CHAPTER TWELVE | THE DEVIL INSIDE

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ONCE EVELYN AND DAMON HAD WOKEN UP, THE COUPLE DECIDED TO BURY KATHERINE'S REMAINS. The Austin vampire had previously joked about how romantic it was to get rid of Katherine's remains with Damon at her side, but the Salvatore just shrugged it off. For Damon, the death of Katherine Pierce took a huge weight off of his shoulders because he blamed her for quite literally everything that happened. She was the author of everything— now she was gone.

"There was definitely something oddly satisfying about all of that," Evelyn hummed to herself as she and Damon headed back inside the Boarding House after getting rid of Katherine's corpse. The Austin vampire slipped her leather jacket from her arms and hung it on the coat rack.

"Therapeutic and all." Damon nodded in his girlfriend's direction as he propped the shovel up against the wall.

At the sound of Evelyn and Damon's entrance, Stefan immediately stepped into view with his arms folded across his chest and a pointed look on his face. "Where have you two been?"

"Just out." Damon shrugged with a nonchalant smile, though Stefan clearly was not buying it.

"Define out."

"One who hovers and sticks his nose into other people's business," Damon smirked and then swung his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was defining annoying."

Stefan watched as Salvatore rubbing his shoes on the carpet. "That's funny."

"I thought so too," Evelyn smirked back, heavily sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Katherine's disgusting corpse was making the house stink. Damon and I got rid of it. You can thank us later."

"Could be a bit of a problem." Stefan sheepishly admitted while he tilted his head to the left to reveal Nadia, Katherine's daughter.

Damon and Evelyn exchanged confused looked. "Oh? And why is that?"

"Because I'm here for Katherine's body," Nadia announced with a devilish grin plastered on her face just like the one Katherine used to give off. Evelyn shuttered at the resemblance.

Evelyn raised her eyebrow, looked the woman up and down then chuckled to herself. "I'm sorry, darling, but you're a little late. I believe the worms are busy chomping on her as we speak."

"You ain't gettin' it," Damon added on for his girlfriend, his words lacking any remorse.

At the sound of Katherine's remains being taken elsewhere, Nadia's eyes lit up with immediate rage. "My mother asked to be buried with her family in Bulgaria."

"And, nothing gives my girlfriend and I greater joy than to deny her dying wish." Damon sighed. He wandered over to the table and began to pour himself and Evelyn a drink.

The younger Salvatore rolled his eyes at the couple's pettiness. "Who cares? Katherine's dead. Just give her the damn body."

"Uh, I think not," Evelyn responded with a growl before she took the glass from Damon's hand and smiled at him.

"Bitch ruined our lives." Damon turned on his heels, glaring at Katherine's daughter. "Nadia's known her, what, five minutes?"

"Tell me where she is!" Nadia demanded, but she knew that she wasn't getting anywhere. In a blind rage, she sped straight over to Evelyn, grabbed her by the throat, and slammed her against the nearest wall. Her eyes turned back to Damon. "Tell me where she is or I'll end her!"

Damon scoffed in disbelief. He sped straight towards the woman and peeled her hand from Evelyn's throat with ease. Once Evelyn was away from Nadia, he gave her a quick look to make sure she was okay then his eyes darted back to Katherine's daughter. "The nicest thing Katherine Pierce will ever do is feeding the maggots that feast on her flesh. Give it up. You're not getting her back."

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After the run-in with Katherine's daughter, Damon and Evelyn immediately headed to the Grill to drink their problems away. They knew that Nadia desperately wanted Katherine's remains, and surely there was a reason for that. Whether it was sentimentality, or something worse. She wasn't getting anything.

"I wonder how long it'll take before Stefan comes in here and tries to convince us to give the Devil's spawn the devil's body," Evelyn muttered while she lifted her glass up to her lips and took a sip.

The Salvatore shrugged immediately. "I don't really care, like I said, bitch ruined our lives. I am taking every single opportunity I can to ruin whatever dying wishes that psychotic little bitch has made. If she even made any that is."

"Gotta admit, it's weird. Why the hell would Katherine Pierce, of all people, make any sort of dying wish?" Evelyn raised a brow toward Damon. "I mean, think about it. Her entire brand has literally been eluding death for the last five-hundred years. Now, all of a sudden she gives in and makes a death pact. I don't think so."

"Whether she has, or hasn't, it ain't happening." Damon gritted his teeth and took the rest of his bourbon into his mouth.

"You know, I actually think it's really hot when you're like this." Evelyn looked up toward her boyfriend with a playful look in her eyes.

"What? You mean when I'm holding corpses hostage?"

"No." The brunette chuckled back and gently nudged him with her elbow. "Being all masterful and in control. I kinda like it."

"Oh. Here he comes to ruin a somewhat perfect day." Their pair's romantic day-drinking was cut short when Damon saw Stefan enter and let out a small sigh before shaking his head and tilting it in the direction of the younger Salvatore for Evelyn's benefit.

"Where's Katherine's remains, guys?" Stefan asked in a bored tone as he slipped into the booth beside Evelyn.

"Oh, come on." Damon groaned. "Katherine is exactly where she's always belonged. We're not giving the body back. Quit giving me the damn pouty face."

"I'm not giving you the pouty face. This is my you're both being dicks face." Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Stefan. That was almost funny." Evelyn smirked, looking up at the Salvatore. "Come on, Damon. Looks like the party's been rumbled."

