Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries and never will, but I do own Charlene Davis and Megan Swann and any other characters I come up with.
Author's Note: Hope you love the updated version! :D
For the most part, Charlene tried to just ignore Damon as they were in the kitchen together, thinking it would help the guilt go away. It didn't since she could still feel his gaze on her. Charlene moved around Damon to try and set the table for dinner, and he purposely bumped into her, luckily not making her drop anything.
"Whoa." Damon smirked down at her as she looked up at him. Charlene backed up a bit since he was little too close for comfort, but of course, he wasn't bothered by it. "Mmm…"
Charlene simply rolled her eyes and she tried again to move by him, managing to do so. "Do you mind not doing that? Seriously." She said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her tone of voice.
"Do what?" he asked, acting all innocent.
"You know what I'm talking about, Damon." Charlene responded, crossing her arms and staring at him. "You deliberately bumped into me."
"Well, yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the sink." Damon told her, shrugging. Charlene wasn't amused if the look on her face was any hint and he gave her a look. "Come on, Char, you really need to learn how to take a joke. Don't be so serious all the time."
"I'm not serious all the time." Charlene protested as he went over to the boiling pot of water on the stove, starting to stir it with the spoon already inside of it. "You're just not funny."
"What? I'm hilarious. I'm hurt." Damon pouted dramatically, placing his hand on his heart. Charlene rolled her eyes and he smirked, causing her to shake her head. There was a pause until he spoke again. "Speaking of Stefan, where is he? He's missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely." He smirked again.
Charlene came back into the kitchen to gather more stuff for the kitchen. "I told you, he's with Megan." She said shortly, not getting into it any further.
Something Damon noticed, so he changed the subject. "Is it real?"
Charlene froze a bit. "Is what?" she asked, pretending to not know what he was talking about.
"This renewed sense of brotherhood." He took the spoon out of the pot and took a taste of the pasta. "Can I trust him?" He glanced over at her.
She knew she should have been keeping eye contact with him, so he knew she wasn't lying but she couldn't maintain it as she much as she wanted to. "Of course, you can, Damon."
Charlene quickly moved away from Damon, smacking herself mentally in the head. God, she wouldn't believe her either if she was him. Taking a breath, she turned around and found Damon right in front of her, making the breath she took getting caught in her throat.
"Can I trust him?" he repeated, staring deep into her eyes.
Charlene swallowed hard and this time, she met his gaze head on. "Yes Damon, you can trust him. If you can't trust your family, who can you trust?" she questioned softly.
He didn't say anything, but it didn't last long. "What about you? Can I trust you?"
Charlene was taken back by the question, causing her to swallow hard again. "You can trust me." She told him with a forced smile, but luckily Damon didn't seem to notice. Before he could say anything else, she quickly went into the dining room to finish setting up the table.
1864…
"You can trust us, Mr. Salvatore, we would never cheat." Katherine said with a smirk. Her, Abigail, and Demetria were playing bridge with Giuseppe, and they were winning.
Abigail cheered in victory as she knocked one of the balls into one of the 'n' shaped thing in the ground.
"I'm losing over here!" Giuseppe called to his sons, who had just come up, grinning. "Again!"
Abigail gave Damon a wink as she curtsied to him and Demetria did the same thing to Stefan. They returned to the game as Stefan and Damon watched on.
Damon shook his head slowly. "They're good." He said as he kept his eyes trained on his lovely blonde. "I almost believe they genuinely like him."
"Perhaps they do." Stefan told his brother, keeping his eyes on his beautiful Demetria.
Damon laughed in disbelief. "They know that father would have them killed if he knew the truth."
Stefan shook his head, not believing in what Damon was saying. "Not if we talked to him," he said looking at Damon. "Explain how we feel…he could help us keep Abby and Demi safe."
Damon turned to face his brother. "Have you've gone mad? No, no, Father would drive a stake in both of their hearts himself."
"That's not true." Stefan protested. "We can trust him."
Damon shook his head immediately. "No, no, not with this." He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, looking at him seriously, "Please, promise me you won't tell him, Stefan."
Stefan sighed and nodded, "I promise."
Present…
"There was a time when I trusted him more than anyone." Damon said as she returned to the kitchen.
They were still talking about that? But she pretended not to be bothered by it.
"Maybe you can trust him again." Charlene told him after a moment of not saying anything. "But you have to give it to get it."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you lecturing me?"
