So sorry for the long wait! I got so side-tracked with things, but I hope all the nights I stayed up still stupid o'clock in the morning to get this done was worth it! :) Review with your thoughts and I'll see you all with the next chapter, hopefully sooner. xD
But can I just take a moment to say - holy hell! 125 reviews and I'm only a eight chapters in? That's a record for me, thanks so much guys! The support is much appreciated and if it keeps going like that, I'll be onto 200+ when I finish this. :D
I hope everyone had a good christmas. ;P
Damon sighed in annoyance, coming away from the wall to rub a hand over his forehead. He looked up and glared at Jeremy, who was still in shock and looking past him to give Elena a reprimanding look.
"Jeremy," he began in a warning tone, "How much of that did you hear?" he asked again, fist clenching by his side.
Jeremy swallowed. "Uh... Rose found Mary," he offered as a distraction, and thankfully for Damon, it was good enough. "She lives in Kansas," he added, sounding like he was in a slight daze, but then again who wouldn't be after witnessing their sister kissing a vampire who shot her down spectacularly?
"Okay then," Damon said, breaking the awkward silence. "Let's go," he declared, glad he wouldn't have to spend another minute in this dingy hotel room.
Elena sighed, sounding flustered. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and strode past Jeremy, not giving Damon a second glance. He saw her childishly wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before she disappeared around the corner.
Jeremy turned to follow her, but Damon sped over to him and blocked his path. He still had to know about something else.
"What did Rose say to you about Klaus?" he asked, Jeremy giving him a look of confusion.
"You heard that?" he wondered in surprise, eyebrows raising slightly.
"Super hearing, thin walls," Damon said smugly, smirking.
"Well, she's pissed at you because she spent her life running from the dick-"
"Expected," Damon cut in, chuckling to himself.
"-But she's glad you're not getting lead on by Elena anymore and she said you and Klaus are either the best thing for each other or the worst," he relayed. Damon certainly wasn't expecting that, but at least he wouldn't be getting attacked by a ghost, again.
"Probably the worst," Damon quipped, making Jeremy smile. "C'mon, get your sister and let's get going," he ordered, gently shoving Jeremy down the corridor and began walking with him back to the room.
"What was all that about anyway?" he asked curiously.
"Don't worry about it," Damon brushed him off, not wanting, or needing, to give him the details. It'd probably give his x-box brain a headache. "Let's just say your sister's not the torn and perfect victim she makes herself out to be," he added cryptically, leaving a confused Jeremy trailing behind him.
It was official, Damon was never driving to anywhere other than faraway places that had bars ever again. As well as tedious, the ride had also been awkward; Elena spent the entire ride glaring at him with a sour look on her face, while Jeremy, although wisely remaining silent, seemed to be bursting at the seams with how much he wanted to know what had gone on between him and Elena.
Damon pulled the car up alongside an abandoned house - perfect for vampires - and got out, Elena and Jeremy following suit.
"This is the address," Jeremy said surely, although he seemed apprehensive about the towering house that was essentially in the middle of nowhere on a prarie, in the middle of the night.
"Looks about right," Damon said with an appreciative shrug. Mary did always favor older buildings, from what he could remember about her anyway.
Damon turned to Jeremy. "Wait here," he said, holding a hand out as he and Elena started walking towards the house, but he stubbornly followed.
"Why? So you guys can make out some more?" he called after them in a teasing manner. Elena made an affronted sound and Damon tried his hardest not to laugh.
Instead, he put on his best glare, succeding in making him wither. "Jeremy, get back in the car before I throw your ass in there myself," he growled under his breath.
Rolling his eyes heavily, Jeremy scoffed and opened the door, getting back in the car. He slammed the door loudly to prove his point.
"Thank you," Damon said in exasperation to no-one in particular, tapping Elena on the shoulder as he walked past to get her attention. "Come on," he hurried her, walking up to the house.
He opened the door, finding the lock suspiciously loose in his hand, and stepped inside. Elena flicked on a torch beside him, the long hallway's many items being revealed by the bright torch beam.
"Ooh, like Vampire Hoarders," Damon commented, starting to walk down the hallway. He chuckled when a painting of King Henry VIII caught his eye.
"Who is this Mary person?" Elena asked while struggling to wrap her jacket tighter around herself and keep a hold of the torch.
"Scary Mary," Damon corrected, shuddering slightly. "She's really old, super creepy," he added with a grimace, wandering what exactly he had seen in her.
"And how do you know her?" Elena asked, shining her torch down a corridor that they preceeded to walk down.
"I dated her," Damon said nonchalantly. If 'dated' was even the right word, then he was a banana. It was more of a friends-with-benefits type thing.
"Of course," Elena said dryly, rolling her eyes.
