A life in the shadows

19

"What happened to him?" Damon asked as Siobhan carried an unconscious Matteo into the house, Elena right behind her.
"I have no idea." She frowned.
"Is it like the last time he was unconscious?"
"No. He's never had blood in his ears before. It's like-" she stopped herself.
"Like what?" Damon asked.
"Nothing." She put a hand against his neck, feeling for a pulse. She opened his eyelids, before slapping him, frustrated. Damon gave her a look. "It was worth a try."
"Maybe he just needs blood. Human blood heals vampires."
"No, I don't think that would work. I think he needs some rest." She said, tapping his cheek lightly. "Come on, Matty, please."
"You're scared for him." Damon noted.
"He's never been this way. There's something different." She said. "I don't know what."
"Hey, I'm here!" Caroline sympathised, walking into the boarding house. "Is he okay?"
"I hope so."
"How do you know about it, Blondie?"
"I told her." Elena said. "We were talking on the phone when we saw him."
"He was okay a few hours ago! Like two hours." Caroline said. "A little rattled but, okay."
"What do you mean?"
"He said he wanted to clear his head."
"Really?" Siobhan frowned, before turning back to Matteo. She brushed his curls from his forehead and leant down, whispering, "Come on Matteo."
"He wanted to talk to Bonnie too, do you think that's got anything to do with it?" Caroline asked.
"No, that's, I'm sure that had absolutely nothing to do with this." She said. "He wanted to tell me something, but I just blew him off."
"What was he up to?" Damon asked.
"Well, he went to go talk to the sheriff, but she won't have remembered anything, so that's pretty much a dead end." Siobhan said.
"He compelled my mother?!" Caroline looked taken aback.
"Not exactly, and he wouldn't have done anything without her permission."
"My mom would never voluntarily forget anything, so maybe she knows something."
"I don't think so, but you could go check." Caroline ran out of the room,
"What did he want from Bonnie?"
"Just some questions for Emily. It has nothing to do with this. This is about something else. I just don't know what happened." Matteo's eyes moved, and Siobhan muttered under her breath. "Matty?"
"What?" Damon asked. Matteo groaned and opened his eyes.
"About time!" Siobhan slapped his chest lightly.
"Ouch." He managed to say, putting his hands to his head. "What happened?"
"We were hoping you could fill in the blanks." Damon said.
"Hey, brother." Matteo said.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I got run over by ten trucks. You?"
"Like my brother was carried unconscious into my house for reasons yet to be determined."
"I guess I win." Matteo coughed.
"What happened?" Damon had a serious look on his face.
"Um-"
"Don't you dare say you can't tell me."
"But I can't."
"No. You won't tell. There's a difference."
"I thought you'd accepted that there were things I couldn't tell you."
"Yes but not everything."
"I'm okay, Damon."
"What happened?"
"Uh-" Matteo suddenly fell back onto the couch, grabbing his head in pain, before his body arched unnaturally.
"Matteo."
"Give... me... a second." He gritted out.
"What's going on?" Damon asked again but Matteo ignored him. A minute later he fell back on the couch, panting.
"That hurt like a bitch."
"What happened?"
"I honestly don't know, so even if I could tell you. I can't." Damon just scoffed at his brother and sped out of the house. Matteo groaned, as he sat up. "I'm going after him."
"You can't even stand." Siobhan said.
"Hey, we've both been through worse, I'm fine, really." Matteo said. "But he's not. I have to go after him."
"Siobhan's right, Matteo. You are in no state to go after Damon."
"I'm going after my brother." He said, determined, and stood up, staggering to the door. He shook his head, and walked out. Elena thought for a moment before following.
"Elena, he has to do this. Matty's stubborn, he'll do this, but he needs to do it alone. He and Damon have a few things to hash out."
"But what if he collapses again?"
"Damon'll be with him. Trust me, I want to go to them too, but Matteo needs this. He can't just stand around while his brother's hurting."
"What did he mean when he said you've both been through worse?"
"Well, just that, really. I mean, we have a habit of getting into tough situations."
"I don't like this." Elena admitted.
"There's nothing we can do except wait."
"Do you know what it could possibly be? I mean he said he'd figured 'it' out, whatever 'it' is."
"I don't know. I suppose I could call Kaia and see if he told her anything. I mean that's what he would normally do." Elena nodded her head, and Siobhan brought her phone out and started dialling.
"Siobhan." Kaia greeted. "Are you with Matteo?"
"No," Siobhan frowned in confusion.
"Have you and Matteo have talked?"
"No, I was wondering if you had? He told me he had some.." Siobhan glanced at Elena. "an update."
"He said he'd call later, that he wasn't alone. Where is he?"
"I just found him, victim to a, uh- I think he found it. He had blood in his ears. Do you know anything about that? I mean it sounds like a-" she glanced at Elena again. "Do you know what might have happened to him?"
"No, I don't. Talk to him as soon as possible, and make sure he reports to me, when he can."
"Yes ma'am." Siobhan reluctantly hung up.
"What did she say?"
"That Matteo didn't tell her anything yet."