CHAPTER TWENTY | WHAT LIES BENEATH

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THANKS TO DAMON, EVELYN WOKE UP SAFELY IN THEIR BED AT THE SALVATORE HOUSE. When she rolled over onto her side to cuddle into Damon, she felt herself laying in an empty bed. She furrowed her brows, threw some clothes on, and headed downstairs where she saw Damon throwing ice cubes at Luke.

"That's not helping," Luke growled bluntly with his eyes clamped shut while he tried his best to concentrate on the spell in progress. 

"Well, you've been failing now for an hour, wonder twin. So, at this point, I can't imagine it's hurting." He responded with a sarcastic smile, then his gaze met Evelyn's. "Hey, beautiful. How'd you sleep?"

"Perfectly, all thanks to you" The brunette girl smiled thankfully, then gestured to Luke. "Do I even wanna know when you're tossing ice cubes at the poor guy, or?"

"Trying to find Enzo, but Luke can't seem to find him because his locator skills are crap," Damon grumbled, then glared at the Parker boy. "Yo, where's your sister?"

"She's tired of being almost murdered." Luke sneered back toward Damon. He finally opened his eyes and let out a sigh just as Stefan wandered into the room. "Look, I can find any person anywhere on the planet, okay? There's just something weird with your friend, Enzo. I can't get a read."

"Enzo?" Stefan repeated with widened eyes, as Damon and Evelyn glanced over to him."Didn't he—uh, go to Cape Horn?"

"He flipped his humanity switch. There should've been a body count all the way to the airport." The Salvatore spoke with a pointed tone.

"And there's nothing? Not even any cover-ups? I know the Sheriff's around these parts love nothing more than stamping animal attack on every mysterious death" Evelyn asked before Damon shook his head.

A soft hum escaped Stefan's lips as he perched himself on the edge of the couch. "Oh, why are you looking for him?"

"Gee, I don't know, Stefan. A vampire with no humanity who wants me dead for killing his girl. Hm." Damon sarcastically responded with a shrug.

"Well, maybe he hired a witch to block whatever Luke's doing." Stefan turned his head in Luke's direction. "Is that possible?"

"A cloaking spell?" Luke repeated with a hesitant nod. "I guess."

"I guess that would mean that he doesn't wanna be found. So—uh, why don't you just drop it?"

Evelyn locked eyes with the younger Salvatore brother once more, something was off with him. He was being shady, and she knew what it meant when Stefan was being shady— something must've happened, but before she could say anything, the door burst open to reveal Tyler.

"We have a problem." The Lockwood boy yelled out. "Markos turned Sloan into a vampire, had her drink doppelganger blood, and then after some chanting ritual thing she turned human again."

"Wait, what?" Evelyn's eyes widened as she leaned forward from her laid back position on the couch.

"He cured her?" Damon questioned after his fiancé.

"He cured her to death. The blood took away her vampirism but left her in the state she was in just before she turned."

"That state being dead," Stefan confirmed from the other side of the room while he folded his arms across his chest. "Got it."

"So, it kills vampires. What does the spell mean for the witches?" Luke asked while Damon waved his hand in the air.

"No one cares," He glared at Luke, then turned his attention back to the Hybrid. "Keep going,"

Tyler rolled his eyes. "The point is, they feel like if they can get rid of all magic then they can break some lame-ass witch curse."

"Markos said they can't settle anywhere without evoking earthquakes or hellfire. If they break that curse then they just move right on into Mystic Falls." Damon and Evelyn put the pieces together and then turned their heads to Stefan.

"And come after Elena and me today. As in, now." Stefan anxiously spoke as he glanced around the room.

"Not if I kill him first," Evelyn growled, then gave a nod of reassurance to the younger Salvatore before she set her sights on Tyler. "Where is the bastard?"

"No idea, they were moving camp when I got out." The Lockwood boy shrugged back.

"Oh, good news. Our friend Luke here is an alleged genius at locator spells," Damon smirked as he patted Luke on the shoulder and rolled his eyes.

"Travelers are always moving, they're impossible to track. They'll find Stefan and Elena long before we can find them." Luke raised, as the group sighed heavily.

"Well, can't you just stop them from finding them?" Evelyn asked while Damon nodded in agreement.

