Chapter thirty eight

Henry began to pace. He wasn't accustomed to being left to his own devices. There was always something to do, something not to do, instructions upon orders upon directives. Currently his only orders were to protect Avril and not to harm himself.

"You know it's the caged animals that pace not the ones outside the cage." Damon said and sighed at the look on the older vampires face. "Fine, but at least it's a spacious cage and the food is good."

Henry shook his head. "You honestly believe you have control of your own actions?" he asked.

"No." Damon said honestly. "And I'm starting to wonder if I ever have." He poured two glasses of bourbon and handed one over to Henry.

"Because of your mother?" Henry asked.

Damon nodded. "I used to think it was Katherine that kept pulling me back here but now I have to wonder if that wasn't just easier to wrap my head around." It was strange sharing Alexandra. It made the bond much more tangible when there was a third party involved. He didn't like it. It messed with the illusion he kept firmly in place where she was concerned.

He had always fooled himself into the belief that he wasn't really enslaved. It was easy given the nature of their relationship. Now it was different. Nothing had changed except that he was looking at it through someone else's eyes. He hoped it passed when she let Henry go.

"In the end does it matter?" Henry asked.

Damon shrugged. "What's one manipulative lying bitch compared to another, right?" He asked downing the bourbon in one swallow. His mother had been bleeding him… for how long? What had she been using it for? What had he been supposed to submit to on the new moon after her death? Would she have killed him? Had she been trying to kill him after he'd put the book in place? Had she gone mad after so long in a box? A vampire was more or less designed to deal with time in a box. Miserably but they could deal. The human mind however was another matter entirely. He may have been nothing more than an easy meal to a crazed mind. Somehow that was no more comforting than the belief she had known.

Henry watched the man pour another drink and wondered if he realized the most manipulative of all was the one he thought he loved. She'd won him over with a gentle hand. She kept him on a long leash but it was still there and he had no doubt that she would pull him back to heel if he ever stepped out of line or did something that displeased her.

Damon had been kept safely and securely out of the necromancer community. No one but Yvette actually ever saw him or knew he existed. He knew just enough to think he was one of the lucky few when perhaps he was the one deserving of pity and assistance. He didn't know what it was like out there. He didn't know the realities of their world. He thought he did. But Henry could tell the man was still very much naïve about it all. Alexandra had seen to that.

"Will she allow you to keep your promise to me?" Henry asked bluntly.

"I keep my promises." Damon said. "I don't need permission for that."

He sighed and shook his head. "Right."

"If it's what you still want after Klaus is taken care of, I will make sure it happens."

Caroline knew she was being watched as she shopped. She could feel the hybrid's eyes on her and it was all she could do to keep her attention fixed on the dress in her hand. It was black with black and silver bead and thread work. She had no date to the ball even though she had turned down several offers. She'd gone stag since Tyler's supposed death and she wasn't going to change that or her color choice until he was able to be at her side again.

She went into the stall to try it on, and came out to stand in front of the full length mirrors looking at all angles.

"You look beautiful. " A woman not much older than herself said, and something told Caroline that this was the hybrid watching her today. "A little dark though, don't you think?"

Caroline smiled, intentionally a little sadly. "I'm in mourning. I can't live in black, but I don't go to parties in any other color." She said.

"Maybe things will start looking up soon. You can't grieve forever."

"Thanks." She said, and turned to look at the clerk. "I'll take this one." She said and went into the stall to change out again. It was moments like this that she really missed Bonnie. To be honest she was missing Elena too. Since her transition it seemed that she had spent even less time with her best friend than ever. She had thought it would give them more in common but it seemed to accentuate their differences.

She paid for the dress and went out to her car. She headed home feeling very much alone on that moment. She couldn't wait for this to be over and done with so that she could have at least part of her life back.

Stefan stood at Katherine's doorstep and rang the bell.

"This is turning into a thing." Katherine said as she opened the door. She didn't invite him in this time. "What do you want, Stefan."

"Just to talk." He said.

"Last time we talked you didn't like what you heard and gave me the cold shoulder." She said. "Not up for a repeat performance. "

Stefan pushed inside. "I talked to Alex. I know why Damon doesn't remember. You want to be nice to me right now. "

"Stefan, I could break you in two in my sleep." She sighed. "Between the bunny diet and the age difference, it's not a good idea to make threats."

"It wasn't a threat." He said.

"Right. It just sounded like one." She said."Again, what do you want Stefan. You come to talk when you want information. Not because you want to be friends."

"Pot, kettle, black." Stefan said and grinned as she sighed and closed the door.

"Fine, but I'm not offering you wine this time." She said leading the way into her living room. "out with it." She said flopping down into a chair.

"Portia." He said sitting on the arm of the couch, across from her.

"And that was the shortest conversation we've had to date." She said. "Good seeing you again, Stefan, feel free to come back anytime."

