22. As I Lay Dying

"Damon?" Kaitlynn said, entering her room and getting confused seeing the oldest Salvatore sitting  on her bed, "What are you doing here?".

"I have a confession" Damon said, looking down at his fingers.

"What?" Kaitlynn asked, not knowing what was happening.

"In 1864, when you and Katherine first came to live with us, you thought that I hated you, and you had great reason to believe that, I was a great actor" Damon said, standing up and walking over to Kaitlynn.

"Acting?" Kaitlynn asked confused.

"I never hated you Kaitlynn, I loved you" Damon admitted.

Kaitlynn looked at Damon in shock, not expecting this, "What?" she asked, wondering if she heard him wrong.

"When I first saw you, I fell in love with you" Damon admitted, "But then I saw Brayden fall for you, and I decided to step back, and it was easier to hate you then admit that I was in love with my twin brother's girl, and I'm sorry for everything I did to you, from pretending to hate you, to daggering Elijah, I was wrong, and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I just needed you to know the truth".

Damon stepped closer to Kaitlynn and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"You deserve the world, Kaitlynn Pierce" Damon whispered, and after staring at Kaitlynn for a moment, he walked out the room, leaving behind a speechless Kaitlynn behind.

***

Damon walked into the Salvatore's living room, he grabbed a vintage bottle of bourbon from the cupboard, and after grabbing a glass, he poured himself a drink, in his mind, this was the last drink he was going to have before he died, Damon rolled the sleeve of his shirt up and groaned seeing the bite get worse.

After downing his drink, he set the glass down and walked over to the window, he pulled the curtains back and let the sun shine into the house, for a moment he relished the sun, and then he took his ring off and let the sunlight burn him.

Before the sun could kill him, Damon was suddenly shoved onto the ground by his twin brother, while Stefan quickly shut the curtains.

"Get off of me" Damon snapped.

Brayden slammed Damon to the wall, "You don't get to die on me, Damon".

"Already am" Damon said, "You know what happened to Rose, Bray".

"Do I look like I care?" Brayden snapped.

"Bray, basement" Stefan ordered.

Brayden nodded and speeded his twin towards the cellar in their basement, shoving him inside, he locked the door, making sure Damon couldn't get out.

"Today is not the day for you to die" Brayden said.

"What's the plan, Superman?" Damon asked.

"Me and Stefan are going to find something" Brayden assured.

"Oh, right, a miracle cure" Damon said sarcastically, "Good luck with that one".

"Fae is looking for it, if anyone's going to find a way to save you, it's going to be her" Brayden stated.

"Careful Bray, you're starting to act like a hero" Damon taunted.

"I'm not a hero Damon, I'm always going to be the villain" Brayden said, "But if to save your life I have to be the hero for one day, then I don't mind".

"Just tell me goodbye, get it over with" Damon said, letting out a bloody cough.

"Stay still Damon, you need to conserve all of your remaining strength" Brayden said, walking away from the cellar door.

***

"You two forced me to come with you to watch a girl movie?" Jeremy asked, walking beside Caroline and Kaitlynn, towards the town square, going to watch Gone With The Wind.

"You've been stuck in your house, fresh air is important for you humans" Kaitlynn replied.

Jeremy sighed, "Where's Fae, by the way?".

"She's with Stefan and Brayden on some sort of secret mission" Caroline replied, "None of them would tell us, anyways, who's hungry, I bought a lot of food".

"Are we really doing this?" Jeremy asked, helping Kaitlynn lay the blanket down on to the grass.

"Yes, we are really doing this" Caroline replied, "Yeah, we're going to take a page from Scarlett, we made it through the war, and I know you went through hell, and I know I died, so basically, it's like Atlanta has burned, and yet, in spite of everything, we persevere".

"Amen to that" Kaitlynn said, as a small smile formed on Jeremy's face.

"All right, what are we eating?" Jeremy asked, finally sitting next to Kaitlynn and Caroline.

"We are eating good" Kaitlynn replied, as Caroline opened the picnic basket she prepared.

***

"There is no guarantee that this will work" Fae informed the two brothers.

After dealing with Damon, Stefan and Brayden met up with Fae at the witches house, hoping the witches knew how to save Damon's life.