"No…unless you need to be lectured." Charlene joked with a teasing smile on her face, placing one hand on her hip since she held a bowl in the other.
"I just want her back." This statement made the smile fall from Charlene's face. "I'm sure you can understand that."
She nodded sadly. "Yeah…I understand that you would do anything for her…" she said quietly.
However, she didn't get why he would wait for her this long from the way he talked about her, it made her sound like a bitch. But she didn't say this to Damon, knowing he wouldn't have a good reaction to it. Charlene tucked her hair behind her ear before setting the bowl on the table, but she stiffened afterwards as she felt Damon against her back.
"Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way." Damon threatened, whispering in her ear.
Charlene barely nodded. "Trust me, I know all too well." She breathed as she turned her head to look at him, their faces close together.
Damon didn't have a reaction to them being so close, but Charlene did as she gulped and if she was still human, she would be blushing like a school girl. He stared at her, taking a moment to glance down at her lips. For a moment, Charlene wanted him to kiss her. The moment faded as Damon walked away from her.
"What was that about?"
Charlene jumped at the sound of Elena's voice as she turned to face her sister. Megan was there too, standing behind Elena. "Nothing…" she said quickly. "Nothing important…" She said nothing else on the subject as she went back into the dining room to finish setting up for dinner.
After dinner was over, Damon and Jeremy sat on the couch in the living room, playing a video game.
"You said you never played this thing before." Jeremy said impressed.
Damon smirked as his eyes stayed on the TV screen. "I'm a fast learner," he said. "Quick reflexes."
Jeremy's phone started ringing. Jeremy grabbed and checked the caller ID only to see that it was Anna calling. He tossed the phone to the side before going back to the game.
"Who are you dodging?"
"This girl Anna," Jeremy replied. He rolled his eyes, "She can be, uh, persistent."
"Is she hot?"
Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, but she can be weird."
"Hot trumps weird trust me." Damon told Jeremy.
Megan stood with the Gilberts, helping them clean up the dinner plates. Stefan was still gone. So, she hoped everything went okay with Mr. Saltzman.
"He's ridiculously hot." Jenna whispered, not quietly at all. Knowing Damon as well as they did, Megan knew he had heard and was smirking.
"But his attitude is not." Megan said loudly, knowing he would hear it.
"Not to mention, he's an ass." Elena added.
Charlene placed a plate down in the sink. "An annoying one, to be exact."
Megan laughed, grinning over at her best friend. "Not the best insult, but it works." She joked as she nudged Charlene in the side, making her friend smile, before she made her way over to help Elena continue to look through the box of stuff.
"What are you doing with all that stuff?" Jenna asked curiously.
"I thought there might be something about my birth parents." Elena answered, half-way lying.
"Have you told Jeremy yet? About you guys being adopted?" Jenna questioned, looking at both Elena and Charlene.
"We will." Elena told her.
"But there just hasn't been the right time to tell him." Charlene said softly. "So, when there is, we'll tell him."
"Exactly." Elena agreed, closing the box. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Megan perked up.
"That's Stefan." She announced. She headed to the door as Damon quickly got up from the couch. Jeremy watched him go, agitated.
"Dude!"
Megan opened up the door with Damon right behind her. Stefan looked at Damon, confused to why he was here. When he looked over at her, Megan shrugged in response. She honestly didn't know why he was here as he was already here when she came back.
"Well?" Damon said with an expectant look on his face.
Ten minutes later, all of them were gathered on the front porch, so no one could over hear their conversation.
"Who took it?" Damon asked, sounding more demanding this time.
"I don't know." Stefan responded. Megan knew he was lying, but of course, she didn't say anything, because she figured he would tell her, Elena, and Charlene later without Damon there.
"You know what, it's that teacher. There's something really off about him."
Megan rolled her eyes. "You say that about everyone, Damon. He seems perfectly nice."
Damon ignored her as Stefan spoke up, shaking his head.
"No, he doesn't know anything. Someone got to it right before me."
"Who else knew it was there?"
Stefan looked to the window and Damon followed his gaze to Jeremy on the couch. Megan knew what he was thinking, and Charlene did too as the blonde stepped in front of him as soon as he took a step forward.
"Damon, don't you even think about it." She growled lowly, pushing a hand against his chest. "Leave him out of this."
"Why? What's the big deal?" Damon asked, pushing Charlene's hand away and quickly moving by her before she could say anything else.
