Heart of Darkness

I snuck into the Salvatore boarding house, the essentials packed in my bag. "Alaric?" I asked, peering inside.

"Yep, still me," my guardian/history teacher replied. I slid open the lock and stepped inside. Ric was sitting on his rather uncomfortable looking bed. "You know, you shouldn't be in here. It defeats the point of the whole being locked in a cellar thing."

I dropped the bag on the floor in front of him. "Well, you still need the basics. Toothbrush, clothes, some boring books to help you sleep."

Ric picked up one of the books and handed it to me. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" he said amusedly.

I stared at the cover. "What? No, I grabbed…" I scoffed and shook my head. "Damon. Thinks he's hilarious."

"At least one of us still has a sense of humor," Ric commented.

"Are you sure that you're okay being kept down here?" I asked. "I mean... you don't have be. Nobody's forcing you to be a prisoner."

"Ah, no, this is… this is the right place for me to be. At least until you guys can convince my highly uncooperative alter ego to 'fess up to where I... or he hid the white oak stake," Ric said.

I let out a loud sigh. "We looked everywhere. Underneath your bed, every cabinet in your flat, our house and the Salvatore Boarding house, even beneath our beds! You... I mean, other, psycho you, hid it really well."

"What's Klaus gonna do if you can't find it?" Ric questioned.

"Well." I dragged over a chair and sat down on it. "It's the only thing in this world that can kill him, so I'm guessing murder a bunch of people 'til we find it."

Ric scoffed. "And you're interested in this guy?"

I scoffed right back. "No! Ric, he's even more psycho than psycho you. And that's saying something."

He stuck his tongue out at me and I smiled sardonically at him. "Listen, Stefan is gonna watch over you for a little while. Now that Klaus knows where Jeremy is, it's not safe so... Damon and I are gonna go to Denver to pick him up."

Ric grinned. "Why do you say that like you're waiting for me to disapprove?"

"Oh... I don't know. Me and Damon... traveling across the country... alone..."

"You're a big girl now, Louise," Ric said. "You can take care of yourself. I guess I'm more curious what Stefan, the over-protective big brother figure, has to say."

"Actually... it was his idea," I told him. "He thinks I still have some unresolved feelings for Damon."

"Do you?" Ric pressed.

I shrugged. "I guess we'll have to find out." I handed him back his book. "Enjoy 'Dr. Hekyll and Dr. Jyde."

Ric chuckled. "It's 'Dr. Jeykll and Dr. Hyde."

I laughed and stood up, "Potato potatoe."

I walked into the room where Damon and Stefan were. "Have you ever flown first class?" Damon asked me.

"Ooh, nice," I commented. "Who d'you have to compel for that?"

Damon waved his hand. "Pft, please. I use miles."

He picked up his luggage and left the room. Stefan winked at me. I stuck out my tongue and showed him my middle finger. He chuckled.

"See ya, Stef."

"Uh-huh. Have fun." He did that stupid wink again. I rolled my eyes and stormed out of the room frustratedly.

I bumped into Elena in the hallway. "Hey," she said.

"Um... hi," I stammered. "Did you wanna come with us to get Jeremy?"

She shook her head. "Well... yeah, but Stefan told me about this trip and how it's meant to... um, y'know."

I nodded. "I know."

"And it might be good for you and those 'feelings' you have for Klaus."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "What?" I snapped. I took a deep breath and said in a much calmer voice, "What feelings?"

She rolled her brown doe-eyes. "I've seen it, Louise. How you frown and fidget whenever somebody mentions killing Klaus. I know you don't want to feel this way about him..."

I glared at my twin. "You know nothing, Elena. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to retrieve our medium brother."

I shoved my way past her. Could everyone please stop mentioning my complicated relationship with the hybrid who's trying to kill us all?

We arrived in Denver later that day. "He mentioned something about being at the batting cages today," I said, looking around. I spotted my baby brother in one of the cages. I almost bounced with joy when I saw him. "There he is."

Damon was observing his playing skills. "Next time we compel him, remind me to make him better at baseball."

"There won't be a next time... hopefully," I said, walking over to the cage. "Hey, Jer!"

