03. Original Sin

An extremely hungry and delirious Brayden walked down the empty gravel road, after what felt like him to be years, he finally came across a bar, without wasting a second, Brayden walked into the bar where he came across the only bartender working there.

"Hey, man, last call was four hours ago, if you want some coffee, I could put some on or--".

"I don't want coffee, I want you" Brayden interrupted, veins appearing underneath his eyes, before the bartender could have even a opportunity to scream, Brayden had speeded over to her and bit into her neck, he was too hungry to care about this persons life, so he didn't stop drinking till the bartender's screams died and she went limp into his arms.

After letting the bartender's body fall to the ground, Brayden wiped his mouth but realised he was still hungry, he needed more blood, so he walked out the bar, hoping to find more humans he could drain, but as he stepped out the bar, his skin immediately started burning, he looked up at the sky and realised the sun had risen and without his daylight ring, Brayden was going to burn to death.

Brayden let out an painful yell and fell to his knees while the sun kept burning his skin.

A sleeping Kaitlynn was suddenly pulled out of her sleep, she let out a gasp and sat up in her and Damon's shared bed, the dream she just had of Brayden playing over and over in her head.

Damon, who was sleeping beside her, groaned in annoyance, "You must have restless sleep syndrome or something, it's like sleeping with a tornado", Kaitlynn didn't say anything, just took deep breaths to calm herself down, Damon finally opened his eyes, he lifted his head up and looked at his girlfriend in concern, "Hey, we were up all night, you're exhausted, come back to sleep".

"I can't Damon, I just had a really bad dream about Brayden" Kaitlynn informed.

"Oh" Damon simply said, not knowing how to feel about his girlfriend dreaming about his brother, who happens to be her ex-boyfriend.

"This time it wasn't a bad feeling about him, it was like I was there with him, experiencing whatever he was feeling" Kaitlynn explained.

"I know I said it didn't bother me that you have some psychic connection to your ex-boyfriend but I don't need a play-by-play, Kaitlynn" a slightly jealous Damon said, laying his head back on to his pillow.

Kaitlynn sighed, she laid back on the bed and turned her body towards Damon, "I'm sorry Damon, the last thing I want to do is make you insecure, but I figured you find out these things from me, then someone else".

"Fine" Damon said, turning to face Kaitlynn, "Tell me, I'm sure whatever's in my imagination is ten times worse than what's going on in your subconscious".

"It was just so real" Kaitlynn said, "In this dream, Brayden walked out the bar, the bar had a red awning with a broken neon sign, and then suddenly he started screaming in pain".

"Well, should I go check in the attic to see if there's a crystal ball?" Damon asked, "Maybe you can conjure up an address".

"Route 29, Joe's Bar".

Damon and Kaitlynn turned towards the door of their room and saw Caroline and Stefan standing there.

"I think Caroline and Kaitlynn both had the same exact dream about Brayden" Stefan informed his brother, Caroline, who stayed the night at the boarding house, having woken Stefan up because of her dream.

An annoyed Damon groaned and slammed his face back into the pillows, it was too early for him to be decoding psychic dreams.

***

Caroline sat on the sofa in the Salvatore's living room, staring at Brayden's daylight ring, hoping and praying what she dreamt of was that, a dream, not reality, she really hopes Brayden wasn't in that much pain.

"So I found nine bars along route 29" Damon informed, entering the room with Kaitlynn and Stefan, "And none of them are called Joe's".

"Damon, all summer I felt that something was wrong with Brayden but I never took serious action regarding it, I'm not making that mistake again" Kaitlynn stated, "The dread in my stomach regarding Brayden was right, he was suffering in that safe and he killed whoever found him, I know following psychic dreams is a long shot but the fact that both me and Caroline had the same dream, it has to mean something, I know it sounds crazy but it's the only lead we've got on him".

"It doesn't sound crazy, it is is crazy" Damon stated, "But I'm open-minded".

"Shotgun" Katherine said, entering the room, her bag in her hand, "What? I get carsick in the back seat, another charming, human side-effect".

"She's coming with us?" Stefan asked his brother.

"I have no interest in Katherine's well-being" Damon said, "But for some reason, Silas wants her real bad, and if Silas wants her, I want her more".

"And Damon might not care about my sister's wellbeing but I do" Kaitlynn said, "I'm not going to leave her alone in aa house where everyone just waltz right in".

"I just want to find Brayden" Katherine told Stefan.

Caroline finally looked up from Brayden's ring, "Why are you suddenly interested in Brayden?".

"Because I care about him" Katherine stated, "I always have, and clearly more then his soulmate, who didn't even realise he was suffering".

