AN: Wow! Okay, never thought I would get this much feedback on this story. As for my story Discovering Secrets, I am terribly sorry for those of you who are reading it, but I am going to be stopping that story for a while, at least until I regain some inspiration and after this story is over. However, I'm having fun writing this story and may continue this one for a little longer than 5 more chapters. I hope you all continue to review. I will try to post every weekend, so now you know when to expect them, at least no later than Monday night. The number of chapters I post may vary though, so…don't expect me to be constant. Anyways, I am so happy with all the feedback. Please enjoy this next chapter. Oh, and thank you for reading the AN. I know, I know that the story's more interesting, but these are important for me so thanks and once again enjoy. Also, don't foget to review...I thrive on it. Thank you, again.
Chapter 5: Research
"Uggh…please turn it off!" Damon finally screams at full volume. He's been in the car with Caroline Forbes for the last twenty minutes and he's already ready to jump out onto the freeway. He doesn't want to be in the middle of this. The music is stupid. This is his brother's brilliant idea. Considering that the only cars that the Salvatore's own are sports cars and are two-seaters it was the only option. Of course his brother forces him to ride with Caroline Forbes, why'd I even tell him of my feelings anyways. I can't wait until this stupid spell or whatever is broken and I can return to my normal self. Damon thinks to himself
"Why it's good music." Caroline says in response.
Damon shakes his head, "No, it's annoying and lame…and the lyrics couldn't be worse. I don't want to hear this. The lyrics are cool for a party, where you can't hear them over other people's partying."
Caroline sighs, "Fine, since I owe you, and didn't get to repay you last night, you choose the music." She says.
Suddenly Damon goes quiet and Caroline can't help but think to herself, Did I just trigger another episode? How am I supposed to deal with it; oh, gosh, do I need to call Stefan? Caroline looks over at Damon, who seems to be twiddling his thumbs nervously, "Damon?" She asks hesitantly.
"Yeah?" He asks. She can breathe again, it's just Damon being…nervous? Caroline frowns, Damon Salvatore is anything and everything but nervous, scared, or at a loss for words.
"Damon, what's wrong, I just said you could pick the music." Caroline says as she turns the music so far down, that it's practically unable to be heard anymore.
"It's just that here you didn't try to kill me and you're trying to repay me, and I tried to kill you like a year ago or whatever, and I haven't even begun to try to repay you for that." Damon hesitantly replies.
Caroline frowns, "Damon, I've forgiven you for that, in fact I thought it was sort of an unspoken thing between us, that we both just moved on and there were no hard feelings."
"Really?" Damon asks.
"Yes, but I guess if it's been weighing on you for some time now, do you want to talk about it?" Caroline asks.
"I don't know, I mean if we've both moved on then I suppose we don't have to." Damon says.
"Hey, it's cool with me; I just want to know that you've moved passed it." Caroline explains.
"I am sorry, Caroline." Damon says shyly.
"It's okay, and thank you, Damon…that means a lot, especially coming from you." Caroline says.
"Uggh…I hate being seven, it seems like I am just a sitting duck." Damon sighs and shakes his head.
Caroline frowns and looks down at him for a second, but then refocuses her attention on the road. "Damon, listen, all will be better in a little while, we're going to look through Isobel's research and find something that can reverse this."
"You know, you were ready to pay me back after you almost killed me, but I haven't gotten a chance to repay you for all the times I tried to kill you." Damon points out.
Caroline smiles…Awe, Damon's being cute. "Really?" She asks innocently.
"Yup…" Damon says, popping the 'p'. "I am going to fix that though." Damon says resolutely.
"How're you going to do that?" Caroline asks curiously.
"How does an 1800's dance sound do you?" Damon asks shyly.
Caroline has to keep her face from going red, and she looks at him, "I remember when I was 'dating' you, and you said you don't dance."
"Oh, come on Caroline, you and I both know that was solely just to piss Stefan off." Damon answers with amusement.
