When Stefan regained consciousness this time, he was no longer chained up, and he was back in his neighbourhood in Savannah, lying in a heap outside the front door of his house.
He let out a sigh of relief; he didn't know why Damon and Enzo and those witches had let him go, but he was thankful. He didn't think he would have been able to handle much more of whatever they'd done to him.
Whatever Damon had done was still having an effect; he was still so cold that it took an extreme amount of effort for him to out of his position on the ground and get to his feet. It was almost like every muscle in his body had been partially frozen and he could barely stand.
Taking a deep breath, Stefan leaned heavily against his front door, fingers clenched at his side. What had happened had somehow put his accelerated healing on the fritz because there was a painful stitch in his chest; his head was pounding, all the marks of his torture were still visible on his skin, and he was still trembling from head to foot.
He gritted his teeth; he hadn't felt this cold or winded in over a century-not since he'd become a vampire. He didn't think he would ever feel so weak again-and definitely not because of something his brother had done.
He forced himself to stay upright and pushed down his anguish and pain, resisting the urge to collapse as he pulled out his keys and unlocked his house. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't just throw back a couple of blood bags and pass out; he had to tell Elena and everyone else from Mystic Falls that the old Damon-the one they'd all feared and hated-was back.
So, hands still quivering, he withdrew his cellphone from his pocket once he was inside and pressed number 2 on the speed dial before bringing the device to his ear.
"Elena," he said when the line picked up after only a few rings, voice coming out unusually hoarse and strained as he attempted to keep his teeth from continuing to chatter.
"Stefan?" his ex-girlfriend responded with a mix of concern and puzzlement at his stilted tone. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"
The younger Salvatore's breaths were laboured, and he clutched at his frozen chest, steeling himself to stay upright long enough to finish what he had to say.
"Damon's back, Elena," he declared without further preamble, squeezing his cellphone tightly to keep himself from dropping it.
He knew how Elena would react to this news; to her, it would be a good thing. Stefan hated to disabuse her of that notion, but unfortunately, he was going to have to. She had to know that the Damon who'd come back was not the one she'd fallen in love with.
Just as he'd expected, he heard Elena give a sharp intake of breath at his words. "What? How do you know?" she queried, her concern morphing into excitement.
Stefan let out a shaky sigh as he sank down onto his couch.
"I saw him," he stated grimly; then, deciding not to let Elena get her hopes up, he delivered the bad news. "Only it wasn't the same Damon we know. He was like a completely different person, Elena; however he was brought back, it changed him. And I don't mean just personality-wise: he has these crazy ice powers now, which he used to torture me all day after he knocked me out and brought me to some crazy bunker."
There was a brief silence after that, probably because Elena was trying to process what he'd just told her. Stefan could understand that; it had happened to him, and he was still trying.
Static crackled over the line as Elena let out a deep sigh. "So, what exactly are you saying?" she asked shrewdly.
"I'm saying that he's no longer the man you fell in love with, Elena," Stefan replied, his head slumping over the back of the couch as it continued to pound. "I'm saying that he's dangerous-and that we can't trust him. If he was willing to torture me, and let some witches use me for some spell, then none of us is safe. You have to warn everyone."
He knew that that was most likely not what Elena wanted to hear-but it was, unfortunately, the truth.
"Okay, I will," Elena agreed reluctantly after another short pause. "But, Stefan, what happened to him? What could have happened to make him want to hurt you?"
Stefan pressed his lips together in a thin line. "I have no idea," he replied truthfully. "But he seemed to think it was a good thing."
"What are we going to do?" Elena wondered, the worry returning to her voice, even stronger than before.
Stefan didn't have a good answer for her. He didn't want to admit that, in hindsight, he'd probably deserved what had happened. He didn't want Elena to know that he'd given up on Damon-both while he was dead and now.
"Just let Alaric and the others know, and we'll figure something out together," he said, deliberately avoiding the question. "I'll check in with you later."
He ended the call before Elena could say anything else, tossing it onto the couch before forcing himself back onto his feet and heading into his kitchen.
As he pulled a couple of blood bags out of the fridge, he found himself thinking back to Elena's question; he didn't think there was really anything anyone could do about Damon. Those new abilities of his, they were like nothing Stefan had ever seen before, and he definitely didn't think he was going to be able to fight against them. He didn't think anyone could.
The shivers running down his spine weren't just from the cold; he was, for the first time in his life, actually afraid of his brother-and what he might do with those powers of his.
Damon trailed his fingers over the olive-coloured walls, watching intently as a trail of frost followed their path. He'd never seen anything like that before, and he couldn't believe that he was the one doing it.
It was fascinating, all the things he was able to do with these new abilities of his-and all the changes they were having in him. And he wasn't just talking physically.
He'd known what it felt like to not feel anything before, but this-this was different. This…coldness seemed to only extend to certain aspects of his life, like, for instance, his brother. He didn't actually feel any hurt at knowing that Stefan had given up on him-nor did he feel any guilt for torturing him. That hadn't been about punishment or vengeance like he'd made it seem; to Damon, it had only been a means of testing out his power.
