12. The Descent

Caroline entered Brayden's room, only to see the middle Salvatore no where to be found.

"Brayden!?" Caroline called out.

"Hey" Brayden greeted, coming out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but his pants, from his wet hair, Caroline could tell he had just gotten out of the shower.

Caroline smiled at the middle Salvatore, she walked over to him and pulled him into a kiss.

"Caroline Forbes initiating a kiss, that's a first" Brayden teased, wrapping his arms around Caroline's waist.

"I missed you" Caroline said.

Brayden smirked, "Look whose being clingy now".

Caroline laughed and playfully shoved Brayden away from her, "Shut up, I just don't want to spend anymore time away from you".

"I'm great with that idea, however--".

"No" Caroline interrupted, "You are not ruining this moment Brayden".

"I don't want to" Brayden defended, "Trust me, I want nothing more then to spend this whole morning with you, in my bed, loving you, but--".

"But the one day I want to go with your plan, you have a different plan in your head" Caroline realised.

"I'm sorry" Brayden apologised, "But as much as I would love to spend the day with you, we can't pretend everything is okay".

Caroline sighed, "I know everything's not okay, but it's not that bad, is it?".

"I don't know if you remember, but Klaus still wants to use you in his weird ritual" Brayden reminded, "In my mind, that is pretty bad, princess".

"I remember, but Elijah promised me and Elena that he will keep us and everyone we love safe, as long as we do what he wants" Caroline said.

"I don't know if you know this princess, but I don't do what other people what me to do" Brayden said.

Caroline chuckled, "Trust me, I know".

"But that's not the only reason, I don't trust Elijah" Brayden said, grabbing his shirt from his bed.

"What's the other reason?" Caroline asked, confused.

"Remember when Rose kidnapped you, she told you that I said no to going on a date with her, because I had a boyfriend?" Brayden asked, Caroline nodded in response, "Well I don't remember that, as we all know, but when me and Elijah first came face to face, he knew me and he said that somebody compelled me, that time I didn't believe him, because I thought vampires can't be compelled, but with Elijah compelling Katherine to stay in the tomb, we now know that--".

"Originals can compel vampires" Caroline finished.

"Exactly" Brayden said.

"I remember when me and Elena were making the deal with Elijah, I told him I'll accept his deal if he got you out of the tomb, and he said that you're always getting in trouble, and when I asked him if he knew you, he said a long time ago but you don't remember it" Caroline informed.

"And when he got me out of the tomb, he said that his brother wouldn't appericate waking up to a dead me" Brayden recalled, "Do you realise what this means?".

"You've been compelled" Caroline realised, "You've been compelled to forget something".

"Or someone" Brayden added, walking over to his side table and grabbing two viles, "And to stop that from happening again, we need to drink this".

"What is that?" Caroline asked, as Brayden put the liquid in the viles into two glasses and mixed it with bourbon.

"Vervain" Brayden replied, "According to Kaitlynn, Katherine has been drinking small amounts of vervain everyday to build up her tolerance, my guess, it's because she knew that the Originals have the ability to compel vampires, if we do the same, Elijah or any other Original won't be able to compel us".

"It's going to burn" Caroline said, taking the glass from Brayden.

"It's either this princess, or we become the puppets of the Originals" Brayden said, downing the drink, he then fell to the floor in a coughing fit, Caroline kneeled beside him and rubbed his back.

"You okay?" Caroline asked.

Brayden took a deep breath and nodded, "Your turn" he said.

Caroline looked at the glass then at Brayden, and after a moment of hesitation, drank it, and just like Brayden started violently coughing.

"It's okay" Brayden said, rubbing Caroline's back, "Breath through it".

"I hate the taste of vervain" Caroline complained.

"All vampires hate the taste of vervain, princess" Brayden said.

"So are we now compulsion resistant?" Caroline asked.

"As long as the vervain stays in our system, then yes" Brayden replied.

"So what now?" Caroline asked.

