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Hozier - Cherry Wine
"The way she tells me I'm hers and she is mine
Open hand or closed fist would be fine
The blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine."
HOLDEN STARED AT HIS OLDER BROTHER IN CONFUSION. He was pretty clear to tell Damon to come back with Izzie and yet here he was - all alone, drinking. "You hadn't called me in two weeks," Holden commented as Jeremy decided to give them space so he went upstairs and into his bedroom.
Damon downed his shot before going to sit down on the couch. Holden saw how stressed deep inside Damon was, but he acted like his usual self. "Because I've been really busy. I was close to finding her."
"And you just gave up?" Holden asked while shaking his head and going to sit down in front of Damon. He really wanted to tell Damon about their younger brother, but also he wanted to hear what Damon had been doing the whole summer.
Damon just glared at Holden. "I didn't give up. I actually found Allison..."
Holden hated how silent Damon became so he rolled his eyes. "And what then?!"
The oldest Salvatore pursed his lips as his tired blue eyes met Holden's confused ones. "This is confusing even to me. So, seven days ago I got news Allison is actually living in Atlanta."
Holden furrowed his eyebrows. "She's always lived there. So, you're saying she actually took Izzie back home?" he asked impatiently so Damon glared at him to shut up.
"Cut me off one more time and I'm done telling you," Damon snapped so Holden sat back in his seat before listening quietly yet nervously. "I went to her house and she was really surprised when I told her who I am. I, of course, demanded her to bring Izzie but she told me Izzie's in Mystic Falls."
Holden widened his eyes as he stared at Damon, not understanding a thing about that. "Yeah, my reaction was similar to yours, Holden. I thought she lied so I got the truth in my own way."
"What did you do to Allison?"
"Nothing, if that's what worries you," Damon answered, offended that Holden would think Damon would hurt Izzie's mother. All summer he tried to get the woman he was in love with back only to find the harsh truth. Or so he thought. "Allison didn't take Izzie away. I think Izzie was the one to leave by her own."
Holden shook his head. "No, I remember I called Allison and she answered the call. She was the one to take Izzie away. That doesn't make sense at all, Damon," Holden stood up as he looked at his older brother.
"Yes, and I told Allison that," Damon continued as he realized something. "And she told me you never called her. What the hell is going on now?!"
Holden sighed deeply. "There's no way Izzie would run away from you, Damon. I know she loves you."
"Well, maybe she didn't as she told me," Damon shrugged as Holden could see hurt evident on Damon's face. Holden was not gonna believe that Izzie left them by her own will. That didn't sound like the real Izzie he knew. "Maybe she just played with my feelings because she's just like her grandmother? Or maybe she got bored of me already? Whatever it is, I'm done."
Damon then stood up and started to walk away. He passed Holden, who remembered Silas' words. "If not both..." he quoted so Damon stopped to look at Holden in confusion. "What if it was Silas?"
"What?" Damon asked with a grimace. "Silas is a stone, Holden. He's gone."
Holden raised his green eyes at Damon, telling him that he was not.
IT WAS MORNING AS HOLDEN, DAMON AND SHERIFF FORBES STOOD AT THE EDGE ABOVE THE QUARRY. "Holden, I know I said I'd help you two find your brother, but I can't dredge this entire quarry," Liz explained as Holden turned to look at Damon.
The previous night Holden told Damon everything that happened after he left so Damon was more than shocked to know that Stefan spent his whole summer suffering because of Silas, who apparently looked exactly like their younger brother. "It's enormous," Liz told them as Holden nodded his head.
"I know, Liz. I mean, why else would Stefan drop Silas body here?" Holden questioned as Damon frowned slightly. He felt guilty of leaving for nothing, but he still didn't believe that Silas had to do anything with Izzie's disappearance.
"Now, say, I'm Silas," Damon spoke for the first time as Holden looked at him. He had to admit he missed Damon during the summer. "And I wanna take my doppelgänger's life, which is still a shock to me, Holdie. Why wouldn't I dump him in a place that's big and deep, where no one would find him?"
Liz looked at the Salvatores tiredly. "Damon, I already agreed to hold off on telling anyone about the Mayor's death until Holden figures this all out, but I can't devote those kind of resources to finding one person who may or may not be down there."
"Well, we gotta have a place to start at," Holden told her seriously. "And if Stefan is truly down there, that means he's been drowning for the whole summer while I played home with Elena. Do you really wanna hear more of my urgency?"