"Katherine" Kaitlynn warned.

"Oh come on Kait, you know it's the truth" Katherine said, "And since you've been dreaming about him, makes me think that you care about him just as much as I do".

"Okay, train's leaving the station" Damon said, no longer wanting to hear anything else while Caroline looked at Kaitlynn who was avoiding eye contact with her, "Choo-choo".

"This is going to be a long trip" Stefan mumbled, following his brother out.

***

Brayden groaned and slowly opened his eyes, immediately he realised he was laying on someone's bed, he looked to his side and saw a women sitting on a chair, watching him.

"If you have any kind of self preservation, I will go far away from me, otherwise I will rip your throat out" Brayden told the woman, not even bothering to get up, he was feeling too weak.

"Hello to you too, I brought dinner".

Brayden looked at the woman and realised she had a blood bag in her hand, without wasting another second, Brayden quickly shot up and grabbed the blood bag from the mysterious woman's hand and devoured it in seconds.

"A vampire soulmate who likes to take the world's problems on his shoulders, now I've seen everything".

After finishing the blood bag, Brayden looked at the woman, "You saved my life" he remembered, "You saved me from burning to death outside that bar".

"And I pulled you from the quarry before that, that is, I figured out where you were, and told the former owner of this cabin to pull your lockbox from the water, you thanked him by ruthlessly ripping his throat out".

"Yeah, kind of my thing" Brayden said, "Tell me something, how do you know I'm someone's soulmate?".

"Because I've met a soulmate before".

"Who the hell are you?" a confused Brayden asked.

"How much do you know about Silas?".

Hearing Silas's name, a familiar anger started flooding Brayden's mind and body, "I know the bastard has the same face as my baby brother, I know he's a blood thirsty immortal who has nothing better to do then lock people up in a safe and drop them in the bottom of a quarry to suffer".

"You made it through".

"Barely" Brayden said, "One more day and I would have most likely turned it all off, luckily I didn't, now I can kill the son of a bitch as myself".

"Strong words".

"Well, I am someone who does exceptionally well when it comes to revenge" Brayden said, standing up, "Now excuse me, I have immortal I have to torture".

"Except you'll burn to death in the sun without your daylight ring".

Brayden looked down at his hand, "Oh wonderful" he mumbled, sitting back down.

"Silas wasn't always a monster, he used to be a simple man in love with a simple girl, his soul mate, she was his one true love" the woman let out a bitter chuckle, "You know how that goes, they thought their love would last forever".

"And how the hell do you know so much about Silas and his soulmate?" a confused Brayden asked.

"Because I was there, in his arms".

"You're Silas's soulmate?" a shocked Brayden asked, "His one true love?".

"I would have done anything for him".

"You're lying" Brayden stated, "Silas is two thousand years old, if you're his true love, how the hell are you alive?".

"Love bends the rules of possible, Silas and I were the two most powerful members of a gifted people called travelers, when we were engaged to be married, we decided to reach even further, he wanted to find a way for our love to last forever".

"Okay, stop" Brayden said, "I've heard this story a million times, I don't need to hear how everything was so great for Silas until a crazy witch named Qetsiyah screwed him over, okay?".

"That's the wrong story, Silas convinced Qetsiyah that he loved her so she would make the immortality spell, but when she found out that he was just using her, that she was never his true soulmate and the only reason Silas pretended to be her soulmate was so him and his true soulmate could live forever, she dumped him in a tomb with the cure hoping he would take it and die because she had created a supernatural limbo to trap his soul".

"Yes, because every sane rational woman will do that" Brayden taunted.

"Which catches us up to today, now Silas wants to destroy that supernatural limbo, once the other side is gone, he can take the cure, become mortal, and die and finally pass on and find peace".

"Here's a free suggestion for you, if you and Silas are really soulmates, do this world a favor and just disappear into the sun together" Brayden said.

"Silas was my true love, I never said that I was his, I'm Qetsiyah, that sane, rational, well-adjusted woman you seem to know so much about", Brayden watched in shock as Qetsiyah used her magic to light the fireplace up with blue flames, she then turned to Brayden and started taking small steps towards him, "Clearly, you've heard the man's version of the story, the one where I'm a backstabbing lunatic who ruined everything for Silas, a raging bitch witch whose obsession with vengeance created a whole new dimension of suffering in the afterlife".

"Why the hell are you here Qetsiyah?" a confused Brayden asked, "Last I heard you were dead and trapped on the other side, waiting for Silas".

"I was, for two thousand years" Qetsiyah confirmed, "But I came back, for you".