"Or I could tell Damon that you tried to murder him when you figured out you couldn't get him out of that room." Stefan said. "it's not like he'd blame Alex for taking the memories away from him. She might even take away the block, and you know Damon. Once he feels betrayed…"

"It would have been a mercy killing. At least he'd have been free." She said. "That's why I did it, Stefan. Not because I couldn't have him but because I didn't want to see him end up like Portia. And that's exactly what has happened."

"I don't think that's going to matter to him do you?" He asked.

Katherine glared at him. "What do you want to know?" She asked.

"What she and my mother were doing to Damon." He said.

"I wasn't there then." She said. "How should I know?"

Something in how she said it, told Stefan she was lying. "Try again. I know they were leeching blood from him, and that my mother didn't exactly die. I know that Portia compelled Damon and somehow managed to make them work beyond his transition. I know somehow she has a hold over you and I suspect you were sent back to mystic falls to take care of something for her, not searching for the moon stone."

"You need to stay out of this Stefan. Take care of Klaus, and get out of town. Take Elena and elope for all I care. Just be out of town soon." She said. "I'd say take Damon with you but it won't do any good."

"Because of the compulsion for him to be there?" Stefan asked. "Tell me what you know, Katherine. I'm tired of everyone with their half truths and inconsistencies. I need to know what's going on."

" You already know." She said."You just want me to confirm it."

"And your part in it." Stefan said.

Katherine folded her arms across her chest and sighed."Stefan please…"

Stefan sat staring at her, saying nothing, just waiting, watching her squirm under his gaze. "I need the truth this time."

She scowled, and turned her attention to the floor.

"Katherine." He said sharply.

"Portia isn't my friend." Katherine said honestly. "She's a very old vampire. I met her when Klaus was holding court in England. I'm not sure which of them created her but she was made by one of the originals. "

"Does that make her more powerful?" Stefan asked.

"I don't know… it might just be how old she is. She found me during transition and made sure that I knew exactly how much I owed her if she didn't turn me over to Klaus. At the time I thought that it was a better option than death which I was pretty sure was what Klaus had in mind."

Stefan nodded. "What did she want?"

"A servant. You know how well that went over. Believe me I was not at all displeased when she wound up enthralled to a Necromancer. I got out of there as quickly as I could."

"Did you ever see her? My mother I mean?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Tall, beautiful, powerful. Damon has her eyes, only his have some warmth to them, even when he's pretending he wants to kill you." She told him."I made sure she didn't see me and I got out of Florence as quickly as I could."

"When was this?" He asked.

Katherine sighed and did a little math in her head. "1602, or something close to it." She told him.

"She's that old." He said quietly.

"She's older. They aren't born uber-powerful any more than anyone else on the planet. It takes time to become a powerhouse, and that's exactly what your mother was. And don't think you are the only family she had out there. She had a husband and children then too. "

"No one wants to spend eternity alone." He shrugged. It wasn't a terrible thing. It was actually a sign that maybe there was some humanity to his mother after all. "Is Portia still alive?"

"I don't know." She said. "maybe."

"Katherine." Stefan said disapprovingly.

"She's alive, alright. She's alive." She went to get that glass of wine after all. "She tried to betray your mother after her funeral." Katherine explained. "That's why she was with the witch in New Orleans. Although I have my suspicions about her too. "

"What suspicions?" He asked.

"That she was involved somehow and I was being played." She told him. "I was supposed to bring the book and stone back to mystic falls and put them back in the sepulcher. Apparently after Damon had found them and put them in the first time, Portia went and removed them. "

"Is that all you were supposed to do?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I was supposed to turn Damon and make sure he was there at the mausoleum at the dark of the moon."

Stefan's features hardened and for the first time Katherine was actually afraid of him as he approached her. "Why?" He demanded sharply, one large hand going to her throat.

Katherine clawed at his hand, gouging it with her nails. "So that they wouldn't kill him when they bled him dry. " She choked out. "I fell in love with you while waiting for him to come home from the war. I wanted to turn you, I had to turn Damon." She said finally breaking free of his hand then kicked him back away from her. "That's your last freebie, Stefan." She said kicking again, sending him across the floor, slamming into the hearth. She then took her seat once more. "Don't threaten me again. I don't like it. Next time I'll hurt you." Frightening her was the wrong move. She'd spent 500 years fleeing for her life, paying debts and scheming her way through life. She was tired of it. She was tired of the fear and now it was time to make that known.

Stefan sat up, with a groan, and looked over at Katherine. "So what went wrong with the perfect plan?" he asked.

"I waited too long." She said honestly. "I didn't really want to do it. I didn't want to see that woman back up and walking around. I knew if I was anywhere around she'd have me too. So I kept giving Damon my blood for months, keeping it in his system. He really was the perfect student. Even as a human he had a grasp on the whole vampire thing. I figured you would be my problem child ultimately. "

Stefan shook his head as he listened.

