Klaus was very pleased with how things were turning out, in all areas of his life.
Caroline and Tyler were on the outs thanks to Tyler's lady werewolf 'friend' with whom he had relations with. She was available and hurting, leaving the perfect chance for him to swoop in and save the day. He even had a date with her today.
His family was, for once, not angry with him for anything and were waiting around at his beck and call for their next order.
Any threats to him were dead or taken care of, all except for that pesky white oak stake that he couldn't seem to find, but he would in time. No vampires around him were strong enough to ever use it against him anyway.
And once he got his hands on Silas, he'd be even more powerful than he already was.
He'd been pleasantly surprised when Stefan had shown up on his doorstep, asking all about the Hunter's Mark. He hadn't heard of it in centuries, not since his poor sister ran into Alexander, one of the first members of The Five.
So he shared the tale with the youngest Salvatore, knowing full well that he'd go blabbing to the whole crew about it. It really didn't take a genius for Klaus to figure out that Jeremy Gilbert was the one with the mark. He was, after all, the only true human left aside from the simpleton that his sister seemed keen on for whatever reason, therefore the only eligible person.
Suddenly the boy's life had become very valuable to him, because he was the key to finding Silas. Klaus was already putting his plans in motion. He had Elijah picking through their sister's brain for the location in which she buried her ex lover, Alexander, along with his sword, which just so happened to be the key to deciphering the Gilbert boy's tattoo. That would tell him everything he needed to know about where Silas was, and once he figured that out, there would be no stopping him.
Silas, who was a witch when mortal, became a psychic as well as a witch when turned immortal. His power was so great that he could trick peoples' minds into thinking he appeared as someone other than who he was.
During his time looking for a way to end Mikael, Klaus came across a witch that shared the story. She had promised him that if he obtained the magic talisman that belonged to Silas and had a witch extract its power into him, then he would gain the same psychic abilities.
The only issue was that nobody on this planet seemed to know where he was entombed. That, and Klaus would have to get past the tricks Silas can play on his mind. He was confident that not much would be able to deter him, after all, Silas had been lying desiccated for two millennia and was at his weakest. There was no way he could get inside the head of an original hybrid older than a thousand years.
But, since his plan that had newly been set in motion was reliant on Jeremy completing the mark, it had almost been too easy to convince Stefan to join his side. Klaus was well aware that Elena had chosen Damon over Stefan, and while he couldn't care less which one of those fools she decided to shack up with, he knew he could use it to his advantage.
Stefan, the lovesick fool that he was, was so devoted to Elena the entire time he had him by his side chasing down werewolf packs that one simple mention of how grateful she would be if he fixed her brother for her got his instant alliance. Klaus planned on ditching the man he once called his friend once it was time to go find Silas, but for now…
Well, the mark had to be completed somehow, right? It was hilariously effortless to give Stefan the assignment of getting Jeremy to kill as many vampires as it took to finish the tattoo.
Come to think of it, this whole thing was going to be easier than he ever imagined. He and his siblings were the only ones that could translate the ancient language engraved onto the sword, and once he learned of the location, they would all become useless to him. He would ditch Mystic Falls in favor of something greater. To hell with his hybrids, who needed them when he could have anyone he wanted under his control?
As the most powerful being on earth, he then would be at his leisure to do anything he liked. Perhaps he'd convince Caroline to travel the world with him. He'd fulfill that promise he made her about things beyond Mystic Falls waiting for her to see.
Surely witches would be after him like never before once he was truly an imbalance of nature, but with the kind of power he would possess he could easily get into their heads and take them down. He wondered if the white oak stake would still affect him, but assuming it would, any opponent he might have could again, be influenced, and he'd have the stake destroyed.
Yes, his life was truly shaping up ever since his brush with death. He felt as though he had to scrub Tyler Lockwood from his body for weeks, despite there never having been any actual contact between them.
All that was left to do was obtain the sword, complete the mark, then get Jeremy and a witch capable of performing the right spell to unlock the spell to Silas's location. Then, there would be nothing able to stop him from accessing a power greater than he could ever imagine.
Spotting Jeremy scarfing down a donut at the refreshment table, Stefan made his way over to him, thankful that yesterday he had woken up in his right mind and not wanting to stake any vampire he came across.
