Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries or any quotes used/borrowed.
Terribly sorry for the super long delay. On the positive side, I'm on Christmas break now! Thank you for reading and reviewing, and for all of the favorite's and alerts!
this lack of self-control I fear is never ending
"This will never end
'Cause I want more
More, give me more
Give me more
This will never end
'Cause I want more
More, give me more
Give me more."
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Kol woke up feeling like he'd been run over a semi-truck. Repeatedly.
"There we are," A familiar voice drawled. "It was about time, too. I was beginning to think I'd made a mistake in not giving you some of my blood."
"Klaus," Kol groaned and blinked up at the ceiling. He regained his bearings and extended his senses – all of them. He had weapon against Klaus now, one the hybrid wouldn't be expecting. Bonnie's spell would prevent him from doing anything violent, true, but Kol could create a harmless diversion with a spell of his own . . . "What are you doing up again?" His mind was too foggy for this.
"You and the Bennett witch woke me up, don't you remember?" Kol focused on his brother, who was sitting in an armchair across the bedroom, looking particularly smug. "You and a few others had ingested some werewolf venom that a hunter put into your kegs."
"You're being awfully accepting about all this, mate," Kol said as he dragged his body up into a sitting position. His head was beginning to clear and his memories were coming back to him . . . and a few questions.
"Well, I thought that you had suffered quite enough after ingesting some of that werewolf poison." Klaus shrugged and put his fingers together in a steeple. He tilted his head and his blue eyes bored into Kol's as if searching for something.
"And now you're going to extract your real revenge, is that it?" Kol asked and felt his gums itch. He was hungry. He put that aside for the moment though – he never knew if Klaus would try and dagger him and it wouldn't do for Kol to be distracted if that were to happen. Better be safe than sorry, Kol thought, and knew just the thing to keep Klaus interested rather than bored or vengeful. "Before you do that, though, I had a bit of a question for you."
"Hm?" Klaus was smiling smugly, examining his nails, pretending to be disinterested. But Kol could see his slightly bunched brows and could hear the slight tapping of Klaus' right foot.
"I was wondering – how do you propose we get rid of this Hunter of the Five that we've stumbled upon here in good old Mystic Falls?"
Klaus' artificial good mood immediately died. "A what?" The dramatic change was almost comical; his body had turned taut and he was leaning forwards, blue eyes clear and demanding. His fingers were pressed tightly into his knees, fingers curled like claws as they dug into his trousers.
Kol leaned back in his bed, laced his fingers behind his head, and slowly smiled.
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"Remind me again why we're visiting a college right now?" Elena asked. "I mean, after the fact that you and I almost died yesterday and were only saved by Klaus' return – which Bonnie made happen – and some mysterious tattoos on the hunter's arm that only Jeremy can see because he's a potential member of this Five thing? We're way in over our heads here, yes, but that's the reason we need to stick around and figure it out before this problem gets any bigger."
Before Steph could even begin to explain or rationalize this to her newly turned friend, Damon blew into the room, grabbed his girlfriend by the waist, and hoisted her up onto his shoulder. Elena squealed, and Stephanie was moderately docile as she followed them out of the boarding house and to Damon's car, where Bonnie was waiting.
"You need to learn snatch, eat and erase," Damon said imperiously and he gave Stephanie a significant look. "Both of you need to learn moderation, and now's the time to do it. A college party is the perfect place, and there's always a college party going on somewhere."
"Now is the time? Really?" Elena shouted and slammed her hands onto Damon's back to be let go. Stephanie snickered and Bonnie furrowed her brows disapprovingly at Damon.
Damon dislodged her and set Elena down into the front seat, while Steph hopped into the back with Bonnie. "Yes, now," Damon explained, "because now's the best time for it. There's a crazy hunter on the loose who can expose us. We don't need you – either of you," He waggled a finger at Elena and then Stephanie, "– accidentally outing us. We'll figure out Jeremy's issues when we get back."
"And what about Klaus?" Elena demanded shortly. "He's loose and probably looking for revenge."
Bonnie answered before Damon could. "He's under control." Her voice was cool and there was a steely undertone to it; Stephanie almost believed her, would have believed her, if she didn't know everything that Klaus was capable of based off of personal, hands-on experience.
