Interlude 1: Lexi's last day alive

From out of the overnight bag, Lexi pulled out her hairbrush. The back of it had a large flat surface, so that it could cover a good portion of Stefan's buttocks. It was thick so that when Lexi slammed it home, Stefan would really feel it. Wooden, because plastic didn't hurt nearly enough. Worst of all, it was made specifically to spank a vampire. Lexi had called in a favor with a witch to make it unbreakable. She could use her vampire strength to punish Stefan for a long time, knowing it wouldn t crack. And when she brought it out, it's because that's what she was planning to do.

Eyes wide, Stefan shook his head.

"You lied to me." Lexi folded her arms. "You know what happens when you do that."

"I didn't lie," Stefan started.

Lexi held up her hand. Stefan's voice died. "Not telling me your new girlfriend is an identical copy of Katherine is a lie. Lies by omission are lies, Stefan. You know that."

Stefan lowered his head. There was only one thing he could say. "Yes, ma'am."

"I'm not doing this because of who Elena is. You said you love her, and I believe you. I really can t wait to meet her. But first I'm going to spank you for hiding the truth from me."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Last time we did this, it kept you honest for a decade. Let's see if we can double those results." She tapped the flat of her brush on her palm. It made Stefan squirm and swallow. It was going to hurt so much. "I don't do this because I enjoy it. I do it because it works. I need to know I can trust you. And I'm going to make sure that I can."

"I understand, ma'am," Stefan said. He was staring at the floor of his bedroom. It would be good practice. He knew he'd be over her lap and staring at it for quite a while. Somehow, he found the courage to glance up at her. He used that courage to glance up at her. "Can we, um, postpone it? Please?"

Lexi rose an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Damon might be around and he'd hear - "

"Me busting your ass? No duh. Not a secret." She kept tapping the brush on her hand and she was starting to pick up the pace. She wasn't interested in Stefan's excuses. "The first time I turned you over my knee, he was watching." She sat down on his bed and pointed to his bathroom. "I want you to shower. Don't dry off or get dressed."

She was going to spank his wet skin. Miserable, Stefan obeyed her. After a vampire quick shower, Stefan walked over and between her spread legs. Lexi wrapped her left arm fully around his middle and bent him over. He wasn't put on her knee to be disciplined. Not just yet. That would happen after she got him in the right mindset. Right now, he was going to be spanked under her arm.

Stefan needed consistency to help keep the ripper down. He also needed pain. Not just any kind of pain. It had to be kind of pain he feared wanted to avoid at all costs. No matter what. He also couldn't be allowed to avoid it when he had it coming. And, eventually, he always seemed to find himself getting it. And he needed to loathe it on a primal level. And there was only one type of consistency that met all the criteria. The kind of consistency he'd counted on since he was small. The kind of consistency that came from knowing every misbehavior meant he was due for good old-fashioned spanking.

Lexi's Stefan was never threatened with a whipping. He just got it. If he set a toe out of line, his bared butt cheeks were punished by her maternal hand. Because he had died and transitioned at a young age, some part of Stefan would eternally be a child. And very few things brought that child to the surface faster than having his bottom warmed under the arm of the adult he was answerable to.

He was hanging midair with his hips raised. It made his bottom extra round. A perfect target for a hand to spank. A dripping wet target. Lexi's hand would be drying her target with the heat that came from the stern rhythm she built. It felt just enough like his big brother warming his bottom after he'd been bad when they were human. It was what he grew up with. He trusted it. It's how Damon had guided and cared for him.

Spanked wet skin hurt much more than spanked dry skin. Lexi wouldn't need to hit very hard to bring tears to his eyes. But her smacks would come down very hard. Lexi didn't waste her time with few half-hearted swats to his rump. She believed spankings only worked when the recipient twin buttocks ached and burned from repeated blows from an unyielding arm.

What Lexi believed; Stefan had no choice but to accept.

