Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
" dakota chose to put herself in danger " +
The Salvatores head to their respective rooms after a long day of gruesome violence and heartbreak. Dakota bids her brother a goodbye, claiming she was going to take a well deserved nap before heading to her old bedroom.
Damon enters his own room, his eyes meeting the fuming brunette who clutches a fistful of newspaper clippings. The Salvatore narrows his brows, "What? What are you doing here?"
"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep it a secret?" Elena asks firmly.
"Can we not do this right now? I'm having a really bad night." Murmurs the blue eyed man.
"All summer, every single time I came to you with a lead, you made me feel like an idiot for having hope." The human girl scoffs, rolling her eyes.
"You were an idiot. We both were."
"Tell me what you know, Damon." Elena commands.
"I know you need to get back to your party, Elena." Retorts Damon.
"We're supposed to be in this together. Why didn't you tell me that you've been tracking Klaus' victims?" She spits, her voice slightly raising.
Damon shushes the girl, his eyes narrowing, "Dakota's in the other room. That girl has the vampire hearing of all vampire hearings, okay?"
Elena's lips purse, her brows furrowing in confusion, "she doesn't know about Klaus and his attacks?"
"No, she doesn't know about Klaus nor the attacks because well.. Because they're not Klaus's victims, Elena, they're Stefan's!" He stresses, his lips down turning into an unusual frown.
"What?" She breaths, looking rather taken aback by Damon's statement.
"He's left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard." The Salvatore explains subtly.
"No." The Gilbert girl shakes her head, reality not quite settling well with her, "You're wrong."
"I've seen it happen before... in both him and my sister. He's flipped the switch. Full-blown ripper." The man explains.
"Stop it, Damon."
"No, you stop, Elena! Stop looking for him. Stop waiting for him to come home. Just stop! Stefan is gone and he's not coming back. Not in your lifetime." Damon's face contorts immediately to a look of remorse, knowing his words had hit a soft spot in the heart of the girl he cares immensely about, before abruptly leaving. Elena stifles a son, her doe brows filling with tears as her fingers found the necklace that was her only reminded of who Stefan used to be.
Back in Tennessee, the brute man was lying limp on his back on a pool table, the familiar handsome face of the villain peering over at him with malice-filled eyes.
"Okay, it's a three step process, Ray. This is step one. I want you to drink from my wrist." Klaus Mikaelson instructs, gesturing his tanned limb towards the werewolf.
"I already told you where to find the pack. What more do you want from me?" Ray expresses, his tone thick with desperation and exhaustion.
"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying, Ray? I have great plans for you." The original vampire slices his wrist before forcefully shoving the blood down the supernatural's throat, smiling maliciously as the man began to choke and splutter. "You'll thank me for it later, huh. There we go, attaboy!"
"What are you going to do now?" The tired werewolf asks, blood trickling from his open mouth.
"It's time for step two, Ray." And without a second glance, Klaus snaps the man's neck, killing him with a gruesome crack as Stefan approaches the duo unfazed.
"You're back." The older vampire notes, turning towards his side-kick.
"Did you doubt me?" Stefan retorts monotonously.
"Not for a second. I knew you'd pass the test. You still care for your brother, for your old life." A ghost of a smirk tugging at the corners of Klaus's pink lips.
"Nah, I don't care about anything anymore." The youngest Salvatore replies with a shrug.
"You put on a good show Stefan. I almost believe you. Let's hope, for your brother's and sister's sake, he does. You never stop caring about family, do you? But, every time you feed, the blood makes it easier to let go." Klaus explains, noting the twitch in Stefan's stony expression, a mere glitch in his system at the mention of his beloved sister, to which the hybrid raises his brows.
"You know about her."
"Of course, Stefan...What?" He pauses, a chortle escaping his lips, "you don't think I keep tabs on you and your brother? Because if you thought otherwise, you'd be mistaken. I got to say, you two kept that ripper of a sister, Dakota is it?, cleverly hidden. And right under my nose too."
Stefan shrugs, "Dakota chose to put herself in danger."
"But to save you, Stefan. I assume she doesn't know I'm apart of this plan, correct?"
"Partly." Stefan starts, "She was there when I killed Andie. Damon mentioned something about you, but she had no idea who you were."
"And I've yet to meet the infamous twin sister of Damon Salvatore. I heard she's quite the show-stopper, a gorgeous face." Klaus smiles deviously, his fingers wrapping around a glass of whiskey before taking a shot, "and I look forward to passing by to say hello this week."
—
Dakota Salvatore sits still on the edge of her bed, her nimble fingers clutching a wilted picture that had withered and torn over the century since it's been taken.
Her eyes, a usual set of cold blues, were now filled with burning tears, tainting the beautiful irises red. Her heart ached, a sense of numbness spreading from her chest down to the tips of her toes and fingers. She stares at the black and white portrait, her nails grazing the delicate face of her younger brother. They were both smiling, dressed in the fanciest '40's attire the United States had ever seen in that time period, and they were sipping on martinis. That was when Dakota was trying to become sober, the blood lust and ripping episodes becoming too much for the siblings, and she remembers that Stefan had taken her out dancing and drinking to clear her thoughts.
She bites back a sob, closing her eyes. There would probably never be more of those times. Stefan was too far gone.
It was then her cell phone rang, an unknown Virginian number lighting up her screen. Wiping away her pathetic tears and clearing her throat free of emotion, she places the device to her ear, "hello?"
"Dakota?"
Dakota furrows her brows at the familiar, wavering tone, her interest suddenly peaking, "Elena? Is that you?"
"Yes, oh thank god you picked up! I couldn't get ahold of Damon and I-I tried to call the house but nobody answered and I-"
"Jesus, woman, stop your rambling and tell me what's going on." Dakota commands firmly, her heart hammering against her ribcage.
