Chapter 15: The Night is My Own.

Darwin was fighting to keep his fear in check so that he didn't project too much. He had no idea how long he had been walking around in the dark and silent house. It felt like time was standing still, which was a dangerous feeling: Before you knew it too much time had past. Every room was filled with what he assumed was expensive artwork. Not like the colourful, psychedelic paintings he had in his apartment in Denmark, but like the art he'd seen at The Louvre. Not that he knew much about art, anyway.

He had searched the intire first floor, skipping the part that had been marked as the servants' quarters on the floor plan.

Now he was walking silently down a hall on the second floor, feeling Niklaus' presence grow stronger and stronger. He had to be up here somewhere.

He opened the doors as quietly as possible, hoping not to find Niklaus waiting for him inside. Behind the third door, he finally found what he was looking for; An office.

He hesitantly stepped inside, but nothing happened. He went over to the desk and opened the drawers, hurriedly. The first one contained a nail gun, but he didn't take the time to wonder why. The second one contained a stack of papers and he pulled i out, looking through it: Bonds, insurance papers, pedigree of a horse, and a lease contract.

Wait a minute, a lease?

He pulled it out of the stack and skimmed it. 'Barber Self Storage and Warehouse Rentals.' It concerned a warehouse in Virginia Beach, which seemed like the best clue, he'd come across so far.

He took his cell phone out of his pocket and took a couple of pictures of the lease contract, before putting the stack of documents back in the drawer.

He opened a third drawer and took out a dagger. He turned it in his hand, considering it from all angles. It looked exactly like the one John Gilbert had given Damon.

"Planning to stab me in my sleep?"

He froze.

(Break)

Stefan woke up, blinking in the semi-dark. The curtains were open and moon light flooded his room, painting everything in silver and shadow. His copy of 1984 lay open beside him. He had probably fallen asleep while reading. He sighed, put the book on the end table, and settled back down.

Darwin.

He immediately jumped out of his bed and vampire sped into the hall. He opened the door to Darwin's room, somehow already knowing it would be empty.

And it was.

He heard that the tv was on in the parlour and he ran down the stairs. Damon and Alaric were sitting on the couch; Damon sipping a drink and Alaric seemingly half asleep.

"Where's Darwin?" He was almost yelling, and Damon sent him an annoyed glare.

"How the Hell should we know?"

"He's not in the house?"

"Nope, "Damon turned his attention back to the tv, "He left."

"When?!"

"I don't know. I didn't check the time ... "

Stefan cursed under his breath, spun around and ran back up the stairs.

"What the Hell is wrong? "he heard Damon yelling after him.

(Break)

The magical alarm he'd had put on his office went off in the middle of the night, jarring him from his sleep. At first, Klaus had been furious, stalking down the hall with murderous intent, but when he found Darwin standing in his office with the dagger in his hand, the fury was quickly replaced by annoyance.

"Planning to stab me in my sleep? "he asked drily.

Darwin froze and Klaus felt a violent wave of fear hitting him, almost knocking him backwards. It took him a moment to realize that the fear wasn't his own. He had forgotten this particular feature of Darwin's.

Klaus quickly composed himself. "Well?"

Darwin stepped backwards, shaking his head vehemently. "I'm not intending to hurt you!"

"Of course you're not, "his annoyance grew a bit, "But please, do tell me what you're doing in my house."

Darwin swallowed. "What difference does it make? You're going to kill me, no matter what I say."

Klaus considered for a moment. "Maybe. Maybe not."

They stared at each other for a few long seconds, before Klaus sped to him and slammed him up against the wall with a hand around his neck. He wrung the dagger from Darwin's hand and stabbed him in the stomach with it. Darwin flinched, but Klaus knew it wasn't in pain. The boy was too old to feel much a anything from so little. Darwin was breathing fast. If he had been human, he would have been hyperventilating.

Klaus pulled out the dagger, blood dripping on his new carpet. He held it up for Darwin to see. "Now, an explanation."

