Hey everyone. So I didn't plan on updating this until next week but I'm at the San Diego Comic Con and I have absolutely nothing better to do while I wait for TVD's panel. I already had this pre-written so why not upload it, right? Don't worry, updates for other stories will return. I've got half of Hurricane's 5th chapter done.
But enjoy this! Wish me luck...I'm gonna be here for a while.
Disclaimer: Refer to the first chapter please :)
Let the Right One In
The outside world was ruthless. Thunder roared in the sky, lightning flashed violently, and Mystic Falls was experiencing the beginning of the first storm of the upcoming winter. After Damon, Claire, and Stefan got rid of Bethanne's body, Stefan told Damon that, first thing in the morning, he would tell Elena about the break in. Meanwhile, Claire was up in her room, digging through her closet that she had put all of her useless boxes into, where she kept things from over the decades. She'd been through that box once to get her 1950s costume, but now she was in there for a different reason.
"What are you doing?" Stefan asked at the threshold of her room as he watched her hunt through her boxes, tossing useless garbage to the side. Claire sighed.
"I'm looking for something," she murmured, lifting up a book to see if it was underneath it.
Stefan walked into her room as a roar of thunder sounded overhead. After it passed, Stefan was at her side and he brushed his fingers over the items she tossed onto her bed. "What are you looking for?"
"I'm trying to find—"
"This?" a new voice said, and Claire and Stefan turned to see Damon at the threshold of her room, holding in his fingers two rings—her engagement ring and her wedding band. Claire took a moment, but upon realizing that Damon had something she wanted, she realized that it couldn't be good.
"Give it back, you asshole," she snapped, almost afraid of what he might ask for in return. But he couldn't say anything with Stefan around.
"Wait, why and how do you even have that?" Stefan asked, raising his eyebrows. Damon shrugged and walked into the room, clenching the rings in his hand.
"Well, this morning, after Pearl told me that Christopher was back, I figured you'd want these." Damon shrugged, unclenching his fist in front of Claire to reveal the rings. "Thought I'd save you some time."
"How thoughtful of you, Damon," Claire taunted, grabbing the rings from the palm of his hand. "I'll be sure to write you a thank-you note. Now get the hell out of my room."
Damon pursed his lips and watched as Claire just held the rings in her hand. "Well…aren't going to put it on?" he questioned, and she peered up at him. He was testing her, seeing what she'd do. His voice was so sickeningly normal that Stefan didn't suspect a thing. But if Damon wanted her to put it on, she'd put it on. If he wanted to screw with her, she'd screw right back.
With a sour smile, Claire slipped the engagement ring and wedding band onto her left ring finger and waved it in front of Damon's face to see. Damon's smirk stayed on his lips, but it grew bitter. Satisfied, the blonde turned to her best friend beside her.
"You know, I'm going to go get some blood. This incoming storm is making me hungry." Claire turned to Damon next, her eyes hardening. "I want you out of my room," the female vampire scolded and brushed past Damon with a hard bump on the shoulder.
Once Claire was out of the room, she stopped in the middle of the hallway and took a deep breath. The additional rings she'd put on were making her nervous and uneasy, so she took her shaking delicate fingertips and slid the rings off of her ring finger and slipped the set into her pocket.
Damon Salvatore, that bastard, Claire thought with a scoff and just continued on her mission to get something to drink.
Back in Claire's room, Stefan and Damon were left alone with each other upon Claire's departure. "She's so bossy, isn't she?" Damon tsked.
Stefan sighed. "Why can't you just let her be happy for once, Damon?" the brother asked, earning Damon to raise an eyebrow. "I mean…hiding the truth from her for a hundred and fifty years and then taking her wedding rings? There's got to be a line somewhere."
"Spare me the lecture, Stefan," Damon chided, glaring at his brother. "Claire already slapped me for keeping the truth from her."
"And did you apologize?" Damon scoffed, and Stefan took that as an admission of guilt. "Right. Of course not. Naturally, you just…take her wedding rings." Stefan shrugged and, just like Claire before him, brushed past his brother without another word to be said.
Damon was left alone in Claire's room, oddly enough, with a sickened look on his face. His brother always took Claire's side on everything. It was like she was the sibling Stefan never had. It was something that got on Damon's nerves, seeing as Claire was his friend first. But he would be damned if he let those two see him sweat.
By the time Christopher finally came back to the communal house, the midnight sky looked just about ready to downpour on him. Luckily, since the storm had not started yet, he was safe. Christopher found Pearl in one of the many rooms downstairs, ironically with Frederick.
"Miss Pearl—" Christopher started, entering the room. But upon seeing Frederick, he just scoffed. Frederick remained unmoving, just whittling something in his hand. "Frederick. Wonderful. You seem to just be everywhere today."
Pearl turned to Christopher. "Don't worry about him, Christopher. Bethanne was punishment enough for his actions tonight."
Christopher nodded. "So you heard. I came straight here after Clarissa showed me her body. I wanted to make sure you knew and that he didn't try anything."
Frederick scoffed on the couch. "Clarissa. Lovely. So that means you two have finally made your way back to each other. Maybe now you'll stop moaning."
"Maybe after tonight, you'll stop complaining," Christopher returned with a light shrug and a death glare. Pearl interrupted, not wanting to see the verbal fight turn into a physical one.
"Enough." Her eyes moved over Christopher, who just watched as Frederick kept whittling a piece of wood. "So you ran into Clarissa while you were away?"
Christopher's eyes finally met Pearl's. "I did. I'm sorry it wasn't the way you wanted, but it happened. Now that I've found her, I can't stay here anymore. I hope you understand."
"I do," Pearl said, but a sad smile rested on her lips. "I just wish I could've been the one to make it up to you. Helping Katherine with her revenge plans on Clarissa was one of the worst mistakes I could've possibly made."
The bronze-haired Fell nodded. "I appreciate your apology. I'll be out of here by morning." He didn't care about Pearl's mistake all that much, though. It seemed so long ago, and the agony of the tomb was enough to make him completely forget all about that horrid night he turned.
