Galgo had heard his friend enter the Salvatore Boarding house and met him on the stairs. He nodded to Zheko, "It is good to see you, my friend." Zheko smiled, "It's good to see you too. How are you doing with you know…everything?" "Er, as good as expected. Being a vampire is not as bad as I thought it would be. At least I have a better chance of surviving any adventures we go on," Galgo responded enthusiastically. Zheko laughed, "Yeah. Echo and I plan on making the transition in a few years." Galgo nods and pats Zheko on the shoulder as he passes him on the stairs. Zheko continues his trek towards Damon's room.
Knocking on the door, Zheko listens for any kind of reply. He gets a muffled grunt. Zheko huffs a laugh, "Just checking. Do you need anything? Lexi is currently subduing your brother before he eats the town." Damon snorts but doesn't move from his bed, "Need more blood." Zheko speaks through the closed door, "I'll grab a few more bags from the cellar fridge. Be right back." Zheko heads to the cellar and grabs five blood bags, making a note to resupply from the next town over. He could see Stefan was starting to wake up from his neck being snapped. Lexi is sitting with him. She had Lee lock her inside the cell with Stefan.
Zheko knocked before he opened the door, "I brought five AB Positive." Damon slowly sits up, his eyes covered by bandages as they grow back. His body is also trying to get rid of the remaining Vervain by sweating it out which slowed the healing process. Zheko sets the blood bags in Damon's lap, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" Damon stopped drinking, "Why are you helping me? Aren't humans supposed to hate vampires?" Zheko shrugs, "I'm not a normal human. Neither is my twin. And I know if you wanted to kill me you would have done so by now." "Your twin?" Damon asked.
"Yeah, Echo. Well, her birth name is Elena, but she prefers Echo," Zheko answered. Damon smirks, "Zheko and Echo. Definitely sound like twins." Zheko snickers, "Speaking of, I'm supposed to meet Echo at the Grill. I think I'll take Galgo with me." Damon nods as he continues to drain the second blood bag. Zheko stops at the door, "Do you want the door closed or cracked a little?" Damon stops drinking, "Cracked. Not a fan of locked doors." Zheko hums, "Okay." Leaving Damon's bedroom door cracked before walking away. The vampire is still coming to terms with not being in a cage anymore.
Zheko and Galgo join Echo, Caroline, and Bonnie at the Grill. "So, Galgo? How did you meet the twins?" Caroline asked. She had been suspicious of the guy the moment he sat down with her best friends. Galgo smiled, "They helped me out recently and I am indebted to them." Bonnie chimed in, "Where were you before this?" Galgo grew a little uncomfortable but answered, "I was traveling the country after leaving my home in Mexico and ran into a bit of trouble and these two helped me." Galgo left his answer a little vague but it's not like he could tell anyone they were from a different universe.
Echo cut in, "I hate to do this to you Care, but I'm quitting cheer. I just don't feel passionate about it anymore." Caroline gaped like a fish for a moment. So, Echo continued, "I mean I missed cheer camp this summer. I haven't been to any of the practices since school started. I'm just not feeling it anymore." Echo looked down at her hands, picking the dirt from under her nails. Bonnie spoke for Caroline, wanting to cut through the tension, "Well, we do have Sarah on reserves. She has every routine memorized and could easily step in. It just wouldn't be the same without you." Caroline finally says something, "At least you said something now and not the night of the game."
Echo took no offense to Caroline's tone, "I'm sorry, Care. I took time to think about it before I said anything, or I would have told you sooner. But, you're right, I should've given you a heads up." Caroline sighed in frustration, already going through her mental cheer binder formations and placing Sarah where she would fit. Bonnie and Echo share a look, knowing to leave the blonde be. Bonnie orders Caroline her usual when Vickie comes to take their order. Once Vickie leaves, Caroline turns to Echo, "It's okay. I'm glad you gave me time to sort it out." Echo nodded as she set down her drink, not wanting to say anything that could start an argument.
Zheko cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, "Maybe me and Stefan could try-out for the team." Bonnie bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing, "I don't know. I don't think you guys could pull off the uniform." "Football. The football team. And for your information, I look fabulous in a skirt," Zheko blurted out. The table was silent for a moment then they all burst out laughing.
Throughout the night Damon could hear Lexi trying to coax Stefan into drinking blood from the animals her boyfriend caught and drained. But Stefan continues to refuse. Stefan's woe-is-me is getting on Damon's nerves. So much so, he climbed out of bed and carefully walked through the house using the wall as a guide. Damon is cursing his eyes for not being healed. He feels his eyelids have grown back but his eyeballs have not. It doesn't help that he is still sweating Vervain.
Stefan and Lexi are arguing so loudly that they didn't hear Damon slowly coming down the cellar steps. "You two squabble like an old married couple," Damon sassed. The arguing stopped and their attention was focused on Damon. The eldest Salvatore was leaning heavily against the doorframe outside Stefan's cell.
Lexi was hoping to not speak with Damon just yet. She feels partially responsible for Damon being captured. She kept thinking about when she convinced Damon to not go with Stefan when the Ripper enlisted in World War II. Lexi thinks if Damon and Stefan were together, Damon wouldn't have been taken by those mad doctors. "Hey, Damon. Long time no see," Lexi cringed when she realized what she just said. Damon took it in stride, "Not much to see."
