CHAPTER TEN | DADDY ISSUES
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KLARA WAS LAID DOWN ON STEFAN'S BED, LISTENING TO DAMON MOAN ABOUT STEFAN'S RECENT ACTIONS. It was no secret that John Gilbert hated vampires. Though, he seemed to hate Damon Salvatore a lot more than any other vampire he had encountered. The two had never seen eye to eye and Damon could understand why Stefan would bring him back to town.
"You brought back John Gilbert?" Damon incredulously looked toward his little brother. "That was your big Save-Elena move?"
"I went to go look for Isobel, and I got John instead." Stefan's arms were folded against his chest. "He said he could help us and we're desperate."
"He's got a point." Klara nodded in agreement with Stefan. She had sat herself up on the edge of Stefan's bed while Damon just narrowed his eyes toward her. "Don't look at me like that, okay? At least he's looking for a way to help her. And he's right, we are desperate."
"We're not that desperate, Klara." Damon flapped his arms in disapproval. "The guy tried to barbeque me!"
"Damon, Bonnie's new witch friend is working with Elijah, so we have to assume that the moonstone was never destroyed. Elena is putting all of her faith into some deal that she made with Elijah to keep everyone safe. I mean, do either of you trust Elijah?" He looked between Klara and his brother. "I don't trust him. He's an Original, he can't be trusted. It's not like we can just go up and kill him because apparently he can't die!"
"Still waiting for the part where John Gilbert is the answer," Damon grunted.
"He knew about the sacrifice. Isobel told him. He said he knew of a way to keep Elena safe."
A groan left Klara's lips as she moved up to her feet. She was stood beside Damon, her arms folded over her chest. "Right, but you haven't actually explained the how yet, Stef."
"He's not talking, at least not to me, anyway." Stefan looked between Damon and Klara and noticed the defeated looks on their faces.
"Great work, Stefan. Top-notch." The eldest of the two brothers sarcastically remarked with an eye roll. "As if I didn't have enough problems."
"Hey, I'm sorry about Rose," Stefan spoke out once Damon had pushed past him and toward the door.
"Whatever." Damon rolled his eyes and looked back at Stefan and Klara. The blonde could see that he was hurt, even if he wanted to pretend that he wasn't. "I knew the woman for five minutes."
"Five minutes is a little bit dramatic." Klara tilted her head sympathetically toward the Salvatore. "It's okay to admit that you cared about her, you know?"
"I wonder what that means," Stefan answered.
"It means I care, Stefan. It means I'm changing and evolving into a man capable of greatness." Damon's only defense was sarcasm. "You better watch your back because I may just have to go get myself a blonde sidekick and a hero hairdo of my own and steal your thunder."
"He's a real dick when he wants to be." Klara groaned as she watched Stefan pull his phone from his pocket. It was a text from Caroline indicting she had a problem.
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Tyler knew everything. He knew that Stefan and Damon were vampires, and he knew that Damon had killed his uncle Mason. Caroline assured Stefan and Klara that she didn't say a word, but they knew they it was bad. Caroline begged Stefan to talk to Tyler, to try and explain. He owed the blonde that much at least.
"Tyler," Klara called out to the werewolf who was tapping away on his laptop in the study of his house. Tyler looked up, relatively startled when he saw Stefan, who was standing beside the blonde. He tried to run out of the room but before he could, Stefan blocked his exit. "Tyler, he's not going to hurt you. We just wanna talk."
Tyler looked behind him, where Klara was standing, then back to his front. "Then why did you break in?"
Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Would you have let me in otherwise?" At the sound of Tyler's mother calling his name, Stefan pushed him against the wall and urged him not to say a word. Klara ran underneath the desk, hiding in case Carol Lockwood entered the study. Instead, she left the house. "Maybe we're getting off on the wrong foot here." Stefan finally released Tyler.
Tyler rubbed his throat once Stefan's had released his grip. "What happened to Mason?"
"Tyler, there's a lot for us to talk about." Stefan began but Tyler tried to run for the exit until he grabbed him again. "I wouldn't do that. Without a full moon, you're no match for me."
"Look, can you just stop being a dick to Caroline. She's my friend, she's yours too." Klara sighed out. She was sitting on the edge of the large desk while Tyler had chosen to sit on a chair in front of Stefan.
"I thought that vampires hated werewolves." Tyler cluelessly responded. Caroline was a vampire and he was a werewolf, he didn't understand the friendship there. They were supposed to be enemies as far as he knew.
"That's some sort of leftover idea from another time. It doesn't have to be that way anymore. We got to the same school, we have the same friends. We keep the same secrets. This can work, Tyler. I mean it's your home, it's my home, too." Stefan appeared to be getting through to the boy. "I want this to work."
Tyler's phone began to buzz on the desk. Klara watched as Stefan and Tyler eyed each other up for a moment before Tyler lunged straight for the phone. He managed to grab it before Klara or Stefan. "Help, help!"
He yelled into the receiver until Klara snatched it out of his hand and hung up. "Who the hell was that, Tyler?" Tyler didn't respond.
"Damn it, Tyler! I'm trying to save your life, can't you see that?" Stefan frustratedly yelled toward the boy.
