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Ben Cocks - So Cold
"You caused my heart to bleed and
You still owe me a reason
Cause I can't figure out why..."
DAMON WOKE UP GROGGILY and rolled on the ground before seeing Holden looking at him. "Where is my ring?" he asked, noticing that his daylight ring was gone.
"Good morning, brother," Holden smirked at Damon, who sighed weakly from all the vervain in his blood and rested his head on the ground again. "Safe," Holden then said, meaning his ring. "Where you can't find it."
"How long have I been here?" Damon asked with narrowed eyes as Holden's face hardened and he stared at Damon.
"Three days," Stefan spoke as he approached Holden with a serious face and looked through the bars of the door.
Damon grimaced and looked at the vervain stash that was placed in the cellar. "What are you two doing?" he questioned in confusion. Damon thought that his brothers, especially Holden, would've killed him already.
"During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgement," Stefan began to explain and Holden nodded, getting amused again. "They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them."
"You know what will happen if I don't..." Damon paused, frowning at that idea. "... feed on blood."
Holden crossed his arms over his chest. "We know, Damon, and that's what we're counting on." Holden liked the idea that Stefan suggested.
"You'll grow weaker and weaker. Eventually you won't be able to move or speak," Stefan said and Damon glared at him. "In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever."
"So what, you two are just going to leave me in the basement, forever?" Damon asked them sarcastically.
Stefan glanced at Holden with a pointed look, then his eyes went back to Damon. "I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once you're circulation stops, we'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can reevaluate."
"Or never, actually," Holden added with a smirk causing Damon to roll his eyes.
"I'm stronger than you two idiots think," Damon told them with dark eyes, even though he looked very weak at that moment.
"You always have been," Stefan agreed honestly. "But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we all know it. I'm sorry. Didn't have to be this way..."
Holden looked at Stefan with a look to stop feeling guilty. "Let's just go already," he mused dully and the two left the cellar before locking the door.
Upstairs, they were greeted by Zach. Holden went to the bar and poured himself a drink before sitting down. "He's weak," Stefan informed Zach as he grabbed his bag. "He's weak, but it's probably best to stay out of the basement. He's Damon. I'm not sure how dangerous he still might be," Stefan said then started leaving.
"You're going to school?" Zach asked Stefan before glancing at Holden, who was drinking. He looked distant as if something deep was on his mind.
"Came here to live a life," Stefan sighed. "It's about time I get back to that. And Elena, if she's still speaking to me."
"Why haven't you called her?" Holden asked, finally looking up from his thoughts.
"What am I supposed to do, feed her another lie?" Stefan asked angrily and Holden raised his eyebrows. "I hate lying to her, Holden. I'm not good at it. She already thinks I'm hiding something."
"Because you are hiding something," Holden argued sternly then rolled his eyes. "You knew this was going to be a part of it. You can't lie forever."
LATER ON, ZACH WALKED INTO THE CELLAR and Damon looked at him hungrily. "I'm full of vervain," Zach said looking through the door bars. "I've been putting it in my coffee for 16 years. My blood will only make you worse," when he didn't get an answer, Zach furrowed his eyebrows. "Damon?"
"So it was your vervain," Damon smirked weakly, trying to stay in his usual mind field. "Good for you. Good for you. Family only runs so deep..."
"We're not family, Damon. Only in the most dysfunctional sense," Zach shook his head. "In fact, I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you..."
Damon smirked, knowing otherwise, and looked up at Zach. "I don't guess I could talk you into bringing me a rabbit or something? I'd settle for Stefan's died at this point," he joked dryly.
"You know I can't do that," Zach answered seriously, and wondered if Holden was upstairs.
He wasn't because he would've already rushed down and would have told him to leave immediately. "You succeeded, Zach. I'm shutting down. You're like your grandfather," he mused with a bored face. "He didn't like it when I came to visit, either."
