As always – TVD theme, characters etc. belong to the CW, Warner brothers and surely half a dozen other people. Think of fanfic as a tribute to your work.
I feel like I'm struggling to get to the point where our favorite vamps deal with the main problem they're facing. I don't want to rush it and turn out something that falls flat, and I still want to give us a look into the ever evolving lives of our favorite vamps too. After all, the life they are leading is so much more fun than the one that I, as a nursing student gets to lead.
Finally – I'm using Twitter, and occasionally making comments about stuff I see during my day that sparks a thought about plots. You can follow me at " ChihuahuamomKim" . A few weeks ago I met a perfect candidate for a new vamp to test out their level of control on – especially if they had absolutely no control . . .
Enjoy the read, send me comments and reviews. The comments make my day.
~~OFANV~~
They made a plan. They'd watch from a distance and try to see what was really happening. Was the killer human, or a vampire? How was Richard involved?
After looking at when the murders occurred – they knew it was happening at night, so that narrowed it down. Then it was just a matter of constantly tracking the cell phones at night. So they spent the days working on the house, the evenings tracking the cell phones, watching, and waiting.
Elena loved this part of being a vampire – being able to be a predator, but not actually preying on people. Usually. Sometimes, some people just deserved to be preyed on.
Maybe it was innate – something about becoming a vampire made you enjoy the actually aspect of hunting. There was a thrill to being able to silently move through a crowd. The agility she had – she could balance on practically anything – dance from toe to toe, being able to leap and jump up and down to such amazing heights . . . it was almost like flying.
When she ran – and she loved to run – the feeling of the air brushing by her – or more accurately – of her racing through the air – it was like having a breeze on her skin, and it felt so good. Even in this bitter cold December air, the feeling she got was still amazing.
She and Alexandra were tracking the suspected killer tonight. His name was Thomas Carpenter – and no one called him 'Tom'.
She wasn't sure anyone had that kind of relationship with him, the kind where you bonded over shared interests, talked about important things and unimportant things, just enjoyed time together. Based on what they saw – Thomas Carpenter wasn't the warm and fuzzy bond with anyone type. He ruled over people who frequented his vampire role playing fetish club like some medieval lord reigning over serfs. He treated people like property.
He was also rarely alone – at least, out in public. They hadn't gotten into his apartment building or even his apartment yet, but there was always a woman or two with him. Sometimes a woman and a man. They staggered into the building with him, and they staggered out the next morning, sometimes in the middle of the night. But no matter where he went, he always had 'muscle' with him – some lackey who was big and burly and looked like a steroid popping body building freak. The only exception was when he was with Richard.
Of course, when he was with Richard, he wouldn't need the muscle around. Which told them Thomas Carpenter was probably human. Richard was in and out of the role playing club often. Richard went in and left discretely, dressed in his fine suits and expensive coats.
They lost them the first time they tried to track him. It was too easy to get lost in the crowds – and then they saw the result of Thomas and Richard's nights work in the paper. A few nights later, when they were out and on the move again, it seemed like whomever they were meeting was a no show. Finally almost a week later, it worked.
Elena sighed, "Are you guys seeing this?"
It was Richard who compelled the victim. It was a few brief moments, and then he was walking away. Richard and Thomas turned around and walked the other way. To a casual observer, it would look like nothing more than a casual, brief conversation.
"I'll stay on the victim," Elena said.
"I'll stay with Elena," Alexandra added.
"Guess that means Darren and I are tailing Richard and the 'wanna-be'," Damon replied, "Darren you see them?"
"Hard to miss," Darren replied, "They stand out like up-towners looking for backstreet tail in this neighborhood."
After that, it was a matter of keeping track of the person they were each tailing. The Victim went right to a warehouse, and went inside. Richard and Thomas arrived fifteen minutes later, head's down, faces obscured.
"How are we gonna get a good look at what's going on without tipping them off?" Alexandra asked.
She and Elena had found a spot on top of another warehouse roof. It provided a good view of the street, and part of the inside of the warehouse, but not much. They couldn't actually see what was being done.
"I don't have a decent view from over here either," Darren said, "Pisser is – no way are we going to get close enough to look in those windows or get in without making some noise. Richard would hear us for sure."