Charlene groaned as he headed into the house and she quickly followed behind him along with Megan, Elena, and Stefan.
Damon sat down on the arm of the couch to speak with Jeremy, who was enamored by the video game he was playing. "So…I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"
"Huh?" Jeremy mumbled, not really paying attention.
"Don't ask questions, just spill."
Jeremy finally looked at him, chuckling in disbelief. "You're kidding me, right?"
Charlene placed a hand on Damon's shoulder, stopping him from say anything else. He glanced at her hand, then at her, but she didn't to notice his staring.
"Jer, please." Charlene told him as her brother looked over at her. "It's important. Did you tell anyone else about the journal besides Mr. Saltzman?"
"Why is everyone so obsessed with that thing?"
"It's the new Twilight." Megan joked, getting a look from the rest of the group. She smiled sheepishly. "What?" She cleared her throat and changed the subject back to the journal. "So, who else did you tell, Jeremy?"
"Just that girl Anna."
"The hot, weird one?"
"Yeah."
"Wait, who's Anna?" Stefan asked, confused.
Damon rolled his eyes, annoyed. "That's what I want to find out." He turned his attention back to Jeremy as Elena's phone started ringing.
Elena left to go answer it while Megan and Charlene stayed with Stefan and Damon.
"How do you know her?"
"I just know her." Jeremy put down the game controller and leaned back against the couch. "She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."
"Perfect. I'll drive. Come on." Damon pulled him off of the couch and dragged him off, ignoring his protest.
Charlene watched them leave the house, frowning deeply.
"If your worried, go with them." Megan told her best friend, grabbing her hand to get her attention. "We got it from here."
The blonde said nothing for a moment. "Okay, but I'll be back." She promised as she squeezed Megan's hand. Giving them one last smile, she quickly followed after Damon and her brother.
Megan turned to her boyfriend. "So, what did you find out?"
He nodded upstairs and they went up, going into Elena's bedroom where Elena was.
The brunette noticed that Damon and Charlene were nowhere in sight. "Where's Damon and Charlene?"
"He left to track down Jeremy's friend Anna, see if anything's there, and Charlene went with him to make sure he doesn't hurt Jeremy." Stefan said.
"Aren't you going to go with him too? If he gets the journal before we do…" Elena trailed off as Stefan spoke up.
"Doesn't matter." He said as he pulled out a stack of paper.
Megan's eyebrows furrowed. "What are those?"
"It's a copy of it."
"Really?" Megan took them from him, skimming through them. "How did you get him to give these to you?" She looked up at her boyfriend.
"He was kind enough to loan it to me."
Megan smiled in amusement. "You threatened him, didn't you?"
"Not exactly, but I got it."
She shook her head, laughing softly.
Charlene entered the Grill, looking around for Damon and Jeremy. When she had managed to get outside, they were already gone, so she had to vamp speed over there.
It didn't take long to spot him and Jeremy, and luckily, they were far away from each other. So, she probably didn't need to be here anyway, but she felt better knowing her brother was safe.
But since she was here, she might as well get a drink. Anything to get the edge off of lying to Damon. She shouldn't feel bad for lying to him as they couldn't let the tomb be open, but still. She hated being the type of person who still felt bad even if she was doing the right thing.
Sighing, Charlene went up to the bar and ordered a drink, and yes, there was compulsion involved since that was the only way to get it. She took a long drink of her bourbon, which she decided was her drink of choice now. After the drink was down, she sat down her glass and licked her lips.
"Are we babysitting me now?"
Charlene glanced over and Damon was sitting beside her, smirking of course. She rolled her eyes.
"If you mean making sure you don't hurt my brother, then yes." Charlene told him.
"I'm not going to hurt him, Charlene, not when I need to get information from him." Damon smirked again, and she shook her head. "Not that I'm complaining, there's nothing better than a hot babysitter."
Charlene couldn't help but roll her eyes again. "Nice, you're flirting with me even when we're trying to get your ex vampire girlfriend out of a tomb, how typical."
"Got to keep myself busy somehow." Damon smirked, snatching her drink before she could protest. He took a drink, then sat it back down. "Bourbon? Stealing my drink choice? How typical." He mocked her, but he was smirking at her, so she knew he was just teasing her.
Charlene shoved him in the shoulder. "Shut up." She forced herself not to smile.
"Never."