Caroline laughs, "Well, it worked, but I don't want to go dancing with someone who can't dance."
Damon frowns, "I am from the 1800's, Caroline, I think I'm generally expected to be able to dance, and for the record I can, and I am very good at it." He explains pompously.
Caroline nods and grins, "Okay, then I'll take you up on that…when you're you again, you'll take me to an authentic 1800's dance." She says.
"Okay then." Damon nods.
"Do you wanna choose the music?" Caroline asks.
"Sure, why not." Damon says and he picks up Caroline's ipod and starts surfing through the songs. He sighs and Caroline looks over at him, "Don't you have any good stuff on here, it's all pop and dubstep." He shakes his head disapprovingly.
"I'm sorry I don't have Beethoven, but those are good songs." She counters.
"Beethoven?" Damon laughs, "I may be from the 1800s but that does not mean that I don't listen to contemporary music, Barbie."
"Okay, well, what do you like?" Caroline asks.
"Alternative is pretty cool, and so is rock." Damon answers.
"Okay, well how about this new song, I just got it and it's really good…it's sort of alternative, at least it's sung by an alternative band." She suggests.
"Sure, why not, it's probably better than anything else you've got on here. What's it called?"
"Madness by Muse." Caroline answers.
"Okay." Damon says as he surfs her ipod and puts it on. He listens to it for a moment before giving Caroline a quizzical look. "What is this?"
"It's a good song!" Caroline quickly defends.
"I'm not saying it isn't, it's just different that's all." Damon smirks.
"Yes it is." Caroline smiles.
"So, Damon, I think we should play the question game." Caroline says.
Damon frowns, "No, I don't agree."
"Oh, fine, we can just enjoy the music then."
"Thank you." Damon says as he leans back into his seat and rests his eyes.
They make it to the campus a while later. Caroline thinks Damon fell asleep after a while, because his breathing is calm. She wanted to wake him earlier, but figured that with all that's happened he needed the rest, but now that they've arrived at the campus she parks and gently nudges him awake.
"Damon?" She quietly asks.
Damon blinks his eyes open. Did he sleep the whole way there? He looks at the person who woke him up and frowns at nothing in particular. "Are we there yet?" Damon asks.
Caroline raises her eyebrows, "Yes, we're there." She answers just as her phone rings. She answers it, "Hello?...Oh hey, Stefan?...Yeah we just got here…Damon had a little nap, but he's awake now…Are you here, too?...Oh, okay, where are you?...Okay, we'll see you in less than a minute." Caroline hangs up the phone.
"Your brother was worried about you." Caroline says.
Damon thinks about that for a moment. "What makes you say that, none of your responses made me think that?"
"Just his tone of voice." Caroline says, "You know, Damon, you don't give yourself enough credit, you have a brother that cares unconditionally for you. I mean what did he do on Founder's Day? Rescue you from a burning building." Caroline explains. "At his own risk, might I add."
"Yeah, I guess so, but I—" Damon is interrupted.
"No, but's Damon, try to think of your brother as more, I'm sure you love him too." Caroline explains.
Damon frowns at that, "I do love my brother."
"I don't think he knows that." Caroline says in a small voice.
Damon's eyes grow large, but before emotions overcome him he opens the door and gets out, "We should get going, they're probably wondering where we are." He says quickly as he closes the door behind him.
Caroline sighs and follows him seconds later. "Hey, Ric. Stefan." She says as she and Damon approach them at the door of the building.
"Hey," Stefan grins, "So, Damon, heard you had a nice nap?"
Damon doesn't respond and instead he just brushes passed Stefan and goes into the building. Ric runs in there after him and Stefan looks at Caroline perplexed. "What was that?"
"I don't know." Caroline shrugs.
Stefan nods and walks into the building and Ric introduces them to a woman named Vanessa. She eyes Damon and Stefan warily, but she says nothing of it as she leads them into the room where all of Isobel's research is.
"I'll go get the light." She says quickly as she leaves the room. Ric and Caroline start looking through the stuff, and Stefan turns to his brother.
