Hello, everyone. Here's the next chapter for you all. Christopher's character has reviews across the board...I created his character, so I can't judge him. But here's a little heads up: he's not dying in the first season. You're all going to have to wait and see what I have in store for him, but do with that what you will. Trust me, I have a lot of twists and turns for this story that I'm really excited to get to. That's why I'm trying to get over Season 1 so I can start making my way towards the more interesting seasons.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Review at the end if you can, please. Hopefully this isn't the only story being updated today. I'm going to try my hardest to get a chapter of Don't Trust Me out by later tonight so look out for it!
Disclaimer: Refer to the first chapter please :)
Under Control
Claire stood over the fridge in the basement, pursing her lips. Her thoughts drifted back to the last time she'd fed, and she thought about how much blood was in the cooler then as opposed to how much was in there at that moment. As the wheels in her brain turned and she tried to make sense of the whole situation, she could hear the shuffling of feet coming to her.
"Claire?" Christopher said softly as he entered the small room in the basement where they kept the blood. Claire looked up to see her husband as he entered the room and cocked an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"
"I was getting something to eat," Claire responded, sighing as she leaned into the cooler and brought out a pocket of blood. Christopher nodded, but he waited for her to explain the reason she was weary. "But…there's something wrong. When did the blood supply become so low?"
Christopher shrugged. "Maybe Damon got hungry."
Claire looked up at him, frowning. "And he decided to raid the entire cooler? Damon doesn't do blood from bags if he's ravenously hungry. He prefers his from the vein."
"What about Stefan?"
"Stefan doesn't feed from humans—or even blood bags. He feeds off of animals."
Christopher was still confused. He rubbed his eyes and gestured towards the cooler. "Then the point of that thing is…?"
With a heavy sigh, the blonde female just shut the top of the cooler and tried to push the bad feeling out of her head. Pick your battles, Claire reminded herself. It was the number one rule of marriages nowadays. "You're right. I probably just miscalculated. You want to share this with me?"
Her husband nodded and smiled. "Sure. Come on." With a hand on the small of her back, he ushered her towards the exit of the small, secret room. When the two were upstairs, Claire grabbed two crystal glasses and took out the tube inside of the blood bag so she could pour the blood easily. "So do you do it, too?"
Claire looked up at Christopher, raising an eyebrow. "Do what?"
"Feed from the vein," Christopher clarified, sitting down on the couch. Claire turned back to the glasses and squeezed the last drops of blood out of the blood bag into the second cup she'd filled.
"Sometimes," the blonde admitted, grabbing both glasses. She walked over to Christopher with two cups in her hands and sat next to him, barely leaving any space between the two. "I try not to, though. Kind of seems inhumane if you ask me. But I've had my fair share of slip-ups."
Christopher took the glass from his wife and she pressed hers to her lips and drank. "I killed a man when I got out of the tomb," he confessed.
Claire nodded, but her expression remained unmoving. "I wouldn't blame you. You were starved for a century."
"I still feel bad." Her husband shrugged and drank a little out of the cup she gave him. He licked his lips, removing the stray blotches of blood. "Not enough to…I don't know, cry about it, but it still makes me feel guilty. I took a man's life."
Claire scoffed. "I've taken several." She leaned forward and set her glass of blood down on the coffee table. Her denim-covered knee was resting on Christopher's leg, and his warm hand was rubbing his thumb back and forth over the material. They were both dressed and ready for the day, but as married as they were, they hadn't gotten to…that part of their marriage just yet. Like she'd told Damon, they had a lot to work out. Sex wasn't number one on their priorities list. "Especially when I had my emotions off."
"Emotions off?"
"There's a switch that vampires can flip if an event traumatic enough calls for it," Claire explained. "It lets you feel nothing. Emotions, gone. But don't believe all the hype. It just prolongs the inevitable."
Christopher raised an eyebrow. "What made you flip the switch?"
Claire shrugged. "I don't even remember. I just wanted to try it, I guess. I didn't understand what was so good about it. All it does is remove your humanity."
"Stefan and Damon flipped it as well, once?" Christopher asked her, and Claire nodded.
"Mmhmm. If I didn't know any better, I'd think Damon still has his off." A small smile twitched at Claire's lips, but it was a joke. After helping her rescue Christopher from Frederick's house, she automatically knew that Damon had his emotions on. She still hated him, but she saw a glimpse of what Elena had seen. Salvation. "But Stefan…well, Stefan's a complicated story."
"It's not complicated," a new voice joined. Claire and Christopher turned their attention to Damon, who bounced into the room in a fresh pair of clothes, ready for the new day. "It's just long and boring and…well, boring again."
"Hey," Claire said to Damon to get his attention off the topic that she and her husband were discussing. "What's going on with Stefan? He hasn't gone back to school yet. Is everything okay?"
Damon rolled his eyes. "Everything's just peachy." Claire scowled. "Seriously. He's fine. Just irritable, that's all. After all, he did spend a day getting brutally tortured by Pearl's little vampire projects."
Damon knew he shouldn't have kept the truth from Claire—really, how many lies could he keep piling on? But she was busy with Christopher, trying to rekindle any dull spark that they'd had before. So, Damon took the high road. He kept the fact that Stefan had fed off of Elena's blood that dark, depressing night and let her believe that he was just on edge. But Claire was smart—she would figure it out soon enough.
"I'm still worried about him," Claire admitted, grimacing at Damon. "Maybe we should push him to try and get back in the swing of things. If he doesn't, he'll go crazy thinking about what happened."
"I'll talk to him. Okay?" Damon promised, exasperated. Christopher took a sip of his blood, and seeing it, it made Claire thirsty. She reached forward to grab her glass, but Damon swooped down and took it before she could.
"Damon!" Claire shouted as Damon began to walk away with the blood glass.
"Thanks for the drink!" he called out over his shoulder and walked up the stairs. An irate Claire just shook her head and her husband laughed before extending his glass to her so she could have some of his.
But while Claire and Christopher remained downstairs, Damon went up to Stefan's room to find the younger Salvatore doing pull-ups on a wooden beam up high in his room, rock music blasting louder than it would be at a concert. Damon winced.
"Could you turn it up a little bit?" he shouted over the music, aggravated. "It's not annoying yet."
Stefan grunted from his athletic position. "Sorry."
Damon just turned around and lowered the music so that it wasn't blasting in his ear, but it was still loud enough to drown out his conversation with his brother. Stefan jumped down from the beam he was exercising on and turned around.