When he'd used the ice on Stefan, he'd felt…exhilarated. It had been like electricity running through his veins, like lightning dancing over his skin. And, now, letting the ice spread over everything around him, he felt the exact same thing. Even more so now, actually, because he knew he had an audience.
Pressing his hand flat against the wall, Damon tilted his gaze to the other side of the room where Enzo sat in one of the two throne-like chairs, watching him with an expression of unconcealed astonishment on his olive-skinned features.
"That is definitely not normal," Enzo commented, leaning forward so he could see what Damon had done to the wall more clearly.
The corners of Damon's pale mouth twitched slightly; that was the understatement of the year.
"I've never been normal, Enzo," Damon drawled, saying the word normal like it was an insult. He raised his hand in front of him, twisting it so the icy lines crossing over it caught the light before he added, "But I have to admit, I never expected to be anything like this."
Enzo's lips curved into a faint smile as he rose from his chair.
"Me neither," he agreed as he came to join Damon, running his fingers over the ice covering the wall behind him before looking into Damon's eyes. "Kind of makes me wonder what else the Gemini coven know about you that we don't."
Damon licked his lips; he hadn't really thought about it that way. Strangely, though, he didn't feel the burning need to go after the witches to find out what they hadn't told him. For now, this was enough.
"I'm sure if there's anything else, we'll find out sooner or later," he said calmly, taking a step forward and getting into Enzo's personal space. "After all, witches don't tend to leave things like this alone for very long-and I, for one, am quite content to wait, since I have a few things I'd like to do before they call on us again."
"Like what?" Enzo asked curiously, arching a single dark eyebrow.
Damon took another step closer, steel-blue eyes flashing cold fire beneath his coal-black lashes. "Like ask you if anyone else helped you bring me back, besides Jo?"
He eyed Enzo closely, watching as the younger vampire's expression shifted into a more sober one before he responded.
"Yes," Enzo admitted. "Your friend, Alaric, was the one who pointed me in the direction of the Gemini coven-and he helped me find your brother so I could get the blood for the ritual."
There was silence after his statement whilst Damon mulled it over; that was pretty much what he'd expected. He'd known he could count on Alaric not to let him down-but there was someone else who should have been part of his resurrection that, apparently, hadn't been.
"So, Elena wasn't involved in bringing me back, either, then," he surmised dully, knowing that, just like with Stefan, he should have been feeling a lot more pain at that news-but he didn't. All she did was ignore the fact that you were gone while secretly taking some witch drug that allowed her to hallucinate you and made her spiral out of control."
Damon was even more surprised to find that he wasn't at all bothered by what he was hearing. In fact, he didn't feel anything at all.
"Well then, I guess I should pay a visit to Whitmore and give Alaric that gift basket for helping you, then," he declared smoothly, lips curving as he turned to exit the throne room.
It was time for another reunion.
Alaric was different: he had a legitimate reason for not being the one to directly resurrect Damon. Moreover, he'd still been searching for leads on how to bring Damon back; even if he hadn't been the one to follow them, he'd still technically been involved. He hadn't given up on Damon like Stefan had. So, he got the more courteous-and much less cold-visit.
Although it was still done with Damon's typical dramatic flair.
When Alaric walked into his office at Whitmore that night to find someone sitting behind his desk, he dropped his bag, blinking furiously to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"Damon?" he said in a voice choked with shock, disbelief, and, for the first time in ages, pure, unadulterated joy.
The elder Salvatore grinned from his position in Alaric's chair, boots propped up on top of his desk and legs crossed at the ankles.
"Professor Saltzman," he greeted the former vampire hunter cheekily, eyes gleaming with amusement. "What, you couldn't compel yourself a PhD?"
Alaric was too ecstatic to even pretend to be offended by Damon's comment.
"When Enzo didn't say anything after he told me about the ritual, I thought it didn't work-but it did. I can't believe you're back," he declared with complete sincerity, and no small amount of relief. He'd been eagerly anticipating this day-if it ever came-and, now that it was finally here, the happiness he felt was indescribable.
Damon's grin widened as he poured himself and Alaric each a glass of bourbon from the bottle next to his feet, and then raised one, tipping it in Alaric's direction.
"I am-and thanks, I hear, in no small part to you. Enzo told me you were the one who set him on the trail of the Gemini coven," he said, taking a drink from the glass and the other one out to his friend.
Alaric took the glass Damon handed to him and sat down the other side of his desk before lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "Well, I heard they might have experience in reversing situations like yours. I would have gone to them myself, but-"
Damon held up his free hand to stop him there. "But you were busy taking care of Elena and Jeremy while trying to regain your footing in a world that you hadn't been a part of for nearly two years," he finished in an uncharacteristically understanding tone. "I get it, Ric, and I'm not angry. If you hadn't pointed Enzo toward those witches, I wouldn't be here right now. I owe you for that-and for a lot more."
Alaric sat back in his chair, taking a drink himself, before responding. "What do you mean?" he queried, raising an eyebrow.