Jeremy had explained that the tattoo randomly showed up one day, and he hadn't noticed anything different about himself so he hid it, not wanting anyone to worry about him. Though, he had admitted that his distaste towards vampires had started around the time it showed up. It was kind of like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head, and it all made sense. His attitude towards his sister, the hate towards vampires when he knew he could trust some of them, even his strange desire to carve the design into any weapons against vampires.
Now that he was aware of it, he was pretty sure he could handle it, so long as the urges didn't get worse. He had just let them get the better of him, and thank god Elena hadn't gotten seriously hurt.
"Jeremy, I need your help with something." Stefan said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Narrowing his eyes, Jeremy set down the glass of champagne that he'd lifted from a passing tray and asked, "What?"
"Come with me." Stefan was already walking away, leaving Jeremy no choice but to follow. On his list of trusted vampires was his sister, Damon, Caroline, and newly written in, Stefan, so while he was curious, he wasn't too worried about his safety. Even as he followed Stefan through the woods, Jeremy only questioned him once, to which he answered vaguely.
Eventually they came across the Lockwood cellar, which wasn't too far from the house where everyone was gathered for the annual Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Sad to say, Stefan didn't remember much of it from last year. He wished that he could have been stronger for Elena and danced with her just as she imagined, but the fact that Damon had been her stand in was enough to grate on his nerves, especially now.
He'd screw up eventually with Elena, and she'd realize that she made a mistake in choosing him. Stefan would be there waiting with open arms, too. He loved his older brother, but it was a well known fact that Damon was incapable of maintaining a functioning relationship. He would lash out the second something pissed him off, and Elena would get hurt. Of that he had no doubt, and when she realized it too, he would be there to pick up the shattered pieces.
And being able to say that he stopped her brother from wanting to kill her wouldn't hurt one bit.
Leading Jeremy down the stone steps, he unlocked the gate and stepped inside, letting the minimal light from the door and small barred windows illuminate the man tied to a chair in the center of the room.
Knowing an explanation was needed, Stefan said, "He's a vampire, Jeremy, and you need to kill him."
"What? No!" Jeremy immediately argued, taking a step back. While he was supposedly some kind of vampire hunter, he didn't exactly want to go around ending people's undead lives. So not his idea of a good time.
"He's a criminal!" Stefan stated. "He was locked up in the police station for murdering two children, and he's even more of a monster now that he's a vampire. Don't think, just kill him. You know you want to."
Jeremy swallowed, taking a closer look at the man. He seemed unconscious for the moment, but if he was a vampire, then that meant he wasn't truly out of it. Stefan suddenly appeared in front of him, dragging a sharp stake across his wrist to create a shallow cut, before shoving the stake into his hand.
"Either you kill him, or he'll smell your blood and he'll kill you." Stefan said, backing away to a corner to watch the scene play out.
Suddenly the vampire became more alert, struggling within his bindings until finally they gave way. Everything happened so quickly. Jeremy had him staked in the heart before he even knew what was happening, and a tingling sensation on his wrist made him look down. The tattoo grew about an inch before his eyes.
A glance at Stefan proved that he was just as interested in the development, and for the first time, Jeremy questioned why he was making him kill vampires. He had his urges under control, so going after Silas to free him of the mark was unnecessary.
He was a vampire though, and he couldn't be trusted. He would manipulate people's minds all day long before feeding on their blood and killing them. No good vampire would ever force him to kill.
All at once, the urge washed through him and Jeremy pounced, the stake ready in his hand and aimed at Stefan's heart. However, the vampire was much older and wiser than Jeremy, and had him in a headlock with the stake on the ground a few feet away before he could do anything.
"Jeremy, stop!"
The concern in Stefan's voice brought him back, making him wonder why the hell he snapped like that. He thought he could control it, but the desire had just been so overwhelming… It was like what he felt when he attacked Elena.
Stefan wondered the same thing, but he chalked it up to the thrill of the kill. Jeremy was in the moment, and had his Hunter nature set on kill mode. There were a few more vampires Stefan had chained up and drugged with vervain the holding cells mere feet away. He'd let Jeremy kill them, see where that got his tattoo, and then he'd find some more people to turn and hand over to the kid.
His mark would be completed in no time, with Klaus's help they would find Silas, and Jeremy would be freed.
Then something struck him. What was in it for Klaus? But then Stefan realized that it didn't really matter. Klaus was willing to help them because he wanted Silas, and then he'd be off doing whatever he wanted, leaving all of them alone. It was a win-win. Klaus got what he wanted and left, and Elena would be safe with him gone and his interest in her nonexistent.
