Lights Out by Breaking Benjamin
Now you want to take me down
As if I even care
I am the monster in your head
And I thought you'd learn by now
It seems you haven't yet
I am the venom in your skin
~~~~~
Chapter Two
"You have got to be kidding me." Clare stated, grey blue eyes on the black haired man sitting at the bar who was currently flirting with some woman at the bar.
"He really doesn't know how to keep it in his pants." Kayla snickered, her eyes on Damon as well.
Clare couldn't help but grin as she shook her head. "He never changes, does he?"
"Nope. I'm gonna find someone to take a bit of, text me when you're done humiliating Damon." Her daughter told her before walking off.
She knows me way too well, Clare thought with amusement.
Smirking, she walked over to Damon who was still charming the woman at the bar. With a fake innocent look on her face and wide eyes, Clare ran up to Damon. "There you are! I though you said you'd meet me out front." She puckered out her lower lip in a pout.
Damon blinked surprised as he looked at Clare. "Clare?"
"Don't tell me you forgot! I mean, what kind of guy forgets his own girlfriend." Clare emphasized the last word and inwardly smirked when the other woman spoke.
"Girlfriend?" The woman narrowed her eyes at Damon before chucking the contents of her glass on him and walking away.
Clare burst out laughing at the look on Damon's face as he glared at her, his now wet hair clinging to the sides of his face. "Was that really necessary?" He inquired annoyed.
"Pretty much, yeah." Clare grinned as she took the seat next to him. "That's what you get for not being at your house when you knew we were coming."
"We?" Damon groaned as he turned to face the brunette fully. "Please don't tell me you brought the brat with you."
"You two really don't like each other." Clare remarked amused as she ordered a bourbon and fries for herself.
"Hmm, I wonder why?" Damon replied dryly. He took a gulp from his drink before looking at her and saying, "And considering you just got beer dumped on me, you're not very high on my buddy buddy list either."
Clare snorted. "Please. You deserved it." She bit into a fry before looking at Damon. "So, what's the problem?"
"Did you know that werewolves exist?" Damon answered her with a question.
The brunette raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah…they predate vampires. Why?"
Her answer seemed to annoy him. "Why am I the last one to find out these things?"
Clare rolled her eyes. "It's pretty much common sense, hon. If vampires exist, wouldn't it be correct to assume that werewolves do as well?" She frowned as she examined her friend's face. "What's going on, D?"
"A werewolf's in town after some kind of way to break the Sun and the Moon curse." Damon smirked before taking another gulp out of his drink.
"The Sun and the Moon curse?" Clare whispered, a confused frown growing on her usually smiling face. There was no such thing as far as she knew. She groaned and rubbed her forehead. "I have such a headache." She muttered before looking at Damon. "So what do you need me to do?" The witch inquired.
"At the moment, nothing because I want to enjoy getting drunk and ignore all the crap going on."
"I second that." Clare murmured as she downed her glass before ordering more.
"So how've you been?" Damon inquired, leaning forward onto the bar counter as he turned sideways slightly so he could look at her.
"Alright." Clare replied.
"Just alright?" Damon smirked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yep. Now let's hurry and get drunk before Kayla comes back and declares that you're a bad influence on me."
"Quite the role reversal, huh?" He grinned before downing part of his drink.
"Tell me about it." Clare laughed quietly. Her grey blue eyes softened. "She's a good kid. She worries too much about me, though. She needs to live her own life, not spend every waking second worrying about me. It's as if she thinks I'm a piece of glass that's going to break." Clare took another long drink from her bourbon, her eyes looking to the side as if in thought. "I think I would, though, if anything ever happened to her." Kayla was the only thing holding her together. Without her, Clare had nothing.
"And I'd be the one who'd pick up the broken pieces." Damon said after a minute, flashing his friend a smirk.
Clare rolled her eyes. "Who are you and what have you done with my asshole friend?" Honestly, though, Damon was the only person besides Kayla whom she would ever allow herself to depend on. She trusted no one but them.
Damon's eyes roamed the Grill and he smirked at what he saw. "You might want to stop Kayla."
Frowning, Clare followed his gaze to the far side of the Grill where Kayla was talking to a man with shaggy hair. She presumed that he was her daughter's target. "Why?"
"Because one, he popped full of vervain and two, he's the local vampire hunter." Damon smirked. The smirk grew when Clare was almost instantly on her feet, already beginning to go over to her daughter.
"Mommy to the rescue!" Damon called after her.