"What? I said creepy, not ugly," he said defensively, holding his hands up in surrender.
Elena turned towards him and looked ready to chew him out - or royally tease him - but a loud smash from another room distracted her. She spun around and shone her torch towards the sound of the noise, the light revealing a door that was hanging ajar.
Furrowing his brows in confusion, Damon strode into the room, Elena following closely behind him, providing a handy beam of light. He pushed the door open further and was instantly hit with a strong, musty smell.
Moving her torch again, Elena illuminated several books and an avalanche of paper on a desk, before coming across something more disturbing. Mary was dead; pinned to the wall with a makeshift stake - actually a baseball bat - through her chest, a pool of red blood soaked into her white nightgown.
"Mary," Damon said with a sigh. What a waste, he thought to himself.
The lights suddenly flickered on and Damon and Elena spun around, coming face to face with Kol. He was lounged lazily in one of Mary's armchairs, the aluminium baseball bat he had from Denver in his hand, scrutinizing them both.
"Quite contrary," the Original finished with a chuckle, continuing to glare at both of them from the chair.
Damon remained on-edge, watching Kol wearily as he got up from the chair. He breezed past them, looking over Mary's body with a look of contempt.
"Shame about Mary, she used to be a blast," he chuckled. "Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her," he said distastefully. "She was a bit of an Original groupie," he added with a mischevious grin.
"And were you her favourite?" Elena asked craftily, a snide tone to her voice.
"You mean, did I turn her?" Kol asked for confirmation, however he didn't wait for it. "I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah," he said, licking his lip as he feigned confusion. "There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair." He smiled wryly at them both, Damon narrowing his eyes.
"I spoke to my brother, I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will," Kol said with a triumphant smile. "So, where did we leave off?" he added merrily, eyeing Damon and stroking a hand up the length of the baseball bat's handle.
Damon saw the swing coming, but he couldn't stop it in time; the force of Kol's hit took both his legs out and he crumpled to the ground, yelling in pain. Flimsily, he flung his hands up to protect his head, the rest of Kol's blows landing painfully on his back and legs. He spotted a terrified Elena through the gap on Kol's legs.
"Elena, get out of here!" he called in a strained voice. She shot straight for the door and Damon briefly felt the crushing hits stop.
He pushed himself up on his trembling arms to see what was going on; Kol was blocking Elena's way, looking at her with venom.
"According to my brother, you're off limits," he said with a thin smile, an air of disappointment there. "Please don't test me." He grabbed Elena as she tried to - stupidly - manuoever around him, tossing her against the other side of the room.
She thudded against Mary's desk, gasping in pain. Damon pushed himself off the ground and charged at Kol before he could get to her, hands around the original's throat as he snarled in his face.
Kol laughed in his face and threw him off like a ragdoll. Damon felt his spine shift from the force of the hit, yelling in pain. Kol's boots came closer to his head.
"Relax, darling, I just want us to be even," Kol sang above him, giving him a sardonic smile as he picked up that bat again. "You snapped my neck, your merry little band of friends killed my brother, and then you humiliated me," he growled, all traces of amusement gone from his voice.
With a hard swing of the bat, Damon's arms were knocked out from under him. Kol forced him onto his stomach and crashed the bat against his body a few more times; it smashed against his jaw, throwing him onto his back. He tasted metal in his mouth and he saw stars.
Damon spat out blood when he felt Kol kneel down beside him and seize his hair in a terrific grip, pulling his upper half completely off the ground.
"There, now we're even," he decided in a gentle voice, looking down at him with feigned concern, briefly flicking a finger under his chin.
He was gone without a trace in a rush of air and Damon let out a groan of pain as he impacted heavily on the floor. He was Klaus' brother alright.
Damon breathed out heavily, feeling his ribcage rising and falling underneath his skin. He ached all over and nothing felt right. He looked up at Elena, who had crawled over to him, and she began helping him into a sitting position. His neck gave a nauseating crack as he swung it back into place, Elena wincing.
"Are you okay?" she asked, worriedly placing a hand on his chest. Damon saw she was bleeding too, from the side of her head, but she hadn't noticed it yet.
"Yeah," he gasped out, clenching his fist as his ribcage was pushing back aganst the flesh of his back. "Just-" He motioned for Elena to help him and she placed her hands on either side of him.
They locked eyes and Damon mouthed a countdown, cracking his body over to the side on 'one'. Elena cringed and Damon got to his feet, helping Elena up too. She swayed slightly and Damon reached out an arm to steady her.
"You're bleeding," he told her, gesturing to the side of her head, elaborating and putting his hand over it when she gave him a confused look.
Then it turned bitter. "I thought you didn't care," she reminded him childishly, folding her arms. Damon found his eyes reaching for the heavens.