"How?" Elena demanded shortly, "How do you know that?"
Bonnie took a deep breath as Damon started the car and began to drive them towards Whitmore College. "Because I'm channeling the energy from the Council's twelve deaths into Expression, and I know that I'm powerful enough to stop him if he were to try anything. Trust me, Elena."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Damon announced and the car swerved to the right as Damon turned around to glare at Bonnie. The girls shrieked a little and he righted the car. "When did this happen?"
"Recently," She lifted her chin upwards defiantly, daring him to chastise her for doing something for the good of their friends and family.
"And how are you controlling this wild, crazy dark magic?" Damon asked her incredulously. Steph was inclined to agree with her brother. Expression did not sound healthy for any of the parties involved.
"Damon's right, Bonnie –"
"It's not a problem yet," Bonnie explained and when Elena tried to interrupt, she put a hand onto her knee to still her protests, "but I realize it could become one, so I'm contacting the professor who took over my Grams' classes at Whitmore. We're going to be speaking today, so none of you need to worry." She deliberately turned her head, ending the conversation. Damon threw up his arms and turned back to face the road, while Elena and Stephanie exchanged wary looks.
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"Now, I believe there is a bit of information you do not know about the hunters. Do you remember when you were daggered in the first century by one of the blokes?"
Kol scowled. "It was your bloody fault, so of course I remember."
"Well, Rebekah's, rather," Klaus said cheerily, "She was in love with one of them. Alexander, his name was, and he played on her affections. However, Alexander discovered Rebekah was a vampire, and he found out about the daggers and sent his other brothers to find all of us. I, however, cannot be affected by the dagger, and so killed Alexander and his fellow hunters, before I undaggered the rest of you."
Kol was growing bored. "What's the point of this conversation, again?"
"Well, during her rendezvous with Alexander, Rebekah discovered that he hunters had an ultimate weapon to destroy all vampires."
Kol sat forward, suddenly very intrigued. Ultimate weapon against vampires? It couldn't be what he thought it was . . . "Do you know what it is?" Kol asked.
"Rebekah has never told me," Klaus said and Kol scowled.
"Bloody hell, call her then," Kol demanded, "if the hunters are back in Mystic Falls the same time we are, you know that isn't a coincidence. They're probably looking to get rid of all of the vampires in one fell swoop."
"I wasn't finished," Klaus admonished and Kol thought he was having entirely too much fun. "The only way to find this weapon is through the tattoos on the hunters' arms."
"Which are now invisible," Kol murmured and his hooded eyes met Klaus'. Kol was thrown back to a conversation he'd recently had with Bonnie. "What's the significance of the tattoo?" She'd asked. Kol had told her, "It's a map to the thing that can kill Silas." It couldn't be . . . the weapons were one and the same? The ultimate weapon to kill Silas is the same one that would kill all vampires.
Klaus was continuing. "We're going to need to find out what the weapon is from Rebekah, and then we're going to find that hunter and get that tattoo onto paper. Then we're going to obtain this weapon and destroy it." Or, Kol thought, if this was the weapon he thought it was, use it destroy someone else.
"You know the history of the Five better than I do, brother," Kol started slowly, unsure if he wanted to bring Klaus in on this. "You know what they were created for."
"And what was that again?" Klaus asked idly, lost in his maniac planning.
"To kill Silas once and for all."
Klaus scoffed and Kol knew immediately that he'd lost him. "Don't tell me that you believe that old wives' tale, brother. Silas is just a story the witches tell each other – like the boogie man."
"Kind of like the Originals' are just stories that vampires whisper about?" Kol deadpanned. "Have a little faith, brother."
Klaus rolled his eyes. "Don't start with me, Kol. Silas is just a tale to scare children. But I suppose you are still a child in some respects. What age were you when we turned? Nineteen? Twenty?"
Kol narrowed his eyes. "Fine, don't listen to me, Niklaus. We can talk about it later. But the hunters are connected to him, and I swear to you he'll come up again."
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When they reached Whitmore College, Stephanie pulled Elena away from the crowd. Bonnie and Damon were talking a little ways away and distracted, and so Steph thought she would take advantage of their momentary privacy.
"Hey, I want you to promise me something as we go in here today," Stephanie whispered.
