Chapter twenty
Stefan held tightly to Elena's hand as they ran. For the first time he was genuinely glad that she had transitioned. She was able to keep up with him. Unfortunately so was the wolf. Once they reached the older part of the forest again, where the hardwoods had never been harvested by his family he stopped and grabbed Elena by the waist.
"What are you doing?" She protested, "Stefan no!" He tossed her upward into the tree and she grabbed onto a sturdy branch and pulled herself up onto it. "Come on! Stefan, come on."
Stefan wasn't listening. He broke off a lower branch of the right thickness and stood his ground at the base of the tree. There would be no outrunning the wolf and he had to give it a reason not to go up that tree. So he held the branch at ready, waiting for his target.
He saw the near black blur moving at him and he swung, knocking it back into the trees. The animal skidded to a halt and rolled onto its feet once more. It came at Stefan again. Again the vampire swung and he heard the crack of the wolf's skull. He knew he had only stunned it though and kicked it away as its jaws snapped dangerously close to his leg.
Damon stood between Alexandra and the shadows as she got the door open and inside. She was quickly moving from passengers side to drivers side to allow him to come in after her but the creature moved quicker and Damon slammed the door shut, leaping upward at the last second landing on top of the car just as the werewolf slammed into the passenger's side.
Damon dropped to his knees to keep from being rocked from his perch as the beast continued to slam itself against the car. "Let's go," He called out and moved to the edge, throwing the potato sized chunk of rock in his hand at the monster's head and it fell to the ground, momentarily obscured by the fog. His fog. Damon didn't have to see it to sense it there. It wasn't dead. It was moving.
Alexandra started the car and waited for Damon to get a hand hold on the edge before she put it in gear. The car would not move. The driver's side wheel spun furiously, the passenger's side was locked into place by the damage done by the wolf.
They both swore.
Elena watched on in horror as Stefan fought the wolf. She'd seen what had happened to Rose and to Damon when they'd been bitten. All she could see in her mind was Stefan dying a slow agonizing death because there would be no last minute rescue from Klaus as there had been for Damon.
Stefan swung repeatedly and the wolf kept coming back. He was growing tired in spite of the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins. Vampires were designed to fight the werewolves. They knew that now from Rebecca's stories. That didn't mean that it was easy.
The wolf was wearing down as well but all it would take was one scrape from the wolf's teeth anywhere to kill him. It didn't have to be a deep bite. This kept Stefan focused on the creature's mouth, one near miss after the other.
He brought the branch up as the creature lunged for him once more and instead of hitting it, he pressed forward, wedging the oak between the creature's jaws. Stefan was the one growling as he pushed forward, slamming the wolf into a nearby tree forcing the branch deeper still and then twisted, breaking its jaws.
Stefan stood over the beast, trying to catch his breath. He stepped back, nearly walking away, then he stopped. He looked up at the moon now clearly visible over head, swore softly, and picked up the branch once more. He rammed it into the wolf's chest, piercing its heart.
Damon leaped from the car to the ground near the mill-house and the arsenal of river rock. He expected the wolf to go for the easier target and leave the canned food for later. He willed the fog to thin near the car to give the wolf a better view. The wolf ignored him as it began to circle the car, sniffing at it, pawing at it looking for a way to get inside.
"Hey Fido, over here you moron," He said picking up another rock. He'd have to be careful where he threw it. He could easily throw it through the car if he missed. He could hit Alex. "Come on you coward. Free range vampire, right here. " he stepped closer and the thing turned its head and snarled, as if in warning then turned its attention back upon its chosen target
"It can't get to me, get out of here." Alexandra yelled. "Damon, go."
Even if he had wanted to leave her, which he didn't, he couldn't. Another side effect of the bond was that her safety took precedence over everything and everyone else. Even if she had known that she could control him still, she wouldn't be able to force him to leave until the threat was gone.
He might be a guard dog, but he wasn't a stupid one. Damon grinned as his thoughts turned to the day before and how Stefan had lured him out into the light of day. Sometimes you just had to go for annoyance value.
He traded out the large rock for smaller ones that would be less likely to go straight through the car even if he missed his target. "Hey." He said tossing the first one at its hind quarters. "Come on." He yelled and was rewarded with a low growl. Another stone was let loose and this one embedded in the animal's side.
The wolf turned to face him and Damon let fly with a third, bouncing it off the ground, sending it ricocheting up ward into the soft fleshy underside of its muzzle. It howled in pain and lunged at the vampire.
Damon dodged, rolling into the dense fog, pulling it tighter in about him. The dog sniffed the air and followed, as he had known it would. The fog could cover his actions but not his scent and that was what he was counting on as he led it further away from Alexandra. His awareness was divided between his eyes, the fog and the crow that now perched on the hood of the car keeping watch on the woman he loved.
