⭒❃.✮:▹
Mystic Grill
"Thank you for meeting with me, Mayor. I figured as head of the Preservation Society, you'd be a good person to ask about the oldest trees in this community." Rebekah said as the three of them (she, Mayor Lockwood and Arabella) had sat down.
Arabella had promised Rebekah to help them find the white oak tree or at least the remains of the three so the entire Mikaelson family would not die. She especially didn't want Rebekah, Kol and Elijah to die but somewhere deep down she knew Klaus was included.
"A long line of Lockwood women use to keep those records, back before any of them had actual jobs." Mayor Lockwood replied as both Rebekah and Arabella let out a giggle."I've been to the Founders' archive, but I can't seem to find any record of the tree we're looking for." Arabella said."It probably got cut down. Big old trees built half of this town in the 1900s." Mrs. Lockwood replied as she took a sip of her coffee.
Arabella saw that Stefan and Damon had entered the Grill and were heading towards the bar. Rebekah noticed as well as Damon spoke.
"Sunshine and the She-devil at nine o'clock." He said as Stefan shot Arabella a suspicious glance, but she dismissed it with a smile.
"Do you happen to know who kept the milling ledgers during that period?"
"Back then all the logging mills were owned by the Salvatores."
Rebekah let out a 'oh' as the mayor looked over to Arabella. "You're familiar with them aren't you?"
"Yes, Stefan is my boyfriend." She said as she looked towards the two brothers at the bar at the same time Damon glanced back at the two girls.
"So what does a medical examiner, Bill Forbes, and Alaric Saltzman have in common?" Damon asked Stefan, who started to tap his ring on the counter, annoying Damon. "Come on, knock it off."
Stefan stopped. However he did pour himself a drink.
"You know, quitting blood cold turkey after a ripper binge might not be the best approach. Every time you play that all-or-nothing game, you eventually leave a trail of bodies. So, I'm thinking, now is a good time to pay our old friend moderation a visit.
"They were all on the Founders' Council, Damon. That's what they all have in common.""But why them? Huh? Brian Walters and Alaric weren't from founding families. I mean, hey, if you're gonna slaughter council members, go A-list. At least in 1912 they killed a Salvatore."
Rebekah and Arabella had said goodbye to the mayor and had come up behind the two brothers at the bar.
"And which Salvatore would that be?" Arabella asked.
"Zachariah."
"Your nephew?" Arabella asked.
"Zachariah Salvatore was your nephew?" Rebekah questioned.
"Well, our father knocked up one of the maids during the Civil War, she had a son. But as far as everyone else knew, Stefan and I were dead. Family name had to go somewhere."
"And, uh, your family owned the logging mills back then?" The blonde continued.
"You two are full of a lot of questions."
"We're just researching the town history. I grew up here after all." Rebekah answered, a fake smile presented on her face. She moved into the seat next to Damon
"So, did they ever catch the killer?"
"Nope. Wrote it all off on vampires." Damon answered.
"Maybe it was a vampire." Arabella said.
"Yeah, yeah, maybe it was a vampire, Damon."
"Don't think for a second you didn't cross my mind too, brother. But these murders weren't your style, were they? Plus there were no other vampires circulating then."
"Well, there was one other vampire. Remember Sage?" Stefan spoke his question, direction it to his brother.
"Ohh, right, Sage. Speaking of great sex." Damon said before taking a swig from the bottle.
"Who's Sage?" Arabella asked.
"A vampire we knew in 1912." Stefan said, kissing Arabella's cheeck as a sign for her not to worry.
"I knew a Sage once. Trashy little thing." Rebekah said, remembering her oldest brother girlfriend from 900 year ago.
"Ha. Imagine it was the same Sage."
"You really think it was Sage who was killing all those Founders back then?" Damon asked his brother.
"Town questioned every grown man in Mystic Falls. Probably never occurred to them that a woman could have done it." Stefan shrugged.
"Tell me more about your old relatives. I heard they tore down half the woods to build this town."
The bartender gave them a new bottle of whiskey but as Rebekah went to grab it, Damon took it from her.