Pearl just nodded to him and then turned on her heel to leave with an extra glance towards Frederick. She left the two men alone, and that seemed to be Pearl's worst mistake.
The second Pearl was out of the room, two vampires came out from behind Christopher and snapped his neck silently. One vampire caught Christopher's body as it fell so that it didn't make a sound. Frederick finished whittling the stake in his hand and stood, sighing. He didn't even look towards Christopher's temporarily dead body.
"You heard Pearl before Christopher interrupted," the ruthless vampire muttered to his helpers. "No revenge. Patience. Self-control. She seems to have it all figured out, doesn't she?" He examined the stake in his hand as a lightning bolt struck behind him. Frederick's eyes drifted up towards Christopher's temporarily dead body, and a sick smile tugged at his lips. "Take him down to the cellar."
Damon nailed a wooden board to the broken window, temporarily fixing the issue until they could get a new window installed. The rain was pouring down heavily over the town, the clouds emptying all its unwanted rainwater.
"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night," Damon suggested lightly with a dark edge to his tone.
"Yeah. And then what? We turn to the rest of that house of vampires and say, 'Oops. Sorry?'" Stefan snorted sarcastically. Damon shrugged, as if it weren't a bad idea.
"I can't believe you made a deal with her," an exasperated Elena said to Damon, giving him the equivalent of a death stare.
"Oh, it was more like a helpful exchange of information," Damon corrected like it was no big deal. "And it's not like I had a choice. She's…scary."
"Because we should all be afraid of the big, bad Pearl, right?" Claire spoke with her arms crossed over her chest. Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but Damon just nodded.
"Right. Claire, she's older than the three of us combined. Besides, she's gonna help me get Katherine back," Damon added. Somehow, it was a plus.
Claire just held up her hands and turned her head to Stefan, shaking it vigorously. "Nope. Nope. I can't. I can't do it. I'm done. I'm not even going to respond to that." She began to pace, and Stefan tried to calm her down while Damon and Elena engaged in snarky conversation of their own.
"Oh of course she is," Elena snapped with an edge. "Damon gets what he wants, as usual. No matter who he hurts in the process."
"Okay, Claire 2.0," Damon snorted. "You don't have to be snarky about it."
Elena straightened angrily. "I woke up this morning to learn that all of the vampires have been released from the tomb! I've earned snarky."
Damon sighed, exasperated, and he sat down on his favorite armchair. "How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"
"I'm not blaming you, Damon," Elena sauntered forward with her arms crossed over her chest. "I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."
Damon rolled his eyes. "Ouch. Like I haven't heard that one before."
Stefan stepped forward with an annoyed Claire by his side. "Okay! Okay. This isn't being very…productive. We're gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires. Yeah?" The younger Salvatore questioned his brother, trying to put him back on track.
"Mmhmm," Damon agreed and just got up from his chair, exiting the study. Claire stared after him with disbelieving eyes.
"Where the…where in the hell is he going now…?" Claire sighed tiredly. Meanwhile, Elena groaned.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, frustrated. "He just makes me so cranky!"
Stefan brought his girlfriend closer to him, pulling Elena's head into his chest. "I know. He makes everybody cranky."
"He makes everybody pissed off. Cranky's putting it lightly," Claire murmured and sat down in the chair that Damon vacated with a bounce.
"So what are we going to do?" Elena mumbled into Stefan's shoulder. Stefan held her close, trying to console her.
"Claire, Damon, and I will handle everything. I promise," Stefan assured her. Claire nodded to the human reassuringly, backing Stefan's claim up. Elena pulled away from Stefan, worried.
"Well, what about me?" she demanded. Stefan brushed a hair out of her eyes. "I can't just sit here and do nothing."
"No, that's exactly what you're gonna do because that's what's gonna keep you safe."
"Which means nothing if you're not safe, too."
"What do you mean? I'm perfectly safe." Stefan retorted, his eyes flickering over to Claire, who was observing Elena and Stefan. "I have Damon, the self-serving psychopath on my side and Claire, the badass vampire version of Buffy."
Claire pointed at Elena seriously. "It's true. I'm pretty badass. I could give Buffy a run for her money."
Elena buried her head in her hands. "It's the Damon part that's the most…comforting," she told them, her voice clipped. Claire rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry about him. He's going through a phase. It'll pass."
Elena looked up from her hands and, suddenly, a thought dawned on her. "Wait a second…if all the tomb vampires are out, then that means—"
"My husband is, too?" Claire filled in. Elena waited and watched as Claire nodded. "I know. I saw him earlier. I'm actually surprised he's not back yet…"
Stefan shrugged. "Maybe Pearl needed him to do something before he left. Or the rain slowed him down. Who knows?"
Claire took out a grave exhale. "You're right. I don't know, I'm just a little on edge. I swear, Damon Salvatore will drive me into an early retirement." As if vampires actually did retire. She wanted to laugh at the thought.
"Well, why don't you go back to the house with Elena? Take a breather," Stefan suggested, gesturing between the two of them. Elena looked at her boyfriend, raising an eyebrow.
"I thought you were going to come up with a plan to stop Pearl…"
Stefan frowned. "Yes, but the three of us know how hard it will be if Claire and Damon keep playing a nice little game of 'who can make the best comeback' all day."
Claire laughed. "That's right, Stefan. Blame it on your brother and your best friend when we both know you just want someone to look after Elena."
"Stefan, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me." Elena told him reassuringly. Claire just sighed and stood up from her chair.
"Actually, it would be nice to get out of this house." A mischievous glint shone in Claire's eyes. "What do you say, Elena? We can paint each other's nails…braid each other's hair…maybe even have a pillow fight or two." The vampire smirked at the human, who just scoffed and smiled.
"Okay…sure," Elena agreed, nodding to Claire. "Why not? It should be fun."
Claire smiled and then turned to Stefan, who was enjoying the sight of the two women in his life getting along. The female vampire pointed at Stefan accusingly. "But this doesn't mean I'm out of the plan completely. Call me when you and Damon figure out what you want to do."
"Will do." Stefan nodded sternly. After Elena and Stefan said their proper goodbyes, Claire and Elena set out in the downpour outside to go back to the Gilbert house.