As he allowed Jeremy to finish off the two other vampires he had locked in the cells, it got increasingly harder for him to snap out of the murderous trance he seemed to go in. It took a punch across the face to finally knock him out of it, only for him to turn back into his teenage self and start cursing Stefan for hitting him.
However, even as they returned to the pageant where Jeremy was set to escort April Young, he had to be snapped out of it once more when he came at Stefan with a tree branch.
"Why the long face, feeling nostalgic disappointment at having lost last year's pageant to Miss Neurotic Control Freak?" Damon smirked, leaning in the doorway of one the rooms upstairs in the Lockwood mansion where Elena stood with April Young.
She looked stunning in the tight lacy black dress with her hair pulled away from her tempting neck that he buried his fangs in twice within the past week or so.
"You know I can hear you, jackass!" Caroline screeched from the adjoining room before swinging the door open with two dresses in hand.
Damon shrugged then looked back to Elena, raising his brows. She rolled her eyes and approached him while Caroline took over with April, "I was just thinking about Jeremy. I know he said that he has it under control, but how am I supposed to believe that when he almost killed me?"
"Don't worry about it, Elena, if he was having problems, he'd tell you. Think of it like this, now that we know about it, we know why he was giving you such a hard time."
She sighed, not really wanting to talk about it. All she wanted to do was get through this pageant then make sure Jeremy was really okay. Klaus knowing that Jeremy was a vampire hunter by nature wasn't really making her feel safe, no thanks to Stefan. They would have been able to figure out the mark without his help, and they'd all be a lot safer for it too.
But they couldn't change what had already happened, all they could do was take precautions against anything else going wrong.
"Elena, don't you think the blue dress is prettier?" Caroline asked.
Furrowing her brows at the two choices, Elena blanched, "Um, yeah, the blue one's pretty…"
Damon scoffed, "Wear the red one. The judges aren't looking for pretty, they're looking for sexy."
Caroline rolled her eyes, "You're an idiot. She's sixteen, they're not looking for sexy!"
"Elena wore blue and she didn't win." Damon pointed out. "What do you think, Elena?"
She shrugged, "The red one's nice too, I guess, but don't you think a slit up to her thigh is a bit…risqué for a pageant like this?"
Damon pouted at the two of them, "You're no fun, always killing my mood."
Caroline raised a brow, "Your mood is exploiting underage girls?"
Elena giggled, earning a glare from Damon, but she couldn't bring herself to care. April even cracked a grin, and said, "Thanks for the advice, but I think I'm going to go with the red one. I kind of like the slit, and it makes up for the extra skin by covering my chest."
Grinning smugly, Damon said, "Thank you, April. At least one of you girls has some common sense."
She beamed under his praise, and Elena felt a jolt of jealousy run through her. Gritting her teeth, she told herself that it was ridiculous to be jealous. Not only was Damon in love with her, but April was so much younger, and she was surprised Damon even knew her name.
Caroline huffed, "Get out of here so she can get dressed!"
Dodging a shoe, Damon chuckled and decided to make himself scarce before the queen had a stroke. Descending the stairs, he froze at the bottom when he spotted none other than Professor Shane standing off to the side. As it goes, the creep somehow scored himself a seat on the judge's panel this year, how, Damon will never know. As far as he could tell, Carol Lockwood had been tickled by him when he threw a gallery for his artifacts at the high school in which Bonnie had helped him.
Odd, to say the least.
The last he had heard, Professor Creepy was giving Bonnie some family belongings. He also heard from Elena that he was getting closer to the witch, helping her cope with what had happened to her Grams. Apparently he knew that Bonnie was a witch, because of her grandmother, and he has been working with her on her magic after it was stunted when she helped Klaus.
And evidently, the little witch had taken it into her own hands and decided to ask him all about Silas and what he knew because of his interest in witches. Of course, he couldn't tell them anything they didn't already know, but it wasn't exactly the best news that he knew they were interested in finding Silas. The sooner they could get rid of Jeremy's urges the better, though having some shady professor that knows about witches lurking around, growing closer to Bonnie, wasn't exactly a step towards helping Jeremy.
He was certainly a wildcard, and Damon hated wildcards.
Suddenly the professor glanced in Damon's direction, spotting him standing there, and excused himself from the conversation he'd been having. "Damon Salvatore." He stated, and Damon didn't even want to know how he got his name. Resisting a grimace at just the sound of his voice, Damon managed to keep his expression neutral. Atticus Shane continued, "Looks like we're traveling the same circuit."
