Bringing Out the Dead

"Morning," I chirped.

Ric groaned as he looked through the cabinet. "Thought we had aspirin," he grumbled.

"We do, but you do realise that's the cookware press?" He grinned sheepishly and closed the press door. "It's the cabinet to your left."

He opened the press door and found the aspirin. "Ah-hah!" he exclaimed happily.

"You're hungover," I noted.

"Yeah, sorry about that, it was a bit of a weird night."

"Meredith?" He shot me a confused glance. "Elena told me." He looked guilty. "You have nothing to feel guilty about, Ric. You're moving on, maybe we should all take a leaf from your book." He rose an eyebrow, wanting me to continue. I shook my head, not wanting to. "Anyway, no more guilt, got it? You has much right to invite your lady friends over as Jer did."

He smiled. "Elena already gave me that lecture. And I thank you two for that, but I do feel guilty for whiskey dialing her at two a.m."

My jaw fell as I laughed. "You didn't..."

He nodded. "Oh, yes I did."

"Oh. How'd she take drunk-Alaric?" I asked him with a teasing grin.

"Well, as soon as these aspirin kick in and I remember the conversation, I'll let you know."

I laughed at him. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. Caroline's mom, Sheriff Forbes, stood on our porch. "Sheriff Forbes, hi. Is everything okay?"

"Is Elena there?"

"Um... yeah. I'll go and get her." I stepped back to the stairs and shouted up, "'Lena! Get your doppelganger ass down here!"

She rushed out of her room, stomped down the stairs and said, "no need to be so rasp about it."

I stuck my tongue out at her and she mock-glared at me. Sheriff Forbes coughed, bring the two of us out of our childish-play-mode. "This is an unconventional conversation we're about to have. So I hope you'll protect me on it."

Ric nodded. "Of course."

"I assume you all heard our medical examiner was murdered the night of the Wickery Bridge fundraiser," she said.

"Yeah. Brian Walters. Why?" Ric asked.

"We've been investigating. Someone drove this stake through his heart."

She took out a very familiar stake. It was one of the weapons from our parents' lake house. "That's one of ours. I mean... this is one of a set from your parents' lake house," Ric explained.

"That's why I'm here," Sheriff Forbes told us. "I haven't told anyone but forensics ran it for prints and found only one clean set." She looked at my sister. "Yours."

"What?"

"We better put a leash on you," I teased Elena as we walked back into the house.

She rolled her eyes. "Shush, you."

"You better call Damon," Alaric said. I shot him an 'are you freakin' serious look. "Whatever's going on with you two, this is important."

"Why don't you call him?" I asked.

"Because I think you guys need to talk."

"Fine," I gave up. "But I'm putting him on loudspeaker."

I called him. He answered it surprisingly quick. "Lou! Our first fight... you ready to give in?"

"We have serious business to attend to, Damon. No snarky comments."

"Fine. What happened?"

"Elena's been framed for murder."

"What?"

We explained to him what happened. Damon, being Damon Salvatore, couldn't resist throwing in a few sarcastic comments here and there. He was actually quite funny... but I wasn't going to admit that.

"So Elena's the prime suspect, huh?"

"She doesn't think that Elena did it. She's just curious as to why someone would use one of our family weapons to kill a council member."

"Well why don't you just ask Ric if his dirty little doctor had access to the weapons?"

"You're on speaker phone, dick," Ric snapped.

"I'm just sayin'... first suspects usually the right one. Don't get so defensive."

"Brian Walters was killed days ago, alright? I didn't show Meredith this stuff until last night!" Ric protested, defensive of his new lady friend.

"It wasn't Meredith," Elena said.

"But Brian Walters was her ex-boyfriend and Ric saw them fighting that night."

"It's not Meredith, alright?" I insisted snappishly. "I refuse to believe Ric's look with the ladies is that tragic."

"Who else knows about your secret little slayer stash?"

"Who doesn't?" Ric said. "I've got weapons everywhere. Here, the school, my loft... your car."

"It's Klaus. It has to be, he's screwing with us."

"What if it was Stefan?" Elena wondered. "He was crazy that night. And you know he was trying to get underneath Klaus's skin, he was capable of pretty much anything."

"Ah, make's me nostalgic for the time when Stefan was a bunny snacking pacifist, anyway got to go, you'll know more later."

"Where are you?" I asked him.

"Tea with an old friend."

"Damon Salvatore, don't you dare..." the phone beeped, sounding the end of the call. "...hang up."

I was afraid that Ric had another tragic girlfriend, as was Elena, so we asked Caroline to suss her out. "That was fast," Elena commented.

"Yeah, he's not here," Caroline said. "He was already discharged. And she seems perfectly nice by the way... a little intense, maybe. But... I think it's sweet, you guys wanna make sure Alaric's not dating a total psycho."