"When you goin' back to school?" Damon asked Stefan, doing as he said he would do for Claire. Stefan just dropped to his stomach and pulled himself into push-up position.
"Soon."
Damon groaned. "Oh, come on. Just drink already." It was another reason he didn't want Claire in Stefan's business. She would be trying to get Stefan to go back on the bunny diet, and he wanted Stefan to drink human blood like a real vampire. Damon walked over to Stefan with Claire's blood glass in his hand, squatting right next to his brother with the intoxicating scent. "Come on. This self-detox is unnatural."
Stefan pushed himself down and rose from just above the floor. "Could you get that away from me, please?" He did another push-up before getting out of reach regarding the blood, knowing his brother wouldn't do it for him.
"How long did it take you to wean yourself off of it after you last indulged?" the evil brother prompted. Stefan had moved to a chair now and began to do push-ups at an elevated angle. Taking his brother's silence as an answer, Damon inhaled sharply. "That's not good."
"I'll be fine. It just takes a little bit of time."
"I don't get it. You know, you don't have to kill to survive. That's what blood banks are for. I haven't hunted a human in…gah—way too long."
Stefan scoffed. "Ah, I'm impressed," he said sarcastically.
Damon shrugged. "It was completely self-serving." He rose from his position on the floor and explained, "Claire and I are trying to get the town off the trail of vampires, which is not very easy considering there's an entire tomb of them running around."
"What are we planning on doing about that?" Stefan asked, rising from the floor and crossing his arms over his chest.
"We're not going to be doing much of anything if you don't have your strength," Damon retorted. Stefan just hung his head and ignored his brother's words. Damon was very aware of this complex, so he pushed, "There's nothing wrong with partaking in a healthy diet of human blood from a blood bank. You're not actually killing anyone."
"I have my reasons."
Damon was disbelieving in his brother's comment. "Well, what are those holier-than-thou reasons? You know, we've never actually discussed that! You know, I-I'd love to hear this story." He sat down on the chair in front of the brooding Stefan, setting the blood glass on the table beside the chair, waiting.
Stefan scoffed. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you? Just…watching me struggle?"
"Very much so," Damon agreed. "Actually, it's even more fun, lying to Claire. She thinks you're just traumatized by the tomb vampires, actually. I mean…she's been so busy with the love of her pathetic little life. I wouldn't want to take away any of that…happiness, now would I?" Stefan frowned hearing his own words against him. Damon just leaned forward and braced himself on his knees. "See, I'm just so curious. Why haven't you told her that you've fallen off the wagon again?"
"It's none of your business, Damon," Stefan muttered. "And it's none of hers, either. She doesn't need to know about me. I hate to break it to you, Damon, but I actually have this under complete control."
"You do?" Damon questioned sarcastically. Stefan nodded, and his brother just shrugged. "Oh. Well, then you should just carry on making the rest of us vampires look bad." He rose from his seat without taking Claire's blood glass from the table and gave a smile to his brother. "Have a great day, Stef."
It was intentional, of course. Damon had left the glass in Stefan's room and walked out, just waiting for his brother to realize that he wasn't under control. Inside his room, Stefan was staring at the blood glass, his gaze transfixed. One foot in front of the other, he stepped once, in a trance. As soon as Damon was sure he'd left his brother enough time with the blood glass, he jogged back into the room. Stefan took a step back and shied away.
"Oh! Hey, I almost forgot something. Oops." Damon grabbed his blood glass from the table and drank out of it. The room-temperature blood coated the inside of his mouth, and he swallowed, the thick ropes sliding down his throat and easing his hunger. He turned to his brother and walked out of the room, all while taunting Stefan with the moans of satisfaction that the blood gave him.
"I really hate these things," Claire complained as she twisted her stick-straight blonde hair around her finger. Damon watched her as the two trekked up the driveway to the Founder's Hall. After twirling her hair, she just brushed it behind her and let it fall down her back. "They're so oblivious it actually hurts to be around them."
"You're the one who wanted to be the King representation," Damon reminded her as they walked. She looked over at him and frowned.
"That's because you came over and started that whole 'she's grieving' crap. I would rather be a part of some secret vampire-hating society than be branded as a whining, crybaby granddaughter." The female vampire scoffed.
Damon rolled his eyes. "No one could ever take you as the whining, crybaby type, Claire. Trust me."
They finally reached the entrance to the Founder's Hall, and the two were greeted by the officer that stood outside to make sure unwanted guests stayed out. Claire had been going with Damon to these regular Founder's Council meetings to keep up appearances and earn trust. However, it seemed that old Jack King had earned enough of their trust. Although old, drunk, and bitter, the one thing he hated more than people who took his nursing bottle of scotch away from him were vampires.
How ironic.
"The coroner's office has officially ruled Vicki Donovan's death a drug overdose," Sheriff Forbes told the rest of the Council as the deputy they greeted at the door escorted in Damon and Claire inside to join the meeting. "Her family has been notified. The truth will stay in this room, and we can put this behind us."
"Thank you, Sheriff," Richard Lockwood said to Liz as he stepped forward and Liz stepped into the crowd. She joined Claire and Damon in the back, giving them both a small, appreciative smile. Claire tried her best to like Sheriff Forbes, but just because she wasn't going to kill the Sheriff to get revenge for Lexi didn't mean she had to buddy-buddy with her like Damon did. She only extended common courtesy. "And…onto a more pressing issue. John Gilbert has asked to say a few words."
Damon and Claire's heads both turned at the mention of a Gilbert, and they saw Richard gesturing to a middle-aged man uncrossing his arms and stepping forward.
"Gilbert?" Claire muttered lowly so only Damon could hear. "What the hell is going on?"
"I have no idea," Damon muttered back.
"Welcome back, John!" Richard welcomed and held out his hand. "It's good to see you."
John Gilbert shook the Richard's hand as he took the floor. "Thank you, Mayor." After Richard stepped to the side again, John took in a breath. "Hello, everyone. It's good to see you. I wish it were under better circumstances. As a Founding Family member, I find it's my duty to report some very distressing news."
Damon leaned over to Sheriff Forbes, finally asking her about his confusion. "He's a Gilbert?"
Liz nodded. "Elena's uncle. His name's John, but I call him jackass."
"A hospital blood bank in the neighboring county of Amherst has reported several break-ins over the past two weeks," John explained to the rest of the members. Claire and Damon kept their game-faces on, but when they looked at each other, they both realized that they had another problem on their hands. "Seven hunters, four campers, and two state employees have been reported missing as well. All of this within a seventy-five-mile radius of Mystic Falls."
