24 Ch. 23

November 1, 2009

As I followed Damon back to the Salvatore Boarding House after a round of late night drinking that turned into late morning drinking, I couldn't help but feel anticipation. It was Stefan's birthday and Lexi would be here by now to celebrate. With Stefan playing high school kid, she'd be alone locked away from the sun all day. Damon stopped as he entered the house, frowning and looking to me, placing a finger to his lips as he clearly noticed a presence in the place that shouldn't be there.

I just grinned as we crept upstairs to find Lexi resting on Stefan's bed, her back turned to us. Damon just grinned and snuck onto the bed, laying facing her and waiting for her to turn over. As soon as she did, she saw him and groaned. She was probably about to throw out some biting remark when her eyes moved past him to me.

They immediately widened, and for half a moment there was pure terror on her face before it was wiped away. I pretended not to notice it, just smiling pleasantly even as inside I couldn't help wondering how she not only knew more about me than she should, she somehow knew what I looked like too.

Slowly, acting as casually as she could, she got off of the bed, putting it and Damon between us. Then she smiled carefully, "Who's your friend Damon?"

Damon blinked and glanced over at me, even he noticed something was wrong with her behavior, "This? This is Vali Masters, all around best bud."

I watched carefully at how she reacted to my name, and though she kept a mostly brave face on, I could tell how just under the surface she was freaking out, "Oh? That's lovely. When did you two meet?"

Damon frowned at this line of questioning and got up off the bed as well, staring Lexi down for a long moment before answering, "A few years ago, why?"

Lexi's eyes flickered between Damon and I, "No reason. How uh… how long have you been a vampire Vali? Rather… out of date name isn't it?"

Damon fields that question for me, and I content myself with a slow growing smile as I stare Lexi down, "He wasn't a vampire before I found him Lexi. I'm the one who turned him. What's going on here? You're kind of falling apart here."

Lexi swallowed thickly at that, seeming to be torn for a long moment before I watched her resolve harden before my very eyes. I raise an eyebrow as she focuses completely on Damon, "Damon, you need to run, now. Get out of town, put a thousand miles between yourself and this place."

Damon furrows his brow together, "I honestly can't tell if you're threatening me right now, it sounds like a threat but it's like the weakest threat I've ever heard."

Lexi lets out a groan, "I'm not threatening you, you smart ass! I'm warning you! Run for the hills and take Stefan with you while you're at it!"

I sigh and finally decide to step in, first pointing at Damon, "Damon, you can remember." And then looking at Lexi, "Sorry love, but you're far too late to save either Salvatore Brother."

Damon is once again stuck in standby mode and looking a bit apocalyptic even as he's unable to do anything but watch us. Lexi just looks dismayed as she takes in Damon's frozen form and my wicked grin. A moment later she's fleeing the room as fast as she can, and I'm following after her.

It's a lovely game of chase, as she's stuck in the house and thus unable to truly get away while I stay always a foot behind her. Eventually we both come to a stop in the boarding house foyer. She's panting heavily and I'm just standing there smiling still, one eyebrow raised at her, waiting for her next move. The moment is perfect and beautiful and of course Zachary Salvatore chooses that moment to walk in through the front door.

He takes in the scene as Lexi looks past me at him, and I turn to stare at him with a raised eyebrow. Slowly, he backs out of the house and closes the front door once more behind him.

I look back at Lexi just in time to see her coming at me with a broken piece of the stair banister. I easily catch her grip, and brutally crush her wrist, causing a delightful scream to rip from her throat as she's forced to drop the hastily made stake. My other hand closes around her throat even as she attempts to beat against my body with her remaining hand and legs. I roll my eyes and slowly tighten the grip on her throat, until her struggling comes to a stop.

I ease up and wait to see if she'll try to attack again. Her eyes are focused on my chin, but even still she's shaking like a leaf and I can tell she's terrified of me. Everything she's done since seeing me has been born of fear from what I can tell. If she could have run she would have the instant she saw me, but she's trapped in this house until night fall, and whatever she's been told of me, she fears the sun more. Ah, perhaps one day I'll inspire enough fear in vampires to send them directly into the burning sunlight!

I smile at that thought and at her fearful expression before speaking, "Two ways to do this darling. I break your neck, and who knows where you wake up. Or, you stop fighting me and come back upstairs so I can deal with Damon. Think you can behave yourself?"

