Vampire Diaries Blood Brothers

~ Chapter Fifty Eight ~

Damon Salvatore

Bring! My dashing, handsome blue eyes rolled around their sockets at the bell rang throughout our old, creaking mansion, closely followed by the soft yet swift pattering of footsteps. Stilettos. "Ah," I smiled, spinning in my recently polished black balmorals as Anna, traitor, liar, backstabber, daughter of Pearl appeared in the doorway of my lavish (and much more stylish than Stefan's) bedroom. "I suppose I should be grateful, you learned how to use the bell."
   Anna ducked her head, her thick, raven, waist-length curls brushing against the waistband of her dandelion skirt while I finished buttoning my shirt. "I'm here on behalf of my mother."
   I snorted, turning back to the mirror. "On behalf of? Or in spite of?"
   She gritted her teeth, the humanly inaudible sound making the corner of my thin, luscious lips twitch. "Look," she breathed, her big brown eyes large and hesitant. "I don't have time for your snarky attitude," she growled. "I just came to say that I'm sorry, we both are." She shrugged, the tall heel of her blood orange shoes tapping against the dusty floorboards. "What happened to Stefan... It wasn't supposed to go down like that. It's just..."
   "Just what?" I interrupted, cocking my head to the side. "Hm? Don't tell me the fact that a tomb full of angry vampires wanting revenge on the sucker who put them there didn't cross your mind," I spat, clenching my teeth. I narrowed my eyes, vamping to Anna, my chiseled jaw towering high above her quiet expression. "My brother almost died, and not to mention me, and Eva. And..." I squeezed my eyes shut, my fingers curling at my side. "Tell me, why shouldn't I just kill you now?" 
   She took a breath, keeping her cool despite the obvious fact that she was definitely scared. "The others are gone, my mother forced them to leave Mystic Falls when she found out what they did to Stefan. It's just us."
   I raised a brow, disbelieving as I turned back to the mirror, brushing my dark and utterly irresistible strands of hair to the side. "And why isn't Pearl here telling me herself?" I demanded, keeping an eye on her small reflection.
   She shrugged, biting her lip. "My mother doesn't really do apologies."
   "Well that's a coincidence," I snorted. "Because I don't really do forgiveness."
   "Damon-"
   "Get out."
   She pursed her lips, nodding slowly as she loitered in the doorway. "Nice suit," she whispered, the tip of her finger brushing against the frame, the impact making a tiny scuffling sound, like a mouse. "Going to see Eva?" She asked, her eyes meeting mine.
   "I'm warning you," I growled, towering over her, my fangs exposed beneath my lip.
   "I'm not here to threaten you, Damon," she promised, squaring her shoulders. "I came to warn you. Someone's been stealing blood bags from the hospital and the Council is becoming aware."
   I scoffed, leaning my elbow into the frame. "Uh, I know, I'm on the Council, remember?" I rolled my eyes. "Which, by the way, thank you for reminding me - stop stealing blood bags."
   "Damon," Anna hissed, crinkling the wrist of my black suit jacket specifically designated for the weddings and funerals of people I actually like... After all this time it still fits. "It wasn't us."

Rage surged through my veins as Anna disappeared, her scent the only evidence of her being here. A ferocious growl rumbled in my throat as I crouched beside my bed, my blunt fingernails denting the wooden base. Nails creaked beneath my weight as I shot through the house, tearing up the place as I fled to the cellar.
   I'd searched Stefan's bedroom every time he left the house, and I'd picked through his diaries. There was no obvious evidence, but he was way too chipper for someone who'd been exposed to human blood after a century of tasteless squirrel juice. 
   Zipping through the row of cells, I pushed through the stinging vervain and flipped the sacks, sniffing the ground for even a drop of fresh blood. Tearing down the corridor, I rammed through the iron bolted door to the basement and froze in the center, tilting my chin towards the roof. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, breathing in the must, and dust, and... Blood. 
   Vamping towards the freezer, I lifted the lid, a crimson glow meeting my eyes. My lips quivered and brows furrowed as tens, maybe hundreds, of blood bags gathered crystallized chips of ice and freeze.
   I sighed, pressing my forehead into the lid before pulling it closed. My fingers clasped behind the back of my head, raven strands of hair entangling themselves against my skin while my elbows dug into the freezer top. "Oh, Stefan," I murmured, rubbing a crease in my forehead. "You're in deep this time, Brother."