"What about one of those locator-spell-blocker deals?" The Salvatore vampire shrugged. "Is that simple enough for you?"

"If both doppelgangers are in the same place, yeah." The Parker witch confirmed.

"Perfect." Damon clapped his hands together, then he turned to the Hybrid. "You avoid the entire Czech language, figure out how to find Markos."

"How am I suppose to do that?"

"Well, you have a Traveler inside of you. I mean, I have probably misplaced faith that you'll figure it out." The eldest Salvatore shrugged, then he set his sights on Evelyn and Stefan. "Meanwhile, You, me, my fiancé, and your ex-girlfriend are going to go on a little secret trip."

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The group had pulled up to the Forbes family cabin and decided that it was probably the best place to lay low while the Travelers hunted tirelessly for the two doppelgangers. Evelyn's suspicion continued to grow as she witnessed a few hushed conversations between Stefan and Elena, who conveniently became mute whenever someone approached them. They were being careful and she wanted to know why.

Once Evelyn noticed that Stefan had headed back out to the car alone, she wandered outside. "Okay, come on. What's your deal?"

"My deal?" Stefan furrowed his brows, scoffed, and grabbed the last few bits of luggage from the trunk."Evelyn, I have absolutely no idea what you're—"

"Stefan, I know you. I know when you're being shady. And, you're being shady right now. You and Elena both are." Evelyn narrowed her eyes toward the Salvatore and folded her arms across her chest. "What's with the hushed conversations every time someone comes around you guys? If you're together then just say, you don't have to lie to everyone."

"What? We're not back together, Evelyn."

"Right, okay. Then what is it?" The Austin vampire pressed again as she heard a sigh leave his lips. "Stefan, come on."

"Fine. Okay." Stefan finally admitted defeat. He glanced back up toward the cabin to see if the surroundings were clear before continuing. "Enzo didn't go to Cape Horn."

"What? You know where he is?" Evelyn's eyes widened, confusion spread across her face. "Why haven't you told Damon? You know that he's trying to find him."

The Salvatore looked down at the floor with a guilty look on his face. " No, I know he is. I just— I didn't want to tell him the truth. I can't."

"Which is?" The brunette fearfully raised an eyebrow.

"Enzo didn't go to Cape Horn, because he's dead. After he snapped your neck, I found him. We fought, and I—I ripped his heart out. "

"Oh, my God." Evelyn breathed out heavily. She almost wished that she hadn't pressed Stefan for an explanation, because the truth was worse than she had anticipated.

She turned to walk away when Stefan grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back, "Evelyn, you can't tell him."

The brunette vampire sighed exasperatedly as she turned back around to face Stefan. "No, Stefan, I'm not going to tell him." She listened to the sigh of relief that left his lips. "You are. But, if he explicitly asks me, I'm not going to lie to him. I can't."

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The supernatural had decided to spend the evening playing a game of charades that Caroline had tirelessly put together to remove the feeling of dread within the group. First up was Elena, who began to tap her head while Stefan furrowed his brows, cluelessly. "Uh, okay. Think. Ponder. Brain. I don't know." She crossed her hands over her chest to make an X, closed her eyes, and stuck her tongue out. "Uh, skull!"

"Yes!" The doppelganger excitedly cheered while Evelyn rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink.

"Okay. Limb. Joint." Stefan tirelessly began to yell out suggestions while Elena tapped her knee. "Bones. Bone. Skull and bones. Skull and bones! Got it."

"Okay. It's official— charades is boring." The Austin vampire declared with a hum as she glanced over to Caroline, who looked disheartened. "Sorry, Care. But, it's true."

"Okay. Let's play a game called Never Have I Ever, hm?" The eldest Salvatore suggestively wriggled his eyebrows while he wrapped his arm around his fiancé.

"I don't think I'm drunk enough for that," Elena muttered.

The Forbes girl followed on from Damon's lead and rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. It'll be fun! I'll go first. Never have I ever died!"

"Hilarious." Evelyn chuckled under her breath while they all took a sip.

"Pfft. Cheers to that one." Damon hummed as his eyes turned to his little brother.

"Oh. Okay, um, never have I ever been possessed by my evil doppelganger." Stefan smirked at Elena, knowing she would be the only person to drink upon that occasion.