"I don't, not particularly" - Elena narrowed her eyes - "but would you rather I left you to get a brain hemmorage or something?" he asked incredulously. Sometimes, she could be so ungrateful; he could have let Kol batter her to pieces, but he didn't. Did that not count for anything in her book?
"You are unbelivable," Elena sighed, turning away from him.
"What are you doing?" Damon demanded suddenly. He had seen this type of thing, only much more magnified, after he had snapped Jeremy's neck. It had been understandable back then, but why now?
"What do you mean?" Elena asked as she looked back at him, once again, oblivious to how she was acting.
"You can't just give me the cold shoulder because I don't feel the same way about you anymore," Damon told her almost reprimandingly. It was plain stupid and even he didn't give her the cold shoulder. He had saved her life several times since that whole night at the ball and that was the thanks he got?
"Well, you've made it pretty clear how you feel," Elena said aimlessly, looking at him with a sad expression on her face. "Am I not allowed to be bitter, given your choice of partner?" she asked with confusion, shaking her head slightly.
Damon sighed. "I never said you weren't, but it wasn't like I planned for it to happen, Elena!" he said, managing to catch his voice before it rose. "But I'm glad it did, since it means I don't get yanked around on a leash anymore," he quipped, raising his eyebrows at her.
"And I'm guessing you thought that I'd completely fall at your feet when you kissed me, didn't you?" he added with a faint smirk, remembering how she had been trying to convince him how she felt - while he didn't doubt that - but then did a complete 180 when he mentioned Klaus.
"No, Damon-"
"Or maybe you were hoping I'd screw everything up, so you could just go back to hating me, because you still love Stefan too," he summarised, effectively cutting her off. If she was only on this trip to work out her feelings, it made sense that she would fight them, since to those closest to her, he was the bad guy with a heart of stone.
"Am I wrong?" he asked her simply, folding his arms.
Elena looked at him in complete disbelief. "Damon..."
"Am I wrong?" he repeated more firmly. Elena bit her lip and remained silent, trying not to look at him.
"Well, there's my answer," Damon went on, smiling thinly at her. "You're welcome to him, Elena because I want nothing more to do with you in that way," he said, feeling a large weight lift off his shoulders as the words left his mouth.
"Damon-" Elena tried again, but he ignored her, emphatically brushing against her shoulder when he walked over to the door.
"You and Katherine really do have a lot more in common than just your looks, don't you?" he sneered at her before he left, the mortified look on her face making him smile sadistically.
No-one screwed Damon Salvatore over and got away with it.
Damon sighed heavily as he stopped the car in front of the Gilbert house's porch. This car ride had been more awkward than the first one. Elena spent the entire ride staring out the window with daggers in her eyes and a little pout on her face - not that Damon particularly minded - and Jeremy had kept glancing to the empty seat next to him and then at the back of his head. He did it so frequently, Damon was surprised when it stopped.
"Thanks, Damon," Jeremy said as he closed his door behind him, Elena storming past him and all-but breaking their front door down.
"No problem," Damon said, giving Jeremy a wry smile before he floored the pedal and sped away, burning rubber. His next, and final, destination of the night - the Grill.
He pushed open the door none too gently when he arrived, the latter crashing into an empty table and startling the few drunkards that were huddled in the back together. The bar was thankfully deserted, save for Matt who was cleaning a few glasses.
"Damon, what are you doing here so late?" he asked as Damon slid into a barstool, putting the cleaned glass down and throwing the towel over his shoulder.
"None of your business, busboy," Damon snapped, but Matt didn't press, just held his hands up in surrender. "Just hand over the bourbon and no-one gets hurt," he demanded, pointing a finger at him in warning.
Matt chuckled at him, turning around and having to reach on his tip-toes to reach the shelf. "You want the whole bottle?" he asked, briefly turning back to look at him.
"Or twelve," Damon shot back sarcastically.
Matt retrieved the bottle and placed it in front of him. "Here, knock yourself out," he said with a smile, moving off to do some work in the kitchen.
Damon grinned and picked up the bottle, pulling the rack of shot glasses closer to him. He popped the cork out of the neck with this thumb and began pouring bourbon into the shot glasses. He started rapidly drinking the shots down, the alcohol making him completely miss the sound of the door opening.
"Well, well, this is becoming a regular occurance for you, isn't it?" Klaus' voice rang teasingly from behind him.
Damon ignored Klaus and picked up the second to last shot glass. "Says the man who's now found me in a bar a second time," he pointed out, downing it with ease.
Klaus slid into the barstool next to him, Damon finally sparing him a glance. "I heard you ran into Kol," he said in a merry sounding voice. Damon glared at him.
"Ran is the wrong word," he said in a dry tone, picking up the last filled shot glass. "He showed up and beat the crap out of me with a baseball bat," he spat bitterly, finishing off the twelfth shot.
