The Vampire Diaries(BxB)

3: A Monster's Return

I'm in the kitchen with Damon, as he's helping me cook Chili for the Lockwood Potluck, as I'm chopping onions, using my right hand. "I just don't know why you want to bring chili to a potluck. Everybody brings chili." He says, and I hear footsteps. "Hey, Ric." Damon says. "What's up?" Alaric asks, and I look up at him, as he approaches me. "What time do you want to go to the Lockwood party?" I ask. "Ah. Those founders parties aren't really my thing." He says. "Show up, there's going to be nine other people that brought Chili." He says, and I look at him, smiling. "It's an old family recipe, ok?" I ask, and look down and sigh, and hear footsteps. "Yeah! I know. I knew your old family. They made sucky Chili." He says, and takes the knife from me, as I look up, and to him, and he smiles, playfully shoving me, and I laugh, playfully shoving back. "Why are you here, exactly?" Alaric asks. "He knows." Damon says. "He thinks I'm going to break. I'm not going to break. I am just going to keep making Chili, pretend like I didn't just spend the entire summer looking for someone who didn't want to be found." I say. "He's in denial." Damon says. "I'm not in denial." I whisper to him. "No?" He asks, and gets closer, and touches my necklace with his right hand, as I look at my necklace. "You're still wearing this necklace. Isn't this the reminder of your unbreakable bond with Stefan?" He asks, smiling. The doorbell rings, and I walk over to it, and open it with my right hand, and see Tony holding a bowl in both hands, smiling. "I come baring gifts." He says, and I sigh. "Please say that's not Chili." I say, and he walks in, and to the right, and Mark coves from behind the left wall, smiling. "Mark!" I exclaim, and he throws his hands in the air. "I'm back!" He exclaims. "Hi!" I exclaim, and wrap my arms around his back, and his around mine, and we release. " I leave town for the summer and everything goes to hell for the both of you." He says. "What are you talking about?" I ask, and look at Tony, and he nods. "Mark!" Jeremy exclaims, and Mark runs towards him, as we look at them, and Jeremy lifts him up, and Mark puts his arms around his neck, and Jeremy around his waist, and they kiss. Mark, Tony, and I are in the kitchen, as Mark is sitting, and Tony is helping me with the Chili. "The problem with my dad's normal side of the family is normal made for a really boring summer." Mark says. "After the last few days, I would kill for a normal family." Tony says, and lifts the Chili pot, as I help him. "Since when did you learn how to cook?" He asks. "Damon helped a little." I say. "Damon's helping you cook now?" Mark asks. "Both of you stop judging. He's just trying to be a good." I say, and my necklace burns me. "Ow!" I exclaim. "Did I splash you?" Tony asks, as I touch my necklace. "No, no, my necklace." I say, and pull it away from my skin. "It burned me." I say, unhooking the chain, and take it off, and hooking it back. "Maybe it's a sign you shouldn't be wearing it." Tony says, as we look at him. "Tony.." Mark says. "What, I'm just saying. If you're going to be "cooking" without Stefan." Tony says, looking at me, and I scoff, looking at it. "Let me see it." Mark says, as I look at him, and hold it up to him with my right hand, as he looks at it, and touches it with his right hand, and it sparks, as I drop it, gasping. Tony and I are at the Lockwood Potluck, sitting on a bench, as I'm in a chair, and I see Mark approach us. "Hey. On, I got it." He says, and sits next to Tony. "I have an Identification spell that might be able to tell me what magic affected the necklace." He says, pulling out his Grimoire with his right hand, and puts his back down, as I grab the necklace out of my left pocket, and hand it to him, and he takes it with his right hand, and opens the Grimoire. "It's going to take a while, so tell me if anyone's coming, ok?" Mark asks, and I nod, and Tony looks at me. "So you're not, like, switching Salvatores, are you?" He asks. "What?" I ask, and Mark looks at him. "Tony.." He says, and Tony looks at him. "Stay focused." He says, and turns back to me. "As your friend who worries for you daily, what is the deal with you and Damon?" He asks. "There is no deal. He's been just as focused on finding Stefan as I have." I say. "Yeah, but that doesn't make him any less Damon. If my own Father, who I love dearly, can't change me. No one's changing Damon. Not even you." He says, shaking his head, as my heart beats fast. "What? What did you just say?" I ask. "No one's changing Damon." He says. "Before that." I say. "If my own Father, who I love dearly can't change me?" He asks, and I begin shaking. "Are you okay? You're shaking." He says. "I'm f-fine. Look, why are we even talking about this?" I ask, with a few tears. "What's wrong?" He asks. "Hey. Guys?" Mark asks, as we look at him, and the necklace begins to levitate. "What are you doing?" Tony asks. "I'm not doing anything." Mark says, and it raises higher. "It has its own magic." He says, and they look at me. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I say, and get up, and Tony grabs my right wrist, as I look at him. "What's wrong?" He asks, and I pull my wrist back. "Nothing. I just want to be alone right now." I say, and walk off to the bathroom. I arrive and puke in the toliet, and sit on the floor, crying, and puke more. I meet up with Tony after I wiped my eyes, and we're walking. "Hey, are you okay?" He asks. "Yeah, I think I ate too much Chili." I say, smiling, and he gives a small laugh. "Did Stefan ever tell you where he got the necklace?" He asks. "No. And I never asked. Hopefully Mark will be able to figure it out." I say. "Please tell me it's time to go." Alaric says, as I look at him, and forward. "Beyond. Where's Damon?" I ask, and Tony stops in front of me. "Probably off somewhere doing bad things to good people. Consider me the Honesty Police." He says, and I give a small smile, and he looks to his left, upset, and walks closer to us. "What is it?" I ask. "What's the matter?" Alaric asks. "It's my Dad." Tony says, and we look to the left, and see Bill talking, as I grab Alaric's left arm with my right, and we look at each other, and back to Tony. "Why would he even show up here?" I ask, and he shakes his head. "I don't know. But I can't. Do you hate him?" He asks. "Yes. He shouldn't torture people. Especially his own son. I totally understand why you can't. I get it." I say, and he nods. "I'll call you later. If he gets near you, call me, and I'll show up with a loaded gun." I say. "Ok." He says, giving a small smile, and walks off. "Ok, what's that all about? What's going on with you and Bill?" He asks, as I look at him. "Speaking of doing bad things to good people. What I'm about to tell you, you can not tell Damon. He will rip Bill's heart out, and I can't put Tony through that." I say, and let his arm go, and we walk out the door. "Wait, wait, Houston, we have a problem." Damon says, as I look at him. "Where have you been?" I ask. "Managing Bill Forbes." He says, and I breathe heavily, looking forward. "Apparently he's impervious to Compulsion. What's up with you?" He asks. "Bad Chili." I say. "How?" Alaric asks, as I look at Damon. "I have no idea. But he threatened to out me. Don't get me started on the irony of that." He says. "What did you do to him? Please tell me you didn't rip his heart out. How do you know the Compulsion doesn't work?" I ask. "That's not the most important piece of information I mentioned, Ethan." Damon says, and I look forward. "What does he want?" Alaric asks. "He wants to control the Council. Says it's been compromised." Damon says, and I give a fake laugh. "I'm sure that's all he wants." I say, sarcastically. "It has!" Alaric exclaims.  "He wants to put Vervain in the town's Water Supply." Damon says. "Maybe it's not a bad idea. I mean, it'll help you keep yourself in control now that Stefan's not here to." I say, and he interrupts me. "To what?" He asks, as we stop. "To keep me in check? Make me behave? I should have killed him this morning." He says. "And you should have. I would agree with you on that if he was anyone else's Father of a friend of mine. But, he's Tony's Father, Damon." I say. "Yeah, and when I kill him, he'll have one more parent than we do." He says, and begins to walk off, and Alaric blocks his path. "Oh, come on, Damon!" Alaric exclaims. "You're repeatedly killing my buzz today, Ric. Step aside." Damon says. "Yeah, it's not going to happen." Alaric says, and Damon looks at Alaric's Gilbert Ring. "Your temporary Funeral." Damon says, and he snaps Alaric's neck, killing him. "Damon, no!" I exclaim, and Alaric falls to the ground, on his stomach, and I look at Damon. "What is wrong with you?!" I exclaim, and he looks at me, and walks off, and I shake my head. I pick up my phone, and call Tony. "I'm only answering in case it's a friend emergency." He says. "I can't believe I'm saying this. But it's an emergency. Damon's after Bill, after he killed Alaric. Thank God for the magic ring." I say, and hang up. I run into the office, and see Damon choking Tony with his right hand. "Well, I'm angrier!" Tony exclaims, and takes Damon's hand off, and grabs both sides of his face, and headbutts him, and throws him into the wall, and I notice Bill, and Tony and dashes to him, grabs him, and dashes off, as I turn around. "Bummer." Damon says, and I look at him, and see his lip is bleeding. "I love a good guy fight." He says. "You can't do this anymore, Damon. Not in this town. Not around me." I say, as he stands up. "Why not? It's nothing I haven't done before. Why is it suddenly so important for everyone to keep me in check?" He asks, approaching me. "Because I don't want you to be what other people think that you are." I say. "What? A monster? Sorry to disappoint you, Elena, but last time I checked, I was still a vampire!" He exclaims. " I guess I wish that you didn't have to act like one!" I exclaim. "I am not Stefan. How about you stop trying to turn me into him? And Bill told me what happened. The only reason he isn't dead on the floor right now with his heart ripped out is because I don't want you hating me forever for doing that to Tony." He says, and walks past me. It's the next day, as I'm walking through the Town Square with Tony. "I'm not going to say I told you so." He says. "Thank you." I say. "But I did tell you. So." He says. "Okay, you and Damon were both right. I was trying to change him. But if he wants to be in my life." I say, and he interrupts me. "Wait. I." He says, and scoffs, as I stop and look at him, as he's stopped. "It's been a long week, so I'm just going to be blunt. It doesn't matter what he does, Damon's gotten under your skin." He says. "That's not true." I say. "God, just admit it, Ethan, ok? You are attracted to him! In all of his bad brother glory." He says, and I shake my head. "No." I say, shaking my head. "Wait, no, you're not attracted to him, or no, you just won't admit it?" He asks. "I can't, Tony! If I admit it, if I even thought it for just a second.. What does that say about me, even if he is my salvation through all this mess? I ask. "It says you're human, Ethan." He says, and looks past me, and sighs, and I see Bill walking on the other side of the Square, and look back at him. "Speaking of being human. Do you need me to get a gun?" I ask. "No, I got it." He says, smiling, and rubs my left arm, and puts his hand down, and walk off, as I look behind me, and see him walking to his car, and walk over to Tony, they talk for a bit, and he begins to walk off, and goes back to him, and I walk over to them. "Hey." Tony says. "Hi." I say, and step in front of him. "Hey." He says, and I punch him in the jaw, hard, and he falls to the ground. "I suggest you leave. Sorry, Tony." I say, and walk off.