He closed his eyes and waited, letting the fog waft away from him enough for the animal make out his form. He could feel it move through the mist, picking up speed as it came for him. Damon leaped up as it charged, coming down again, planting his feet across its back, snapping the spine.
Ever conscious of still snapping jaws he knelt beside it and shoved his hand into its rib cage. He ripped its heart from its body and tossed it aside. He looked up at the sound of another howl in the distance. "You've got to be kidding me." He said in exasperation, and then raced back for the car.
He didn't waste time talking. He ripped open the driver's side door and pulled her out of the car. Damon picked her up and ran as fast as he could back to the cabin. He closed and locked the door. "Hybrids," He said "they can't get in." The son of a bitch had been after Alexandra. Why were they going after Alex?
Alexandra trembled as she started to look him over, turning him around looking for any sign of injury at all.
"I'm okay. "He told her but allowed her to pull him toward the sink where she scrubbed the blood from his hands and looked for even the slightest scratch. "I'm okay." He said again. "It didn't bite me. I promise I wasn't bitten." Damon pulled her into his arms holding her tightly. "I'm okay, we're both okay. We're okay and we're safe."
"I couldn't do anything. I couldn't help you… "She said trembling almost violently in his arms.
"Shhh, it's okay," He soothed, stroking her hair, "I've got you." He said softly. "I've got you." He led her back toward the living room, cautiously directing her around the boxes of books they had yet to unpack. He brushed her hair back from her eyes, and kissed her gently. She gasped at the sudden pounding on the door, and he turned to face it, not sure what to expect next.
"Damon!" It was his brother's voice and he hurried to the door. He nodded to Alex as he opened it and stepped aside.
"Come in… both of you come in." Alex said.
Stefan and Elena stepped inside, both heaving a sigh of relief as they did so. "How is this possible?" Stefan asked his brother.
"Long story." Damon said getting the bottle and pouring Alex a glass. She took it with trembling hands and he sat beside her once more. He was more concerned with her nerves than Stefan's temper at the moment.
"Well since we have a pack of hybrids circling the place, no one's going anywhere for a while." Stefan countered.
Damon simply glared at his brother, turning his attention back to Alexandra. He wasn't used to this side of her. She was always confident and in control. But there had been nothing she could do but wait and watch like a canary watching the cats claws scrape down the bars of the bird cage.
Elena knelt beside the sofa and took Alex's hand in hers. "Come on. I know how you feel trust me." She'd spent more time than she liked being the helpless human while Damon or Stefan took on all comers. "Let's leave them to argue it out." She ignored Damon's scowl and led Alex out of the room and toward the bedroom.
"She'll take care of her." Stefan said watching the women leave the room.
"I Know." Damon said and downed the whiskey that Alex had abandoned.
"How long have you known that Klaus was alive?" Stefan asked. His jaw muscles twitched as he clenched his teeth tightly together.
"Since Timon shoved his hand in my gut and started fishing around for information. " Damon said getting up to pace. He pulled the fog in closer. He didn't know how many were out there and he wanted to know if they were coming.
"You didn't think it was important for us to know?" Stefan asked angrily.
"Until I know who's been messing with your head no," Damon said "It wasn't important for you to know."
"When will you start trusting me? " Stefan asked. "I never intended for anyone to get hurt. I swear to god."
Damon moved to stand nose to nose with his brother. "It took a witch to rip Klaus out of his body. It was a witch that made the poison that nearly killed Sacha. It was a witch that screwed with your head enough that you left me alone and incapacitated with Rebecca." He told him, and then walked away to pick up his glass again.
"I don't see you're point" Stefan said as Damon paused to take a drink.
"I left Bonnie alone with Klaus before Alaric showed up, and you can't tell me that Bonnie wasn't encouraging you to think I was under some sort of spell. It's no secret that she hates Alexandra. Don't even get me started with how she planted a fetter for Emily Bennett in my house, or the fact that she forced Ric to transition into Michael Jr. So until I have proof that there is another witch in town much less involved, Bonnie is my only suspect, and a damned good one."
"Again looking for how this applies to you not trusting me with important information." Stefan said leaning against one of the book cases.
"Hello, she's Elena's best friend, and as much as we both love her she's a teen aged girl. Best friends rate over everything else in the world. So no I didn't think I could trust either of you to keep your mouths shut because you both trust Bonnie too much."
"For all we know she's being controlled by Emily, or any of the other hundred ghosts trapped in that house. " Stefan said.
" That's the only reason I haven't gone and snapped her witchy neck." Damon pointed out "Even though I should have." He refilled his glass "What were you two
doing out there in the middle of the night anyway?" He asked looked Stefan over for injuries.
"I was showing her Veritas." Stefan said. "It's not a full moon. I didn't think there was any danger." He looked at his brother pointedly.