Sheriff pursed her lips before nodding her head. "I'll get some deputies on it."
"Thank you, Liz," Damon told her so she walked away as Holden turned to Damon, who was staring at the quarry.
"Still don't think Silas had anything to do with Izzie too?" Holden questioned as Damon grimaced before shaking his head. "Why are you giving up so easily, Damon?"
Damon's head snapped at Holden. "Giving up? Because what you're suggesting is crazy. How could you have called Allison's number and Silas was the one to answer and play mind tricks that he was Izzie's mother? Do you even hear what I'm saying?"
"Silas is good at playing mind tricks. He's powerful, Damon. What if he took Izzie along with Stefan to play with us. We were the one's to stop him," Holden explained. He was in denial to think Izzie would cut everything off with them. It wasn't her or at least Holden thought so. "What if Stefan and Izzie was his way of paying back? It's possible, Damon."
"So you think he dropped Izzie in there with Stefan?" Damon questioned sarcastically and Holden glared at him, telling him that he was really serious.
"Whatever he did, if he did... Izzie's been with him longer than Stefan's been in there," Holden pointed to the quarry as Damon frowned deeply. None of them wanted to think about what Silas could've done to Izzie.
"I think you're just in denial to think that the girl you practically raised would do something to you like that," Damon answered as Holden's phone rang.
"Just me, you say?" he asked angrily before answering the call. "Did you find her?" he asked Jeremy.
"I didn't..." Jeremy trailed off so Damon rolled his eyes. He was shocked to hear of Katherine Pierce being human. But also satisfied. "But Matt did. She was mid-cat-fight with some lady who maced her. We think Silas might have mind-controlled himself some new friends."
"Oh, maybe you saw Izzie for some reason," Damon said loudly as sarcasm dripped from him so Holden glared at him. "How exactly did the Gilbert-Donovan brain trust put all that together?"
"What's he saying?" Jeremy grumbled as Holden smiled at that.
"Never mind, it doesn't matter, Jeremy," Holden told him calmly. "Just hide her. Stay out of sight. You were the last person who Silas saw her with."
"Why exactly do we need to keep her safe?" Jeremy questioned in amusement as Damon walked over to Holden and started talking into the phone.
"Because, idiot, if Silas wants her bad enough to sic the whole town on her, that means we want her more," Damon snapped so Jeremy scoffed before hanging up the call.
"Nice, Damon," Holden grumbled so Damon rolled his eyes and went to look at the quarry again.
"IT WAS MORTIFYING," Elena commented as she spoke to Holden through the phone. The brothers were still at the quarry as they watched some deputies readying an inflatable boat. "We just sat there in silence."
Elena was talking about this professor that the girls attended the class of and how rude he was. "Mean guys annoy me, Elena," Holden told her as he leaned agains the tree. He didn't tell Elena that Damon was back. "Want me to talk to him?"
"Not yet. Whatever he knows, I'm gonna get it out of him," Elena answered as she smiled to herself. "I can't compel him, because if he knows about vampires, he's gonna use vervain. I can't threaten him."
"Why not?" Holden asked playfully so Elena laughed before scoffing. "Use torture, use compulsion, use anything you want."
"Holden!" she exclaimed loudly so he chuckled.
"I love you too," he answered with a smirk. Talking with Elena always brought him in the state of peace.
"What would a hero do?" she questioned curiously.
"Pftt, like he has idea," Damon decided to speak so Holden threw a rock at him angrily.
"Stefan," Elena suddenly said so Holden thought she meant him as the hero before frowning.
"I don't know, Elena."
"Stefan's here, right now," Elena commented causing Damon to walk over to Holden, whose face held deep worry.
"Turn off your phone," could be heard from the other end so Holden began to quickly talk into the phone but Elena had already hung up.
"Damn it!" Holden sneered loudly before looking at Damon. "Now you believe me he's strong?"
DAMON AND HOLDEN BOTH WALKED INSIDE THE DORM ROOM OF ELENA AND CAROLINE. The two shut the doors behind them to see Caroline in there, wearing only a towel. She quickly turned around, expecting Elena, but got really shocked when she saw it wasn't her best friend. "Damon! Holden! Towel, knock!" she shouted, covering herself.
"Caroline. No one cares, no," Damon told her with a grimace as Holden looked away for a little before facing her again.