Stefan slowly moved closer to his brother. Approaching as if he was a skittish wild animal, "Damon, how are you feeling?" Damon sighed loudly, "I'm not there anymore. So, that's a plus." Lexi and Stefan watch as Damon comes into the cell, feeling along the wall until he finds the cot against one of the walls and sits down. "How about somebody explain why the girl who helped rescue me sounds exactly like that bitch Katherine?"
The venom Damon spat when saying their sire's name did not go unnoticed. Stefan shook his head, "I'm not sure. When I came back to town a few months ago I had saved her from drowning. I didn't see her face until I got her to the shore. Then I watched her over the summer to make sure it wasn't Katherine. I even enrolled in high school to learn more about Echo. She may sound like Katherine, but she doesn't look exactly like her." Lexi asked, "What do you mean?" "Echo and Zheko have the same conditions. Heterochromia and natural white streaks in their hair," Stefan says.
"Polios," Damon nodded. "How do you know?" Stefan was curious. Damon shrugged, "One of my tormentors talked about it like it was a disease that was curable. He would talk about bringing in the specimen for testing." Stefan huffed, "Do you remember their name?" Damon scoffed, "Of course I do. Doctor Grayson Gilbert." Stefan cursed under his breath, "He was going to experiment on his own daughter. Welp, glad he's dead." Saying this pissed Damon off, "Did they know? Did the twins know?!" Stefan shook his head even though Damon couldn't see him, "No. They found out through Grayson's journals when they were cleaning out their parents' belongings. They told me the next day about their father's sadistic side then planned to rescue whoever was there and destroy the lab."
Damon was fuming, "I'm going back to bed. Hopefully my eyes will be healed by tomorrow. I have way more respect for the blind now." He stood to leave the cell, "Stefan, maybe it's about time you figure out why you become a Ripper. What triggers it? You may be able to control your bloodlust then." Once Damon was out of the cellar, Lexi turned to Stefan, "Your brother's right. You should feed. Get the hunger under control so you'll have a clear head then go from there." Lexi handed Stefan the bottle of blood and watched him gulp down the entire thing.
Lee rejoined his girlfriend in the living room with a pacing Stefan. Lexi watched him pace for a bit before speaking, "Alright, from the first time you fed, what happened?" Stefan didn't stop his pacing, "I've told you this before Lexi." "Well, tell me again. The whole story. Every detail," Lexi emphasized. "Um, I had woken up from being shot. Damon and I came to an agreement to not complete the transition because we thought Katherine was dead, so there was no reason to go on. I wanted to say goodbye to my father, not knowing that he was the one who shot and killed us.
"When I arrived home, all the staff had run from me. Like they had seen a ghost, because in a way I guess they had. I entered his study. And there he sat. Completing paperwork like it was a normal workday. Like nothing happened the night before. Or that his sons were killed. I spoke to him, and startled him. He confessed to shooting Damon and me." Stefan had stopped pacing and was facing the fireplace, not wanting to look at his best friend, "My own father. He stood up from behind his desk, opened the top desk drawer and pulled out a stake. He had a wooden stake in his desk drawer. Who does that?
"He screamed at me to leave. That I was a vampire. An abomination. I tried to tell him I wasn't going to finish the transition. That I was going to die, and that is when he told me he was the one who pulled the trigger on Damon and me. Then he lunged at me. I panicked and defended myself. I didn't know my own strength. I ended up staking him. There was so much blood and I couldn't help myself. The burning in the back of my throat became too much and I gave in. I drank until there was nothing left. By then one of the staff came into his study, she must have heard the commotion. She screamed and I told her to be quiet and then I bit her and dragged her to Damon.
"He tried to fight me. To fight the hunger but he was weak and couldn't. After turning, Damon vowed to make eternity miserable for me and vanished. I was left to fend for myself. I had no one to teach me control." And there it was. The answer stared them all in the face. Lexi knew this, she needed to hear it again. Lexi cleared her throat, "Did anyone try to teach you before I came along?" Stefan shook his head, "Not really. Damon had been mentored by a woman with questionable methods that he tried to show me. That was the first time I beheaded someone while feeding and felt immense guilt afterwards. To the point I pieced her back together against a tree and ran."
Damon could be heard from his room, "And I felt like I failed as a brother. I rather you be annoyed or angry with me for being an asshole than causing your guilt." Stefan frowned, "But you didn't cause the guilt. I'm the one that went too far. You were only trying to help." Not wanting to cut into the sentimental moment but needing to figure out a solution for the Ripper, Lexi stands, "Sorry for cutting into the moment. But…I think the best way to go about this is by starting small. One drop of human blood a day from a blood bag, not fresh, alongside your normal diet. At least the first few days, then increase it to two drops and so on. Eventually working your way up to a whole blood bag. In the meantime, we'll work through the mental blocks holding the Ripper in place." Lexi stops for a moment, "That made better sense in my head." The four vampires couldn't help but laugh.
AN: The twins are going to do something really stupid next chapter that may shift the plot off the rails. The scene is one of the reasons I wanted to write this story, not the only one…But one of them.