"Professor Shane." He smiled tightly. "Just the guy I wanted to see." Walking towards him to close the distance, Damon led him outside to where no prying ears would be able to listen in. Excluding the vampires, of course. Snagging a glass of champagne from a waiter, Damon sipped it as he said, "Since you seem to know so much about this Silas guy and the Hunters, I need another Hunter."
Admittedly, going out looking for another supernatural vampire hunter wasn't the greatest idea, but if what everyone has said about Silas is true, that he's some kind of all powerful psychic that can manipulate your mind, he didn't want Jeremy getting anywhere near him. So, the next best option would be getting another Hunter to kill the old bastard and release The Five from the spell.
Professor Shane, knowing only that people around here seemed interested in tracking down Silas, commented, "I thought you already had a potential Hunter."
"I did, but he ended up being a potential problem."
"Well, there's nothing I can do to help you." Shane told him.
He narrowed his eyes, "You sure about that? How about you help me out by telling me what you're doing here? What's in your little lesson plan here, Professor?"
"You think too highly of me, Damon." He returned. Damon just raised his brows in return, as if daring him to confess his dark master plan.
And Damon knew he had one. You see, Professor Shane seemed to think himself a psychologist. Hence, his sessions with Bonnie, and a quick look into phone records during a basic background check unearthed something rather disturbing.
"I'm going to go find the other judges." Shane made to leave, but Damon held out a hand to stop him.
"Hey, no pity votes for April Young, okay? I mean, just because her dad blew up a house filled with people doesn't mean she should get a tiara." Shane stopped, and turned to face him more fully. Damon continued, "But you knew him, didn't you? Because I hear you two racked up a pretty impressive phone bill."
Through narrowed eyes, Shane said, "If you want to know something about me Damon, just ask."
"Okay." He said, a smirk pulling at his lips. "How did you convince the pastor to kill all those people?"
A small smirk of his own, Shane replied, "Did you just accuse me of mass murder in the middle of a high school pageant?"
"I'm nothing, if not bold." Damon grinned, almost too giddy at the reactions he was getting.
Carol Lockwood's voice interrupted them as she announced the start of the pageant. Shane slinked away, surely to join the other judges and avoid answering his question truthfully, and Damon mentally groaned. He needed answers from that moron, and he wasn't above compelling to get them. He would have done it already if he didn't suspect the guy knew all about vervain.
Damon decided to join in on the party while he was there, and he instinctively searched the air for Elena's sweet scent. She smelled like cherries and vanilla, and her scent was unmistakable even masked by the hundreds of other people swarming around him. He strode over to where she stood watching as Caroline announced the contestants and their escorts, clapping when appropriate. He threw an arm around her shoulders just as Blondie announced April Young, though her escort wasn't Jeremy Gilbert as he had anticipated and Caroline announced. Instead, Donovan stepped in and led her out onto the dance floor.
"Where's the little punk?" He asked Elena.
She pursed her lips, "That's my brother you're talking about, Damon." He rolled his eyes. "And I have no idea. Matt told me that nobody could find him anywhere."
Damon frowned, "With an open bar and just finding out that he has desires to murder vampires, I'm sure he just had one too many drinks. He's probably passed out in a room upstairs."
"Except they checked all of the rooms. He's nowhere on the property, and while I wouldn't put it past him to get drunk, he wouldn't just disappear. Nobody in this town disappears without reason for concern."
Cursing under his breath, he knew she was right. If Jeremy was well and truly missing, that couldn't be good.
"Let's just get through this pageant, and see if he shows up. Maybe he just had second thoughts about dancing in front of so many people when he might go all Buffy and attack the nearest vamp in front of everyone."
She nodded and let out a breath, "Okay." As the music started, she snaked an arm around his waist and leaned into his side. Watching the contestants and their escorts dance the same dance that she and Damon had, she looked up at him and found him already looking at her. They shared a knowing smile, no words necessary to know that they were both thinking of those few, isolated minutes where the world fell away and nothing mattered outside of them.
Damon smiled as he kissed the top of her head, and she dropped her cheek against his shoulder while they watched the dance progress. How things had changed in one short year. So many things had happened. Back then, she had been worried about Stefan's blood problem while dealing with her growing attraction to Damon, that was more than just physical. Now, she was in love with him while Stefan was trying to move on.