"I have two agendas for today" Brayden replied, "Number one, find Isobel, according to Katherine she could have the answers to my many questions".

"What if that makes Elijah angry?" Caroline asked worried.

"It shouldn't make Elijah angry, cause technically, me and Stefan are looking for Isobel, not you" Brayden replied, "You are still keeping your end of the deal and that's all that matters".

"It's like you purposely try to get under the skin of people you know can kill you in a heartbeat" Caroline said.

"I like the danger" Brayden teased.

"Idiot" Caroline mumbled, making Brayden chuckle, "What's agenda number two?".

"Find Elijah, and ask him what I'm forgetting" Brayden replied.

"You think he will tell you?" Caroline asked.

"I guess we'll find out once I talk to him" Brayden replied.

"Just don't die on me" Caroline mumbled, hugging Brayden.

"If I die, whose going to annoy you?" Brayden teased, kissing Caroline's head.

***

Damon entered the living room, where Rose was sitting, infront of the fireplace.

"I was born in 1450 that makes me 560 years old" Rose said.

"Well, if you were a bottle of wine--".

"So I can die, I've lived long enough" Rose interrupted.

"All of us in this house has lived long enough, Rose" Kaitlynn said, entering the room, "Doesn't mean we don't have more to live for".

"Exactly" Damon said, pouring some blood into a glass, "And if you're gonna be maudlin, I'm just gonna kill you myself, just to put me and Kaitlynn out of your misery, come on, it's just a little werewolf bite".

"Just a little fatal-to-a-vampire werewolf bite" Rose added.

"Well, according to legend, which is a notoriously unreliable source" Damon said.

Kaitlynn shook her head, she didn't like this, she didn't like the fact Damon was giving Rose false hope, she didn't like the fact that Damon had false hope, because at the end of the day, it's going to come bite all of them in the back.

"Drink up" Damon said, handing Rose a glass of blood, "Blood heals".

Rose took a large gulp from the glass, "Yeah" she said, "It does feel like it's working".

"Let's have a look, come on" Damon said, Rose turned around and Kaitlynn helped take her cardigan off, both Damon and Kaitlynn frowned when they realised the bite had gotten worse.

"How is it?" Rose asked.

"Uh, definitely better" Damon lied, he looked at Kaitlynn, "Right, Kaitlynn?".

Kaitlynn looked at Damon, she couldn't lie to Rose, it was too hard for her, Damon gave Kaitlynn a pointed look, gesturing for her to tell Rose it was better.

Kaitlynn sighed, "It could be worse" she finally said, giving Rose a small smile.

"See" Damon said, pouring Rose more blood, "Now Kaitlynn is going to play nurse for a little while".

"It's not necessary" Rose assured.

"It is necessary" Damon retorted, "Kaitlynn isn't always heartless, sometimes she can be a do-gooder".

"Only to the people I can tolerate" Kaitlynn added.

"And luckily for you, you happen to be one of those people" Damon told Rose.

"True" Kaitlynn said.

Damon looked at Kaitlynn, "Take care".

"I'll take care of her" Kaitlynn assured.

"Take care of both of you" Damon said, before walking out the room.

Kaitlynn looked in the direction Damon had left in, she didn't want to believe it, but it seemed like Damon actually cared for her.

***

"Fae!" Tyler yelled, running over to heretic.

"Hey" Fae greeted.

"What are you doing at school?" Tyler asked, slightly confused.

"Helping Caroline plan this Booster Club Barbecue" Fae replied, "So, how are you feeling?".

"I'm okay" Tyler replied, "Sore, I mean, every muscle aches".

"Well, at least that gives you an excuse for a deep tissue massage" Fae teased, making Tyler chuckle, "Plus, you should be proud Tyler, you went thought your first full moon without hurting anyone, as more full moons go by, it'll get easier for you, it'll become like a normal routine, you'll learn to control it and the pain would become less".