"Mean." The Gilbert girl rolled her eyes, then she took a sip of her drink. "Never have I ever been fooled by my evil doppelganger while she was pretending to be me."

Evelyn's eyes flickered around at everyone who had taken a drink, then she hummed. "Okay, ladies. Never have I ever kissed a Salvatore brother." The Austin vampire smirked to herself and took a sip of her drink while Caroline and Elena both did the same.

"Never have I ever lied about where Enzo is." Damon immediately called out whilst Evelyn's eyes flickered to Stefan and Elena, who had suddenly tensed up at the mention of Enzo. She just prayed that Damon wouldn't ask her where he was.

"Okay. What is going on?" Caroline exasperatedly yelled out once she saw the silent exchanges between Stefan and Elena.

"Nothing, obviously. Because nobody's drinking."

"I mean, clearly you know the rules of the game, right, brother?" Damon viciously narrowed his eyes toward his brother. "If you lied, you drink."

"Oh, no. I understand the rules." Stefan innocently shrugged.

"Right, okay, as fun as this has been, I'm gonna grab a bath." Evelyn yanked herself up from Damon's embrace, set her empty glass on the table, and headed into the bathroom. She exhaled the moment she closed the bathroom door behind herself. Being around Damon just made her feel sick with guilt, especially when she knew exactly what had really happened to Enzo.

The brunette headed over to the bath, turned the tap on, and poured in some bubble bath as she watched the water rise. Once she had taken off her clothes, she got into the bath and laid with her head against the wall.

Evelyn tiredly let her eyes flutter shut as she enjoyed the stillness of the bath. But, within a few seconds of relaxation, she felt a hand around her throat and before she knew it, she was being held underneath the water.

She thrashed against the strength of whatever was holding her underneath and managed to lift her head above the water for a few seconds. "Damon!" She yelled and then felt herself being pushed right under again.

"Evelyn!" The Salvatore vampire yelled. He burst into the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and helped her up while he wrapped it around her body carefully. As he saw the panicked look in her eyes, fear fell across his face. "What happened?" He asked her with deep concern lacing his words while his thumb caressed her cheek.

"Someone was in here. I swear to God, it felt like something or someone was holding me underneath the water." Evelyn breathlessly told him as his eyes widened.

"Okay. I'd blame it on the spirit of Bill Forbes, but I don't think you're his type. Besides, why would a ghost be targeting you?" The Salvatore tried to make sense of the situation, then saw the guilty look on her face. "What is it? Evelyn, tell me what's going on."

"It's Enzo,"

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If Enzo truly wanted Evelyn dead, drowning her wouldn't have worked. So, the group had managed to work out that Enzo was creating a distraction while he kidnapped Luke, which would result in the cloaking spell falling apart and the Travelers would soon be able to locate them. Once they learned of that, they knew they were no longer safe at the Forbes' cabin and began to pack up their things to hit the road.

"Damon?" The Austin vampire anxiously called out her fiancé's name as she stepped over to the trunk of his car while he tossed another bag inside it. "We should talk."

"No, we should." He glanced over his shoulder. "I'm fine. Just go and pack, Evelyn. We need to get out of here before the Travelers show up."

"No. Just stop a minute." Evelyn continued to fight for the conversation, even if he didn't want it. "You're obviously mad, and I get that, okay? I do, and believe me I am so sorry. I wanted to tell you, I just—"

"—You thought I would spiral." Damon ended her sentence for her with defeat in his voice. "You didn't tell me because like the pair of them, you thought I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"No, that's not it. I didn't tell you because I knew it would hurt you, and I don't like hurting you. I absolutely hate it!" She waved her arms in the air. "I would never hurt you, and I was so afraid that telling you would do that. I told Stefan that I wasn't going to lie for him, and I wasn't going to lie to you. I just—"

Damon knew she was telling the truth. After all the years he had known the girl, he could tell when she was lying, and when she was telling the absolute truth. He sighed in utter frustration before he grabbed her face and planted his lips passionately against hers. The kiss was short and brief but still contained an immense amount of love.

"This means you forgive me?" She smirked out, her lips only slightly parted from his.

"Oh, believe me. I'm still pissed. Pissed as hell. But, I understand completely." The Salvatore shrugged back. "I love you."

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