Or at least that's what she thought.
When she spotted Caroline marching over towards them, Elena excused herself from Damon to go call Jeremy. The blonde diverted her path, heading straight for Elena. "What's with the last minute escort change?" She hissed, not happy with her flawless planning having a hiccup.
Elena sighed, "I don't know, Matt said he couldn't find Jeremy anywhere and he's not answering his phone."
Instantly converting to concerned friend mode, Caroline began, "Okay, you go home and check to see if he's there, and I'll get everyone working here to look around the property."
She shook her head, "No, Caroline, Jeremy's been having a rough time recently and I'm not going to freak out about it just yet. Maybe Damon was right, maybe he just grabbed a bottle from the bar and snuck off into the woods. I know I couldn't blame him for it."
Caroline put a hand on her hip, "No, Damon's never right. Damon is sneaky, and manipulative, and rude, but he's never right. God, how can you not see that?"
Elena gaped at her friend, not believing that she had just said all of that right to her face. It was common knowledge by now that her and Stefan were over and she was well on her way to Damon. Caroline knew how Elena felt about him, but she just blatantly insulted him in front of her. She wasn't asking for them to be best friends, but at least act civil towards one another. Nicknames and teasing aside, she knew that Damon really did respect her. It was just sad to see that the feeling wasn't returned, just like it never has been all of Damon's life.
"I don't know, but why do I think that you won't hesitate to tell me?" Elena pasted a fake smile on her face.
Caroline looked at her in disbelief, then said, "Fine, friend-tervention. I think your so called 'feelings for Damon' are really starting to cloud your judgment and I don't like it! And the thought of you two together really makes me wanna barf!"
"Easy, love, you're making a scene." Klaus said softly, inching up beside her. Great, just what Elena needed. Not only did her best friend think that her love for Damon was awful, but now she had to deal with him?
"Wow, Caroline." Elena bristled, a pissed off grin on her face. "Thank you for making this very difficult time so much easier. You know, it's not like my whole entire life just changed less than a month ago and the only thing that has been keeping me together is that, what did you call him, 'sneaky, manipulative, and rude' man. While I've been struggling just to get through the day and accept the fact that I'm dead, you're off on a date with Klaus, of all people, and you have the nerve to lecture me about my choice in men?"
Seeing her jaw resting securely on the floor, unable to argue, Elena moved past her, making sure to knock her shoulder as she went.
Meanwhile, Damon just got off the phone with his dear brother and had a brand new pissed off mood to go with it. Deciding to get some answers, he tracked down Professor Shane and cornered him in one of the many rooms of the mansion.
When he noticed Damon, he said, "Wow, I must be the least intimidating mass murderer ever."
"Well you still never gave me a name, so—"
"Look I don't have another name. At any point in time there are five Hunters in existence. Most of them have no idea who they are, or even that the supernatural exists. Finding one in a lifetime is next to impossible, let alone another."
He walked around Damon and made to leave, but deciding that there was nothing left to lose, Damon flashed over in front of him, stopping him in his tracks and making his eyes go wide.
Then he blew out a laugh, "Subtle."
Damon resisted rolling his eyes, "Like you didn't already know. You have five seconds to give me another name, or else you die."
"You know, since it's generally unwise for a vampire to seek out a Hunter that means you're interested in the mark. It's probably because of where it leads, but here's the thing, even if you can complete the mark and get the map, Silas is sealed in a tomb with a spell that only a certain kind of witch can perform."
Well that was news to him. He had figured that they needed a witch to find the old decrepit immortal, but a special kind? He swore if the next word out of his mouth was Bennett…
"What kind of witch?"
"Come on, Damon." He chuckled.
Grabbing his wrist in just the right way, Damon chuckled, "I love pressure points. What kind of witch?"
"You're a big boy, you can figure this one out."
Damon cursed again and again, "You leave Bonnie out of this."
Shane gasped out through the pain, "She's the only one that can do it, and until she's back in touch with her magic there's no point in any of this. And between the two of us, who do you think she trusts to help her with that?"
Well her judgment was severely lacking, Damon thought angrily. At least he now knew what this guy's real motivation behind Bonnie was. While it was slightly concerning that he seemed to want to find Silas so desperately, he was just a human, and could easily be overpowered.
Damon released him, albeit reluctantly, and Shane continued, "Your five seconds are up, unless you just realized you need me alive." With a smirk at knowing he was right, Shane continued, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a scholarship to award."