She shook her head, taking the glass to take another drink to hide her growing smile. There was silence between them, but she could feel Damon staring at her and she looked over at him, meeting his gaze.
"What?"
"I like this, us getting along. It's a nice change of pace." He smiled, and Charlene nearly blushed. She could safely say she liked it better when he smiled. It was nice as it didn't happen often.
"Well, if you weren't an ass most of the time, it would happen a lot more often." Charlene informed him, not stopping her smile this time.
"Mm right, well I wouldn't be me if I wasn't an ass." Damon smirked as he turned his head away and the smirk fell.
Charlene noticed his expression changed and frowned. "What is it?" she asked, looking to see what he was staring at. It turned out to be Jeremy and this girl, playing pool. Charlene guessed this was Anna. She was pretty.
"I know her."
Charlene looked at him, startled. "What?"
Megan sat close to Stefan with Elena on the other side of him as they looked through the pages of the journal. They looked through it for a couple minutes silently until Elena spotted something, taking the journal from Stefan.
"Here's a reference that he wrote about Emily." She read it out loud. "'The Fell family believed it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book. But I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear, but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who…" Elena paused, looking up at Stefan. "Is that your father?"
"Duh Elena." Megan responded, and Elena made a face at her.
Stefan didn't say anything for a moment, looking deep in thought. "Yeah, that's my father." He said softly. Megan noticed he looked upset and she reached down to grab his hand. In response, he squeezed it before releasing her hand to take the journal back from Elena to continue reading. "It was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear. He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book. He said he would carry it to his grave."
Megan couldn't help but shiver at that. "That doesn't sound pleasant." She joked a little as Stefan looked up from the pages, brows furrowed together in thought.
1864…
Giuseppe Salvatore sat in a chair in his study, writing in his journal. Looking up from his writing, he saw Stefan standing outside of the open door. He put his journal on the table in front of him. He got settled back in his chair as he said,
"Stefan, to what do I owe this pleasure."
"Did I interrupt your writing?" Stefan asked.
Giuseppe smiled, "These are the dull musing of my troubled mind."
"A great mind," Stefan corrected.
"Still," Giuseppe persisted. "I will carry the secrets with me—"
"To your grave," Stefan finished off with a smile.
Giuseppe's smile widened. "And a full grave it will be," he said. He gestured to the seat next to him and once Stefan sat down, he spoke up looking at his youngest with concern, "Now, speaking of troubled minds, what's on yours?"
Stefan thought about his words before speaking them out loud. "I have concerns about your plan for the vampires," he told his Father.
"And why is that?" Giuseppe questioned.
"We are making the assumption that all vampires are as evil as they've been characterized, but what if that's not true?"
Giuseppe looked at his son suspiciously, "Do you have any evidence to that contrary? Do you know any vampires?"
"No, no, of course not," Stefan said with a shake of his head. He looked at his Father in the eye, "But are we to take what other say at face value? You always taught us so differently."
Giuseppe stood up from his seat and headed to the small bar that he had as he spoke, "Stefan…these creatures are of the darkest parts of Hell." He poured two drinks, "They have the ability to control your mind, seduce you spirt. They are deadly and must be destroyed." He stopped in front of his son as he handed him his drink, "Those who stand with them; those who bring shame to their families will be destroyed as well."
Giuseppe held up his glass and they clicked their glasses together. Stefan took a sip of his drink, not knowing that the drink he held in his hand had vervain it.
Present...
"Stefan?" Megan said his name with concern, snapping him out of whatever he was thinking about.
"I know where it is." Stefan told them as he stood up to his feet.
"Great! Let's go find it." Megan knew she sounded a bit too enthusiastic about it, but she was, considering this was the only way to keep Damon from releasing the vampires from the tomb. Just hopefully they found it before Damon figured out what they were up to.
Charlene was still at the Grill when she got a call from Megan. Damon wasn't anywhere near her, so she could take the call without worrying that he could over hear her.
"Yeah?" she asked, answering her phone.
"Hey! Stefan knows where the grimoire is! Meet us at the old cemetery!" her best friend responded. "Is Jeremy okay though? And did you find Anna?"
Charlene nodded, even though Megan couldn't see it. "Jeremy's fine, and yeah we found her. This should keep Damon distracted long enough for us to get it."
"Let's hope! See you there."
"Okay. Love you."
"I love you too." Charlene hung up her phone and looked around for Damon, but he was nowhere in sight. So, she took this time to take off.