"I can't say I'm sorry about that," Klaus said with a shrug. "Purely self-preservation, mate," he said nonchalantly, patting him on the arm. "How do I know I'll be able to trust your little friends with the knowledge of who sired them? My siblings would drop like flies, as would their entire sire line," he reminded him with a devious grin.
"That sounds like a 'you' problem," Damon said with a groan. "I could care less about all this bloodlines crap and revenge kicks." He tipped back a generous portion of the bourbon into his mouth, wiping his chin when he was finished.
"Besides, you make it sound like they're actually gonna be able to do anything," he went on, Klaus looking at him interestedly. "Finn was just inexperienced because his psycho younger brother had him locked in a box for most of his life," he finished, looking at Klaus with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll drink to that," Klaus declared, grabbing the bottle and pouring out two shot glasses. He pushed them between them and Damon picked his up.
"Cheers." Their glasses chinked together and both shots were downed.
"What's got you down in the dumps, anyway mate?" Klaus asked, leaning in towards him like it was going to be some huge secret or conspiracy theory.
"Same thing that did the first time," he said with a dull shrug.
"Elena," Klaus summarised with a knowing smile, his disdain showing on his face. "Really, Damon, I thought you would have learned your lesson by now," he said teasingly, eyes glimmering at him.
"I did, she didn't," Damon corrected proudly, Klaus looking impressed. "She ran off like a baby when I told her something she couldn't handle," he said simply, chuckling at the memory.
He scoffed to himself suddenly: "Y'know, I'm getting a strange sense of deja vu," he pointed out. "The only thing that would make this any weirder would be if you were pissed off with Caroline," he added, Klaus rolling his eyes at him.
"Well, unlike you, I know how to completely sever ties to women who aren't worth it," he said almost teasingly, but the venom was still there.
"Elena's hung up on my brother and pratically lives a the boarding house," Damon argued back. "What am I supposed to do? Become a vampire hobo or something?" he asked incredulously - although if anything kept up, it was something he could consider. He had slept on a rooftop before.
Klaus chuckled, giving him a small smile before the look on his face turned inquisitive. "What exactly did you say to her, anyway?"
"I'd tell you, but something tells me that you already know," Damon guessed, looking at Klaus with slightly narrowed eyes. This could go either way now, and Damon was glad there wasn't any stakes in sight. But there was glass... Oh jeez.
"Kol told me," Klaus smirked at him and Damon's eyebrow rose in confusion. "He was particularly traumatised after spying on your little tryst with Elena, but he said seeing you shoot her down was worth the 'hours he's going to have to spend scrubbing his eyes with bleach'," he finished with a chuckle, making quotation marks with his fingers.
"Guess he's not a Delena fan," Damon quipped, taking a swig of the bourbon.
"Pardon?" Klaus asked in surprise.
"Nevermind," Damon brushed him off with a chuckle and he nodded. "He really won't get used to aluminium by the time I'm done with him," he muttered under his breath, clenching a fist under the table.
"You didn't come all this way just to talk to me about it, did you?" Damon asked, hanging his head on his arm. "If so, I may have to start running if you bring out anything pointy," he said warily.
"Well, it's not everyday that a supposed unfeeling vampire with a heart of stone confesses to loving an immortal hybrid, is it?" Klaus asked, cocking his head to the side.
"I guess not," Damon agreed with a shrug. He groaned and rubbed his temples; he hadn't even planned for Klaus to find out. "I'm probably out of my mind," he decided quickly, finishing up the bourbon bottle.
"Then I must be too," Klaus agreed in a quieter tone, but Damon still heard him, yet completely missing the lack of sarcasm there.
"Oh, I coulda told you that a long time ago," the younger vampire chuckled, then it dawned on him what Klaus had just said. He turned to him, looking slightly taken aback. "Wait..."
He turned to look at Klaus who raised his eyebrows, almost expectantly.
"Are you saying that-?"
"What, that I feel the same way?" Klaus finished for him with a small smile. He didn't look at all bothered about it either. It was probably one of those things that could have even gone without saying. "Would you prefer me to start breaking table legs?" he asked lightly.
Damon chuckled to himself. "You're annoying, you know that?" he smirked, looking up at Klaus as he got off the barstool and towered over him, hands reaching for the collar of his jacket, eyes on his mouth appreciatively.
"So I've been told," he shot back, slightly pulling Damon off the barstool, allowing the younger vampire to feel his body heat against his own and place his hands on his shoulders for some sort of friction.
Soon after, their mouths crashed together in an explosive kiss.
Damon collapsed onto his stomach, completely spent, and Klaus rolled off him. The both of them were panting heavily and their bodies were slick with sweat and marked in abundance from the other. Damon huffed out a laugh and propped himself up with a pillow.
