So, back in Mystic Falls, hum?
Each a monster, part 11: That sounded like trouble
Elena was mentally glaring at the coming crowd, yet doing her best not to look unhappy with the... "surprise" birthday party Caroline had been so not discreetly putting into motion for more than a week. How the blond girl had succeeded to get Damon to agree was beyond her. Really, who would have thought the vampire would accept a flow of teenagers in his house with his bottles of bourbon, even for Elena's birthday?
Certainly not the said girl.
Her eyes fell on Jeremy, already half-drunk, and possibly half-stoned on drugs she didn't even want to know the names of. The young woman had decided to take it upon herself and stop him from wasting his life, but it wasn't a simple task. For now, she was utterly failing, and she knew it.
Elena tried to reach him, but the teenager spotted her and disappeared.
Another failed attempt.
She avoided two boys she didn't even know and forced her way to the restricted section of the house, where no one, absolutely no one else than the habitual bunch of supernatural occurences, was allowed. There, she met Caroline, sipping on a blood bag with a guilty look on her face. They talked a little, but at some point the blond girl had to rush to the party, having heard a loud crash that certainly didn't bode well for the house's furnitures.
Elena sighed.
She was so going to be killed, turned and then killed again by Damon if anything had happened to his precious, let's say, library for exemple.
Really, Elena was trying to be optimistic. But she couldn't see anything good in her life anymore.
She was trying, though. Only, she wasn't succeeding.
What about the people she cared for? Dead, dead, vampire, dead, vampire and gone, dead, gone, werewolf, dead, witch, junkie, and... Well, she wasn't even sure anymore who was what, after all, she hadn't been keeping tabs lately. The number of "dead" labels was too depressing.
With Elizabeth Forbes in the know and Caroline's compulsion, Elena and Jeremy had somehow managed to avoid the no-adult-guardian-problem, and now that the young woman was an adult as far as the law was concerned, they would be alright. More or less. If she had too, Elena was planning to take Jeremy's guardianship. But it'd still be better if Ric were to come back.
It wasn't because she now was an adult, that she didn't need one.
The door flung open, and the girl was ready to shout "restricted area" when she realized who was the man entering the room. Well, not exactly the man. The vampire. Not the vampire she wanted to see so much lately, but still one she kind of liked. Strangely enough, after everything he had done.
And even better, there was another man behind him, a real, human man, this time, one whom she had resigned herself not to see around anymore.
Alaric shut the door behind Damon and looked at Elena, sitting in the kitchen with a very surprised expression on her face. The hunter grinned a bit awkwardly, but he was happy to see her.
"Ric! You're all right! We were worried, you know."
And apparently, she was happy to see him too.
"And what, no greetings for me?"
The young woman cocked her head to the side and studied Damon as if she hadn't noticed his presence up until now.
"You didn't call to say you'd be in time, and you didn't call to say you had found him, so I'm ignoring you for now."
"Well then, maybe I should have kept him to myself, after all, it's not like you need a legal guardian anymore, and Little Jeremy is already a lost cause."
This comment earned the vampire a fork being thrown at him. The aiming was acceptable, if a little too much to the left, but of course, he caught it before it could hurt his face.
Ric's voice interrupted their antics.
"Legal guardian?"
Damon shuddered against his will. The voice was a bit too cold, a bit too dreadful, a bit too furious. And if it was so, it was certainly the vampire's fault. Maybe, if he had told the hunter about the guardian thing before... But he hadn't, knowing very well that the man would have run back to Mystic Falls if he had.
And they wouldn't have had their road trip.
Which would have been a shame.
Elena looked at the vampire suspiciously before turning to Alaric and informing him of Jenna's last wishes, including him becoming Jeremy's and hers guardian. Of course, at the time, she hadn't been of age, and now she was, so it wasn't the same anymore, but Jeremy still needed a figure of authority in his life... and truth be told, Elena did too.
Ric went various shades of grey and green, before being carefully led to a chair.
"I'm sorry, Elena, but I simply can't. I... I'm definitely no example for either of you, and I don't think I can raise normal children, even less teenagers..."
The young woman frowned at the use of the word "normal". She wasn't normal, she was a bloody doppelganger, and a supernatural magnet.
Damon chose not to say anything, but he had a pretty good idea of what the hunter meant by that. Alaric was a Saltzman, a Falkenbach, and had always believed that if he were to have kids, they'd be the same as him. Cursed, and not exactly with the same ethics as anyone else.
Elena was a doppelganger, sure, but she was human, and had a human mind. Jeremy was normal.
Oh, and the thing between Damon and Alaric might have something to do with his unease, too. After all, he couldn't possibly be in charge of his ex's wards when he was back to dating already, and a totally improper vampire at that. That was... too much of a headache to come.
"Well, we're not five years old, so, if you could simply do so that Jeremy goes to school and doesn't go back to some unhealthy habits I don't like to talk about, which, I'm sorry to say, he already has gone back to, it'd be a lot. You know, keeping an eye on us, scolding us for coming home late..."
