Hello Brother

Songs of this chapter:

¹A thousand years

Christina Perri¹

²Gotta get away

The Offspring²

³Kill me

XXXTentation³

  "Come in!"

A boy opened the door

Elena and Stefan smiling walked into the room when Alfred Schallemberg was nowhere in sight.

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  ¹People were dancing and so Stefan took Elena to dance too. They were too close, she were looking into his eyes but she couldn't do anything, her pulse was quicker and Stefan understood it. He wanted to calm her, he decided to kiss her, something that he wanted a lot time ago, though I don't think his move calmed her.¹

  Before she could say anything a familiar voice came to her. "Elena! Over here."

She saw Bonnie sitting with Caroline and Tyler on a couch in the corner. She and Stefan settled on a large couch opposite them.

  "You look great," said Bonnie warmly. "I just love that black dress."

  "She does look nice. Doesn't she, Tyler?" Caroline said, and Tyler, looking vaguely startled, agreed.

  "So your class was invited to this, too," Elena said to Tyler.

  "I don't know if invited is the word." Tyler replied dryly. "Considering that participation is half our grade."

  "Do you think he was serious about that? He couldn't be serious," Caroline added.

  "He sounded serious to me. Where's Mat?" Bonnie asked.

  "Matt? Oh, Matt. I don't know, somewhere around here, I suppose. There's a lot of people here."

  "He's an Aquarius." Bonnie said.

  "Who?" Elena asked.

  "Fred."

  "Bonnie you don't believe in this things, do you?"

  "Oh, God..." Tyler said, and Stefan turned a laugh into a cough.

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   Coming back from the party, Elena and Stefan saw a squad car out of her house.

  "Elena! Oh my God, thank you for being ok! Where were you? And why didn't you call?"

  Elena, stunned, looked around the room. She wasn't understanding anything.

  "We're so glad you're back." Bonnie said.

  "I was with Stefan, why is the police here?" Elena instinctively approached Stefan.

  "That's why they attacked Rita tonight" Matt said. They all seemed relieved and more than a little tired.

  "We have been searching for you and we found her." Matt said.

  "How is she?" Elena asked.

  "The doctor said that Rita was drunk. She could have imagined it all."

  "These bites aren't fantastic!"

Matt interrupted Caroline kindly.

  "What bites? What are you talking about?" Stefan anxiously asked.

  "She had not been injured elsewhere except for the bites. There were no other marks on her. Doctor said that it was an animal attack."

  "Is she ok?" Stefan asked unexpectedly as Elena looked up and stared at him.

  "She lost a lot of blood, she was almost drained and her neck was bitten really bad, it was hurting her when she was talking" Stefan wasn't talking next to Elena.

  "How did she explain what happened to her?" He asked a few seconds later.

  "She had a hysteria, real hysteria, you didn't make sense. She was constantly talking about how she couldn't run. That's why the doctor thinks it may have been some kind of illusion." Matt said.

  "The police found him faint on the ground and remembered nothing, the creature didn't attacked to her boyfriend but he remembers nothing." Bonnie added.

  But Elena almost didn't hear the last words. Something went wrong with Stefan. She did not know how she understood it, but she did. Stefan seemed tired while Bonnie was finishing what she was saying.

  "I have to go" he told her.

She grabbed his hand as he turned to leave. He was shielded, apathetic.

  "Call me tomorrow" She said.

  "Yes, Elena." whispered and stared into her eyes.

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  ²It can't be he... It can't be he... please God, it can't be he... Stefan was thinking in his car, breaking out on the steering wheel.²

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                                       2th September

Dear diary,

  I am not alone in this town, someone else like me is here. It wasn't an animal attack and I am pretty sure that it wasn't just one vampire. It has to be Damon.

  Stefan was writing in his diary when he sound a something. He turned back and he stumbled.   

  Damon was standing in front of him, with his arms crossed on his chest and his back resting on  the wall.

  "Hello, brother." Damon said calmly.

  Stefan remembered that voice, this velvety, ironic voice. Damon shook a little peel off the sleeve of his leather jacket, as elegantly as he was used to wear his cufflinks. 

  "I've been watching you for a while, but you didn't understand it, did you? Your powers are still as weak as ever, bunnies never helped."  

  "Watch out, Damon" Stefan said quietly, threateningly. "Be very careful tonight. I have no patience at all."

  "Ouh, threatening Stefan... Neither do I." Damon said.

  "Then why are you here?"

  "I did it because I just wanted to be near you. The brothers must be together."

  "You killed tonight."

  "Oh, yes I did." He said, as Stefan moved towards him.

  "Remember... I don't  have much patience. It was a little girl, Damon, you enjoyed a little girl!" Stefan's rage fluttered.

  "Yeah, it was, but why are you here?" Damon moved towards Stefan but he didn't answered. "I'm pretty sure that I know the answer, it's a little world, a name, wait, I cannot remember it, Uhm... Elena!" He haughty smiled.

  "Don't ever approach Elena!"

  "Oh, I already have, but she didn't understood it, that means that she doesn't know about us, about our powers, interesting..."

  "If you continue, you will regret."

  "You don't want to share anything, right? The same happened with Katherine, but she was a bitch..." Damon suddenly formed an unusually beautiful smile. "Well, happy, adorable Elena didn't tell you about our little meetings, the first time we met, if ever possible her pulse became quicker by a crow. I think she likes men in black."

