Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognise!
Thank you all for the reviews and follows!
Assenavira: Stefan's getting a little come uppance.
Shiko-Rae: Yes! I always thought that Stefan was way too holier than thou at the beginning of the show. And it'll take a while before Elena even thinks to apologise to Maya.
xotinkerbella: Overall the Mystic Falls parents weren't great, all of them kinda suck, I forgive Liz though because she becomes a much better mum to Caroline before she dies. As far as I'm concerned Jenna's winning in the parental Olympics, because not only does her child believe that she deserves to know what's going on, but she's in on all the plans, and still looks after her kid. Jenna's got her priorities sorted. Don't worry, there won't be any Delena, this is firmly a Denzo fic. Stefan is a huge hypocrite, because he acts like just because he can't control himself, neither can Damon.
MarieBarnes: Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy the character development.
sammyleann: You're gonna have to read to find out what happens to Zach! Damon's in a much different place than in canon, and he's never been good when people hurt the people that he loves. And Elena is acting like a dumb teen at the moment, hopefully she'll grow up soon.
Aminelover: Thanks! Hope you enjoy!
lillen20: Thank you!
aandm20: Thanks!
Blu3B3rryT3a: Shelia is going to realise something! Caroline is always a force of nature! Stefan fucked up, and Maya and Enzo are going to make sure that he pays!
silverblade243: Thank you! You're just going to have to keep reading to find out what happens! I have a plan for Davina, especially because the Originals aren't going to be lured to NOLA with a mystical baby.
Rhaelyant: I know, but how else was Maya supposed to react?
tinajayy: Caroline just has a way of pulling at my heart strings. I feel like the big thing that you need to come to terms with, is that in TVD vampires are predators, apex predators, they have a killer instinct that needs to be satisfied, which is why, even when Damon kills people, I don't really care, because it's actually part of their nature. Stefan does hate himself, he needs to accept what he is, and who he is, otherwise he'll never be able to stop yoyo-ing between being a ripper and his bunny diet. I don't hate Stefan, I just find S1 Stefan kinda boring and self-righteous. I'm not going to be upset if you have your own opinions, everybody has them and is entitled to them.
WiseGirlDivergence46: Thank you! Maya got to drop the boom on Stefan!
Nozomi Akiyama: You're welcome!
Omega-Maharan: Thank you! Hope you like the end of this chapter! There's going to be some shenanigans with the Bennetts.
Felinegreat: Thanks! Stef will get a redemption arc, he and Damon need to go back to being brothers eventually.
KaterinaStark: You're welcome!
Careena1: Stefan's gonna get a lesson alright!
dragonegyptianblue: Hope you enjoy!
sam: You're welcome!
NonBinaryAceKitten: Thanks! I hope that with Jenna in her life, Caroline gets to have more of a mother figure when Liz can't be there.
hamkam1881: I try to drop in a reference every few chapters.
Jenna crossed her arms and stared down at the two vampires and siphon sat on the couch in front of her. "What the hell were you thinking?!" she hissed at them.
"Mom-"
"No!" Jenna held her hand up, "You exposed your powers to Stefan?!"
"To be fair-"
"You let her go into that creepy house without backup!" she pointed at Enzo, "And you!" she put her hands on her hips and sighed, "I'm just glad you're okay," she leant down and kissed Damon on the cheek, "But seriously, you need to stop getting locked up, you're becoming a damsel in distress!"
"Hey!" Damon exclaimed, affronted by the descriptor, and Maya and Enzo snorted in amusement.
"Ugh! I just- I can't believe you three!" Jenna stormed off and the three of them looked between one another questioningly, waiting to see if she was going to come back.
"Do you think we can go now?" Enzo whispered.
"We should leave," Maya nodded, "Before she comes back and yells some more." The red-head stood and grabbed her jacket, "I'm going to go. You two might want to make yourself scarce before she comes back and starts laying out punishments. Later boys." Maya headed out, knowing that Enzo wanted some alone time with Damon and she had something that she needed to do.
Stefan kept himself down in the basement, he'd tried to go upstairs, only to find that Damon had made sure that the sunlight was coming through every window in the house, and with his phone broken there was no way that he could warn Zach to stay away. He was getting hungrier by the second, whatever Maya had done to him had sent his hunger into overdrive, and he knew that if Zach came home before sunset, he was going to kill him. He couldn't even lock himself in the cell, because Damon had kicked the door off it's hinges when he got out. He glanced at his watch, it hadn't been long since Damon had left, he still had five hours of sun left, he was screwed. Stefan heard a noise coming from the driveway, no, no, no, he was going to kill someone!
/ / /
Damon watched Zach move about the town from the shadows, as much as he wanted to force Stefan's hand into feeding on human blood as a punishment, he knew that turning Stefan back into a ripper would put Elena in danger, and he was not about to be the one to tell Nik that he was the reason Stefan tore the doppelgänger's head off. Not to mention, he wanted to be the one to punish Zach, he wanted his nephew to know that he'd fucked up before he died, and he needed a way onto the Council, he wanted to know everything about them, and he couldn't do that if Stefan ripped Zach's throat out.
He waited until Zach was completely on his own and then snatched him up, Damon whooshed to the Salvatore Mausoleum, knowing that no one was going to come anywhere near it. He threw Zach on the ground and waited for him to get up and face him.
"Hello nephew."
"I'm full of vervain, I've been putting it in my coffee for 16 years." Zach said, hoping that Damon wouldn't try to rip his throat out.
"So it was your vervain, good, good for you," Damon nodded, closing the door of the mausoleum behind him, "Family only runs so deep."
"We're not family Damon. Only in the most dysfunctional sense. In fact I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you."
Damon rolled his eyes, that wasn't strictly true, he suspected Stefan had compelled Zach in 1994, told him not to have more family, just in case, "You know you're just like your grandfather. He didn't like it when I came to visit either."
"But you don't visit Damon, you appear, unannounced. Reminding me that the Boarding House isn't mine, that you're just permitting me to live there. Hell, that you're permitting me to live."
"Someone had to mow the lawn," Damon shrugged.
"So what am I here for now then?"
"You're gonna tell me everything you know about the council, because while you may be chock full of vervain, I know plenty of ways to make you hurt. And at the risk of sounding like a cliché, around here, no one can hear you scream."
/ / /
Maya texted Enzo to meet her at the park, she'd already missed the first two periods of school and couldn't be bothered to go in for the rest, plus Caroline was missing the last half of school to set up things for the car wash (go shopping for a new suit).
"Maya," Enzo said, walking up to her.
"Where's Damon?"
"Looking for Zach."
"He's decided against making Stefan kill him." Maya said.
"You don't look surprised."