"O-Okay," Richard belittled as he stepped out, soothing John's suspicions. "No need to get alarmed right at this moment…"
"Meaning he doesn't wanna cancel the Founder's Day Kick-Off Party," Sheriff Forbes translated to the two beside her.
"You think all of your problems are over," John urged. "But I'm here to tell you…nothing's been solved."
Claire took in a heavy breath and shifted her feet. "Damn it. I already hate this guy."
When Damon and Claire returned home from the Founder's meeting, it was already late at night. Christopher was in the study, reading a book with a glass of bourbon in his hand. When Claire finally found him, seeing as Damon had ditched her to go somewhere else in the large Salvatore mansion, she moved over to the couch and sat on the arm of the chair. Christopher looked up at her.
"Hey," he said, putting the book down to pay attention to his blonde vampire.
"Hey," Claire returned and jerked her head towards the book. "What are you reading?"
"'The Great Gatsby,'" Christopher told her, eyeing the book in his hands. "Before Stefan went out to see Elena, he suggested I read it to kill the time. Is this really what it was like back in the twenties?"
Claire shrugged. "Sort of. Well…I don't really know. I was always in the back of some library where the real party was. Prohibition was fun but not at the same time. Lots of blackouts. Stefan and I…we really went crazy." She didn't even want to think about the twenties, though. So many men, so little time. Not to mention, she and Damon first slept together at the end of that dreaded decade. "But I don't really want to talk about it."
"No?" Christopher asked as she leaned forward and kissed him, feeling in the mood to stop beating around the bush. He kissed her back, reserved, but he was learning by the second. "I was going to ask how your day was, but…"
Claire laughed against his lips. "Oh? Are we going to become one of those married couples? Asking each other how their day was?" She moved him so that he was being slid horizontally across the couch, and her body crawled onto his.
"Is that what married couples do nowadays? Sorry, I'm a little bit out with the times." He chuckled. Claire just shook her head against him.
"Well, just to let you know, those couples are boring. I'm not boring." She kissed him quickly, but the action was laced with so much desire that it was pulling both of them back to each other instantaneously.
"No, you are definitely not boring." Damon barged into the room yet again, pouring himself a glass of bourbon on the other side of the couch where the alcohol was. An annoyed Claire pulled herself up from Christopher and he shifted so that he was sitting straight. "And that I plan to use to my advantage. What are we doing with this whole John thing?"
"What's 'this whole John thing'?" Christopher asked, looking back at him. Damon sighed.
"Well, you see, Elena's uncle came back to town and he's trying to get the Founder's Council back on the trail of vampires—"
Claire held up a hand and pinched it shut to Damon. "Don't you ever just quit talking? You're like a goddamn wind-up toy." Damon just pulled his bourbon glass to his lips as she sighed. "I don't know what to do about John. Kill him?"
"Elena will hate us," Damon pointed out. Claire scoffed.
"When has that ever stopped you before?"
"You only want me to kill him so that Elena will hate me and not you. But if I do end up killing him, I'm telling her that it was your idea."
"I was kidding!" Claire amended. Damon just pointedly stared, and she threw her head into her hands and sighed again. "I really don't know what to do with John. The only asshole I can deal with right now is you."
"So use some of that anger and channel it towards John." Damon looked back and forth between Claire and Christopher. "I'll leave you to get back to your dry, missionary, married sex now."
Damon left the room shortly after the statement, and while Claire just exasperatedly leaned back on the couch, Christopher chuckled. "Do you two always speak to each other that way?"
Claire nodded. It wasn't so much as a lie, because they did speak to each other that roughly, but sometimes they didn't…speak at all. "Almost always."
In the morning, Claire woke up to a loud vibrating sound. It was insistent and wouldn't stop. As it stirred Claire from her sleep, she could only hope for Damon's sake that it wasn't him. If it were, she would kick his ass from Mystic Falls to Kentucky. Knowing Damon, it couldn't have been urgent.
"Clarissa…" Christopher groaned beside her, rolling over in his sleep. "Your…stupid…phone…thing. Turn it off."
"Sorry," Claire apologized as she sat up from her bed and reached over to grab the phone. Fortunately, it wasn't Damon. It was Elena. As the phone call that had been persisting was sent to voicemail, Claire read over her texts and saw the number of voicemails she had.
Something's wrong with Stefan.
I need to talk to you.
Claire, I'm worried about Stefan. Can you come over?
"Jesus, Elena," Claire muttered, but put her phone back on the table. Christopher was now up, but he was still trying to go back to sleep. "Hey, I have to go to Elena's house. She needs me for something."
Christopher sighed and kept his eyes closed as he murmured, "Do you want me to go with you?"
"No, you can sleep," Claire assured him and swung her legs off the side of the bed. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
Christopher mumbled an understanding and she left shortly after getting showered and changed. When she finally got to the Gilbert house, Elena answered the door with a deep sigh. "Oh, good. Thank you for coming."
Claire scoffed. "After the five hundred voicemails and texts? No problem." But once she crossed the threshold and Elena shut the door, she turned around. "What's wrong? You said you were worried about Stefan?"
Elena led them to the extended living room and began to vent. "Last night…he kind of got a little…out of control. How long before he goes back to normal?"
Claire shrugged. "I don't know. Damon said he's getting there. The tomb vampires torturing him was really traumatic, Elena. He probably felt helpless and all damsel-in-distress like. Just give him a little time." The blonde tried to soothe Elena, but the teenager just raised an eyebrow.
"Claire, I don't…I don't think we're talking about the same thing." Claire raised an eyebrow and Elena crossed her arms. "What did Damon tell you?"
Seeing Elena's expression, it was obvious to Claire. She had been lied to so many times it wasn't even a surprise. Without making a scene, she just took out a deep, exhausted exhale. "Not the truth, apparently."
A half an hour later, after Elena had told Claire about what really happened the night they rescued Stefan, there was a knock on the door. Claire was pacing by it, waiting, while Elena was sitting on the stairs waiting as well. Hearing the knock, Claire immediately turned to the door and opened it sourly.
"Good. The liar's here."
"You ask, I come. I'm easy like that," Damon whispered to her as he crossed the Gilbert threshold. "And who are you calling a liar?"
"You, obviously."
"Guys," Elena hissed, and Damon and Claire turned to her. She pointed to Jeremy in the kitchen and shook her head at them. Damon watched as Elena directed up the stairs and started after her room.
"No, Elena!" Damon shouted at her dramatically. "I will not go to your bedroom with you!"