"If we're gonna watch a movie, we're gonna need popcorn," Claire complained as Elena hunted through the discs in the cabinet under the television in the Gilbert's living room. Elena chuckled softly.
"Why?"
"You can't watch a movie without popcorn, Elena! It's a crime!" Elena shook her head, trying to find a good movie to watch. Claire sighed. "Look, I'll go make some. You do have popcorn right?"
The teenager glanced up at Claire with teasing eyes. "Yes, Claire. We're not completely isolated."
"Good," Claire taunted back, swinging her legs off the couch and pulling herself up to go to the kitchen. "So I will go make some. With extra butter, too. God, I love being a vampire. You can eat what you want, when you want it. No questions asked."
She jogged to the kitchen and hunted down the box of popcorn in Elena's pantry while the teenager in the living room had a question she wanted to ask so badly. Elena was hesitant, but eventually, she opened her mouth and said, "So…you actually like being a vampire?"
Claire finally found the box of Orville Redenbacher's and grabbed a packet of microwavable popcorn. Hearing Elena's question, she shrugged and sighed. "I don't think…anyone actually likes being a vampire, Elena. It's hard. Over time, you begin to long for the days when you were human." The package ripped with a light touch from her, and Elena stared at Claire, watching as the blonde vampire put the pocket of popcorn into the microwave and set the timer. Claire turned around with a sigh. "I was forced into it. The way I see it, I have no other choice than to enjoy it. If I don't, the rest of eternity will be super depressing."
Elena was silent, but Claire could tell that she understood. "I…guess that makes sense." She paused, and Claire watched as the popcorn spun on the microwave's tray and the clock counted down the time until it was done. "It was Katherine who forced you turn, wasn't it?"
"Yep."
"And that's why you hate her so much?"
"Among other reasons."
"Like…?"
"Elena," Claire warned, spinning around to face the teenager. "Katherine Pierce is someone I really don't want to think about right now. Which is odd, since I'm spending the day with her creepy look-alike, but the fact of the matter is, I actually like you. I sincerely don't want to talk about her."
"Okay." Elena forced herself up from the floor, and behind Claire, the microwave counted down its last seconds. "But…what I don't understand is why she'd do it. Why would she turn you if she hated you as much as you hated her?"
Claire threw her hands up. "In her mind, it was some sick, twisted way to get revenge on me. I don't know, I'm not Katherine." The microwave beeped behind Claire, and just as it did, Elena's phone rang. Claire listened to the sound of Elena ignoring the phone call and sighing irately, and just like that, Claire knew who it was. "Was that Damon?"
"Yeah." Claire jumped at the hotness of the inflated popcorn bag, and she dropped it on the counter so that it could cool before she opened it. Elena shouted out a movie title and Claire agreed quickly. After the bag of popcorn cooled down, Claire opened it, transferred the food to a bowl, and set it down in the living room. She felt around for her own phone, but the vampire soon realized that she'd left it in her jacket. Without telling Elena, she walked away from the living room and to the front door, where her leather jacket was hanging on the coat rack. Reaching inside her jacket, she found her phone just as it stopped buzzing. On the screen, it said that Damon Salvatore had called her ten times within the last hour.
"What the hell—?" Before Claire could say anything, a knock sounded right beside her, and she worriedly opened the door. Damon stepped inside without an invitation, brushing right past her.
"You're ignoring me," Damon accused her as he walked into the foyer of Elena's house. Claire shut the door and held up her phone.
"The ten missed calls? I left my phone in my jacket, Damon. Not that I would've answered them if I had known, anyway." Damon frowned at her, but she just crossed her arms. "Now what could you possibly want?"
"Damon?" Elena asked as she walked from the living room to the connecting room to see Damon in her house. He turned around at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Is Stefan here?" the dark-haired vampire questioned.
"No." Elena crossed her arms, too. "Why? Something wrong?"
"He went out to the woods and didn't come back. I can't get him on his phone. I figured he was here with you two," Damon replied. By this time, Claire had already dialed Stefan's number and pressed it to her ear.
With a shake of her head, Claire disconnected the phone call and announced, "It went straight to voicemail. What the hell is so important that he turned off his phone?"
Damon's eyes went wide, and he soon realized that it wasn't on purpose. His brother wouldn't turn off the phone; someone would have to do it for him or it would've died. Even if it did, Stefan was still nowhere to be found. He came to the conclusion quick, the already darkened day darkening by the second.
His eyes flickered up to Claire, who was waiting for Damon's conclusion. "You're not going to like what I'm thinking."
"Pearl!" Damon shouted as he and Claire stood on the porch of the communal house Pearl had set up for the tomb vampires. Though Christopher never really told Claire where it was, Damon had learnt the location from Pearl when she visited the Salvatore household. "Open this door! I swear to God I will bust through and rip your head off."
Claire banged on the door some more, but Damon grabbed her hands and thrust them back to her sides. She let out a frustrated exhale at Damon's gesture, but it paid off. The door cracked, and a vampire inside peered at them.
"Pearl's not home," the vampire said darkly. Damon and Claire stepped back, and the vampire stepped out into the light, revealing his face. It was Frederick. He hummed to himself as he looked over the grey sky. "Mm. Beautiful weather. Not a ray of sun in the sky."
A thunder sounded, but Damon and Claire weren't messing around with Frederick. "You have him! We know you have him. Where is he?"
Frederick gave her a sickening smile. "I'm sorry, Clarissa. You're going to have to be more specific."
"Stefan, you dumbass!"
"Stefan?" Frederick repeated, raising his eyebrows. "Funny. Because I thought you were here for…well, you do know who I'm talking about, right?"
Claire took a moment, trying to make sense of Frederick's cryptic words, but then she understood. Rage bubbled up inside her. "No! You did not take him, you didn't—"
Damon restrained Claire, holding her back so that she didn't kill herself in the process of trying to confront Frederick. "Claire, stop," Damon pleaded, and the blonde vampire just jerked herself out of Damon's grasp and calmed down. Damon turned back to Frederick, disgusted. "Where's Stefan?"