"Making his baby brother kill his nephew, that's dark and twisty, and Damon isn't in a dark and twisty place anymore, he's happy. Plus Zach vervained him, and he's gonna wanna punish the guy himself."
"So we're just supposed to let Stefan get away with what he did?" Enzo replied annoyed.
Maya shook her head, "Nope, that's why I asked you to meet me."
"What is it?" She showed him her phone, and the picture on it, "What have they done to earn your wrath?"
"Plenty."
/ / /
Stefan held his breath as he heard someone enter the house, it wasn't Zach, that much he knew, but he didn't know who it was. Hopefully if he stayed quiet, they wouldn't come anywhere near the cellar.
He could feel his vampire come to the surface as he heard the person come closer to the basement entrance, "No, no, no," he whispered.
The door opened and someone stumbled down the stairs, and as much as he tried to hold it back, he couldn't. He was on them in an instant, tearing into their throat with his fangs. Somehow he managed to pull himself away from the person he'd attacked and threw himself across the room. "Oh god," he whispered, staring at the body on the floor, "What have I done?"
He hadn't killed anyone since 1935, and now he'd done it again, squeezing his eyes shut he couldn't believe that he'd given in so easily. His eyes shot open when he heard a wet cough come from the person on the floor, they were still alive! He could fix this!
Miranda walked up the steps to Sheila Bennett's house, pocket watch in her purse, she knocked and waited for the older woman to answer. Sheila opened the door, squinting a little at the harsh sunlight, "Miranda Gilbert," Sheila said, "This is a surprise."
"Sheila, the Council needs your help," Miranda breathed.
The Bennett Witch shook her head, "Bennetts don't help the Council, not since they burned us at the stake."
"Shelia please, there's a vampire in town, and we can't find it."
"So use the watch, that's what it's for."
"That's the problem," Miranda said, taking the pocket watch out of her bag, "It's stopped working."
"What are you talking about?" Sheila looked down at the timepiece in Miranda's hand, "Magic just doesn't 'stop working', that's not how it operates."
"That's why I brought it to you, so you could see if you knew what was wrong."
"Come inside," Sheila said, motioning for her to follow her.
Miranda walked in and Shelia cleared some space on the coffee table, "Give it here." She held out her hand and Miranda placed the watch in the centre of her palm.
Shelia covered the watch with her other hand and closed her eyes, trying to sense what was wrong, "There's nothing there," she said.
"What?"
"The magic, it's gone… it's like it's been-" she cut herself off as she came to a realisation. The watch had been in the possession of the Gilberts for a long time, and it was only recently that Jenna and Miranda had a falling out. Prior to that, Maya would have had almost free reign of the Gilbert household.
"It's like it's been what?"
"Drained," the Bennett Witch finally said, "It's been drained, there's no magic left in the watch, so it won't work."
"Can you fix it?"
Shelia shook her head, "I could try, but this spell was created over 140 years ago by Emily Bennett, the only way I could be sure was if I had her grimoire."
"Grimoire?"
"Spell book," Shelia clarified, "Every witch has one, they write down all their spells in them, Emily's grimoire would have the spell for this."
"And you don't have it?"
"Someone turned Emily in as a witch, and she was burned at the stake, I imagine whoever captured her, took her grimoire. It's either hidden away, or more likely, destroyed."
"I'll check the Founder's Archives, see if any of the Council back then mention it," Miranda said, standing.
"In the meantime, I will see what I can do, maybe I can make something for you to use temporarily."
"Thank you," Miranda said, "I let you know as soon as I have something."
Klaus was currently trapped underneath the two small bodies of Liam and Luna, he wasn't sure how he'd ended up in this position, he'd been going over some accounts from his personal investments, when the children had burst into his office, climbed on his desk, knocked his papers on the floor and then ended up in his lap. He sighed, perhaps it was time to get the children some schooling, they had a lot of time to get used to living with a new pack, living without their family, and they needed to get back to some semblance of normal. And they absolutely needed a premier education, if they were his responsibility then he was going to make sure that they were taken care of. "Alright you know I have a lot of work to do," he said, his phone started to ring from somewhere on the floor, it must have made it's way there when his papers had been shoved from the desk. "You should go and play with Cary."
"No!" Liam complained, "We're bored."
"Well-" Klaus cut himself off as he searched for his phone, "What about the rest of the kids?" Unbeknownst to him, Luna's attention had moved from him, to his phone, she crawled under his legs and found the device underneath a stack of paper.
"We don't like them," Liam said.
Klaus grabbed Liam's arms, stopping the boy from moving, "Liam I need to get to my-" his phone had stopped ringing, "Wonderful."
"Hello?" Luna asked.
Klaus's eyes snapped up, and saw that Luna had disappeared from his office, but he could hear her running through the hallways, she had his phone, "Bloody hell!"
Elijah had gathered a lot of information from the Kingmaker sites that he needed to relay to his brothers, Lucien was much further along in his research than they'd believed, and Rebekah had come across the remnants of another pack, the Poldark pack, if the wolves that had been rescued were to be believed, they were a royal bloodline, just like the other wolves that they had found. Which put the number of packs that they had found at four. Which left three unaccounted for, the Malraux pack, the Crescent wolves, and the Northeast Atlantic pack.
The last time he'd heard of the Crescents, they were in New Orleans, but that particular city was off limits, to him and his sister especially. Kol had said something about Niklaus having a plan for New Orleans, and Elijah didn't think that it was a good idea at the time to anger his brother further, by potentially interfering with that plan. So instead, he'd sent a compelled vampire to the city, to find out if the wolves remained there.
The Malraux pack were ghosts, they hadn't been heard from in years, which was very unsettling, it meant that either Lucien had found them and already wiped them out. Or they'd gotten so good at hiding, that not even an Original could find them. Which put his own capabilities into question. He didn't know which would be worse, the possibility of being bested intellectually by a wolf pack, or the knowledge that Lucien was another step closer to making his deadly venom.
The Northeast Atlantic pack was also an issue, from what he could ascertain they liked to remain on the move, they never stayed in a place for more than a month, stuck to woodland areas, and very rarely made contact with the outside world. The problem was, the pack had seemingly completely disappeared, January was the last time there had been any information about them, but since then, there was nothing. He knew that Lucien hadn't gotten a hold of them yet, because the chatter he'd picked up from Kingmaker, had them frantically searching for the pack. So what had happened to them?
Sighing Elijah picked up his phone, he knew that he would need to inform his brothers about what he'd found. Automatically he phoned Klaus, even though he knew that his brother wouldn't answer, it was a habit. Shaking himself from his thoughts he moved to hang up, but surprisingly his call was answered. What was even more surprising, was the person who'd answered his call, he'd used the newer video calling feature that his phone supported, and was met with the face of a little blonde girl.