"We really need to stop making a habit of this," he pointed out, well aware he was grinning like an idiot. It was understandable; he was tired and it wasn't like he had been sleeping last night.
"Yes, us jumping in to bed together without alcohol would be quite a feat indeed," Klaus agreed, reaching over to briefly play with Damon's hair. "What was it Elena did this time?" he asked.
"Kissed me while she knew full she's in love with my brother," Damon relayed, relaxing into the bedsheets, closing his eyes at the feel of Klaus' fingers in his hair.
"Tramp," he spat suddenly, making Damon's eyes snap wide open. Usually Klaus talked so... fancy like, to hear him use something like that. Well, he may as well have gone and coughed 'slut' into his hand like a teenaged girl.
"Although I didn't think that would bother you," he went on curiously.
"It does - where Stefan's concerned, anyway," Damon admitted with a slight frown, shifting to be more comfortable. "What's that thing teenagers say these days? Bros before hoes?" he wondered out loud, meeting Klaus' rolling eyes with a cheeky grin.
Damon cleared his throat. "I need a shower," he decided, throwing the covers off him and getting out of Klaus' bed, bending down to pick up his boxers that were thankfully still in one piece.
"Take your pick, I have several," Klaus said warmly, gesturing to the door invitatingly.
"Fantastic," Damon grinned back, heading for the door.
He stopped short when Klaus whistled at him, turning back around to catch a faceful of denim.
He unfurled it to see his jeans. How they had stayed intact was a mystery, as well as his boxers. They had been the most restricting thing last night!
"At least these didn't get torn to shreds," Damon said in relief, eyeing Klaus in a brief fit of annoyance. That shirt had been one of his favorite John Varvatos, although Klaus had better get a body shield if it turned out that his jacket was in tatters.
"Feel free to borrow one of my shirts," Klaus said lightly. Damon narrowed his eyes, as if that would let him off.
"You and half the female population of Mystic Falls would probably prefer it if I didn't," he joked, Klaus again rolling his eyes at him.
The sound of heels clicking filled the room as Damon hopped into his jeans, briefly losing his balance and having to balance on the edge of Klaus' bed so he didn't fall over as he saw Rebekah.
"Morning," she greeted them both with a mischievous smile.
Damon ignored her and finally managed to slid his jeans on, having to jump up to heave them back on his waist as they felt too tight around his thighs. He guessed it was true, sex did burn a lot of calories.
"Sister, is it too much to ask that you knock?" Klaus asked, clearly disturbed about his sister just barging into his room so early in the morning.
"Yeah, I mean, what if we were indecent?" he said jokingly, glaring at her in annoyance. He was glad that he was only getting dressed, it she had walked in on something else. Jeez, Damon would not have wanted to see her reaction.
Rebekah just rolled her eyes.
"What took you so long, anyway?" Klaus asked, readjusting himself under the covers so only his chest was visible to Rebekah.
"Alaric didn't want to hand over the stake," she said with a slight pinch of annoyance, but she smiled when she reached into her back pocket, revealing the last of the white oak stakes. "Luckily I'm quite the charmer," she smiled lightly.
"That's it?" Damon asked with an arched eyebrow. For some reason, he thought that it would have been more fullfilling.
"The last of the white oak stakes that can kill us," Rebekah said proudly, holding it up by the tip. "Do you want to do the honors or shall I?" she asked, extending it towards him.
Klaus made a face. "Seeing as I'm naked under these covers, Rebekah..." he trailed off, looking at her with raised eyebrows.
Rebekah's face pinched. "Not something I need to sour the morning with," she decided quickly, her expression briefly one of disgust.
"Ouch," Damon snickered, both Originals glaring fleetingly at him.
Rebekah tossed it into the fireplace - so that's why it was so warm last night, Damon hadn't noticed it - the flames flaring up around the wood. It was ridiculous, at least to Damon, that something that was meant to kill the oldest, deadliest vampires on Earth could be destroyed so easily.
"Well that's that then," Rebekah said, breathing out like some weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She turned to Klaus with an expectant look. "Are you coming to the decade dance tonight?" she asked.
"Why would I want to bore myself with such a thing?" Klaus deadpanned back, hanging his head slightly.
"But, I'm head of the committee, we have to go," Rebekah said insistently.
"I'm not going to any dance," Klaus said firmly.
"Caroline will be there," Rebekah said, trying to entice him, but she clearly had no update on the latest 'gossip' in Mystic Falls.
"That means nothing to me," he said in a low voice, glancing discreetly at Damon, who couldn't help his smug smile in response.
"Please, I have big plans for tonight," Rebekah said with a charming smile. "Just go for me," she wheedled, looking at Klaus with shining eyes.
