Not About You

Chapter Two

"That was pretty funny," Damon said with a smirk as he turned their show back on.

***

"Did you see this?" Lucy called into the void of the house as she entered, newspaper in hand. Why the town still had a local paper, she had no idea, but she read it religiously.

The brothers appeared from separate parts of the house. "See what?" Stefan asked.

She folded the paper so the article she'd been reading was on display and handed it over. Stefan's brows furrowed as he read before passing the paper to his brother. "Animal attacks?"

"Well, it wasn't me. And it obviously wasn't Stefan unless he fell off the wagon without mentioning it." Damon tossed the paper onto a nearby table. "So that means..."

"Another vampire is in town," she finished for him. "This is an awfully small town for there to be three vampires here. What are the odds?" Damon's gaze darted between her and his brother and Lucy instantly grew suspicious. "What do you know, Salvatore?"

He sighed and raked a hand through his hair before motioning for the other two to follow him. "My timing in returning to town wasn't coincidental. When I told you Katherine died in the fire at the church, that wasn't exactly true." He poured a glass of bourbon and downed it before continuing. "There's a tomb beneath the church. The vampires were locked inside. Are locked inside. With the return of the comet, it should be possible to open the tomb."

Stefan stared at his brother with wide eyes. "You can't be serious, Damon. We don't know anything about those vampires. Even the few we did know, there's no telling what all that time locked away has done to their mental stability. They could tear this town apart."

Damon held up a hand to cut off his argument. "I had originally intended to rescue Katherine, the rest of them be damned. Now, I don't really give a shit. She can rot with the rest of them. I won't be opening the tomb, little brother."

Lucy arched a brow and poured her own glass of liquor. "What changed your mind?"

"You." His simple answer had her turning in surprise. He laughed at her expression. "Talking to you about her—about everything—made me realize a lot of things. The primary one being that she didn't give a shit about either of us. She got off on playing us against each other. On seeing if we would betray one another for her. It was a power thing. I'm better off without her. Hell, the world is better off."

Stefan pursed his lips as he thought and Lucy wondered if he agreed with his brother or if he was still feeling nostalgic for his old flame. Finally, he nodded once. "Good. Leave her right where she is."

Conversation then moved to finding the vampire feeding and killing near town. Their presence was a threat to the brothers and they would need to be dealt with one way or another. Lucy fell asleep to Stefan playing with her hair while his brother rubbed a hand along the legs she had draped across his lap.

***

A few days later found them once again discussing the vampire as they sat on the couch. Two campers had been killed and there had been an attack at the first day of school bonfire. The brothers had patrolled the woods, but so far they had found nothing. They were all becoming frustrated at the lack of progress.

Lucy was turned on the sofa so her back leaned against Damon's side. He hooked an arm around her to keep her next to him. Stefan sat at the other end and rubbed her feet absently while they talked over the music she had playing in the background. That was probably why none of them were aware of their visitor until she appeared in the doorway.

Lucy tapped Damon's arm while nudging Stefan with her foot at the same time. They glanced at her before following her line of sight to the girl.

"Elena," Stefan exclaimed and Lucy pulled her legs back so he could get up.