What Lies Beneath

Chapter 38: This Place Is Death

Stefan Salvatore lounged on his sofa and watched as his big brother paced from one side of the room to the other. His expression was near murderous; his eyes hard and calculated with the thoughts running through his mind. He was close to the edge of losing control—Stefan could tell because he knew exactly where he was coming from. Whenever Elena was in danger or threatened he felt the same emotions course through him. And unlike himself, Damon had a history of acting without thinking about the consequences of his actions. It was a good and bad quality to possess.

Exhaling deeply, he clasped his hands in front of him. "So Klaus has been invading Bonnie's dreams? Are we sure it's him and not just a nightmare?"

Damon folded his arms over his chest. "He compelled some jerk in that club to screw with us so, yeah I wouldn't be surprised if he's figured out a way to get inside of her head. You know he could probably compel her to do anything and she'd have to do it."

Stefan nodded slowly. "We'll just make sure that doesn't happen. We'll be more vigilant and not let her go out alone without a chaperone. I'm sure Caroline and Tyler will help considering Klaus is a threat to them as well."

His brother frowned. "We need to figure out a way to kill the son of a bitch before he does anymore damage. He's planning something…I can feel it. That's the only reason he's lying low."

"How would we even begin to think about killing him, Damon?" Stefan inquired. "Bonnie was our best shot before with Elijah's help and now, well, it would take all of her energy to kill him. Which would kill her as well."

"That's not happening." Damon growled. "I don't know, okay? But we have to come up with something before he decides he's tired of these games and just comes for her."

The other vampire smoothed a hand over his face because he knew exactly how that felt. "Alright. I'll get Alaric to help me research; see what we can dig up. There has to be something out there that can help us."

Damon didn't want to spend time with musty old books but of course he didn't have any other choice. It was times like this that he hated not being older and stronger. He hated feeling so fucken useless. "This is all John's fault."

Stefan arched a brow. "How so?"

Because everything is John's fault? "Well it all started with him and that fucken device or whatever. You know if we still had that thing we could probably use it against Klaus. It worked on the Mayor and what's his face so we know it would work on his wolf side. We could knock his ass out and then have Bonnie set him on fire." Pause. "I wonder where it got to?"

Stefan stood with a shrug. "Who knows? I think John was the last person to have it and he's dead now. We should find out if he has any holdings somewhere, like a safety deposit box or something. As a relative Elena would be able to get to them I think."

"Maybe I'll ask Liz what she knows." He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"Damon!" Stefan called after him. "Be nice. Sheriff Forbes isn't our closest ally anymore if at all. Don't do anything that would make things harder for Caroline."

He grinned widely. "No problem, brother. I'll be on my best behavior." Winking, he exited the manor and headed for his car.

Stefan got on his nerves most days but it probably wasn't a secret that he did in fact care about his well-being. However one of his main problems with him is that he tried to care about everyone and everything. He wanted to save the world and be the hero, while Damon just wanted to protect what was his. He had nodesire to change his stripes and be a decent member of society. He would sacrifice Caroline and the entire town of Mystic Falls in a heartbeat if it meant Bonnie was safe. And he wasn't going to feel bad because of it.