Stefan stared at the floor as he waited for Lexi to start. He bit off some of the skin of his lip as he felt Lexi's pull her arm back. The smack that came startled him with how loud it was. It also didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have. She was cupping her hand. Like his own mother had, when he was very young, and the sound of the spanking was good punishment. She wanted him in the right frame of mind.

It was working. By the time Lexi had dried his backside with the heat of a well smacked bottom, he felt all of a foot tall. He'd even kicked his feet a few times near the end in a failed attempt to make the sting of her falling hand more manageable. He'd been bad and now he was being spanked for it! He'd misbehaved.

"I'm really sorry," he said in a tiny voice.

"You will be," Lexi said. Her voice was so reassuring, and it was such a contrast to the next smack, Stefan's began to cry in earnest. Her hand was now open, her palm burned, and her fingers stung so much. "No talking." His punishment continued. "You need to think about why I'm doing this."

Stefan nodded through the next few blows.

Unlike Damon, Lexi didn't hit his thighs. The first time she'd put him over her lap, she told him one of the primary purposes of a buttocks was for physical chastisement. God had granted parents two soft mounds of flesh that were sensitive enough for a spanking to hurt a child, but durable enough not to damage them. The layers of baby fat ensured even smaller children could reap the benefits of parental censure.

Stefan still carried baby fat that she could emphatically spank. She might catch a bit of his thigh while she was taking care of his sit spots if he wiggled too much, but that was it. She believed a burning bottom is all a child needed to learn their lesson. And she made a strong case for it. She could bring Stefan to remorseful tears just as well as Damon used to.

Lexi was proving her technique was a sound one once again. Stefan had been bad and lied and she was teaching him to be honest. Her words were a steady hand smacking disobedient skin and Stefan was hearing her good and loud. The lecture was hard hand crashing against soft skin and the listening was increasingly desperate whimpers and cries. Lexi was spanking him so swiftly!

There was no time to recover between smacks. Just more pain that added to the sting and made him cry more. He was wiggling. Kicking a bit against the floor. Dancing on the balls of his feet. Grabbing handfuls of her clothes to squeeze as the throbbing sting mounted to keep himself from reaching back. Sometimes his stray foot would land on her calf. It didn't bother her, she just kept smacking all over his bottom with a firm hand.

Damon taught him to be still and submit quietly to his spankings. But he was strict disciplinarian and always brought him to pained cries when his baby brother has been naughty so he allowed Stefan to squirm a little. But one of the lessons Damon made sure Stefan understood quite clearly is that a spanking not only corrected and punished mistakes, it also reminded him that Damon was the one who led. Stefan needed to follow by listening and behaving so that Damon could protect and guide him. He needed to be submissive as well as contrite while Damon disciplined him. Too much moving meant his bottom needed more spanks to relearn Damon was in charge.

Lexi was different. As far as she was concerned, the fact that she was doing the hitting and Stefan was doing the crying made it pretty clear who made the rules and who obeyed them. Lexi's spankings were always a painful ordeal. If Stefan wasn't wailing and squirming, she wasn't doing her job right. Lexi could keep him still while she gave him the thrashing he d earned. Stefan should spend his energy he usually spent trying to stay still thinking about why his backside was being tanned and how to be a good boy again.

"You're warm enough now," Lexi said, mostly to herself, as she landed two extra hard blows on the undercurve of Stefan's rounded mounds.

That made Stefan whine. It was pathetic. But that was okay, Lexi would use her hairbrush to get rid the last defiance still infecting his body. When she was done correcting him, he would be a throbbing mess of pain and tearful remorse and guilt, but he'd be her good boy again, working to redeem himself. 'Till then, was due for a long talk with her foreboding hairbrush because he'd misbehaved by lying.