Frederick and Damon stared at each other as the rain poured around the outside of the house. Frederick moved the door back, revealing the inside hallway of the house. He spoke one word: "Billy."
Inside, two vampires stepped out to reveal a sickeningly weak Stefan, doubled over with red rings around his eyes. All earlier thoughts of Damon trying to keep Claire from getting herself killed slipped away from Damon as he shouted three words and lunged for Frederick. "You are dead!"
"Whoa…I'm sorry." Frederick stepped back, and Damon was prevented from entering the house by the invisible seal around the threshold. "You haven't been invited in. Miss Gibbons?"
"Damon," Claire said softly, pulling Damon back from the threshold as well. He listened to her, stepping back, as the human Frederick called out to stepped out from behind the vengeful vampire.
"Yes, Frederick, honey?" She was a dazed, middle-aged woman with a bleeding bite mark on her neck. Frederick turned to her, his eyes locking on the woman.
"Never let this bad people in." It was all he needed to say to keep them out of the house, and with the compulsion, Miss Gibbons turned to Claire and Damon and nodded.
"I'll never let them in," she repeated in a monotone voice. A smile appeared on her face and she left without a single word. Frederick turned back to Damon and Claire, his eyes now cold and heartless.
"145 years left starving in a tomb, thanks to Katherine's infatuation with you and your brother," the resentful vampire snarled. Damon swallowed. "First few weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that can drive a person mad. Well…I thought your brother might've wanted to get a taste of that before I killed him."
Frederick's eyes moved to Claire, who shifted under his gaze. "As for your Christopher…he was just getting on my last nerve. I'll be sure to tell him you stopped by before I kill him." The merciless vampire just stepped to the side and said the other vampire's name again, and with the name used as a command, Billy stabbed Stefan in the side with a stake, causing Stefan to groan and drop. Frederick locked eyes with Claire and Damon.
"You two have a nice day."
The door was slammed in their face, and Damon and Claire were left out in the rain. "Come on," Damon grumbled and pulled her off of the porch out into the rain. He tried to make her run with him to prevent them from getting soaking wet before they went back to the car. Ultimately, they failed when Claire stopped running and just let the morning water soak into her. "Claire!" Damon shouted, feeling that her hand had slipped from his grasp.
"How could I have let this happen?" she shouted back at him over the rain, her hair completely drenched with water. Damon stared at her, the water dripping on his skin. "They have Christopher, Damon! If I had just gone with him or stopped him from leaving, they wouldn't—"
"Hey," Damon rushed up to her and gripped her arms hard. Claire turned her head from him, feeling sick. The rain was pouring on her, yet she didn't even care that it was soaking her immensely. "Stop it. Stop it! We'll get them back. Both of them."
"You don't know that!" Claire snapped, moving her eyes to lock with Damon's. "They could be killing Christopher right now! Stefan's the one they want to toy with, not Christopher! There's no guarantee that he'll even be alive when we save Stefan. Let alone if Stefan will be okay—"
"Listen to me. Claire! Listen to me," Damon growled, stepping closer again and moving his hands so they cupped her cheeks that were dripping wet from the rain. He could clearly see the anger built up in her eyes, and he remembered what a bad temper she had. But if she tried anything, she would die, and he knew that. "We'll figure it out, okay? Together. But we need to get back to Elena now and figure out this whole mess. Do you understand me?"
The blonde nodded, finding some kind of calmness in Damon's eyes. As much as she resented him, it wasn't the time to go picking a fight. So when Damon pulled her with him again to run to the car, Claire didn't object. They finally climbed into Damon's car, dripping wet but finally somewhere with a roof. Elena jumped down their throats the second they came into the car from the backseat.
"What happened? Where is he?" Elena pressured.
"They have him. And Christopher, apparently," Damon told the human, sighing. "Claire and I can't get in."
"Why not?"
"We're vampires, Elena," Claire told her softly. "We need to be invited in. The woman who owns the house is compelled not to."
Elena shook her head. "You don't have to get in. I can."
Damon stared the car and, if she'd suggested that on another day, he might've laughed. Instead, he began to leave the property in the pouring rain. "Don't be ridiculous, Elena. You're not going to go inside that house."
"But if you two can't get in—"
"Elena!" Claire snapped, turning around at her. Elena jumped at Claire's threatening voice, but the blonde just sighed, and the apology was written all over her face. "That house is full of murderous vampires. You're not going inside."
Elena took a moment to recover from Claire's abrasiveness, but eventually, she continued with her interrogation. "Why are they doing this? What do they want with Stefan? Or…or with Christopher, even? I don't…I don't understand."
"They want revenge," Damon said, trying to drive somewhat carefully in the rain. "At least, that's why they took Stefan. Apparently, Christopher just made an enemy in Frederick."
"He should've never gone back to that house," Claire muttered. Damon looked over at her.
"Claire," he said softly, and she looked over at him. He nodded to her. "We'll save him. He'll be fine."
Claire stared at Damon, really seeing his sincerity clearly in the clear, rainless air of the inside of Damon's car. Meanwhile, Elena was sitting in the backseat, thinking of plans to save Stefan. Suddenly, she gasped. "I know how we can get in."
"How?" Claire urged her, looking back at the teenager. Elena took out a shaky breath and glanced at Damon to get him to change his destination.
"The school. Go to the high school."
Frederick walked into the cellar where his two vampire hostages were being held by the aid of his two vampire minions. The rules had changed, and everything was clearer to Frederick after Damon and Clarissa's attempted invasion. While Stefan Salvatore, the one Frederick really wanted to torture, was being hung up and bound by vervain-soaked ropes, Christopher was staked down in a chair just a few feet away from Stefan, forced to watch.
"Your wife stopped by," Frederick announced to Christopher as he admired his minions' handiwork on Stefan. "With Damon Salvatore, no less. Weren't they supposed to be the 'It' couple of the 1800s or something like that?"
Christopher just laughed bitterly, almost delirious. He had been staked and re-staked over and over again for the past twelve hours by Frederick just for kicks. Christopher was starting to realize that it was just plain pathetic. "You're really something else, Frederick, you realize that? Staking me down…tying Stefan up…don't you get tired of trying to get revenge? You failed so miserably at the Salvatore house already. Doesn't it wear you out?"