A scream suddenly pierced through the air, and then a familiar scent followed – strong and rich – one they all knew well –really well. One that only appealed to their kind . . .
"I think we missed the show," Damon sighed, "Based on that scream and that smell . . . someone just had dinner."
They waited, and waited. The heard the faint sounds, smelled the smells. It was less than two hours later when a van pulled up, drove in through a rolling drop door that had been opened, and a few minutes later drove out.
They knew in the next 12 to 24 hours, the pieces of the body would start appearing all over the city.
~~OFANV~~
Back at the Salvatore house . . .
From the street, the Salvatore home looked like so many others in the neighborhood. There were lights decorating the small front yard. The small tree and the shrubs had lights wound around them. There were strings of icicle lights up around the roof line, and lights wound with the greenery that ran up the rails to the front the door, lights around the small gabled porch roof over their front door. A fresh wreath hung at the door, decorated with holly berries and a red bow.
Their parking garage was at the end of the block, parking in the city was expensive, and they didn't use their car too often, except for nights like tonight.
Once inside, the temperature difference was stunning. Damon kept the house at a comfy 70 degree's, and right now, it was a chilly 18 degrees outside.
They all walked in, closed the door, and started to peel off layers in the foyer. Heavy coats, scarves, hats and gloves came off, and then the winter boots. There was snow on the ground in New York City tonight, and the weather report predicted more – a lot more – in the days to come.
"I'm not sure if that was a complete bust or not," Elena said, walking towards the fireplace. She shoved few more pieces of wood onto the pile, and crumpled up some newspaper under a few charred pieces of wood, and lit the paper. Charred wood caught so easily, she knew they'd have a roaring fire soon.
After that, she hit the toggle switch the turned the Christmas tree lights on. The Christmas tree was tall – ten feet, heavily laden with lights, some father into the middle of the tree, as many on the outside. There was silvery ribbon like garland that wound around it, and dozens upon dozens of small colorful ornaments hanging from the branches.
The rest of the house was decorated too. There were garlands and bows draped along the rails, wreaths on the door, and mistletoe over the doorways.
Damon's favorite pass time was catching her under the mistletoe.
Damon went to the little bar they had set up, ready to pour drinks. He enjoyed being the gracious host, "I don't think it was a bust – we know it is Thomas and Richard for sure now. We didn't see it happen, but the way they have it set up – no one is seeing anything in there."
"That set up was not accidental either," Darren replied, "I could case it, when we know they're not there, see how we can get in, maybe plant a camera, but it has to be a night when we know they're not going to be around – or even better – during the day. If someone does notice someone going into a warehouse during the day they don't think as much about it as they would if it was a night."
Alexandra blurred from the foyer, leaping over the sofa, landing softly in front of a section of the sofa, "I love this part of being a vampire."
Darren grinned watching her as he walked a normal pace over to where Damon was pouring drinks.
"And you were concerned why?" Damon asked Darren quietly, after watching Alexandra's leap over the sofa.
Elena rolled her eyes and looked over at Alexandra, "The speed and the agility is fun, isn't it?"
Alexandra had settled down on the sofa, "Most of it is fun – amazing – I even like the taste of human blood – which was disturbing . . . at first. Not going to spend any time analyzing that though."
Darren set his drink and hers on the coffee table, and sat down next to her, and then pulled her into his lap.
"Perfectly normally Querrida," he said.
Damon handed Elena a drink, and took her hand, lead her over to the sofa that was facing Darren and Alexandra, and they sat down. Elena sat in the corner, Damon draped her legs over his lap.
"So – what do we know for sure?" Elena said, "What do we really know?"
"Richard is lying douche," Damon began, "And his partner in crime in one Thomas Carpenter, who may or may not be human – though I'm voting for human considering what we saw, and didn't see."
"I agree," Darren replied, "My vote is that Thomas Carpenter is human – otherwise why kill the way they're killing. They wouldn't need a space like that warehouse if Thomas was a vampire. I'd bet money that when I get into that warehouse – it's set up to drain someone – and cut them up. Otherwise, they'd make quick work of their targets in an alley – the way we did."