Caroline stared at them with wide eyes. "Where is Elena?" Holden asked impatiently as she shrugged, surprised to see Damon back. Everyone knew he left to find Izzie.
"I don't know. She probably went to the bonfire to get more intel on our weirdo professor," Caroline commented with bewildered eyes.
"Silas is here," Damon told her dully so she widened her eyes again. Everyone was confused of the news.
"He's with Elena, pretending to be Stefan, we gotta go find them," Holden commented as Caroline shook her head at that.
"I thought that Stefan dropped his body in the quarry," she told them as Damon walked over to her bed before throwing her some clothes.
"Join the club. Get dressed..."
Caroline caught the clothes before opening her mouth in realization. "Oh my god. Oh, my god. Elena was right," she exclaimed as Holden glanced at her in confusion. "All summer, she's had this pit in her stomach about Stefan."
Those were news to Holden as he glanced at her. "What?"
Caroline looked like she said too much before shrugging slightly. "I don't know. She just said that she had this weird feeling that something was wrong with him."
Damon threw some more clothes at Caroline as Holden walked back to the door. "Did you find Izzie?" Caroline asked Damon, who glared at her.
"We'll tell you everything on the way. Meet us out there," Holden commented as he opened the door. "We have to find Elena. And Izzie if something."
The two brothers walked outside the campus before hearing a familiar voice behind them. "Hello, brothers," Silas spoke so Damon and Holden turned around to look at Silas. Damon was creeped out when he saw Silas, looking identical to Stefan. "But I suppose distant nephew is probably more accurate."
Damon walked over to him and grabbed a hand around Silas' neck. "Do you have Izzie?" he sneered so Silas smirked.
He pulled Damon's hand off of his neck as he used mind control. "Holden is smart to believe I have Izzie. Smarter than you to think that I don't," he said. Damon seemed unwilling, but he couldn't resist Silas' mind control.
"Where is she?!" Holden sneered walking to stand next to Damon, who touched his own hurting arm.
"Who? Elena or Izzie?" Silas asked playfully so the two both clenched their jaws. "I get why you two like those girls. I mean, I have a soft spot for brunettes too. What I don't get is why they like you."
"That's because you haven't had sex with me," Damon commented, meaning Izzie as Holden rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Hm. Cockiness masking fear," Silas chuckled as he glanced at Holden discretely. "How transparent."
"Do you expect us to believe that you only came here to talk to Elena?" Holden questioned angrily as Silas enjoyed teasing them. He knew he was stronger than them.
"No, that doesn't really make much sense, does it?" he questioned as Damon rolled his eyes. "Yes, it was me, who took Izzie, but I lost her mid summer, whatever. It was nasty, I suppose."
Both brother's hearts broke when they heard Silas tell them that. "Someone stole her from me and quite frankly I let them. She was boring anyways. But if I told you what exactly I did or why I'm here, then it would ruin the fun. Enjoy the bonfire, brothers."
Silas then walked away, leaving Holden and Damon broken by the news of Izzie being somewhere.
THE NIGHT QUICKLY CAME AS CAROLINE WATCHED HOLDEN AND DAMON MARCH THROUGH THE BONFIRE. She knew Izzie was somewhere with someone and that worried her too. "Why would Silas want to hurt Elena? Or Izzie?" the female vampire questioned as they walked through the party-goers.
"Because he wants to hurt us," Damon answered angrily as Caroline turned to look at Holden.
"You know, if you just would've told the truth, all of this could've been avoided," she suggested calmly so Damon rolled his eyes, defending Holden.
"Gee, thanks, Caroline. Your hindsight is invaluable in this situation," he snapped so Holden bumped into someone.
The student turned around with a sneer. "Watch where you're going, douche!"
"Douche?" Holden asked while raising his eyebrow up. "Have you seen Elena Gilbert?"
"I have no idea who that is, and if I were her, I'd probably run from you, too."
"Oh really?" Holden asked nonchalantly before grabbing the guy, but Caroline quickly intertwined and compelled the guy instead.
"Forget all this and get out of here."
The guy walked away as Caroline round on the brothers, both looking extremely worried. "You both need to calm down."
"He turned the entire town square into a hunting party for Katherine," Damon sneered angrily. "And plus, Izzie's somewhere because of him! How am I supposed to calm down when every single person here could be working for Silas?"
