Chapter fifteen
The flowers had faded and died by the time Damon was fully healed. There was only the faintest scar left behind to show what he had endured. Alexandra was back at school teaching French to the mindless denizens of Robert E. Lee High School. She was teaching French to Rebecca… and Stefan. At least the little Bennett witch wasn't taking senior French.
He had made her promise to call him after first period. She had only relented because he had threatened to come and sit in her class room the entire day long if she didn't. Caroline had also promised to keep an eye on her as well. To her credit she didn't sound like she was just humoring him when she said it.
Everything was supposedly back to normal. He was in a supposedly normal relationship with a woman with a normal job, and had a new normal best friend in Meredith Fell. He and his brother were back to normal too. Normal as in their most consistent state of being; which was to say Damon feeling betrayed and wanting to lash out and make Stefan miserable.
Not so normal was the fact that he hadn't. Of course he told himself that was because refusing to have anything to do with him was making him miserable enough. Right. Not so normal was the fact that he had nightmares about his brief captivity. When he closed his eyes he could still feel Timon's essence as it had invaded him, he could feel the knife, he could feel the man's hand as it slid into his abdomen. It wasn't the first time Damon had been tortured. But all the other times had been personal. There had been something cold, detached and completely alien about what Timon had done.
He had yet to leave the house. He told himself he preferred the bourbon at home to that at the grill anyway. If he really wanted to get out and walk, there was 10 acres surrounding him that was his and witch free. But he didn't go walking. He sat in the chair next to the fireplace and read, or tried to, until he had to get up and pace again. Which was most of the time.
He flinched at the sound of someone knocking at the door, and swore at himself. He set his jaw and went to open the door, immediately wishing he hadn't. "Why won't you people leave me alone." He yelled at Elijah and was torn between slamming the door in his face and lunging for the man's throat.
"I understand you are upset. " Elijah said in his usual quiet and metered tone.
"You don't begin to have a clue about me and upset." Damon said stepping back from the door. "What do you want? I'm not going to give your blood samples back. I'm not going to give you the stake. Since I'm back on the vervain you can't force me to, so there is no point in you being here. Go away."
"I'm not here to make demands. I'm here to help." He said.
Damon scoffed.
"I just want to talk."
"Apparently I can't stop you so go ahead. If you're waiting for an invitation you're gonna be there until hell freezes over." Damon told him firmly. He'd close the door but the man would just throw something through it to break it apart and stand there talking anyway.
"Did you perhaps wonder why it was that Timon did not make you his thrall."
Damon's heart became wedged in his throat. "I figure he didn't think it was worth the investment since he was going to rip me open and leave me to die."
"He did not, because he could not." Elijah said. "You already belong to someone else. She did not free you, Damon, you are still bound to her."
Damon took a long drink from the bourbon in his hand. "And your point?"
"You told Stefan and Rebecca that she freed you." He said "You were compelled to be truthful."
Damon laughed then. "That's not what I said. I said she performed the ritual, which she did." Elijah already knew the truth, no point hiding it. It wasn't as if he could prove it to anyone. All being forced to be truthful did was make you a better liar. That was a skill that Damon had been polishing his entire life.
"You sabotaged the ritual." Elijah said "Why would you do that?"
"Because I want to be bound to her. I called her here to do it. " Also public knowledge. "She has this habit of getting a guilty conscience and undoing it. So I switched out my blood for leftovers." He shrugged. "Good thing too since my brother was so willing to give me up. And don't think that you can hold that bit of information over my head. No one would believe you. After all she told me to be honest."
"Stefan didn't give you up. There was no agreement made with him to hand you over. He was our first choice for the ritual because of his connection to Klaus. You were simply convenient."
Damon's blood ran white hot in that moment and if it weren't for the fact that he'd have to cross the threshold, he would have attacked. "You stay away from my brother." If someone like Timon got their hands on Stefan… his blood went from white hot to cold in an instant.
"Are you alright?" Elijah asked, frowning.