"Hello?" the girl asked.
Elijah stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, who was she? And why was she answering his brother's phone? "Hello," he said.
"Who are you?" she asked, eyes squinting in suspicion, she'd never seen this serious looking man before.
"Me? Who are you?" Elijah asked.
"I asked you first," she replied, like it automatically made it so that he had to answer her.
"I'm Elijah," he said, taking in the rapidly changing background behind her, it appeared that she was running somewhere.
"I'm Luna!" the girl said.
Elijah was so confused, why did this little girl have his brother's phone? He was about to ask that particular question, but he heard Klaus yelling the girl's name in the background, and in response, the girl laughed. Laughed, like she was playing a game.
"What do you want?" Luna asked.
"To speak with my brother!"
"So why did you call me?"
"I didn't!" Elijah exclaimed, "I called my brother!"
"But I'm not your brother," Luna said, confused.
"I know that! You have my brother's phone!"
"No I don't," Luna shook her head.
"Yes you do."
"No. I. Don't."
"Yes you do!" Elijah couldn't believe it, he'd been drawn into an argument with a child.
"No I- ah!" she shrieked, as Klaus grabbed her.
/ / /
Klaus dropped Liam in his chair and shot out of the office, chasing after Luna, "Luna!" he yelled, "Get back here!" instead of the fear that his shouting should have caused, she had the audacity to giggle, giggle, like this was a game.
"No I- ah!" she shrieked, as Klaus grabbed her around the middle and lifted her off the floor.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
She burst into laughter, right in his face, causing him to growl, his vampire coming to the surface, but she wasn't scared of him, "Niklaus?"
Klaus snatched the phone from Luna's hand and looked at the screen, it was Elijah, "Elijah!" Klaus exclaimed, this was awkward, he could feel Luna trying to wriggle out of his grasp, "Just a moment." He shoved his phone in his pocket so that all Elijah could see was darkness.
Adjusting his grip on Luna, he whooshed to his study, grabbed Liam up, and then whooshed through the compound and found Cary with his friends, "You lot!" Klaus said, dropping the children in front of them, "Watch them," he whooshed back to his office and pulled his phone from his pocket.
"Elijah, now's not a really good time."
"Niklaus did you kidnap a child?"
"What? No!"
"Because it looked like she was running away from you."
"She was running from me…but not because I kidnapped her!"
"Well-"
"Elijah!" Klaus cut him off, "What did you want?"
"I'm calling about Lucien." He said and then paused, "Are you sure that you didn't kidnap that girl?"
"Elijah!"
Rebekah was back in New York, she was waiting on some information from Elijah, and thought it best to use her down time to get to know her sister. She'd always wanted a sister, the idea that she actually had one, was something that she hadn't had a lot of time to process. There had been so many harsh truths that had been exposed, and then dealing with Nik's rage, the fact that she had a sister had been pushed to the bottom of the pile, but now that she had some time, she was actually going to get to know Freya.
The two were meeting up for lunch in Times Square, Rebekah was sat at a private table, across from her older sister and smiled. So far the two of them had been getting along rather well, Rebekah had been telling her about some of her favourite times with Nik, when her phone rang, it was Elijah.
Frowning, Rebekah looked at her phone, Elijah knew that she was having lunch with Freya, and had said that he wouldn't disturb her. "Answer it," Freya said, "If he's calling it must be important."
Rebekah answered and put the phone on speaker, she didn't want to make it look like she was hiding anything from her sister, "Elijah, I'm at lunch with our sister, this better be important."
"Ah, yes, you did say that, I'm sorry I forgot."
"That's not like you," Rebekah frowned, "What's wrong?"
"I spoke to Niklaus earlier and…well… there was child there, a little girl, she was running from him."
"What?!"
"I think he may have kidnapped her, but he says he didn't."
"And you don't believe him?"
"He refused to answer any questions about the girl…"
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?"
"I was thinking perhaps you could call him, and find out who the child is."
"Fine," Rebekah sighed, "He's probably not going to answer, he hasn't spoken to me in months."
"He may now. Please just try."
"Fine, goodbye brother." She hung up the phone and saw the incredulous look on Freya's face, "You want me to call him now, don't you?"
/ / /
Klaus threw himself back into his chair, groaning in annoyance, he had a feeling that Luna answering his phone was going to cause him some issues. His phone rang, and he saw Rebekah's name appear on the screen.
"Of course," he muttered, picking up the phone and answering. "Rebekah," he said.
"Nik, did you kidnap a child?"
"Bloody hell!"
"Well?" Rebekah demanded.
"No Rebekah! I did not kidnap a child!"
"Then who is she?"
"That's none of your business!" Klaus growled, "I don't have time for this!"
/ / /
Rebekah scowled at her phone, he'd hung up on her, Nik had actually hung up on her! "That didn't sound very convincing," Freya commented.
"Well Nik's still rather angry at me, I doubt that he's willing to go into details about what he's doing."
"What about Kol?"
"What about him?" Rebekah asked.
"Well from what I can tell, Niklaus and Kol are rather close now, perhaps he would have better luck getting answers from him."
Rebekah frowned, she didn't like thinking that Kol and Nik were closer than she and Nik were, but Freya was making sense, "You're probably right," she acquiesced.
"Then let's go speak to Kol!"
"I don't know where he is at the moment."
"I do."
/ / /
Rebekah and Freya stood before the large Brownstone that Kol had based his operations out of, "Kol's been staying here?" Rebekah asked, it wasn't exactly her brother's style.
"This is where I woke," Freya said, "Niklaus, Kol and their witch were all here."
Rebekah stiffened, "Is the witch here now?"
"No," Freya shook her head, "I don't know where she is, our brother refuses to speak to me about her, he doesn't trust me."
"Of course he doesn't," Rebekah scoffed, Kol rarely trusted anyone, but she couldn't help but feel bad, she may have been part of the reason for that.
The two climbed the stairs and Freya whispered a few words and unlocked the door, she stepped inside, but Rebekah was stuck on the steps. "I can't come in," she said, "I've not been invited." It was smart of her brother to put the property in a human's name, it meant that no vampires could enter.
"That's right," Kol said, appearing at the front door, "You haven't, why are you here Bekah?"
Freya noticed the tension between the two and cut in, "We think that Niklaus has kidnapped a child," she blurted out.
Kol blinked in surprise at her, "What?"
"You heard me."
"I know I heard you, but I don't think that I understand what you just said."
"We think that Niklaus has kidnapped a child, Elijah called worried, he said that there was little girl, running away from him, and then Rebekah called him, and he wasn't very forthcoming about it."
