Chapter Four
Thank you to all of you for your reviews/favourites/alerts – I'm so happy you're enjoying this story :D I don't like the beginning of this chapter, it didn't work like I wanted it to, but here you have it.
Disclaimer – I do not own the Vampire Diaries but I do own Teagan.
Hazel. The colour haunted him. It could never be brown – chocolate, coffee, mud – or green – emerald, moss, jade – it had to be hazel. And it had to be hazel with just a slight hint of more green over brown, swirling with mischief and promise that he desperately wanted to know the meaning of.
He had never found out the meaning behind his obsession with hazel eyes, he just knew that he never found someone that had the perfect mix he was looking for. Elena, who looked so much like Katherine that they could have been twins, did not have that mix. Her eyes were a charming chocolate brown, but Stefan did not want chocolate. He wanted hazel.
His relationship with Elena had begun well and, once he had realised she was nothing like Katherine, it had only improved. But he could not keep her from the darkness of his world and, unlike his brother Damon, he was not selfish enough to keep her there. Of course, she and Damon worked better anyway. They had a good balance and she could keep him in control when he needed it – though it had been slowly established that Elena could not make him the 'hero'.
They had their ups and downs, but what it all came down to was the fact that Damon and Elena were better suited to one another. Stefan and Elena had been incredible together, but Damon needed Elena and Elena needed Damon. Stefan knew that he just wasn't it for her – and it was only partly to do with her lack of hazel eyes.
Klaus – a hybrid of werewolf and vampire – had led to Stefan's self-destruction. To save Damon, Stefan had given himself over to the psychotic Original, who then led him down a path that he'd desperately tried to hide from. And, with Lexi gone, he had no hope of recovery. But there always seemed to be something that Klaus didn't tell him, didn't want him to know until the big, dramatic reveal. Personally, Stefan was tired of the games. He may have been a Ripper, but he still had emotions – yet Klaus took care of those.
Damon. It was Damon. Damon loved Elena, Damon needed Elena, Damon wouldn't survive without Elena. That was what pushed Stefan to fight compulsion like no vampire ever had before, but it wasn't enough. He no longer cared about Damon, or Elena, or the fact that Rebekah had practically taken over the Salvatore Boarding House. It just didn't matter anymore.
Still, he always wondered about hazel eyes.
Teagan POV
I didn't go to find Klaus after he abandoned me on the outskirts of Chicago and, despite several hundred attempts, I did not answer messages and made sure I kept a useful knowledge of where he was at all times. For nearly ninety years, I had been by myself, wandering aimlessly. There was no point in trying to find Stefan, not when Klaus had compelled him to forget all about us. So I strayed.
I met with Elijah several times, though he never brought Klaus up and I was grateful. The older Original simply checked in on me, making sure I was not about to rampage over the world and kill everything I deemed fit. Surprisingly, I never wanted to. My anger was directed at Klaus, though I could do nothing about it, but Elijah taught me behaviour he'd been trying to drill into me for centuries. Finally, I was ready to listen instead of behaving childishly. He promised to never speak of our meetings to Klaus – another thing I was grateful for.
I wasn't sure how I had ended up in the little town of Mystic Falls, particularly after I was aware of Klaus breaking his curse there, but I found myself attending a party I stumbled on in the woods. I was curious about the place that was neck deep in supernatural creatures; werewolves, ghosts, vampires and witches all resided there. It was intriguing, I noted as I watched drunken antics take place around me. That's when I heard it.
The voice was familiar, someone I would never forget, and I snuck over towards the source before skirting up a tree and staring down at what was occurring underneath. On a log sat two obvious vampires. One was male, with dark hair and pale skin, sitting unceremoniously close to a lovely blonde female that did not look impressed. Then she stabbed him with a thick stick.
"It was never a fair fight between us, Damon," Rebekah said in an arrogant tone, one I had missed dearly. She stood up, tossed her straight hair over her shoulder and was about to leave when I decided to make my presence known.
"Some things will never change." The reaction could have been comical as both heads whipped around to stare up at me leaning casually against the tree trunk. The dark haired vampire Rebekah had called 'Damon' looked completely bewildered as Rebekah's eyes widened. "So he told you?" I asked, leaping down elegantly and I was glad I wasn't wearing heels that would have sunk into the ground. I was immediately engulfed in an enthusiastic hug.
"I thought you were dead!" Rebekah gasped as I was finally able to pull away and stare at her with a raised eyebrow. Her grin was practically blinding. "Nik told me he left you and he never heard from you again, I assumed the worst." She sounded completely relieved, like I was feeling on the inside. I had been terrified that Klaus had clouded her judgement.
"Did he tell you the whole story?" I demanded a little too harshly. She sighed and nodded sadly.