" I'm fine. Don't think for a minute that I believe you came here to help. You came here to make trouble." Damon said. "Not that I blame you. Cause a little trouble in paradise and I hand over your blood. Epic fail. Now get the hell off my property." He drained the last of the bourbon in his glass and walked over to close the door.
"What did you see, Damon?" Elijah asked.
"As if I would tell you."
"There's more than one necromancer in the world." Elijah said quietly. "Do I need to hire another one? One that might not be so gentle in his divination. They used to call it reading the bones for a reason. Now tell me, what did you see?"
"A pile of bones in the woods." Damon said looking him straight in the eyes. "The kid has crossed over. Leave him in peace. Someone around here should get a little."
"Then Klaus is truly dead."
"I've been telling you that from the beginning. Rebekah and I both saw it happen. " Damon told him.
"Then how do you explain the other hybrids still being alive."
"I don't. It's not my problem. The feud is over, remember? " Damon said "Now Scram." He closed the door and latched it.
He refilled his glass and began to pace again. He glanced at the clock. Another hour before she would be home. He took a deep breath and went to sit down again. He picked up his book with trembling hands. He would beat this. He had to beat this. It was over. Timon was dead and from the looks of it in hell. He was back on the vervain and could no longer be compelled. There was nothing to be afraid of. Not that he was ever going to admit to anyone he was afraid. Because there was nothing to be afraid of.
"You are a mess."
Damon turned to see Alaric standing there. "Good to see you too. I am actually seeing you right? I'm not so drunk that I'm hallucinating."
"You're living with a necromancer and you think seeing a ghost means you are hallucinating?" Ric laughed. "You're more wasted than you think."
"I'd offer but I know you can't really drink so… yeah. " Damon said tossing the book aside. Call of the Wild and he couldn't even get past the first ten pages. "So have you come to lecture me too?"
"No."
"Now I know I'm hallucinating. It's probably vervain withdrawals. They kept me out for days you know. It wasn't the pain making me scream. Not gonna tell her that one though. "
"There is a lot you aren't telling her. Don't blow it Damon." Alaric said, worried about his friend. In spite of everything Damon had actually been his friend.
"That's why I switched out the blood." He admitted. "Every time she lets me go I screw it up and she's gone just when I need her to stay the most." He got up to refill his glass. "So now I won't screw it up."
"And she believes you honestly love her. That's going to hurt when she finds out the truth."
"Who says I don't? Who says I haven't for the last hundred and forty some odd years, " Damon asked. "Do you think I'm incapable of it without magical help or some twisted competition with my baby brother?" he scoffed "Don't let a lifelong obsession with the queen bitch fool you."
Alaric sighed. "I know that isn't the only secret you're keeping. You need to talk to someone about what happened."
"Talking doesn't help anything." He said. "I just need to suck enough of this down to be able to suck it up and get on with life."
"Really? How's that working for you? You can't even leave your own house. It's called PTSD. Honestly I'm surprised it hasn't manifested before now."
"Aren't you a history teacher? Not psychology, right?" He downed the whiskey and refilled his glass. "I'm fine. Or I will be soon enough." He went to turn the stereo on and then turned it up.
" Damon," Alaric moved to stand in front of him. "You have to pull yourself together. It's not over, not by a long shot"
"It's never over." Damon said sharply. "It's just one never ending nightmare. You know the kind where you know you're going to be hacked to bits on the other side of the door and you go in anyway. We keep going to these insane high school dances. We joke about Dance Karma but people die, they are betrayed and gutted like fish. And you know what, they'll go to the next one too because it's what high school girls do and we can't leave Elena unprotected because of the dance Karma." He began to pace faster. "I'm through going. I'm not letting Alex go either. Stefan? He can keep going. I'll stay here and laugh. Good times." He downed the whiskey in one go. "I don't know why I'm bothering with a glass."
"You don't mean that."