***

"You sure you know what you two are looking for?" Damon asked, sitting in the driver's seat of his car, with Stefan in the passenger seat, Caroline and Kaitlynn in the back, next to Katherine was sitting in the middle, "That last bar had a red awning and a neon sign".

"We know what we're looking for" Kaitlynn assured, while Caroline stayed quiet and kept staring out the window, Brayden's ring clutched tightly in her hand, "Once we see it, we'll tell you".

"So Kaitlynn, I couldn't help but overhear" Katherine started, immediately making Stefan, Damon and Kaitlynn groan in annoyance, all knowing Katherine was about to make things awkward, "You've been dreaming about Brayden all summer? That must be really stressful on a new relationship and a friendship, especially when you're having those kinds of dreams lying in bed next to his brother and then going and sharing a room with his soulmate".

"They weren't dreams" Kaitlynn snapped, glaring at her sister, "It was just a bad feeling, like something was wrong with, like he was in trouble".

"Oh, no, yeah, sure, I totally get it" Katherine mocked, "There's still a connection between you two, maybe deep down, you know that he was, is and will always be your one true love and not fighting for him was a big mistake".

"Ignore her, as soon as the vervain's out of her system, we'll compel her and we'll put her on mute" Damon said, Katherine's words effecting more then he liked.

Katherine ignored Damon and turned to Caroline, "Have you thought about the fact that maybe Brayden's been trying to reach out to you all summer but you've been too distracted hating him for something he didn't even do, so he reached out to the person that he knew wouldn't let him down, my sister, maybe he finally realised how stupid he was to fall for you and not fight for her".

"Enough, Katherine" Stefan snapped, seeing the hurt expression on Caroline's face, "Stop talking about things you don't understand".

"You're probably right" Katherine said, a teasing smile on her face, "Caroline and Kaitlynn had the exact same dream on the exact same night, but why would that mean something?".

Damon and Kaitlynn glanced at each other through the side mirror, Kaitlynn really hoping this wasn't going to effect their relationship, while Caroline looked down at Brayden's daylight, hoping this wouldn't cause her to lose Brayden forever.

***

Brayden sat on the bed he had woken up on, very impatiently waiting for Qetsiyah to return from wherever she had disappeared to, finally what seemed like years to Brayden, Qetsiyah entered the cabin again, a pot of flowers in hand.

Brayden stood up from the bed, "I need a phone" he immediately said.

"There's no cell reception out here" Qetsiyah informed, closing the front door behind her, "And remember, I made it safe for you in here, but I wouldn't go outside if I were you".

"I don't know you Qetsiyah, so you're going to have to forgive me for not trusting a word that comes out of your mouth" an annoyed Brayden said.

"Qetsiyah, sounds so ancient time-y, don't you think?' Qetsiyah asked.

"Maybe because it is ancient time-y" Brayden retorted.

"How about Tessa?" Qetsiyah asked, "It's a little different, but not so different you wouldn't find it on one of those souvenir key chains".

"So is that why you came back?" Brayden asked, "To have keychain with your name on it?".

"I'm here because the Bennett witch lowered the veil" Qetsiyah clarified, "I saw an opportunity to make myself a living, breathing mortal and I thought, why not? My hunters have failed in their task to kill Silas, I figured it was time to handle things in person".

"Fae" Brayden whispered, suddenly remembering what Silas told him about her, "Is it true?" he suddenly asked, "Is she really dead?".

Qetsiyah nodded her head in confirmation, "Bonnie Bennett sacrificed Fae so Jeremy Gilbert could come back to life".

Brayden clenched his fists in anger, "I'm going to kill that bitch, that's if my brothers haven't killed her first".

"They haven't, because they don't know that Fae is dead, they didn't even know that you were in trouble" Qetsiyah informed.

"Excuse me?" a shocked Brayden asked, "No, you're lying, my brothers would have figured it out, Caroline would have figured it out".

"Your soulmate?" Qetsiyah asked, "Yeah, she didn't figure it out, neither did your brothers, they all just assumed that you and Fae left, walked away from them".

A shocked Brayden slumped down on to the bed, all this time he was waiting for his brothers, his soulmate to come rescue him, but they didn't even realise he was in trouble, they thought he walked away from them, Brayden couldn't help the hurt and anger that flooded his body.

"That hurt and anger you're currently feeling, that's exactly what I felt when Silas left me at the altar" Qetsiyah said, looking at Brayden, "Like a lovesick idiot, I created an entire garden for our wedding, and I made a spell that would keep us alive forever, an immortality spell, so we would never have to part, Silas and I were going to drink the immortality elixir as part of our wedding ceremony, but then everything around me started to die, my wedding flower, the garden trellis, our harvest, and then I realised why, Silas had already used the immortality spell, he was already drinking the elixir somewhere else, he took what he wanted and then the bastard abandoned me, so call me a woman scorned, or a vindictive bitch or whatever label suits your story, but I thought I was his one true love, and he ripped my heart out".