"He should not have said that, Teagan. He loves you, you know that." I scoffed sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "He does! And, in any case, you're still my little sister. And I've missed you," she declared and, thrilled at the welcome she was giving me, I turned to smirk at Damon, who had pulled the small branch out of his stomach.
"Just who are you, handsome?" I asked cheekily, a little smirk twitching my lips. Rebekah moved to casually perch on the log, looking very comfortable yet cocky as she eyed Damon. Her blue eyes sparkled dangerously and I grinned. It was like no time had passed and we were a team again.
"Damon Salvatore. And you are?" he asked, righting himself and glowering at me. Completely immune to the petty glares of younger vampires, I tilted my head to the side playfully. That was when his name crashed on my eardrums like a tidal wave and Rebekah's jaw went slack as she saw my change in expression.
"Salvatore?" I breathed, staring at Damon with dinner plate eyes. Looking even more confused, he nodded. "You're Stefan's brother?" I asked, heart throbbing at the mention of Stefan's name. Damon nodded once more, slower. I felt faint and exhilarated all at once. "Is he here?" I asked one final time and, once again, Damon nodded. My head spun to face Rebekah and she gestured airily.
"Please, go, I don't need to spend time with the sister I haven't seen in ninety years," she scoffed and I playfully grinned before hugging her tightly. "Go," she encouraged in nothing more than a whisper that even Damon wouldn't be able to hear. "Wait! Teagan, where are your rings?" she demanded and my eyes drifted down to my almost bare hands. Only my daylight ring rested there. Ignoring the question as I prevented my face twisting in pain, I disappeared into the trees.
There was no sign of him at the party, so I expanded my search. All the while, I maintained a stony expression that told no one that witnessed me of my nerves. Rebekah had noticed I wasn't wearing the rings and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I wasn't sure how I felt about anything. I had somehow ended up in Stefan's place of residence, Rebekah was no longer daggered and Damon had been looking at me strangely.
Hearing a disturbance, I quietened my steps as they connected with concrete. The noises were coming from the direction of the bleachers and I skulked forward, peeking around. There, Stefan was collapsing into the arms of a girl that I could only see the back off. She had a slim figure and long, straight brown hair. Behind Stefan stood a man with rugged facial hair and a gun raised.
"That's not very nice," I scolded tightly as I made my presence known. Gasping, the girl spun around and Stefan collapsed unconscious on the ground. I choked on air as I saw what the girl looked like. "Katerina?" I breathed, utterly distracted. So stunned by the likeness of the human girl to Katerina, I didn't notice the trigger being pulled once more and blackness overcame me before I thudded into the ground.
At the party, Rebekah was realising that her sister had been missing for a suspicious amount of time. Unsure what Teagan would have done upon realising that Stefan no longer had his humanity, she took off in search of the only person that understood abandonment like she did. It wasn't until the smell of smoke hit Rebekah that she changed course and ended up in the parking lot. A silver car was up in high flames, the heat touching her skin even at the distance she was at, and the crackling filling the air with deadly song. Her eyes fell on the doppelganger brat and she shot over.
"Where is my sister?" she snarled, gripping the girl's throat in a vice like grip. Crouching next to Elena was Stefan and the hunter was behind her. Elena was gasping for air and trying desperately to pry her off.
"Red hair? Attitude?" Alaric asked slowly and Rebekah turned her red eyes to him savagely. He looked like he was feeling only a fraction of the fear he should have and Rebekah was ready to properly terrify him when Elena managed to put a sentence together.
"She's . . . in the car." She dropped the girl and spun around to save her sister from the car that was about to explode . . . but someone beat her to it. Bemused and intrigued, Rebekah watched as Stefan used what must have been left of his strength to bolt over to the car and drag an unresponsive Teagan from the smoke and orange flame.
"Teagan," Rebekah breathed, ignoring everyone else as she too ran over and crouched next to her sister. It must have been vervain that knocked her out, but Stefan had just saved her life, despite not being compelled to do so. What did that even mean?
"Stefan?" the red head groaned, eyes barely flickering open to stare at the sandy haired vampire to Rebekah's left. The blonde looked up to see what he would respond with and she was sadly unsurprised to see the completely blank expression on his face. "You saved me?" Teagan croaked, soot covering her face and clothes.
"Hm." That was all Stefan said before he limped back over to that impetuous little bitch, who had been joined by Damon. Alaric, Damon and Elena all spared the two vampire women on the ground a final glance before walking off elsewhere. Rebekah, silently fuming, helped Teagan to her feet.
"And that is what Mystic Falls brings: pain and idiocy," the blonde scoffed before starting towards the exit to the school grounds. They were going back to the Salvatore Boarding House – as bad an idea as that seemed, it was where Rebekah was temporarily staying – and they would catch up.