"Go upstairs, you jackass," Claire whispered angrily as she gripped Damon's arm and pulled him with her up to Elena's bedroom. A carefree Damon broke out of her hold and opened the door of Elena's room with an exaggerated awe of appreciation.
"Just like I remembered," the vampire hushed.
"Stop messing around," Elena commanded the leather-covered vampire in her room as she closed the door. As soon as it was shut, Claire walked over to Damon and shoved him.
"What the hell is the matter with you? You've been letting Stefan deal with this alone for all this time? I could've helped!"
"He didn't want you to know." Damon rolled his eyes and moved to Elena's bed. Claire crossed her arms at him, waiting for an explanation. "I'm serious. He was all broody and determined to do it alone. Besides, you were getting all up close and personal with Christopher again."
"That's no excuse," Claire pointed out. Damon just sighed and looked at Elena.
"Oh, by the way, Elena—did you know your uncle's kickin' it with the Founder's Council? Claire and I witnessed him screwing up everything we were trying to save."
Elena cut her gaze to Damon, surprised. "What?"
"Yep."
"Perfect." Elena threw her hands up exasperatedly. "We'll just add it to the growing list of how everything's falling apart."
Damon took the teddy bear he had scooped up from Elena's bed and pointed at a mess in the corner by the full-length mirror with the teddy's stuffed arm. "What happened right there?"
Elena looked over at the place Damon was referring to and sighed. "Uh…nothing."
"No, not nothing. Something." Claire crossed her arms and turned to Damon. "She's worried about Stefan. And since I apparently know nothing and you apparently know everything, I called you over to explain what the hell is going on with my best friend."
"He's fine," Damon assured her. "I'm handling it."
"How do you describe handling it, Damon? He lost control last night! That's not handling anything!"
"He says that everything's okay but he's clearly struggling. How long is it gonna take for him to get back to normal?" Elena asked, stepping forward to the eldest Salvatore on her bed.
Damon shrugged. "Few days, give or take."
"It's…been a few days."
"Give, then. I don't know!" Damon exclaimed tiredly. "What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that he could really hurt someone," Claire argued as Damon got up from Elena's bed and began to make headway for the door. "He's not you, Damon! You and I both know that he's always had trouble when it comes to controlling his hunger."
"He doesn't want to be me," Damon pointed out. "But that doesn't mean, deep down, that he's not."
"So that's it, then?" Elena prompted, slapping her hands to her sides. "A few days? That's all you'll give me?"
"That's all I can give, Elena. So, unless you'd like me to stay for a slumber party, I have things to do. A party to get ready for." Damon walked towards the door, but just as his hand hovered over the doorknob, Claire spoke up.
"Wait. You're going to the Founder's Day Kick-Off?"
Damon sighed and turned around. "No. We're going to the Founder's Day Kick-Off." A smile twitched at his lips just as a frown settled upon Claire's.
Claire stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom and swept her long hair over her shoulder so she could clasp the necklace she held in her hand around her neck. Damon had made it a point to both Stefan, Claire, and Christopher that they were all going to the Founder's Day party so that they could get answers on John Gilbert's real reason for coming to Mystic Falls. Christopher's cover story was all set and ready to be told over and over again whenever anyone asked. Since he was one of the most important Founding Families in Mystic Falls, all he had to do was say he was someone's cousin. And, because Claire and Damon both knew of Logan Fell's death, he seemed like the easiest person to be related to.
After clasping the silver necklace on her collarbone, Claire shook out her hair and let it fall where it may—over her shoulders, down her back and over her dress. The tight, adult-looking dress was a nice compliment to her fair skin tone and light hair. It had been a while since she'd worn anything but a shirt, jeans, and a leather jacket, but she did have to admit that she liked dressing up to play the part of the regular, adult human.
But along with being adult, and human for that matter, she also had to face the fact that she was…married. Vampire or not, that fact remained true. So, when Claire looked over at her dresser, she took out a deep breath and realized what she was thinking about.
Her wedding rings.
She had shoved them in her jewelry box after they'd come back from rescuing Stefan and Christopher at Pearl's. Truth be told, Claire wanted to leave them there and never think about it. But every now and then, she would catch a glimpse of Christopher's wedding band and she would feel bad about it. That was a rarity for Claire. She hardly ever felt bad about anything—and even if she did, she didn't feel all that guilty about it. But this, it ate her up at the very core to watch the man that she married as a human cling to that idea of her. What if he didn't like the vampire version of her? What if he couldn't stand the dark person she'd become?
But what she feared the most, really, was that she wouldn't love him. Even as a human, the word 'love' had never left her mouth. It never did—for anyone—but shouldn't it have to the man that she married?
Hesitantly, Claire reached into the jewelry box and pulled out the two rings she was silently debating over. The diamond in her engagement ring caught the ray of florescent lighting and glinted, creating a flash of light.
Beside a weak, old, sick, and dying William King sat a young, beautiful, and obliviously innocent little Clarissa King, hesitantly reading a page of a book she'd found in her father's study. The naughty seven-year-old had stolen the book from Edward to read to her grandfather, who had quite enjoyed her company for the last few months. No one else visited him in his temporary room at the King mansion—everyone was either afraid of him or couldn't fake being sad that he was dying. Clarissa was the only one he had company with.
As Clarissa struggled over a word, her grandfather mustered enough strength to murmur her name. "C…Clarissa…"
The young girl turned her head back at William. "Yes, Grandfather?"
But he was too sick—too weak. William could feel himself slipping, but he couldn't tell the little girl in his care to go. After all, she was all he had after his wife had died giving birth to Edward, who resented him for most things in life. Clarissa was the only one who cared enough to try to see that William wasn't a monster. And that was enough for William King to go peacefully.
His hand twitched, and it was a gesture caught by Clarissa, who smiled and reached forward to grab William's hand as she'd done plenty of times before to show just how much she loved him. "I'm right here, Grandfather. You can tell me whatever you'd like."
He couldn't. That was the problem. His heartbeat slowed, and in mere seconds, his life had been taken away from him. Clarissa waited for the longest time before shaking her Grandfather.
"Grandfather?" No response. The young girl stood up from her seat beside William. "Grandfather!"
Snapping out of the memory, Claire angrily opened her jewelry box and shoved the rings inside, letting the box shut close with a loud, unappealing slam. There was no way she was putting on those wedding rings. She wasn't ready yet.
