CHAPTER 2

RICHMOND

Emerald Bar – 11:30 p.m.

"They may not have even come to Richmond. It feels like we've covered this city twice over." Elena said, feeling defeated as they pulled up in front of a bar in a not so good part of town.

"And I doubt they're laying low." Damon countered. "Let's take a look inside and don't worry. I'll take care of the guy standing at the door."

The music was loud and pulsating as they entered the crowded club. "Let's make our way around the room." Damon shouted to make himself heard as the made their way around the outside of the crowd of gyrating dancers on the dance floor. Elena noticed guys checking her out and women in too tight dresses giving Damon the once over from head to toe. Damon's hand found it's way into hers as he led her through the crowd on the dance floor. "Maybe he's in the crowd", Damon told her. Some girl tried to get him to dance with her. "Maybe later, sweetheart." Women are aggressive when they see something they want, Elena thought to herself.

Damon stopped when he picked out a voice that could be Stefan's. Elena couldn't hear it, but he did. "I think he's over at the bar", shouted Damon, her hand still in his as he pushed more aggressively through the crowd of partiers. He was sitting at the bar with a blond girl in her early to mid 20s. "How about we take this party back to my place." Damon overheard Stefan telling the girl. He and Elena saw Stefan kissing the girl with raw passion; his hand sliding under the hem of her dress between her legs.

Elena's hand slipped out of Damon's and to her mouth at the sight before her eyes. Her jaw dropped. Seeing the guy she loves and who had always been monogamous with her was now lusting after someone else. Had he fallen that far because of human blood?

Damon said nothing to Elena, but he knew that was a sight that she wasn't prepared to see. Stefan was caught off guard when someone slung his arm around his shoulders. "Glad I caught up with you, bro." Damon said with a smile in his voice.

"Damon, what are you doing here?" Stefan asked, not letting the shock register on his face that he was more than pissed to see that his brother had tracked him down. His eyes caught Elena's.

Elena's said nothing, letting it all sink in until finally speaking. "Stefan, why?"

"We're going to have this conversation outside, " Damon said to Stefan, leaving no room for argument. Stefan made sure to reassure the girl next to him that he would be right back. Whatever he whispered in her ear brought a deviously naughty blush to her face.

Damon followed behind Stefan with Elena by his side towards the back door of the bar. Once outside in the dark alley, Damon slammed Stefan into the opposite wall. "Why did you bargain your soul to save me? You should've let me die. I was ready for it. Isn't this price too high." The anger and rage was directed at Stefan as he pinned him against the building. Stefan wouldn't let him die in 1864 and it no different now.

Stefan fought back by shoving Damon to the opposite wall, cracking some of the concrete in the process. "Because it was the only way, Damon!" He shouted. "I couldn't let you die because I'm the one responsible for you being where you are today. I owed it to you."

"Stop it!" Elena shouted at both of them before either could attack each other again.

Damon got up, brushing the dirt and concrete dust from his clothes. "You can get out the deal. C'mon. You can get control again, Stefan." Damon didn't take his eyes off his brother. He could see that Stefan had given into what human blood brings out in him.

"That's just it, Damon. I don't want to. This is who I am." Stefan said. "I'm not the good brother and never was."

"It's not, Stefan." Stefan turned to face Elena whom he had barely acknowledged since being confronted inside the club.

"This is not guy that I fell in love with. This is not the guy that I met all those months ago. Just come back home, please." Elena pleaded.

"You're so stupid," Stefan said, not so much to be hurtful, but he didn't much care. "I've been hiding this from you and everyone else for so long that I was beginning to believe the lie. I'm not human in case you've forgotten. You never got to know who I am because I wouldn't let you. Everything we shared together wasn't real. Not really, he said somewhat calmer. How could it be when I've been suppressing the darkest recesses of my soul. You'll never understand what the thrill of the hunt and the blood gives me. You can never begin to satisfy me.

"I'll never accept that", Elena said shaking her head and tamping down the tears that were threatening to fall. "What happened to you, Stefan? You told me that you left that life behind." The sting of hearing that she'll never be able to satisfy him still registered like a slap in the face.

They all turned at the sound of footsteps. "Bravo! Stefan." Klaus appeared from the shadows applauding with the clap of his hands. "You're indeed fully embracing your nature once again."

"You're a fucking monster!" Elena stepped forward. In one swift motion Damon snatched her back by her arm. He stepped in front of her to put distance between she and Klaus.

"I don't know what your plan is for my brother, but release him from his obligation to you. You were willing to using me as the sacrifice until you found out I had been bitten. Well, I'm not dead. You need a wing man? I'm it. Just you and me."

"Damon, no. Don't…" Elena grabbed his arm in protest.

"See, I have everything I need in Stefan. I don't need or want your services." Klaus drawled out in his British accent. Stefan and I have a deal – a 10 year deal to be precise. Besides, I don't trust you. How do I know that you won't be plotting my demise? Though that would be stupid of you to try. Then again, you are the reckless and impulsive brother.