"You want to be friends? Great, we're friends. Will you two go now?" The Lockwood wolf asked as he looked between Klara and Stefan who appeared to be exchanging looks.
"Look, I understand why you're so hostile, okay? But, there's no reason why you and Stefan can't live in Mystic Falls peacefully— side by side." Klara spoke softly.
"You may want to be friends with a monster, Klara, but I don't." Tyler bit back and then turned to Stefan. "Especially not one that's making excuses for the vampire that killed my uncle."
Stefan's phone began to ring. The caller ID read Caroline, so he sighed and placed the phone to his ear. "Hey. Is everything okay?" Klara watched Stefan's face fall as he placed the one on loudspeaker for the benefit of Klara. Who is this?"
"Ask your brother." The voice spoke. "Where's Tyler?"
"Jules." Klara trailed off as she noticed Stefan's eyes fall to her. "Jules, listen, whatever you're doing to Caroline, stop it. She's not involved in any of this."
"It's too late for that." The werewolf spoke in such a venomous tone that even Stefan looked anxious. "You made a mistake, Stefan. I'm gonna give you a chance to fix it."
"Where is she?" Stefan pressed again.
"Right here. Want proof?" They heard a door opening and then a few shuffles. "He needs proof." There was the sound of a gunshot and then Caroline screamed in complete agony.
Klara gasped in horror while Stefan's jaw clenched. "Hurt her again, and you're dead."
"I hurt her again, and she's dead. Bring Tyler to me, the clearing by Wickery Falls. You have twenty minutes until she dies."
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"What the hell are you doing here?" Klara gawked as she watched John Gilbert stroll casually inside the house. He knew that neither Stefan or Damon would be back from rescuing Caroline yet, which meant he could enter without fear of being attacked.
"Came to speak with Damon." John shrugged as he looked around the interior of the house. "You know, it seems funny— you living in the house with vampires, thinking you're actually safe."
"I haven't exactly got any other options, John." Klara rolled her eyes as she lifted herself from the couch and walked toward the entrance of the house, where John remained standing. "I don't know if you heard, but I recently became an orphan. Guess that's another thing me and Elena have in common."
"Elena isn't an orphan. I'm her father." John glared harshly toward the blonde, who scoffed. "I may not have been the perfect father, but I am still her father."
"Oh, is that what you call yourself?" Klara chuckled and rolled her eyes. "To be honest, John, I'm not in the mood to list all the reasons that you're wrong. Good night."
"Your father didn't deserve what happened to him," John yelled out finally which caused Klara to halt in her pursuit of the staircase. She turned around. "He was a good man. Before the death of your mother, and the drink prob—"
"What do you want?" Damon groaned out as soon as he walked into the house to see John standing inside. He looked over to Klara, who looked upset. "If you've upset her, I'll gauge out your eyeballs."
"He's here to talk to you, apparently." Klara took a breath as she blinked away the tears that began to pool in her eyes.
John rolled his eyes at Damon's threat. "We didn't finish our conversation. "I've been thinking. Personal feelings aside Damon, I think you and Stefan will do all you can to protect Elena."
"I agree with that statement."
"So I come bearing gifts." John pulled a folded up cloth out from his inside jacket pocket and unfolded the material to reveal a silver dagger and then a jar of ash. "This is how you kill an Original. In this vial is ash from a White Oak tree that dates back to the genesis of the Originals. The dagger must be dipped into the ash, and then plunged into their heart."
Damon took the dagger and examined it, while Klara skeptically raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know all this?"
"Isobel." John nodded. "She's very good at finding out things. But, of course, you know that."
"Where is Isobel?" Damon asked.
"Let's just say if she accomplishes what she's attempting, Klaus will never set foot in Mystic Falls. Where Elena's concerned, you and I are on the same side." With that, John saw himself out of the house.
Damon looked toward Klara who seemed to loosen up as soon as John left the house. "Hey, you okay?" He asked in a serious tone.
"Is Caroline?" The blonde retorted with a worried tone once she saw Damon nod. "Oh, thank God. I was so worried." Klara exhaled deeply as she looked back toward Damon. "Do you believe him? Do you really think that dagger can kill an Original."
"I'm not sure." Damon was quick to respond with a bewildered look on his face. "But, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." His face then turned into a grin while Klara pulled her phone from her pocket.
Meet me at Caroline's. I need your help.
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Caroline was obviously broken up by the fact that she was held and tortured. She went through a lot and she wasn't opening up to Stefan about it, so he thought that maybe she could do with her best friends around her.
"I brought some backup." Stefan turned away from Caroline who was standing in her doorway. His eyes fell on Klara, Elena, and Bonnie who were all holding their belongings with sympathetic smiles.
"We're gonna slumber it." Elena held her bag over her shoulder as she walked inside Caroline's house.
"We haven't done it in ages." Bonnie joined in.
The next to enter was Klara, who gave Stefan a thankful smile for saving Caroline. The blonde swiftly stepped into Caroline's house and nodded toward her friend. "I think we could all do with it."
"Okay." The Forbes vampire giggled quietly, but the giggle soon turned into a sob. The three girls wrapped their arms around Caroline just before Stefan shut her front door and left the girls to it.
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