Brayden sighed, "I'm sorry" he whispered, feeling slightly bad for Qetsiyah, "No one should have their heart broken like that".

"I deserved a chance to look him in the eye and make him understand how much he hurt me" Qetsiyah continued, "So I found him in the wilderness with his true soulmate, the woman he gave my immortality to, the woman who because of he pretended to be my soulmate, and just when I thought his betrayal couldn't cut any deeper, I learned that his actual soulmate was someone very close to me, my handmaiden, Amara, Katherine and Elena are her shadow selves".

"So let me get this straight, Silas who is my ancestor is the first version of my brother, Stefan, while Amara, who is Kaitlynn's ancestor is the first version of Katherine and Elena?" a shocked Brayden asked, trying to wrap his head around all this.

Qetsiyah nodded her head in confirmation, "When they drank the immortality elixir, they violated the natural law that all living things must die, so nature found a balance, by creating mortal shadow-selves".

"Doppelgangers" Brayden concluded.

"Like your brother" Qetsiyah added, "And Katherine and Elena, all caused by the ripple effect from Silas and Amara's sin, and then there was the ripple effect of my sin".

"What was the ripple effect of what you did?" a curious Brayden asked.

"Nature demands that soulmates must not be separated from each other, but that's exactly what I did so I had to pay the consequences" Qetsiyah explained, "I had to watch nature make Silas and Amara's descendents into soulmates, I had watch them fall in love again and again".

"Wrong" Brayden said, "Kaitlynn might come from Amara's line but her soulmate wasn't someone from Silas's line, and neither is mine".

"Caroline is your original soulmate, and Elijah Mikaelson is or was Kaitlynn's soulmate, but you and Kaitlynn will fall in love, it's what nature wants" Qetsiyah said.

"I already fell in love with Kaitlynn once, now I'm in love with someone else, I won't fall for Kaitlynn again" Brayden protested.

"You won't be able to stop yourself" Qetsiyah said, going over to the fireplace to melt some metal, "It's yours and Kaitlynn's destiny to fall for each other Brayden".

"We'll see about that" Brayden said, confident that he won't ever fall for Kaitlynn again, "And what the hell are you doing now?".

"Silas stole your daylight ring" Qetsiyah reminded, "You're going to need a new one, when this is ready, I need your help to take down Silas once and for all".

***

Damon stopped his car at the bar both Caroline and Kaitlynn confirmed was the one they saw in their dream.

"Are we really just gonna leave her in the car?" Kaitlynn asked, gesturing to her sleeping sister, as the rest of the ground got out.

"The only time she shuts up is when she's sleeping, I didn't wanna disturb our peace and quiet" Damon said, as he and Stefan walked first, while the two girls froze in their step.

"What's wrong?" a concerned Stefan asked the girls.

"I thought you said this was the one" Damon said.

"It is" Kaitlynn confirmed.

"It's exactly the one from my dream" Caroline whispered, "It's kind of freaking me out".

"Same" Kaitlynn said.

"It's a lot of freaky" Damon agreed, "Let's go see if Brayden's inside".

***

The group of four entered the bar where they saw the bartender looking at a photo of a women and crying, once her eyes landed on the group, she immediately wiped her tears and composed herself.

"Can I get you guys something?".

Stefan leaned over the bar and started compelling the bartender, "Why were you crying looking at that photo?".

"She was my friend, some sicko attacked her, he bit her and drank her blood, I told the cops but they won't believe me".

"How do you know all this?" a curious Stefan asked.

The bartender looked down in shame, "I was there, I saw the whole thing but I never let him know I was here, I didn't want to die".

"What happened after he killed the girl?" Caroline asked.

"He went outside, when I looked through the window, he was on fire".

"The sun must have come up, he doesn't have his daylight ring" Kaitlynn realised.

"And then what happened?" Damon asked, really hoping his twin didn't burn to death.

"Some woman shoved him into a truck, drove away".

"Did you know this woman?" Damon asked.

"No, she was driving Cam Peterson's truck, who lives about ten miles down that dirt road out back, here", the bartender started pouring two shots, "You guys look like you could use one of these".

"I could, thank you" Damon said, taking one shot while Kaitlynn took the other, as soon as both of them downed the shots, they immediately started coughing, "Vervain".

