Damon x oc

20

Zach had returned home from a Council meeting with Sheriff Forbes. He wandered into the front parlour, putting his keys on a side table as he went. He was already halfway across the room when he noticed Damon lounging on a sofa reading from a notebook.

"I didn't know you were here," he told the vampire bluntly.

"Just going through Stefan's homework," Damon replied dismissively as he flipped a page in the notebook. "Boy this country sure has dumbed down in the last hundred years. Why he wants to go to high school is beyond me ... I mean in the seventies he went Ivy League – Harvard I understood." Damon paused and glanced at skyward. "Actually no, I didn't get that either." He continued to flip through Stefan's homework while Zach shifted uncomfortably. "Go ahead, purge. Get it out, what's on your mind?" Damon said to Zach, his attention still on the notebook in his hands. Zach hesitated before he spoke.

"Why are you here, Damon?" he asked. Damon looked up from the notebook and focused on his great-nephew.

"To spend time with you, Zach." He closed the notebook and placed it on his lap, folding his hands on top. "Family's important." Zach stared at the vampire, not believing a word out of his mouth.

"I know you ... You always have a motive. So tell me, what is it this time?" Before he could blink, Damon had rushed across the room and grabbed hold of Zach's throat, lifting up on to the tips of his toes, causing him to choke. Zach tried to prise Damon's fingers from his neck, but it was no good.

"You are in no position to question me," Damon said threateningly as he glared at his relative.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Zach choked out. Damon smirked as he tightened his hold on Zach's throat.

"This is not upset, Zach," he said cheerfully, before footsteps interrupted him.

"What's going on?" Stefan said as he entered the room. Damon glanced over his shoulder to see his brother glaring at him. He released Zach, who fell to the floor gasping for air.

"Having a family moment, Stefan," he said as Stefan staled towards him. "Spending some quality time." He patted Zach on the shoulder before walking out, a small smile on his lips. Stefan watched his brother leave before moving to help Zach.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"No, I'm not," Zach said, gasping for air and shoving Stefan's hand away and moving to sit on the step behind him. "And neither are you, and neither is Scarlett. How many more people have to die before you see that?" he asked, his voice laced with frustration.

"I see it, alright Zach, I see it –"

"Then why aren't you doing anything about it?" Zach cut him off.

"I can't, Zach," Stefan said firmly. "I can't ... It would take human blood, it's the only way that I could stop him, and I can't do that." Zach stared up at his uncle, steadily catching his breath, then glanced in the direction Damon had disappeared, as if to make sure he was really gone. Slowly, he stood up until he was looking Stefan straight in the eye.

"Vervain could weaken him, if he ingested it," he said softly. Stefan nodded in agreement. "It would get you the upper hand."

"Vervain hasn't grown here since eighteen sixty four," Stefan responded, his voice just as quiet as Zach's. "Damon saw to that. The little I had, I gave to Elena." Zach once again glanced in the direction Damon had gone, before turning back to Stefan, his gaze serious. Stefan frowned at his nephew.

"What?" he asked confused. Zach tilted his head to one side, signalling that Stefan was to follow him, before leading the way down to the basement. Stefan followed silently, curious as to what Zach had to show him. In the basement, Zach let the way to a door with cell-like bars set into it. He pushed it open and allowed Stefan to walk through. Underneath bright white lights were dozens of plants with pale lilac flowers - vervain.