"My car is in the other direction," Teagan remarked with her usual sarcasm. Not at all fooled by the reckless demeanour, Rebekah followed her baby sister and let her jaw fully drop open. In front of her was a cherry red car she believed to be a Mustang, with a black stripe down the middle. Teagan gestured for her to get in.
"What on Earth is this?" Rebekah demanded as the thrumming of the engine started. Teagan scoffed and swerved rather dangerously out of her parking spot and floored it towards the exit.
"It's called a car, Bekah. Where am I going?" she retorted easily and Rebekah gave Teagan the directions to the house. All the while, the younger vampire remained eerily calm, giving no indication that anything had happened. Her husky voice drawled out several scathing remarks but that was only because Elijah had not deemed fit to inform her of the doppelganger still being alive. Rebekah was even more worried when Teagan didn't so much as blink upon discovering Elijah had been daggered with Finn and Kol.
The strange, tense behaviour continued until the car skidded to a graceful halt outside the Boarding House and Rebekah led the way in. Once she had purposely led her sister into Stefan's room – the others still hadn't returned – Rebekah watched Teagan do what she normally did. The stoic face fell away, giving in to rage as all of the confusion, fear and misery the youngest sister was feeling channelled its way into anger. The red head let out a furious screech before throwing the nearest thing – a small table – into the wall.
"Bekah, I do not have time for your complaints about Mystic Falls. I'll be back soon," Nik's bored voice told her when she called. Sighing, Rebekah shifted her head to avoid a flying journal and watched as a vase crashed into the dresser. "What the bloody hell are you doing, love?"
"I have good news, and I have bad news," she started, wincing as one of Stefan's books was shredded mercilessly. "Which do you want first?"
"I don't have time for games, Rebekah," Nik scolded and Rebekah gave a shrill laugh as a picture frame was stomped on.
"This is no game. I'll choose then. The good news is: Teagan is back." There was silence on the other end as Teagan sent a statuette soaring through the air where it cracked in half against the solid wooden bedpost. The wood was severely dented in the process.
"Is that so?" Nik asked slowly, as though he didn't believe her. "And the bad news is?"
"Well, she sort of is the bad news as well." She ducked another vase which shattered on the wall behind her. "The people of Mystic Falls gave her a warm welcome by injecting her with vervain then leaving her to turn to ash in a burning vehicle. Stefan, oddly enough, saved her, but then it became obvious that he no longer had his humanity." Another small table was destroyed as Teagan ripped off the legs one by one then threw the remains on the bed with an angry cry. If Nik hadn't believed Rebekah up until then, he certainly had to after that.
"What exactly is she destroying?" he asked curiously and Rebekah rolled her eyes, dodging another flying journal.
"Everything. I took her to Stefan's room on purpose. Nik," she began, turning her head and waiting for Teagan to give another enraged scream and to start breaking something else before she continued. "Her rings are gone."
"Ah," he replied, obviously knowing what she was getting at and understanding. Teagan had evidently given up her fit of rage and Rebekah heard a distinct thud as her baby sister sat on the ground. The vervain had been overruled by the adrenaline rush, but the tiredness must have settled back in. "Find out all you can. She hasn't been exactly cooperative."
"You abandoned her in Chicago after telling her she wasn't your family – you're lucky the only problem was lack of cooperation," Rebekah argued, eyeing the chaos around her. Aside from the round top of the table resting on it, the only thing untouched was the mattress. The pillows weren't too bad either.
"Just look out for her, Bekah. Make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble and keep her away from Damon. He likes finding ways to torment us." Rebekah smiled a tiny bit as she recognised her big brother's tone. He really did care – about her, about Teagan, about their family – and he wanted to protect them. "And don't let her near Elena – you know how she likes her revenge games."
"It's been ninety years, Nik."
"Ninety years of boiling hatred and pain," he reminded her and she grimaced, looking at Teagan. Her eyes were drooping and her body was sagging slowly down the dresser towards the floor. "I have business to take care of but I won't be much longer." The line went dead but Rebekah had gotten what she wanted – Nik's demonstration of love in his own weird way.
Rejuvenated, she approached Teagan and once again helped her off the ground. The red headed girl latched onto her and the blonde led the way from the room, down to her own room that she'd chosen for herself. There, she placed her younger sister on the bed and watched her as she easily fell asleep. Rebekah wondered where the rings were, when they had come off, and if they would ever appear again. She also wondered what Kol would do in her situation. He was always better with Teagan, the best at helping her and he was missing from a situation he was really needed. How many of those had occurred since he had been daggered?
Smiling affectionately, Rebekah covered Teagan with the duvet and made herself comfortable in a chair, reading one of the books she'd saved from Stefan's room.
So Rebekah and Teagan are reunited and all is fine with them – yay! Next chapter, Teagan and Nik have a phone conversation – see you soon. Love, Bianca :) x