"What the hell did you do?" an angry Caroline asked, steadying Kaitlynn while Stefan tended to Damon.

"I told her to pour them a drink or I'd kill her" a unknown girl informed, entering the bar.

"Who the hell are you?" a confused Stefan asked, as the woman pointed her gun towards Kaitlynn and Caroline.

"I'm looking for Katherine Pierce, last I heard, she was with you guys", just as the woman said that, Katherine entered the bar and immediately put her hands up seeing the gun now pointed towards her.

Kaitlynn looked between the woman and Katherine, she immediately speeded over to the woman and shoved her towards a counter, she then turned to her sister, "Run, Katherine!".

Using Kaitlynn's moment of distraction to her advantage, the mysterious women quickly grabbed her and slammed her to the wall and then sped away, revealing to the group that she is a vampire.

"Wonderful" Damon commented, helping Kaitlynn stand, "Now we've got a vampire bounty hunter to deal with, let me guess, euro-bitch was not part of the dream".

Kaitlynn shook her head, "Never seen her before in my life".

"You guys realise someone has to save Katherine, right?" Stefan said, "If that woman's after Katherine, it's probably because she's working with Silas".

"I'll go after them" Kaitlynn said, "You guys find Brayden".

"Wait, what? No" Damon protested, grabbing Kaitlynn's wrist.

"Damon, we don't have time for this, Brayden is somewhere hurt" Kaitlynn said, "You guys need to find him".

"I'll go with her" Caroline suddenly said, seeing Damon's reluctantness in letting Kaitlynn go by herself.

"No" Kaitlynn immediately said, "You have to go to Brayden, save your brother while I save my sister".

"Stefan and Damon will find Brayden, I'll go with you" Caroline said.

"Caroline--".

"Kaitlynn, Brayden will have his brother, we can't let you deal with this new vampire on your own" Caroline said, but Kaitlynn knew the truth, she knew the closer they were getting to Brayden, the more Caroline's fear regarding the future of their relationship was increasing, so by helping her keep her sister safe, she was delaying coming face to face with Brayden, but nonetheless Kaitlynn nodded.

"Okay" Kaitlynn said, "Let's go".

"Wait, no, stop, just wait" Damon said, pulling Kaitlynn towards him, "Any sign of trouble, you let her go, do you understand me? I don't care that she's your sister or how bad Silas wants Katherine, she's not worth a hair on your head, you got me? Okay?".

Kaitlynn put her hands on either side of Damon's face and pulled him into a kiss, "I'll be okay" she promised after breaking the kiss, she then turned to Caroline, "Let's go".

Caroline nodded and with that both her and Kaitlynn left to go find Katherine while Stefan and Damon were left to find Brayden.

***

"Hovering actually slows down the process" Qetsiyah told Brayden, who was standing behind her, watching her movements carefully.

"Don't care, I don't trust you, I'm not letting you leave my sight" Brayden said.

"Lovely" Qetsiyah mumbled.

"Now that's clear, why don't we talk about your plan to take Silas down" Brayden said, "What are you going to do to him? Take the cure, shove it down his throat and then kill him?".

"You're skipping ahead" Qetsiyah said, "We don't stand a chance against Silas with his mental powers".

"But you already took him down once" Brayden reminded.

"A long time ago" Qetsiyah retorted, "That was before he could compel masses, and two thousand years of consuming dribbles of blood from thousands of people, it's allowed him to hone his skills, prepared him to escape from the tomb I put him in".

"Is that where his soulmate Amara is?" a curious Brayden asked, "Is she locked in a tomb like Silas was?".

"No, Brayden, Amara is not locked in a tomb" Qetsiyah clarified, "I carved out Amara's heart and then offered Silas the cure so we can live a long human life together, can't say I didn't give him a second chance".

"I'm not sure that's what people call a second chance" a shocked Brayden said.

"I'm a complicated person" Qetsiyah said, "But Silas remains a simple man, I created the other side as a supernatural barrier between Silas and the peaceful afterlife he craved, then I dropped him in that tomb with that cure thinking eventually he would take it and kill himself to be with Amara just so he could realise that was caught with me for all eternity".

"Didn't really work out that way did it?" Brayden taunted.

"He's been a little stubborn" Qetsiyah said.

Brayden sighed, "You're not really making me a daylight ring, are you?".

Qetsiyah smirked, "Do you really think I'd give you the one thing you need to walk out of here?".

"Why not?" Brayden asked, "I mean come on, we're on the same page here, we both want Silas dead, why not work together?".

"Have you not been listening to me?" a furious Qetsiyah asked, "I have trust issues, I'm controlling, and paranoid, and a little crazy".

