CHAPTER TWO | TRUE LIES

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DAMON HAD A THEORY THAT SILAS HAD DUMPED STEFAN IN THE QUARRY. It was probable, considering when Silas' body was supposed to be rooting at the bottom of the quarry but instead, Stefan was missing— And, Silas just happened to be his shadow-self. So, Damon and Evelyn headed to the quarry to meet with Sheriff Forbes after Damon had asked her to help him locate Stefan. They stood right at the edge and looked down into the water, while Liz appeared behind them and sighed.

"Damon, I know I said I'd help you find your brother, but I can't dredge this entire quarry." Liz anxious told Damon, who rolled his eyes. "It's enormous."

"I'm aware of that. I mean, clearly, that's why we wanted to dump Silas' body here— because it's big and deep and no one would find him." The Salvatore shrugged as he watched Evelyn step closer to the edge. "Now, say I'm Silas and I wanna take over my doppelganger's life. Why wouldn't I dump him in a place that's big and deep, where no one would find him?"

Evelyn turned around from the edge and stepped back over to them. "You have to admit, Liz, it does make sense. I mean, it's what I'd do."

The Sheriff of Mystic Falls sighed heavily. "I already agreed to hold off on telling anyone about the Mayor's death until you figured this all out, but I can't devote those kinds of resources to finding one person, who may or may not be down there."

"But, it's a place to start. And, if Stefan's down there that means he's been drowning over and over all summer, while I've been happily playing house with Evelyn." Damon spoke as a look of guilt spread across his face. "Do I need to further elaborate the source of my urgency?"

"I'll get some deputies on it." Liz reluctantly sighed and headed off with her phone pressed to her ear.

"Oh, you're so persuasive." Evelyn playfully wriggled her eyebrows toward Damon and then draped her arms over his shoulders. As she did so, her phone started to vibrate. She pulled it out and pressed it to her ear. "Jer. Did you find Katherine?"

"I didn't—" The Gilbert boy trailed off as a heavy sigh left Damon's lips. "— But, Matt did. She was mid-cat-fight with some lady who maced her. We think Silas might have mind-controlled himself some new friends."

"How exactly did the Gilbert-Donovan brain trust put all that together?" Damon mused in an amused tone then rolled his eyes. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Just, hide her. If Silas wants her bad enough to sic the whole town on her, that means we want her more."

"Jeremy, you guys need to stay hidden. Silas knows you were the last person with Katherine, which means the towns probably looking for you, too." Evelyn told the young boy and then swiftly plunged her phone into her pocket.

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Evelyn knocked carefully on the door of Caroline and Elena's dorm at Whitmore College. The door swung open and as soon as Caroline saw Evelyn she squealed in amazement and pulled her into her embrace. "You came! Hi. Oh, my God. I've missed you!"

"Really? You could've fooled me. I've missed you, too, Care." Evelyn chuckled softly as she gently pulled away from the hug and stepped into the dorm room. "Wow. Nice room."

"I know, right!" Caroline smiled gleefully as she looked around the room, then she dropped onto her bed. "Ugh. Did you hear about the drama when we first moved in? We were dumped with this girl—"

"Megan, right?" Evelyn folded her arms across her chest as she glanced around Caroline's belongings. "Yeah. I saw the memorial for her just outside. How'd she die? Did Elena lose control of her blood lust?"

"Very funny." The Forbes vampire imitated a pretend chuckle. "A vampire killed her— and, we know for sure it wasn't any of us. So, there must be another vampire on Campus. What makes it even stranger, is the coroner ruled it a suicide after they found some freaky-fake suicide note."

A loud sigh of intrigue left Evelyn's lips as she dropped beside Caroline into the bed. "Wow. Careful, you've almost got me that interested in the drama that I'm thinking about enrolling to this damn college."

"Oh, my God! Do it."

"I was joking."

"Yeah, and I'm not." A stern look appeared across the blonde's face. "I mean, it would be fun, Eve!"

"I'm not sure that's how I would describe fun. I'm not really made for academics, Care." Evelyn chuckled softly as her phone vibrated. She pulled it out and furrowed her brows when she saw a text from Elena. "Oh. Elena wants me to meet her for coffee to talk. Whatever that means." The brunette lifted herself up from Caroline's bed. "I'll be back. Promise."

"You better be!" Evelyn heard Caroline call just after she headed out into the hallway of Whitmore College. But, as soon as she stepped into the hallway, she felt a hand grip around her waist.

"Wha—" The brunette vampire started and then turned around to see Damon's icy blue eyes locked with her. "Oh. Hey, you."

"Silas is here," Damon muttered with a hushed voice that immediately sent alarm bells through her ears. "I saw him outside, boasting about how he's already got to Elena and that you were next. You haven't been anywhere near him, have you?"

Evelyn's brow furrowed and she shook her head while Damon looked her over. "What? No. I was with Caroline. Elena texted and asked me to meet her, though. So—"

"So, we're going to meet her. Let's go." Damon's voice was stern as they wandered down the hall and saw a perky looking Elena Gilbert stood in a vacant classroom. "Elena?"