Anna entered back into her hotel room after her 'date' with Jeremy Gilbert. Once she closed the door, she found herself being held onto the wall by the neck from the one and only Damon Salvatore. Her own small hand wrapped around his neck and squeezed it as hard as she could. They kept on squeezing each other's neck until someone gave up. And that someone was Damon Salvatore.
"Okay, I give up."
Anna released her grip on Damon's neck. He coughed as he looked at her impressed.
"Damn," Damon said. "You're strong for a little thing."
"I was wondering how long it would take you to find me," Anna said out of breath.
It didn't take long to join Stefan, Elena, and Megan at the old graveyard. Definitely one of the things she was grateful about being a vampire that she had the speed to go with it.
"There you are!" Megan exclaimed when she arrived. "Was it hard for you to get away from Damon?"
She shook her head. "Nope, he doesn't know I'm here." She turned to Stefan. "So, are you sure it's in there?"
"As sure as I could be."
"Great." Charlene nodded. She kept looking around for Damon, hoping he wouldn't come until they were out of here. He was going to feel so betrayed, especially by her, but she knew she shouldn't feel bad about doing this. However, she was.
Stefan picked up two shovels from the ground and looked over at them. "Guys, I can do this on own. You really don't have to be here."
"We want to, Stefan." Megan assured him. "Besides, we told you we would do anything we can to help you."
"Exactly." Charlene agreed.
Stefan sighed. "I know, and I appreciate that, but…"
Megan cut him off at that. "No buts. We want to help."
"Besides, this town is our home, Stefan." Elena added. "We want to do anything in our power to protect it. We don't want that tomb open any more than you do."
"So, you're stuck with us." Megan stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend playfully. He smiled softly at her as he handed her the other shovel and she took it.
Stefan exhaled heavily, taking a moment for himself. Megan hated this for him, she really did. She couldn't imagine what he was thinking.
"I'm sorry you have to do this, Stefan." Megan told him softly, and he gave her a soft nod before getting lost in thought again. She shared a look with Charlene and Elena, who smiled sadly.
1864…
Demetria sat in front of her mirror, looking at her new necklace. Stefan was sitting on her bed watching her every moment. When he noticed her playing with the necklace around her neck, he spoke up.
"What is that?"
Demi looked at her lover through the mirror, "A gift."
"A gift from who?"
Demi chuckled, "If you must know…it was a gift from my mother. I found in my jewelry box. Why are you so curious?"
"I want you all to myself. I don't want you to be with another man. I apologize if I'm being selfish if I want you to stay with me.
Demi got out from the chair and turned to face Stefan with a smirk on her face. "No need to apologize, my love." she told him softly. "I'm not going to leave you." Her smirk deepened as she seductively made her way over to Stefan. "And just so we understand each other, I can be selfish too." She climbed onto the bed and began to kiss up his body as he moaned. "Because I can do this, and this, and this." Her lips made her way to Stefan's neck and she let her face change as she bite into his neck breaking skin. Stefan moaned at the feeling.
A burning sensation started to close up her throat and she began choking. She pulled back, blood all over her mouth. Stefan was instantly alarmed.
"What? What?!"
"Vervain." Demi managed to choke out. Still choking, she fell off of the bed, hands wrapped around her throat.
"Demi!" Stefan cried, crawling out of the bed and cupping her face. "Demetria!" The door burst open revealing Giuseppe Salvatore and he looked at his Father, a look of horror on his face.
"Go get the Sheriff!" he barked at his son. "Tell him we have a vampire!"
"What?! No!" Stefan exclaimed.
"Do as I say son!" Giuseppe cried angrily. "Nothing you feel for her is real." Stefan glanced down at Demi, who had already fainted from the pain. "She's a vampire Stefan! A monster! I fed you vervain hoping that it would expose her."
"How did you know?" Stefan demanded.
Giuseppe gave a sneer. "Your sympathy for their plight. I didn't raise my sons to be weak." He tossed his son his shirt. "The sheriff now! Go, quickly!" When Stefan didn't move, he shouted, "NOW SON!"
With one last glance to Demi, Stefan rushed out of the room shirt in hand, leaving Giuseppe there in the room.
'I know now who the other vampires are.' He thought as he stared down at Demi.