"But you don't visit, Damon," Zach argued with an angry face. "You appear, unannounced, reminding me that this isn't my house; that you're just permitting me to live here. Hell, that you're permitting me to live."
"Someone had to mow the lawn," Damon shrugged dully and Zach looked at him in disappointment.
"I came to say good-bye, Damon," Zach said and then Damon came up to the door and quickly grabbed Zach by the throat.
Zach tried to pull away with a terrified face, but Damon was stronger, even with vervain. "Unlock it," Damon sneered. "Unlock the door, Zach."
Then, Holden appeared with his vampire speed and wrestled Zach out of Damon's grasp. The older brother fell down in a heap and groaned weakly and Holden looked at Zach angrily. "What the hell are you doing?" he snapped then turned back to Damon. "Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you expand, the faster you'll go."
He then motioned for Zach to follow and he did while holding onto his sore throat.
IT WAS EVENING ALREADY and Stefan walked inside to see Holden reading a book. "How was Elena's?" Holden questioned not looking up from his book.
Stefan sensed the negativity in his voice and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before sitting down. "What happened?" he asked curiously.
"Nothing, just that our nephew can't stay away from basements," Holden commented, still annoyed by how stupid Zach was to go down there.
Stefan widened his eyes and started to rise up. "He's fine," Holden snapped angrily. "I got home and heard them. I injected Damon more vervain, cause you're too kind with the dose."
"You're not angry about that," Stefan shook his head with a brooding face, knowing his brother too well.
Holden stopped reading his book and looked at Stefan. "Angry? I'm furious, Stefan. I came here, because Zach asked me to. If not Elena, I would've left already--"
"Like you always do," Stefan cut him off with a displeased face and Holden didn't break contact.
"Like always, yeah," he nodded back with an aggravating face. "Is this girl really worth all of this? Do you really think we'll be able to desiccate Damon forever?" he asked, calmer this time. Stefan looked down. None of them wanted such life, where their older brother was the bad guy, ruining their lives at every step that they took. "I know the reality, Stefan. Elena will find out about us. And she won't be around. She'll either leave you, or Damon will kill her."
"Do you think it's very easy for me? Do you think it's easy to tell her the truth and think that she'll be fine with it?" Stefan asked with torn face.
"What do you think is better? You telling her, or Damon telling her in his own way?" Holden questioned him, interested at how Stefan would react. "Or is it me you're more scared of?"
"What are you talking about?" Stefan questioned him puzzled, though Holden saw that Stefan was scared if Holden would leave. He wasn't ready to face Damon alone, and every help counted.
"Do you think I'd tell Elena that we're vampires?" Holden asked Stefan, his face held deep perplexity. Stefan avoided his look and Holden let out a dry laugh. "I'm not Damon, telling Elena who I am isn't my priority. I avoid death. Because when people find out vampires exist, they soon die. And, mostly they die because of Damon. I don't want it," Holden said standing up. "What do you think got me killed in the first place?" he then asked and left the parlor as Stefan sat there quietly.
THE NEXT DAY, Elena and Stefan were at the Sexy Suds Car Wash, cleaning the cars. Elena left Stefan for a while and decided to collect the money.
She then saw an old man that got Stefan mistaken the last day and smiled. "That'll be 20 dollars," she said then furrowed her eyebrows in recognition. "I saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of mine. At the Grill?"
"Well...," the old man smiled friendly. "I... I thought it was somebody I knew."
"Stefan Salvatore," Elena asked curiously. Everything was beginning to look insane to her. His secrets, old people thinking that they know him from a very long time ago, his face in the window.
"Nah, it can't be," the old man shook his head. "It's just my mind, playing tricks on me..."
"Where do you think you'd seen him before?" she asked again, interested at how he knew Stefan.
"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house," he answered and she looked bewildered.
"Oh," Elena said, feeling dump at how she thought it was a long time ago.
"Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle," the man then nodded, remembering more things. "I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack."