Alexandra took a deep breath, "Why aren't they? Richard could do just that."
"Maybe Thomas is doing the killing – taking the role playing a step beyond your average costume party event," Elena said, "He has a club for people who like to pretend to be vampires – maybe he's given them real blood to drink – and maybe this is how he's getting it."
"You know – in the lab – when we did typing and crossing of blood – or any other tests on it – we had a limited window if we were working with fresh blood – and preserved blood has been irradiated, preservatives have been added to it – and that takes equipment, and time and effort – and resources that not even someone like Carpenter likely has access too – and we all know it tastes a little different – so if he's using the blood for people at his club – he has to have a way to bag it, store it, transport it – without it congealing – and fresh blood will."
"What if it's in a sealed bag – without preservatives?"
"If it's kept cool – maybe a few days before it grows bacteria, but he'd damn near have to freeze it. Banked blood is irradiated to keep it from growing bacteria, and kept cool. I don't think he'd want to be feeding blood with a ton of dangerous bacteria to people in his club."
"They're drinking blood when they're human," Damon pointed out, "I don't think they're thinking about the bacteria."
"They'd sue his ass if they got sick though," Darren pointed out, "finding out who owned the club was easy – really easy."
Elena sighed, "Well, no matter what they're doing with the blood, we have to decide what we're going to do now to stop them from doing what they're doing. If there isn't a hunter in the city right now – I'd be damn surprised."
"What would Vlad do, if he knew Richard was framing him?" Alexandra asked
"He'd flip the hell out," Damon replied, "Vlad has a pretty short fuse – and he's reckless."
Alexandra sipped her drink, "Maybe we should just call Vlad – and let him handle this mess with Richard and Thomas. Let them duke it out."
"Richard would kill Vlad in a heartbeat," Damon replied, "Not that I'm naysaying the idea. He'll tell Richard it was us that passed on the information anyhow. On top of all those fun details – I don't know how I'd contact Vlad. Considering he's already got a hunter on his trail, I'm not sure I want him coming to our city to deal with this."
"Besides?" Darren said, "Richard knows we're already asking questions. He'll figure it out – I'm surprised they haven't changed their pattern."
"No way to get through this without getting our hand dirty," Damon replied, "I think we should just have a chat with Richard, tell him what we know – and tell him to clean up his damn mess."
"What if he doesn't?" Darren asked, "We don't even know why Richard is messing around with this guy."
Damon shrugged, sipped his drink, "So we ask him – we just have to figure out where. Richard and Leo like the high end, fancy, life of the rich and famous party events. Chances are, if there is one going on with big crowds, they'll be there."
"If it's an event where they sell tickets, I can get into their system and see if they've bought tickets," Darren replied.
"What's with the fancy parties?" Alexandra asked.
"They both lived that life when they were human," Damon replied, "life at court or some kind of crap like that. They're both in their mid 300's."
Alexandra nodded slowly, chewed her bottom lip, "That's the part I have trouble wrapping my head around – being that . . . old . . . and not actually being old."
"You're sleeping with a man in his late 90's," Darren laughed, "Keep that in mind."
"In my head, you're still 27," Alexandra said, "Please don't put the image of a 90 year old man in my head."
~~OFANV~~
The next day . . .
Darren took Damon with him when they decided to case the warehouse. They didn't need binoculars to see the cameras. With the intensely sharp vampire vision, they were able to see every last detail of what was where outside the warehouse buildings.
"This is shit security," Darren replied as he surveyed the buildings.
Both he and Damon dressed in jeans, bulky warm coats, knit watch caps and sunglasses. The sun was blinding today, hitting the snow. They were walking up the long truck road to the warehouse, keeping their gazes turned down to the ground. It wasn't about not getting caught, it was about not setting off an alarm that might attract cops – right now.
They'd circled around the warehouse, examined the doorways and rolling drop doors.
"No security system on the building at all," Darren replied, "who does that? It's damn near an invitation."
"If you're inviting a sex offender to someplace shady – are you going to trust he can get the alarm code right?" Damon asked, "Not the most reliable people."
"True," Darren replied, and he pulled a lock pick set from his pocket.