"Well, we don't know any of that for sure" Tyler said.

"I do" Fae said, "I've met werewolves in the past, it does get better, don't be such a downer, last night, was a big achievement for you, be happy, you don't have to worry about all this werewolf stuff for a whole month now".

Tyler smiled at Fae, "Look, I really wanna thank you" he said, "You don't know me, yet you helped me, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there".

Fae smiled at Tyler, "So does that make us friends now?".

Tyler chuckled, "I'd hope so".

"Okay, so as your friend I'm going to tell you that next full month we should really reinforce the wall, because you nearly got out and if you had bit me, let's just say it wouldn't have been great" Fae rambled.

"Why?" Tyler asked confused.

"Right" Fae mumbled, "Me or Caroline never told you, did we?".

"Tell me what?" Tyler asked.

"Well, don't panic, and don't get angry at me for not telling you, but legend says that one werewolf bite can kill a vampire" Fae revealed, shocking Tyler.

"How do you know that?" Tyler asked.

"I've been around for a long time" Fae replied, "You pick things up over the years".

"Fae!" Caroline yelled, before Tyler could say anything, "Come help me with this sign!".

"Coming!" Fae yelled, she turned to Tyler, "I'll see you around Tyler".

Before Tyler could stop her, Fae quickly rushed over to help Caroline.

***

Alaric sat in the Grill, keeping an eye on Jules, who was currently also at the Grill.

"Hey, Damon, the wolf is in the Grill" Alaric said, leaving Damon a voicemail.

"Is that the wolf bitch?" Brayden asked, as him and Stefan sat with Alaric.

"Yeah" Alaric replied, "Yeah, I just left Damon a message".

"So you're doing his dirty work for him" Stefan said, making Brayden roll his eyes.

"Well, she could have a cure for Rose" Alaric retorted, "I couldn't find anything in Isobel's research, except that it's fatal".

"If there is a cure, you and Damon are delusional if you two think the mutt is just going to hand it over to you as a present" Brayden said.

"It's worth a try" Alaric said.

"Hey, do you still know of a way to get in touch with, uh--with Isobel?" Stefan suddenly asked.

"Way to be gentle about it, Stef" Brayden said.

"Even if I did, she isn't gonna help" Alaric said.

"According to the evil vampire doppelganger stuck in the tomb, Isobel knew of Klaus" Brayden informed.

"So this isn't about Rose, it's about Elena and Caroline" Alaric realised.

"I would love nothing more then to help Rose" Brayden snapped, "But we have no lead on the cure for her, but we might have a lead on how to help Caroline".

"Brayden, relax" Stefan said.

"Tell him not to use his judgy tone with me" Brayden snapped.

Alaric sighed, "I wasn't judging you Brayden" he assured, "Look, I have an old number, probably out of service".

"No harm in giving it to us, then?" Stefan asked.

"You two know you can't trust Isobel, even when it comes to Elena" Alaric replied.

"I will never trust anyone in that bloodline" Brayden said, "I just want to know about Klaus, that's it".

"All right, I'll see if I can find the number, if I do, I'll text it to you two" Alaric said.

***

After Alaric left the Grill, Stefan and Brayden sat at the Grill, waiting for Damon to arrive.

"I could just go there and talk to her before Damon comes" Brayden suggested.

"You talking to her is worse then Damon talking to her" Stefan said.

"That's not true" Brayden said, just as Stefan's phone beeped.

"Alaric just sent me Isobel's number" Stefan informed.

"Call it then" Brayden urged.

Stefan nodded and dialed the number, only to be directed straight to voicemail, "Isobel, it's Stefan Salvatore, I, um--I need to speak with you, it's about your daughter and Caroline, please know that it's important".

Just as Stefan hanged up, Damon entered the Grill, immediately he started looking for Jules, and once his eyes landed on her, he proceeded to walk towards her, but both his brothers blocked his way.

"What are you two doing here?" Damon asked, annoyed.