Damon sighed. "If you had been anywhere else you would have been fine. I think they are after Alexandra."
"Why?" He asked, taking the bottle and pouring one for himself. "What did you see in that vision?"
Damon explained what he had seen. "I think that Klaus and for the sake of argument. "He said this part rolling his eyes, "whatever witch he is working with don't want anyone to know he's possessing Tyler. To do that they have to get rid of Alex who has promised Caroline to help protect Tyler's spirit. Which isn't really a spirit at all, he's just been kicked out of his own head." He leaned back on the couch. "Can I just remind you that she made that promise in front of Bonnie."
"Please tell me you've told Caroline about this." Elena said from the bedroom door.
Damon nodded. "We told her. I didn't want to, but Alex told her. She's been keeping her mouth shut to protect Tyler. She doesn't think it was Bonnie anymore than you do. "
Elena nodded and came out to sit on the arm of Stefan's chair. "Wouldn't they go after Jeremy too? "
"You would think so. This doesn't help Bonnie's case at all. She's infatuated with him." Damon said. "How's Alex?" He asked.
"She's washing up. She'll be okay. She's just not used to not being the innocent bystander." Elena reassured him.
"So what do we do?" Stefan asked. "You've made your point for secrecy, and we'll keep it. If for no other reason than the less Bonnie knows, the less she can accidentally incriminate herself." He said looking to Elena who reluctantly nodded agreement. "But there has to be some sort of plan."
Damon waited a moment, closing his eyes and feeling out the fog. He didn't want to open his mouth if there were wolfy ears in the vicinity. "Right now we're looking for a way to neutralize the witch house. Alex's sisters are coming out here to help. "
"More necromancers?" Elena asked.
"One necromancer, one witch. Twins believe it or not." Damon said. "We're hoping that once we shut down its influence if Bonnie is a victim instead of a villain it will break the power they have over her. "
"Thank you." Elena said. "For at least considering that option." Damon wasn't known for his self control. She wondered how much of that was him going in for a quick and clean military strike instead of getting bogged down in the humanity of it all. There was no right or wrong there was only victory or defeat. She wondered what he had been like during the war, surrounded by so much death and destruction. No wonder he had retired. No wonder he hadn't wanted to transition…
"Yeah, well don't get the idea in that pretty little head of yours that I'm changing my ways. I've always hated that place. Besides if we don't neutralize it, they'd just find some other witch to manipulate into becoming a pain in my ass." Damon said.
"You still do it." Elena said in exasperation. "Every time someone thinks you're changing, that you're doing good things, you have to find some way to cheapen it."
"I'm not one of your high school friends, Elena, I'm not St. Stefan, "Damon told her. "I'm not going to change and grow and mature into some anti-hero from a romance novel. I'm the same man I was when you first met me, I'm the same man I was when Alex first met me. I don't live my life for anyone else's approval. I don't wear my good deeds on my sleeve and I'm rarely ashamed of the bad ones. Get used to it."
"So… Alexandra's sisters are coming." Stefan said shifting the subject. "When do we expect this to happen?"
"Day after tomorrow. You'll have a substitute on Monday. I'm going to Richmond to pick them up. " Alexandra said coming out of the bathroom, much calmer and in control of her emotions. She went to sit beside Damon. "How does it look out there?" She asked.
"We're good. No one's close. Doesn't mean it's safe to go out there. "He said taking her hand in his. "In other words, you two are staying the night. "Damon told his brother and Elena. "It won't be comfy but at least you won't be hybrid kibble."
"We'll be fine." Stefan said. "I think we can both squeeze onto the sofa."
Alex got up and went to the front closet to take out extra bedding and a pillow for them. "We'll talk more in the morning. " She told them as Damon took her hand and led her back toward the bedroom.
Elena spread a blanket over the sofa then lay the pillow down before removing her shoes. "I don't know what to think about him keeping things like that from us." She said quietly.
"Considering when he found out… I do. He'd been betrayed and abandoned. I don't think I would have spoken up either in his place. " Stefan said as he lay down and adjusted so that she could lay with him.
"Of all the things he said, the hardest for me to believe is that Bonnie would sacrifice Tyler like that. I could understand saving Klaus. So many lives were tied up with his, she would have lost everyone if he'd died, but why Tyler? I can't believe she would do something like that." Elena said.
"He's right though. We can't say anything until we have more information. I think he's proven that he can be trusted not to just go flying off the handle and kill her without proof. If he was going to do it, he'd have done by now. "Stefan said kissing her temple. "We just have to have faith in our friend that there will be no proof for him to find. That they will find out that Klaus had another witch in reserve. "
Elena nodded. "You're right." She said and reached up to turn off the table lamp. "Bonnie is innocent and it will prove itself out." She snuggled in closer. "I love you."
"I love you." Stefan said and pulled the second blanket up over them.