"What?" Elena asked, confused. Her eyes flicked over to Damon and back to Steph.
"You can get caught up in the feed easily," Steph explained, "I'm proof enough of that. I just want you to be careful because I probably won't be able to pull you back and I love Damon, but you becoming a vampire is almost a dream come true for him. You guys can live together forever and he can finally be happy. And he'll want you to be happy too, even if it's a momentary second of bliss on a blood high. He just . . . doesn't regard human life the same as you do. So be careful." I need to be careful as well, Stephanie thought to herself. Because she was right; Damon would help them, but he also wouldn't be particularly bothered if one of them killed someone unless he had to clean up the body.
Elena nodded warily. "Okay. I promise, Steph." They rejoined Bonnie and Damon, and Elena promptly asked Bonnie, "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
"I would spell you out of wanting blood if I could, but I'm fairly sure even Expression can't grant me that power, so I'm going to have to be," Bonnie said grimly. "I'm going to be talking to Professor Shane for a lot of our visit anyway, so I won't have to watch you . . . feed. We'll still go to freshmen orientation of course."
Elena sighed. "Something tells me I won't be attending college anymore."
"Oh, stop with the pity party," Damon rolled his eyes and tugged Elena towards his chest. "I attended college a few times, and so has Steph."
"You and college?" Bonnie asked doubtfully.
"Sure," Damon smirked, "I've always had a thing for sorority girls." When Elena glared, he amended, "I used to have a thing for sorority girls."
Elena grinned while Steph rolled her eyes and Bonnie mimed puking. "You're disgusting." Bonnie led the way to Professor Shane's lecture, with Steph behind her and Damon and Elena being couple-y behind them. They found seats high up in the auditorium, and sat together as the class started.
"Is that him?" Elena asked as her brows furrowed. "Professor Shane?"
"Yeah," Bonnie nodded.
Elena side eyed Bonnie. "He's kind of . . ."
"Hot?" Bonnie supplied with an easy grin.
Elena smirked. "Yeah."
Damon rolled his eyes and Stephanie scrunched her nose. "Not really."
"Well, we all know your type is lithe, blonde, and blue eyed sociopaths," Damon remarked and Stephanie pinched him in the thigh. He grunted and huffed.
". . . responsible for everything that goes bump in the night . . ."
"What if I'm a ripper?" Elena suddenly asked.
"You're not," Stephanie was quick to reassure her. If Elena was a ripper, she would be devastated.
"Definitely not," Damon added.
"But what if I am?" Elena pressed urgently. Her fingers curled into the armrests of the auditorium seat.
"Then we'll deal with like we're dealing with Steph," Damon said proactively. "We'll make sure you learn moderation; this is what we're here for. Start browsing the menu, if you please."
Elena's eyes darted to a girl with glasses.
"No, not that one," Damon shook his head. "Nerdy girls are inherently suspicious; just ask Stephanie. No, you want someone ditzy, not too smart; someone you can herd away from the group and get alone. You want that one." He nodded towards a blonde girl playing on her phone.
"Excuse me; am I interrupting you up there?" Professor Shane called out and the vampires and witch froze.
"No," Elena called out. "Sorry."
Shane continued his lecture. "Alright, we should probably talk about the reading none of you did . . ." Stephanie spent the rest of his class blocking out the sounds of beating hearts and slow breathing as Bonnie was riveted towards the man who had taken over her grandmother's classes, and Damon and Elena whispered to each other quietly. She tapped her ring on her thigh anxiously, biting her lip to keep her fangs from descending.
Her fingernails dug into her jeans when the boy next to her leaned over a little too far and exposed his neck.
She swallowed back saliva and closed to her eyes, forcing herself to stop breathing. The world around her faded a little and Professor Shane's teaching began to sound like a faraway recording. The clock's ticking seemed to grow, the only sound that registered in her mind, and it echoed around the auditorium. Time passed.
And then Elena was shaking her shoulder and giving Steph a concerned look. "You okay?"
"Fine," Stephanie nodded sharply and stood. "Let's go."
"Actually, I'm going to catch up with Professor Shane." Bonnie hitched her bag up onto her shoulder and glanced at her two friends apologetically.