-0-
Katherine ran as fast as she could to her sister Abigail's room. Demi had been captured! She had to warn Abby. Katherine burst into the room, not even caring if her sister and her lover were naked. But they weren't. They were just lying in bed.
"Get up Abigail!" Katherine barked.
Abigail shot up in the bed and she saw the look on her sister's face, knowing something was wrong. She zoomed off, leaving Damon on the bed, looking at both sisters with a look of confusion on his face.
"What's going on?" Abigail asked.
"Demi has been captured!"
Abby's eyes widened in horror. Damon just sat there and blinked.
"We got to save her!" she cried but before she could run, Katherine grabbed onto her arm.
"No!" Katherine cried harshly, squeezing her sister's arm tight. "WE need to leave sister!"
"But we can't leave Demi! She's our friend."
"We have to. There is nothing we can do to save her." Katherine argued. "We'll find a way to save her, but we have to escape now before we get caught."
Abigail sadly nodded her head. She looked back at Damon and mouthed an, 'I'm sorry to him.' Before Katherine or Abigail could even rush out of the door, someone was at the bedroom door with a gun and shot the girls with a vervain dart: Abby in the arm and Katherine in the neck.
"Abigail!" Damon cried in horror. He started to run towards his love but found himself held back by none other than his father. He tried to break free, but it was no use, and Damon had to watch Abigail and Katherine being dragged away.
"Father, please let them go! YOU LET ABIGAIL GO!"
"Enough Damon. I'll talk to you later after I remove these demons away," his Father growled.
A couple minutes later he was alone. His father and some of his men were gone with the unconscious Abigail and Katherine. With a frustrated hand in his hair, he headed to the window and his eyes widened when he saw Demi being dragged out of the house. Damon's jaw clenched and his blue eyes darkened as he knew who told his father about the girls' secret.
"Stefan," he growled out before rushing out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Present…
"How long have you've been here?" Damon questioned as Anna walked over to a table, sitting down her bag.
Anna turned to face him leaning against the table. "I arrived half-past comet, watching you screw up every chance you had to open that tomb." She answered, rolling her eyes.
Damon walked closer to her. "So, if you've been around here the whole time, then why are we crossing paths, right now?" He now stood in front of her, a little too closer for comfort.
Anna didn't look at all bothered by this as she stared at him with a look of boredom on her face. "I like to use others to do my dirty work," she said simply as if it was obvious, brushing by him.
Damon slowly turned to face her. "Like Logan Fell?" he said as if it was a question. "Oh, yeah, thanks for that, by the way." He told her sarcastically. "Little bastard shot me."
Anna scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Logan was an idiot. We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal. I couldn't let him die."
"What did you want with the Fell journal?"
"I thought it contained the location of the witch's spell book," Anna replied, annoyed. "I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Jonathan Gilbert. And according to this…" She headed back over to the table and took out the Gilbert journal from her bag and showed it Damon. "He gave it to your father. So, now you're going to help me find it."
"Why would I help you?"
"Because we both want that tomb open."
Anna opened the journal to the page that he needed to read and handed it to him. Damon quietly flipped through the pages. He let out an amused chuckle as he closed it back up and sat it back down on the table.
"Sorry, I work alone." Anna glared at him, but he ignored as he left her hotel room.
While Stefan continued to shovel the dirt out of the grave, Megan shined a flashlight into the hole, so he could see what he was doing, while Elena and Charlene stood on either side of their friend, shining flashlights as well. She couldn't help but think how weird this was as she never thought she would be doing this in a million years. Megan let out a giggle, catching the attention of Stefan who paused what he was doing.
"What?"
"Nothing." Megan answered, shaking her head. "It's just…who can say they ever did this before."
"People who have problems." Charlene joked, and the black-haired teen flashed her best friend a grin.
"Good point." Megan agreed with a laugh.
Stefan shook his head, amused at their conversation, before going back to digging. He dug for a little bit longer until he finally hit something solid and it made a loud thud. He found it and Megan bit her bottom lip as Stefan looked up at the three of them with apprehension on his face. To try and make the situation less tense, Megan gave him a reassuring thumbs up, but it didn't make it any better and she slowly put it down. Stefan turned back to the coffin and scrapped the dirt off of it with the shovel before tossing it out of the grave, then he kneeled down in front of the coffin, using his hands to brush off the remaining dirt.
