For Eternity - chapter 5
Elena turned back to Stefan and her eyes flared open. Her head was telling her to run but her heart and pride was telling her to tell him to leave, and that's what she started to spill from her mouth.
"I think it's best you leave Stefan. This was a bad idea." She stepped forward and closer to Stefan.
"Really? I think you need to do as I say and shut the hell up." Elena gasped and then gritted her teeth as Stefan pulled her closer and stared into her eyes. She felt herself calm and focused on his eyes. No, no no, this couldn't be happening. The familiar wave of compulsion started to enter her and as she opened her mouth to stop it, Stefan spoke. "You will trust me, and you will do as I say." Elena felt at ease as her pupils expanded to accept the compulsion, but her gut was in a panic. She remembered everything, but she trusted Stefan more than she did herself and that made her panic even more.
"Again!" Klaus demanded as Stefan fought the technique of vampire compulsion. Stefan had his arms placed at either side of the girls head, she was pressed against a wall and had a glint in her eye that she knew exactly what was going on. She gave Stefan a small sarcastic smile that only made him struggle more. His fist banged on the wall again and the other rubbed his temples in frustration.
"It's not that easy Nick!" Stefan bit back as he re-took focus against the girl. He focus in on her eyes, breathing as Klaus had taught him and reaching into his own mind to make this work. He took one last unnecessary breath before concentrating further. "You will stake yourself in the leg until I tell you to stop." He growled his command and saw the compulsion seep into the girl, a vampire girl. She looked down at the wooden stake in her hand and brought it full force with her thigh. Pain rippled through her, but she was overwhelmed to pull the wood out and do it again.
Stefan smiled as the girl continued to scowl and cry with pain as the wood pierced her skin and muscles over and over again. "It fucking worked!" He said with a smirk and a sarcastic laugh.
"About time Stefan, I was beginning to think you'd never master the art." Klaus handed Stefan a glass of blood and clinked it when Stefan took it from his hold. "Congrats." Klaus held his glass high before taking a long gulp of the thickening liquid. He had told Stefan of the rules of vampire compulsion. Vampires know they are under compulsion unless you remove their memories. They know they must submit but they do the action or feel the emotion without question, they feel compelled emotions with intensity. Love. Trust. Hate. Ask them to complete a task and they will do it with passion and commitment. Originals can never be compelled. Ever.
Stefan watched as the girl gritted her teeth and pulled the stake from her blood drenched leg once more. He dashed to take it from her hand and slammed her back into the wall. Pressing his body against hers she struggled to reach the stake to continue her torture. He grabbed her face and made her look at him again. "Now... stop. And get naked." He smirked and watched as her pupils dilated again and she began to remove her clothing.
Her short dress was pulled over her head, bra unclasped and pulled from her perk breasts and panties slowly dropped to the floor. Stefan walked over to her slowly, snaking an arm around her to cup her ass. He felt she was his victory, and he was going to take it. Klaus gave him a little nod of the head before slipping from the room. Stefan let his eyes drop back to the girl who was smiling at him and rubbing herself on his fully clothed form. Her upper back was resting on the wall as she pressed her hips into Stefan. He undressed in the blink of an eye and grabbed her legs roughly slamming his body into hers. He entered her hard and fast and although she was a vampire she still gasped at the speed of his thrusts. He bit into her breast deeply pulling blood from her as the pleasure overtook him. He was in deep, in more ways than one.
Elena could feel her tummy tighten with fear, everything that she knew to be wrong and right washed over her and filled her every pour. Her skin tingled and electricity ran through her veins. Ice filled her eyes and then the calm came. She closed her eyes briefly to wet her pupils and when she was opening them again Stefan was smiling at her as he passed into the room behind her. She smiled back, her brow dipping briefly at the feeling of trust washing over her.
"It's great to be back Elena." Stefan said as Elena placed the gifts on the kitchen table. She looked up and caught his tender gaze. It didn't make her feel as uncomfortable as it should, and when he smirked, she almost doubled for Damon's famous pout.
"I wasn't expecting you for another few hours Stefan, I'm not even dressed." She replied almost expressionless. She was fighting the compulsion with everything she had and the glint in Stefan's eye gave a little suspicion, so against her better judgment she gave him a warm smile. "Can I go get ready? I won't be long." She swayed her hips in reaction to Stefan licking his lips. She knew he was up to no good, yet she felt like she could trust him with her life. The thing about Stefan and his compulsion was that he was lazy, Elena remembered his every word.
Entering her bedroom and closing the door behind her Elena pulled her phone from her pocket and sent Damon a message.
Stefan is here, he compelled me to trust him, somethings up, need to find out what, act normal... please! x
Elena bit her lip and looked back at her phone as a message from Damon filled the screen.
I knew it. lets find out what he wants. get friendly. x
Elena let out the held breath and stuffed her phone back in her pocket. She quickly grabbed the laid out dress from her bed and shook it slightly. She felt sick, and overly human. She wanted to cry and yell and scream and be utterly quiet. She undressed and re-dressed quickly and then took a look in her mirror. The screen in her wall flashed on and she saw herself looking back. She suddenly regretted keeping the contents of the letter a secret from Damon, but she knew it was for the best before now for him not to know the truth. She wanted to fall in love with him... all over again.