"You-you're serious?" Kol asked, amused, he had an idea of who the girl was, but just to be sure maybe he should call Nik.
"Completely," Rebekah said, "Now can we please take this inside?"
"I'm not inviting you in Bekah, I don't trust you."
Rebekah pouted, she was expecting that, but it didn't mean that she wasn't annoyed by it, "Will you at least call him?!"
"Fine."
"Now," she said.
Kol rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, "Fine!" he dialled Nik's number and waited for his brother to answer.
"Kol?" Klaus asked, "What is it?"
"Nik did you kidnap a-"
"No!" Klaus growled and hung up the phone.
"He hung up," Kol said, his level of amusement growing, Nik sounded beyond frustrated, and being able to annoy his brother from halfway across the country, that sounded like fun.
"Well now what?"
"I know who he'll talk to!" he ignored the questioning look he got from his sisters, and called the one person who Nik would never hang up on.
/ / /
Maya and Caroline were at the mall in Richmond, Caroline had wanted them to get new bathing suits for the car wash that she was organising, so she and Maya had headed over an hour out of town to shop. One of the vampires that Klaus had ordered to watch Elena and Maya had gone with them, and compelled the store for them, so they were the only two shoppers in the beach store. Caroline was laughing as she put on a fashion show for Maya, when the red-head's phone rang.
"Who is it?" Caroline asked.
"It's Kol," Maya looked at her watch, "He's ahead of schedule."
"See what he wants!"
"Alright, alright!" Maya laughed, Caroline was very eager to speak with the Original, even though she denied it, Maya was sure that Caroline had developed a crush on the playboy, she just hoped that Kol didn't hurt her friend, because as much as she cared for Kol and respected him as her teacher, she would tear out his insides if he hurt Caroline.
"Hey Kol!" Maya grinned, answering the video call, and motioning for Caroline to spin around so that she could see the whole bathing suit.
"Hello darling," Kol smirked, "What are you up to?"
"Oh Sunshine and I are just out shopping…trying on swim suits."
"Really?" Kol raised an eyebrow, an interested look on his face, "Have either of you found anything good?" he asked.
"You wanna see?" she asked and Kol grinned, nodding. "Too bad!" Maya smirked, "These sexy outfits aren't for your eyes," she was exaggerating, she and Care were looking for more modest sets, that were appropriate for a school car wash.
"You're such a tease Love!"
"Mm, hi Kol," Caroline said, throwing on a cover up and walking behind Maya, so that she was in the camera frame.
"Well hello Darling, I must say I was hoping to see something more…revealing."
"In you're dreams!" Caroline scoffed.
"Every night," Kol agreed.
/ / /
"Kol!" Rebekah exclaimed, "Would you stop flirting! You called for a reason!"
"Oh I'm just having some fun Bekah!" Kol replied.
Rebekah frowned and tried to take the phone from his hand, "Give that here!"
Kol pulled back, "Hey!" and the two began fighting over the phone, eventually, Rebekah managed to pin Kol to the ground and snatched the phone from him.
"Give that back!" Kol cried out.
"Freya a little help here!" Rebekah said, struggling to hold her brother down.
"Don't you dare Freya!"
The eldest Mikaelson sibling fought the urge to laugh at the sight, this right here, is what she thought about when she thought of her brothers and sister. Not the fight per se, but way two of them acted, like actual siblings, like they cared for one another, and this was just one of those things that brothers and sisters did. This is what she wanted to be a part of.
/ / /
Caroline and Maya watched as the two siblings fought over the phone, catching flashes of the two until Rebekah finally came out on top, and showed up on the screen, "Hello Rebekah," Maya said.
"You're the Witch," Rebekah replied.
"That's what people call me." Maya nodded, "Did you need something?"
Rebekah disappeared from the screen and after a brief struggle, Kol showed up, panting a little, but clearly inside the house now, so Rebekah couldn't get at him, "Can we talk in private for a moment Darling?"
A few hours later Klaus was leant against a balcony on the top floor of the compound and watched as Cary and his friends played with Liam and Luna by the pool, his phone rang and he rolled his eyes, looking down he saw that it was Maya and he smirked, finally someone who he'd enjoy talking to.
"Maya love! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Did you kidnap a kid?" she asked.
"Why is everyone calling me and asking if I've kidnapped a child!" he exclaimed, this was ridiculous.
"Well, Elijah didn't believe you when you said 'no' so he told Rebekah, who happened to be having lunch with Freya, and Freya told Kol, when she went to meet up with him later, and Kol told me."
"And who did you tell?" Klaus growled.
"I may have told Damon, who told Enzo…and Caroline…and Mom…and Jeremy. Turns out the guy's a bit of a gossip…but we're all very curious, and slightly worried about this child that you've apparently kidnapped." She smirked as she could see the rising frustration on Klaus's face.
"For the last time, I did not, kidnap a child!"
"Then how about you give me the real story so that I can send the appropriate information back down the phone tree, because I'm pretty sure you don't want Freya thinking that you go around kidnapping kids."
Klaus grunted in annoyance, "Fine, what do you want to know?"
"How about you tell me what happened with Elijah first."
"Nothing, I was in my office, when my phone rang, I was unable to get to it because of the children, and the next thing I know, Luna is running off with my phone and answering it."
"Wait, how did Luna get your phone?"
"I was working and she and her brother came into the office."
"They have access to your office?"
"They were having some separation issues…" Klaus replied.
"Separation issues? You mean separation anxiety… from you? They don't like being separated from you?"
"That…would be accurate."
"And why is that?" She asked, curious to see what he said.
"I don't know." He shrugged.
"Nik, tell the truth, have been looking after the kids?"
"What else am I supposed to do? They're part of my pack!" he said defensively.
"I mean do they come to when they're scared? Or upset? Or happy? Or bored?"
"…Maybe."
"Do you make sure that they're fed? And I don't mean just buying food, do you specifically eat meals with them?"
"…Yes."
"Do they have any other adults in their life that they spend their time with?"
"Not really…"
"And if they need anything, you provide it…immediately?"
"Maybe…"
"Okay," Maya nodded.
"What do you mean okay? What's okay?"
"I mean okay, I'll take care of it."
"What are you going to say?"
"Relax, it's not like I'm going to tell them the truth, that's up to you."
"What truth?"
"The truth that you're their father now."
"WHAT?!" Klaus yelled, causing a few people at the pool to look up at the Original. He noticed the attention and went back inside, "What are you talking about?!"
"Seriously?" Maya asked, "Nik, you care for them, and not just because you're their Alpha, you're doing more for them, than anyone else. Look me in the eyes and tell me that if one of them got hurt, you wouldn't rip apart whoever caused their pain." Klaus clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything, "Face it Nik, you're a papa again. Although something tells me these baby wolves will work out far better than Marcel did."