Frederick stared at Christopher blankly, and then he moved his gaze to Billy. The other vampire just moved forward towards Christopher and ripped out the stake in Christopher's leg sharply, earning the vampire to groan involuntarily. After a twist into Christopher's stomach leaving the Fell bleeding, Billy returned the stake back into Christopher's leg to violently imply for him to stop talking. With teeth gritted, Christopher had no other choice but to listen. Meanwhile, Frederick moved to Stefan and began his torture.
"Vervain on the ropes." Using a piece of unsoaked rope, Frederick tugged down on the rope holding Stefan up so that the youngest Salvatore's feet lifted off the floor. Frederick growled, "That's gotta sting," in Stefan's ear over the green-eyed vampire's grunts. Frederick released Stefan so that he was able to stand flat on the ground. "Speaking of…"
He walked around Stefan's half-naked body and grabbed Stefan's hand, tilting it back. Having no choice, Stefan was forced to keep his eye open and live through the pain as Frederick used an eyedropper to dispense liquid vervain into his eye. Another scream escaped Stefan's mouth at the pain of the vervain in his eye, the tissue creating a smoke. It could've gotten worse, but someone interrupted.
"This isn't right!"
Frederick turned to see Harper as he stopped the vengeful vampire from continuing with his act of morality. Frederick stepped forward.
"He killed Bethanne. One of us, Harper. And don't you think for a second he wouldn't kill you if he had the chance."
Harper looked to see Christopher sitting in a chair across from Stefan, and the moral vampire gestured at him. "What are you doing to Christopher? He was supposed to be gone!"
"Christopher is a traitor. He was never one of us. All he cares about is that Clarissa King girl. It sickens me," Frederick brushed it off and turned. Harper shook his head, but Frederick continued. "Pearl says we're not here for revenge, right? I say that's exactly what we're here for. Starting with this."
The cruel vampire walked over to Stefan and dragged a knife across Stefan's chest in a diagonal motion, coaxing a groan from Stefan's mouth. Frederick gripped Stefan's throat and continued harshly.
"And then his brother. And then the King girl. And anyone else who gets in our way."
Harper lunged forward, trying to take away the knife Frederick used on Stefan. "This isn't right!"
Frederick just turned around and gripped Harper by the throat now, his voice raised high. "You're gonna wanna let go of me!" he snapped roughly. Despite the impairment Harper had with Frederick's hand around his throat, Harper managed to speak.
"Miss Pearl will be home soon," the ethical vampire warned.
"Miss Pearl is no longer in charge," Frederick whispered and then turned to his henchmen. "Tie him up! Stake him down like Christopher."
And though Harper tried to fight the two goons on him, he couldn't. Once he was gone, Frederick turned to Stefan, ready to torture the youngest Salvatore some more.
After much-needed convincing, Alaric Saltzman had given into the demands of Elena, Damon, and Claire. Damon had enticed him with the idea of finding his vampire wife, but Claire, Elena, and Damon all knew that what Damon was spinning was a lie. Elena kept her mouth shut and Claire was too stressed about getting her own husband back that she didn't say anything. For the occasion, Alaric laid his arsenal of vampire hunting weapons out on his desk for them all to see in the one lamp light he had on his desk.
"Teacher by day. Vampire hunter by night," Damon quipped, almost sourly impressed.
"I have you to thank for that," Alaric retorted. Beside Damon, Claire let out a small scoff as she looked over the array of weaponry.
"Wow. Van Helsing really was the right term to describe you," she mumbled to herself as she looked over the weapons Alaric had at his mercy. The crossbow he made was only the beginning of it—there were darts, wooden stakes, and even wooden bullets.
"What are these?" Elena asked, running her fingers over a dart. With his arms crossed, Alaric responded professionally.
"Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain."
"Just get us in," Damon told Alaric abruptly. "Claire and I will get Stefan and Christopher out."
"That's your plan?" Elena asked, her voice dull. She swept her eyes around to all the adults in the room. "You two are just going to take all the vampires on by yourselves?"
"Well, we'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully."
Claire sighed. "Besides, Elena. We're going to avoid all the vampires we can to get Stefan and Christopher out. We're not going in there to pick a fight."
"Speak for yourself, sugar," Damon murmured, low enough for only Claire to hear. She looked back at Damon and shot him a glare, but her attention was turned back to Elena when Alaric stopped her from doing something.
"Whoa. What are you doing?" Alaric questioned the human as she grabbed a tranquilizer dart. Elena looked up at him as if she hadn't done anything wrong.
"I'm going with you," the teenager said simply.
"No…no, no, no, no," Damon hurried out, shaking his head. "No way."
"You need me. I'll get in, you could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan," the girl suggested.
Claire turned to Elena. "Elena, this isn't an easy thing, okay? We're dealing with ravenous vampires here. You're not going in there. You'll get killed."
"I'm going," Elena returned. Damon just sighed and turned to Alaric.
"So when you get me and Claire inside, get out as quickly as you can." Alaric looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "We know how to sneak around where they can't hear us. You'll…basically just be in the way."
"Damon!" Elena said through her teeth, trying to turn the attention back to her. "Now is not the time to be the lone ranger."
Damon groaned as Claire opened her mouth to protest, but he eventually compromised. It wasn't much of an agreement, though, because he just belittled Elena. "Fine! Elena, you can drive the getaway car. Hmm? You're not going in that house." Damon's voice went from joking to serious all in one instant.
"You can't stop me," Elena returned angrily, rushing her eyes to anyone who would listen. "It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand!"
"What the hell are you not comprehending, Elena?" Claire barked angrily, her patience wearing thin. Elena stood her ground, used to Claire's sudden snaps by now. "You. Are. Not. Going. In. There. You can bet your ass I understand why you want to go, but now is not the time to be a hero." She snapped her fingers, causing Elena to flinch. "That's how fast it'll take to snap your neck in half, you get it? Damon and I need to get in and get out before anyone makes us. If we fail, this will be something that none of us get the luxury of walking away from."