"Okay, fine," Klaus gave over and Damon was surprised at how quick that actually took. He would have expected much more begging. "One last hurrah," he added dryly, mockingly raising his fist into the air like he was toasting a glass.
"One last hurrah, Nik," Rebekah repeated with a warm smile, turning away and leaving the room.
Damon whistled and looked the way the blonde Original had gone, turning back to Klaus with a smirk.
"You're so whipped," he snickered, having to duck as Klaus seized the nearest thing- a decorative pillow - and threw it towards his head.
"Denial is the first step to admitting a problem, y'know," he shot back, deciding to leave before Klaus started to throw heavier things.
Damon walked down the hallway, hoping to find one of the bathrooms and not another Original sibling lurking anywhere, catching the faint hint of burning sage as he walked past the grand staircase.
His ringtone echoed in the spacious hallway and he instantly picked it up, not wanting to attract anymore unwanted attention.
"Hello?"
"Damon?" Alaric's relieved sounding voice came from the other line.
"Ric, there you are," Damon said with a small smile. "Where is 'there', exactly?" he asked, since the last time he'd seen Alaric was in the Salvatore vervain cellar, about to have his darker side kicked out of him by his brother.
"Just at the loft," he responded, a scratch becoming apparent in his voice, like he was trying to sound different. "I needed to get my head together after last night," he explained, groaning as if to prove a point, but Damon couldn't help but think it sounded forced. He couldn't think why though.
"I think I need to get out of town," Alaric said suddenly, making Damon's eyebrows shoot up. "Somewhere secluded," he went on, "I keep blacking out which means I'm still a threat to everyone," he added in a soft voice.
"I don't know if right now is the best time for you to be going on a spirit quest, Ric," Damon said almost reprimandingly. Who else was he going to drink with? Klaus always ended up with him nearly passing out on a bed and Stefan still had a stick up his ass.
"It's just for a couple of days," Alaric said reassuringly. "I'm stocked up on Bonnie's herbs, so I should be fine. I gotta go," he said hastily, Damon catching some scuffling in the background - heels? but why? - before he abruptly hung up on him.
"That was weird," Damon commented to himself, pushing open the door to a bathroom and locking it behind him.
Damon pushed open the door to Alaric's loft, surprised he hadn't locked it. Wasn't it supposed to be vampires that were arrogant like that?
"Ric?" he called as he walked into the kitchen, finding a half-filled tumbler of bourbon left on the kitchen island. "You here, buddy?" he asked.
Again there was no response. Damon pursed his lips in thought, spotting something over by Alaric's windowsill. He walked closer and all expression dropped off his face at what he saw.
It was a jar, still stacked to the brim with Bonnie's special magic herbs. Damon picked up the jar, exhaling and wondering wether to smash it between his fingers. Had that really been Alaric on the phone earlier?
"Son of a bitch," he cursed, dropping the jar back onto the windowsill. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hurriedly dialled Stefan's number.
He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Stefan to answer, not waiting for introductions when he finally did. "Hey, we've got a problem," he said quickly.
"What is it, Damon?" Stefan asked, his voice a little louder than Damon would have liked. They were only talking on the phone, not screaming from opposite ends of the Grand Canyon.
"Ric's herbs are-" Damon stopped and narrowed his eyes at the sound of loud music in the background, the bass managing to somehow make his phone vibrate in his hand. "What's that noise?" he asked suspiciously.
"Oh, I'm at the decade dance with Elena," Stefan mumbled, sounding sheepish.
"Pssh, she bounced back quickly," Damon commented snidely. She had kissed him only yesterday.
"What?" Stefan asked in confusion.
"Nothing," Damon said, brushing him off quickly. He was not about to have this conversation over a phone. "Listen, Ric hasn't been taking his herbs that Bonnie made for him. I found a jar in his loft untouched," he said worriedly.
"How fast can you get over here?" Stefan asked.
"I really don't want to," Damon said in a mock whine.
"Damon..." Stefan trailed off expectantly.
"Fine," Damon snapped, giving over. "But if I go blind from watching you do the Charleston, it's your own fault," he muttered bitterly.
"Get here soon," Stefan said hurriedly, hanging up on him.
Damon sighed, straightening the sleeves of his leather jacket. "Guess I'm going back to the 20's."
The sound of West End Blues filled his ears the minute Damon pushed open the double doors to the gym, after getting there an hour or so later. He stuck out like a sore thumb and looked more like the 50's decade, but he wouldn't be there long, so he didn't care.
He melded into the crowd, dancing the Charleston amongst the students, nearly doing a double-take and skidding over on the polished floor when he saw Klaus over by the refreshment table, wearing a black tuxedo.
He walked over to him, Klaus raising his eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't think you'd be here, Damon," he said in admiration, putting down the punch cup he was holding.