Damon took another drink before setting his glass down and swinging his feet onto the floor.
"Well," he started carefully, tracing the rim of his glass, "When I came back, I found out that I'm not exactly what you might call a normal vampire. I have powers that other vampires don't-ad they were awakened when Enzo and the Gemini coven resurrected me."
Alaric's other eyebrow rose to join the first, and he put his drink down as well, leaning forward again. That definitely wasn't what he'd been expecting to hear.
"Powers? What powers?" he wondered, even more curious than before.
Instead of answering, Damon decided to show him by placing one of his hands flat onto the surface of the desk between them and concentrating, letting the frost spread out of his hand and over the wood.
Alaric's eyes widened in astonishment at that sight. "How are you doing that?"
"I'm not sure, actually," Damon said honestly, trailing his fingers over the vanished surface, causing more ice to bloom in their wake. "But I'm apparently the only one who can-which is probably the biggest reason why the witches wanted me back in the world of the living, or so their coven leader admitted."
"And that doesn't bother you?" Alaric quipped, noting the lack of emotion in his friend's tone.
It was Damon's turn to shrug. "Whatever their plan for these abilities of mine is, they can't force me to help them with it. But, considering what's happened so far, I don't think I'll have a problem with whatever they want next."
Everything falls into place
It was all coming together.
The elder Salvatore brother was back among the living, and separated from the doppelganger; the thrones had been revealed and Damon and Enzo were doing exactly what she expected them to do. Everything was as it should be.
Jo poured herself a celebratory drink from the bottle of wine she'd pulled out of her cellar. She hadn't really thought that this would work out-or at least, not this well-but now that it was, she thought she deserved to gloat a little.
Of course, there were still a few things that had to be done before her coven's plan was complete; they still had some work to put in, but that would be taken care of. They'd been putting these pieces in place for nearly seventy-five years-they weren't going to quit now.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps and Liv's blonde head poked itself around the corner of the doorframe, an excited gleam in her eyes.
"Hey, we found what we need to wake Enzo's powers," she informed the older woman. "We're just having a little trouble unlocking it; we could use your help."
Jo's lips curved slightly, and she took a last sip of her wine before setting the glass down and walking up to the door. "Of course," she consented immediately, gesturing for Liv to lead the way.
She followed Liv out of her room, and they traipsed through the narrow, twisting hallway and the house's kitchen before coming to the nerve center of the Gemini coven's quarters.
All of their other members were there when they arrived, gathered around a square, cloth-covered table at the far end of the room, each one of them with a hand somehow in contact with the shimmering blue box on top of it.
Upon noticing the other two women's entrance, Luke turned and gave Jo a summary of the situation.
"There are some strong layers of protection around this-most likely to keep it from being used for exactly what we're trying to use it for-and I think it's going to take all of us to get through them."
Jo inclined her head in comprehension, coming to join the others around the table.
"That makes sense," she said, placing a hand on top of the box and taking a deep breath. "The coven who hid it wanted to protect the world from the combined might of Damon and Enzo's strength; that's why they concealed everything about them in the first place. Unfortunately for the world, though, we're going to have to undo all of their hard work."
A faint smile appeared on Luke's lips, and, with a brief glance at the hooded man standing next to him, he led his companions in resuming the spell they'd begun before Jo's arrival.
As she joined in on the incantation, Jo felt the magic surging up inside her, combining with the force of her fellow coven members. The spells already on the box rose up like a wall to block what they were attempting to do, but with a full contingent, they were able to really push back.
As the spell continued, the box began to quiver under their hands, and the candles lighting the room began to run low. Cracks appeared along the seam, tendrils of gray seeping out of them, and Jo was more and more able to sense what lurked inside.
Visions of what unlocking this seal would lead to swirled inside her head, filling her with false trepidation. There was darkness, and there was ice, and there was blood and death and ruin. She saw the two Salvatore brothers on opposite sides of a great divide, and the doppelganger prostrated on the ground with a gaping hole in her chest.
She knew it was supposed to be a warning, a caution against releasing Damon and Enzo on the world, but it was lost on her. This was what the Gemini coven wanted-and it was what they were going to get.
Thunder shocks raced through her fingertips as she and her companions increased the force of their spell, and she felt the layers of protection beginning to shatter at their combined might.
It took a lot of effort, but, after a matter of moments, they all felt a jolt when the last layer fell away and the lid popped open, letting out a great gust of black smoke.
The dark-skinned woman near the center of the group let out a triumphant breath as she looked over the box. "We did it," she declared with no small amount of satisfaction.
Jo opened her eyes and ran her hand over the side of the now-ajar box, smile widening at the jagged, slightly smoking gray stone she saw inside.
"You're right, Lucy-we did," she confirmed with unconcealed pleasure. She lifted her gaze and addressed the twins. "Which means the next phase of our plan must be put in play. I think it's time you two tell Mr. Salvatore what his powers will lead him and his lover to."
Sharing a glance with his sister, Luke nodded and pulled out his phone to do just that.