Megan leaned in to get a closer look and Charlene had to steady her to keep her from falling in. She shined the flashlight on the coffin as Stefan opened the lid of it. Megan plugged her nose when the awful smell of the rotten body filled the air. She wasn't the only one who had the do it, Elena did too. Charlene, on the other hand, wasn't bothered by it at all.
"Is that it?" Megan asked, even though she knew it was. What else could it be?
He barely nodded as he took the grimoire from his father. Stefan shut the lid of the coffin and Megan could see he was trying to regain his composure. Her heart broke for him again. She glanced at her best friends, who were tightly holding each other hands. They were probably thinking about their parents and Megan's heart hurt for them both too. Stefan climbed out of the hole, placing the grimoire on the dirt next to her, Elena, and Charlene. This time, Elena shined the flashlight on the grimoire as Stefan ripped the cover off and he carefully turned the pages of the grimoire, looking for the spell.
"Well, what do you know?"
Megan felt Charlene stiffen beside her as they all turned around, startled to see Damon standing right there. He was angry but she could see the hurt and betrayal in his eyes.
His lips curled up in a snarl. "This is an interesting turn of events."
Stefan didn't say anything for a moment. "I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry."
"So am I. For thinking even for a second that I could trust you."
"Oh, you're incapable of trust." Stefan snapped. "The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."
"Of course, I was going to do it by myself, because the only one I can count on is me!" Damon snapped back. "You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan. But you…" He looked over at Charlene, his eyes sad and full of betrayal. "You had me fooled."
Megan glanced at her best friend and she could see how upset the blonde was, seeing the tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
Damon heard her but ignored her as he went back to looking at Stefan. "So, what are you going to do now?" he demanded. "Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out." He glanced at Megan when he said that last part, and the look on his face made Megan stiffen.
Charlene gripped her hand tightly. "Don't you even think about it!" she growled.
"He's not going to hurt her." Stefan reassured her, putting a hand on Charlene's shoulder. Though it was to reassure her best friend, Megan wasn't so sure about that. They might have bonded on the Georgia trip, but she knew Damon would hurt her if he knew it would hurt Stefan.
So, she wasn't shocked when Damon vamp speeded over to her and took her into a chokehold, ripping her away from Charlene's tight grip.
"No!" Both her and Elena immediately protested.
Surprisingly, Megan wasn't frightened until he did something, she didn't expect him to do, but she should have.
"I can do one better." He said before biting into his wrist and forcing her to drink his blood. Instantly, she wanted to throw up from the taste as she struggled against Damon's body to let go of her. She could have used her magic to get him off, but she was too scared to make a move to do so because if she made any sudden movements, he could snap her neck and turn her into a vampire. And she knew what would happen if he did…
"Give me that book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck." Damon growled, tightening his hold on her after pulling his wrist away from her mouth. "And you and I will have a vampire girlfriend."
"Please Damon, don't." Megan managed to plead with him, even with her airway being cut off. "You don't want to do it." She knew and he knew if he did that Charlene would never forgive him for it if he did.
Damon ignored her as Charlene watched on in horror.
"Stefan, just give it to him." The blonde said, grabbing onto Stefan's arm.
He glanced over at her for a moment before barely nodding, then he looked back over at Damon. "Let her go first."
"The book!" his brother demanded.
Stefan shook his head adamantly. "I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me."
"Problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it back!"
"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will." Stefan said softly. Damon, still keeping Megan in tight chokehold making her wish she could use her magic and slam him against tree branch, nodded. "Okay." He slowly placed the book on the ground and reached out for Megan.
Deciding it was safe, but still not using her powers, Megan tried to get out of Damon's grip. He let go of her and she rushed over the other side of the grave, running straight into Stefan's arms as he held her in a tight and warm embrace. Megan buried her face into his chest, not even wanting to look at Damon. Even though she knew he would do something like that, it still frightened her to her core. Megan felt other arms wrap around her and she didn't have to look to know it was Elena and Charlene. They took her away from the forest, leaving Damon standing there, by himself.
Charlene and Elena insisted she stayed with them for the night, so they could keep an eye on her. Stefan was there too, staying beside her side at every moment.
"You don't have to stay here, Stefan." Megan told him as she searched for some aspirin for her head in Elena and Charlene's bathroom where they said it would be at. "Charlie and Lena can watch me. They won't let anything happen to me."
"I know, but I want to be here." Stefan smiled, and she looked over at him to smile softly before turning her attention back to look for the pain medicine. She searched for a few more seconds, but couldn't find anything, causing her to sigh.
