Chapter 4

A wood on the outskirts of Mystic Falls

It took Damon less than five minutes to reach the wood which Stefan had been taking about. During that five minutes, Damon had, unsuccessfully, tried to get some response from his brother. But since that blood-curdling scream, Stefan had been frighteningly quiet. A mantra of "Please let him be ok!" was running through his head as he entered the wood.

Damon paused for a moment, letting his heightened senses lead him to his brother. He had never wanted to become a vampire but as he caught a whiff of his brother's blood, he had never been so grateful for his vampire abilities in his life. Letting his nose be his guide, Damon sped off in the direction of his brother becoming increasingly more worried as the sheer smell of Stefan's blood assaulted his senses. What had happened to his brother?

When Damon finally found his brother and saw the state he was in, Damon could have swore that his undead heart stopped for a few seconds. "Stefan" he breathed as he threw himself to the ground beside his brother.

Stefan looked dreadful; his chest was covered in blood which was still leaking out of the many wounds that covered him. His arm and leg were sticking out at incredibly odd angles and Damon felt sick when he noticed something that suspiciously resembled a bone, poking out of Stefan's arm. Every muscle in his body was taunt with pain and tremors shook him every few seconds. With trembling hands, Damon searched for a pulse; it was there but worryingly weak. Damon let a shaky sigh of relief before proceeding to attempt to rouse his unconscious brother.

Gently, Damon took Stefan's head in his hands. "Stefan!" he said. "Come on, open your eyes brother!". But Stefan's eyes remained tightly shut. God, his brother was stubborn sometimes. "Come on Stefan...please?" As he uttered these words, Stefan's eyes slowly fluttered open. Stefan took a few minutes to become aware of his surroundings before his gaze fell on his brother.

"Damon...you...found...me.." Stefan murmured, the pain taking his breath away.

"Course I did little brother. I will always find you" Damon replied. If Stefan had been in less pain, he would have been shocked at the care and love in Damon's voice (Damon was not one to voice his feelings); however right now, Damon could have kissed Stefan and Stefan would not have noticed. The only thought running through his head, was that his brother was here and, therefore, everything would be alright!

"Please...Damon...it hurts!" Stefan groaned as pain shot through his body.

"I know Stef," Damon comforted, gently stroking his brother's cheek. "You're going to be ok, I promise, but first, we have to get you home." Damon carefully laid his brother's head back onto the ground before standing up so that he could assess how to lift him without causing too much pain. In the end, he decided that he was going to hurt Stefan no matter what so being as careful and gentle as he could; he reached one hand underneath Stefan's legs and the other round his back, swinging him up into a fireman's lift. This slight movement caused Stefan to howl in pain.

"God, I'm so sorry Stefan!" Damon exclaimed. " I have to get you home though and this is the only way!"

"It...hurts..," Stefan panted, his voice sounding impossibly weaker.

"I know Stef, I know." Damon replied, his heart breaking for the younger vampire. Damon knew that the journey home was going to be pure agony for his brother and Damon certainly didn't want to cause his brother any more pain, but there was not a lot that could be done.

Damon set off, moving as steadily as possible to keep Stefan from being jostled on his shoulders. This however, proved to be impossible. The wood was not the easiest place to walk and more than once Damon tripped, cursing as he tried in vain to prevent his brother from feeling any pain. Each time this happened, Stefan would let out a tear-inducing whimper before burying his head in his brother's shoulder, praying for anything that would take the pain away.

After a particularly nasty fall, Damon felt his brother slip back into unconsciousness. He was partly glad for this as it meant he could now quicken his pace and get Stefan home sooner. As soon as the Salvatore Boarding house came into sight, Damon felt a small sense of relief; at least now he could properly care for his brother.

Damon burst through the door, heading straight for Stefan's bedroom, checking for any heartbeats as he ran. There were none which Damon was glad for as it meant he would have no distractions when looking after his brother. As carefully as he could, Damon lay his brother onto the bed; this caused Stefan a cry of pain even though he was unconscious.

"You're going to be ok now little brother." Damon promised, partly to reassure Stefan and partly to reassure himself. He had never been so scared in his life when he had found Stefan lying prone on the forest floor but now was not the time to be dwelling on the past; now was the time for Damon to fully step into his big brother shoes and take care of his little brother. And to do that, the first thing Stefan needed was: blood!

"I will be back in a moment Stef," Damon told him and with that sped off towards the cellar.

Hey guys! Are you enjoying so far? Thanks once again for all your fantastic comments. I know I keep saying this but they really do encourage me to keep going with my story. I would like to apologise if Damon or Stefan seem a bit OOC in my story; I do try to keep them as realistic to their characters as possible but sometimes I get carried away as I love their bond so much! Please keep reading and reviewing! :D