Jeremy whipped around. "Louise? What's wrong?"

I smiled happily. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

I linked my arm in his when he got out of the cage. Damon explained to him the happenings in Mystic Falls over the past few months. "Katherine sired us, Rose sired Katherine, all we need to do is find out who sired Rose."

"So, you traveled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?" Jeremy asked.

"Dead vampire is redundant, but yes," Damon replied.

"Well, I can't. I could talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them. I've never even met Rose," my medium brother said.

"What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" Damon said.

"Shush, Damon," I snapped. I turned back to my brother. "Rose spent a long time running from Klaus as well. She was close with Damon... maybe we could use him as a connection?"

"Fine, fine, but can we do this later? My friend just got here." Damon opened his mouth to say some snarky retort. "And yes, Damon, I actually have some. I'll call you when I'm done."

Jeremy walked away. I spun around and saw Kol, an even more psychotic Original that Klaus. "Jer..."

My brother smiled at him. Like he knew him. "Hey man."

"Damon... it's Kol!" I screeched.

Kol smashed Damon in the head with a baseball bat. The bat broke in half as Damon fell to the ground. "What are you doing?" Jeremy roared at Kol.

"Jeremy, get the hell away from here! He's an Original!" I yelled at him.

Jeremy's face fell. "What?"

"No hard feelings, mate. But we're not buds." Kol grabbed another bat from the rack. "You know, I'll never get use to aluminum. But hey, at least it won't break."

Kol made to hit Damon with the bat, when Damon grabbed one half of the broken bat and stabbed Kol through the heart with it. Kol fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Did you kill him?" Jeremy asked.

"No, but it'll give us a head start," Damon said. "Okay, come on."

He gripped my wrist and pulled me away from the batting cages, Jeremy with us.

We got the luggage out of the car and made our way to our motel room. "For the record, she's the one who wanted to stay in a motel, not me."

I rolled my eyes. "So, where are we?" Jeremy asked.

"Corner of somewhere and nowhere where Kol can't find us," Damon quipped.

Jeremy looked sad. "I can't believe Kol was a vampire."

"Well, didn't you find it weird that you made a friend so fast? Have you met you?" Damon insulted.

I smacked his arm and glared at him as we walked up the stairs. "Not needed," I spat. We entered our motel room. "Well, here we are. This should work, right Jer?"

He shrugged. "Eh, doesn't really matter."

"Alright Whoopi, what do you need?" Damon pulled over the curtains. "Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?"

"That's not how it works," Jeremy snapped, offended that Damon was making a joke out of his medium gifts.

"I know, I know. They push from the other side and you pull from this one."

"Alright, you uh... you got a picture of her?" Jeremy questioned awkwardly.

Damon scoffed. "Picture? What, a trip to Disneyland? Come on Rose, you're not gonna actually make us wait, are you? I know you're obsessed with me."

I rolled my eyes and sat down next to Jeremy. "Alright... um... tell me something about her."

Damon sat down at the edge of one of the beds and smirked. "Um, well, she does this little thing with her tongue..."

"Something relative, Damon," I snapped. I didn't want to here about Rose's prowess in bed.

A sad, pensieve look crossed his features. "She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came, she didn't fear it."

"I was with her on her last day. She wasn't in paradise," I said, remembering the day Rose died from a wolf bite.

Jeremy looked beside him. "It was in the dream he gave her. She's here."

Third Person POV

"Is she lonely on the other side?" Louise asked Jeremy.

Rose smiled. "No. I enjoy it. I was running so much when I was alive, now I have the freedom to do whatever I want."

"She says not to worry, she's happy," Jeremy told the two non-mediums.

"Is she still hot?" Damon asked, smirking.

"Tell him he's still dripping with sex too," Rose said, grinning. Jeremy gave her a 'what the hell?' look. "Fine, tell him I miss him."

Jeremy was all too happy to tell him that. "She misses you."

"And tell him I'm rooting for him and Louise." Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you're not caught up. Klaus is interested in your sister."

Jeremy scoffed. "Seriously?" Damon and Louise shot him a questioning look. "She, uh, she misses both of you."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any news on the siring front. Klaus didn't sire me. No Original did. It was Mary Porter," the vampire said.