"Please," Damon replied, and he gave the door handle a good yank, ripping it clear out of the door, "We're not worried about Richard and Thomas the wanna-be finding out we know."
The door swung open easily, and they walked in.
It was almost completely empty. There was a winch in the center of the room, chains with large hooks hanging down. The cement floor was stained with something dark brown. Damon and Darren knew immediately what it was. In the corner, there was a hazmat shower set up as well, the flooring there was also stained. A storage cabinet was set up next to the shower, next to a long, deep work table.
"Not really too concerned with leaving behind evidence, are they?" Darren commented, looking around, "Sloppy work."
"Who is the warehouse leased to?"
"Shell corporation," Darren said, "I didn't dig that deep yet. It's not like we're handing over a case to the cops."
"It won't come back to Richard," Damon replied, "he's too meticulous. This is not like him . . . careless."
"We don't Alzheimer's, do we?" Darren asked glibly.
"No," Damon replied, "Not that I've ever heard of, but in the last 40 years, I've discovered there is a lot of stuff I did not know existed."
Darren snorted, "Doppelgangers, supernatural hunters, werewolves, hybrids, and originals . . . come on, what's so weird about that?"
Damon shook his head, "Did Alex freak out when she found out what you were?"
Darren laughed, "She thought someone drugged her drink and that she was hallucinating actually. That was not a fun night."
Damon walked over to the storage cabinet, and again twisted the door handle off, and then pried the door open.
Inside there was plastic sheeting, knives, tape, and clear plastic suits that resembled something you'd put over your clothing. There was ropes and bags of zip ties too, and several plastic bottles that looked like unused plastic gallon sized milk jugs, and several bottles of something else with a clear liquid in it.
"What the hell is citrate-phosphate-dextrose with adenine, (CPDA-1)?" Damon asked, "That's sounds way too sciencey for my tastes."
"Take a picture – we'll show it to Alex, that sounds like something that is right up here alley," Darren replied.
He had lowered the chain with the hooks attached to them, and was looking at them closely, "This is standard for harvesting cattle or other large animals – not hard to get."
~~OFANV~~
Elena and Alexandra were at a pizzeria near the house Alexandra and Darren had bought. Elena's – now Elena's and Alexandra's friends had helped finish up the painting today. They'd pulled up the plastic sheeting and tape, stored the leftover paint and primer in the garage, and cleaned the rollers and brushes.
"I really appreciate all your help," Alexandra said to the small group, "As much as I have enjoyed doing all this stuff – it would have taken forever without you guys."
They'd ordered a few pizzas and pitchers of beer, and everyone was chowing down.
"It was fun," Cindy said, "I wouldn't want to have to do that for a living, but it was fun."
She bit into the slice of pizza, chewed, swallowed and followed it up with a sip of beer, "so what's next?"
"Waiting on appliances," Alexandra said, "Darren and Damon built the cabinets – so we're waiting for appliances, and countertops, sinks, that kind of thing."
Jane, one of the girls in the group snorted, "It's turning out to look really nice – I wasn't so sure when I first saw it . . . I gotta say – it was looking bad when I saw the pictures of how you first got it."
Elena snorted, "My husband loves rehabbing houses. It's damn near a sickness."
"If I ever buy a house, you can turn those men and their rehab sickness loose on my place," Cindy said, "If you do get around to building a new deck this summer, let me know, I'll help you break it in for sun tanning purposes."
"I'm sure there will be lots of back yard barbeques and parties there," Alexandra said, "Darren loves to do that kind of thing, we both do. We had some great parties in Seattle."
"Hey – you're still coming over to the party at my place this weekend right?" Lisa asked, "Michael has seriously big plans for this party. He's throwing down this big kiddy pool, filling it with fruit and rum. I think he saw it in a movie or something."
"We'll be there," Elena said, "I think Damon just got tickets for something, but I'm sure if it's the same day, we won't miss much of party."
"It's going to be huge," Lisa said, "This is his thing, throwing these big parties."
"What can we bring?" Elena asked.
"Beer always works," Lisa said, "A sharable snack – sometime easy – you're husband's food is totally amazing, but it would underappreciated at a party full of drunk college students."
