Chapter 7

A Terrible Secret Revealed

Stefan overslept the next morning, so Damon went to wake him up so he could get ready for school. As he walked into his room however, the things that he was muttering in his sleep made him freeze.

"Yes... I am... don't worry... gonna let myself die... Father... no... what are you doing... mmph..." What was his brother dreaming about? He'd never heard these words before. "Father... sorry... didn't mean to... blood... no... shouldn't... but... can't... resist... so... so... hungry."

Damon's eyes widened. He reached over and shook Stefan roughly. "Wake up!" Stefan's eyes popped open with a gasp. He blinked looking disoriented, before he seemed to focus on Damon.

"What... what is it?"

"You're going to be late for school if you don't get moving."

"Oh... uh... thanks."

Damon walked out as his brother got up. What had all that meant...

Damon did a lot of pacing that day, waiting for his brother to get home. He had his suspicions, but until he knew more, he couldn't put a proper picture together. All he could do was wait, and drink, though the suspense was definitely getting to him. He practically pounced on Stefan the second he walked through the door.

"We need to talk, now."

Stefan looked at him warily. "About what?"

"About the things you were saying in your sleep this morning when I came to wake you up."

"I was talking in my sleep? I don't talk in my sleep..."

"Well you were this time." Damon told him everything he'd said, and watched him blanch. "What was that all about Stefan?"

Stefan shook his head and tried to push past him. "Nothing."

Damon grabbed his arm. "It was about Father, talk."

Stefan tried to pull away but his brother had a tight grip. "It was just a dream."

"Somehow I doubt that. Talk, now." He tightened his grip to the point where it hurt.

"Ow! All right, just let go." He rubbed his arm and sat down on the couch. Damon sat down on the other couch across from him, watching him intently.

And so he told his brother the dream he'd had. How he'd gone to their father to say goodbye after he'd been turned. How his father had informed him how he was the one who'd shot them, how his father had flown into a rage and attacked him, how he'd automatically fought back, and their father had been hurt. How there had been blood, and his newborn vampire instincts hadn't been able to resist...

He didn't dare look at his brother until he'd finished. Damon's head was bowed so low that he couldn't see his face, but his fists were both clenched, and his whole body was shaking. "Was that really... just a dream?"

He wanted to lie, he desperately wanted to lie and make it convincing, but he'd always been a really bad liar, and he knew Damon would see right through him. He swallowed hard. "No."

Damon got up and paced back and forth a couple of times. He snatched his glass off the table, took a sip, then abruptly turned and threw it at the fireplace. It crashed into it making the flame flare out from the alcohol, causing Stefan to jump and glance at it.

By the time he looked back, Damon was no where in sight.

Bonnie was doing her homework when she heard a loud banging on the front door. She opened it to find a frantic looking Stefan.

"Damon's gone." He shoved past her and inside.

"Gone, and this is a bad thing?"

"Not funny Bonnie. This could be really bad."

"Why? What happened?" She looked at him sharply.

Stefan told her what had happened. "I have no idea where he is. I've looked all over town. I only got a glimpse of his face, but it was just... there was so much rage, and hate, and..."

"You think he might go on the rampage."

Stefan nodded. "Is there any way that you can help me find him?"

Bonnie frowned in thought. "Maybe... do you have anything of Damon's with you?" He shook his head. "Then we'll need to go to your place. Hang on." She grabbed a few things. "Lets go."

Bonnie used a bit of Damon's hair that she pulled out from his comb and held a crystal hanging from a chain over a map. She muttered a spell and they watched as the crystal started to sway, finally stopping in an area not far from town. "He's there."

"Why would he go there? Isn't that area only woods?" Stefan looked confused.

"I don't know but that's where he is. I should come with you, just in case he needs to be... subdued."

Stefan nodded reluctantly. "Lets go."

Stefan drove there as quickly as possible without risk to anyone. After he parked they hurried to the scene. All that was there was a small herd of deer that was grazing, and they crouched down behind a bush to talk in whispers.

"He should be here, this is where the crystal indicated," Bonnie frowned.

"He probably is here, or at least nearby, he's very good at hiding and-" he was interrupted when one of the deer suddenly bellowed. They both snapped to attention. It had happened so fast, they hadn't even seen him appear.

Damon had the buck by the throat, his eyes were shining fiercely. The rest of the herd ran, but it was too late. Damon struck.

Bonnie gasped, her eyes widening and her heart pounding at the sheer violence before her. She started to focus on Damon, but Stefan put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. She quickly understood. Better deer than people. Still it was horrifying to watch, and she soon looked away.

Damon had the entire herd incapacitated in seconds, the dead and dying lay around him moaning pitifully, while he himself was drenched in blood, but it still wasn't over.

Damon alternately fed from and tortured the poor creatures. Bonnie covered her ears so she wouldn't hear the bones breaking anymore, or the squeals of pain that came from them, but she couldn't block out the roars from Damon.

Stefan wouldn't let himself look anywhere else. This was his fault. He had caused this. He'd made his brother like this, and he made himself watch every act, and listen to every word that Damon said, for his brother was indeed talking.

"WHY?" Damon bellowed. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO US? YOUR OWN SONS!" He ripped off a head by the antlers and flung it at a tree, his voice dying down in his agony. "You always hated me... I was never what you wanted... But to kill me? To kill Stefan? He was always your favorite. How could you kill him?"

Bonnie couldn't hear the animals anymore. They must all be dead by now. She cautiously uncovered her ears and looked up. She was surprised by the stirring of sympathy she was starting to feel. She'd never liked Damon, but finding something like that out would screw with anyone's head.

Damon looked up at the sky, as if hoping to see his father's spirit floating up there somewhere. "All this time, I blamed him. I blamed Stefan for us becoming what we are, but it was your fault wasn't it? It was your fault he flipped that switch, turned off his emotions. So he wouldn't have to feel anything about what you'd done!" Another head went flying.

Bonnie felt Stefan flinch and turned to see him biting his lip and doing his best to hold himself strong. He looked at her as a muscle in his cheek twitched. They both realized that it was suddenly quiet, and whipped their heads back to the clearing.

Damon was gone again.

To Be Continued...