Darwin shook his head again.

Klaus lifted the dagger to stab the boy in the neck, but a calm voice stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Niklaus."

He loosened his hold on Darwins neck and turned around, slowly. Elijah was standing in the doorway seeming casual, but Klaus knew him well enough to recognise the look in his eyes.

It wasn't anger, no; It was much more than that.

He let the hand that held the dagger drop. "Long time, brother."

"Not nearly long enough."

Klaus let go of Darwin. "I wasn't going to kill him, just scare him."

"I think he's plenty scared, "Elijah remarked unemotionally.

The brothers stared at each other, the animosity between them growing.

"Fine, "Klaus finally said, "you can take him, but if I find him in here again, I will kill him."

"Come here, Darwin, "Elijah said, keeping his eyes on Klaus.

Darwin hesitated for a second, then moved. But as he passed Klaus, the hybrid reached out and grabbed his arm. "Give me your cell phone, "he ordered.

Darwin reached into his pocket and took out the phone, then handed it to Klaus with a shaking hand.

Klaus threw it at the wall and it smashed into pieces. "There. You can go now."

(Break)

They walked back to the Boarding House. Elijah had vampire sped to the Mansion, since it would have taken too long to drive. Walking suited Darwin just fine; The cool night air soothed his frayed nerves.

"That was immensely stupid, "he said, shakily.

"Which part of it?" Elijah asked.

"Well, all of it."

Elijah shrugged. "You did, what you thought was right."

Darwin felt slightly surprised. "But you told me not to."

"I thought it was the right thing to do at that moment."

"You don't anymore?"

"Yes, I still do."

They walked in silence for a moment, then Darwin asked: "Are you going to have me spelled into the tomb now?"

Elijah glanced at him. "On your birthday? No."

"How about the day after?"

"No."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"Because you were right, Darwin; I cannot tell you what to do." Elijah sighed. "But that doesn't mean I won't keep trying."

Darwin smiled a little. "I usually don't do anything that stupid. That's what has kept me alive for so long."

"I'm glad to hear that, "Elijah patted him lightly on the shoulder, "So, did you find anything?"

"I found a lease on a warehouse in Virginia Beach, "he told him, "I took some pictures of it with my cell phone."

"You don't have that anymore, "Elijah pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. I sent the photos to your phone ... And I saved them on my sim card and I have that in my pocket."

"If that's where Klaus has stored the caskets, he will probably have them moved now."

"Probably, "Darwin agreed, "But I'm guessing that would take awhile. It can't be an easy task."

He suddenly stopped. "Bonnie and Jeremy!"

"Don't worry, I sent them home, "Elijah assured him.

They finally arrived at the Boarding House and as they entered, Darwin felt the presence of several familiar people: Alaric, Bonnie, Jeremy, and of course the Salvatore brothers.

He turned to look at Elijah: "What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it, "Elijah steered him toward the kitchen, "Go get some blood in you."

He went into the kitchen, but stopped short.

The only light came from a bunch of birthday candles, placed in a large yellow cake with green frosting.

Darwin took a couple of steps forward, feeling a lump in his throat. "Oh, would you look at that! There are sixteen candles."

The electric light went on.

"Happy birthday. You're alive!" Bonnie hugged him briefly, while the others entered behind her. Darwin felt a bit awkward. He had never been that comfortable with physical contact.

"We were hoping you would survive, "Damon said, smiling slightly.

Darwin returned the smile. "And if I hadn't?"

"More cake for us."

"We weren't planing on having the party until tomorrow afternoon, but since everybody were up anyway ..." Alaric shrugged.

Stefan stepped forward and handed Darwin a small bottle: "Here."

Darwin looked at it. "Guardian Spray."

"You need it to strengthen your boundaries, before entering someone else's personal space."

"Yes, I know, "he put it into his pocket, "Thank you. I probably need gallons of that."