"She was sired by someone named Mary Porter," Jeremy informed.

"Ugh... Scary Mary," Damon said. "Well, where is she, Rose?"

"I didn't keep track of her when I was alive, much less now. Tell them to sit tight, relax, I'll see what I can find out."

Louise POV

Jeremy was watching the television as I unpacked. "So..." Jeremy started. "What's up with you and Klaus?"

I snapped my head over to him. "What do you mean? We're trying to kill him. Nothing's 'up.'" I shot him a reassuring smile, which he didn't buy.

"Are you sure about that? Cause even Rose said something."

"What did she say?" I pressed, crossing my arms.

Damon joined us, having been talking to Stefan. "Everything okay in here?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. It's fine."

"Okay, well, I'm gonna freshen up," he stated. "You might want to get some rest. I'm sure Rose will make herself known when she gets back."

As I read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, Damon walked out of the bathroom, no shirt on, his toned chest displayed openly and proudly. He grabbed a bottle of alcohol in the ice box and slipped on another shirt. I couldn't help but to stare at him. I hadn't seen his bare chest in a while and, as embarrassing as it was, I missed the sight.

He poured himself a drink and sat down on a chair. He downed the glass of whiskey and caught my gaze. I looked away quickly, shut my book and put it on the bedside table. I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep. Don't open your eyes, don't open your eyes... damn it. I couldn't pull away from his gaze. His eyes were an icy blue that never failed to hypnotise me.

Damon stood up and walked over to my bed. He lay down next to me, facing the ceiling. "You never told me about that. What you did for Rose."

"It wasn't about you," Damon argued.

"Why don't you let people see the good in you?" I asked. "I know it's there, but you keep hiding it."

"Because when people see good, they expect good." He turned his head over to look at me. "And I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations."

I looked away and moved onto my back. Damon's hand gripped my as his thumb caressed mine. I began to breathe heavily. I hate it when he did this. He made me feel like... like I wasn't in control. When I was with him, every part of him was saying 'go for it' even it I knew it wasn't logical. I was so confused. I didn't know what I wanted anymore.

I got out of the bed and rushed out of the room, putting on my black coat. I leaned against the pillar. What would I have done if I hadn't left? I would have kissed him and then I... that would have led to something more... Would it have been a bad thing?

Damon came out after me. "Don't," I said firmly.

"Why not? Louise..."

I stepped one step closer to him. I was at war in my mind. This time... this time I just gave up. I wasn't hurting anyone, was I? "Screw it," I muttered.

I rushed towards Damon and put a hand on either side of his face, planting my lips on his. I never had a kiss like this. It was passionate... I felt so safe. Like nothing could come between us. This was what I wanted. I wanted to feel safe, but a little danger and security. But there was something missing and I didn't have a clue what it was.

Damon pressed me against the pillar. I smirked into his lips and wrapped my legs around his waist. He kissed my neck and my chest lovingly, his kisses were full of passion and desire. I knew where this was going and I didn't want to stop it. I lifted his gaze to meet mine. I smiled at him and attacked his lips with mine.

I opened my eyes and looked behind Damon, hearing someone come out of their room. It was my baby brother. I untangled myself from Damon and shifted awkwardly, leaning against the pillar. Jeremy shot me a slightly disgusted look. "Uh... hey, Jer."

Did I just traumitise him?

"Louise?"

"Oh my God, Jeremy. I…"

Jeremy shook his head. "Rose found Mary. She lives in Kansas."

Okay then. Let's go," Damon said.

The vampire-traitor went back into our room. Jeremy gave me another disgusted look and I sighed heavily. He never did like Damon and I together.

He should be happy it wasn't Klaus.

Wait. What? Where the hell did that come from?

"This is the address," Jeremy said when we pulled over.

It was a creepy looking house. Damon did say her name was 'Scary Mary.'

"Looks about right," Damon commented.

"Wait here," I told my brother.

"Why?" Jeremy exclaimed. "So you guys can make out some more? You know, Louise, I never got why you dated him."

I pursed my lips into a tight line. "Don't be a dick. Listen to your sister," Damon scolded. Jeremy scoffed and got back into the car. "Thank you. Come on."