Damon felt the need to be sarcastic, and completed her list of guardian duties.
"...And beheading one or two rude vampires coming after the miss once in a while."
The two humans glared at him, and the vampire thought it might have been wiser to stay silent, after all, Ric had almost forgot about his boyfriend's sins. But as always, Damon had to be sassy, or life would be boring, so he had to talk. And now he wondered if he'd have to sleep on the couch tonight.
Wait, if Alaric was going to be the children's guardian... Wouldn't he have to live in their house, instead of, say, at the boarding house with Damon?
Oh shit.
May Elena forget about that, may Elena forget about that, may Elena for...
"Come on, I'm sure Jenna and my parents would be okay with you sleeping in one of their rooms."
Too late.
Damon didn't listen to the rest of the conversation, too busy with pouting and grumbling and sulking. Really, people had no idea how much concentration one needed to do the three actions at the same time. He should have gotten an award, if only for finding out it was possible to do so.
His attention went back to the conversation when Elena almost shouted, remembering something she had to tell the hunter.
What was it, now? Was the world falling apart? Had Jeremy become clever? Had Carol Lockwood been belly dancing while they were away? No? Then, it was certainly not interesting enough, Damon could go back to brooding because his Ric wasn't only his anymore.
"Ric, there is someone who wants to see you."
Ah?
It might prove to be interesting, actually.
Alaric shifted into a more comfortable position, almost sure he wouldn't like it. Why? Really? If someone wanted to see him, it was usually someone from his family, or someone with questions he couldn't answer without spilling the beans about murders and blood and victims.
"Someone you know?"
The girl shook her head.
"Never seen before. He arrived in town about one month ago, and everyone is talking about him, but no one really knows anything."
That sounded like trouble.
"What does he look like?"
"Well, he'd be handsome, I guess... no, cute would be more accurate. Long, black hair, and an eyepatch. I think that's why everyone is talking about him. You don't often see someone with an eyepatch. I suppose he has been in an accident or something..."
She stopped talking when she saw how the hunter had paled at the mention of the eyepatch.
Damon too was surprised by Ric's reaction. Sure, the man seemed strange, but unless he was out to steal his boyfriend, the vampire couldn't see what was so bad about him. And, before anyone asked, there was no way Damon would let anyone snatch his Alaric Saltzman. The key word was "his". His Alaric, his Ric, his hunter, his Saltzman, his Falkenbach. No one would steal him away as long as the vampire was alive. Not even a cute man. Yuck. Cute man. It sounded awful.
And there he was again, being sidetracked. He really needed to focus on something important, such as, why was Alaric growing paler by the minute, instead of becoming completely gaga over his love for the hunter.
"Damon, I'm afraid we need to go and see this man right now."
The hunter's voice was almost pleading.
"Oh, but he's here."
The man and the vampire stared at Elena as if she had grown a second head. Though Damon still wasn't sure why he was acting as bewildered as Alaric did.
The young woman shrugged, went to the door, opened it slightly, took a look at the crowd on the other side of the door, and closed the door. Then she made a sign for them to come.
"He's just there, near the shelves. He has been coming here everyday since he arrived, I take it someone told him you two were friends."
The hunter took some time to calm down. He couldn't let the other one see he was disturbed with his coming to Mystic Falls. Worst of all, he couldn't let the other one, the other freaking Saltzman, know he was vulnerable. Of course, Alaric could beat him if he had to. But... Well, there were too many people in the boarding house, too many potential victims, too many potential hostages.
"Elena, you stay in here. I don't want you anywhere near this... this man."
The young woman was startled by the hatred in his voice, but she agreed to stay in the kitchen. Whoever this guy was, Alaric clearly didn't like him.
Ric opened the door, and his eyes instantly settled back on his cousin.
"Damon, may I present to you my dearest cousin, Theodoric Saltzman?"
So, it was the infamous cousin, mused Damon, the one who was supposedly worst than the vampire when it came to killing people without a valid reason. No wonder his boyfriend wasn't happy.
"I thought you threatened him?"
Alaric winced as they made their way to the troublesome guest.
"I did. But he's downright mental, and it seems he has taken an interest in me, I mean, more than before, now that I have clearly expressed my distate for him. If you could refrain from acting rash, it might actually help. He won't try anything with so many witnesses, but he's a lot like you about one thing: if he's not pleased, you could find a body in you bathroom tomorrow, and no one will know what happened."
"I love your family, Ric."
"Well, I don't."
"I suppose getting rid of him won't do?"
"Unless you want three or four other Saltzmans to deal with by the end of the week. Considering he doesn't kill you before you kill him."
"So that's a no."
The two of them finally joined Theodoric. Damon had to say, he looked a bit like his sister, Cassandre, with his black, long, perfect hair, but he gave off a disturbing vibe.
Theodoric Saltzman bowed slightly his head when he saw Alaric. Or, more likely, when they were close enough to talk, because he had certainly noticed his cousin a long time before.
"Ric. I only wanted to warn you: I'm staying in town for a while. I'm interested in what you consider proper... for people like us."
