12Disclaimer: The characters of the vampire diaries belong to L.J Smith and the CW. I just borrow them.
Alaric entered the Grill and immediately noticed the familiar mop of dark hair sitting at the bar and unsurprisingly flirting with the waitress. He sat beside him on the empty barstool, swiping the glass of whisky under his nose and draining it. "Do you know there's a curfew in the town, Damon?"
"I'm over twenty one Ric. Curfew doesn't apply to me. I can do what I want"
"True. But you have a teenaged brother who is not legal yet, and never would be, that it applies to. There has been a lot of sneaking out lately" Alaric said. "And there's a one o'clock curfew for everyone under twenty five. I'm positive you fall at least a year short on that category"
"I'm a hundred and…"
"You know what I mean"
"Stefan's at home, sleeping. I made sure he was asleep before I left the house. You're one to judge. I don't see Jeremy or Elena anywhere here" Damon retorted
"They're much safer than Stefan right now. No one can get in the house without an invitation. And they are good kids"
"Stefan is fine. Did you come here to lecture me or have a drink? I miss the days when I could snap your neck and enjoy the bliss of silence for the moments it took you to resurrect" Damon grumbled
Alaric laughed." The only good thing about this body Esther left me with. I can kick your ass now. So watch it". He refilled their glasses as they talked about random things until Damon's phone rang. The caller id said Stefan. Damon frowned and answered the call.
"Did you plan with Alaric to call at this moment just so he could have the pleasure of telling me how wrong it was for leaving you at home alone? Because I s…."
"Damon"
"Caroline? Why do you have Stefan's phone"
"I was bored so I snuck out. Elena's is grounded and Bonnie's away for the weekend so I came to hang out with Stefan but he's not here. I was going to ask if he was with you but judging from your reaction, he's not there either. So where is he?"
Damon stood up from the stool, a worried frown starting to form on his face. "What do you mean he's not there? He was sleeping when I left the house. Where did you find his phone?"
"On the table beside his bed"
"Put her on speaker" Alaric mouthed. Damon put the phone on speaker and placed it on the table. "Caroline, do you see any signs of struggle?"
"Oh. Hi Alaric. There are no signs of struggle in the bedroom. I'm checking the rest of the house now. You don't think someone kidnapped him, do you? Because that will be abs…. wait. I found something. There's a smudge of blood on the stairs. The carpet is crumpled, like someone has been dragged across it and one of the lamps is broken. You think it's true? Someone's really taken him?"
"Stay there Caroline. We're on our way" Alaric ended the call and handed the phone back to Damon who was in a dreamlike state. "Come on. We have to go"
"I swear he was asleep when I left" Damon muttered
Alaric snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Damon. Snap out of it. We're leaving". He paid for their drinks and practically dragged Damon out of the Grill.
Damon searched every room in the house, even after Caroline gad assured him that she had already done that. Then much to Alaric's amusement, he turned towards the cellar.
"He's not here"
"I already established that Damon. About five minutes ago. And why were you in the cellar anyway? What? You think Stefan probably sleepwalked into the dungeons?"
Alaric spoke quickly, before Damon clawed Caroline's throat out. "He was not taken by a vampire or a wolf. They wouldn't have dragged him, they would carry him. And a witch would not need this" he held up the syringe they had found on Stefan's bed. It had contained vervain. "They would just spell him"
"Then who took him?"
"That's what we need to find out, and fast. We need Bonnie"
Stefan groaned as he fought to open his eyes. He felt weak and disoriented. His body felt like it was on fire. Vervain. He tried to sit up but his elbows collapsed from under him and he went crashing back down to the floor. No wait. The floor was moving. He was in a car, and judging by the way he was sprawled out without any constrictions he would say it was a van. He tried to move again.
"Uhh, guys, he's waking up. What should I do?" A voice asked close by
"It's been only two hours. He is still weak. When he starts to gain his bearings a little bit more, give him another shot"
"Is this really necessary, Marie? Did we have to take him? We could have just taken some of his bl…"
"We need him Brigitte. They said to bring him with us. Just watch him, okay"
"That's easy for you to say. You are in front there with Alex while I'm stuck back here with the vampire. Forgive me for freaking out" Brigitte said
Stefan felt the van stop and another person join them in the back. They said it had been two hours. That means they would just be leaving Richmond. His foggy mind tried to do some thinking. Damon would come for him. He always does. Damon would have left the house immediately he fell asleep. He wouldn't bother about his own curfew. Damon had never been one to follow the rules. Ironically, he rather liked enforcing them. He liked to taunt him about the fact that he would never outgrow curfew but he wouldn't leave him alone for fear that he might sneak out so he would've waited until he was asleep to leave the house. He would only find him missing when he returned, which time Stefan couldn't tell. That meant Damon wouldn't find him today. But… he groaned as he was injected with more vervain. Then everything went black.