"Have fun with Professor Creepy," Damon drawled, and put his arms around his sister and girlfriend. "We'll be having lunch." Bonnie gave him a nasty glare and then said goodbye to her friends.
"Now. Let's go find that girl."
The left the auditorium and followed the blonde Damon had pointed out that day, which wasn't too difficult as she was walking slowly and her eyes were glued down to her phone.
"Elena first," Damon said and gave Steph a sidelong glance. "It'll be less messy." Stephanie grounded her teeth. "Now, Elena, she's a healthy girl – strong – she'll recover quickly, so there's nothing for you to worry about. Keep your eye on the ball."
"Damon," Elena warned.
"It's not a game," Stephanie said stiffly. The trio walked behind the blonde college student at a slower pace.
"Fine; it's not a game, it's a high stakes life or death situation. Now let's do this. Be natural," Damon gently pushed Elena forward and the dark headed girl sped up her pace.
"Hey!" She called. "You're in my Anthro class, right?"
"Uh, I think so."
"She won't be able to do it like this," Steph whispered.
"Why not?" Damon asked.
"Elena's . . . so soft hearted. I don't think she has it in her to drink from an innocent," Steph murmured.
"I'm sure that's what the Founders thought about you before you tore out all of their throats," Damon pointed out a little callously. Steph stiffened and turned her head to watch Elena and the student. Unfortunately, it went about as well as Stephanie had predicted.
"What the hell? What happened?" Damon demanded.
Elena was at a loss. "She had a little sister, Damon . . . I just couldn't."
"Everyone has a sister, or a brother, or a parent, or a friend," Damon said exasperatedly. "Honestly, Elena. You don't know these people; why do you care?"
"Because she's still Elena," Steph defended, stepping beside her friend. "That hasn't changed."
"I still have the same feelings, Damon," Elena said quietly.
"Is something going on?" The three vampires turned their heads to find Bonnie striding towards them, looking a little concerned.
"No, we just ran into an issue, that's all," Damon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
"How did the meeting with Shane go?" Steph inquired politely as Elena greeted Bonnie with a quick hug as if they hadn't seen each other an hour ago.
"Good," Bonnie grinned, "He had a lot of my Grams' things, and he's going to give them to me later. I didn't mention my magic yet, but hopefully it'll come up. I also got invited to this." She produced a yellow and red flyer that stated there was a "murder house" that evening.
"This just solved all of our problems," Damon smirked as he snatched the flyer. "The only people who come to these are hot sorority girls and dicky frat guys. Perfect hunting grounds, which is why we'll be eating very well tonight." He rubbed his hands together eagerly. "So, what should we go as tonight? Victims or killers?"
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"So, before we go forward with this," Kol started as Klaus got off the phone with Rebekah (who was enjoying her time in New Salem with her girlfriend and the witches' coven there), who'd given them some very key information that was still ringing in Kol's ears. ("It's a Cure," She'd told them, "a Cure for vampirism.") She'd taken the time to explain that the sword was the key to decoding the tattoo map on the Hunters' arms, and would lead them straight to the Cure.
("Why do you want the Cure?" Kol had asked Klaus when the elder's interest had been peaked.
"I need a human doppelgänger, brother – I need more hybrids, and that stash in the old mansion isn't going to make me more than ten to twelve at the most. I need an army.")
"I think there's something you'd appreciate knowing."
"It's not about the boogie man again is it?" Klaus drawled disinterestedly. He was far more concerned with hitting the road to get to the sword, whose location Rebekah had alluded to in their conversation. Klaus rolled his head on the seat to gaze at his little brother. "Because I'm done listening to that," He warned. "I need to get started with my plans."
Kol arched an eyebrow but kept his knowledge about Silas to himself. He'd help Klaus get the Cure, but only to destroy Silas, since it was clear that the weapon to kill Silas and the Cure were one and the same. For now, he'd reveal a little secret to Klaus; he raised his right hand. With a muttered word underneath his breath and a flick of his wrist, Kol's fingers ignited and flames danced across the tips, back and forth. His face was alight with a savage grin. He glanced at Klaus and saw that for once in his long, long life, the hybrid was utterly speechless.
"How the bloody hell are you doing that?" Klaus demanded when he finally regained the ability to speak.