Elena laughed, "Between Damon and Alexandra in the same house – I have to exercise twice as much – Alex loves to cook too."
Alexandra snorted and managed a smile. She knew none of them were ever going to gain weight – they couldn't. But Elena was doing and saying the stuff one did when they were fitting into a crowd of humans.
"I wasn't sure Damon was going to let me into his Kitchen," Alexandra said, "Gotta love him, but he's like one of those prima donna territorial chef's sometimes."
The pizza disappeared, the pitchers of beer drained down, and more were ordered. The afternoon wore on, and they just sat back, sipping their beer, enjoying the music.
~~OFANV~~
Darren looked at the text message on his phone, "So our house is painted and all the crap cleaned up – and they've been celebrating with pizza and beer for a two hours now . . . does this happen a lot?"
Damon smirked, "My wife is in college, what do you think? Besides, a slightly buzzed wife or girlfriend can be a good thing."
Damon dialed Elena's number, she answered on the 2nd ring.
"Hold on, let me get outside, it's loud in here," She said answering.
Damon heard the background sounds change, and a moment later it was quieter.
"Hey," she said, "Come join us."
"We'll cab it," Damon said, "You have their SUV, right?"
"Yes," Elena said, "but I'm not even close to buzzed. If you're tired, you don't have to come."
"We're fine, right?" Damon said, and looked over at Darren.
"Yeah," Darren said, "I'll be our sober driver tonight,"
"Can't pass that up," Damon replied, "Seriously – how'd it go today?"
"So normal I feel like we should mark it on a calendar," Elena replied, "See you soon babe."
They took a few minutes to change, no need to show up looking like they'd spent the afternoon breaking and entering. Once they were back outside on the street, it took only a few minutes to hail down a cab.
"You're quiet brother," Damon said, "too quiet – broody Stefan quiet. Don't go there."
Darren laughed, "Bite me – I'm just mentally sorting through everything we've discovered. Talk about a cluster-fuck."
Damon laughed back, "Seriously? Did you just say 'Bite me' to a vampire? You're so not my type!"
~~OFANV~~
Alexandra was coming back to the table with two pitchers of beer when she saw Darren and Damon walk in. She watched as they both swept the room with their eye's, taking everything in – and she knew what was going on in their heads. It was an innate reflex – take in the room, where are the exits, where are the threats. She didn't know if they even realized they did it.
It was something she'd picked up in in her teens, because of her mother, and the life they led. But it was different now.
They reached the table just as she did. She set the pitchers down, and turned around, wrapping her arms around Darren's neck. His arms went around her, his hands cupping under her butt, and he lifted her up, his mouth crushing to hers for a moment.
'Get a room' someone called out.
The kiss broke, and Darren let Alexandra down, "There's gotta be a bathroom around here somewhere."
She laughed, "Did you miss me that much?"
He brushed her hair back from her face, "I always miss you."
Damon had just bent over and brushed is lips across Elena's, "what is it with New Yorkers and public displays of affection?"
"They're jealous," Elena replied, and she grabbed a plastic cup off the stack and poured beer into it, "We have another pizza coming."
Damon sat down, "How's the house look?"
"Great," Elena replied, "Huge difference. Little colorful for me . . . but Alex is thrilled with it. Says it reminds her more now of her home in Mexico when she was a kid – which was what she was going for."
Damon leaned in, "We've never actually gone on a Mexican Vacay – maybe we should try that sometime."
Darren and Alexandra sat down instead of hunting down a bathroom. It had been a jest – mostly. Not that he hadn't ever dragged her off into a janitor's closet before – or half a dozen other wildly inappropriate places for sex.
The crowd grew a little, then shrank, and they sat and talked about a hundred inane and unimportant things with Elena's friends from college late into the evening. These were the human moments, the human kind of life that Damon enjoyed having with Elena. They both made new friends easily wherever they landed, and they blended in well, but they'd had plenty of practice. It was the kind of life he once thought he'd never have – until Elena.
"Now who's taking a page out of Stefan's book?" Darren said, giving Damon a good shove on his shoulder.
"Yeah, not even!" Damon replied, smiling, "I'm just enjoying the moment, basking in the glow of my totally hot wife."
~~OFANV~~
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