Chaos (Satisfy Series Book Five, The Vampire Diaries)

Ch. 14: No Exit

At home, hearing the doorbell ringing, I walked into the foyer to answer the door, talking to Stefan and Elena, who were studying together. "Oh, Caroline's here. I asked the Sheriff to help me track down Damon."

I opened the door.

Caroline walked in, closing the door behind her. "You were right. He's off the rails. This is from my mom." 

Caroline handed me some papers.

"Let me guess, missing persons and animal attacks?" I asked. 

"Check and check, but there's something else," Caroline told us. "All of the victims were found inside their homes without their head . . . and their skin was desiccated."

"Damon's feeding on vampires . . ." I trailed off, flipping open the folder and looking at some of the crime scene images.

Stefan stood, walking closer. "We shouldn't have let him go."

"No," Caroline told us. "Uh-uh. No, you two are not turning Damon's roosting chickens into a Salvatore Sibling guilt trip. No one could've stopped him from going after Wes the other night."

"I guess Wes must have injected him with whatever he was going to give Elena that makes vampires feed on vampires," I told them.

"Ah," Caroline said. "Good news, bad news. Bad news is that when this happened to Jesse, we had to kill him, but the good news is . . .I'm sorry, usually there's some good news."

"I have to find him," Stefan told us.

"Well, I can come with you," Elena told him.

"Elena, hey," Caroline told her. "I didn't know that you were here."

"Well, Stefan has been helping me study," Elena told her.

"Oh," Caroline said. "Stefan, who doesn't go to college."

"Stefan, who's an expert in history," Elena told her.

"Uh-huh," Caroline said. Her phone rang. She looked at the Caller I.D. "It's Tyler. I haven't really spoken to him since the, um, incident."

"The incident?" Stefan repeated. "You mean the time when he chose revenge against Klaus over his relationship with you?"

Caroline ignored him, answering the phone. "Hey."

"Hey. Have you talked to Matt?" 

"No. Why?" 

"Because it turns out that Nadia has been compelling him to forget things. Matt said he was going to avoid her, but I haven't heard from him." 

"Do you think he's in trouble?" 

"I think he hasn't been at home or work and his phone goes straight to voice mail." 

"Okay. Well, I'll come right over."

"No. That's not why I called." 

"No, I know. I think that we can figure this out together. I'll see you soon."

Caroline hung up.

"Maybe I should come with you?" I suggested.

"No," Caroline told me. "No. You deal with Damon. We can handle this. Besides, it's time we move into the next phase of our post-break-up, pre-friendship relationship timeline."

"Okay," I said. "I'm going to stay out of that one."

Caroline smiled, turning around and walking out of the house.

Elena looked at Stefan. "I'm going to get some clothes and you'll pick me up at my dorm?" 

"Sure," Stefan told her.

Elena walked out of the house. I heard her talk to Caroline. "The bad news is that Tyler hates you. The good news is . . .hmm."

"It'll be fine," Caroline told her.

I looked at Stefan. "And then there were two. Looks like you and Caroline both have weird ex-friend situations."

"We . . ." Stefan trailed off. "Kaylin, there's nothing weird going on between me and Elena."

"Come on, Stefan," I told him. "First, she tells you she's going to fight to get Damon back, and then she re-breaks up with him, and now she's here, with you, her ex, 'studying'?" 

"She's here with her friend studying without the implied quotes," Stefan told me.

"Well, look, I'm just saying that Elena and Damon's break-up is messy, and you are not messy," I told him. "You, my brother, you're stable and sane and . . ." 

"I'm about to spend 12 hours in a car with her alone, so whatever she's feeling, I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out," Stefan told me. "Which is why you'll stay here."

"I will?" I repeated. 

"Yes, you will," Stefan answered. "Unless you want to kill Elena on the way to get Damon back." I opened my mouth to speak. Stefan cut me off. "You know what I mean." 

I smiled slightly. I let the smile fade. "Fine. Just bring him back."

"I will," Stefan told me. 

I nodded. "I know you will."

*****

Stefan had snapped Damon the Ripper's neck just to get him home. 

Damon was locked up in the cell. 

Damon woke up in pain to see Stefan and me standing in the same room. "Ahh. I know you can't help yourself, but if you bring home a rabid animal, you're gonna get bit."

 "I never should've told you to leave," I told him.

"I'm going to kill both of you, Kaylin," Damon told me. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point, I'm going to rip open your throats and you're both going to die."

"Ah, come on, Damon," Stefan told him. "You think I'm afraid of a Ripper? Who do you think invented the word? You know the feeling you get when you're around vampire blood? That burning in your veins? I feel that on a daily basis. And there's a way to control it."

"And let me guess," Damon told him. "It would bring you no greater pleasure than to teach me."

"No," Stefan told him. "That's a good guess."

"Right now, I'm going to go get you little bit more vervain and then I'm going to go get another drink and let you think about what a royal pain in the ass you've been lately," I told him. "You're our brother. Neither of us are going to give up on you. We never will."

"She has," Damon told us.

"You're talking about Elena?" Stefan asked.

"Mm-hmm," Damon answered.

"Who else do we have to have a conversation that always turns back around to that--" I started. 

Stefan cut me off, looking at Damon. "She practically got herself killed to prove a point today."

"Do you remember the vampire Ripper, Jesse?" Damon asked. "When he attacked me, Elena had to kill him, but if there was the slightest chance that there was another way to stop him, she would've taken it."

"Yeah," I said. "So?" 

"She knew it would be impossible for me to resist her blood, and then she just kicked our brother a stake and essentially told him to kill me," Damon told me.

"So, what are you saying?" Stefan asked. "Are you saying that Elena wanted me to kill you?" 

'You got another excuse?" Damon asked. Stefan took a moment to think, before he left. "That's what I thought."

"Well, I'm not her, or Stefan," I told him, stepping out of the cell, closing the door behind me, looking at him through the bars. "I'm not gonna give up on you."

I locked the door, walking away.