Written In Blood

Chapter Twenty Three.

Stefan found his way back to the Salvatore property.
He entered the house and went straight to his father's study.
As soon as Guiseppe saw him, he gasped, standing up from his chair.
"Dear God!" He cried out.
"Even in our death, you only feel shame?" Stefan asked.
"You're one of them now." His father replied.
"No. Father, I came to say goodbye." Stefan said, sadly.
"I watched you die." Guiseppe grimaced.
Stefan thought for a moment.
"You were there when we were shot?" He asked.
"I pulled the trigger myself." Guiseppe replied, matter-of-factly.
"You killed your own sons?" Stefan couldn't believe it.
Guiseppe scoffed. "You were both dead to me the moment you sided with the Vampires. I only thank God that your mother isn't alive to see the disgrace you've become."
Stefan felt his eyes fill up with tears.
"I haven't turned yet. I don't want to. I'm going to let myself die, father. Please."
"Yes you are." Guiseppe growled, pulling out a wooden rod from underneath his desk, snapping it in two.
He lunged at his son, but Stefan threw him against the nearest wall.
Stefan saw red, but when he realised that the stake had been impaled in his father, he panicked, rushing towards him.
"Father, I didn't mean to!" He cried, falling to his knees.
"Get away from me!" Guiseppe told him, wincing in pain.
"No, let me help you, please!" Stefan sobbed.
Stefan removed the stake from his father's chest and instantly noticed the blood on the stake and his hands. Out of impulse, he slowly put his fingers to his mouth and licked.
The blood controlled him. He reached into his father's wound and continued to lick the blood from his fingers.
Guiseppe watched on in horror as his son's eyes turned red, the veins visible below his waterline.
"Oh God... What's happening to me?" Stefan cried out, reaching for his gums as his fangs poked through. 

Stefan later returned to the quarry to see Damon, a girl in his grasp.
"What are you doing?" Damon asked. "Who is that?"
"I brought her for you. She's a gift. Have a seat, please." Stefan smiled.
Damon raised an eyebrow at his brother.
"What have you done, Stefan?"
"Damon, I've been to see father. He came at me. I didn't know my own strength. There was blood everywhere. He was dying and the blood was too strong. I needed it. I had to have it." Stefan explained.
Damon scoffed. "You fed."
"Yes. And it's incredible. My body is exploding with power, Damon."
"No." Damon scowled.
"I can hear things from far away; I can see through the darkness, I can move like its magic. And the guilt, the pain... Damon, I can turn it off. Like a switch. Katherine was right. It's a whole other world out there, Damon." Stefan had a gleam in his eye that Damon could not ignore, but he was frozen on his choice to die.
"Katherine is dead, Stefan. There is no world without her."
"No, you can turn it off, too. You don't have to feel that pain anymore." The younger brother was almost frantic.
"I don't want it." Damon snapped.
"You're weak. You'll be dead soon. You need this."
"No."
"You'll die." Stefan said.
"No. I can't." Damon shook his head.
"Please." Stefan begged. "I won't let you die."
"No, I can't." Damon repeated.
"Don't fight it. We can do this..." Stefan said, biting into the girl to tempt Damon. "Together."
Damon gave into the urge. He sank his teeth into the girl, draining her then dropped the girl to the floor.
"How do you feel?" Stefan asked.
"You were right. It's a whole new world." His brother replied, out of breath from his feed.
"We can explore it together." Stefan smiled.
"You got what you wanted... You and me for all eternity. But hear this, brother; I will make it an eternity of misery for you." Damon spat, walking away.
"Damon!" Stefan called after him, but the older brother ignored him.
Emily appeared behind Stefan.
"You've transitioned." She said.
"You'd have rather found me dead?" Stefan raised his eyebrow.
"Katherine saved my life once. I owed her. That doesn't mean I'd wish her curse on anyone." Emily replied.
"It feels more like a gift." Stefan chuckled.
"That will change." Emily warned.
"Why's that?"
"Because, even in death, your heart is pure, Stefan. I sense that about you. That will be your curse." The witch told him and walked away.
"Emily... Wait!" Stefan called after her, but just as his brother did, she ignored him. 

Rayna waited, sat alone in her house after she'd dismissed the staff, drinking her way through her wine collection, half to save on packing space and half to drown out the sorrows of Damon.
She just wanted to forget ever meeting the Salvatore brothers.
But a knock on the door interrupted her.
"Damon?" She gasped, seeing him on her doorstep.
"Hello Rayna..." He smiled sadly.
"What is it?" She asked.
Damon sighed. "May I come in?"
Rayna stepped aside, allowing him in.
"You should be dead by now." Rayna said in monotone as she closed the door with a loud bang.
"Stefan forced me to feed." Damon replied.
Rayna led him into the sitting room, where she poured him a glass of wine and handed it to him.
"So are you still wanting to kill yourself?" Rayna asked, not making eye contact with him.
"Yes..." Damon sighed.
"What are you waiting for, then? A written invitation? Here." Rayna spat, going to her dining table. She ripped off one of the dining chair's legs and handed it to him. "Go on. Kill yourself. Do it."
Damon's eyes filled with tears as she looked at him with pure rage.
"What are you waiting for?!" Rayna yelled.
The first tears spilled over Damon's bottom lashes.
"I can't..." He whispered.
Rayna scoffed and threw the chair leg, it impaling itself into the dining room wall.
"I'm sorry Rayna... Look at me, even as a Vampire I'm weak, just like Stefan said." He sniffed, sitting down in the sitting room.
"I hope you're not looking for any sympathy." Rayna snapped, sitting down across from him, taking a sip of her wine.
"Of course I'm not. I just need help." Rayna couldn't help but take pity on him. She knew what it was like to be a new Vampire and doing something she instantly regretted.
"Okay. I'm going to tell you something. So listen carefully, because I'm only repeating this once." She said, sitting forward.
Damon nodded, wiping his face.
"When I turned seven hundred and eighty five years ago, I was an orphan. I was originally from Norway and moved to England with my guardians. Their names were Earl Hamish and Lady Elizabeth Payne. I was at a ball once and met two brothers, who I later discovered were Vampires. I befriended them; we were as close as best friends could be. One day, we went on a hunting trip and on our way back, we were attacked by bandits. I was dying, so one of the Vampires; Niklaus, gave me his blood, but it was too late and I died. When I woke up and we got back to my town, the first thing I did was see Hamish. And I ended up killing him. I drank from him until he died. But Niklaus and his brother Elijah helped me through everything. From becoming a Vampire to controlling my emotions. That is what I need to teach you right now. But once I've taught you this, I need to leave you. I have some important things I need to do. Alone."
Damon looked at the Heretic in shock.
"I had no idea..." He whispered.
"So if you're going to hate Stefan for forcing you to turn and for him killing your father, you'd better hate me for the same reason. Because I used to be him." Rayna looked at him sadly.
"I can't hate you, Rayna. But I can't help but hate him." He sighed.
"Then I can't help you. Whilst you're so attached to the hate and the anger and the rage, there's nothing I can do for you." She said.
Damon sighed once more. "Then go. I'll eventually get over my hatred for him and you can help me then."
"What, and come back to your humanity turned off? Or a large trail of bodies in your wake?" Rayna scoffed.
"I'll be fine." Damon said, nodding to himself.