He feared Lexi's hairbrush. But he also respected it and was grateful with how well she utilized it. Well, most of the time. When he was about to taste the fire it could bring or sobbing his heart out as it all but thrashed the skin off his seat, there was only terror and a foolish hope their talk would be a short one. He could be grateful of its efficiency at convincing him to behave between his spankings. Not now. When he was -

Stefan lost track of his thoughts because she was bending him over one knee and securing his legs between her own. His heart was racing. He started to cry even more. He was squirming just a little as she readjusted his position. She was looking to make sure his butt was as vulnerable as possible so she could give him a sound paddling. His nose was so close to the ground that his tears were dripping on the floor. He was about to get a good lesson but he didn't want it! It would hurt! Lexi was going to punish his bottom so hard.

Most of him was still damp. And he was messing up the nice clothes she's had picked out for his birthday celebration. He began to feel terrible. He was ruining them. That train of thought disappeared because she was moving his hips around more determinedly than before. It was taking forever for her to figure out how he should be presented for optimal results. Normally, she wasn't this fastidious about how he was lain down for a brushing. She and her hairbrush were more than enough to make Stefan a very sorry little boy no matter how vulnerable he was. This time she needed him with no defenses to make extra sure he learned from her.

He feared.

After she found what she was looking for, Lexi closed his legs to protect his delicate bits. She locked his thighs in place between her own. Again, she wrapped her arm around him. But this time her hold was less for leverage to swing and more to keep him pinned. Her brush could hit as hard and fast as she decided. Lexi was planning to focus all her attention on lighting a fire on his punishable buttocks. He was trapped where it mattered so she wouldn't worry about hitting anything but the chubby mounds of his cheeks.

Stefan was about to get a paddling from her fearsome hairbrush!

The flat of her brush felt impossibly large when pressed against his nude backside. Every time he was hit with the fine wood, it was able to punish so much skin. A smaller brush might be able to bruise him more easily, but Lexi was a vampire. She could tan him black and blue with a sheet of paper if she wanted to. A tool with wider surface served her purposes much better.

She lifted the brush. Stefan clenched his buttocks. Drummed his feet and hands against the floor. He hoped with all of his heart that his little boy squirming would help ease the coming burn.

It didn't.

Stefan shouted on the very first strike. He cried loud messy tears as he thumped his legs. Lexi kept his hips trapped. She was hitting her target, his upturned buttocks, again and again. Over and over, she thrashed his naked skin. Up and down, up and down, again and again. There was nothing but pain and more pain.

"Please, Lexi!" he was yelping and begging and starting to pound his fists on the ground because he was getting hit even harder than before. How was it possible for a paddling from a hairbrush to hurt so much? "I'll never lie again! Promise." Lexi was no longer warming his bottom - she was lighting it on fire. "I'll be good forever!"

"I'm not interested in your crocodile tears," Lexi said without pausing in her punishing rhythm. She was an experienced spanker and found it easy to lay down the law physically and verbally at the same time. "Now close your mouth and think, young man."

His tears were not, in any way shape or form, fake. Lexi was blistering him without mercy. Stefan was kicking and throwing his arms about because he was being tanned good and hard from a tireless arm. But from Lexi's perspective, Stefan's response was all for show. He was just a little boy trying his best to get out of the thrashing he needed. If Stefan could shout and squirm, he hadn't been punished nearly enough. His bottom still needed to be attended to for a long time, yet. Only after Stefan body was limp and his tears were cried out would she consider concluding his spanking.

There was no limit to the amount of pain a vampire could feel. Stefan was in no danger of going numb from the repetitive nature of a spanking. The blows would land and hurt and keep landing and keep hurting. And Lexi was spanking him as fast as she was hard. There was no chance for him to heal or recover. The smarting brush heated the curve of his buttocks and would keep heating it until Stefan knew nothing but its fire.

Stefan's world was reduced to a falling brush and exploding pain. As he wept, he drummed his legs more and more. He grabbed at air, wanting to squeeze something to help him endure the pain. Lexi just kept adding to the fire she lit on his vulnerable skin. There was no way to avoid the pain. He was only going to get more. Nothing would stop his cheeks from being paddled and tanned. Nothing, except Lexi. She, alone, would decide when Stefan's backside had been punished enough.

Lexi kept punishing.

