The Second Life Of Stella Salvatore

Blood Before Species, Or Species Before Blood?

Damon's POV:

I checked my cell phone for the one hundredth time that night with no text message from Stefan, which made me worry even more than I already was. "Something's not right. Something's not right at all," I muttered as I pocketed my cell and threw back the remainder of my third drink.

"Of course something's not right. Our mother is hooking up with some random guy she met at the bar," Gabriel commented as he too finished off his third drink. I was actually pretty surprised that he stuck around for as long as he has.

A shudder of disgust went through my body as I relived the conversation we had with her moments ago. "Don't remind me or I really will barf this time." My mind wandered back to my baby brother and my daughter. "This is getting ridiculous. I'm going to check on my daughter and Stefan. My daughter was supposed to be at the hospital hours ago and Stefan was supposed to get back to me at least thirty minutes ago. Feel like being my back up?"

A smirk formed across Gabriel's face,"Let's go storm the fortress, Brother." It really was scary how close his personality was to mine. What was more scary was the amount of trust I was slowly having in him. I threw down a few bills as I stood up then I led my twin out to my car. We both got in and I drove over to the boarding house. As soon as the car doors slammed, I could sense that something wasn't quite right. Stefan's car was here, so he had made it to the boarding house. "Something's not right," Gabriel verbalized my thoughts out loud.

The crunch of our boots on the ground was the only sound throughout the whole place, which was weird. I looked at Gabriel and he looked at me as we both cautiously made our way toward the front door. I grabbed onto the doorknob and pushed the door open. The door creaked slowly as it opened, making the place more eerie. I stepped inside first and could sense my twin right behind me as I led the way down the foyer and into the living room. That's where we found them. Stefan was sprawled on the floor, his neck twisted in an unnatural way as if someone broke it. Stella was tied to a chair a few feet away and her neck was unnaturally twisted as well. What the hell had happened?

I went over to my daughter and untied her from the chair before brushing her hair out of her face. Behind me, I could hear Gabriel trying to get Stefan to come to. I was startled when Stella suddenly gasped and nearly fell out of the chair in disoriented confusion. "Stella. Stella, it's okay. You're okay," I calmed her down when I realized that this wasn't the first time I had found her tied to a chair.

"Daddy," Tears fell down Stella's face as she darted into my arms and I hugged her tightly. I could feel her body trembling a little as she buried her face in the crook of my neck. I felt relief flooding my body, knowing that my daughter wasn't hurt or dead.

"You're okay. You're safe. What happened?"

"The Travelers. They wanted to kill me. I don't know why. I didn't do anything to them. But that's not all. Dad, Alex - She - She's-"

"Alex is one of them now," Stefan's voice finished for Stella. I turned to see my baby brother sitting up and looking like complete hell. Gabriel's face was void of any emotions. I didn't blame him. "Apparently she's had magic since her sixteenth birthday and I had no idea."

"It's not your fault, Stefan. Alex has been through a lot what with losing her mother. You lost someone too. You lost the woman you loved. I didn't understand how much that pain hurt and ate you up until I lost Elena. But that's not the point. The point is that if the Travelers want a fight, they'll get a fight." I looked back at Stella who had calmed down a good bit.

Stefan, on the other hand, was anything but calm. He looked pissed and ready to rip some throats out. "There's more, Damon. Before Alex snapped my neck, she gave me a warning to pass on to you. She said that one of your children are going to die and that it's inevitable."