A life in the shadows

9

Matteo stood in the kitchen preparing some food for the two teenagers. Tyler had found his way back home. Matt had left shortly afterwards and Matteo knew that Siobhan would try to help his brother. He hated feeling useless so he went into the kitchen. He took the food to them and left the house, deciding it would be better if he watched over Caroline from afar. They'd think he was weird if he just stayed in that house, not really knowing them. All he wanted to do was go and save his brother. But Siobhan was right. Damon would be suspicious as to how he'd healed. He'd find out and Kaia would come for him. It would be cruel to save his life only to doom it.

The next day was the funeral of Elena's aunt. Matteo stood at the back, hidden from view. He had no right to be there- he didn't know her. But he still wanted to watch over his brother and he still had to watch over Caroline. Siobhan approached him from behind.
"We can try to find a way, Matteo."
"The elders would have let us know if there was a way. Kaia would have used it whenever any of us was bitten to spare us the pain."
"Maybe there's a new cure?" She wondered.
"Don't give me false hope. I know that if I do save Damon, I'd be dooming him, Stefan, Elena, every human, wolf, vampire who lives here. They'd probably sink it and we'd have another Atlantis on our hands."
"Don't be silly." Siobhan said. "The elders wouldn't make the same move twice. They'd probably set the entire town aflame."
"Not helping." Matteo glared at nothing. "Just as I finally get the chance to see my brothers, I end up losing one."
"You haven't lost him yet."
"It's only a matter of time, and we both know it." Matteo shook his head. Caroline was fine, the danger had passed, the full moon was over. He could focus on his brother now. He headed back to the boarding house to wait for his brothers.

Matteo must have fallen asleep because he woke up to a thud. He stood up to see Stefan pushing Damon onto the floor, the curtains open.
"What the-" He started before seeing his brother's ring on the floor. "Damon!"
"Get off of me." Damon shrugged Stefan off. "And don't scold me."
"You're not doing this." Stefan said.
"Just did. You know what happened to Rose, Stefan."  Stefan picked Damon up and rushed to the room. Matteo cursed. Times like these he wished he had super speed. If only to blend in at least. He picked up Damon's ring and ran down to the cellar.
"Oh, right. A miracle cure. Good luck with that one."  Damon was saying.
"You're not killing yourself." Matteo shook his head. "I just got you back."
"And who's fault is that?" Damon glared. "You had a hundred and forty six years to come back."
"I got Bonnie looking for something, anything." Stefan said, trying to break the tension.
"Always the hero, Stefan. Just tell me good-bye, get it over with. The both of you."
"Lie still. Conserve your strength." Stefan told him.
"Where's Bonnie?" Matteo asked as he and Stefan walked out of the room.
"The old witch house. It's a sort of cabin in the woods."
"I'm going to go find her. See if I can help with anything." He told Stefan. "We need Damon calm, and I'm not doing anything to maintain that by being here."
"Alright." Stefan said after a long look and watched his brother leave. Matteo felt for the energy of the witch house. It sounded like a place that would have a unique energy. It took him a while, but he eventually found it.
"Matteo?" Bonnie greeted as he walked into the room she was in. "Are you okay to be in here?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"The ancestors don't care much for vampires. They usually mess with daylight rings. Wait-" She frowned. "You don't have one. How are you able to be in the sunlight?"
"I keep it around my neck." Matteo shrugged, pulling out the ring attached to the chain. He and Siobhan had a ring just in case they needed to blend in.
"Oh." She said. "Well, the ancestors don't seem to hate you."
"I get the sense that that's as good as I'm going to get." He chuckled.
"You're here about Damon."
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Well unless you know ways to make ancestors talk?"
"Sorry, fresh out, but uh," Matteo spread his arms and looked towards the ceiling, "If you can hear me, please help me find a way to save my brother. I don't know you, you don't know me, and I'm sure you're not too fond of my vampire brother, but please. He's my family, and I know if there's one thing you witches all care about, it's family. Living and dead."
"Sorry." Bonnie said after a minute of silence. "But that was one hell of a speech."
"It's okay. I knew it was a long shot. Siobhan thinks there could be a cure. We've both been alive for a century and a half, both encountered werewolves, seen what it does, and not once have we found a cure. I don't know how she can be so optimistic."
"Optimism isn't always a bad quality."
"I know. I love her for it, I do, but I don't want to get my hopes up only for them to be crushed." He sighed. "Hey maybe you could do a séance?"
"That would force the ancestors to at least talk back. Instead of just ignoring us." She said, walking over to the other side of the room picking up candles and a matchbox. Stefan rushed into the room.
"She's going to do a séance to talk to the ancestors." Matteo filled in his brother. Bonnie took a seat on the floor setting up the candles and lighting them.
"I'm not sure this is going to work." Bonnie admitted.
"You've done a séance before, right? Contacted Emily Bennett. Maybe one of the witches might know how to help Damon." Stefan said.
"Let's just hope they want to." She replied.