"Why did you do that? He was still feeling the effects of the first shot" Brigitte asked, annoyed
"It was moving. Clearly the effect of the first was wearing off" Alex answered
"It? That is a boy lying over there. And he has a name. You don't have to be rude"
"It is not a boy. It is not even human. And whoever thinks otherwise is an idiot"
Brigitte stared at Alex incredulously as she tapped away at her phone. She walked over to Stefan and shifted him into a comfortable position. Alex scoffed and Brigitte felt very much like slapping that smug grin off her face. She pulled a blanket over Stefan's prone form and sat beside him on the floor of the van.
"Don't you think he needs something else? A cuddly teddy bear maybe" Alex taunted. "Get over yourself Brigitte. This is not some fragile boy. He's a vampire. And he can rip your throat out in the seconds it takes you to remember that fact. Stop mothering him"
"At least you called him he and not it"
"Guys, stop arguing. Alex, don't call him it. And Brigitte, Alex is right. That is not just some adolescent. Be careful. We'll be home soon enough"
Damon stopped pacing immediately he heard a car outside the mansion. He heaved a sigh of relief when Bonnie marched through the door with a worried expression on her face. "My dad bailed so I was already on my way home. Any leads? How long has it been?"
"About twelve hours. Did you bring your grimoire?"
"No I don't have it"
"What do you mean you don't have it Bonnie?"
"My dad doesn't like me bringing them around. It creeps him out. 'Sides I don't need a grimoire for this" Bonnie said. "I need something of his. Give me his hairbrush. It has his DNA. And a map" she requested. When Damon returned with the items she placed strands of Stefan's hair onto the map and recited a spell. The hairs rose off the map moved in the air for some seconds, then suddenly floated to the floor.
"What does that mean? They are still in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked hopefully
"No" Bonnie answered, typing away at her laptop. She looked at Damon. "Please tell me you have wireless"
"Of course I do. Stefan is a student, remember?" he answered irritatingly. "What are you doing anyway?"
"I'm printing a new map. The spell didn't work because the map is too small"
"The map is too small? But that is the map of Virginia" Caroline said, confused
"It means they are outside the state. Whoever took Stefan is no longer in Virginia" Alaric explained to Caroline's horror. Damon returned with the map he had printed in Stefan's room and handed it to Bonnie. She did the spell again, successfully this time as this was a map of the entire country.
"They're in … Baton Rouge? That doesn't make sense" Bonnie said
"I'm also confused. Who would take Stefan all the way down there? And for what? We ruled out vampires and werewolves because they wouldn't do such a sloppy job and witches are also out because they wouldn't need vervain to subdue a vampire. Seriously, without that vervain syringe, I would have been all for the witches but…"
Bonnie gasped. "Caroline you are a genius. I think I know who took him. I should have realized this sooner. Baton Rouge. It's just an hour outside New Orleans"
"New Orleans" Damon deadpanned. "Ric, you still have that white oak stake?"
"The vervain and the sloppy way he was taken. It was the witches of the French quarter. Though why they'll want to kidnap a vampire …"
"Witches? Bonnie, witches don't need vervain to…"
"This kind of witches does. They practice ancestral magic. They siphon magic from their ancestors. Its powerful magic but it has one big disadvantage. The witches who practice ancestral magic can only access their magic where the ancestors are. When they leave, they lose access"
Alaric nodded in understanding. "That was why they needed vervain. They couldn't use magic on Stefan outside New Orleans"
"I'm going to kill your boyfriend Blondie. This is his fault. I know it involves him somehow" Damon snarled
"We don't know that. And he's not my boyfriend. Besides you can't kill him without killing Stefan or yourself so…" Caroline shrugged
"There's nothing I can do from here. Immediately they enter New Orleans they'll have access to their magic and cloak Stefan. It's what I'll do. If we want to find him we'll have to go to New Orleans" Bonnie said, moving towards the door. "Klaus and I have unfinished business anyway. Come pick me up when you're ready"
"You think she can take on Klaus?"
"Caroline, she's Bonnie Bennett. She has her magic, which is quite formidable. She has access to magic from the most powerful witch who ever lived and by the look on her face, I'm pretty sure she is going to reconnect with her expression. She can take on anything and anyone" Damon chuckled "And she just realized she's out of people Klaus can threaten. He won't harm you, he has a soft spot for Stefan and with Alaric stronger than him and practically unkillable, he won't dare go for Matt or Tyler. He wouldn't know what hit him. I wouldn't want to be Klaus right now"
"What about you?"
"I'm Damon Salvatore. I can take care of myself. And I've got a badass witch by my side. In case you haven't noticed, me and Bonnie are besties now"
"You think she'll kill him?"
"If he had anything to do with Stefan's disappearance, I think I'll beat her to it"
Caroline rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'll go pack some clothes" and then she left
Damon turned to Alaric after Caroline was gone. "You ready to kick some original ass?"
"I thought you'd never ask"
I'm really really sorry about my other stories. I'm coming home tomorrow and I promise I'll update all my stories by Monday. really sorry for keeping you waiting guys.