Klaus had locked himself in his study, he was brooding, not that he was going to admit it, his thoughts were running a mile a minute, his phone rang again and he sighed, now what? Answering he spoke first, "I swear if you're calling to ask if I've kidnapped a child-"
"Relax," Damon said, "Maya gave me the party line, you're not a kidnapper…well not this time at least."
Klaus rolled his eyes, "Why are you calling?"
"Maya may have mentioned that you might need to talk to your best friend."
"You're not my best friend."
Damon snorted in amusement, "I'm your best friend and you know it!" Klaus just grunted in response, "Now tell your BFF Damon what's wrong."
"You're the most annoying Salvatore that I've ever met."
"Please, we all know that's St. Stefan."
"No, your brother was a lot of fun in the 20s."
"You take that back!"
"Fine, fine! Stefan was a bore! He was absolutely no fun at all!" Klaus said, he should know better than to play with Damon's insecurities over his brother. Things had been very awkward between them when Damon had found out that Klaus not only knew Stefan, but was friends with him. It had taken months for them to get back to normal after that.
"Damn right," Damon said, "Now tell me what's up, don't make me ask Maya, we all know how much she exaggerates."
"There is nothing up."
"Are you really going to make me go and get her? Because I will, and then you'll be forced to talk feelings with her, is that what you want? To talk about all the feelings you're feeling? With Maya? She's so smug when she's right."
"And you're a bloody gossip."
"I am not!" Damon denied.
"You told basically everyone in Mystic Falls that I kidnapped a child!"
"In my defence, Maya didn't tell me to keep it to myself!"
"I bloody hate you," Klaus shook his head.
"I'm your favourite person in the world!"
Stefan spent two nights in the woods, he'd hunted as many animals as he could, he needed to get the taste of human blood out of his mouth, and get it out of his system. He'd also been frantically searching for his ring, Damon had said that it was hidden somewhere on the property, but everywhere that he could think Damon would hide it, it wasn't there.
He raced back to the house when he could feel the sun coming up, he needed to find that ring, he had to, who knows what Damon had done in the two days that Stefan had been gone. Growling in frustration he threw a glass across his bedroom, causing it to knock over something on his bookshelf and smash on impact. When he heard something other than glass hit the floor, he snapped to attention, there on the floor, was his ring… Damon had hidden his ring in his own fucking room! He'd been searching all over the Salvatore property for the ring, and it was right there, in the house, in his bedroom, he was fuming.
In his anger, his panic, and his thirst, he hadn't noticed that Zach hadn't come home.
It was Friday morning and Caroline was marching through the school's halls, it would be the 'Sexy Suds Car Wash' on Saturday and she was making sure that she had everything in place. Maya was in step next to her with a notebook, when it came to organising events, Caroline was the queen, and Maya would just do her best to make sure that everything went off without a hitch for her BFF.
The two girls walked up to Elena and Bonnie, Elena may have quit the cheerleading team, but Bonnie was still on it. "Bonnie!" Caroline said, causing both girls to stop, "The 'Sexy Suds Car Wash' is tomorrow, the football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band, just the ones who could pull of a bikini. I want, 'in your face', sexy. I mean it's a fund raiser for God's sake, so you better be wearing something appropriate, or I'll send you home to get a new outfit." Maya smirked and checked Bonnie, off of Caroline's list of things to do. The blonde then turned Elena, "Elena, I know that you're not a cheerleader anymore, but you did sign up for this before you quit. So you better show up, and be appropriately dressed!" She didn't give Elena a chance to respond, and flounced off. "Let's go Maya!" she called.
"Yes ma-am!" Maya saluted her and followed.
"Unbelievable," Elena said, as they watched the two girls walk away, "It's like she still thinks that she's in charge."
"Well she is in charge of me," Bonnie said, "I'm still on the team."
"So quit," Elena shrugged.
"Unlike you, I actually like being a cheerleader."
"I liked it!" Elena defended.
"You were going to quit before Maya joined!" Bonnie replied, "And then you decided that you had to stay to compete with her. Not that it matters, considering that she's always on point, always."
"Bonnie!"
"I'm just saying," Bonnie shrugged, "I don't like Maya, but she's a better dancer than you."
"Ugh!"
Bonnie laughed at Elena's affronted look, but stopped when she saw Stefan walking towards them. They gu had been missing for four days, and Elena had made her displeasure known about it. "Heads up," she said.
Elena looked up as Stefan made his way over to them, "Hey," he said.
"Hey," Bonnie said, looking between the two of them awkwardly, "You know I gotta go. Be somewhere. Right now." And she ran off.
"I'm so sorry I haven't called," Stefan said.
"No worries, I'll live."
"I was…dealing with Damon." He swallowed, keeping his eyes locked on hers, and away from the pulsing vein in her neck.
"Damon? What could you possibly have to do with Damon that kept you out of contact for four days?"
"You have every right to be upset with me, but can I explain it all to you? Please?"
"Sure," Elena sighed, "When?"
"I gotta be home after school, but the Grill, around four o'clock?"
"Okay," Elena relented, even if she was mad at him, she still wanted to give him a chance.
"Thanks."
Matt was playing pool in the Grill after school when Elena came up to him, "Hey Matt. Um, have you seen Stefan?"
"Nope," he shook his head, looking away from her for a moment, something felt off between them, more off than before. As Elena made to move away he spoke, "But if you want to kill some time, you can rack."
"Uh."
"Come on, we haven't played in forever," when Elena didn't move he continued, "I'll let you break."
"Fine," Elena took the pool cue out of his hands and started moving the balls on the table, "You know I caught your sister in my bathroom a couple of days ago," she said.
"What?"
"I'm pretty sure she's sleeping with Jeremy."
"Yeah I'm not going to lie," Matt rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Your brother and my sister, that's weird."
"Oh? Is it weirder than you and my cousin?"
"Who told you about that?" Matt asked, eyes wide, "Was it Tyler?"
"Tyler knew?!" Elena exclaimed.
"Tyler didn't tell you?" Matt asked, he thought for sure it would have been him, Tyler was his best friend and probably thought that making Elena jealous would have helped him get her back.
"No!"
"Maya told you?!"
"Well she didn't so much as tell me, as mention a particular birthmark of yours."
"Elena I-"
"Don't worry about it Matt," she shook her head and lined up her shot on the table, she wasn't going to act like a brat, Matt wasn't her boyfriend anymore and even though she was pissed at Maya, now that Matt had confirmed her story, she refused to rise to the bait. "We weren't together then, and we're not together now, so I guess it's none of my business."