"What's wrong, Damon?" He asks worriedly.
"Nothing, just leave it okay!" Damon exclaims.
Before Stefan has a chance to respond, Caroline shouts his name, "Stefan!" He looks over at her and frowns and then he feels an arrow penetrating his chest and grunts as he falls to the floor.
Damon stands in shock as Ric rushes over to Vanessa and pins her down. Damon looks down at his brother with a scared expression. "Stefan?" Caroline asks as she softly nudges Stefan, but he doesn't respond.
Tears come to Damon's eyes as he kneels down next to Stefan and grabs the arrow from the front and as hard as he can he manages to pull it out. Stefan shoots up with a grunt and clutches his hand to his chest. Damon throws the arrow aside and immediately embraces his brother. "Caroline's right!" Damon exclaims. "You would've died never knowing that I never hated you, that you were always my brother no matter what. I love you, Stefan!" Damon cries.
Stefan looks confused as he gazes at Caroline, "Damon, it's okay." he says quickly.
"I'm going to go yell at her for shooting you." Damon says as he rushes into the other room.
Stefan wants to hold his brother back, but Damon's gone before he can manage to comprehend what just happened.
"Here, Stefan." Caroline says as she helps him up. Stefan looks at Caroline with a frown.
"What did you do?" Stefan asks her hastily.
"I merely told him that he shouldn't use his time to hate you." Caroline replies in a small voice.
Stefan sighs, but internally he is beyond happy, "I guess we should get in there before Damon does something horrible." He says as he walks toward the door and sees Ric, Vanessa, and Damon talking.
"This is Stefan Salvatore, who you just shot." Ric quickly says as he and Caroline join them in the room and sit down on the couch.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, by the way. Damon made it very clear to me that if I didn't say that he would come back for me when he was back to normal." Vanessa says as she ducks her head shyly.
Damon glares at her, "You weren't supposed to add that." He frowns.
Stefan rolls his eyes and laughs, "Hey, Vanessa, no hard feelings, I get that it would be startling to see a person who supposedly died about a century and a half ago." He offers the girl his hand and she shakes it and smiles.
"You know you're very nice, considering the fact that your shirt is ruined and you were just shot." Vanessa grins.
"Okay, now down to pressing matters." Ric says, "We did come here for some assistance, because as you probably know Damon is supposed to be twenty four not seven, so can you help us with this." He motions to Damon.
"Yes, but first I need to know what exactly is happening." Vanessa replies.
"Okay, well this spell appears to be messing with him both mentally and physically. He is supposed to be a twenty four year old vampire, but he is a seven year old human and not to mention the fact that he sometimes can't remember where he is." Stefan explains, his voice on the verge of worry.
"Okay, I think I know what is going on, it's an old spell, meant to be cast on those who are hated. The spell is supposed to gain revenge on the subject, but the witch that cast it must have been very powerful, and as for the seven year old thing." Vanessa pauses and then looks up at Stefan, realization hitting her, "The spell cannot be tracked, but it is reversible if you have a witch strong enough to do it, as well as the spell that causes this. However, back to him being a seven year old, Alaric tells me that you're seventeen?" Stefan nods slowly in agreement, "Okay, well, this has been designed beautifully. You see you weren't around when Damon was seven, so when the memory regressions become more and more frequent he'll soon lose track of reality and not even you will be able to bring him back, because he won't know you." Vanessa explains.
"When exactly is this supposed to happen?" Stefan presses.
"Well, normally there are a few regressions to begin with and they are able to be easily pushed away, but that is normally meant to keep you from seeing the true side-effects."
"Which are?" Ric asks quickly.
"He'll start to revert back to his human state, his human personality. He'll start to forget things, at first it'll be small, but after a while you'll start to notice the difference." Vanessa adds.
"Well, how long is this going to take, and will this be reversible once he's turned back to normal."
"I don't know, but I do know that the more trauma he is caused and the more he is reminded of his past, the more and more this will happen to him." Vanessa says.