"Easy there, lushy pants. It's been a hoot and a half but it's boy's night and you weren't invited." Damon said to Rebekah before he left as Stefan followed him with two glasses.
"Rude." Arabella muttered as she watched her mate and his older brother going over to the dartboard.
Damon started playing darts as Stefan sat down at a table behind him. Damon hit a bullseye as he spoke. "So, let's just say Sage was killing everyone in 1912. Who the hell is doing it now? It's not that psycho, Dr. Fell. She's a woman. There's no way she could stab three grown men."
Damon threw a dart, but Rebekah caught it before it could even hit the board.
"That's a bit sexist. A woman could easily kill a man, with the right motivation." She spoke as she handed the dart back to the older Salvatore.
Arabella however just sat down by the table next to her mate.
"You just, uh, don't give up, do you?" Stefan asked.
"Why are you so grumpy?" Rebekah asked him, annoyed.
"He's on a master cleanse. Trying to be a better man and all. He's being self-righteous." Damon took the bottle of whiskey again.
"I'm not being self-righteous, Damon. I'm just not interested in slaughtering innocent human beings anymore." Stefan spoke, harsly but relaxed when he felt Arabella grab his hand under the table.
"Oh, okay, fair enough. My mistake." Damon took out Stefan's journal. "You used to be self-righteous." He started to read from the journal. "Dear diary, Damon has lost his way, though I have pulled my own life together he continues to waste his."
"Ouch." Rebekah joked as she grabbed the journal out of Damon's hand, also reading Stefan's diary aloud. "His bitterness consumes him. He is nothing but blackness and vile."
"Oh come on guys." Arabella said, rolling her eyes at her two friend and their childish actions making Rebekah close the journal and wind the strap around it again.
"You know, if I'm being honest, you didn't seem like much fun either, Damon." Rebekah expresses as she handed the journal back to Damon.
"I wasn't. The woman I was in love with was stuck in a tomb and she wasn't getting out for a hundred years. I wasn't having any fun at all."
"That sounds like Sage all right." Rebekah voiced her thought after Damon stopped telling his story about Sage and her need to get him to kill humans back in 1912.
"How did you know her?" Damon asked.
"She was obsessed with my brother Finn, over 900 years ago."
"What? Creepy suicidal guy?"
Stefan was tapping his ring on the table again. Arabella grabbed his hand, trying to calm him down, which was working until Damon spoke up.
"You're doing it again."
Stefan got up. "Alright, you know what, I need to- I gotta get out of here." Stefan said, changing what he wanted to say halfway speaking.
"Sure. First, admit you're jonesing.""Damon, I'm not-"
Damon rushed over and grabbed his collar.
"Admit it."
"Okay, fine, I'm freaking out. I'm ready to eat the entire wait staff, why do you need to hear me say it?" Stefan said, slapping the hands of his brother off him.
"Because I'm feeling a little self-righteous too." Damon spoke, but Stefan brushed him aside and stormed out of the Grill, Arabella trailing closely behind.
"I can't control it, Bels." Stefan grunted out as he kept walking.
"We'll find a way, Stef. You don't have to find control right this second. Even little steps is good." She spoke as she grabbed his arm, knowing that Damon had riled him up even more in the Grill.
"I can't keep murdering innocent people, Bella. I can't do-" He stopped talking at first she didn't realize why he did but when she followed his eyes she knew. "Do it."
"I don't want to hurt you." Stefan spoke and that was true. He would rather murder out an entire town, despite his morals, than hurt her. The only person who always truly believed in him. His soulmate. His world.
"Do it, Stefan." She told him, hoping that what she read was indeed right.
Before one of them could say another word, Stefan's fangs sunk into her neck.
The two didn't even notice Damon and Rebekah had also come outside, wondering if the couple was okay.
Stefan didn't pull back until a voice in his head told him to pull back. Veins under his eyes disappearing as he saw Riley looking horrified at the sight she was seeing and the others (Damon, Rebekah, Elena and Matt) looking rather shocked at his actions.
Arabella hadn't moved.
But how could she?
Her eyes were pitch black.
⭒❃.✮:▹
Words: 1538
Posted: March 31, 2024
Be sure to comment. I love reading them and it keeps me motivated!
x Kat