"We were waiting for you" Stefan replied, "Listen, there's a lot of people here".

"Well damn, there goes my plan to rip her spleen through her back" Damon snapped.

"Hey, I know you're upset about Rose" Stefan said.

"Why does everyone think I'm upset about Rose?" Damon asked, "I'm fine".

"You're lying" Brayden said, "You're anything but fine".

"I don't know if you know this Brayden, sometimes vampires die" Damon snapped, "I'm gonna have a friendly chat with lady wolf, brothers, you two need to ease up".

"I'm coming with you" Brayden stated.

"Whatever" Damon said, going over to Jules with Brayden following him.

Stefan went to follow his brothers, to make sure they didn't do anything to make things worse, but his phone started ringing, the same number he dialed to get Isobel, was calling him back, so he quickly went outside the Grill to answer the phone, leaving his brothers to deal with Jules.

"Well, if it isn't the one I meant to kill" Jules said, as Damon and Brayden sat infront of her, "I'll have to get that right next time".

"Bold of you to assume you will be alive to see the next full moon" Brayden said, glaring at Jules.

"Unless you tell us how to cure a wolf bite" Damon said, "And then we won't kill you".

Jules stared at the brothers, "Promise?".

Damon nodded, "Yes".

Jules grabbed her purse, making Brayden and Damon think she was about to hand them the cure, but instead Jules placed money on the table, and smirked at the brothers, "Bite me".

Before Jules could get up, Brayden grabbed a knife and stuck it in her hand, making sure no one saw.

"You are being very, very, very stupid, mutt" Brayden spat, glaring at Jules, "Tell us how to cure the bite, now".

"How's your friend?" Jules asked, taking the knife out of her hand, "Rose? Is that her name? Have the chills started? The unbearable pain?".

"If there's a cure, tell me, or start watching your back" Damon threatened.

"Did I mention the dementia?" Jules asked, "It'll eat away at her brain, soon she'll be rabid, you two want a cure? I'll tell you the only cure that exists, take a stake and drive it through her heart".

After Jules walked away from the brothers, Damon also walked away to check up on Rose and Kaitlynn, Brayden went to follow but Stefan texted him a location, telling him to meet him there.

***

After Kaitlynn called her, telling her that Rose's condition was getting worse, and Damon was planning on ending her misery, Fae decided to check up on her, when she reached the boarding house, she was shocked seeing Tyler there.

"Tyler?" Fae said confused.

"Hey" Tyler greeted.

"What are you doing here?" Fae asked confused.

"I looked for you at school but Caroline told me you went home, I asked for your address and she said you lived here" Tyler replied.

"Is everything okay?" Fae asked.

"We need to talk" Tyler replied.

"Did something happen?" Fae asked worried.

"I just don't understand one thing" Tyler replied.

"Which is what?" Caroline asked.

"Why would you risk it?" Tyler asked confused, "If a werewolf bite kills a vampire, why would you risk it?".

"Because I couldn't just leave you on your own Tyler" Fae replied.

"I could have killed you" Tyler reminded.

"Yet here I am, alive and well" Fae said.

Tyler sighed, "I don't understand you, Fae" he admitted.

Fae looked at Tyler, "Why is it so hard for you to let someone help you?" she asked.

"Well, that's not it" Tyler defended.

"Is it not?" Fae asked, "I know I'm a stranger to you, and I get how me risking my life was idiotic, but I did it to help you, why is that so hard for you to grasp? I'm sorry if I overstepped my boundaries, but I just--".

Before Fae could finish her sentence, Tyler stepped forward and smashed his lips on to hers, shocking her, for a moment Fae did nothing, but as soon as reality sank in, she pushed Tyler away from her.

"We can't go there" Fae said.

"Why not?" Tyler asked.

Before Fae could say anything, someone else did.

"Fae?".

Fae turned around to see Stefan standing behind her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Stefan--".

Before Fae could say anything, Stefan walked away, letting Fae know he had seen everything.

