"Where is my ring?" Damon Salvatore lies in the cellar of the Salvatore boarding house slowly desiccating from lack of blood in his system and constantly being injected with vervain for the past three days. The magical ring that help him face the sun every morning gone from his index finger.
"Won't be needing it anymore." Stefan states appearing by the enclosed door speaking through the small window barreled space. He flashed a dry smile that didn't reach his eye staring at the weaken state his brother was in because of his own actions. His face was closed, carefully composed hoping to hide the guilt he felt for the pass five hundred years.
"How long have I been here?" Damon groans trying to stand up and face his brother but the vervain in his system was stealing his strength. "Three days." Stefan tells him,
"What are you doing?" Damon asks thinking that his own brother was going to kill him, but he wasn't. "During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment. They sought to re-educate them rather than to punish them." Stefan tells him of his intentions.
"You know what will happen if I don't... feed on blood." Stefan unfazed by his older brother, "You'll grow weaker and weaker. Eventually, you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever." Stefan spoke with command, yet his arms held themselves together as if it were his own comfort.
"So, what, you're just going to leave me in the basement, forever?" Damon spat at his brother, "I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can reevaluate." Stefan told him of his plans. "I'm stronger than you think." Stefan couldn't disagree with him, he knew it was true but what had to be done needed to be done. His own actions caused this, he had no one to blame but himself.
"You always have been. But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we both know it. I'm sorry. It didn't have to be this way." Stefan leaves and makes his way up to his room where a familiar faded scent still lingered.
Stefan had arrived back from the founders' party, throwing Damon in the cellar in the basement and laying Emilie gently on his bed in his own room. The red liquid dripped slowly onto his white sheets and pillow. Her skin slowly turning a pale color, the life draining out of her. He didn't want but had no other choice that would explain her injury. Convincing himself that it was his only option, he bit into his wrist gently with enough force to break the skin and draw blood. He held her from behind, propping her onto his chest bring his bitten hand to her lips and allowing the blood to drip into her mouth. She had ingested his blood in her system, he was able to move and let her body heal properly but the feel of her skin against his felt comfortable, like home.
Remember in fact who he was currently dating, her older twin sister, he shook his head, any thoughts of the old days of his past with the women he was once going to marry plagued his mind. He needed to get rid of those thoughts, he made his choice he shouldn't let it confused his heart. He picked her up and carried her out of there before his mind changed.
"You still going to school?" Zach spoke from his door. His arms folded across his chest as Stefan picked up his school bag and jacket.
"I came here to have a life. It's 'bout time I get back to that and Elena if she's still speaking to me." Stefan blinked as his eyes focused on his uncle's figure. He hated lying to her, he wasn't good at it and knowing Elena she already picked up that he's hiding something from her. He couldn't keep doing it forever, he knew but he hopes to put it off for as long as he could.
~
Bonnie Bennett sat on Caroline's bed playing with a candle trying to see if she could light it up once more. Emilie Gilbert laid on her back, her head propped up on Bonnie's lap. She slept. Caroline Forbes stood at the end of her bed looking into her mirror examining her wounded neck. She was looking at it letting herself be taken back into the past to see what she could remember during the time she was in a 'relationship' with Damon Salvatore, who mysteriously disappeared after leaving Caroline by herself.