"My obsession with witches has paid off, dear brother," Kol explained, "seeing as one of them – someone who has given me at least a moderate amount of trust – decided to wield Expression, and has bestowed my magic upon me once more. There was a . . . catch, however." Here, Kol's fanatic smile waned.
"What?" Klaus barked.
"She cast a spell on me that I cannot undo myself," Kol beat around the bush.
"What did she do, Kol?"
"She made it so I can't harm any living – or undead – person ever again."
Klaus' booming laughter echoed loudly around the cavernous halls of the new Mikaelson Mansion. "Bloody hell, but that's funny. Your darling Bennett witch already told me though, yesterday while you were poisoned." Kol glared. "It's not like you can be killed, little brother," Klaus remarked dryly, still snickering. "So, I have an idea for your next magic trick. And it'll pay me back for aiding in my burial, so there will be no need for a punishment on your end."
"And what's that?" Kol asked warily.
"Can you do a locator spell? I'd say it's about time for some wolf hunting."
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They ended up going as a mix of both murderer and victims. Damon was (of course) a murderer – but not only a murderer, but Jack the Ripper ("You think you're hilarious, don't you"). The three ladies were his victims.
"Hey, I'm Frankie," A young blond man, a little heavyset, stepped forward as the trio of vampires and one witch walked into the house and offered Damon his drink. "And I'm going to assume you're a killer."
"I'm Jack," Damon confirmed as he took a drink, "and these beautiful women are the ladies I . . ." He tilted his head as he thought, "ripper-ed." Stephanie rolled her eyes while Bonnie snorted.
"Welcome to the Murder House." The grinned, "Bloody Marys' are free until midnight. Enjoy yourselves." He stepped around them and wandered off, while Damon tipped his hat.
"Hat's off to these idiots." He squinted at the stairs. "Isn't that Professor Creepy?"
"I told you, it's Professor Shane," Bonnie quickly admonished, "and he's not creepy." She glared a little and then her eyes slid back to the teacher almost dreamily. Steph saw Damon shudder dramatically. "I'm going to go talk to him for a minute."
"You do that," Damon said condescendingly as they saw Bonnie off. "Now, ladies, look at all these sleaze balls covered in blood. Pick one." He waved a hand around the party, wiggling his fingers.
Stephanie and Elena were dressed for the occasion in satin green and black dresses respectively, with black panty hose and high heels. The people around them were in Halloween costumes and copious amounts of fake blood that dribbled down faces and necks alluringly. Steph forced herself and relax.
"Him," Elena suddenly said and Steph turned her head to look at the guy who'd greeted them at the door. He was holding a cloudy cup and handing it to a giggly young woman. Elena was glaring fiercely at him, fingers curling into claws at her sides. Damon had a slow grin growing on his lips as he took Elena's hand.
"Ah, roofie guy." They started forward together, seemingly forgetting about Steph for the moment – which she was indeed perfectly fine with – as they stalked the young frat boy like they were wolves and the student a sheep. The cornered him in a hallway and then before Stephanie could so much as close her eyes, Elena's teeth were buried into his neck, tearing and gnashing the skin.
Steph almost salivated. Instead of joining them, she gravitated somewhere else. She found it impossible to escape the hammering sounds of heartbeats as students were packed like sardines in the Murder House. They moved with the heavy bass that made the floorboards and the walls vibrate, and alcohol and drugs flowed freely from cup to cup, lips to lips.
"Hey, sweetheart, I don't think I've ever seen you around." Steph turned to see another young man, a frat boy, looking at her with hungry, searching eyes. "Want a drink?"
Steph wondered if he'd try to roofie it like Elena had seen the other frat boy do to his classmate. She made a quick decision – she'd come to the dumb frat party learn to control herself, and damn it, she was going to learn. "Sure." It would a very different kind of drink than he was thinking about. She held out a hand and grinned at him. The boy took the bait.
Steph led the boy – "Call me James" – to a secluded hallway and stretched to kiss his neck. James was relatively handsome, in a generic kind of way; he had brown hair, brown eyes, tanned skin, and wore a baseball uniform as his costume. He had a strong jaw, she noticed as her lips made their way across his throat. James' hands found her ass and lifted her up, which gave her a vantage point to bite into his jugular.
