Vampire Diaries Blood Brothers

~Chapter Twenty~

Kneeling beside Jeremy's trembling body, my fingers slipped across the keys and I called Stefan, holding the device to my ear, holding Jeremy's hand with my free hand. His voice crackled on the other end after the first ring, but not from the phone. I felt the warmth of his hands caress my shoulders as he crouched behind me, embracing me lightly so not to touch my wounds.
   "Hey," he whispered, cupping his hand over mine and gently pulling my phone away from my face, my entire body shaking from pain and fright. "Hey, it's OK. You can let go, it's OK. I've got you."
   "Is he gonna be OK?" I sniffed, gasping for breath between words.
   "He's in shock. Finding out his girlfriend is a vampire and that she attacked him is too much for him to process right now."
   "But he will... Right?"
   "I've told and seen few people over my lifetime react the way to vampires as you. Not everyone is as welcoming or accepting of the supernatural as you are."
   "What about Vicki? What if she hurts him again? What if she-"
   "You don't have to worry about Vicki anymore," he soothed, brushing the hair out of my face, completely unphased by my blood. "Damon got you and Jeremy out of the park and I took care of Vicki. She's dead, Eva. She can't hurt you anymore."
   "Dead?" A shiver ran down my spine as I clutched my sides, wrapping my arms across my torso. "How..."
   "The only way to kill a vampire is by stabbing them in the hurt with a wooden stake, or, anything wooden to be honest. There were some old stakes in the garbage, but I think you already know that," he pursed his lips, examining the wound on my side. 
   "I'm fine," I lied, pain searing through my body.
   "Let me take you home," he murmured, helping me off the ground.
   "No," I shook my head. "I want to see Vicki," a sob caught in my throat. "Take Jeremy home, Jenna's at the Grill. Here's the key," I placed the small piece of metal in the palm of his hand, ushering him towards my brother.
   "Eva-"
   "Please, Stefan. Just take him home, make sure he's safe."
   Sighing, Stefan nodded, picking Jeremy up off the ground, holding him like a baby. "I'll come back for you," he promised.
   "No," I argued. "I'll get a ride, or walk, or something. Just, don't leave Jeremy's side. Please, Stefan, promise me," I begged.
   "Eva-"
   "Please, Stefan. Promise me."
   "I promise. Just... Stay safe, alright?"
   "Don't worry, there are no vampires around to hurt me anymore."

Navigating my way through the dark, I turned the corner around the back of the school and gasped in horror as Vicki's lifeless body laid face up behind the school bus. Falling to my knees, I held my hand over my mouth as I examined the bloody pool over her heart, a wooden stake from the bins sticking out of her chest.
   Clutching the wound on my side, I stared at her, unable to move. Vicki was always bad news, especially when it came to her relationship with Jeremy, but she didn't deserve this. Nobody ever cared about her except for... Matt. He had been so worried when she went missing, and she finally came back to him, for one night only. Now who would tell him she was dead?
   Footsteps made me jump as I scrambled to my feet, unsure of what I would say if someone asked me what had happened here tonight. Relief washed over me when I saw Damon turn the corner, swaggering towards me as though it was no big deal that Vicki had died. That relief quickly turned to anger when I remembered he was the one who did this to her.
   "You should go, I got this," he smirked, examining the body.
   "You did this," I accused, tears filling my eyes. "This is your fault."
   "You confuse me with someone with remorse," he murmured, not even bothering to look at me. 
   Angrily, I lunged at him, placing my hands flat and his chest as using my body weight to shove him back, hoping he would go crashing into the buses. Instead, my wrists ached as he body remained frozen like a statue, his chest like a brick wall.
   Slowly, he lifted his head, his eyes narrowed and expression dark, but I didn't care. Damon deserved to pay for what he did. Grunting, I raised my arm in attempt to punch him in the face but he countered my move, his arm raising in a flash, his fingers grabbing my wrist and pulling downwards. The pain shot down my arm and I screamed in pain, trying to fight against him.
   Moving closer, applying more pressure to my wrist, he raised his eyebrows. "None of this matters to me," he pointed out.
   He released my hand but I didn't cower. Surely he wouldn't hurt me, or why would he have bothered rescuing me earlier? "People die around you, how could it not matter?" I cried. "It matters, it matters and you know it!" I screeched, slapping him in the face as he looked down at Vicki's body.
   Rage filled his eyes as he met my gaze once more, his teeth clenched and nostrils flared. "Boo," he moved his body forward to frighten me, his feet still firmly set in place like stone. Scared, I stepped back, but he didn't do anything to hurt me. The corner of his lip twitched into a smirk, clearly amused by how scared I was of him. "You need to leave," he order firmly.
   Standing my ground, my expression harden and jaw set. Unsatisfied with my defiance, he tilted his head, his eyes drifting to Vicki's bite mark in my shoulder. "Your wounds are bleeding," he pointed out in an obvious tone. His face suddenly hardened as he gritted his teeth, his eyes turning dark. "You need to leave."
   He raised his eyebrows, his chin tilted to the ground as though he were waiting for me to take the hint, but I got the message loud and clear. He was a vampire and my blood was exposed. As much as I didn't want to admit it, he was right. I needed to get out of there, and fast.
   Slowly, I covered my open wounds with my hands and, glancing back over my shoulder, ran for the street, intending to run and not look back, hoping to make it home before I collapsed in the street from open wounds and dizziness.