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The minute that Damon and Evelyn stepped back into the Salvatore house, they saw Enzo St. John sat on one of the many couches with a glass of bourbon in his left hand while a body bag laid comfortably on the floor. Evelyn walked further into the room, her attention focused on the body bag. "Why the hell have you brought that in here?"

"Hello, Damon, Evelyn," Enzo smirked and jumped right up to his feet. "Ah. We have a bit of business to attend to."

"Missed a spot." Damon pointed to the corner of his lips, where Enzo had a bloodstain. "Listen, my girl and I are just trying to have a 'dick-free' day. I mean, apart from the one she'll get later, obviously. But, whatever business this is, leave her out of it."

Enzo ignored him and headed straight over to the fireplace where began to warm his hands. "God, I love a good fire." He turned on his heels to face the couple once more. "Oh! That's ironic, isn't it? You know, since you left me to turn alive in one."

"Didn't we already do this? You tried to make me feel guilty, I saved your life; we're even." Damon's eyes fell on the body bag. "What's in the bag?"

"More like who?" Enzo corrected with a chuckle.

Evelyn groaned out and shook her head, disapprovingly. "Brilliant. As if we haven't had enough corpses rolling around in this place."

"Since you and I last spoke, I've done a bit of soul-searching. Had a trip to the barber and did a little research, which revealed to me that you killed almost every member of the Whitmore family in the years since your escape, leaving just one alive each time to carry on the family name, producing a whole new generation of victims for you to slaughter. Exactly as you said you'd do back when you and I were cellmates."

"Well, you know me, I like to keep my promises." Damon gave a fake smile, while Evelyn remained silent at his side.

"And, it's occurred to me that perhaps I wrote you off too quickly. That, in fact, the Damon Salvatore I remember is alive and well. And, I have a present for him." Enzo unzipped the bag to reveal a body with a bloodstained neck. As Evelyn stepped forwards, she recognized the body— it was Aaron Whitmore.

"You brought me Aaron Whitmore—" Damon paused the moment he heard a faint heartbeat and gasped. "—Alive."

"He's the last of the Whitmore clan. You remember this Vervain wristwatch? Dr. Whitmore never took it off, even when he was rooting around in our chest cavities. Fitting Aaron should die wearing it, too. So, do you want to kill him, or shall I?" Enzo stared down at the dead body before his attention turned back up at Damon. Damon stared at the body without saying a word. His eyes drifted to Evelyn who looked just as shocked and confused as he did. "Oh, where are my manners? Evelyn, you may have a feast as well, you know, sharing is caring and all that fun stuff."

"Are you kidding me?" Evelyn scoffed. She glared at the vampire stood before her until she locked eyes with Damon. "Please, tell me he's kidding."

"As much as I've enjoyed your quality Bourbon, I feel confident our next drink will taste better with the sound of young Aaron's dying screams ringing in our ears and, the knowledge that your final act of revenge will have brought us both closure and a new beginning." Enzo trailed off.

"I'm just curious. Do you ask all of your friends to prove their loyalty by killing someone over drinks?" Damon asked, silently agreeing with Evelyn that Enzo was insane.

Enzo frowned with a look of confusion painted across his face. "His grandfather slit our eyes open with a scalpel. You've taken out everyone else in the Whitmore family, I thought you'd want this?"

"Call me, crazy, but—" Evelyn chuckled to herself, "—I don't think he wants this."

Damon gestured down to Aaron Whitmore and then looked back up to Enzo. "Would you believe he's a friend of a friend?"

"No, because that would force me to believe that you've gone soft when you and I both know that your very first impulse when I presented him to you was to rip out his throat." Enzo took his seat once more. "Surely my old friend's still in there someplace. End this for both of us."

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Evelyn finally arrived at the Lockwood manor after having hundreds of missed calls from Caroline, who was attempting to get her to join the party. She just happened to bump into the blonde on her way in and grabbed hold of her forearm. "Where the hell do you think you're going? You're the reason I'm at the God awful party, you're not leaving yet."

"I need— I need to go." Caroline stuttered as Evelyn's hardened facial expression began to soften.

"What's wrong? What's happened, Care?"

"When Klaus was in town, he and I may have—" The blonde paused once more and saw the widened eyes of Evelyn. "—and, now Tyler knows and I know I'm a horrible person. God, everything he did to Tyler and I ended up doing that." Caroline rambled on and on until Evelyn placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Listen to me, you're the least awful person I know, okay?" The brunette attempted to settle the girl and calm her down. "How did Tyler even find out? Surely that's something you'd have tried to keep to yourself."

"Elena and I were talking about it and I guess that he overheard." Caroline looked down and began to fumble with her hands.

"Ugh, brilliant. Well, if Tyler wants to maintain a healthy friendship with you, he'll eventually get over it and realize that you didn't do it to hurt him. Come on, let's get out of here." Evelyn grabbed hold of Caroline's hand and headed out of the party.

As the pair wandered outside and away from the lights and music at the Lockwood party, they saw two people in the distance. One of which was Damon. Evelyn's eyes lit up as soon as she saw him but that light was gone in an instant when she saw Elena desperately run into his arms. Evelyn furrowed her brows as she watched the two hug as if they needed it.

"What the hell?" Evelyn scoffed in disbelief as she watched the two embrace in the short distance ahead of her.

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