"Oh, God. I shouldn't be here." Stefan complained as he, Damon, Claire, and Christopher walked up the steps to the Founder's Hall for the Kick-Off party. Claire was trying to stop thinking about the memory she'd unwillingly relived, Christopher was worried about the town seeing right through him, Stefan was wrought with uneasiness, and Damon was just a man on a mission.
"Oh, come on. Don't be a downer. It's a party for the Founding Families. That would be us. It would be rude to skip it," the dark-haired vampire pointed out to his brother.
"You know, I…I really liked it a whole lot better when you hated everybody," Stefan said nervously, looking around at all the humans. Damon smirked.
"Oh, I still do. I just love that they love me." He chuckled.
Claire and Christopher walked through the threshold and Claire looked over at Damon. "I don't think he should be here, either, Damon."
Stefan sighed heavily. "I'm…still a little confused to how you found out. Was it Damon or Elena?"
Claire shot her best friend a pointed glare. "It doesn't matter because it should've been from you." Stefan didn't even have time to answer when Claire heard her name being called from another direction. All the vampires turned their heads to see Carol Lockwood in the other room, beckoning Claire into the room with her. Claire sighed. "Great. Carol Lockwood."
As she turned herself, Christopher asked her lowly, "Wait…who's Carol Lockwood?"
Claire looked at her husband. "The mayor's wife." She threw a glance over her shoulder at Stefan and Damon. "We'll catch up with you two later."
"Claire," Carol greeted the blonde vampire as she walked into the room. "Well, don't you look lovely?" It was a question posed as a very generous compliment. Claire gave the mayor's wife a smile.
"You too, Carol." Seeing the nosy Mrs. Lockwood eyeing her husband, Claire turned to him and gestured. "Um…Christopher, this is Carol Lockwood. Carol, this is my husband, Christopher Fell."
Carol and Christopher shook hands, but hearing Christopher's name sparked instant curiosity in Carol. "Fell?" she repeated. Christopher nodded.
"My cousin was Logan Fell." Christopher relayed his cover story perfectly, earning a smile from Claire's lips. "I heard about his…err…extended vacation." Obviously, Logan's vampire death was covered up, and by saying this, Christopher was telling Carol that he knew all about it. Being Claire's husband and all, it was hardly a surprise to Carol.
"It is unfortunate," Carol agreed, nodding with understanding eyes. She looked over at Clarissa, who brought another smile upon her lips for Carol to see. "Claire, you never told me you were married."
"We've…" Claire swallowed, looking at Christopher for a moment, "…been separated for a while, but we decided to give it another try." A "little while" happened to really be the span of a hundred years.
"Well, that's inspiring." It was obvious that Carol was covering up her distaste for the modern ways of the world—divorce. Claire wanted to roll her eyes. The only reason Carol was still married to her husband was because she cared too much about her image to leave him. After all, she was hitting on Damon every chance she got. Carol's gaze drifted between the married couple before finally settling on Claire. "Well, listen, Claire, I was talking it over with the other women on the Miss Mystic Falls council for the pageant next week and, if you're up to it, we would love to have your help with the girls. They react better to adults closer to their ages."
The Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Claire was actually surprised they still had those. The first one had been pushed back in 1864 because of the vampire hunting, but it eventually did take place. She figured that it would be a lost tradition by now. Instead, here Carol was, asking for her help with it.
"Uh…yeah," Claire agreed, having no other choice. Saying no would make Carol either hate her or suspect her. "Sure. Of course. It sounds great."
"Wonderful," Carol chimed before spotting her husband in her vision. "If you'll excuse me. Christopher, it was lovely to meet you."
"You, too," Christopher parted with her just as Carol walked around Claire to her husband without a glance behind her shoulder. When she was gone, Christopher turned to his wife. "Miss Mystic Falls pageant?" he questioned.
Claire looked at him and shrugged. "Why the hell not?" She sighed heavily and watched as a small smile twitched on Christopher's lips. "Come on, let's get a drink. It's gonna be a long night."
The two moved through the empty crowd in the room they were left in and walked over to the bar just as the music turned from boring, classical, and uptight to an actual upbeat song. Claire and Christopher watched as Stefan dragged Elena out to the dance floor and almost everyone started to dance out in the center of the room. They fought their way through the incoming crowd to the bar just as everyone let loose in the middle of the room.
Before Christopher could order their drinks, Kelly Donovan snatched him right out of Claire's grasp.
"Ooh," Kelly cooed, a drunken smile on her face. "Who are you?" As Christopher opened his mouth to tell the woman his name, Kelly shook her head. "You know what? I don't even care. Come on! We're dancing."
Claire seemed to not have a choice in the matter when Kelly up and pulled him out onto the floor again. Christopher looked back at her for permission, but Claire just smiled and turned to the bar, not willing to put up a fight with that slut, Kelly Donovan. It didn't matter, anyway. She needed a drink. Bad.
"Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?" Damon mocked as he came beside Claire while she received her drink from the bartender. Claire sighed looking at a happy-go-lucky Stefan dancing with his girlfriend with a foreign smile on his face.
"I can't stop worrying about him, Damon," Claire grumbled, shaking her head. "As much as he says he's going to be okay, I don't think he's going to be okay. He's losing it." When she brought the glass of alcohol up to her lips, she found that there was more ice in the glass than she cared for, but she downed it anyway.
Damon sighed. "He'll be okay. Eventually. One way or another." A playful smirk came onto his lips, and as Claire watched it form, she shook her head.
"No. Damon, I swear to God if you try and get Stefan back on the human stuff—" she started, but Damon cut her off.
"Blah, blah, blah, you'll kill me. You know, you keep recycling the same threats," he noted as he pulled his champagne glass to his lips and drank. Claire scoffed.
"I wish I didn't have to threaten you. I wish you weren't so evil. Then I wouldn't have to." Claire turned around and set her empty glass on the counter so the bartender could take it. Damon sighed.
"Well, when you wish upon a star…" he mused, earning the blonde vampire to frown and glare up at him from the corners of her eyes. Damon smiled and set his champagne glass down on the bar as well, even though it was half full. He extended his hand. "Come on. Dance with me."
Claire turned away from him without even considering his hand. "No thanks. I already told you, I hate being scraps."
"But you're not scraps," Damon pointed out. "You're the first person I asked to dance all night."
"Well I'll be the first person to turn you down, then, too."
Damon let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Suit yourself." He pulled his champagne glass back to him and downed the rest of it. With a hiss from the alcohol, Damon once again set the glass down on the counter, it now being empty. "Oh. Would you look at that? I seem to be all out of champagne. I should go find a bar…somewhere."