"Is it because of him?" Tyler asked suddenly.

"What?" Fae asked, turning to Tyler.

"Is Stefan the reason as to why we can't go there?" Tyler asked.

Fae looked at Tyler in guilt, "Tyler I'm so sorry, Stefan and I--it's complicated".

Tyler gave Fae a small smile, "It's fine, but if you decide you want someone else, you know where to find me".

Before Fae could say anything else, Tyler walked away from her, leaving Fae alone to find Stefan.

***

Stefan stood at the quarry, where he first met Fae.

"I thought you were with Brayden" Fae said, walking over to Stefan.

"Kaitlynn texted me, saying Damon needed us, Brayden could handle Isobel better then me, so I came to check on Damon" Stefan said.

"I didn't kiss him" Fae said suddenly.

"I know" Stefan said, "I saw and heard everything".

"I would never do anything to hurt you" Fae said.

"I know" Stefan whispered, he looked at Fae, "Do you like him?".

"Yes" Fae replied, making Stefan look away, "But not in the way you think I do, I've only loved you Stefan".

"Then why make it so hard for us?" Stefan asked.

"You know why" Fae replied, starting to walk away, but before she could, Stefan grasped her wrist and pulled her towards him, and before Fae could say or do anything, Stefan smashed his lips on to hers, and this time, even if it was for a brief moment, Fae kissed him back.

Once she realised what was happening, Fae stepped back from Stefan.

"What is it with you guys and thinking you can kiss me whenever you want?!" Fae snapped, glaring at Stefan.

Stefan looked at Fae, amused, "You kissed me back" he stated.

"I--I didn't mean to" Fae defended, slightly flustered.

"Yes you did" Stefan said.

"I can't go there with you Stefan, or Tyler, or anyone for that matter" Fae said, starting to walk away.

"Walking away from me isn't going to change the facts!" Stefan yelled.

"Yes it will!" Fae yelled, speeding away, leaving behind an even more determined Stefan behind, he was determined to win Fae back before another Tyler came in and swept her away.

***

After killing Rose and taking care of her body, Damon entered his house to see Kaitlynn waiting for him.

"Don't start with me" Damon warned.

"I just want to see if you are okay" Kaitlynn said, after Damon came back from the Grill, he told Kaitlynn to leave the boarding house till he dealt with Rose.

"I appreciate the gesture" Damon said, "I'm just glad it's over".

"I know you think you're great at hiding your feelings, but you can't hide it from the girl whose been hiding her emotions for the past five hundred years" Kaitlynn said.

"Go to your room Kaitlynn, get some rest, it's a whole new day tomorrow" Damon said, really not wanting to have this conversation with her.

"Damon, I'm your complicated friend" Kaitlynn said.

"I'm well aware of that" Damon snapped.

"And I'm also a girl who knows the feeling of losing someone you care about" Kaitlynn said.

"What do you wanna hear?!" Damon yelled, "That I cared about Rose? That I'm upset? Well, I didn't and I'm not".

"You're lying" Kaitlynn said, "You pretend that you've turned it off, that you don't feel, but we both know that it's a lie".

"I feel, Kaitlynn, okay?" Damon snapped, "And it sucks, what sucks even more is that it was supposed to be me, Jules was coming after you and me, I protected you, but I couldn't protect her".

"That, what you're feeling right there, is guilt Damon, and it's okay" Kaitlynn assured.

"That would be human of me, wouldn't it, Kaitlynn?" Damon asked, "And I'm not human, neither of us are, and you're one to talk about giving up, all you've done is give up".

"When did I give up?" Kaitlynn asked confused.

"You gave up on your sister, you gave up on Brayden, hell you even gave up on your soulmate" Damon snapped.

Kaitlynn glared at Damon, "Just cause you're hurting, doesn't give you a right to hurt others Damon".

"Go away Kaitlynn" Damon demanded, "There's been enough doom, gloom and personal growth for one night".