Matt looked crestfallen, "It didn't mean anything," he said.
"Oh so taking a girl's virginity, it doesn't mean anything to you?"
"No! That's not what I meant!" Matt stumbled over his words, he was so going to yell at the red-head when he found her, "I just meant that neither one of us cared about each other in that way, we didn't love each other, it just…happened."
"And how exactly did it happen?" Elena straightened, leaning on the cue.
"I-"
"No!" Elena sighed, she promised herself she wouldn't get drawn into Maya's game and there she was, falling for it, "It's none of my business. I don't want to know."
"Well, I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he said.
She looked over at him, at her first love and felt a little bad, "To be fair, if I had known, I probably wouldn't have gone out with you, so it was a good idea not telling me."
Matt nodded and watched as she pulled out her phone to check the time, "How late is he?" he asked, suddenly very aware that Elena was going out with someone new.
"Hitting the hour mark, nothing's wrong though, which means I'm not talking boy problems with you."
"Good," Matt moved around the table to take his shot, "It's not like we were ever best friends or anything."
Elena sighed as she looked over at him, "Okay, here goes… what do you think of Stefan? Is he a good guy?"
"Why, what's he done?"
"Not any one thing, he's just so secretive all the time, I think that there's something that he doesn't want me to know…which makes me want to know all the more."
"Like what? Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?" Matt laughed.
"No of course not, but what do we know about him, really?"
"He's great at football, little bit of a loner. And as much as I hate saying it, he might be a nice guy."
"So you think I'm just being paranoid?"
"I think you should talk to him."
"Talk to who?" Stefan asked standing behind the two, when they turned to face him he continued, "I'm so sorry that I'm late."
"What happened?"
"I got held up."
"Is everything okay?"
"There's this thing with my uncle."
"And you couldn't call and tell me that you were going to be an hour late?"
Matt looked between the two of them, "Okay," he said, "You two have fun," he put the cue down and walked away, there was no way that he was sticking around for this argument.
"I'm really sorry, it was unavoidable."
"What was unavoidable?" When Stefan didn't answer, Elena gave him a sarcastic smile and started to walk away from him, "Okay."
Stefan put his hand on her arm, causing her to turn, "No Elena please."
"No, Stefan, don't you get it? Every question gets a vague non-answer. What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?"
The two were interrupted by an old man who was staring at Stefan, "I know you. My God."
"I'm sorry?"
"I know you. How can it be?"
"I think you have the wrong person sir," Stefan said nervously.
"You haven't aged a day."
Stefan looked between the man and Elena, realising what had just happened, "I'm sorry, excuse me, hey can I take you home, and we can talk about it? Is that okay?" He held her by her arm and guided her away from the old man.
"Wait, what was that?"
"I don't know, uh nothing."
"Right, nothing, okay, um, I gotta go Stefan." Elena shook her head as she walked out of the Grill, Stefan watching as she left.
"Evening Sheriff," Logan Fell said, walking over to Liz, who was eating her dinner at the Grill, "Anything?"
She sighed and shook her head, "We went over the entire west side of the lake, all the caverns by the falls were clean, no signs of habitat."
"Then they're staying in town," Logan said worriedly.
"We canvassed all abandoned buildings and warehouses."
"There has to be a private residence."
"And that much harder to locate," Liz nodded, "If not impossible, these creatures are smart, they know how to go undetected."
"Well, someone who only comes out at night should become obvious."
"You'd think so, but so far we have nothing."
"What about the watch?" Logan asked.
"Miranda's working on it."
"We need it soon," Logan said, "We can't keep covering up these deaths."
Jeremy saw his sister pouting in her bed, he wasn't her biggest fan at the moment, but she was still his sister, "You okay?" he asked.
"Is Vicki in there?" Elena shot back.
"Don't answer a question with another question," he smirked, "And no, I haven't seen her in a couple of days, she blew off work, and me. Now what's wrong with you?"
"I'm miserable."
"Well you should go get something to eat."
Elena smiled at her brother and got off her bed, brushing past him she headed downstairs, frowning as she heard the sounds of silverware clinking, "Mom?" she received no answer and went straight to the kitchen, "Mom?" sliding open the doors, she found Stefan instead. "Stefan? What are you doing here?"
"Dinner," Stefan said, slicing some garlic, "Jeremy told me that chicken parmesan is one of your favourites, and I happen to be a good cook. The Italian roots demand it. I can even make my own homemade mozzarella, only tonight, it is unfortunately store bought. Sorry."
"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish." Elena said, walking forward.
"You want to know me right?" He moved on to chopping some onions, "Well, I figure if you're going to dump me, you should at least, know who you're dumping. So let's start with Katherine."
"Stefan-"
"She was, the most beautiful girl that I'd ever met. She had this perfect olive skin, and she had this laugh, it was ridiculous. I mean, her laugh made you laugh." Stefan smiled at the memory, "And she was fun. She knew how to have a good time. But Katherine was also very impatient and entitled and selfish and impulsive. Enter Damon." He looked back down at the food and then back at Elena, "He claims that he was with her first. I don't know. I do know that I did some things that…I'm not proud of. And my biggest regret…is not being able to make it right before she died. I miss her, but…I'm no longer crippled by her loss. Not like Damon is."
"But isn't he dating my cousin?"
"I think that there's more that story than either of them are letting on," Stefan replied, how could he tell Elena that her cousin was a dark witch, without revealing who he himself was?
Elena nodded, "So what else?" she moved around the counter and picked up a knife and started chopping.
"I'm an avid reader, a huge Fitzgerald fan, 'The Great Gatsby', his masterpiece. But I'm not a snob, I love some good Grisham. I think 'Seinfeld' is the best American television show of the past 50 years, but 'I Love Lucy' is all time." He looked at her with a smile, "Huge Scorsese fan, I can watch 'Taxi Driver' over and over again."
"Here, let me," Elena smiled and took the knife from his hands, he nodded and moved on to preparing something else.
"As far as music, it's pretty much across the board. Dylan, Hendrix, Patse, Willie. You know what, I even like that one Miley song," he said causing her to laugh, "Easy!"
"I didn't say anything!" she shook her head and looked over at him, "Hey this is for the garlic bread right? Because I'm not eating garlic unless you agree to, too."
Stefan smirked, "Are you kidding? I love garlic."
Elena smiled, looking at him, and kept cutting, which was stupid, because she ended up cutting herself, "Ow! Ah!"
"You ok?" Stefan came over to her just as she walked to the sink.
"Yeah I think so," she moved to run her hand under the tap.