Claire watched as Damon slipped away with a small smile on his lips, obviously being childish. It was when Damon walked away when she felt someone pull her in a different direction, and suddenly, she was in Stefan's arms as he swayed them side-to-side to the beat of the music. Claire laughed nervously.
"Don't you ever do that again," she scolded the younger Salvatore, but didn't pull away from him. Stefan smiled.
"Come on," Stefan groaned happily. Claire could smell the alcohol all over his breath. "You look like you could use some fun."
Claire looked into Stefan's eyes and sighed. "Okay…did I miss the part where you and Damon did that whole Freaky Friday body-switch thing? Because it's not fun for me. It's just making me worry about you even more."
Stefan twirled Claire under his arm and pulled her back to him with a relaxed smile on his lips. "Don't. I'm fine. I'm just a little drunk, that's all." Claire gave him a look. "Okay…a lot drunk. But do you blame me? Honestly?"
Claire thought about it silently, and then she sighed, giving in. "No. I guess I don't. But that doesn't change the fact that you should've told me you were struggling. I'm not Lexi, but I…I think I can help."
Stefan nodded. "I know. I'm sorry." Claire could sense the apology, but she still felt like he didn't mean it. Eventually, Stefan just let out a deep breath. "Okay. Can we stop talking about this? I want to party like it's nineteen-fifty."
Both Claire and Stefan smiled, remembering when she'd first said that. Eventually, Claire laughed. "You're ridiculous," she noted and Stefan just pulled her out of his grasp and twirled her again, and neither one of them talked about his diet after that.
After a few songs, Claire had switched from being Stefan's partner to Christopher's, seeing as Kelly Donovan found someone else to toy with. While Claire and Christopher were laughing and dancing, trying to put all dark vampire thoughts out of their head and finally focus on being a real couple, they were soon pulled straight back into the real world that they lived in.
"Whoa!" a voice shouted on the dance floor, causing both Claire and Christopher to look up to find that a man had turned around and had started scolding Elena, who was with Stefan. "Watch it!"
Elena just smiled and laughed. "I'm sorry. My fault. I'm clumsy."
The man just laughed bitterly. "Then get off the dance floor," he suggested rudely. Stefan began to make his way from behind Elena to in front of her just as Elena's face fell.
"Excuse me?"
"That's no way to talk to a lady," Stefan informed the rude man, his eyes drained of all the alcohol and now serious and deadly. Claire and Christopher shared a glance before walking over to the commotion that went unnoticed by the regular humans.
"Whatever," said the man as he turned away. Stefan reached out and pulled the man back to him with a brute force.
"Stefan," Claire interrupted as she got to him just as Stefan looked into the man's eyes and started his compulsion.
"I think you need to apologize," Stefan commanded the man, his pupils dilating to control the human's mind.
The man's eyes moved over to Elena and he muttered in a monotone, "I'm sorry."
"Stefan," Claire repeated, her voice more forceful this time. "Let him go."
After a split second of hesitation, Stefan finally released the man from his hold and Claire watched as the man turned his shoulder to walk away. Before he could even get a step into his exit, Stefan jerked his arm back again and grabbed the rude man by his collar.
"Stefan," Christopher complained, looking between the angered vampire and the scared human. "What are you doing? Just let him go!"
Stefan looked back into the man's eyes again, having absolutely no remorse on controlling someone's mind. "Now say it like you mean it."
Again, the man looked at Elena. "I'm really, really sorry." His voice was dull and bland, and at this rate, Stefan would never be satisfied with the man's apology. Elena finally spoke up behind her boyfriend.
"Stefan, it's fine."
"Now walk away." The young Salvatore pushed the man from him, all while holding his gaze, and Claire and Christopher watched while the rude man exited, this time uninterrupted. Stefan turned around and brushed Elena's hair off her shoulder, trying to make sure she was okay. Elena was practically shaking at Stefan's touch, scared of what he was capable of.
And, at that point, Claire was starting to become afraid of the exact same thing.
"Thank you," Damon said to the bartender who handed Damon a glass of bourbon, straight. Claire sighed.
"Great," she said loudly while coming up beside Damon. She had left Christopher to keep an eye on Stefan while she went to talk to Damon about the scene his brother had caused. "So…while your brother is compelling some schmuck to apologize over and over again, you're just nursing a couple glasses of bourbon. Classic Damon."
Damon let out a deep breath. "You know, if I were you, I wouldn't be concerned with my brother, I would be concerned with Elena's."
At this, Claire raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Jeremy's been asking questions about Vicki Donovan's death."
The other vampire kept her eyebrow up. "That vampire who went off the rails that you and Stefan had to kill? Her death was ruled as a drug overdose. What questions are there to ask?"
"How about…'Oh, but Sheriff…someone buried her. Who would do that?' I know! I know! Me!" Damon mocked with a whispered tone. Claire rolled her eyes at Damon's childish humor. "I mean, I could compel him but he's wearing vervain."
Claire frowned. "He's Elena's brother, Damon. Let her handle this one. I'll tell her about it when I go back to find Christopher. He's probably keeping her company, anyway."
Damon laughed to himself. "And you don't mind that? I mean, after all, you do think he's your husband."
Claire shrugged. "I'm not the jealous type." Damon just scoffed at this, and her blue orbs cut to Damon as she spoke with an angered tone. "And what do you mean I 'think' he's my husband? I remember my wedding like it was yesterday. I also remember you barging in and trying to ruin it."
Damon looked up, his blue eyes capturing her own. "If you remembered your wedding like it was yesterday, you'd remember that the vow was 'til death do you part'." Claire scowled at him in major disapproval at his immaturity. His lips just turned into a sad smile. "I hate to break it to you, but death has definitely done you both part."
"That's a technicality, Damon," Claire told him, breaking eye contact with him to look away. "And I don't think he's my husband, he is my husband. There's no debating that."
For a moment, Claire thought that Damon had given up on the topic when she heard silence beside her, and she was relieved over it. But, then, she heard him sigh and she saw him extend something to her out of the corner of her eye. When she turned her head, she saw that it was a freshly cut red rose, probably from the bouquet right beside him.
"Now, if that were even true, you would be wearing those wedding rings. But you aren't. And you and I both know that you won't any time soon." Damon shrugged as Claire took the rose from his hand and kept her eyes locked with his. Taking Claire's silence as his victory token, Damon brushed past her. Claire's head turned to look after him as she processed his words in her brain.