Pain. There was nothing before or after. Just the pain of a burn followed by a flat surface smacking in more heat. Stefan was quite sure that s all there is and was in all of existence. Just a fire that was getting hotter every time the round surface came back down. And it was always coming down. There was no time for a break between the blows because they were raining down too fast. It became impossible for him to process the individual blows.

Something seemed to convince the brush to make its point more forcefully. Somehow, the blows fell down even harder. I was bad he thought, and was his last coherent one for the duration of his spanking. His paddled skin continued to be punished and disciplined. Thrashed and blistered. Tanned with fire. He was going to get a fresh wave of pain every millisecond forever. There would always be another blow to follow the last. Because his rear end was being taught be honest and to behave right by a hairbrush designed to teach him over a maternal knee.

At some point, Stefan became aware enough of the world to realize Lexi has ceased spanking him. She'd put his nose in a corner with his hands on his head. This was the reason she was so rigorous with her hairbrush. Stefan knew his skin was pale and supple, healed from his recent tanning. But the thrashing had been so intense it would take a moment for his brain to catch up.

The phantom pain helped him while he brooded over his mistake. He'd failed Lexi. His reasons were excuses. His fib had been a lie. For Stefan and Lexi, there was no such thing as a white lie. Privacy was a privilege afforded to adults. Rippers and eternal teenagers needed to be an open book for the adult who was protecting and guiding him.

"Hey," Lexi said. Her voice was gentle and kind. She tapped his shoulders and gathered him in her arms and let him cry. "It's okay, it's over. I've got you." She got them on the bed and held him tight as he ruined her clothes even more with tears and snot.

When he calmed down some, they laid side-by-side. She cleaned his face with her sleeve and brushed back his sweaty hair. Stefan was slowly returning to his normal self. "Thought I cried you out."

He couldn't stand to look at her. "I'm sorry for disappointing you."

"And I'm sorry I couldn't give you a fun birthday spanking," Lexi said, mimicking his guilt-ridden tone perfectly. In spite of himself, Stefan started to laugh. "See," she said, "we can still have fun. You lied, but I took care of it. Lesson learned." She sat up and there was a devil in her grin. "It's my day to spoil you rotten. So, get dressed so we can have some fun."

"I ruined your clothes," Stefan pointed out.

Lexi winked. "I always bring a spare set with my hairbrush." She hopped off the bed and began to strip off her clothes. "It's not my first rodeo, boyo." Stefan occasional birthday spankings were not usually fun at all. "And don't you dare go on a guilt spiral. Any excuse to buy more clothes is a good one."

Stefan worried at his lips. "Lexi, I - "

Lexi tossed him an outfit. "You weren't lying about falling off the wagon, so stop acting like it." She got dressed in one smooth movement. "You're just seventeen and in love. If you weren't acting a little stupid, then I'd really be worried."

Stefan followed her lead. When he was dressed, she pulled him in and down to kiss the top of his head. "C'mon, I can't wait to meet Elena. I need to see if she's good enough for you."

"Lexi!" Stefan grabbed her wrists. "She just found out I'm a vampire. Damon has not made the last month easy. And she's already grieving over her parents. I don't even know if she'll ever want me back." He should leave town, he knew. But the idea maybe she'd change her mind was too much of a temptation for him to resist. He stayed and hoped.

"She's seventeen and in love too," Lexi said, "let's see if I can straighten her out too."

Stefan's groan died in his throat when she twirled him around in a lazy dance. "I've been through this with Lee." She tilted her head and smiled up at him. "I remember you helping him decide I was worth the risk. Let me return the favor."

"Please don't spook her too much," Stefan said.

Lexi laughed wildly. "Ooh, I think I hear a human at the door. And I bet you anything it's a cute little brunette just dying to see you."

They rushed down the stairs together. Lexi was faster and got there first. She opened the door. Sure enough, it was Elena. Their eyes automatically locked. She was looking at him with those large doe eyes of hers. And her breath seemed to be caught in her throat. She wasn't quite smiling, but she wasn't frowning either. He tried to think of something to say.