Stefan looked at his own hand, which had ended up touching the counter where her blood had spilled, it was on him, her blood, and his vampire started to surface, he couldn't fight it. His eyes connected with Elena's in the reflection of the glass above the sink and he spun around, "Your face," Elena said walking over to him.
"Yeah, I, um, I think I got something in my eye." His eyes had fully darkened, fangs protruded, everything in him told him to sink his teeth into her.
"Stefan," Elena put her hand on his shoulder, trying to turn him around, but he turned his face away from her, "Stefan."
Stefan took a deep breath through his mouth, trying to purge the scent of blood from his nostrils, taking a moment he turned back around when his face went back to normal.
Elena stared at him for a moment, and shook her head, "I think my paranoia has turned into full-blown hallucinations."
"It's part of your charm," Stefan shrugged, moving in closer, he leant down, and the two of them kissed.
The next day, Caroline had Maya up at the crack of dawn to go to the car wash, she was in a leopard print bikini top, and some short jean shorts, directing members of the football team to their stations. Caroline was at the cash table, with Elena, making sure she knew what she was doing, "No friend discounts, no freebies, no pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here."
"No we are not," Elena nodded, the car wash was for a good cause, the two of them could be civil to one another.
"Hi," Stefan said, coming up to Elena, who was putting the cash away.
"Hey," Elena smiled, standing to greet him.
Caroline stood too, not wanting to stick around for the Elena and Stefan show, "The event is called 'Sexy Suds' you know?" she looked them both up and down before walking away.
"Did we just get scolded?" Stefan asked.
"And judged," Elena nodded.
"Wow."
"I'm sorry but I guess your going to have to take that off," she motioned to his hoodie.
"I think you have to go first," Stefan shot back.
/ / /
Damon and Enzo pulled up to the car wash and parked in one of the bays, "If I catch you ogling Maya-"
"You'll what?" Damon asked, "We're in public, she's my girlfriend, and I'm the type of guy, that definitely ogles his girlfriend when she's in a bikini," he shot Enzo a smirk and got out of the car.
"I hate you," Enzo muttered.
"You love me," Damon shot back, the two of them making their way over to the table, where Elena and Stefan stood, "Hello brother."
Stefan dropped Elena's hands and turned to see Damon stood there, cocky smirk on his face, "Damon." He said, his eyes slid to the man next to him, "Who's your friend?"
"Oh this is Enzo," Damon said.
"Lorenzo to those who don't know me," Enzo cut in.
Damon turned to Elena and pulled out some cash, "I've brought my car here for a wash."
"Right!" Elena said, trying to ignore the sudden tension, "I'll just get you your change."
"Oh no need," Damon said, "This is all for the school, right?"
"Right," Elena nodded.
"Besides, my girl's the only one I'll let near my car, and she'll take her time with it." Damon's eyes danced with mischief and he motioned for Enzo to follow him.
Stefan tried to get a look to see if Enzo were human, or a vampire, but the man had both his hands stuffed in his pockets as he walked away. "Stefan?" Elena asked.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I uh, I've just never met Enzo, before."
/ / /
Damon walked up to Maya, who was hosing off a car, "Don't you look hot," he said, and she turned to face him.
"Oh no, I'm not falling for that again!"
"Oh but," Damon's hand made its way to the small of her back and he pulled her towards him, "I was talking to you this time."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he leant down, eyes glinting as they met Stefan's for a moment, and then they were on Maya, and he was kissing her, pulling back he eyed her top, "I'm loving the leopard print," he said.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, it's very… strip club," he smirked, and she rolled her eyes.
"Good, that's exactly the vibe I was going for."
"I brought my car for you to wash."
"Me specifically?"
"You really think that I'm gonna let any of these morons touch my baby?"
Maya smirked, "But you trust me with her?" and Damon shrugged, "Are you going to watch me while I wash your car?"
"Watch as you get all wet and soapy and bend over the hood?" Damon asked, causing Enzo to groan in disgust. "What do you think?"
Maya laughed, smacking him in the stomach, "Let's go you perv, take me to that beauty."
"Ah so the truth comes out!" Damon said, "Now I finally know why you're dating me." The three of them walked over to the Camaro.
"Why's that?" Maya asked, hooking one arm into Enzo's.
"For my car."
"Ah," she nodded, "You caught me, it was all part of my nefarious plot."
"What was?" Caroline asked, coming up to them.
"My plan to date Damon long enough for him to let his guard down, so that I could steal his car."
Caroline looked over at said vehicle, she wasn't into cars, but she did know that Damon's was expensive, "It is pretty," she conceded.
"Pretty?" Damon scoffed, "She's beautiful!"
/ / /
Elena and Stefan were washing a car not far from Damon, so that he could keep an ear on his brother, "You're getting soap in that," Elena said, gesturing to his ring.
"Oh, it's fine." Stefan said.
"I noticed that Damon has one too, is there a story behind it?"
"Yeah, it's the um… it's the family crest," Stefan said, "It's from the Italian Renaissance."
"Huh," Elena came around the car and took his hand in hers, so she could get a better look at the ring, "What's the stone?"
"It's called lapis lazuli."
"Ah, you should really take it off," Elena said, "I can put it in my bag."
"No, its fine, really," Stefan replied, "Thanks though."
"Okay," Elena said, eyeing him for a moment, "I'm gonna get some towels."
/ / /
Elena walked up to Caroline, who was back at the cash table, "Hey we're out of towels, and those shimmy things," she said to Caroline.
"I will get some more," the blonde replied, being the only one with a key to the supply cupboard in school, "Mind the money." Caroline left and Elena stayed at the table, she was there when the old man from the Grill showed up.
"I saw you last night," Elena said, "You were talking to a friend of mine, at the Grill."
"Well, I thought he was somebody I knew," he replied.
"Stefan Salvatore?"
"No, it can't be," the man shook his head, "It was just my mind playing tricks on me."
"Where do you think you'd seen him before?"
"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore Boarding House, Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean none of us knew he was even here until the attack."
"The attack?" Elena asked.
"His uncle got killed, mauled by an animal in the woods."
"His uncle?" Elena clarified, "Zach?"
The man shook his head, "No, Joseph."
"I'm sorry sir, I don't think I'm familiar with the story."
"Well how could you? I mean this happened years ago."
"Are you sure that the man that you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?"
"Yes," the man nodded, "I remember his ring, and his brother."
"Damon?"
"Yeah, Stefan and Damon Salvatore."
"When was this?"
"It was early June, 1953… yeah, June 1953."
Elena watched the man leave with wide eyes, frozen in place until Caroline came back and relieved her of her duty, how was that possible? 1953 was 55 years ago! She went for a quick walk around the car wash to clear her head, she needed to try and get some answers.