Qetsiyah lifted her hand up and started giving Brayden an aneurism, causing him to yell in pain and fall to the floor while holding his head in his hands.

"And that's working out just fine" Qetsiyah finished.

***

Katherine was running in the woods, trying to lose the vampire that was after her, she hid behind a wooden log and started looking around, keeping an eye out for the woman after her.

"Katherine".

A panicked Katherine turned around and breathed a sigh of relief once she realised it was her sister and Caroline, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really glad it's you two, my leg is cramping and I'm freezing, do you mind if I--can I borrow your sweater".

Kaitlynn shook her head but nonetheless took her sweater off and handed it to her freezing sister, "Now come on, we have to leave before she doubles back".

However before any of the girls could go anywhere, both Caroline and Kaitlynn were shot in the stomach multiples times with wooden bullets.

"Do I have to hurt you too?" the mystery woman asked Katherine, as Caroline and Kaitlynn fell to the floor in pain.

"Not necessarily" Katherine said, as the woman grabbed her wrist and the back of neck and pulled her along.

***

Damon and Stefan entered the cabin the bartender directed them towards, both the brothers were shocked seeing their brother tied up to a chair in a circle of herbs and flowers.

"Brayden?" Damon whispered, not wanting to alert whoever had captured his twin, "You couldn't call a brother?".

"Couldn't, was too busy drowning in a safe" Brayden snapped, trying to get out of the vines tying him down but failing.

"What's going on?" a confused Stefan asked, "Who did this to you?".

"This is courtesy of Silas's psycho ex-girlfriend" Brayden revealed, shocking his brothers, "Yeah, turns out, she's back from the other side".

"Qetsi-whatever?" Damon asked, as both him and Stefan tried to rip the vines off of Brayden but they failed miserably.

"It's Qetsiyah" Qetsiyah corrected, appearing behind Damon and Stefan, she then looked at Brayden, "Do you see why I want to change it?", she then walked over to the fireplace while the three brothers glanced at each other in vary, "You won't be able to break those vines, the spell won't realise him until I get what I want".

"Well, I guess the rumors are true" Damon said, looking at Qetsiyah, "You are a ray of sunshine".

"What are you doing with our brother?" a worried Stefan asked.

"I'm going to link Brayden to Silas" Qetsiyah informed, standing up, "Casting a spell on another soulmate from his own bloodline will neutralize Silas' mental powers, once he's weakened, I will force him to take the cure".

"Well, that's a great idea, force the cure down his throat" Damon said sarcastically, "The cure's gone, done, it's ingested".

"Katherine, you mean, I'm aware of her condition" Qetsiyah said, "Speaking of, where's her sister? Her and Caroline were supposed to be with you".

"I'm sorry, can we please rewind here, Katherine Pierce is human now?" a shocked Brayden asked.

"We have a lot to catch up on, Bray" Damon simply said.

"What do you mean supposed to be with us?" a confused Stefan asked.

After a moment, realisation finally crossed Damon's face, "Did you plant those dreams?" he asked, "What is that, some kind of witch party trick?".

"So where are they?" Qetsiyah asked.

"We ran into a little snag" Damon informed.

"Hmm, then I'll get started without her" Qetsiyah said, starting her spell on a chalice.

"Now will be a great time to leave" Brayden told his brothers.

"Okay, thanks for the hospitality, but we should really get going if we wanna beat traffic" Damon said.

"Exactly" Brayden said.

Qetsiyah glared at Damon, "Probably don't wanna get on my bad side" she warned.

"You realise you're not the only one with a bad side, right?" Damon asked, walking towards Qetsiyah.

"Aren't you brave?" Qetsiyah taunted, "Without Silas' mental powers, he is an immortal nobody, we can defeat him, isn't that what you want?".

"Fine" Brayden suddenly said, "Just get this over and done with, whatever you're going to do, just do it".

Qetsiyah dipped her fingers into the chalice, she then started chanting and placed her fingers on either side of Brayden's head, immediately causing the middle Salvatore to yell in pain, as Qetsiyah's chants got louder, the ring of flowers around Brayden caught on fire, causing both Damon and Stefan to take a step back, but their concerned eyes stayed on their brother who seemed to be in immense pain.

"What are you doing to our brother?" a concerned Damon asked.

"I'm frying Silas' brain" Qetsiyah informed, "No one said it would be pretty".

Damon and Stefan watched in horror as blood started pouring from Brayden's eyes, before he fell unconscious and Qetsiyah finally took a step back from him.

"All right, we're done here" Damon stated, glaring at the witch.