"Bonnie was able to do a seance, she contacted your mother, if she can do it, so can you Fae" Stefan assured, "Maybe one of the witches know how to help Damon".

"Damon doesn't have the best reputation" Fae reminded, "Let's hope the witches forget his reputation and agree to help us save him".

"They have to, Fae" Brayden said, "I can't think of anyone else who could save Damon's life".

Fae sighed, she closed her eyes, and started chanting, Brayden and Stefan watched as the flames on the candles around them got higher, and they started hearing whispering all around them.

"Fae?" Stefan called out, "Fae?".

Fae suddenly opened his eyes, "Emily" she corrected, "Why have you two come here with my daughter?".

"We need your help" Stefan replied.

"We need to know if there is some kind of spell out there that can heal a werewolf bite" Brayden added.

"No, nature ensures a balance to everything" Emily said.

"Is that true?" Stefan asked, "Or are you just saying no because it's Damon?".

"Perhaps it is his time to die" Emily replied.

"Screw you, Emily" Brayden snapped, "Don't forget it's because of Damon that the Bennett line still exists, you owe him".

"I will not give you what you want, Brayden" Emily stated, "And you need to stop involving my daughter into your vampire business".

"She's a vampire herself" Brayden snapped.

"So you're saying that there's an answer to give?" Stefan asked, before his brother could say anything else.

"Please, Emily" Brayden pleaded, "He's my brother, you need to help him".

Suddenly, Fae started screaming, pain shooting through her head.

"Fae" Stefan said, grabbing the heretic before she could fall to the ground.

"These witches definitely don't like you Salvatore brothers" Fae said.

"Fae, there's something your mother knew" Brayden said, "I think she might have known how to save Damon".

Fae looked between the two brothers, "They said a name" she whispered, "But you're not going like whose".

"What was it?" Stefan asked confused.

"Klaus" Fae replied, shocking Stefan and Brayden.

***

"Hello people" Brayden greeted, walking over to Kaitlynn, Caroline and Jeremy, with Fae behind him, Stefan gone to find Alaric so he can invite him into his apartment, the last place they knew Klaus was at.

"Finally" Kaitlynn said, seeing her best friend, "Where were you?".

"Busy" Fae replied.

"I thought an epic romance wasn't something Brayden Salvatore watched?" Caroline teased.

Brayden sighed, "I am so sorry for ruining your guys day, but it's Damon".

"What about Damon?" Kaitlynn asked confused.

"Kaitlynn, the night you and Damon went to rescue Tyler from Klaus, Tyler ended up biting Damon" Brayden revealed, shocking everyone.

"What?" Kaitlynn asked, feeling her heart drop.

"Oh, my god" Caroline whispered.

"Is he dying?" Jeremy asked, Brayden nodded, a blank look on his face, he refused to show how scared he was currently feeling.

"That's why he told me that he loved me in 1864" Kaitlynn realised, "Because he was dying and he didn't want to die without me knowing the truth".

"Look Kaitlynn, Damon didn't want me to tell you, he didn't want you to feel guilty for not realising, but I think right now, Damon would appericate it if you were with him, just let him know that there's always hope" Brayden said.

Kaitlynn nodded, she quickly stood up, and without saying anything walked away, wanting to make sure Damon wasn't dead.

Caroline looked at her boyfriend in worry, "Brayden--".

"Don't" Brayden warned, "Don't try to make sure if I'm okay or not with Damon dying, I'm going to save my brother".

"How?" Jeremy asked confused.

"The witches think there is one person who might know how to cure a werewolf bite" Fae replied.

"Who?" Caroline asked confused.

"Klaus" Brayden replied.

Caroline shook her head, "No" she said, "Klaus is going to murder you, Brayden".

"No he isn't" Brayden assured, "I gave him the chance remember, but he kept me alive, look Caroline, my entire life, since I was human, there is one person who has been constant in my life, and that's Damon, if I was in his position I know he would do the same for me, he's my brother, and I need to save him".

"Will you come back?" Caroline asked, tears in her eyes.

"Of course" Brayden replied.

Caroline stood up and without saying anything, wrapped her arms around Brayden, "I love you" she whispered.