The two then turned to see Holden gone somewhere. Elena was talking to a student named Jesse about Dr. Maxfield in some shed until Holden appeared there with vampire speed and knocked Jesse over the head. "Holden?" Elena exclaimed with shocked eyes as she saw her boyfriend. "What the hell?"
Elena then saw Damon and Caroline walk inside and look down at Jesse. "Damon?" she questioned in shock before turning to Holden.
"Seriously, Holden?" Caroline asked before crouching down in front of the unconscious boy. "That's Jesse. I kind of liked him."
Holden just grabbed Elena's hand and left with her.
HOLDEN AND ELENA ENTERED HER DORM ROOM. The Salvatore closed the doors with a guilty looking face. "I'm sorry that I lied."
"Sorry can wait. Sit," she sneered before pushing Holden down onto a chair. He stared at her in confusion and before he could say another word, Elena's hungry lips kissed his as she climbed on top of him.
She started to make out with him as Holden detached their lips in confusion. "Wait for a sec-" he didn't finish as she kissed him again, wrapping his arms around her waist as she deepened the kiss. Elena then took Holden's leather jacked off aggressively before pulling away with a smile. She stood up before getting a water bottle.
Holden stared at her as she smiled while opening the bottle. Elena then tipped Holden's mouth and held his face upright while the water burned him from the vervain. Holden slapped it away while coughing and choking as his lips and the whole throat hurt. Elena quickly began tying Holden to the chair with pieces of clothing she had. "It was Silas, Elena. He definitely got inside your head," Holden told her weakly. "What did Stefan tell you to do?"
"Get you alone," Elena grabbed a field hockey stick before breaking it in half. "Weaken you then kill you."
Elena grabbed Holden's hair, pushing his head up as she poured some water on his face, burning it as Holden screamed hoping that Damon or Caroline would be near. Holden then pushed Elena off of him as she accidentally touched his wet hair with her hand before screaming in pain as well. That made her snap back. "Holden!" Elena shouted looking at his burnt face. "What the hell did I do? I'm sorry, baby, I..."
"You're in a trance, Elena," Holden could feel the vervain water dripping down his neck as it left a burning mark along. "I think you snapped out of it."
"Silas? But I-"
"No, Silas is free, Elena," Holden looked at her as Elena quickly grabbed a piece of paper towel and went to wipe the water off of Holden's face as he groaned in pain. Her fingers also burned but she wanted to take the pain away from Holden. "You talked to him today."
"How is that possible? I was in a crowd, full of people," Elena shook her head as she threw the paper towel down. "I hugged him, I was talking to him about my life..."
"Also me?" Holden questioned a little hurt so Elena looked at him sadly. "Yeah? Figured it out."
"Wait, if it was Silas... Then where is Stefan?" Elena questioned curiously. "What happened to Stefan, Holden? Where is he?!" she raised her voice so Holden sneered, knowing she was getting back to her trance.
"Can you not stare at me with such look, please?" he asked weakly so Elena looked away while putting her hands on her head.
"I know, all I wanna do is kill you!"
"It's Silas, Elena," Holden explained as she glanced back at him, having a murderous look on her face. "He's using me as your trigger. Resist it. You can."
Elena groaned lowly as she shook her head. "I can't."
"Elena, you have to," Holden nodded as she yelled before threw down the broken stick and put her head in her hands, trying to calm down. Holden watched her with worry but then Elena sat down on a chair, grabbed an iron poker from next to the fireplace. She stabbed herself in the thigh with it, pinning herself against a chair like that. She yelled out, shuttering in pain.
"Tell me what is going on," she demanded as Holden stared at her with wide eyes.
And so he did. He told her everything. About Bonnie's dad's death, Izzie being gone somewhere and Silas and Katherine. "Poor Bonnie... she must have tried to call me right after Silas stole my phone," Elena looked down. "Has anyone talked to her, is she okay? And Izzie? Do you have any idea where she might be?"
Holden shook his head sadly. "I don't even know anything. I was busy looking for you."
"Well, my best friend's dad died, and another one is gone!" Elena yelled angrily as Holden glanced at her. "I say it's damn important."
"Oh yeah? Well, so is protecting Jeremy, finding Stefan, helping Damon find Izzie, and figuring out what the hell does Silas want with Katherine," Holden told her seriously.
Elena began playing with the stick in her leg. In any moment she would take it out and probably kill Holden if she didn't find the trigger to come back. "I just left and I trusted you! Why wouldn't you tell me one thing!"