Behind her, Christopher watched as his wife twirled with the red rose in her hand and turned back to the bar. He could see the contemplation clearly on her face before she turned around and spotted him and smiled. He gave her a weak one back, and Claire walked up to him with a sigh. Christopher just gestured towards the rose.
"That was nice of Damon."
Claire shrugged. "It's just Damon being Damon…and he never does anything nice." Her words were a blatant lie, but she moved past it quickly. "Hey, where's Elena?"
Christopher looked back into the main room. "I think she's still dancing with her friend Matt or something. Stefan took off somewhere, I came to find you so we can track him down and make sure he's okay."
Claire inhaled sharply. "Yeah…that'll have to wait. I have to talk to Elena."
"What about?" Christopher asked as Claire started moving with him towards the main room where Elena was last left.
"Her brother," Claire answered. It only took her a couple minutes to find Elena in the crowd, and it took her barely a minute to tell Elena that her brother might know about vampires. Elena assured her that Jeremy didn't know anything, but when Claire told Elena about what Damon said he was asking Sheriff Forbes about, Elena immediately took off to find her younger brother. Shortly after the teenager had left, Claire and Christopher found Stefan over by the bar, compelling drinks out of the bartender.
"I'll take that," Christopher said as he walked up to Stefan and snatched the alcohol out of his hand. Claire was right behind him, and she turned to face Stefan as soon as she reached him. Stefan looked at Christopher with annoyed eyes as he downed the rest of Stefan's drink. "What?" he asked when he caught Stefan glaring. "I haven't had alcohol in over a century. Give me a break."
"You are really, really starting to scare the crap out of me, Stefan," Claire scolded him as she poked at his chest. Stefan sighed and shifted at her touch, turning his cheek to avoid hearing her lecture. "First keeping a secret from me, then drinking yourself into oblivion, and even compelling a guy to keep apologizing to your girlfriend even though she wanted you to let it go? You're not fine, Stefan."
"I will be, Claire. Okay? Trust me on this," Stefan snapped at her, his clouded green eyes pouring into hers. "I know how to wean myself off of it."
Claire shook her head. "No. No, Lexi knew how to get you off the human stuff. You never could by yourself. Just let me help you and I'll—"
Suddenly, Damon came up beside Christopher and cleared his throat, interrupting the conversation at hand. All three vampires turned to him and watched as Damon spoke carefully. "Okay…let's vote. Do you three wanna hear the bad news or the really bad news?"
"Bad news," Claire said, suspicious.
"Really bad news," Christopher told him with the same amount of suspicion in his tone. Stefan just cleared his throat and hummed.
"Mm…actually, I don't want any news, Damon."
Damon rolled his eyes. "All right. Let me rephrase. Do you wanna hear how the council's back in vampire mode or how I just killed Uncle John Gilbert?" A smile slid onto Damon's lips and Claire straightened.
"What?" Stefan asked, knotting his eyebrows. Claire snarled.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
"It was your idea in the first place," Damon argued pointedly. She opened her mouth to retort, but Damon took her words. "Great party by the way, huh?" he proposed and turned around, walking in the opposite direction. Christopher, Claire, and Stefan all took after him, but when Stefan caught a whiff of fresh human blood, he couldn't resist staying behind.
Claire and Christopher followed Damon all the way to the parlor, unaware that Stefan was too preoccupied to keep up.
"I wasn't serious when I told you to kill him, Damon," Claire argued with the eldest Salvatore as they came to a stop. Christopher stood on the other side of Claire while her attention was focused on the stupidity of Damon Salvatore, who was focused on all the hot, pretty, fresh human girls roaming around in tight dresses. He didn't lose one bit of his chipper attitude while responding.
"Well I thought it was a good idea. He knew about the tomb vampires. He knew that I was the one who wanted them out. Which means he knew about me. Which means he knew about Stefan. Which means he knew about you—need I go on?" Damon asked Claire as she began to process Damon's actions. Again, she was just about to argue with Damon when her eyes caught sight of John Gilbert stepping inside of the booming parlor, looking just as alive as he did earlier in the morning.
Damon's smile immediately turned flat upon seeing John's lively face. Claire was silent for a moment before she said to Damon, without taking her eyes off of John, "Either you were lying to me about killing him or Uncle John Gilbert just turned into a vampire."
Damon's eyebrows just knotted. "You've got to be kidding me."
"So it was the ring that brought him back?" Claire asked Damon as he brought Alaric to her and Christopher. The crowd was beginning to dwindle as the night came to an end. The ringing of the bell to signal the countdown to Founder's Day had already taken place, and it was all anyone really came for. Claire's eyes cut to Alaric. "Where the hell did you get that damn ring?"
"Isobel," Alaric repeated for the blonde vampire. He had already told this to Damon, and just like he did, Claire slowly went through the process in her mind of tying one thing to another. Damon nodded at her.
"Yep. Been there. Done that. Now we're on the same page. This guy's a problem. We need to get rid of him."
"We can't just kill him, Damon," Christopher reasoned in a low voice. Damon looked over at him. "I mean…despite the fact that he'll just come back, we're in a room full of crowded people. It's not worth the exposure."
"Okay, I'm going to lay this out real simple. To both of you," Damon said, looking back and forth between Claire and Christopher. "John. Knows. Everything. So if we don't do something about it, he will. Plain and simple."
"Fine," Claire told him, nodding. "Fine. We'll do something about it, Damon. But we can't kill him. Especially not here."
She looked around at the room full of people, just like Christopher had mentioned. The exposure wasn't worth it. Damon gritted his teeth, tired of arguing, but when he saw Uncle Gilbert leave, he just took off without a word before either of the two righteous vampires with him could stop him.
"Going somewhere? Hmm?" Damon walked outside, following the Gilbert, and Alaric, Claire, and Christopher followed him.
"Never like to be the last one to leave a party. It's too desperate." Damon hummed in agreement. "You here to kill me again? Or are you gonna let Mr. Saltzman do your dirty work?"
"Okay. So you obviously know who I am." Alaric came to a stop, causing John, Damon, Claire, and Christopher to come to one as well.
"I do," John answered. "Alaric Saltzman, the high school History teacher with a secret." The Gilbert paused and looked to his right to see Claire and Christopher just a few feet away from Alaric. "And you two. Clarissa King and Christopher Fell. It's nice to see that marriages can last even after a hundred years of separation."
Claire gave a sour smile. "Well, you know what they say, John. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"You sure know a lot for someone who just came to town," Damon accused. John turned his head to him and inhaled sharply.