"I love you too" Brayden said, he then turned to Jeremy, "Take care of her?".

Jeremy nodded, "Of course".

After giving Fae a small nod, Brayden walked away from the trio to talk to Klaus, hoping he had something that will save his brother from his impending death.

***

After getting Alaric to invite Stefan in, both him and Brayden entered Alaric's apartment, where they were met with a very much alive Katherine, much to Brayden's dismay.

"I can't believe you're still alive" Brayden said.

"Two days, I've been waiting" Katherine snapped, glaring at the brothers, "I'm supposed to be free of Klaus' compulsion by now, he's supposed to be dead".

"We ran into complications" Stefan said.

"Complications?" Katherine asked confused.

"Elijah" Brayden replied, "He decided to have a change of heart on the last minute".

"Do you have any idea where Klaus might be?" Stefan asked Katherine.

Suddenly, Katherine grabbed both Stefan and Brayden by their shirts and slammed them to the wall, before Brayden could free himself and attack Katherine, the apartment door opened and in came Klaus and Elijah.

"Klaus, you're back" Katherine greeted, having heard the two Originals, "Look who decided to come for a visit".

"You just keep popping up, don't you?" Klaus asked Brayden, who was glaring at him with immense hatred in his eyes, the image of him staking Caroline flashing infront of his eyes.

"We need your help" Stefan said, deciding to talk to Klaus himself, knowing all about Brayden's anger, "For our older brother".

"Well, whatever it is, its gonna have to wait a tick" Klaus said.

"It can't wait" Brayden snapped.

"Brayden, before I tend to your brother, I have an obligation to my brother first, that requires my immediate attention" Klaus said, walking away.

"You understand how important family is or you two wouldn't be here" Elijah told Stefan and Brayden, "My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own".

"And so I shall" Klaus said, speeding behind Elijah.

As soon as Elijah turned to face his brother, a dagger was plunged into his heart, making him let out a scream, as his skin slowly desiccated and he fell to the floor, temporarily dead.

Klaus then turned to the brothers, and slammed Brayden against the wall, "Now, what am I gonna do with you and your brother?" he asked.

Brayden groaned in pain when Klaus stabbed him with a wooden stake, right near his heart, Stefan tried to rush to his brother, but Katherine held him back.

"You will only make it worse" Katherine whispered to Stefan, who glared at her in return.

"Do you feel that?" Klaus asked Brayden, "It's scarping against your heart, the slightest little movement and you're dead".

Brayden gathered a bit of his energy, and head butted Klaus, "Go to hell Klaus" he spat, taking the stake out of his stomach, "I don't want to be here, if it was up to me I'd be somewhere else, planning how to take you down, but unfortunately fate had other plans, Damon has been bitten by a werewolf".

"And the witches said you had a curse" Stefan continued, as Klaus wiped the blood from his nose, which made Brayden smirk, "Make us a deal, just give us the cure and we'll do whatever you want ".

Klaus smirked and walked over to the kitchen counter, grabbing a blood bag, he poured it into a glass.

"Trouble is I don't know if you two would be any good to me, the way you two are now" Klaus said, "You two are just shy of useless".

"Are you serious?" Brayden asked, wondering if Klaus had lost his mind.

"You see Brayden, I will admit, you are definitely better then your brother, but ever since you've come into this town and fell in love with Caroline Forbes, you've lost your touch" Klaus replied.

"Don't you dare mention her name out of your mouth" Brayden snapped, about to attack Klaus but Stefan held him back.

"Relax Brayden" Klaus said, "All I'm saying is, I will only make a deal with the old Brayden, the Brayden who was known around the supernatural community for his ruthlessness, I mean people were more scared of you then Stefan Salvatore, the ripper, I want the man who didn't need a reason to kill, he just killed because he liked it, because it made him feel good, that's the Brayden Salvatore I'll make a deal with".

***

"What do you mean Damon escaped?" Caroline asked, talking to Kaitlynn on the phone.

"I mean, what I said, Caroline" Kaitlynn replied, "When I went to check on Damon, he wasn't in the cellar, I don't know how, but he somehow managed to escape, I need you and Fae to keep an eye out for him, from what I saw with Rose, he's going to be in really bad shape, and we need to find him before he ends up hurting someone".