"I'm actually here on business, not because I have a soft spot for a sibling," Damon said teasingly, the corners of his mouth twitching in a smile.
"What's gone wrong this time, then?" Klaus asked in a tired sounding voice, leaning against the table and folding his arms.
"Alaric hasn't been taking his herbs," Damon explained, Klaus tilting his head interestedly. "We were talking earlier on the phone and he kept saying he was gonna leave town, but I don't think it was him talking, if you know what I mean," he said, raising an eyebrow. Klaus nodded.
"And I haven't seen Rebekah either," he said and Damon did a quick-once over of the crowd; he couldn't see Rebekah anywhere, ironic since she made such a big deal about Klaus going earlier this morning. "She was the only reason I even considered coming to this bloody horror fest," he muttered with a growl.
Damon grinned and picked a cherry up from the bowl, putting it into his mouth and pulling it off the stalk. "I'm guessing the 20's was an awkward phase then?" he smirked, swallowing the cherry and spitting the seed back out.
"Mostly white tuxedos and slick hair," Klaus admitted, making Damon laugh. It was hard to picture Klaus with slicked hair, since that had been mostly a terrible era of fashion for men, except for the shoes.
"Listen, Stefan, about Damon..." Elena's voice registered in Damon's ear, the latter being able to see her guilty expression from how far away he was. "We should probably talk about the trip to Denver," she said, not meeting his eyes for a brief second and looking down at the floor.
"Come on," Damon said to Klaus, cocking his head in Stefan and Elena's direction, walking through the throng of students. Klaus relucantly followed him, although Damon knew having to talk to Stefan and Elena was better than standing by a refreshment table all night.
"I don't need to know, Elena," Stefan said softly, shaking his head and stepping in time to the music. "When all this is over, if you and I find our way back to each other, you can tell me if you want to. Otherwise I don't need to know. I don't want to know," he said bluntly.
Elena sighed as he spun them both around. "How can you be so fair about this?"
"Because after everything I've put you through, I'm just honored to be your date tonight," he smiled fondly, dipping her towards the ground and spinning her under his arm when they were back on his feet.
Damon mimed gagging behind their backs and Klaus chuckled. "Well, isn't that adorable?" he drawled silkly, making Stefan and Elena whip around in shock.
"What the Hell are you doing here?" Stefan demanded hotly, glaring at Klaus with daggers in his eyes. The older vampire was unfazed and just stared him down.
"We need to talk," Damon said in an urgent tone, coming to stand in between Klaus and Stefan. "Now," he said firmly, eyes hardened.
Stefan sighed heavily and Damon and Klaus turned around to walk out into the hallway. Stefan hesitantly followed, Elena tagging along after them, a worried expression on her face.
The four of them stepped out into the hallway, Damon looking around quickly for anyone that could be lurking around, before he started filling Elena and Stefan in on everything.
"If Alaric is sick then we need to find a cure," Elena said hurriedly after Damon finished telling them about Alaric's phonecall to him earlier. "Something!" she said in desperate exasperation, throwing her arms up in the air.
Damon flashed her a sympathetic look. "We tried medicine, we tried magic," he listed, counting on his fingers, watching the desperation increase more and more on Elena's face. "What else is there?" he asked aimlessly.
"Why don't we get him off vervain, compel him?" Stefan suggested, briefly looking at Klaus, before looking back at Damon.
"To what? Pretend to be Alaric?" Damon said in disbelief, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. "The guy that we know is gone," he said bluntly, ignoring Elena's look of disbelief.
He pulled Stefan closer to him, lowering his voice. "Stefan, we're talking about someone who not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathizers. Which makes one of his most obvious targets, oh, I don't know- Elena!" he went on, frantically indicating her with his hand.
"What, you think he'd go after Elena?" Stefan asked worriedly, putting a protective arm on her shoulder.
"Tried to hack Meredith into pieces, didn't he?" Damon shot back, folding his arms. He couldn't help but wonder why Alaric stopped taking the herbs in the first place, or even if he actually started. For a guy that was afraid of his psycho alter-ego, he seemed to really want him to come out and play.
"So wait, what are you suggesting we do?" Stefan asked, brows furrowing. Damon knew he already knew where this was going, but he couldn't say it out loud because of Elena.
"I'm suggesting that we put him out of his misery," he said quickly. It wasn't like he wanted to kill one of his only friends, but if he didn't want to become an evil vampire hating psycho, it was the only option. Not even Bonnie would be able to help this time.
"I for one, agree with Damon on this," Klaus pitched in, getting a less than favourable glare in response from Stefan and Elena. "If the problem can't be solved and it poses a threat, the best thing to do is to get rid of it," he explained.
