Tiberius Salvatore: The eldest brother

22

Though he would've liked to spend more time with his wife, Rio knew that she'd need more time with her daughter. So he decided to join Klaus and Stefan at some bar. His phone rang.
"Hello mate. See, you seem to be a bit slow, today. Since we've almost finished up our business down at the bar, you might as well come meet us at the mountains."
"I'm probably not going to get home tonight, will I Klaus?" Rio sighed.
"There's a high chance of that."
"Sure, whatever. I'll meet you there. Still not killing anyone."
"We'll see." Klaus chuckled and hung up. An hour or two later, Rio met up with Klaus and Stefan at the forest opening on the mountains.
"Hey Stefan. You okay?" He asked. He realised he might have been neglecting his younger brother for a while. Stefan held a man over his shoulder.
"Yeah." He replied.
"Is he dead?"
"As dead as you and me." Klaus replied smirking. "Come on boys. Let's get going. Let's see some wolves turn into vampires."
"Yay." Rio replied, unenthusiastically.
"No need to be lackadaisical, mate. Chin up."
"Lacka-what now?" Rio said, staring at the man he viewed as a brother. A slightly delusional, slightly evil, brother.
"Search it up." Rio rolled his eyes at him, and carried on walking. Klaus turned to Stefan.
"You okay? Is Ray getting heavy?"
"I'm fine." Stefan said curtly.
"You sure about that? You know, we've been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or a little sit-down..."
"You know, I get that we're, uh...we're stuck together, but if we could maybe just skip the chitchat, it'd be great." Rio stifled a grin.
"So much brooding. Your self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend."
"Maybe it's 'cause I'm a little tired of hunting werewolves. We've been at it all summer."
"Thanks to our pal Ray, we found ourselves a pack. There." Rio let them talk, if you could call it that. Finally the three of them stopped, they'd found a pack. Stefan entered and everyone looked up at him as he dumped Ray on the ground.
"Ray! Oh, my God. What's going on? Who are you?" A girl shouted at Stefan, obviously distraught. Klaus stepped into the camp.
"The important question is who am I. Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus." Rio joined them.
"Stop being so full of yourself, Klaus." He rolled his eyes. The pack all looked at Klaus.
"Your the hybrid." The girl realised.
"You've heard of me. Fantastic."
"Like The hybrid? Werewolf and Original vampire?" Rio sat and his two comrades followed his example. The wolves, however kept standing, tense.
"It's fascinating, actually...A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun. A true hybrid." Ray gasped as he sat up. "Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic."
"What's happening to me?" Rio felt sorry for the guy. For werewolves there was no coming back from death. With humans, there was vampirism. For witches, there were spells to prolong life, and protection spells just in case someone tried to kill them. And vampirism.
"Stefan?" Klaus asked and Stefan stood up.
"Are any of you human? Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition to vampire. If he doesn't get it, he will die."
"Doesn't take much, just a sip. Anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend, along for the ride?" He looked at a guy. "You!"
Klaus bit the man's forearm, and Stefan grabbed him. To Rio, it was eerie just how they seemed to well, work together. "If you don't drink it, Ray, I will. Problem is I don't know how to stop."
"It's the new order, sweetheart." Klaus said, looking at a girl. "You join us or you die."
"I'd rather die than be a vampire." She spat.
"Wrong choice." Klaus forced his blood on her, and she unwillingly drank. "She'll thank me for that later. Heh." Klaus suddenly twisted her neck, snapping it. "Okay, who's next?"
"Well, you do you, Klaus, and I'll go for a run. Don't push Stefan too hard. Don't do anything drastic."
"Clearly you've forgotten just how big our list of victims is, you know- for the past 3 months."
"On second thoughts, maybe I should stay."
"It's fine, Rio. I'll be okay. Don't worry about me, big brother. Besides, we're turning wolves, not killing humans."
"Are you sure?" He asked Stefan.
"You're basically hovering now."
"Alright, alright. I get the hint." Rio raised his hands in an 'I surrender' manner before walking off.
Rio walked for a while, a bit far from the camp. He didn't want to witness it. He knew he wasn't a saint- no saint would be friends with people who kill, but he knew that by trying to go up against Klaus, he wouldn't win and would end up dead. Besides, Klaus took him in as a young vampire. Charlotte may have taught him everything he knew, but Klaus reminded him what it was like to have a younger brother. Even if Klaus was technically older. Klaus reminded him what it was like to have family. To have a brother.
"I didn't give up on him, Elena. I faced reality. Now get out of the water." The familiar voice shook Rio out of his thoughts. He moved closer.
"No!"
"Could you be any more idiotic?" Rio walked in and snapped at Elena.
"Manners, brother." Damon said. He seemed only slightly fazed by his brother's presence.
"Sorry, let me restart. Hi. Could you be any more idiotic. The only reason I haven't told Klaus you're alive is because, I don't want my brothers to be dead. By coming here, you're jeopardising them both." Rio said, before turning to Damon. "And you- what do you think you're doing? Do you want to die?"
"No, but Stefan is here because of me. I owe him this."
"Stefan is busy trying to keep both of your asses alive. By being here, you're making it harder for us. Day in, day out- you guys keep on following us, and just how much more do you think Klaus will allow before he decides to off you, and find out about her in the process and offing her too? Stay smart. Because if you die, Damon- then Stefan's sacrifice will be for nothing. Stefan will be back one day. Don't try to help because it's not helping."
"Once I get Elena out of the water, brother, I will drag her back home. But I'm not giving up. Stefan shouldn't have had to save my life in exchange for his soul."
"Yeah well, Stefan is, but his soul's still intact. But if you keep pushing it won't be."
"Come on Elena. He is right. Get out of the water."
"I said no!"
"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh? You gonna walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan to stop by?" Rio rolled his eyes. Damon jumped into the water.
"My plan is to find him and help him. Damon, this is the closest that we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home."
"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse. That makes you safe. This, this is not safe." Damon told her.
"Listen to Damon, or we'll do it my way. Or I could always tell Klaus to come over here. My options happen to be the ones you really don't want."