"Fine" Kaitlynn said, walking away, she turned back to face Damon one last time, only to see him staring at the fireplace with no expression on his face, so she took out her phone and texted the one person who she knew could get to Damon, someone she should have texted before Stefan.

***

"John Gilbert?" Caroline asked shocked, as her and Brayden sat on her bed, "You brought back Elena's dad?".

"Well, Stefan called Isobel, but turns out that number wasn't Isobel's, it was John's" Brayden replied.

"And you think he knows how to save me and Elena?" Caroline asked.

"According to him he does, but won't open his bloody mouth" Brayden replied, "But don't worry, I know ways in which I can get Elena's father to open his mouth".

Before Caroline could say anything, Brayden's phone went off.

"Who is it?" Caroline asked, watching Brayden's face fall.

"It's Kaitlynn" Brayden informed, "Rose is dead, and Damon's missing".

"Go" Caroline urged, knowing Brayden needed to be with his twin right now.

"I'll see you tomorrow" Brayden said, placing a quick kiss on Caroline's lips.

"Take care of yourself and Damon" Caroline said, as Brayden walked over to her window.

"No promises" Brayden said, before jumping out the window.

***

Damon laid in the middle of the road, without saying anything his twin brother came and laid beside him.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked, after a moment of silence.

"Here to comfort my hurting brother" Brayden replied, looking up at the stars.

"I'm lost, Brayden" Damon admitted, "Metaphorically, existentially".

"We all are, brother" Brayden said, as Damon sat up and put out a flask of alcohol from his pocket, while Brayden kept laying down.

"You're too sober for this conversation" Damon said, handing Brayden the flask.

Brayden took the flask from Damon and took a huge gulp from it.

"All I got is trouble" Damon whispered, tears in his eyes.

Brayden sat up and handed the flask back to his brother, and waited for him to talk, for him to elaborate.

"I have a secret" Damon whispered, "I have a big one, but I've never said it out loud, I mean, what's the point? It's not gonna change anything, it's not gonna make me good, make me adopt a puppy, I can't be what other people want me to be, what Kaitlynn wants me to be, this is who I am, Bray, and you can pretend that you're not in the same boat as me, that everyday you don't fight the urge to go on a killing rampage, you don't do that because of Caroline, but deep down, even you know one day we both are going screw up, and I'm going to lose the girl I never had, and you're going to lose the one you did have" he said, just as a car started making it's way towards the two twins on the road, "Whoever comes out of the car is mine and your existential crisis, do we kill them, or do we not kill them?".

Brayden watched as two girls came out of the car, before they could say anything, Brayden speeded over to them, and started compelling them, "Don't move, don't say anything, just stand here, quietly" he said, Brayden then turned to Damon, "We're not human Damon, and as much as deep down our cold hearts we want to be human, we can't, we miss it, but we're great at hiding it, that is your secret, isn't it? Because it sure as hell is mine".

Damon stood up, "There's only so much hurt a man can take" he whispered.

"So what's it going to be Damon, are we going to let out existential crisis live, or are we going to kill it once and for all?" Brayden asked.

"We're not human" Damon whispered, veins appearing under his eyes, "We will never be human".

Without wasting a second, Damon speeded over to one of the girls and bit into her neck, while Brayden turned to the other girl and bit into her neck, the twins killing the two girls, alongside their small desire to be human.

***

Presenting 2x12 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Brayden and Caroline realising that Brayden has been compelled to forget something or someone?

Thoughts on Damon and Brayden's conversation with Jules?

Thoughts on both Tyler and Stefan kissing Fae?

Thoughts on Damon and Brayden killing the two girls? Okay, so I did this, because I wanted to show you guys that Brayden isn't a perfect character, at the end of the day he is a vampire, he is perfect and flawed as all the other vampires, and sometimes he does something without thinking of the consequences.

Next chapter: The Salvatore brothers vs the werewolves