"Shut up!" She growled back annoyed, flashing him her middle finger before hurrying to the other side while still maintaining to appear inconspicuous.
Kayla looked over and blinked as she saw her mother walking towards her and her target, Alaric. Clare sent her daughter a sharp warning look before projecting her thoughts into her daughter's head, He's on vervain! All witches could project their thoughts into the mind of someone with their bloodline flowing through their veins. However, even then it still took a powerful witch to accomplish this.
Kayla looked at her mother surprised. She sent her a questioning look to which Clare answered with a slight nod. Well, Kayla thought, this sucks.
"I'm Kayla's sister, Clare." Clare introduced, holding her hand out to Alaric with a fake friendly smile. The sister excuse was what they used most often considering people would begin to get suspicious if they claimed that Clare was Kayla's mom since Clare only looked a few years older than the female vampire.
"Alaric Saltzman." The man introduced, shaking her hand with a smile. "Your sister here was just telling me about her family necklace."
"Is that so?" Clare remarked brightly through gritted teeth. She looked at Kayla. "Yeah, the necklace is made of lapis lazuli and has been in our family for generations."
Kayla closed her eyes, inwardly wincing as she realized that if Alaric was on vervain, he obviously knew about vampires. By showing him her necklace, she had screwed herself over big time.
"You see, I'm a history teacher so anything connected to it fascinates me, especially when it concerns the history of our town." He explained.
"How nice." Clare remarked, eyes studying his face intently.
Damon eyed the three from the bar, instantly recognizing the look in Clare's eyes. It looked like he was going to have to warn Alaric off otherwise Jenna would have a dead boyfriend. Though it would be amusing to watch Alaric attempt to stake a vampire as old as Kayla.
"It must be hard, being a part time vampire hunter." Clare said casually, causing Alaric to tense and Kayla to roll her eyes.
"I don't know what you mean." Alaric spoke in the same friendly tone as before except now there was more than a hint of caution in his eyes as he looked at the two, as if he was already planning his next move.
"Of course you don't." Clare smirked before leaning close enough to whisper near his ear. "Cause us no harm and I promise you we won't cause you or any innocent citizen any." Clare wanted to hurry up and help Damon and then get the hell away from Mystic Falls as fast as she would be able to. Animosity from Alaric would only complicate things.
"I think that's enough, Sis." Kayla stated, sarcasm thick when she spoke the last part.
Clare rolled her eyes before looking over at Damon who appeared to be making fun of her.
Alaric watched the brunette narrow her eyes at someone before sticking her tongue out at the person. Warily, he followed Clare's gaze to the smirking Damon. Instantly, he came upon a conclusion. "You know Damon."
Clare turned her gaze back to Alaric. "And apparently so do you."
"The question is…friend or foe?" Alaric remarked, looking at the woman intently.
Clare arched an eyebrow. "I am definitely not your friend…but I'm not your enemy either. You stay out of our way, we stay out of yours."
"I mean," he said slowly, "are you a friend of Damon's?"
"Unfortunately. Otherwise we wouldn't even be in this backwater town." Kayla muttered under her breath.
Clare glanced at her. Considering I grew up in this "backwater town" a thousand years ago…
Kayla sent her mother a smirk.
"Did I hear someone say my name?" Damon inquired smugly as he made his way over to the three. "Were you talking about me?"
"Actually, yeah we were." Kayla said smirking at him. "We were talking about what a pain in the ass you are."
Damon glanced at her with an amused look. "Quiet, little girl. The grown ups are talking."
Kayla's eyes narrowed at his condescending tone. "Watch your tone around me, baby vamp. I could snap you in half if I wanted to."
Damon arched an eyebrow at her challengingly. "Go ahead. I dare you." He crossed his arms, a smirk on his lips.
Clare watched this going on with a bored expression on her face. Glancing at Alaric, she said with a shrug, "They hate each other."
"Really? I couldn't figure that out myself." He remarked sarcastically.
Clare looked at him briefly. "Do we have a deal?"
"As long as neither of you go on a killing spree." Alaric responded after a moment.
Clare smiled. "Alright then. And don't worry, hopefully we won't be in town too long." Turning to the other two who were still bantering, Clare rolled her eyes. "Enough flirting you two."
Kayla paused in mid sentence to turn her head to face her mother. She had a horrified look on her face. "Ew!" Not that she didn't consider Damon hot (someone would have to be blind not to), but even the thought of sleeping with someone her mother had slept with horrified her to no end.