We went into the house. I flipped the switch and the flash light lit up the room. "Oof, like Vampire Hoarders," Damon said.

"Who is this 'Scary Mary'?" I asked him.

"Ah, scary Mary. She's really old, super creepy," Damon answered.

"And how do you know her?" I questioned.

"I dated her."

I scoffed. "Of course. Is there a vampire in this world you haven't slept with?"

He tapped his chin in mock-thoughtfulness. "Hm..." Maybe he was actually thinking about this. Okay, super creepy. "Bonnie's mom!"

"Great," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "I can't believe you dated 'Scary Mary.'"

He shrugged. "What? I said creepy, not ugly."

There was loud noise coming from another room. We looked at the door where the noise came from. Damon opened the door and I followed him. I moved the light from the torch around slowly. It landed on a very dead, very staked vampire.

"Mary," Damon said.

Someone switched on the lights. A smirking Kol was sitting in an old-fashioned chair, a bat in his Original clutches. "Quite contrary. Shame about Mary, she used to be a blast. Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie."

"And were you her favorite?" I asked, trying to get some information out of the Original.

"You mean, did I turn her?" Kol said, catching on. "I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair. I spoke to my brother, I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will. So, where did we leave off?"

He hit Damon with the bat. Damon fell to his knees as Kol beat him. "Louise, get out of here!" Damon urged.

I looked at him helplessly and ran towards the door. Kol blocked my way. "According to my brother, you're off limits. Please don't test me."

He pushed me onto the ground. Damon stood up and rushed towards Kol. "Don't touch her."

"Oh dear, I've hit a nerve. Relax, darling, I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck, you killed my brother, and then you humiliated me." Kol beat Damon with the wooden baseball bat, looking satisfied with himself. "There. Now we're even."

Kol had left. I knelt down next to Damon and put a hand on his firm chest. "You okay?

"Yeah." He pulled his arm back into place with pop. "That's better." He stroked my face gently and touched my forehead. I gasped. I didn't realise I gotten hurt. "Are you okay? You're bleeding."

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine." I smiled at him. "But I realised something today."

He looked a little worried. "Oh? What's that?"

I bent down and kissed him softly. "I'm still in love with you."

"That's good," he replied.

I backed away and smacked his arm playfully. "Hey!"

He rolled his eyes. "I love you too. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes, but with a little more meaning." I pouted.

His cupped my face in his hands gently as his icy blue eyes bore into my darker blue ones. He said, this time more serious than ever, "I am in love with you, Louise Gilbert."

I smiled. "Better."

Jeremy's POV

Jeremy looked at his sister, sitting beside Damon. She looked happy. Did Damon really make her happy? To him, he was just an enormous dick. Maybe Louise thought that she could fix him. Maybe she just accepted his bad sides. He didn't get it.

The medium turned his head to see Rose sitting in the car seat. His eyes went as wide as cucumbers. "Are we there yet? Don't tell them I'm here. They're together again. I know you want to stop it. Protect her from him. But you're young, you don't see what I see. It's not just that she makes him a better person, she does, but he changes her too. Damon challenges her, surprises her, he makes her question her life... beliefs. Klaus is different. Somehow, she becomes a better person around him, and she brings out the humanity in him. You might want to tell her to close over her curtains at night time, by the way." He gaped at Rose, but she shook her head, amused. "The two of them... they're either the best thing for her or the worst."

And with that, the vampire disappeared into thin air.

"So, about today..." Damon started.

"I meant what I said, Damon," I assured him, placing a hand on either side of his handsome face. "I'm in love with you."

"And Klaus?" he asked suddenly.

"I feel nothing for him," I said, trying to convince myself more than him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. I broke away from him and opened the door to my house, I gestured for him to come inside. I practically attacked him with my lips and wound my legs around the vampire's waist. He vamped us up to my room and threw me on the bed.

Smiling, I tugged at my top and slipped it over my head. Damon ripped off his shirt. He speeded over to my door and locked it, before returning to me, smirking. He kissed my stomach as I ran my hands through his raven hair.

I didn't realise how much I missed nights like these.