Stepping back out into the living room she spotted Stefan flicking through photos on their computer, a very private thing to do, but she still accepted that he was curious. As his fingers pushed through the air, the photos on the wall screen changed again and again. Photos of her and Damon, their family, their friends. Her brother flicked on the screen and she felt a stab of regret that he was gone. Stefan hadn't noticed her enter back into the room. He stopped at a photo of Damon and a newly turned Elena in a busy scene in New York. Elena remembered that trip well.
Damon had surprised her with plane tickets in an envelope. A small 'well done' for not eating anyone since turning. He even wrote that in the note that accompanied the tickets, and Damon reminded her again the first night of the vacation when she playfully bit his shoulder during a heated session in the luxury hotel room Damon had booked.. and paid for, with real money, no compulsion.
The photo that Stefan was staring at was taken in Times Square on their second day. Elena had been feeling uneasy and she just wanted to feel normal again, so Damon had waved down a taxi and instead of the Staten Island visit he had planned they went back to Times Square where the night before Elena had kissed him while the lights twinkled and the people passed by smiling. Elena smiled at the memory of that trip, and the many more they had taken almost every year thereafter, but this photo had always made her feel uneasy until now and all the answers were right in front of her.
Stefan was tilting his head at the photo focusing on an area to the right of Elena and Damon. He was looking at something in the distance. His focus was broken as he sense Elena and then flicked his wrist to see the next photo. He turned to Elena with a fake smile and continued to flick through the photos.
The elevator bell rang and Elena walked to the little screen on the wall. She pressed the button and Caroline and Damon's faces filled the screen.
"Hi" Caroline waved as Damon was fumbling for his key fob.
"She beat me to the buzzer before I could get my key out. Sorry hunny!" Damon gave Elena a little concerned look.
"That's ok. Stefan is here. Hurry up." she said in a cheery voice but she gave Damon a look of worry and then turned back to Stefan who had turned off the photos and was now lifting objects along the shelf next to the screen.
Caroline and Damon entered the elevator and came bounding into the living room. Caroline pushed a peach cobbler into Elena's arms and then headed into the kitchen, away from Stefan. Damon gave Elena a kiss on the cheek and a look of acknowledgement and then turned to his brother.
"Stefan." Damon nodded his head in an exchange of nothing but heated looks.
"Damon." Stefan replied and took a step closer. "Thank you for letting me come tonight." Damon took in the sentence and nodded slightly like a reluctant child. He felt incredibly uneasy but he knew he had to see what his brother was up to.
A short while later, after small talk and heated glances between Stefan and Caroline the four sat down to eat. Stefan looked completely unimpressed as he fished through the pasta that Damon had made. Picking pieces and pushing them around his plate.
"Look this is nice and all, but why are we playing humans eating this shit?" Stefan asked abruptly as his cutlery clanked on his plate. He grabbed his napkin from his lap and wiped his mouth as his eyes met Damon's. Elena could feel the embarrassment and upset rise in her. Caroline spotted it too and gave a little cough to ease the tension.
"Need help with the washing up Elena?" Caroline asked, knowing full well they no longer bothered with sinks and washing things yourself. But she knew the brothers tension was literally pulling the walls inwards.
"Of course." Elena said through gritted teeth as she tried not to spit something back out over to Stefan.
The girls quickly grabbed plates and headed into the kitchen while Damon practiced glaring holes into Stefan's head. He looked utterly pissed off.
Stefan rose from his seat and headed towards the door. Damon rushed to him and pushed a hand against his chest. He lowered into him and spoke calmly and low.
"Elena made that pasta with her own hands, you will not disrespect her in our home. Whatever this was meant to be, forget it." He spat out the last few words and removed his hand from Stefan. Stefan gave Damon a bitter smirk.
"I can tell you never read that letter Damon, the one I wrote to you before I left with Klaus. You wouldn't have been able to sit at that table without mentioning its contents. You need to read it, and then come speak to me." Stefan smiled again and the stab of nastiness pooled in Damon's stomach.
"Elena destroyed that letter. She didn't read it either." Damon bit back. Stefan had the nerve to actually laugh. A low and dark chuckle fell from his lips.
"I think you need to speak with your precious Elena. She has obviously read that letter many many times." And with that final sentence Stefan left Damon taking deep breaths that his body didn't even need.
Caroline and Elena ran back into the living room and saw Stefan had left. Elena turned to Damon who looked like a mixed bag of emotions.
"Stefan mentioned the letter he gave us when he left. Did you read it?" Damon asked so plainly that Elena took a little time to answer.
"Yes. But that doesn't matter Damon." Elena rushed to his side and then her eyes flicked to the screen where Stefan had looked at her family photos. She looked back to Damon. "We can talk about this later. OK?" Damon gave her a slight nod. "I need to look at something. Stefan was looking at a photo of us in New York, I think he saw something..." She trailed off as she headed around to the screen. She flicked through the images until her eyes found the one she wanted. Caroline moved closer and Damon came around to place his arm around Elena's back.
"That's a cute photo. What are we looking for?" Caroline asked tilting her head.
"I really don't know Caroline, this photo has always made me feel weird." She stepped away from Damon and closer to the screen. Anticipation filled her and she felt the panic rise when Caroline covered her mouth with her hand.
"Elena." Caroline pointed to an area of the photo and Elena nearly dropped to the floor. How had she not seen this before. How had she not suspected.
"Oh fuck!" Damon whispered as all three pairs of eyes focused on the figure in the background. "No way." Damon added as he swallowed back the bile that had rose in his throat.