"So when your father killed the two of you… and my plan to disappear into the land of the truly dead appeared to have worked I hid the book and the stone amongs your half brother's things. I compelled him to protect them and to plant vervain around your mother's mausoleum. I figured I'd come back later and deal with it if I had to but I didn't have to because everyone thought I was long gone and no one knew where to find the book. "

"But then you turned up alive." Stefan said.

"Exactly. Only when I was here the last time I didn't know where they'd put the book or the gem so I had to find it again. I left them in the boarding house because they were safe there until I needed the book. Someone was willing to pay me a lot for that book. "

"When you left the house too easily we sorted out that you had to have brought something with you to hide or taken something with you. So we searched the house. That's when Damon found the stone disk. Which started all of this happening again. Now he has the book and they are both in the mausoleum with our mother's body."

"Which means Portia will be on her way if she isn't here already along with the witch. " She said. "When are we dealing with Klaus?"

"Friday night." He said.

"Good. The sooner the better. I want out of this town before anything happens. So do you." She said. "Anyone that isn't one hundred percent living wants to be as far from Mystic Falls as possible before she wakes up. Even you and Damon." Katherine told him. "They don't consider us people, Stefan. Not even pretty little Alexandra. He's not a person to her. He's a pampered guard dog. A pet that she loves and would cry over if he died but nothing more than that. Never an equal. Never a person."

"And yet you say my mother wanted you to turn Damon so that she wouldn't kill him when draining him. If she doesn't think Vampires are people why would she do that to her favorite son?"

"I don't know, and I'm not sticking around to ask her. They aren't human, Stefan. They aren't humans with powers. They're different. They don't see the world the same way we do, they don't feel the same way we do." Katherine insisted. "If you love your brother, you'll knock him out and get him as far away from your mother and Alexandra as possible and pray that the bond fades with time. "

"That's not going to happen." Stefan said. "Not Alexandra anyway. He's in too deep."

"So you believe me now?"

Stefan nodded. " I was in his head tonight. I could sense what was going on… But he's right about one thing. It was his choice this time. I'm not going to interfere with that. He's happy for once. "

"Happy isn't all it's cracked up to be." Katherine said. "So what's the plan with Klaus?"

"We're still working on that." Stefan said.

"Cutting it a little close don't you think?" Katherine asked. "Why are we sitting here talking about your mother when we have Klaus to deal with."

Alexandra and her sister returned to the house carrying a large bottle of liquid. "Now for the test run." She said setting it on the table.

She looked surprised as Henry offered his arm to her.

"Not like that. Do we still have that bottle of champagne chilling? I thought we'd test it that way."

"Planning on dosing the whole party?" Damon asked as he went to grab the champagne.

"Just before we make our move yes. Jeremy and Matt have hired on to be servers. But first I want to make sure that it won't affect anyone but the vampires. Or for that matter that it will affect the vampires. You don't mind do you."

Damon shrugged "I'm up for it. This means I stick with the hard stuff at the party. And honestly if it takes down the human guests too that's not a bad plan either. It will mean less collateral damage when those outside start to move inside. "

"I'm still working on that. Unfortunately with him inside masked as Tyler he can get them all invited in at one point or another. " Avril said.

"Is there some sort of barrier you can put up that can block them out?" Henry asked, hesitantly.

"Possibly." Avril said."I will have to check into it. I don't know that I could do it on my own around the entire property this quickly. "

"Looks like we're going to have to settle for old fashioned defenses, then." Damon said pouring four glasses of champagne and bringing them over to the table.

"Anything come to mind?" Henry asked.

"Not yet. We used vervain bombs the last time, Klaus will be expecting that again. He's paranoid. He's probably already expecting that we know who he is."

"Then maybe we should dose everyone early on." Alexandra said.

Damon shook his head. "No… that would be telling too. He's not going to make an appearance until he's had a chance to approach Caroline. He's here for her. "

Alexandra dosed three of the glasses but Damon put his hand over Avril's.

"Someone should be awake … just in case." He said then picked up his own glass and took a drink. "Adds an odd flavor but not gonna be noticed in cheap bulk champagne… I… guess…" He said and instantly slumped forward.

"One down." Avril said as she sipped at her champagne. "you don't have to drink that if you don't want to." She told Henry. "Damon agreed. You didn't."

He gave her a confused look then looked to Alex for her decision.

"Completely up to you." Alex said and smiled as he set the glass down uncertainly. "you'll get used to it. Well… my turn." She took a long drink of it. "I don't notice anything odd about it at all. Ooh feel a little weird though."

Henry frowned and reached out. "Take my hand."

She did and felt nothing. "Wow… none of that for me I guess." She couldn't draw energy from him at all. "I hope this doesn't last long. "