"So, I'm being slowly destroyed from the inside out?" Damon asks, his eyes wide with fear.
"Don't worry, Damon, we'll keep you out of trouble and find a way to fix this." Stefan adds as he gets down to his brother's eye level and puts his hand on his shoulder.
Damon instantly flinches and his hand begins to tremble. Stefan notices this and removes his hand and raises his eyebrows.
"What's happening?" Caroline asks.
Damon's expression becomes vacant, and Vanessa immediately takes action, "He's panicking. This can cause regressions. Stefan, you need to calm him down."
Stefan puts his hand on Damon's cheek, but he cowers away from it and looks into Stefan's eyes fearfully, "Please stop, I haven't done anything." Damon pleads softly.
"Damon, this isn't 1847 anymore, it's me it's your brother, Stefan." Stefan says.
"Do these regressions exhaust the victims?" Caroline asks.
"They do, the longer they last and the more intense they are, they can cause fainting or dizziness, but they always cause more and more memory lost, but like I said it's not as drastic." Vanessa answers.
"What do we do?" Caroline asks as she looks back at the brothers.
"I don't know." Vanessa shrugs.
"Damon? Damon, look at me." Stefan orders softly as he once again reaches out to Damon.
Damon instantly recoils, "Get away from me!" He pushes Stefan back and jumps off of the chair and runs toward the door.
Stefan is quicker though and picks Damon up and holds him down. "Damon, snap out of it!" Stefan shouts a little too forcefully.
Damon's eyes grow wide with fear and he immediately starts to squirm as sobs escape him. "Please, I didn't do anything!" He screams as he cries and he succumbs to exhaustion.
"Damon, listen to me." Stefan says as he places Damon on his feet and looks him in the eyes, "We're brothers, and I would never do anything to hurt you."
Damon looks at his brother with understanding and recognition, "Stef...I…" Damon barely manages to choke out, before his eyelids start to flutter and he collapses into Stefan.
Stefan watches as his brother's panicked expression becomes calmer and he hears his brother's weak voice before he loses consciousness in Stefan's arms and falls into them. He scoops his limp body up into his arms and looks back at Ric, Caroline, and Vanessa, who are at a loss for words.
"Stefan, you should start heading home with him, and I'll go back with Caroline. We'll try to find out what's going on with him, okay, and head back as soon as we can." Ric says. He looks down at Damon's limp body and feels a lump form in his throat. This is his friend, his drinking buddy, and his ally.
"It'll be okay, Stefan." Caroline says warmly as she walks up to the brothers and tentatively places a kiss on Damon's brow.
Stefan nods and lets out a choked sob. His brother's being dismantled and destroyed right before his very eyes, and he can't do anything about it. He hugs his brother to his chest and walks out of the building to his car.
Vanessa watches him go, and looks at Caroline and Ric, "Okay, I didn't want to say this in front of Stefan or Damon, but the two of you need to know this. This spell just doesn't cause memory lost and de-aging." She hesitates when she sees their expressions, but she continues a moment later, "It will kill him, slowly. It will drain him of his energy and he will pass away quietly, but not peacefully. I don't know the point of this specific spell, but whoever cast this, had the intention of dismantling Damon, his family, and his friends. I'll give you all the information I have of this spell, but I can't help you anymore than that." Vanessa explains.
Caroline swallows, "He'll die?" Vanessa nods.
"How long does he have, do you know that?" Ric asks quickly. He fears the answer.
"By the looks of it, not long. If his episodes are constantly like that and his behavioral differences are getting more and more pronounced, then he should…you know…by next Saturday." Vanessa explains.
"That's in a week!" Ric exclaims.
Vanessa shrugs, "I'm telling you what I've heard. Here's your information, though. Give it to a witch and they should be able to figure it out." She says as she hands them a box of info, mostly grimoires.
"Thank you, Vanessa." Ric and Caroline say together as they take the box from her and walk out of the building to the car.