"And I'm sorry for that, Elena, I really am," Holden nodded his head as he looked down at her bleeding leg.
"My brother got expelled! And now he's off playing security guard with Katherine, while Silas is after her! And who, may I remind, tried to kill me continuously. Stefan's been gone - suffering, for months, and so is Izzie, while Damon tried to find her! And what was I doing? Being with you and acting like everything was fine! Oh my god!"
Elena's anger flared up again as she pulled the gas line from the fireplace. Gas started emerging into the room as Holden glanced from it back to her. "Elena, this is the gas. Stop it! You don't want to kill me. I know you don't. You better realize that before I die."
"I can't okay! I told you, I damn can't!"
Holden clenched his jaw as he looked at her. "Think about something stronger than killing me, okay? Anything."
Elena grabbed a matchbook from atop the mantel. She was free already from the chair. Holden watched her try to ignite one but it didn't work. "Think about Stefan."
Elena raised her eyes up at Holden. "I know you've been seriously worried about him for the whole summer. Tell me the pit in your stomach that you feel."
The Gilbert girl then stopped lighting the match. "No. I-I can't," Elena told him, already getting a bit calmer.
"Think about him then. Your feelings."
Elena frowned as she sighed deeply. "It's... it's like a chill, but I can't explain it. Its like I can feel him. He's trying to reach out to me, but I don't know where he is, and I can't understand what he's trying to say. All I know is that he's scared, and he's lonely, and he's in a lot of pain. He's in a lot of pain. We have to find him."
"We will. I swear," Holden nodded as he felt upset over Elena feeling something for Stefan still.
"The rage..." Elena commented as he raised his green eyes up at her slightly. "It's not here anymore."
Elena dropped the matchbook in relief before she quickly broke the bonds off of Holden. She helped him stand up. "I'm really sorry," Elena whispered so Holden nodded before hugging her.
Elena snuggled into him as Caroline and Damon both walked in to see the view. Blood, matches, pokers, hockey sticks lying around. "I think we need to set some ground rules for when boyfriends come to visit," Caroline commented as Damon snickered at that.
ELENA CAME BACK TO MYSTIC FALLS WITH THE BROTHERS. She walked into hers and Holden's room to find him looking through the window while holding something in his hands. "What is it?" Elena questioned curiously before approaching him.
Holden turned to face her before showing her Stefan's daylight ring. "Damon snatched it from Silas," he commented as Elena took it into her hands.
"You're upset," Elena realized as she put Stefan's daylight ring into her jeans pocket before putting her hands on his face. "Tell me."
"What can I say? You're having some dreams of your ex-boyfriend. I guess, it shouldn't bother me as much," he mused and tried to walk away but Elena blocked his way. "It sucks, Elena. It sucks that Stefan's gone, that Izzie's probably in danger and that I can't do much about it."
"We will do anything to bring them both back home. You, me and Damon," she nodded encouragingly as he sighed deeply. "I know you don't know where Izzie is, but we gotta start somewhere. And I'll help you no matter what. And I'm gonna still love you. We will find them both, and even after that I'm still gonna be in love with you, okay?"
A small pleased smirk appeared on Holden's lips as Elena chuckled before kissing him passionately. Holden rested his forehead against hers as he kissed her as if she was never gonna come back from somewhere.
Suddenly, someone knocked on a door so the two pulled away to see Damon peeking in. "Sheriff Forbes called," he commented impatiently. "They found something."
Elena and Holden exchanged a look.
LIZ, HOLDEN, ELENA AND DAMON ALL APPROACHED A SAFE THAT STEFAN WAS LOCKED IN. It was washed up onto land as they all looked at it. "We didn't find anything in the quarry, but a deputy found this a few miles away," Liz explained seriously. "Didn't open it. If Stefan's been there for three months... chances are he's hungry."
"What about Izzie?" Damon asked Liz, because the brothers had the police department searching miles of miles for her.
"Nothing so far," Liz shook her head sadly as Elena rubbed Holden's back soothingly as she connected their hands.
Damon nodded in disappointment before lifting the top of the safe open. "Oh, my god," Elena exclaimed when they saw a bloody corpse of some person. "That's not Stefan."
"Well, you were right," Damon sighed as he glanced at Holden. "He was hungry. I bet he still is."
Elena frowned as she squeezed Holden's hand. They had no idea where Stefan was or how he was.
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