BAD BLOOD

Disclaimer: The characters of the vampire diaries do not belong to me. they belong to L.J Smith and the CW

Damon poured himself and Ric a drink. They were poring over maps and newspaper clippings that showed sightings of Stefan and Klaus.

"Why don't you tell Elena about this? You do know she's going to freak out if she finds out" Alaric said

"I'm just trying to protect her Ric, just in case these are false leads. I don't want to get her hopes up" Damon said from behind the shelf

"When she finds out though, it's your funeral"

The buzzing of the phone in Damon's pocket prevented whatever snide remark he was going to throw back at Ric to die on his lips. "This is not a good time" was the first thing he said into the phone. Alaric rolled his eyes. Typical Damon greeting. He went back to looking over the maps.

"Stefan?" This caused Alaric to look up. Stefan was calling? Why was Stefan calling? "Whoa…..whoa Stef, slow down. Why are you crying? What happened?"

Stefan was crying? What the hell was going on? Ric mused. Did Klaus do something to him? He could only hear Damon's half of the conversation. What he wouldn't give for vampire hearing now!

"It hurts? What hurts? Did Klaus hurt you? Just try and calm yourself, okay? Breathe. Just breathe. Good. Tell me where you are so I'll come pick you up" Damon soothed. He nodded to Alaric who grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down the address. "Got it. I'm on my way. Everything's going to be okay" Damon ended the call.

"What was that about?" Alaric asked

"I didn't get the whole story. He was crying too hard and mixing up Italian and English. But I got that he was hurt and he wanted to come home" Damon answered, finally finding the keys he was looking for and walking towards the door. "You coming, Ric?" he threw over his shoulder.

"Italian? You understand Italian?"

Damon looked at him incredulously

"Oh, right. You're originally Italian. I forgot. But isn't it weird? I mean if he was hurt he should be healing. And with the amount of blood he's being draining that shouldn't be a problem. Something strange is happening"

"Really? I hadn't noticed" Damon quipped sarcastically

Alaric rolled his eyes. There it was. Sarcasm, to hide the worry he felt. They drove in silence. Alaric didn't think Damon would appreciate any conversation right now. He could see that he was worried. Worried for his little brother. Klaus had better not had anything to do with what was happening to Stefan or original hybrid or not, Damon would find a way to kill him.

They arrived at the address. It was a house. A single building surrounded by the woods. It was a distance from town. They heard a scream from inside and run into the house. It sounded like someone in pain. There was a lot of blood inside the house, splattered on the wall and on the carpet. Yep, definitely a place Stefan had visited. Never mind his lingering scent. The sound of pain came again.

"Stefan? Are you here?" Damon called. The house was big and he didn't want to go searching room to room.

"Damon?"

It was barely audible but Damon heard it. He sprung up the stairs and threw open the door of the first room. The sight that met his eyes wasn't pretty at all. Stefan was curled up on the floor, hands tightly holding his stomach. He was throwing up blood though that was not what worried Damon. He threw up blood all the time, when he drank too much. It was the fact that when he pried Stefan's arm away from his stomach, there was no visible wound. If Stefan was not injured, why was he in pain? This didn't make sense.

"I-It hu-hurts. Please make it stop. Make it stop" Stefan whimpered, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"What hurts, Stefan? Tell me. And I'll make it stop. Was it Klaus? Did he hurt you? Did he bite you?" Damon asked anxiously

Stefan shook his head. "No. It h-hurts him too. Please." He looked up at Damon with eyes full of pain and tears. "Make it stop"

This was getting stranger. Klaus was hurt too? He couldn't deliberate for long though. He had a little brother to take care of. He put his hands under Stefan's knee and on his shoulder and scooped him up. The weight didn't bother him. He was a vampire after all. Besides for all his height, Stefan was light. He could run a marathon while carrying him. Stefan buried his face in Damon's neck while holding on to him tightly. They made their way down the stairs to meet Alaric, who had been looking around.

"I found something interesting. Look" he turned over a body. Damon stared at the blonde locks and the youthful face, so innocent in sleep. One would never guess how much havoc this one could wreck.

"Klaus"

I know I probably shouldn't be starting another story but I couldn't get the idea out of my head so here we are. Please review.