"I guess it's downstairs." Megan said out loud, rubbing her throbbing head. God, she never had a headache like this before. "My head hurts like hell. Is it supposed to hurt like this?"
"Oh, you'll be fine." Stefan reassured her. "That was just a small amount of blood. It should pass out of your system by tomorrow."
"It didn't feel like a small amount." Megan said, cracking a joke as she went over to him and put her arms around him. In response, he rubbed her back in comfort, causing her to sigh at the feeling. She looked up at him and she could see in his eyes that he was thinking about something. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.
"Damon was right…" he mumbled, resting his chin on top of her head. "This is, uh my fault…" He started to tell her about what happened and after he finished, he let go of her and stepped back, looking away from her. "I put my faith in my father, but Damon put his faith in me, and I destroyed that. This is my fault."
Immediately, Megan went back over to him and grabbed his face, getting him to look at her again. "It's not your fault, Stefan. None of it is. You need to stop taking the blame for everything, some things just happens and there's nothing you can do about it. Even if you never had said anything, your father probably would have figured it out, and Katherine, Abigail, and Demetria would still be stuck in that tomb." He didn't say anything as she started to caress his face, staring into his eyes. "I love you, Stefan. No matter what. Don't forget that."
He nodded, reaching out to touch her face. She let him and she sighed at the feeling. Suddenly, the headache came back, causing her to groan.
"I need to get that aspirin." Megan mumbled.
Stefan chuckled. "I'll get it for you. You just rest."
"Okay." Stefan kissed her forehead before he left the room. Megan heard him say a quiet, 'hi Elena,' and a couple seconds later, Elena entered the room, looking at her concerned.
"How are you feeling?" she asked her.
"I'm doing…okay." Megan answered. "Stefan's getting me some aspirin, so I'm just going to rest and try to sleep it off…"
Elena nodded.
Charlene was in the kitchen when Stefan came in and she looked over at him, managing a smile. She was still thinking about what happened with Megan. She was hating on herself for not doing more to stop Damon. Charlene snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Stefan's voice.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course." Charlene answered quickly, too quick to be telling the truth. Stefan rose an eyebrow at her, and she knew he didn't believe her, causing her to sigh. "No…no I'm not…I should have done more to stop Damon…and that wouldn't have happened to Megan. That she wouldn't be in danger of becoming a vampire…" Stefan kept silent as he listened to her. She realized how the last part sounded and she winced. "Not that being a vampire is a bad thing…even I've grown to like it, I just don't want Megan to become a vampire by force. I want her to decide for herself."
Stefan finally spoke. "I get it. I don't want that for her either…"
Charlene wanted to ask him if they ever had that conversation yet, but she felt it was too personal to ask. Just then, Jenna entered the kitchen, giving them both a smile.
"Hi guys."
"Hey Jenna."
Jenna turned her eyes to Stefan, giving him a serious but playful look. "You do know you're not staying the night, right?"
He gave a laugh. "We're all just going to hang out for a little while."
Jenna grinned. "You're lucky that I like you." Then the serious look returned, "Keep the door open.
"Ah, you don't have to worry about that, Jen." Charlene told her, causing Jenna to look over at her. "I'll keep them straight. Besides, last thing I want to see is my friends making out, or anything else." She nudged Stefan in the side, grinning over at him. He shook his head at her, but smiled, probably happy to see her going back to her normal self. It was mostly for Jenna's sake, so her aunt didn't worry about her.
"Hey, do you have any aspirin?" Stefan asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah." Jenna moved over to the cabinets and rummaged through them as Jeremy came into the room.
"Oh, hey Stefan." Her brother greeted, and he nodded at him. Jeremy looked around, frowning. "Where'd she go?"
"She went to the bathroom."
"Ah." Jeremy went over to the fridge. Stefan and Charlene shared looks with one another.
"Who's here?" Charlene asked.
"He has a friend over."
Charlene looked over at Jeremy.
"Anna." Her brother explained.
Stefan instantly ran from the room, getting confused looks from Jeremy and Jenna. Charlene smiled sheepishly before rushing out of there too.
They made it upstairs together, and Stefan vamp-speeded around Elena's room while Charlene just stood there, her face darkening as she realized, looking out the open window, that Elena and Megan had been kidnapped.
TBC...
In...
Fool Me Once, Part 1...