/ / /
"Uh-oh," Damon said, as he spotted Elena making her way back over to Stefan.
"What is it?" Enzo asked, he hadn't really been paying attention to Stefan and Elena, he'd been more pre-occupied with sending death glares at every man whose eyes lingered on his best friend.
"Looks like Stefan's going to have his cover blown soon."
"You think?"
"She's definitely getting suspicious."
"I don't think she's there yet," Enzo said.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, bet, Elena will figure out what Stefan is in the next…three days."
"I say it'll take at least another week."
"200 hundred bucks says she figures it out today." Maya said, coming up to them.
"You're on!" Damon said, reaching out his hand to shake hers and then Enzo's, "You know you missed a spot right," he nodded back at his car.
Maya scowled at him and went back over to the car, as Enzo whispered in his boyfriend's ear, "You know that's gonna cost you later right?"
"So worth it," Damon shrugged.
Maya picked up the hose while Damon wasn't looking, made sure that it was on full blast and then aimed it at him, soaking both him and Enzo, "Hey!" Enzo complained, "What did I do?!"
"Aah!" Damon yelled causing people to look in his direction. "I'm getting you for that!" He stripped off his T-shirt and wrung it out, causing Maya to wolf whistle at him.
"Damn Damon! You're gonna give someone a heart attack looking like that!"
Damon grinned and threw his wet shirt in her face, "Am I making you all hot and bothered?"
"You know it," Maya fanned herself, and smirked as she caught Enzo eyeing Damon like a piece of meat.
The other vampire took off his own shirt, prompting Caroline to call out, from her spot near the cash, "Woo Enzo! Take it off!" he rolled his eyes at her and grinned.
"You two are incorrigible," he said.
"We can't help it," Maya replied.
"Yeah," Caroline said, coming up to them, "You're both just sooo attractive."
/ / /
Stefan was temporarily distracted by the noise coming from over by Damon, so he didn't realise that Elena was taking her time getting back to him. He finally noticed her and walked over. "Caroline finally freed you huh?"
"Yeah, but I think she's a little distracted by your brother and his friend," she motioned over to the ruckus, blushing when she caught herself eyeing Damon's naked chest. "Hey, I realised earlier that I had no idea that your family was from Italy."
"No?" Stefan asked, looking at their joined hands, "Last name Salvatore didn't do it for you?"
"Right," Elena said, feeling dumb, "Duh, are there any other Salvatores in Mystic Falls?"
"My Uncle Zach." Stefan replied.
"Where did everyone else go?"
"They kind of just spread out," Stefan shrugged, "Why?"
"I'm just trying to learn more about you," Elena smiled, her eyes drifting from his as she spotted her mom talking to Logan Fell, "Oh, there's my mom! I'm gonna go say hi!"
"Sure, I'll be washing cars." Stefan smiled and headed back to the one he had been working on.
/ / /
Elena came up to her mom and Logan, causing them to stop what they were talking about and turn to her. "Hi," Logan said, "Elena, right?" he shook her and, "I think I met you once when you were 9."
"Hi," Elena said, "You and my mom are friends, right?" she asked looking between them.
"Yes," Logan said slowly, "Why?"
"Are you good enough friends that I could ask you a favour?"
"Maybe," Miranda said, eyeing Elena with a bit of suspicion, "Why, what is it?"
"Do you have access to old news stories, say, the fifties?" she asked Logan.
"Yeah," he nodded, "At the station, between the archives and the internet, we have everything."
"I have this report, it's way past due, you'd be a lifesaver."
"I'm heading there now," Logan said, looking over at Miranda who nodded, "Let's go."
"Great!" She turned to her mother, "If anyone asks, you don't know where I went, I don't want Caroline to know that I left."
"We digitized all our archives last year. You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen." Logan said, taking Elena through to the archive room, "What is it exactly you're looking for?"
"An incident from 1953," Elena said walking inside, "If it even happened, at the old Salvatore Boarding House."
Logan's phone rang, "Sorry, one second," he answered the phone, "Fire? Alright, I'll be right there," he hung up, "I gotta go," he said to Elena, "Can you believe there's actually news to cover in this town?" she smiled at him, "Alright, use key words to search the database, it's pretty easy to navigate, and Brady, down in Tech, will help you out, anything you need."
"Okay," Elena said.
"Alright, good luck." He said, rushing out of the room.
Elena pulled up the search function, and typed in the words 'Joseph Salvatore' and 'Animal Attack' one result popped up, dated 12th June, 1953. She clicked on it, playing an old news report. When the news reporter mentioned the nephew, the camera swung over to someone hiding half in shadow. Pausing the footage, Elena zoomed in to see if she could see who it was. "What the hell?" she whispered, it was fuzzy, but the man looked just like Stefan.
Stefan went back to the Boarding House, hearing noises coming from upstairs, he whooshed towards them, "Zach?!" he called, freezing when all he found was Damon, with his 'friend' and Maya, all in Damon's room. Stefan's eyes narrowed in on the ring on the other man's finger, "You're a vampire," he said.
Enzo smirked, sitting on the bed, his arm thrown around Maya, "Guilty," he said.
"What happened to Zach?" he asked. He'd been hoping that Zach had just left town for a few days, but now he figured that wasn't true.
"Zach left town," Damon said, "Or at least that's what we're telling people."
"Damon!"
"Relax," Damon dismissed, "He's in the family crypt, with the rest of the Salvatore clan."
"You killed him." Stefan said, disappointed.
"What did you think was going to happen Stefan?" Maya said, "After what you did?"
"How can you just sit there, and be okay with what he's done?" Stefan asked.
"Well, it's simple really, Damon's a vampire, a predator, with a killer instinct, that needs to, on occasion, be satisfied."
"You let him out, Zach's death is on you!"
"Oh no Stefan, don't get it twisted, Zach's death is on you, you're the one that vervained and locked up your brother, even though you knew what would happen if he ever got out. You're the reason that Zach's dead Stefan, because if Damon hadn't have killed him. It would have been you."
Dear diary,
I'm not a believer.
People are born, they grow old, and then they die.
That's the world we live in.
There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality.
There is nothing that defies rational thought.
People are supposed to be who they say they are, and not lie, or hide their true selves.
It's not possible, I'm not a believer.
I can't be.
But how can I deny what's right in front of me?
Someone who never grows old.
Never gets hurt.
Someone who changes in ways that can't be explained.
Girls bitten, bodies drained of blood…
Elena was outside the Salvatore's front door but couldn't bring herself to knock.
Stefan rushed downstairs, he couldn't be in the house, not now, not with those three upstairs, acting so callous about life and death. He opened the door and was surprised to find Elena.
"What are you?" she asked.
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