Caroline and Fae exchanged a worried look, "We'll look for Damon in the town square" Fae assured.

"I'll be there soon" Kaitlynn informed.

"Okay" Caroline said, as Kaitlynn hanged up on her.

Without wasting another second, both Caroline and Fae started looking around, hoping to find Damon before he found someone.

***

"And you Stefan, I heard about  this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades" Klaus said, "When he was off, he was magnificent, 1917, he went into Monterey and wiped out an entire migrant village, a true ripper, sound familiar?".

"No" Brayden snapped, "You want me to become the ruthless Brayden again? Fine, I'll gladly become that Brayden again, but I will not let you make Stefan into a ripper again".

"Brayden, it's okay" Stefan assured.

"No, it's not okay!" Brayden yelled, "You have been doing good, you don't need to become the one thing you are so ashamed of".

"Well that sucks" Klaus said, "Because those two vampires are the vampires I can make a deal with, those are the kind of talents that I can use when I leave this town, Katerina, come here".

After a little bit of hesitation, Katherine walked over to Klaus and placed her hand into his, and suddenly she was bit by Klaus.

"No" Katherine cried, though it wasn't the right situation, Brayden couldn't help but feel a bit of joy in his heart seeing Katherine suffer, "No, no, no".

Klaus bit into his wrist and forced his blood down Katherine's throat, Stefan and Brayden watched in shock, as Klaus's blood healed the werewolf bite on Katherine's wrist.

"It's your freaking blood, your blood is the cure to a werewolf bite" Brayden spat, "Of course it is, why wouldn't it bloody be?".

"Gotta love mother nature" Klaus said.

"I hate mother nature" Brayden mumbled.

Klaus chuckled at Brayden's anger, "Now, let's talk, us three".

***

Brayden and Stefan watched as Klaus poured some of his blood into a bottle.

"There it is" Klaus said, showing the brothers the bottle, "You two wanna save your brother? How about a decade-long bender? You know I have got big plans for you two, when we leave this town".

"Me and my brother are not like those vampires anymore" Stefan said.

"Well, that's too bad" Klaus said, starting to slowly pour his blood into the sink, "You two would have made hell of the wingmans".

"Stop" Brayden said, stopping Klaus from pouring his blood out.

"Now, that's more like it" Klaus said, "I want you two to join me for a drink".

Klaus sild two blood bags over to the brothers, Brayden and Stefan exchanged a look, and they opened their blood bags and started drinking.

"Finish it, all of it" Klaus demanded, as Stefan took a small sip, while Brayden managed to quickly finish the whole blood bag, he didn't realise how hungry he was till the blood was placed infront of him, "You two do everything I say and I save your brother, that's the deal".

Brayden threw his empty blood bag at Klaus, "Just save Damon" he said.

"Sure" Klaus said, sliding another blood bag towards Brayden, "But first finish this as quickly as you did the first one".

Brayden glared at Klaus, but nonetheless, opened the blood bag and started drinking, it was obvious to Stefan and Katherine, for some weird reason, Klaus was targeting Brayden the most out of the two brothers, Klaus wanted Brayden to loose his humanity the most, maybe cause he knew, without control, without his humanity, Brayden was worse then a ripper, he was a true monster.

***

After Kaitlynn met up with Fae and Caroline, the girls set off to find Damon, which they eventually did, the girls quickly grabbed Damon and helped him get back to the boarding house before he could attack anyone.

"Kaitlynn" Damon whispered, laying in his bed, feeling extremely delirious.

"Hey" Kaitlynn greeted, putting a wet towel over Damon's forehead, "You're going to be okay Damon, Stefan and Brayden are going to find a cure".

"Kaitlynn, get out of here, I could hurt you" Damon said, groaning in pain.

"So are we going to just pretend that I'm not much older and stronger then you?" Kaitlynn teased, "I refuse to leave you Damon, no matter what you say".

"Get out of here" Damon said, yelling in pain.

"Shh" Kaitlynn said, getting on the bed, "It's okay Damon, you're going to be okay".