"Before it gets worse and shit goes down," Damon added, watching Elena slowly look more and more horrified. She had to learn not everyone could be saved.
"To put it ever so eloquently," Klaus said lightly, sarcastically.
"What?!"
The four of them turned at the sound of Jeremy's voice, the boy's eyes narrowed in a dangerous glare as he strode over to them.
"No, no way in hell!"
"Oh come on," Damon said in slight annoyance - what was with this kid always managing to eavesdrop? - frowning at him. "It's what he would want. It's a mercy killing," he said knowingly.
"You are out of your mind!" Jeremy hissed at him, folding his arms angrily. "And we are not siding with the hybrid dick who's screwed pretty much everyone's lives up," he growled, pointing a finger threateningly at Klaus before turning on his heel and storming away.
"Jeremy..." Elena trailed off with a sympathetic sigh. She ran off after him and Stefan sighed.
"Well, that went about as well as I'd expected," he said, Damon and Klaus looking at him in agreement. "Do you really think it's the best option, Damon?" he asked, brows furrowed like he was really hoping it wasn't.
"I can hardly see any others, can you?" Damon asked in exasperation. "And I doubt Bonnie's going to want to help either of us, since I turned her mother into a vampire," he added with a sigh. Grudges were a bitch, especially when Bonnie Bennett held them.
"Maybe we could-"
"Look, Stefan, if we could keep Ric under control, this conversation wouldn't be happening, but we can't and it is," Damon said bluntly, looking Stefan directly in the eyes. "We need to put him down, preferably before shit starts hitting the fan and we all die," he added, a serious expression on his face.
Stefan sighed in defeat, about ready to open his mouth, but a yell of, "Stefan, Damon!" and a frantic Jeremy all-but skidding over to them, the sudden change in his demeanour alarming.
Frowning, Stefan was the first one to react. "Jeremy, what's-"
"It's Esther," he said quickly, eyes shining with panic.
"What?" Klaus growled lowly under his breath, his eyes narrowing into deadly slits and transforming to a brilliant amber.
"She just took Elena from the school," Jeremy went on, trying not to show any reaction to Klaus' hybrid visage. "She has Alaric somewhere too, she's gonna hurt them if we don't do something," he said worriedly, looking almost pleadingly at Damon and then Stefan, who wanted to snidely tell Jeremy that worry about Elena was Stefan's, and only Stefan's, thing.
"Just one dance," he muttered to himself, looking up at the ceiling in exasperation. "Can't there ever be one dance where we don't have to go and stop some big bad evil?" he said as if he was begging some sort of higher power. Klaus snickered behind him.
"Damon!" Stefan said, looking affronted as he slapped him on the arm.
"I'm joking," Damon reassured him, rubbing his arm. "If Crazy Witch is involved, Ric and Elena are screwed to Hell," he said knowingly, Stefan having already taken off with Jeremy in mid-sentence.
Damon went to follow, but stopped at the sound of an extra pair of footsteps, turning to Klaus in surprise.
"You're actually coming with us?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Ripping my mother's heart out - again - will be a lot more fun than hanging around this place," Klaus said with disdain, looking around the empty hallway, that had also been decorated with monstrosities from the Twenties.
"You had me at ripping out her heart," Damon said merrily, Klaus rolling his eyes as he chuckled at him. The two of them went after Stefan and Jeremy, having to jog to catch up with them.
Jeremy, still leading the group, violently shoved the double doors open and they began striding down the red carpet leading to the school's car park. Esther picked the wrong night to pull whatever she had planned; Klaus was with them and when he got his hands on her-
Damon smacked against something solid, reeling back in his steps. Confused, he looked at Stefan and Klaus, noticing they were recovering from a brief stumble. Jeremy however, kept walking on.
He stopped once he realised he was no longer being followed and turned to them in surprise. "Guys?"
Humming in suspicion, Damon smashed a fist into the air, it also being blocked by the invisible barrier in front of them.
"Ow!" he howled in pain, feeling several fingers break. He snapped them back into place and stared ahead with a perplexed expression. "What the-?" He placed his hand on the barrier, finding it was like glass; his hand whiting against it.
Esther.
"Salt," Stefan said suddenly, gesturing to the floor. Damon and Klaus both looked down to see a wide line of salt where the barrier began. "It's the binding agent for her spell," he explained and Klaus let out a less than favourable growl.
"We're trapped here," Stefan said in realisation, a brief look of horror on his face before he managed to compose himself. "Jeremy, go and get Matt; you'll need some help if we can't get out of here," he ordered, Jeremy nodding and running past them and disappearing back into the school.
Damon sighed heavily and folded his arms, turning to look at Klaus.
"I hate to say it Klaus, but you really are the son of a bitch," he growled at him, eyeing the salt with venom, while Klaus was nothing if not in complete agreement.