  Stefan had his eyes nailed on him while he was trying to control his breath

  "You're wrong about her, you know... Come on, you think she is like Katherine. It's not your type at all, bro. You don't know how to overcome with her spirit and the flame inside her." Damon added almost kindly, letting his hands free and a smile appeared on his face.

   Stefan wanted to grab him by his hair, make this beautiful, haughty smile disappear from Damon's face.

  "You are right about one thing.  She's strong and she's nothing like Katherine. She has enough power to beat you. When she will learn who you really are, she will do it. Only disgust will has for you." 

  Damon raised his eyebrows. 

  "We will see that. She will may realize that the real darkness fits her better than the dusky twilight.  At least, I admit the truth about my nature. But I'm worried about you, my little brother. You look weak. But she is a temptation, right?"

  Kill him, a voice in his mind demanded from Stephan .  Kill him, snatch his neck, break his head.  But he knew that Damon had eaten very well tonight.

  "I have eaten very well" Damon said smiling as if he knew what Stefan was thinking.

  He sighed and licked his teeth and lips, full of satisfaction.   

  "She was ugly, but there was plenty of blood in her.  She wasn't cute like Elena, and she certainly didn't smell so nice.  But it's always refreshing to have fresh blood rolling through you."  Damon took a deep breath, stepped away from the tree and looked around.  

  Stefan remembered these graceful movements, where his every gesture was fully controlled and precise.  The centuries had simply refined Damon's natural elegance. 

  "And I'm willing to do that" Damon said, looking out of the window.

  Stefan saw a quick breath of fluttering muscles under his slim black shirt.     

  He disappeared from his eyes. He looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  "Up there, brother" The voice was heard from somewhere high, and Stefan raised his head and saw Damon on the roof but he disappeared again.

  "Brother" Stefan turned abruptly nodding at his moan, but there was nothing behind him.  

  "Here I am, brother" Stefan turned to grab him but he grabbed air.

  "Here, Stefan."  This time the voice was heard in his mind, and his power shook him.  He had to be very strong to put his thoughts so clearly. 

  He turned slowly back and saw Damon in his starting position.  But this time those blue eyes were no longer cheerful.  They were dark and bottomless like the ocean.   

  "What other proof do you need, Stefan? I am stronger than you, more powerful than you. I am also faster than you, and I have other powers that you will never have.  I have all of my senses to the max, Stefan. And I'm not afraid to use them. If you fight me, I'll use them against you." 

  "This is why you came for, to fight me?" 

  "I have treated you with compassion, brother.  Many times I could have killed you, but I always gave you life, if I wanted to kill you I would have. But this time it is different. It doesn't matter why I came here. But if you try to prevent me from winning it, you'll regret."

  The rage within them burned more than ever and Stefan realized that this had somehow threatened Damon's wickedness.

  "Do you think I can't do it?  You never learn, little brother, right?" 

Stefan didn't even notice the bored move of Damon's head when he saw another imperceptible move and felt Damon's hands grabbing his throat.

  ³He fought immediately, violently, trying with all his might to untie his hands.  But they were like steel hands. He rushed forward furiously, trying to hit Damon.

  "Try, brother!"  His arms were tightly tied behind his back, his body immobilized. It was as weak as a bird under the slippery nails of a cat. 

  For a moment he remained relaxed, no more trying and then suddenly shook himself with all the power of his muscles, trying to release himself, trying to hit him.  The ruthless hands just shook him, wasting his efforts. 

  "Miserable. You have always been miserable." 

  Stefan stared at his brother's face, which was pale like ice and those ocean, bottomless eyes. 

  Then he felt his fingers grabbing his hair, pulling his head back and leaving his neck uncovered. He began to fight even harder. 

  "No, brother" Damon said grabbing Stefan's hands, he felt the humiliation and helplessness of a hunter's victim. The agony burned his jaw, his cheek, his chest and muscles.  He felt dizzy then, suddenly, Damon's hands left him and fell to the ground then claps sounded from Damon's hands.

  "Look, Stefan, you were good, but, I'm stronger than you.  I'm strong enough to kill you."

  "What will you do next?"  Stefan raised his gaze.

  Damon stood with his head lightly back and his legs slightly open, like a conqueror who had pressed the victim's neck with his foot. 

  Those blue eyes were burning with triumph, and his brother's blood was on his hands.  Hate overwhelmed Stefan. In the past, endless centuries he had regretted many times what he had done to his brother, then wishing with all his soul he could change it.  All he wanted was to do it again. 

  "Elena is not yours, little bro... And she will never become, if that is what you think."

  "You see, that's your problem Damon..." he said through his teeth and stood up, trying to hide the effort she was making. "You want people belong to you. I want her to belong to herself, that's what she wants."

  "You know nothing, brother."

  Stefan neither looked back nor tried to answer. If he could sit down for just a moment, he would rest.  Another step and another step the door was no longer away.

  "And brother..." Stefan turned to look at him as the floor tumbled beneath his feet "I will stay here."

  Stefan had almost no reflexes, and the quick movement overpowered him.  Darkness overwhelmed him, flooded his body, flooded his mind. It felt like falling. It was never ending in the darkness of the absolute night.  And then, he stopped to understand and Damon's steps sounded behind him.³