Qetsiyah smirked, "You're right, we're done, it worked".

Stefan rushed over to his brother, "Bray" he called out, tapping Brayden's face to wake him up, "Brayden, come on Bray, wake up".

Realising his twin wasn't waking up, Damon turned to Qetsiyah, "Whatever you did to him, undo it".

"Relax" Qetsiyah said, "I just burned through his conscious mind, he'll wake, eventually".

"Let's just take him home" Stefan told Damon, who nodded his head in agreement.

"You sure you want to take him home?" Qetsiyah asked Damon before he could grab Brayden, "You and Kaitlynn were doing so well without Brayden getting in the way".

"Brayden never got in the way" Damon snapped, going behind the chair Brayden was unconscious on and proceeding  to free him from the many vines Qetsiyah had used to tie him down.

"How do you know so much about us?" a confused Stefan asked.

"Because she was spying on us from the other side" Damon told Stefan.

"Don't flatter yourself" Qetsiyah said, "It was like watching a soap opera, except boring and with no volume control, you know, there was one thing worse than being on the other side and watching Silas resist the cure".

"Oh yeah?" Damon asked, as he and Stefan worked on freeing Brayden, "What was that? Realizing that your plan totally sucked?".

"Century after century, I watched soulmates from Amara and Silas's bloodline find each other, despite being soulmate with other people, somehow, someway, every single time, they went against the universe and fell for each other, like magnets, always the same story, choosing their own destiny, conquering all, falling in love despite the odds not being in their favor", Damon suddenly stopped freeing Brayden and stood there, an unreadable expression on his face, while Stefan observed his expression, "You didn't think your brother and Kaitlynn were the first soulmates from Silas and Amara's bloodline, did you?" Qetsiyah asked, Damon glanced at his unconscious brother, "Destiny has been trying to get the soulmates from these two bloodline together forever".

"Look here, Miss Crazy, why don't we just dial down the destiny talk a notch, okay?" Damon said, no longer interested in hearing that Kaitlynn wasn't meant for him.

Qetsiyah let out a chuckle, "You don't wanna hear it, but the universe is working against you".

"If you're trying to downplay your reputation as being a psychopath, you might not wanna say you're spokesperson for the universe" Damon taunted.

"You and I are the same, Damon, hell even Caroline is in our category" Qetsiyah said, making the smirk on Damon's face fall, "The obstacle standing between two fates, Silas had his true love and Brayden has Kaitlynn, us three are merely the conflict that makes it interesting".

"So, what are you suggesting?" Damon asked, "I leave my twin brother alone here with you and live happily ever after with Kaitlynn?".

"I'd keep him safe" Qetsiyah promised.

Though Stefan didn't say anything, he knew one thing, he wasn't leaving his brother here, but he stayed quiet and just observed his oldest brother, everyone knew that the relationship that was the most important to Damon was the one with his twin brother, Stefan wondered if the love of Kaitlynn was going to change that.

"You have a bad track record with men" Damon mocked.

"I want to keep him safe" Qetsiyah said, "Now that he's linked to Silas, Silas can't mess with our heads, and as long as Brayden's in the way, you will never be with Kaitlynn, take it from the woman who's had front row seats for two thousand years".

Damon looked at his unconscious then at his youngest brother.

"This is Brayden, Damon" Stefan reminded.

"I know who he is, Stefan" Damon snapped, he looked back at Qetsiyah, "Like Stefan said, he's Brayden, my twin brother, I would never leave him behind, not even for Kaitlynn, so you can go to hell".

Before Qetsiyah could register anything, Damon speeded over to her and held her in a choke hold, however before he could kill her, Qetsiyah managed to get a spell out, immediately causing both Damon and Stefan to hold their heads in pain, Qetsiyah then threw the two brothers into the wall, knocking them both out.

***

Damon woke up from being unconscious and immediately his girlfriend's voice filled his ears.

"Damon?!" Damon heard Kaitlynn yelled, he then watched as she entered the cabin, and as soon as she entered her eyes landed on Brayden, "Oh my god, Brayden!", Kaitlynn quickly rushed over to the unconscious middle Salvatore, "Hey, Brayden, wake up, can you hear me Brayden, wake up, Brayden!".

Damon watched Kaitlynn care for Brayden, with a hurt expression on his face, he knew Kaitlynn loved him and Brayden loved Caroline, but despite that he couldn't help but let Qetsiyah's words about Brayden and Kaitlynn get to him, looking at Kaitlynn right now, he wondered what he would do if the universe managed to succeeded in its task to push Brayden and Kaitlynn together.