Elena's eyes drifted over to Lexi, who was very much in Stefan's personal space. Her demeanor changed instantly. Her lips seem to be caught between a pout and a frown. Every line in her body became tense. She folded her arms and glared at Lexi. Then, at Stefan. Then at Lexi again.

Lexi leaned over to Stefan's ears and said in a loud whisper, "Looks like someone is jealous."

Elena's face became very red. "I'm not," Stefan was certain she was lying. Maybe she wasn t ready to end what they had. At least not completely. He started to walk over to her. "I just didn't expect Stefan to move on in one day."

"Have you two even been broken up for a fully twenty-four hours?" Lexi asked. A little over twenty hours has passed since Elena told Stefan she couldn't be with him anymore. Each minute had felt like a century. And Stefan had lived for over a century, so he knew what he was talking about. The last twelve hundred and fifteen minutes had been agony, save for the respite of Lexi s correction (which had been nearly as agonizing itself). She shook her head, delighted. "Fixing this is going to be a cinch."

"I don't like to share boyfriends," Elena said. Her voice was like ice. And if she hadn't come over on his birthday of her own free will, he might have flinched at her tone. "I think I'll be leaving."

Before she could turn around, Stefan said, "Elena." She paused. He gestured to Lexi. "I'd like you to meet Alexia Branson." He paused to stare at her hair, which seemed to be even shinier than usual. The skin of her face looked so soft and he was itching to touch and kiss it. He forced himself to get back on track. "My best friend. She's over two hundred years older than me."

He s told me all about you, Elena. The way she said her name made Stefan flush more than a little himself. It s Lexi, these days, Lexi moved behind him and draping an arm around his shoulder. "It's rude to share a lady's age," she added with a swat on his arm. "You need to get better at introductions. This is, what, the third girl you dated who thought I was competition?"

"I'll get on that," Stefan said. It was difficult for him to conceptualize Lexi as anything other than his best friend that he often overlooked how they looked to strangers. They were always in each other's spaces and so clearly comfortable around each other that they probably looked closed to married to outsiders.

Elena's smile warmed the entire room. Then, guilt hit her, and she stared at the floor for a second. Before Stefan could comfort her, she steeled herself and walked over to Lexi and held out her hand. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have made assumptions. I know Stefan's not like that. I just..."

"Don t worry about it," Lexi grabbed and pulled her into the living room. "Stefan's going to make the two of us the best breakfast you've ever had while I get to know the girl he can't stop talking about."

Elena hesitated. Her eyes were on him. His own breath caught for a moment. "It's a school day."

"Cut it," Lexi said, "today's Stefan's birthday. And we are not going to waste time any time on my favorite day of the year at a high school." She looked over at Stefan and shook her head, I still don t know why you keep enrolling in them.

That was her lying this time. She knew why. It was also why she gave him spankings.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" Elena asked. Before Stefan could answer she was turning back to look at Lexi. "And why are you making you cook on his birthday?"

"I'm punishing him for not telling you about me," Lexi said.

"I was trying to introduce her to things slowly," Stefan said.

"I'm your best friend," Lexi said, "not a werewolf. So, you know, a real thing that any human can understand."

"You can be," Stefan made a wide gesture with his hands, "a lot?"

Lexi thought. Tilted her head. "Fair enough. C'mon, Elena. Stefan's going to make something that will take at least a few hours while we get you pretty for him."

"Okay," Elena said. She was being dragged, again, this time to the front door. "But I might get caught. One of my best friend's mom is the sheriff and doesn't like truancy."

"That's what compulsion is for," Lexi said. She wrapped her arm around Elena and pulled her close. I have so much to teach you about the good parts of being a vampire.

"Please don't steal anything," Stefan said.

"I got your credit card," Lexi said and pointed to where the kitchen was located. "Now, off with you. And don't you dare make anything without a lot of sugar."

With a crooked grin, Stefan said, "Yes, ma'am."