"The attack?" Elena asked in surprise and the man nodded his head again.
"His uncle got killed," he said rather sadly. "Mauled by an animal in the woods."
"His uncle? Zach?" she asked in shock, because she couldn't believe in what he was talking about.
"Mm-mm," the old man mused, trying to remember the name of the uncle. "Joseph."
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't think I'm familiar with the story," she mused and he chuckled softly.
"Oh, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago," he said and then his granddaughter Tiki approached them.
"Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom wants you home. Ok?" she asked him with pleading eyes.
"Ah," he mused dully and Tiki looked at a very puzzled Elena.
"He wasn't bugging you, was he?" Tiki asked with an embarrassed face. "He's a little alzy-heimer," she whispered.
"No, he was sweet," Elena assured then looked back at the man. "Hey, sir, I'm sorry. Um, are you sure that the man that you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?"
"Yes," he nodded his head, without a doubt. "I remember his ring and brothers--"
"Holden and Damon?"
"Yeah," he smiled slightly. "Stefan, Holden and Damon Salvatore."
"When was this?" Elena asked as minds circulated in her head.
"It was early June, 1953," he nodded his head. "Yeah. June, 1953."
Elena stood there with an uneasy look on her face as she thought about the man's words.
How could it have been a coincidence if all three of their names were the same? If there were also three brothers?
BACK AT THE SALVATORE HOUSE, Caroline, compelled by a voice that's been following her all day, entered the house and went into the cellar. "Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me..." Damon called out weakly.
"Damon?" she asked walking in slowly. "Damon?" she called out again and saw him lying down. "Damon? Oh my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?" she asked appalled.
Damon stood up slowly. "Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly," he said looking at her pulsing neck and hunger took over. "Let me out of here. Please."
"You bit me," she accused angrily.
"You liked it. Remember?" he asked and she furrowed her eyebrows. Caroline has never been so confused in her life.
"Why do I keep remembering the same things, but in different ways?" she groaned and Damon looked her in the eyes, trying to use compulsion.
"You remember what I want you to remember," he said his blue eyes narrowing. "And now that the vervain has passed out of your system, you won't remember what you're about to do," he began to compel her as she stared at his eyes.
"What am I about to do?" she asked in monotone voice.
Damon smirked slightly, satisfied that the compulsion was working. "You're gonna open the door," he began and she started to do as told. "You're gonna open the door--"
"Caroline, no!" Holden yelled rushing inside, but Caroline had already managed to open the door at the point, where Damon could easily come out.
He snapped Holden's neck and he fell down on the ground, temporarily dead. "Oh my god!" Caroline shouted in shock as she stared at Holden's body.
"No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!" Zach yelled to Caroline and she started to run upstairs.
Damon sneered and snapped Zach's neck, this time killing the human for once and all. He watched the two lying bodies and then went after Caroline.
He was still weak from the vervain and tried to catch her as much as possible, but she was already outside.
The sun started to burn the vampire so he wasn't able to leave the house.
STEFAN RAN INTO THE CELLAR WHEN HE SAW open doors upstairs and found Zach and Holden both lying down on the ground. Damon was no where to be seen as it was dark outside already, meaning he could've come out and hurt people.
Stefan kneeled in front of Zach. "Zach! Oh, no, Zach!" he said with heartbroken eyes before going to his brother slowly.
He was ready to see Holden's grey skin, and a heart lying nearby. Damon was pissed, and he could've done something like killing his own brother.
But to Stefan's relief, Holden wasn't truly dead, just killed temporarily. He breathed out in relief and rested his brother's head in his lap.
Damon truly crossed the line. He killed Zach, almost killed Holden.
Stefan knew what he had to do. He stood up with dark and furious eyes before grabbing a stake.
He ran to the door and opened them with a determined face to kill Damon.
But what he found was Elena, staring at him with terrified, watery eyes. "What are you?" she asked angrily and Stefan knew that everything was about to change for good.
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