"Hey!" Elena waved sweetly, a smile on her face that caused Evelyn and Damon to look at each other with confusion. "What's with the faces?" The doppelganger chuckled softly.

"I—I—We thought something might've happened to you." Evelyn watched Damon slowly edge forwards, but as he did, Elena snapped his neck. "Okay. Elena, this isn't you. Silas got in your head. What did he tell you to do?"

"Make sure you're distracted, weaken you." Elena shrugged then she picked up a broom, snapped it in half, and aimed the broken end right up toward Evelyn's heart. "And then kill you."

"Well, that's not going to happen." Evelyn tilted her head and tossed a pair of scissors that were laid on the desk beside her. She tossed them right into Elena's shoulder, and the doppelganger's eyes widened as if the pain had snapped her back to reality.

"Evelyn? Oh, my God. I don't know what I'm even doing." Elena blinked a few times as she dropped the make-shift stake to the ground, then she glanced at Damon's body at her feet. "What the hell is going on?"

"I'm not sure. Silas got in your head. I think the pain snapped you out of it." Evelyn furrowed her brows at Elena, who had seemed to regain a sense of herself. A sigh of relief escaped the brunette's lips, but Elena sped forwards, picked up the stake, and plunged it into Evelyn's back. "Elena, stop!"

"You're lying." Elena gritted her teeth with a low chuckle as she twisted the stake. "I saw Stefan. That was Stefan. It was him, Evelyn, I know it was!"

The weakened brunette vampire dropped to the floor while Elena stepped over her. "No, Elena. I swear, it was Silas."

"So, if that was Silas then where's Stefan?" Elena immediately asked once the two made eye contact. "Where is he?!"

"Elena, I'll tell you everything when you calm down and fight whatever the hell Silas has done." Evelyn tried to yank the stake from her back, but she couldn't.

"You're right. Every time I look at you, all I wanna do is kill you"

"No, you don't. I like to think you and I are on better terms now. Elena, it's Silas' mind control. You have to resist it." Evelyn cried out.

"I can't!" Elena screamed out in complete anger before she grabbed another pair of scissors from the desk and stepped them into her thigh. She yelped out in pain for a moment, but the murder-y look disappeared. "Evelyn, tell me what's going on. Please."

"Silas wasn't in the quarry. Silas has never been in the quarry— he must've done something to Stefan, ambushed him. I don't know." Evelyn tried her best to explain the situation to Elena, as guilt fell across her face. "Look, all I know is that Silas isn't the one at the bottom of the quarry; Stefan is."

"Stefan—he's been suffering for months. While the rest of us have just been getting on with our perfect little lives. You and Damon have been rolling around with each other while he drowns! God, all I can think about is killing you."

Suddenly, Damon sped up from the ground and snapped Elena's neck in one fell swoop. "Sorry. That ain't happening." Damon smirked and then hurried over to Evelyn and yanked the stake from her back. "Hey. You're okay. It's okay."

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Damon and Evelyn were both stood outside on the porch of the Salvatore house, gazing up at the stars. Evelyn hummed and leaned her back into him as he effortlessly wrapped his arm around her body to pull her closer. "You know, we are going to get him back, don't you?" Damon spoke softly as he rested his chin against her head.

"I know. It's just— everything that Elena said kind of put it into perspective." Evelyn sighed out softly. "Stefan has been drowning for months while you and I were living the perfect life."

"Well. Here's a little bit of hope for you." Damon nodded slowly then pulled out a ring from his pocket. He waved it in front of her eyes, as the sparkle that he so longed to see had finally returned.

"Stefan's ring." A breath left Evelyn's lips. Her eyes widened when she turned around to face Damon with a look of intrigue on her lips. "How— how do you have it?"

"Snagged it from Silas yesterday." He chuckled softly. Evelyn's eyes were fixed on the daylight ring in his hand, but all his eyes were focused on was her. "So, is this the hope you're looking for?"

"Yes." Evelyn nodded as she took a breath. She wrapped her arms around his neck gently as a smile appeared across her face. "Much like you. And, I know that if anyone is gonna find him, it's you."

Their moment was swiftly interrupted by a call coming through on Damon's phone causing Evelyn to silently groan.

"Yeah?" Damon spat out as he pushed the phone to his ear.

"We found something."

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Evelyn and Damon hurried to the quarry at the request of Sheriff Forbes. As they walked over to her, they saw a large safe placed just a short distance from the water below them. "We didn't find anything in the quarry. But, a deputy found this a few miles away. Didn't open it." Liz stepped forward and started to open the safe. "Stefan's been in there for three months. Chances are he's hungry."

Liz stepped out of the way as Damon stepped forward. The Sheriff was right, Stefan was bound to be hungry and there was no telling what would happen if Liz was the person that opened it. So, Damon did it.

They were prepared for everything, except for what they saw. There was a body in the safe and it was drained of blood. "Oh. Oh, my God." Evelyn whispered softly as Liz placed her hand comfortingly on the girl's arm.

"You were right, he was hungry." Damon sighed as he glanced at the dead body before them. "I bet he still is."

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