"More than you can imagine, Damon." He walked around the vampire. "My knowledge of his town goes beyond anything that any of you or the council knows. So, if you were planning on some clever high-speed, snatch-ring, vamp kill move, know that if I die, everything I know goes to the council." Damon turned his head, annoyed and angry at the same time. "Including the fascinating little tale of the original Salvatore brothers and their present day return to Mystic Falls." Things went silent for a moment before John turned his attention to Claire. "And, of course, the lovely girl-next-door."
Alaric stepped forward. "How'd you get that ring?"
"I inherited one. My brother, Gray, the other. This was his," John responded as he waved the ring on his finger at Alaric. "And I wouldn't have given mine to Isobel had I known she'd hand it over to another guy."
"So you did know her," Damon accused.
"Who do you think sent her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?" John proposed with a sick smile on his face. Damon nodded to him.
"You sent her?"
"Guilty! Why, did you think someone else sent her?" Damon shrugged. "Maybe Katherine Pierce?"
"Katherine?" Christopher repeated as Damon straightened in front of him, staring John down.
"How do you know about Katherine?" the dark-haired vampire asked.
"How do I know anything, Damon?"
Damon stepped forward, now enraged. "What do you want?"
"So many questions." John tsked and looked to Alaric, moving on. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Ric. I've heard so much about you." His gaze drifted behind Alaric to the vampire couple in the back. "Claire. Christopher. Enjoy your marriage. If it lasts, of course."
With one last look at Damon, John turned on his heel, and the three vampires and sketchy History teacher were left to watch him walk away, knowing that there was nothing they could do.
"Is it always this crazy in Mystic Falls?" Christopher asked as he put his suit jacket down on the bed and unbuttoned the top of his shirt, exhausted. Claire took off her necklace and set it inside of her jewelry box, trying to push the sight of the silver wedding rings out of her mind. Damon's words still were branded into her memory, but she didn't pay attention to it. She couldn't.
A light laugh escaped her lips. "You'd be surprised how crazy it gets in Mystic Falls. It's why I try so hard to never visit this town. It sucks you in. It's your typical hellmouth."
As his wife turned around, Christopher cocked an eyebrow at her from the bench at the end of the bed. "Hellmouth?"
Claire smiled. "We'll have a Buffy marathon one day. You'll love it, I promise." After a moment of private thinking, Claire's smile dropped. Along with Damon's words that rung through her mind, John's did, too. Eventually, she opened her mouth, and Christopher watched as she struggled to get words out. "What do you think John meant? When he said 'if it lasts'?"
Christopher sighed and rose from his sitting position to walk over to Claire. "I think that John Gilbert thinks he knows everything, but in all reality, he knows nothing." Her husband's hand brushed the side of her face, and Claire softened at the warm touch. "He doesn't know us. How could he possibly know anything about our marriage?"
Claire nodded and reached up to cover Christopher's hand with her own. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Maybe Damon was right to kill him. Even if he did come back from the dead by a magical ring."
Christopher let out a light laugh, but the name was still echoing in his mind. Damon. Damon. Damon. He couldn't help himself. "Speaking of Damon…what was that tonight? The rose he gave you?"
Claire knotted her eyebrows. "I told you. It was Damon being Damon." Christopher stayed silent, and Claire shifted under his touch. "Hey. I didn't get jealous when Kelly Donovan's grimy little hands were all over you. The least you can do is the same for me. Damon and I don't even get along anymore. Our fights worsened over the decades." They stopped, too, Claire's subconscious reminded her.
"Sometimes, hatred is a very strong fuel for passion," Christopher reminded her. Claire scowled.
"I married you and you're still questioning me about Damon Salvatore? I thought we were over this."
Both fell silent for a long time until Christopher gave it up, finally just giving his wife a small smile. Pick your battles. It was something Stefan had mentioned to him when they were alone in the house while Claire was out with Damon. Christopher repeated it like a mantra to avoid carrying on his unnecessary fight. "You know what? You're right. I'm sorry I even brought it up."
Claire shook her head and squeezed his hand. "It's okay. I get it. But I married you. You. Not Damon."
She leaned forward and kissed him quickly. It was merely just a peck on the lips, but when they both took a second to realize the situation they were in—alone, in their bedroom, with no one to interrupt—it suddenly turned into something different. Christopher leaned forward, pulling his lips back to Claire's, and not a bone in her body rejected the kiss. It egged it on, in fact, and no more words were said. No more thoughts about Damon Salvatore roamed through either of their minds. Claire's hands found the buttons on Christopher's shirt and ripped them clean off, pushing the material down his chest and onto the floor. His nimble fingers didn't even have to search for the zipper on her dress because it was right underneath them. The zipper was pulled down in nearly a millisecond, and pretty soon, everything else came off with it. All Claire had to do was push, and Christopher fell onto the bed, and she fell right with him.
Damon sat downstairs in the Salvatore house, holding the cold glass of blood to his forehead in front of the fire in the study. He was wallowing, somewhat, over the fact that John had been the one to send Isobel to him and not Katherine. The one shred of hope he'd clung onto had drifted away into the wind.
Eventually, Damon heard the sounds of Stefan's footsteps as he entered the study. He knew it was Stefan because Claire and her so-called "husband" were upstairs carrying on like there wasn't another vampire in the house. It only made that dark cloud over Damon's head turn even darker.
But Claire and Christopher couldn't be his top concern. John Gilbert was.
"We have a problem, Stefan," Damon mumbled as his brother walked around the couch. "And when I say 'problem', I mean global crisis. Seems Uncle John has a—" When Damon looked up to see his brother, he found that Stefan was deathly pale and completely unhinged. It was written all over his face. Damon could see right through it, and he just cocked his head to the side. "You don't look so good. It's different this time, isn't it? The need is too strong. Of course it would be after all these years."
With a sigh, Damon purposely set the glass of chilled blood he had down on the wooden table beside the couch and he rose from his seat, eyeing his poor, broken sibling. With a clap on the shoulder, Damon just said, "Have a good night, brother."
Stefan just swayed, completely lost and transfixed on the blood that Damon didn't plan on taking back this time. Stefan didn't even know he was doing even walkin towards the blood until it wound up in his hands and he was slowly contemplating what to do with it. The painful decision dragged on, and a hesitant Stefan fought with his inner demons to resist the urge.
His inner demons won. Damon won.
Stefan pulled the glass to his lips, and once that first taste of sufficient blood hit his taste buds, he was a goner. The glass was empty by his second swallow.