On the other hand, Caroline stood at the cabin door, tears welling in her eyes seeing the state of her soulmate, every single cell in her body wanted to rush forward and hug Brayden, kiss him, apologise to him, but her feet didn't agree with her heart, despite how much she craved Brayden's touch, the guilt wasn't allowing Caroline to go near him.

***

Caroline sat on the coffee table in the Salvatore's living room, watching Brayden, who was laying on the couch, still unconscious, Caroline took a deep breath and took out Brayden's day light ring from her back pocket, she grabbed his hand in hers and helped him wear it.

"This belongs to you" Caroline whispered, kissing Brayden's hand, "Just like me, wake up so I can make up for everything".

"Well, at least he's got his daylight ring back, we're all set for a picnic" Damon said, entering the room.

Kaitlynn and Stefan also entered the room.

"Yeah, thanks two his two brothers who always look out for him" Kaitlynn said, smiling at her boyfriend.

Damon didn't say anything, just gave Kaitlynn a small smile, making the smile on her face fall.

Kaitlynn let out a sigh, "You're still thinking about what Qetsiyah said?", Damon looked at Kaitlynn in confusion, wondering how she knew, "Stefan told me".

Damon glared at his brother for opening his mouth, Stefan immediately put his hands up, "She wouldn't stop asking, I had to tell her".

Caroline looked at the trio in confusion, "What are you guys talking about?".

"We're talking about the fact that Qetsiyah told me that me and Kaitlynn, and you and Brayden don't stand a chance" Damon revealed.

"And what the hell does the psycho witch know about any of us?" a furious Caroline asked, not liking anyone talking crap about her and Brayden's relationship.

"Well, she told me and Stefan a very interesting little story about the history of soulmates that come from Silas and Amara's bloodline" Damon said, "How, despite having other soulmates, they are fated to find each other, basically, the universe programmed you Kaitlynn to fall in love with Brayden, not me, same goes with Brayden, which means, Brayden and Caroline, and me and Kaitlynn are a lost cause no matter what we do, I'm paraphrasing".

Stefan looked at a hurt Caroline, "Caroline, don't let Qetsiyah's words get to you, we all know Brayden, he doesn't listen to anyone but himself, he doesn't love anyone more then he loves you, he would never choose Kaitlynn over you".

An emotional Caroline looked at Stefan, "But I questioned his love" she whispered.

"This isn't the first hurdle in yours and Brayden's story, just like the others, you'll get past this as well" Stefan assured, "I don't know about the universe but I know my brother, and I know how much he loves you, I know that he will die for you if he had the chance, for your one smile, he would go against the whole world".

Caroline gave Stefan a grateful smile, his words making her feel a bit better.

Kaitlynn looked at Damon, she walked over to him and cupped his face in her hands, "I love you" she whispered, "I choose you, not just for now but for eternity, I don't believe in this universe crap Damon and let's just say for a moment that's it's true, I say we give it the middle finger and choose our own destiny, I want to be with you, not Brayden, I don't want anyone but you, please don't let a two thousand year old witch ruin us".

"You really think I would do that?" Damon asked, "No one tells me how I live my life, no one tells me who I love, especially not some vindictive, prehistoric witch and definitely not the universe, and I'm not gonna let someone else's idea of destiny stop me from loving you or being with you or building a future with you because you are my life".

Kaitlynn smiled at Damon, she grabbed his face and immediately pulled him into a kiss.

Caroline and Stefan watched the couple with small smiles on their faces, though both of them were happy for Damon and Kaitlynn, they couldn't help but wonder why their love stories couldn't be like theirs.

"Ugh" Brayden groaned, finally waking up and gaining the attention of the four vampires.

"Brayden?" Caroline whispered.

  Brayden slowly sat up and looked at Caroline, confusion evident on his face.

"Welcome back, brother" Damon said.

"Welcome back, Bray" Stefan said, patting Brayden's shoulder.

"Home sweet home" Kaitlynn smiled.

Brayden looked at the four vampires, "Who the hell are you guys?" he asked.

"Seriously?!" a shocked Caroline asked, here she was preparing the speech of her life but the guy she was preparing it for, doesn't seem to remember her anymore.

Stefan, Kaitlynn and Damon exchanged worried looks, all realising that the price to link Silas to Brayden was Brayden's memories.

***

Presenting 5x03 of They Don't Know About Us!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Caroline and Kaitlynn sharing the same dream about Brayden?

Thoughts on Brayden and Qetsiyah's first meet?

Thoughts on Katherine's words about Kaitlynn and Brayden?

Thoughts on Qetsiyah revealing her and Silas's story to Brayden?

Thoughts on Brayden losing his memories?

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