I shrugged. "He's all the family we have left and frankly, our family members have a tendency to, y'know, die." Caroline's eyes widened as she pressed the phone to her ear. "What?"

"I hear it."

"Hear what?" Elena asked.

"My dad's phone."

We followed Caroline into a storage room filled with boxes. "Dad! Dad?" I heard Caroline exclaim.

Elena and I joined her in the isle that she was in. Bill Forbes had a knife in his chest, his face was expressionless and he was dead.

"Oh my god."

"Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead! Oh my God!" She pulled the knife out. "Daddy! Louise, you have to do something! Anything!"

I shook my head sadly. "I can't bring back the dead, Caroline. I'm so sorry."

Caroline begun to cry. "No, no, you have to-"

"Caroline..." Elena cut her off. "He has vampire blood in his system."

"What?"

As if on cue, Bill Forbes woke up with a loud gasp.

"Stefan, I can't just leave to go to a dinner party. Caroline's dad is transitioning!"

"And I'm suppose to care why..."

"Because you and I both know your humanity is coming back. Slowly, but surely, and Caroline was... is your friend. And why do you want me there anyway?"

"You can smoothen up Klaus. It's a distraction, Louise, so we can open that coffin. Who better than his latest infactuation?"

I scoffed. "You and Damon must be hallucinating. I'm not Klaus' infatuation, and even if I was, why would I want to be stuck with him and Damon for the whole evening? And you... I don't particularly like ripper you."

"So, trouble in paradise, then? Damon's been in a bit of a mood lately. I suppose I have you to thank for that."

"Yup. Y'know, this reminds me of the old phone calls we used to have. When you had your humanity."

He didn't reply for quite a while. "I guess you're not coming then."

"Uh-huh. And I guess you're going to keep pretending that the switch is still flipped?"

"Yup."

"Goodbye, Stefan."

"Bye."

Klaus' Mansion

Hours later, Stefan and Damon had arrived for a meal with two Originals - Klaus and Elijah.

"Stefan. Where is the lovely Elena tonight? Or her sister, Louise?" Elijah asked the Salvatore.

Stefan shrugged. "Somebody died. The usual. Maybe Damon would know more... you know, since he's her boyfriend." Damon pursed his lips tightly. "Ah, right. Louise told me all about your little fight."

Damon was shaking with anger. His ripper brother really knew how to test his patience. Klaus laughed. "You've missed so much, brother. Stefan became a ripper and Louise is dating Damon. Though, it seems there's trouble in paradise for the lovebirds."

"One more word about Louise and this dinner's over," Damon snapped.

"You know what, probably best just to keep Louise in the do not discuss pile," Stefan agreed.

"You're probably right," Klaus said.

Damon narrowed his eyes at the hybrid. "Yeah..."

"It's just the allure of the Petrova's, still so strong. Even the non-doppelgangers seem to turn out beautiful." He smirked when Damon growled. "What do you say, brother? Should we tell them about Tatia?"

"Now, why should we discuss matters long since resolved?" Elijah said, clearly wanting to throw his ex-Petrova-girlfriend in that do-not-discuss pile.

"Well, given their respective 'true loves' are Louise and Elena and their shared affection for Katerina, I think our guests might be curious to learn about the originator of the Petrova line," Klaus said, an even bigger smirk playing on his lips.

"Well, we're not going anywhere, Elijah. Please, do tell," Damon urged, taking a sip of his wine. The Original family sure did enjoy the good stuff.

"When our family first settled here, there was a girl named Tatia, she was an exquisite beauty. Every boy of age desired to be her suitor, even though she'd had a child by another man. And none loved her more than Niklaus."

Klaus grinned. "I'd say there was one who loved her at least as much."

Stefan was amused. "Wait a minute, so you both loved the same girl?"

Petrova's, Damon thought, can't get enough of 'em.

Elijah ignored Stefan and continued. "Our mother was a very powerful witch. She sought to end our feud over Tatia and so she took her. Klaus and I would later learn that it was Tatia's blood that we consumed in the wine on the night where our mother performed the spell which turned us into vampires. Tatia wouldn't make a decision between the two of us, so for a time Niklaus and I... grew estranged. Harsh words were traded, we even came to blows, didn't we, brother?"

"But in the end we realized the sacred bond of family," Klaus said.

"Family above all," the elder Original chimed.

Klaus smiled. "Family above all."

They clinked their glasses.

Damon checked his phone after receiving a text. Bonnie: I need more time to open the coffin. He put the phone back into his pocket quickly.

"So, why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?" Elijah said.

"That's very simple. Klaus gets his coffin back, in exchange, he and the Original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever. Me, Stefan, Louise and Elena live happily ever after. No grudges," Damon concluded.

"The deal sounds fair, brother."