Elena lowered her eyes as Claire chastised her, and Claire immediately felt guilty about it, but she didn't say anything. The vampire was just so on edge, and Elena's pestering wasn't helping the situation. At any moment, Frederick could drive a stake through Christopher's heart and he'd be done for. He could do the same to her best friend, and it was getting to Claire's darkest emotions.
"Elena," Claire said softly, reaching out to touch the teenager's arm. Elena looked up, her eyes watering. "Believe me right now, I know exactly how you feel. But trust me on this. Please. I'll get him back for you."
Silence washed over the four in the room, until the vampire-hunting teacher broke said silence. "If we're gonna go, let's go."
"Being the bad guy sucks," Claire murmured to Damon as he and Claire waited for Alaric to get inside of the communal house. Guilt was riding her for harping on Elena so harshly, but she knew that she had no choice. If Elena went inside that house, she would get killed. "I don't know how you do it all the time."
"It's a life choice," Damon whispered to her over the rain. The rain washed their voices out so that the vampires inside wouldn't hear. They were standing on the back porch where they were sure Miss Gibbons was on the other side of the door. They were waiting for Alaric to infiltrate the house and get the human to invite Damon and Claire inside. "You'll deal with it."
"I don't want to deal with it," Claire told him softly. "I may be a bitch sometimes, but that's really only to you."
Damon rolled his eyes. "Lucky me."
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Alaric was shoving Miss Gibbons towards the open threshold. "I'm really sorry, but you're gonna need to invite a couple friends of mine inside."
Miss Gibbons stumbled in the doorway. "Oh, I'm sorry. They're not allowed in the house."
Alaric turned the dazed woman to him. "Yeah, I know, but you're gonna have to make an exception."
Damon spoke up over Alaric. "Get her out of the house. Now!" Alaric pushed Miss Gibbons onto the porch and Claire held her while Damon looked into her eyes using his compulsion heavily. "Miss Gibbons, now tell me the truth. Are you married?"
"No."
"Parents, children, anyone else who lives on this property?"
"No," Miss Gibbons repeated innocently. "It's just me."
"No? Good." Damon's hands went around her neck and snapped it in a quick flash, leaving Claire to catch the dead owner in her arms. She just let Miss Gibbons fall to the ground, and she and Damon were then welcome to step inside. As Damon crossed the threshold, Alaric stopped Damon forcefully.
"You were supposed to compel her!" the History teacher snapped angrily, not liking Damon's method of torture.
Damon's voice was a whisper. "It doesn't work that—"
"She's human!" Alaric shoved Damon.
"And I'm not! So I don't care," Damon spat. Claire stepped between them, breaking the two apart.
"We do not have time for this," she snarled and turned quickly to Alaric, sandwiching herself between the two men. "Get out of here. And get rid of the body." She shoved Alaric outside and Damon shut the door swiftly and quietly so that no vampire heard them. Hopefully, Alaric's episode didn't ruin things for them. Damon grabbed Claire's arm and pulled her with him to another direction to hide until another vampire came to find them and they could dwindle down their list of enemies. It wasn't long before Billy, Frederick's right hand man, went missing, and Frederick sent another vampire to find him. Damon and Claire had dragged Billy's body into the closet and were just waiting for the other vampire to find them.
Sure enough, they were right on point. The first vampire had been taken down by Damon, who staked the vampire quickly and as quietly as he could. After he set the vampire's body on the floor, he beckoned Claire with him. Before she went, she opened the fridge in the kitchen and, sure enough, there was a whole supply of blood stored in bottles. She grabbed one and then followed Damon out into the rest of the house to find Stefan and Christopher as quickly as possible.
Eventually, they were able to sneak past the vampires in the main room and get down to the basement, where they assumed the rogue vampires were hiding Stefan and Christopher. Stealthily, Claire kept a lookout on Damon's back and he moved them forward, down the stairs and to the cellar.
Claire stopped them, gripping Damon's hand hard. She whispered, her voice low enough for only Damon to hear her. "You smell that?" she asked. Damon took a whiff out of the air as they came down the stairs, and he nearly growled.
"Elena."
All of a sudden, another vampire appeared in the doorway that they were right beside. He hadn't made them, but he was coming to the quick conclusion. Damon's grip tightened on the tranquilizer dart in his hand, and with a flash, he stabbed it into the vampire's neck, bringing said vampire down. Damon and Claire walked out from the passageway to the cellar and faced Elena, who was standing behind a corner, breathing hard.
Damon's eyes were cold and angry. "Are you insane?" he snapped at the human.
Elena just panted, grateful that Claire and Damon had gotten to them before anything bad could've happened. She would've been disappointed, but they couldn't do anything about her situation now. She had already risked her life to get inside; they couldn't kick her out or yell or kick or scream.
She was in this now, whether they liked it or not.
While Claire, Damon, and Elena were trying to rescue Stefan and Christopher, the two tied-up vampires remained in the cellar room with Harper, who was sitting in a chair beside Christopher in the same position. Stefan seemed to be the only one they wanted to torture, but not the only one they wanted to kill. Stefan struggled against his ropes, but that only made it worse.
Eventually, Stefan whispered, "Thank you," to Harper, who looked up at him. "For trying to help me," the weak vampire clarified.
"They just needed somebody to blame. Someone to punish," Harper struggled. Suddenly, Elena broke through the door, sighing in relief when she saw Stefan.
"E-Elena?" Stefan choked out in disbelief. His girlfriend rushed up to him, and Stefan immediately realized the danger she was in. "You shouldn't be here…"
Damon and Claire emerged through the broken-down door as well, and while Damon went to Stefan, Claire rushed over to Christopher, who sighed in relief at her presence.
"Clarissa…" Christopher breathed. Her hands hesitated over the stakes in Christopher's legs, fearing to pull them out because she knew it would hurt.
"Thank God you're not dead." Claire sighed in relief, but tilted her head suggestively when her eyes finally reached the wooden stakes holding her husband down. "But that doesn't look too comfortable."
Christopher laughed, despite the pain. "It's really not." She smiled up at him sadly, and Damon stared at the two and the stranger beside Christopher.
