the thoughts staying in his head. He watched as all his friends stared at him. Demetrius appeared "My son, now you are ready to understand and accept who you are! You are now ready to be a Priest and Protector of Nature's Magic." Demetrius starts with the ingredients needed for the ritual, time was of the essence. As Demetrius spoke, so did Damon, he repeated everything and assigned tasks. "Caroline, go to the Quarry, and into the cave of the north falls, you will need to mine the jasper quartz from the east side of the cave, we need 8 pieces at least 4 inches around... Go" Caroline looked at Damon with her geez Damon look, then turned and vamped out the front door.
"Bonnie, we need maple leaves, rosemary, and pine needles, mixed with salt. We need enough to make a circle around the coffin and me. "
"Ric, Stefan spent the entire summer drowning in the quarry, his essence is still part of that water, get water from the quarry and find the safe that he was locked in. I will need to consecrate the water in the safe, so we can use it outside the force field as Stefan's essence."
Damon and Demetrius continue to talk and practice the incantations for the ritual until Ric calls. Damon sets out to meet Ric at the safe.
Ric is waiting by the safe in the woods with the water from the quarry. Damon arrives, "If Nadia weren't dead, I'd kill her for bringing this damn safe way out here. All medications have side effects, couldn't the cure have one, like leaving vamp speed or strength, just something vamp'y!" Ric responds "Still adjusting to non-vamp life?" Damon looks at him, "Can't say that I have any regrets, however, yes, it takes a lot longer to do things, as we know patience was never one of my virtues."
Damon puts the water into the safe, he closes his eyes and repeats the words that Demetrius taught him. The wind starts to swirl, the trees are swaying, the flowers begin to blossom, and all of nature brightens. Ric is startled by what is happening around him, Damon, the ex-vampire turned into a nature witch is making this amazing growth happen. Just woww. Then, Damon begins to hover over the safe just a few inches, the water begins to hover with him. Damon opens his eyes and looks to the bucket, in which the water came, as if the water was following a direct command, it followed Damon's eyes into the bucket. Then Damon's feet were back on the forest floor. "Ok, now that is done, let's head back to the house." Damon turns to Ric. Ric, still not quite believing his eyes, walks behind his friend.
Ric and Damon walk into the front door, both Bonnie and Caroline are waiting. Caroline was standing closest to Stefan. She looked up at Damon, her eyes were filled with worry. Her mouth opened, and said, "His heartbeat is getting weaker, Damon." Damon walked over to her, put his arms around her, and whispered "Sister, he is going to be just fine, I promise".
The ritual preparation starts, and each one of them has their task. Each task has to be done just so, and with every ounce of love in their souls. Damon made sure to impress upon each one of them how important it was to channel the love they have for each other as they were completing all the prep work. The salted earth circle was laid, Damon placed the consecrated water in the consecrated bowl inside the circle, then he stood inside the circle, but close enough to the edge so he could be touched by the others. Damon had told everyone exactly what was going to happen, exactly what they needed to do, and most importantly, exactly what to feel. Damon looked worried, he tried to make his voice encouraging "I get it, coming from me, it just sounds wrong, but you have to feel it, it is the only emotion that this magic can channel, love. If you can't feel it for Stefan, feel it for Elena or someone else. Put it into your heart and keep it there."
Caroline kneeled behind Damon and put her hands on his head. He felt her touch, and put his hands over hers "Are you ready? Remember, what you are looking for, once I connect with Stefan's subconscious start the images, Caroline, you have to be cutthroat, hit all his emotional hot buttons. Care, you can't show any mercy. Stefan has to break. You have to do everything I told you." Caroline responded "Damon, I understand. I'm ready".
Bonnie, Ric, Jeremy, and Caroline surround the circle. Damon turns around to face Stefan and sits down, he looks at Bonnie and nods his head. Bonnie begins conjuring the wind, a slow breeze blowing within the room. Damon puts his hands in the bowl of consecrated water on his lap and begins to chant the words that Demetrius is saying. His hands swirl the water between his fingers, his mind clears, his heart opens, and the words coming from his mouth take on a life of their own. Damon feels his soul being pulled through his heart from his body, first upstairs towards Elena, the outline of his spirit self stops, it hovers, and returns to the circle, it stops over Stefan. Damon can see through his spirit's eyes, he is looking down on his brother's body, he wills his spirit downward and plunges into Stefan's body. He is connected to Stefan.