She nods shakily and I shift my grip so it's on the back of her neck, before leading her back upstairs and into the room we'd left Damon in. I close the door behind me and let Lexi go, watching as she blurs over to the corner farthest from me. I glance at Damon, who's almost vibrating with his inability to move at this point.

"Alright, Damon you can talk and move. Just please don't try anything stupid or I'll break your neck."

Damon grimaced as his body relaxed and he slowly turned to face me, speaking in as casual tone as he could manage, "So I was thinking while you guys played tag and I had an idea."

I smile, genuinely curious to see where he was going with this, "Oh? Do tell Mr. Salvatore."

Damon swallows and launches into his pitch, "Well, you've got to be getting sick of having to constantly revert the compulsion on me. Back and forth like this, I know its driving me insane. Why not just let me keep my memories intact, and compel me not to fuck with your plans? That way, your plans stay intact, you got someone on your side to help out, and I don't have to keep remembering you're not my best friend, but a thousand year old original bent on fucking with my head."

I grin at that, "Oh? You'd rather know you were trapped than be kept unaware of it?"

He responds promptly to that, "Yeah, in a heartbeat."

I let out a low sigh, "Your idea is totally reasonable and really wouldn't cost me much. But do you know how much I was looking forward to the moment when Katherine, you, and I stood in the same room?"

He furrows his brow at that, "Ah… no? Why would that matter?"

I sigh again, dramatically this time, "I've got her compelled to think she sired me as well! It was going to be this great moment where she recognized me, you asked how she could possibly know me, you both claim to have sired me, and the whole conversation devolves until Katherine realizes you actually believe it, and figures out I've compelled you, which of course means I've compelled her. The slowly dawning horror would have been delicious."

Lexi can't help herself at that, throwing a comment from her corner of the room, "That's monstrous."

I look over at her with a deadpan expression that expresses just how silly I find that descriptor when all three of us are monsters, but Damon is the one who responds, "No… no that's perfect. Katherine fucking deserves it. Look, let me help you of my own free will. Fuck the original deal, I don't want to be reunited with Katherine, I want revenge."

I grin, "That could work yes. You wouldn't be allowed to kill her of course, but a little revenge is something I can get behind. Very well Damon, come here."

He approaches slowly, clearly still wary of me. Placing a hand on his shoulder I locked gazes with him and initiated compulsion, "You will be allowed to remember everything you've learned about me. You will not tell anyone anything about me unless I allow you to. You will work to complete my plans and my goals. You will not attack me or plot against me and you will inform me if you hear of anyone who is plotting against me."

With that done I release him and pull away. His eyes clear up and he grimaces, "Damn, you sure like your binding contracts, don't you? What's next boss?"

I grin, "Well, I suppose first of all I should tell you that there are over a hundred vampires currently in town right now. That includes the entire Founder's Council as well. They forced my hand."

Damon looks incredulous at that, and Lexi just whimpers a bit at the revelation. Eventually Damon finds his voice, "Hang on, all of them?"

I grin and nod, "All of them except for the Mayor and his son. They're werewolves. And yes, that means the Sheriff is a vampire. So are all of her deputies. And the parents of your brother's newest pursuit are also vampires."

Damon is just gaping now so I just smile, "So yes, feel free to chat with them, but play nice. No harming or killing any supernatural beings. They've been ordered to do the same. As for our second order of business, it's time to deal with Lexi here."

Damon blinks and turns to look at where Lexi is in the corner, her eyes never leaving me as she swallows thickly. Damon furrows his brow, "Right, can I get some context here now? How did she know who you were?"

I grin at that as I step casually around the bed, moving ever closer to the terrified vampire, "I have no idea. I'm going to enjoy finding out though. Is there a guest bedroom on the bottom floor that I can borrow? Preferably one no guests ever go into, so that its contents aren't disturbed for at least a month."

Damon nods slowly, "We've got one or two rooms tucked away in nooks and crannies."

I grab Lexi by the neck and pull her from her corner, she comes willingly, too afraid to resist at this point, "Good, direct me there please, and then call Stefan home if you could, I'm going to need to make sure he knows to ignore the room and any sound that comes from it."

Damon shrugged and did so. Eventually Lexi and I were alone in a small guest room and she was looking at me with absolute terror, finally managing to get her thoughts in order enough to ask, "Why are you doing this? You can just compel me to tell you anything you want to know."

I smile pleasantly as I step towards her, "I could, but that would be so very boring, wouldn't it? There are more interesting ways to use compulsion than for such simple things as the truth."

-x-X-x-

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