Her fangs slid out and neatly into his skin in a matter of seconds and red hot blood gushed into her mouth and made her taste buds bloom. It was good, but not nearly fulfilling enough and Steph took long drags of the thick liquid to try and sate her thirst. She couldn't help but compare it to Klaus' blood, and found it lacking in substance. But it was good for human blood, and Steph found herself unable to let go, even as James' struggles began to wane. Her grip tightened on his shoulders, and her legs wrapped around his waist to herself elevated.
Hands were suddenly gripping her sides and lifted her off of her meal and Stephanie snarled at the intruder.
"Hey, hey, it's just me. Moderation, remember?" Damon was back, along with Elena, from their little adventure. Elena's face was covered in smeared blood, but she looked completely relaxed and . . . happy. She maneuvered around Steph and Damon, and attended to the frat boy, feeding him a bit of her blood and compelling him to move along and forget the evening's occurrences.
Stephanie lifted hand to wipe at her face, disgusted with herself, when Damon snatched her hand. "It goes with the theme of the party."
"It's real, human blood," Steph hissed, "of someone I just nearly killed."
"But he's fine, you're fine; it was a learning experience. Now come on, ask Elena how her first hunt went!"
Steph turned to look at Elena wordlessly. The nearly turned vampire shrugged almost apologetically. "I . . . I want more."
But that was the problem, wasn't it? Stephanie always wanted more. And now, so did Elena.
Damon clapped a hand onto Steph's shoulder and propelled her forwards. "Come on. Let's practice some more."
They made their way to the dance floor and the music was louder, the bodies pressing closer, and the adrenaline rushed. Stephanie found herself pressured and pushed into drinking from boy after girl, getting drunk off her bloodlust and letting her inhibitions wither in a way that they usually didn't unless her humanity was off and she was with Nik.
Every time the guilt pushed in to the forefront of her mind, Damon or Elena was there and shoving her towards another college kid and she bared her fangs and gorged.
"Great costume," A girl admired and Steph took a moment to look at herself the reflective surface of the TV hanging off the wall; her hair was bedraggled and her makeup smeared, but what was gruesome was the blood crusting around her mouth and dripping down her chin. Some was stained onto her dress and skin, giving her the appearance of someone who just escaped a slaughter house.
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Bonnie found Shane and let him lead her away from the party and up to Shane's office. It was cluttered, but looked homey.
"I put your Grams' things up here, somewhere," Shane prattled. "There were a couple of family photos. Did you know she liked Cujo?" Bonnie grinned. She moved around the tiny office and wandered a little, admiring the unique artifacts that littered shelves and desks. It was all relating to witchcraft, which Bonnie thought, ought to have been expected.
"This stuff in amazing," She complimented and gave Professor Shane a smile. "Is this all that you've gathered while traveling?"
"Yeah," Shane bobbed his head. "I, uh, do this thing – a one man traveling a cultic museum. Here," He walked over and showed her a brown tinted Cujo book. Inside was a picture of Bonnie and her Grams. The sudden onslaught of memories it provoked made tears gather in the corner of her eyes.
"Do you practice?" Shane asked quietly.
Bonnie deliberated. She wanted to talk about Expression, but what if Shane was not receptive to the idea? She decided to take the risk. "Yes, I do. So did Grams, actually, if you didn't know. Do you?"
Shane grinned. "That's amazing! And no, alas, I'm not nearly gifted enough to actually do anything. I'm just a guy who's interested in a lot of things and has a very open mind."
"You know a lot," Bonnie hedged.
"Not to toot my own horn, but yes," Shane agreed and peered at Bonnie. "Is there something . . . ?"
"Have you heard of Expression?" Bonnie asked and Shane's face blanked for a moment before lighting up with utter glee.
"Yes," He nodded furtively. "Do you . . . ?"
Bonnie pressed her lips together and nodded briefly. "I was wondering if you could help me learn to control it better. I haven't told my friends, but it's . . . a little overwhelming."
"Of course I'll help you," Shane said immediately, "Anything for Sheila's granddaughter and I'm sure you're very talented."
"Thank you," Bonnie smiled. "I'd be extremely grateful."