Caroline sees everything that is happening through Damon's mind, she knows it's her turn. She starts the images; First image; She and Stefan are walking down the street and she stops, grabs his arm, looks into his eyes, and faints into his body. He grabs her, scared of what is happening, and why is his vampire wife unconscious. He is able to carry her into the car, she opens her eyes. He asks what happened, she doesn't know. She felt dizzy and then nothing. He says "We need Bonnie. She can cast a spell to find out what is going on". Caroline responds "I'm fine. I just haven't drank enough this week." Stefan rushes them home. Bringing her into the house, with overwhelming concern, helps her to the couch. He goes downstairs to the blood cooler and gets her a blood bag. Back upstairs in the great hall, leaning on the floor next to her, "Drink this" as he hands it to her. She takes it and smiles, "My, you're one bossy husband!" He watches her drink the entire bag.
The next Image: Stefan and Caroline are lying in bed. She is fatigued, he is looking at her, and worried, why are you so tired. You are always the first one out of bed, starting on your daily to-do list. She bolts from bed to the bathroom and throws up. He follows her, she is at the sink by the time he reaches the bathroom door. She has her hand on her stomach and her eyes are looking there through the mirror. She looks up at him. "It feels just like when I was pregnant with the girls." "I can't be pregnant?" Caroline moves her hair from her ears, and then she hears it, she hears the heartbeat, a single heartbeat. She realizes she is pregnant. "OMG, I'm pregnant... AGAIN. I can hear its heartbeat." Stefan looks at her in wonder, Bonnie, we need Bonnie. That is the only logical thought that comes through his mind.
Bonnie arrives, and they tell her what spell Valerie had done last time to locate the twins. Caroline wonders if they can do the same thing to find the father or mother.
Bonnie gets the map and Caroline bleeds onto it. Bonnie begins the chant. The blood begins to flow off the end of the map and it covers a photo of Caroline and Stefan. Bonnie looks at Stefan & Caroline, Stefan says "I don't understand, it didn't work?"
Bonnie responds "It worked, you and Caroline are the mother & father." Both of them said "No" at the same time. Bonnie is determined to prove it. She takes Stefan's hand and cuts, blood runs into a pool on the table. She does the same with Caroline's blood. She starts to chant again, the blood from the photo retreats away from the photo, it begins to divide going toward Stefan's blood pool and Caroline's. Just as some of Caroline's pool begins to go toward Stefan's blood pool.
Damon walks into the room, Bonnie looks up at him and tells him what is going on. Damon "Awesome, Brother, you knocked up your wife. Good job".
Image #3: Caroline's baby bump has popped, and the food cravings are there. Stefan puts his hand on her stomach and feels the baby kick. He brings her pickles and cream cheese, he calms her down when she starts crying over a dead bird on the road.
She looks in the mirror naked, and he walks in the door, he has never seen such a beautiful sight in his entire life. Caroline sees him and says "Don't look, I'm so fat, I can't believe how fat I've gotten. I don't know how you stand to look at me." Stefan walks over to the mirror, puts his arms around her swollen body, and squeezes, he looks in the mirror with tears in his eyes and says "I have never seen a more beautiful sight in my entire life as you are in the exact moment." He feels his child kick at the same time. "Our child agrees with me". The baby moves some more, and Caroline's entire stomach deforms for a moment. And she arches in pain, as her water breaks. Stefan carries her to the bed, Caroline is in labor. This is nothing like what happened with the twins, no siphoning, just labor pains. Caroline isn't scared, she is telling him everything is ok, she wants to stay at home, right here, and have the baby. They had been through the Lamaze classes, and Stefan had read everything there was on childbirth. He was going to be prepared for everything. He was so unprepared, he was scared, he didn't know what to do, he was a mess. Caroline was calm, she reminded him of the towels, water, string, and scissors. Caroline knew it was happening fast, she sat up and told Stefan, "It's time, I have to push." She started pushing, Stefan held her hand and mopped her brow. It felt like hours, but only minutes had passed, Caroline told Stefan to get ready, their child was almost here. With one last push, Caroline said "Get ready, Jacob is coming!" Out slid the most perfect little boy, 10 fingers, 10 toes, and 1 little guy.
Damon was breathing hard, "Bonnie NOW!" Bonnie raises her arms and gathers the breeze into a full gust, turning the gusts of wind circling the group as the tears begin to fall from Stefan's eyes. All of a sudden the images stopped.