Alaric arched an eyebrow at that and grinned as he looked at Damon. "Looks like you're not as popular with the ladies as you seem to think you are."
Damon rolled his eyes, dismissing the comment. "Please. Why would I even waste my time on a runt like her?" Before Kayla could voice her outrage, he continued, "Now if you'll excuse me, you stole my drinking partner and I came to take her back."
Alaric suddenly noticed the fact that Damon's hair as well as the top part of his shirt were slightly wet. "Do I want to know?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Not if you wish to see another day." Damon remarked casually, ignoring Clare's grin. "Now," He turned his attention to the witch, "Ready to get drunk?"
Clare opened her mouth to say yes but was cut off by her daughter. "No, because I'll be the one who will end up having to take care of her."
Damon smirked. "Oh don't worry. I'll take care of her."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Kayla muttered. Kayla sent her mother a look as if asking her if she really thought getting drunk was a good idea. The last time Clare had gotten drunk, a citywide blackout had occurred. Enough said.
Clare sighed before shaking her head. "Not now, Damon," she remarked grudgingly. Looking at Alaric, she said, "I take it that you're aware of the werewolf problem as well?"
"Ric, meet my secret weapon against Mason Lockwood." Damon replied smugly at Alaric's inquisitive look.
Kayla rolled her eyes annoyed. "Its not exactly a secret if you keep on telling people about her."
Alaric was looking at Clare curiously now. "Secret weapon?" He arched an eyebrow at her.
Clare smirked and all of a sudden, the lights within the Grill flickered for a brief second before completely going out. A few seconds later, the power came back on. "Is that answer enough for you?"
The teacher looked at her with new eyes. "You're a witch." He stated, having previously thought that she was a vampire. He looked at Damon, a growing grin on his face. "This plan of yours could work."
"What exactly is this plan?" The auburn haired woman questioned curiously, a smirk on her face.
"If Mason doesn't agree to a truce, we kill him." Damon stated nonchalantly.
"Yeah, because it worked out so well the first time." Sarcasm could be heard in Alaric's voice.
Clare frowned, her eyes looking at Damon with the sharpness of a hawk. "What happened the first time?"
Damon rolled his eyes as he turned to go back to the bar. "Let's just say that, the whole silver thing?…Yeah that's a myth."
Kayla actually blinked at that. "Idiot."
"Next time you decide to go after another supernatural creature that you know nothing about, listen to these two words of advice. Call. Me." Clare stated in annoyance before changing her mind about the drink and following him to the bar to get a couple shots in before leaving.
Meanwhile, Kayla looked at Alaric curiously. "Damon trusts you, huh?" She may hate Damon, but that didn't mean that she didn't respect him from time to time. If he trusted someone, then that person was trustworthy. He was like her mother in that aspect.
"I guess so…why?"
Kayla started to walk away but stopped and turned her head to him. "Don't expect that to mean anything to me. You do anything that causes me to believe you're a threat, and I'll kill you." She frowned for a second before hesitantly giving the man a small smile. "But that doesn't mean we can't be friends."
~~~
"Where is Stefan at?" Clare asked quietly as she looked at him curiously. They were back at the boarding house and were sitting in the living room near the fireplace. She was speaking quietly because Kayla was asleep with her head on the arm of the couch next to her mother.
Damon rolled his eyes before saying. "He's over at Elena's." At Clare's raised eyebrow, he explained, "She's his girlfriend…well ex-girlfriend supposedly but I think that's just the lie they're telling to keep Katherine from doing anything bloody."
"Katerina?" Clare remarked annoyed.
"Yeah. Oh, did I mention that Elena is also the doppelganger?"
That caused Clare to freeze, her breath catching in her throat. "The doppelganger?" She whispered hoarsely, not sure that she had heard correctly.
Damon's eyebrows furrowed at her reaction. "What's the big deal about this doppelganger thing anyway?"
"Nothing." Clare stated, so used to lying that Damon didn't even notice. "It just made me think of a story I once heard about the Original Petrova doppelganger." She looked down at Kayla's sleeping face, her eyes seemingly far away as she ran her fingers soothingly through her daughter's silky mane of hair.
Damon arched an eyebrow at her as if to tell he to continue.
Taking a deep breath, Clare spoke. "A long time ago-"
"How long ago?" Damon interrupted.
"A very long time." Clare snapped annoyed, hating to be interrupted. She winced as she noticed Kayla move slightly but thankfully, the vampire remained asleep.