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Stephanie licked her lips. The strobe lights were going wild, spinning around, and the music throbbed in her bones. The blood made her simultaneously hungry and nauseous. Behind her, Damon and Elena stopped making out as Bonnie hastened to their sides and reamed them for having a good time drinking from the frat kids. Elena was soon brought near to tears and she stormed out with Damon hastily following her, after a short, clipped response to Bonnie's tirade. Steph ducked out of the witch's line of sight and slunk out of the Murder House. She followed the sound of Elena and Damon arguing and found them off to the side, beneath a weeping willow.
Stephanie decided to call it a quits and leave them to it; Elena was in tears, but it looked like they would be making up and making out soon. Bonnie was nowhere to be seen. Steph turned around found her way to Damon's car, and scribbled a note to stick onto the steering wheel; she was going home and then going to try and forget her fiasco of a day and her mostly failed attempts at moderation.
Maybe Caroline had had a better evening.
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Stephanie arrived back at the boarding house to find it dead silent except for the little noises that all old homes made in the autumn nights. She kicked off her heels and picked them up by her pinky finger and walked barefoot up the wooden, creaky stairs. She turned off towards her room and put her shoes back up in her closet, and unzipped her dress and stepped out of it.
The window creaked.
Steph's green eyes darted up and found that the glass pane was slightly ajar and swinging in time with the wind outside. In just her under things, she walked over and firmly shut the window and pulled the curtains to shut out the night sky and stars. Steph turned back to pick up her dress and then make her way to the bathroom to shower, but she stepped on something in the floor that crinkled noisily. She bent down and retrieved the thick paper and smoothed it out.
Her insides went cold.
It was a drawing of her in a pretty red dress, her hair flowing down her back and a light coating of blood on her lips. Steph was drawn to her likeness's eyes – they were a penetrating green that seemed to glare out of the page. In a beautiful flowing script, Klaus had written, "You are strong, ageless, and fearless. I love that about you." And that was it.
Stephanie crumpled the paper into a small ball in her hand and she tossed it across the room.
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"Take care of my hybrids for me, will you?" Klaus drawled as he licked the werewolf blood off of his fingers. "I've got to get the sword."
"Why do I have to be the babysitter?" Kol whined. He flapped a hand. "They're your creations."
"Who else is going to keep an eye on them? I need them and you to watch Connor – make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. Can't have him killing anyone, anyway," Klaus explained and it was clear his patience was waning. His spine straightened and he looked Kol in the eye. "I trust that this revelation about the Cure will stay between us and Rebekah, understood? Don't tell your new witchy friend or any of the residents of town. If word got out about this . . ."
"Yes, yes, the world would end," Kol snapped. "Anything else?"
"Make sure Stephanie doesn't kill herself doing something stupid and righteous, won't you? I plan on winning her back in the near future."
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Professor Shane glanced up from his reading, and inquisitively asked, "Shouldn't you be in Mystic Falls killing vampires?" He was glad he'd sent Bonnie home a few hours ago, for surely she'd have recognized the Hunter from her town.
Connor Jordan advanced towards Shane in his office. His brows were furrowed and his face twisted into a fierce scowl. "Why the hell did you send me there? Yeah, the place is crawling with vampires, but you didn't say there was an Original there."
"You met Klaus?" Shane perked up.
"No, but I did meet his brother Kol at the Town Council's memorial," Connor scowled. "The little bastard and his friend Damon Salvatore tried to accost me right after I shot their hybrid friend. Do you know how hard it is to kill a werewolf-vampire hybrid? That vermin is still running around too."
"According to lore, you have to decapitate them or rip out their hearts," Shane offered helpfully.
"Thanks for that bit of information," Connor spat. "It'd have been useful earlier. Though you're not very good at giving useful information ahead of time."
"I told you I'd give you answers about the mark after it finished growing," Shane said loftily.
"In other words, kill as many vampires as possible," The Hunter snapped.
"There's no shortage of vampires in that town, so it won't be that difficult. Although, I do have one request," Shane said.
"And that is?"
"There's a witch mixed up in all of that vampire stuff, and I need to leave her out of your plans. I need her for my own agenda," Shane explained. Connor snorted and stalked closer.
"I'll kill anyone who gets in my way," He warned, "Witch, or no witch."
Shane sighed. "Then I guess I'll just have to occupy her myself."
.
.
.
tbc.