Next, Elijah pressed a small, black box into his hand. He opened the lid. "Wauw ... "

Bonnie looked at the contents over his shoulder. "An old coin."

"No, it's a gold bracteate from the Germanic Iron Age, "Darwin looked up at Elijah, "Where did you get it?"

"I actually don't remember, but I've had it for centuries. It depicts the legendary Danish king, Harald Wartooth."

"Why was he called 'Wartooth', "Bonnie asked.

"According to Saxo Grammaticus' Gesto Danorum, one explanation is that Harald lost two of his front teeth in battle against Veseti, and instead two new teeth grew out."

"I didn't think people went into battle before the age of six, "Damon remarked drily.

Darwin laughed. "Thanks, Elijah, it's a great gift."

"Bonnie and I didn't know it was your birthday, so we haven't got anything for you, "Jeremy said apologetically.

"That's fine, "Darwin said reassuringly, "Who made the cake?"

"I did, "Alaric answered, "and it may or may not contain a secret ingredience."

Darwin nodded. "That's the way we like it."

"Maybe Jeremy and Bonnie should skip the cake?"

"No way, dude, "Jeremy shook his head, "you can't go to a birthday party without at least tasting the cake."

"Fine. But we can't have too much. We all have things we need to do tomorrow."

"Of course, "they all agreed.

(Break)

"I don't feel anything, "Elijah said an hour and a half later, looking around thoughtfully, "But I think I may be shrinking."

Stefan snickered: "Why is that?"

"Alaric seems to be taller than me."

Alaric, who had been especially taken by his own cake, snorted. He tried to wave a hand dismissively, but unfortunately ended up pimp slapping Damon in the face.

"I've been taller than you all along, doc, "he said, while Damon blinked, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Elijah frowned at him. "That's not how I remember it."

"Well, if we talk about egos ..."

Elijah nodded. "Then you would be taller than me."

"That was not, what I was going to say!" Alaric sent him a withering glare, which looked quite silly on a man, who seemed to have no motor skills. "I was going to say ... God, now I lost it!"

Damon whacked him on the back of the head, and Alaric turned in his chair to look at him. "What the Hell?!"

"It's half past four in the morning, "Bonnie said dejectedly, "I have to be in class in less three hours. I'm so screwed ..."

"You're screwed? "Alaric said, shaking his head, "I have to teach that class."

"Jeremy's been stuck in the toilet for quite some time now, "Darwin noted, "Maybe he has fallen asleep?"

Alaric perked up. "In the toilet? Then he'll drown!"

"I meant in the bathroom, not in the actual toilet. There's no room for him anyway."

"Maybe he's shrinking too?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Oh God, why don't you just shut up, Rick!"

"Well, you seem to have it in for me tonight!" They glared at each other in stoned anger.

Darwin quickly changed the subject.

"Look at the candles, "he said, his own voice sounding a bit distorted to his own ears, "They've only burned halfway down."

They had been eating around the candles, which were still planted in the middle of the cake.

"Let me light them again, "Bonnie said, frowning in concentration.

Nothing happened.

"Light, damn you! "she snapped, pounding the table with a fist.

The intire cake went up in flames.

"Aaaah!" Stefan jumped backward, tipping over and ending up on the floor. "Put it out, put it out, put it out!"

Damon quickly got the coffee pot and poured the contents over the cake. The fire went out with a sizzling sound.

They sat in silence for five seconds.

"On no, the candles went out." No one knew, who had spoken. Not even if it was themself.

"Look, I can ... "Bonnie started, then her eyes widened, "Darwin! Your hair!"

She grabbed her glass of milk and poured it over his head. Then everybody stared at him in mesmerized horror.

He wiped milk from his eyes. "How bad is it?"

No one seemed capable of answering.

"Well, on a scale from one to ten ... "Damon finally said, "About a hundred."

AN: Still not supporting the use of marijuana in food ... I'd actually be shunning it completely, if it wasn't for stoned Alaric.