Kayla was too obsessed with killing her father already and Clare didn't want to add fuel to that fire. As much as Clare hated Klaus, she still loved him. Plus, she didn't want Kayla to have to live with having killed her father which is the main reason why Clare always made sure they evacuated whatever city or town they were in quickly if she found out Klaus was nearby.
"How long ago?" Damon repeated, smirking as his friend's temper continued to flash out into the open.
"Lets say a thousand years, okay?" Clare stated before taking a deep breath and continuing monotonously. "A thousand years ago, a woman fell in love with two men, brothers, and caused them to turn against one another."
"Sounds like another Katherine." Damon muttered under his breath.
"The woman, the original doppelganger and the oldest of the Petrova children, had a younger sister who foolishly fell in love with the younger brother whom she had been friends with for many years...and that was when everything began to take a turn for the worse."
Mystic Falls, 1009
Clara was watching her friend pace back and forth in front of the tree she was sitting underneath. It pained her to see Niklaus like this. Her fool of a sister didn't know what a treasure she had a hold of. Not only was Tatia stringing along Nik, but Eli as well.
That angered the usually mild mannered witch. "Stop pacing, Nik, and talk to me." She said softly, her grey blue eyes looking at him gently.
"How can I when my own brother is trying to steal the woman I love?" Niklaus demanded angrily, kicking a stray rock hard enough to send it into the pond. "Where is the honor in that? Tell me."
Clara sighed. "Nik…do not blame Elijah. He is in the exact same position as you."
Niklaus looked at her sharply, disbelief clear on his features. "Do not tell me you are on his side in all of this!" He hissed, hurt flashing in his eyes.
Clara blinked. "Are you really accusing me of betraying you?" Niklaus didn't say anything. He simply looked at her with narrowed eyes.
Hurt colored her face. "Me? The one who has stayed by your side despite the fact you are completely enthralled by my wench of a sister? The one who has done nothing but try and cheer you up? The one who stood by you every time your-your bastard of a father treated you unfairly, as if you were useless?"
Tears brimmed in Clara's eyes. "Forget it, Niklaus." She stood up slowly, her eyes never leaving Niklaus's startled face. "Next time you need someone to cover for you when you sneak off to see Tatia," she sneered her sister's name, "ask someone else. Because I," she choked back a sob, "am done being nothing more than your little assistant." Clara turned to leave but was stopped by a hand grabbing her arm sharply but gently.
Pulling her arm back sharply, she turned to Niklaus. "What?" She demanded, ignoring the tears falling down her cheeks.
Niklaus stared at her with confusion clear on his face. Clara wasn't known for snapping at people or even yelling. Yes she had a temper just like everyone else, but she had never shown it to him before…until just now. "What do you mean you're done?"
"What I mean is that I'm done meaning nothing to you."
Niklaus looked at her, his expression a mixture of shock and anger. "You are my friend! You do not mean nothing to-"
"I love you Nik." She whispered, her eyes meeting his now wide ones. "I love you so much that it hurts to breathe whenever I see you with my sister or you mention her. It kills me to see her pit you and Elijah against each other day after day…" The tears were really coming down now but Clara's voice never wavered, a testament to how strong she really was. "I love you, but…you love Tatia." She whispered the last part before running away.
This time, Niklaus didn't try to stop her. He looked as if a multitude of emotions were crashing down upon him and he didn't know what to do.
Mystic Falls, 2011
"Clare? Hello?" Damon waved his hand in front of the woman's face, causing her to snap back into the present and out of the past.
"Yeah?" The brunette blinked, looking at her friend.
"You zoned out." Damon stated causing Clare to sigh.
"I'm sorry. Things have been…hectic lately." An almost run-in with Klaus was at the top of her list of stressful things that had happened lately. There was also the whole possibility that Klaus would make an appearance here soon considering the doppelganger was in Mystic Falls.
That was just a nightmare waiting to happen.
"So, the sister fell in love with the younger brother. What happened afterwards?"
"The sister died, leaving the younger brother heartbroken. It destroyed him completely and he became a monster." Clare stated bluntly, her grey blue eyes cold as ice.
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Review please!
Lol, this story is really pretty much writing itself. Not even I know who Clare will end up with since I'm torn between Damon and Klaus (Especially Klaus). Nonetheless, though, there will be plenty Damon/Clare and Klaus/Clare throughout the story, though the Klaus/Clare won't take place for a while considering he won't know she's in Mystic Falls until around the beginning of season 3 :D