"Actually I do. It's a waste of time to keep refilling the glass. It's not like I'm not gonna finish off the bottle." He said intentionally misunderstanding. He picked up the bottle and walked over to the fire place.
"Damon… he got in your head in a way that no one else has. It's still messing with you." Alaric frowned. He'd never seen Damon like this.
"In my head, under my skin, around the intestines. You know I think he felt up my liver while he was in there." He said and his expression shifted, he stared at the fire in the hearth " I couldn't move, I couldn't fight, all I could do was lay there and scream and it didn't matter. I was nothing. A Ouija board with squishy bits for a planchette. Why would I tell anyone that? Who would understand? Why would I want them to?"
"Because it's eating you alive. Because they love you, whether you want them to or not."
Damon shook his head. "Thanks for the concern. I'm glad we finished out back to being friends. You still should have let me break your neck one last time, just saying, " Another regret. "But I've got this." He said hearing the car pull up in the drive.
"No you don't. It's got you." Alaric looked up as the door opened.
"Oh, you've got company." Alexandra said taking in the scene. "How are you, Ric?"
"I'm good, thanks. He's not, don't let him fool you. I'll leave you to it. " he said and faded into nothingness as he walked toward the door.
"That was different" Alex said as she went to take the bottle out of Damon's hands and take a long drink of it herself.
"I'm fine." He told her.
She laughed softly "No you're not. And that's okay. You don't have to be." She could see him visibly relax. "Hot bath?" She suggested heading toward the bathroom with the bourbon in hand. There was more than one way to skin a cat.
"Do you believe him?" Kol asked watching Elijah pace. He received no answer. "Is pacing contagious? Are we all going to start acting like caged beasts."
"Damon you mean." Rebecca said laughing, even though there was no humor in it.
"Elijah, do you believe Salvatore was telling the truth?" Kol asked more insistently.
"No." Elijah said "Although I do believe his lies are telling." He did not mention the other lies to his younger siblings. They were too emotional and impetuous they would assume it would gain them something to go to either Alexandra or Stefan.
"What do we do?" Kol asked.
"We watch and wait. The girl is the key. Lockwood and Klaus were both courting her. If either is still alive they will not be able to resist for long."
"Caroline Forbes? She snapped my neck." Rebecca said. "The last thing I want to do is hover around her watching her every move."
"My dear sister, when will you learn that not everything is personal." Elijah said with a sigh. "She could have done much worse. Sauveterre could have done much worse." He said glancing at Kol who nodded. He'd looked into those black eyes. "For now we abide the truce, watch the girl, and wait. " He smiled secretively as he set aside his brandy. He had other plans in the works. He didn't need to personally move against the necromancer to cause her trouble. Not when there was another who was so adept at sabotaging the Salvatore's existence.
Stefan didn't like living alone. Not anymore. He'd gotten used to Damon's morning mockery and now it was gone. At least there would be enough hot water now. It was hollow comfort but one that he planned to remind himself of repeatedly until June when he and Elena were married. Which wasn't as far away as it sounded. There wasn't much of February left. All they had to do was get through the founder's spring mixer, the ball for Miss Mystic Falls, Home coming, Senior Prom, the decade dance and then they were home free. They would be married and he'd live at her house until Jeremy was eighteen.
He stepped into the shower and turned it on only to be blasted with cold water. "What the hell?" He said and got out. He wrapped in a towel and padded down to check the water heater which appeared to be working just fine.
Stefan made his way back up the stairs and paused. There were sounds coming from Damon's room. Splashing sounds. "Did you and Alex have another fight?" He called out as he entered the room and walked around to where the tub was visible. He didn't like to think of his brother with a broken heart but he was more than happy to have him home again.
"Katherine." He said with a sigh as he saw the real hot water thief in action. He turned to go, "You're not staying here."
"Yes I am, and I love this bedroom. Well I love this bathtub any way." She told him.
"You're not staying in this room. This is Damon's room. Doesn't matter if he's living here or not. You don't get to take it over." Stefan said and left.