"That's right. You don't know," Damon rose to the challenge. Stefan was in this deeper than he ever imagined by being indebted to Klaus for 10 years.

"Now that I'm both vampire and werewolf I can change at will. You would be not just stupid, but incredibly stupid to cross me because just like I cured you, I can kill you just as easily." Klaus replied.

"Damon, please don't..." Elena begged. She knew he was close to snapping.

Damon's glared at both Stefan and Klaus.

"If you're lucky you'll see your brother in 2022," Klaus continued. "In the meantime, why don't you take the lovely Elena back to that pathetic little town and keep her busy for the next 10 years. Oh, and Elena thank you for helping me reach my full potential."

"Screw you!" Elena spat out.

"You didn't answer my question. Why do you need my brother?" Damon asked again.

"Stefan is a very effective ripper. Did you know he wiped out a whole migrant farmer village in Monterey, California back in 1917? I was very impressed with the precision in which he wiped them out. Men, women, and a few children, if I recall. I watched it with my own eyes. A lot of those humans didn't know what hit them until he was on them ripping into them. "

Damon looked to Stefan for confirmation that what he was hearing was correct. There was no denial from Stefan that what Klaus was telling him was false.

"I kept an eye on Stefan over the decades because this very young vampire impressed me. The only thing that I noticed is that he had periods where he was either on the wagon or off. Now he's off again and that's where he'll stay until his services are no longer needed." Klaus continued.

The door to the club opened and the girl that Stefan had been coming onto inside stumbled out. "Hey, I thought we were going back to your place?" she slurred.

In a blur of motion, Stefan was on her. "Change of plans", he said as he pulled her towards him. His fangs emerged and he sunk them into her throat violently, draining her in seconds. When her heart stopped beating he let her limp body drop to the ground.

Elena let out a scream and tried to stop the carnage in front of her, but Damon pulled her back once again and tried to shield her from what she had just witnessed.

"Now you see why I chose Stefan. He has that killer instinct without the remorse." Klaus said to both Damon and Elena.

Damon continued to shield Elena. Blood dripped from Stefan's mouth and his eyes were crazed, but she turned back to the sight in the alley. She was witness to Stefan's madness due to what he had done.

The tears continued to flow, but they didn't register with Stefan. It was obvious that he didn't care or at least in his current state of mind, he didn't care.

"Goodbye, Elena." Stefan offered in response.

"No, no, no!" Elena uttered shaking her head as if in denial that she had lost Stefan forever. In a blink of an eye they were gone.

She turned to Damon as though he would reassure her that Stefan would return, but he didn't.

"We need to get out of here…now!" Damon said. The sound of police sirens could be heard.

Elena hadn't said much on the ride back to Mystic Falls. In fact, she faced the passenger side window most of the time. It was a lot to process given what happened that night, so Damon didn't push her to talk. About an hour outside of Richmond, he noticed that she had fallen asleep and probably it was for the best because she'd be able to escape the pain of what had happened.

The fact that he couldn't do anything about the situation caused frustration to rise in him. His back was against the wall and he hated it. He can't stake Klaus. He can't take his head off; and he can't even burn the sonofabitch with a blow torch. There had to be a way to kill him – if it even existed. He had come so close to taking his anger out on the steering wheel, but he knew breaking the car wasn't an option. So he continued onward towards home. He turned his eyes away from the road to see a sleeping Elena. She didn't look too comfortable and they still had another three hours ahead of them. He had passed several motels and finally decided to stop at one. He figured they would stay the night and then continue on in the morning.

He pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine. "Hey," he said softly, barely above a whisper as he leaned over and caressed her cheek. Elena stirred against his touch. "Are we home already?" Her eyes were barely open.

"No. We're at a motel. I thought we'd stay here tonight."

After paying for the room, Damon carried Elena's bag inside the room. Not much was said about things.

Elena was already in bed when Damon emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but PJ bottoms. She turned over to face him. "Do you believe Klaus? Do you believe Stefan killed all those people in 1917?" Elena asked.

"I don't know. It's possible. If he was anything like he was in 1864 when he first turned then yeah, I believe it." Damon said as he sat on the edge of the bed.

There was an awkward quiet between them until Elena broke it.

"There's only one bed in this room. I think we can share this bed as long as you don't try anything." Elena said half serious.

"One bed, a beautiful woman. What kind of a man would I be if I didn't try something?" Damon teased.

Elena threw one of the lumpy pillows at him in protest, laughing at the same time.

Damon turned out the light after sliding under the covers beside her. His eyes were on the ceiling. "Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day."

Author Note: I hope you're enjoying the story. Feedback is much appreciated. Stefan is in a very dark and dangerous place. He's brutal. Damon and Elena are going to fight their attraction more and more while trying to save Stefan.