"She was supposed to stay in the car," Damon grumbled to Stefan before walking around Christopher and Claire to Harper. He flipped a stake in his hand, but Christopher stopped Damon just as Claire was about to rip out a stake.
"No! Damon, stop," Christopher groaned, making Damon pause. Christopher swallowed, shaking his head. "He's not a threat. He defended Stefan, that's why he's in here with us. Don't kill him."
Damon shrugged. "Whatever. Let's get you down, Stefan."
But as Damon reached out to get the ropes, Stefan choked out, "There's vervain on the ropes."
The blue-eyed vampire immediately turned on his heel. "Elena, pull that." Elena instantly went to the ropes while Claire ripped out a stake from Christopher's leg, causing him to grind his teeth and groan. She didn't apologize, but merely took in a deep breath to take out the other one, once again making Christopher groan out as softly as he could.
Claire eyed the ropes behind Christopher, and her husband shook his head. "Don't. They're soaked, too."
Claire looked up at him and refused. "No. I've got this."
She braced herself as she heard Elena pull Stefan down from his ropes and Stefan stumbled into the wall beside Claire. Claire finally put her hands on the vervain ropes and bit down on her lip so hard that it bled. The vervain was burning into her skin, making her cry out, but she didn't care. She had them undone quickly, even though her fingertips turned raw. The ropes were on the floor, and Christopher was free and somewhat weak.
"All right," Damon spoke to the group he was leading. "Let's go. Clothes on, brother."
"Wait!" Stefan called out. Claire put Christopher's arm around her and held him up with no problem, considering her strength. As she made headway for the door, Damon turned around at the demand of his younger brother.
"What? Guys, come on! We have to get out of here."
Stefan bent down and pulled the stake out of Harper's leg with his bound hand, causing the two of them to groan. The younger Salvatore just made Elena take the other one out while Damon pushed for them to leave. Christopher was gaining strength by the second with the bottle of blood that Claire managed to steal from the fridge earlier. He clutched the bottle to his lips, drinking enough so that his strength returned.
"Can you get him in the car?" Damon asked Elena, specifically, as they exited the cellar room.
"Yeah. What about you?" Elena responded.
"You rescue, I'll distract. Christopher and Claire, you go with them." At this, Claire snapped her head up.
"Damon, you can't take on all those vampires by yourself. We'll help." Damon watched her as Claire nodded assuringly, and the vampire beside her nodded, too, all of his strength slowly returning to his body from the blood. Christopher tossed the empty blood bottle somewhere on the floor, and Damon didn't dispute their help.
"All right. Upstairs. Let's do this."
Once upstairs, Damon started his distraction plan by killing a vampire just feet away from Frederick. He flashed away to Claire and Christopher, who were waiting in the wings for the fight to really start. Frederick barked out commands to his vampire minions, and they spread out amongst the house, leaving him alone. It was the perfect time, Damon recognized, to really distract him, so he went for it while the other two vampires on the offensive went after others in the household.
The vampire fight was a blur, and it had many changes of power. It ended up that Damon beat the living daylights out of Frederick, but was blocked when two of his minions showed up and started kicking Damon around. Frederick got away, spooked and knowingly setting off to find Stefan to kill him quickly this time, and while Damon was getting his ass kicked, a certain blonde vampire came to the rescue. Claire took one of the vampires off of Damon and started fighting him while Damon took the one nearest to him. It was a bloodbath all right, but one that they were thankfully winning.
After killing the one vampire with the help of Christopher, who restrained said vampire so Claire could stake him, they were about to help Damon with the other when another vampire flashed up to Damon, striking to kill. Instead, that vampire was shot in the back by a certain vampire-hunting History teacher who lurked in the shadows.
"I'm going after Frederick," Damon announced, flashing away before Alaric, Claire, or Christopher could say anything to stop him.
"We'll search the house for more vampires," Claire breathed out, running a hand through her pale blonde hair. Christopher followed her, and they took off to find any remaining tomb vamps in the house that they could exterminate. They found one, but it was easily killed. Eventually, they returned to the main foyer, where Alaric was clutching his neck and pulling away a hand lightly sprinkled in blood.
"What happened to you?" Claire asked, her eyes moving over Alaric's hand. The teacher sighed.
"Bastard bit me."
"Frederick's gone," Damon declared, panting, as he came out of the hallway he saw Frederick disappear into, empty-handed. Claire, Christopher, and Alaric all turned to the dark-haired vampire who was in an understandable hurry to kill Frederick before anyone else got hurt.
"Let's get out of here," Alaric suggested. Damon turned around towards the door, groaning.
"Ah, I'm gonna kill him!" Damon shouted angrily as he swung open the door and stepped outside onto the porch. Claire, Christopher, and Alaric followed him, but were soon greeted by a swarm of tomb vampires just on the lawn, setting after them. The four stopped on the porch in disbelief. There were too many vampires. Not enough to be taken down by only three vampires and a vampire-hunting human.
"Hey, Van Helsing?" Claire sung, pursing her lips. "Those nifty vervain darts? How many do you have left, exactly?"
"One."
Damon shook his head. "Not gonna be enough."
He backed into the house, as did the rest of them, hoping to prolong the inevitable. Damon shut the door with a bang and they backed away from it, ready to come at whatever vampires stepped through the threshold.
"So what you said to get me to do this. About my wife? It was a lie, wasn't it?" Alaric asked Damon, who was slowly realizing that the house was surrounded. He found no reason to lie again.
"Yep."
Just as they thought the vampires would storm inside, there was a loud thudding sound, and the voice of an angry Pearl sounded.
"Stop! What's going on here?" Pearl asked, her voice muffled behind the door. The four defenders inside watched and waited as the door slowly creaked open, and Pearl and her daughter stepped through the threshold to see their house full of dead tomb vamps. "What did you do?" Pearl accused.
"Me?" Damon snapped angrily. "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother and your charity case."
Pearl's eyes flickered to Christopher, whose wounds were all healed on his wrists and legs. But she could clearly see his pants were stained with blood, validating Damon's story. Pearl's voice dropped to a regretful whisper.
"Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."