"It's not okay" Damon whispered, "All those years, I've blamed Stefan, no one forced me to love her to forget you, it was my own choice, I made the wrong choice".

"I'm sorry Damon" Kaitlynn whispered, "I'm sorry for everything my sister put you through".

"Don't be sorry, none of what happened was your fault" Damon assured, "Just tell Stefan I'm sorry, and tell Caroline to take care of Brayden for me, I've been doing that for the past century, but now I'm leaving that responsibility to her, okay?".

"You know how stubborn your twin is, Damon" Kaitlynn said, tears in her eyes, "He's never going let you die like this, just hold on for a little bit longer, soon everything is going to be okay".

"Stay with me till the end?" Damon asked.

"I will stay with you till you get better" Kaitlynn corrected.

***

Katherine watched as Stefan and Brayden drank another blood bag, while many other empty blood bags were thrown all around them, it seemed like Stefan still had bit of control in him, but Brayden was now drinking his blood bags in almost an animalistic way, every vampire had a limit, and Klaus for some reason knew exactly what was Brayden's limit, and he made sure to push him past it.

"You seem to be enjoying this, Brayden" Klaus said, "Must feel nice to finally give up the façade of being a vampire who has complete and utter control".

"I'm not going to drink anymore" Brayden snapped, "Give me the cure and then I'll drink as much as you want".

"Not until we make a deal" Klaus said, "You two can either remain here living your life in Mystic Falls or you two can embrace what you truly are, leave town with me and save your brother's life".

Brayden glared at Klaus, but nonetheless snatched the blood bag from Klaus's hand and started rapidly drinking, letting Klaus know he accepts his deal.

Klaus smirked, while Stefan looked at his brother in worry.

"That's the spirt" Klaus said, he then turned to Katherine, the bottle of blood in his hand, and then started compelling her, "Sweetheart, take this over to Damon and come right back".

"You want me to leave?" Katherine asked shocked.

"No" Stefan said, while Brayden shook his head, they didn't believe that Katherine would save their brother's life.

"Yes" Klaus told Katherine, "And if I were you--", before Klaus could finish his sentence, Katherine grabbed the bottle from Klaus's hand and speeded out the apartment, "--I'd hurry".

"What did you do?!" Brayden yelled, glaring at the hybrid.

"She'll never take it to him" Stefan said, causing Klaus to simply shrug, "She'll never take it to him".

***

"This is even more pitiful than I thought" Damon whispered.

"Have hope Damon, you still have time" Kaitlynn said.

"I've made a lot of choices that have gotten me here" Damon admitted, "I deserve this, I deserve to die".

"No, you don't" Kaitlynn said, laying next to Damon, "You might not believe it, but I know that you have good in you Damon, I've seen it with my own eyes".

"I know I've done many things to hurt you, and I'm so sorry for everything" Damon said.

"You're forgiven, Damon" Kaitlynn cried.

"I know Elijah's your soulmate" Damon whispered, "And I know you're waiting for him, but I still love you, I think I never stopped loving you, you should know that".

Kaitlynn started crying harder hearing Damon's words, "Maybe in a another lifetime, Salvatore?".

"I'll hold on to that, Pierce" Damon whispered, "I wish you and me had gotten a chance in 1864, human Damon would have treated you so much better".

"Vampire Damon isn't as bad as he thinks he is" Kaitlynn assured, looking at Damon, she then slowly leaned in, and placed a kiss on Damon's lips, "Rest well, Damon".

"Thank you" Damon whispered.

"Well, it's me you should be thanking".

Kaitlynn turned around to see her sister, with Caroline and Fae behind her.

"I mean, I'm the one who brought the cure" Katherine said, "Kait, mind telling me why Caroline is still alive?".

"No" Kaitlynn replied, taking the bottle of blood from Katherine's hand and helping Damon drink it.

"Klaus set you free?" Fae asked.

"Yeap, finally" Katherine replied.

"And you still came here?" Damon asked, after drinking the blood.

"I owed you one" Katherine replied.

"You still haven't told us where's Brayden and Stefan?" Caroline asked, her and Fae having asking Katherine this since she arrived, but she refused to give them an answer.