"I don't think you understand," Klaus disagreed. "Elena's doppelgänger blood insures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me. I will never leave her behind." He paced the length of his living room. "Let's say I leave her here, under your protection, what then? How long before Stefan turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she dies because of all the supernatural problems you lot seem to get yourselves into? It's delusional, Stefan. You can't protect her. Come to think of it, the two of you can barely manage Louise and her monthly problems."

At first, Damon thought he was talking about her periods... which he really could not handle, but then it hit him. "What do you know about that?"

"Enough," he said. "In our day, there was a witch here named Lucrezia, Tatia's beloved cousin. Such amazing power for a witch... every full moon, she felt a power surge. One night, she was particularly powerful and killed half the inhabitants of our village. That was the night she died. And she was only eighteen years old... such a pity."

Louise was eighteen. "How do you stop it?"

"You don't," Klaus told him. "It'll eat away at her. Such power comes with a price. So, you're left with one option: turn her."

"Into a vampire?" Stefan blurted out.

"Glad to see you still care about your best friend," Damon commented, before turning to Klaus. "You're really saying that the only option is to turn her?"

He nodded. "Or let her die."

Damon stood up, overwhelmed. "I'm gonna get some air."

"Let me deal with this," Elijah said, following him.

Forbes' House

I spent the day with Caroline and her dad, comforting her. Bill Forbes had just passed away. He was caught up in the old ways... he didn't want to 'cheat' death. Caroline was heartbroken.

"When does it go away?" Caroline asked me. I looked at her questioningly. "The pain... when you lose someone you love."

"It doesn't," I told her sadly. "It stays with you, but it gets easier."

She sobbed and sat down on her bed. "Why didn't he turn?" she exclaimed. "D-did he hate m-me that much?"

I shook my head. "No, Caroline." I sat down on the bed next to her. "He just had morals. Everyone has morals. One of his was that it's wrong to cheat death, but he loved you. I know he did."

I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Thank you," she said. "You can go... if you want."

"And leave you here all alone after your dad died?"

"I have Mom," she replied. "I think I'm gonna talk to her."

I nodded. "Alright. I'll call you tomorrow."

She wiped her tear-stained cheeks. "Okay."

I walked up to the porch and got out my keys. I felt a breeze and shivered. Witches were not immune to the cold, unfortunately. I wondered if vampires were.

Speaking of vampires... "Hey."

I snapped my head of to the swing. Damon was rocking back and forth. "Hi," I replied, watching him warily. "What are you doing here?"

He got up, smirking. "Am I not allowed to come see my girlfriend?"

"Can you stop doing that?" He looked confused. "We have an argument or you do something bad and then you pretend like it never happened!"

"You're still mad."

"I'm not mad, Damon!" I insisted. "I'm frustrated. And I've realised something."

"What?"

"That when I'm with you, all of my morals turn to dust." His face fell and twisted into sadness. "I know you love me, Damon and believe me, I love you more than anything in this world, but I need some time."

His hand caressed my cheek, sending shivers down my spine. "If it matters, I don't think you've changed at all."

"But I have, Damon." I pulled his hand away from my face. "I've grown indifferent to cruelty and death. Maybe I'm growing up... but I need space."

He stepped away from me, as if wounded. "The coffin..." he started. "Whoever was in there walked away before we could meet them."

"Oh no," I said. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "And Klaus told us something today that I think you should know."

The tone of his voice made me tremble slightly with fear. "What?"

"All that power you have on full moons. It's going to kill you."

My knees gave way and I sat on the bench, gripping it tightly. "How do you know this?"

He sat down next me. "Klaus told us about the last witch, Lucrezia, was her name, I think. She was like you, she got her power from the moon or whatever lunar goodness it gives you. But one night, she died because of it. She was eighteen."

I was eighteen... "I'm gonna die," I said. "I'm gonna die. Damon! I'm gonna die!"

"I could give you my blood," he told me. "You'd be a vampire..."

I didn't hear him and kept on muttering, 'I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die' over and over again. I stood up and paced the length of the porch, gripping the hair on the top of my head and pulling at it.

Damon gripped my shoulders and shook me. "Louise, hey. You're gonna be okay. We'll find a way... Bonnie can-"

"No," I snapped. "I can't. This stays between you and me. I don't want anyone else worrying about me." He opened his mouth to object. "Damon, promise me! This stays between you and me."

"Stefan knows."

"Then tell him not to tell anyone." He looked doubtful. "Damon, please. If I'm going to die, then I want my last few weeks, or months, however long it is to be filled with happy moments. Well, as happy as things can get around here. Maybe I'll tell Bonnie, but other than that... no one finds out."

Damon sighed loudly and groaned. "Fine. I promise."

A/N: Damise break-up :( But don't worry, this isn't the end of Damise!

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