"No. Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them." Damon pointed a stake at her accusingly.
"This wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Well, it did!" Damon brushed past the old vampire and then spun around, pointing a finger at her now. "If I had a good side…not a way to get on it."
Damon opened the door with a creak, and he stepped outside, unharmed by Pearl. Alaric followed, and Claire was next. Pearl stopped Christopher from leaving, though, which made Claire wait for her husband while Pearl spoke softly.
"I'm so sorry, Christopher. I had no idea."
"I know." Christopher nodded, giving Pearl a sad smile. "Goodbye, Miss Pearl."
He brushed past Pearl, grabbing Claire's hand and pulling him out with her as well, shutting the door. The sound of grasshoppers filled the air, and Claire and Christopher followed after Damon and Alaric towards the car.
"Wait," Christopher pulled Claire to a stop just in front of the car, where Elena was helping Stefan get inside. Claire came a stop at Christopher's demand, her eyes searching his. "Claire? Is that what you go by now?"
Claire nodded. "Yes, it is. Does it matter?"
"No, I just…I just think I need a moment to stop and take a breath." Christopher inhaled deeply, and Claire just waited for him to start to make sense of everything. She knew what it was like to be a newborn—and though Christopher had been a vampire for over a hundred and fifty years, he was still technically new. "Thank you," he said eventually. "For saving me."
"You're my husband." Claire scoffed, not wanting to hear the gracious words from him. "I would do…anything for you. You know that."
"I'm still thankful." A small smile tugged on the side of Christopher's lips as he rubbed circles into the back of her hand. She nodded at him in understanding, and a silence passed over them. Claire opened her mouth to say something, but Christopher moved forward and kissed her without any warning at all. It took her pleasantly by surprise, but it was a surprise. Sure, she was kissing her husband, but it had been a hundred and fifty years since she had been with him. During that time, she'd committed so many acts of adultery any normal human would be sickened by it. Nevertheless, she kissed back, sighing into the kiss. Christopher pulled away after a while, his other hand stroking the side of her face.
He stepped back, their hands still intertwined, and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I know, we have a lot to work on, being apart for so long. But I just—"
"Don't…don't apologize." Claire shook her head and ripped her hand from Christopher, who raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" he asked her, but she turned from him, running a hand through her hair. "Did I do something?"
"No," Claire scoffed, turning around to face him. "God no. Of course not. It's what I did, okay? I mean…over the course of a hundred and fifty years, I have been with…" Claire let out a deep, deep sigh. "...so many guys. I mean…so many. And you've just—you've been perfect. So perfect, and it makes me sick to even think about all of the things that I did over those years I thought you were dead."
Christopher was silent, his eyes sweeping across the dark forest. He licked his lips, and Claire watched him with hurt eyes, trying to decipher his reaction. Eventually, Christopher sighed. "I can't…I can't blame you for those things, Clarissa. You did think I was dead. Even if you didn't, it was your choice. It doesn't affect how I feel…at all."
Claire fell silent, but a small, sad smile touched at her lips. "You always used to do that."
"Do what?"
"Think the best of me," Claire answered, sighing heavily. She stepped forward and grabbed his hand again, weaving their fingers together. "I think you're the only one besides Stefan who's really ever done that."
"Well, I love you." Christopher shook his head, a smile at his lips. "Did you expect any less of me?"
"No." Claire's smile got wider, and she stepped forward and kissed him again, this time neither one of them being taken by surprise. After their light, intimate kiss, she pulled him into her arms and hugged him, and then she saw something.
Damon.
He was standing by the hood of his car, stopped in his steps, watching them. Claire's heart sank in her chest watching as Damon stared, but she didn't pick up on the jealousy that was overriding his face. Instead, she saw the one secret that she never told anyone. The one that would ruin her marriage and her friendship if it ever got out.
So when Claire and Christopher went down to the cars and Alaric offered to take them home since Damon's car was full, Claire decided to corner Damon and talk to him before anything else got out of hand.
"You know, those wedding rings still seem to be absent on your finger," Damon pointed out as she reached him. "Explanation?"
"They're in my pocket," Claire told him, rubbing her naked ring finger at the mention of it. "I'll put them on soon. We just have a lot of things to work through first."
"Didn't look that way," Damon noted with a shrug and a sigh. "By the way, you're welcome."
"I was coming over here to say thank you," Claire told him maturely, nodding once. Damon's eyes locked with hers, and she remained stable. "You did help save him today and you helped me keep control of myself. I appreciated that."
"Well don't get too used to it." Damon gave her a sour smile. "We're enemies, remember?"
Claire kept her eyes on him, but his eyes were hardened. She dropped her eyes eventually and stepped back from Damon's car. "Right. Enemies. I guess I forgot for a second there." Damon nodded to her and braced his hand by the car door, but Claire inhaled sharply to stop him. "Damon, I just…" He raised an eyebrow, prompting her, and after licking her lips, Claire eventually sighed. "Everything seemed to work out for the best, okay? With Christopher and the tomb, I mean. And I just wanted to say that I don't blame you anymore. What's done is done."
A smug smile climbed onto Damon's face. "Clarissa King taking vindicating me? Where's my recording device?"
Claire's mouth tugged down in a frown. "There's no need to be a dick about it."
"There's plenty need." Damon opened the door of his car and smiled at her. "See you at home, sugar."
She opened her mouth to say something, but Damon had already started the car and was leaving the premises. Claire looked up with a sigh, and she noted the significant clarity of the night sky that was clearing itself up from the storm earlier.
When Damon returned home from a drink at the Grill, where the History teacher had socked him in the jaw, Damon realized that Claire and Christopher had already called it a night. So, leaving him with no one else to celebrate his victory with, Damon went to go check on Stefan in his room. He walked in, hearing complete and utter silence, but then he saw it.
One empty blood bag.
Another empty blood bag.
And then Stefan, sitting in dim light, ravenously and broodingly sucking the life out of another blood bag, human blood stained all over his lips and chin. He wore an ashamed expression, and Damon realized quickly that his brother, his goodie-two-shoes brother, had taken one rough fall right off the wagon.
Again.