"They are paying for this, they gave themselves over to Klaus" Katherine revealed, shocking everyone, "I wouldn't expect him anytime soon".

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Fae snapped, just as Caroline phone beeped.

"Oh, my god" Caroline whispered, shocked reading the message she just received.

"What?" Fae asked.

"Brayden just texted me" Caroline whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

"Saying what?" Kaitlynn asked.

"We're over" Caroline read.

"Brayden sent you that?" Damon asked, slowly sitting up, now feeling much better.

"That doesn't seem very Brayden like" Kaitlynn said.

Everyone knew the last thing Brayden will ever do was break up with Caroline, especially over text, that wasn't very Brayden like.

"Don't be so shocked, Klaus managed to bring out the monster in Brayden, he is no longer the guy you fell in love with Caroline, he's a completely different person" Katherine said, "Both him and Stefan sacrificed everything to save their brother, even the girls they claimed to love", Katherine then turned to her sister, "Oh and Kait, it's okay to love two people at the same time Kait, hell I loved three".

After Katherine speeded away, the group of four turned to each other in shock, and worry for both Stefan and Brayden.

***

"I suppose, brother, you've been reunited with our family" Klaus said, looking down at a desiccated Elijah, he closed his casket, and turned to one of his minions, "Put him with the others, we're leaving town tonight".

Brayden looked down at his phone to see numerous texts from Caroline and Damon, informing him that Damon was okay, and asking him where he and Stefan were.

"So, did Katerina make it in time?" Klaus asked the brothers.

"You won't be seeing her again" Stefan informed.

"Because she's on vervain?" Klaus asked, shocking the brothers, "I've been around a long time, Stefan, I rarely get played for a fool, besides, she won't get far, you and your brother will help me see to that".

"What is it that you really want from us?" Stefan asked, while Brayden stayed quiet.

"All will be explained in time" Klaus assured, "Once we leave this tragic little town".

"Then let's just leave" Brayden said, getting tired of Klaus's constant chatter.

"Not just yet" Klaus said, "You see, I have a gift for you two, come here, sweethearts, don't be afraid".

Stefan and Brayden turned to see two compelled girls, make their way over to Klaus.

"See, I wanna make sure you two honor our deal, that you two will be of use to me" Klaus said, "I could compel them to behave, but real rippers, enjoy the hunt".

Klaus let go of the girls, allowing them to run.

"I'm not a ripper" Brayden stated, before speeding over to one of the girls.

Stefan watched in worry as his brother bit into the girls neck and drank till she had no blood in left in her.

"Your turn" Klaus told Stefan.

Stefan sighed, but he knew better then to go against Klaus, so he speeded over to the girl and bit into her neck.

"Now we can go" Klaus said, as the brothers dropped the two dead girls on to the ground.

***

Caroline sat on Brayden's bed, looking at a picture of her and Brayden on Miss Mystic Falls, with tears streaming down her face. She knew that Brayden left with Klaus to save Damon's life, but Caroline refused to give up on the man she loves with everything she has.

Putting the photo back on Brayden's side table, Caroline opened the first drawer on the side table and took out Caroline and Brayden's wish list, she ticked the wish in which she wrote that Brayden would save her from Klaus, and then started writing another wish.

Brayden Salvatore and Caroline Forbes must find a way back to each other.

***

Presenting 2x22 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

AND THIS DEPRESSING ENDING, MARKS THE END OF ACT TWO OF THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT US! You guys have no idea how hard it was to separate Brayden and Caroline, but on a plus side, KOL MIKAELSON IS ABOUT TO COME, WHOSE READY FOR THE DRAMA BETWEEN BRAYLINE BECAUSE OF HIM AND KLAUS?! I know I am!

How was this season? Like it or dislike it? What were your favorite and least favorite moments in this season?

Any predications on what will happen next season? Anything specific you guys want to happen next season?

Anyways, back to this chapter, thoughts Damon confessing to Kaitlynn that he is still in love with her?

Thoughts on Klaus wanting Brayden and Stefan to turn into rippers?

Thoughts on Klaus targeting Brayden's humanity?

Thoughts on Brayden and Stefan leaving town with Klaus?