Quick update: Caroline and Tyler are anchored at sea, on a boat with no engine and no wind to get them home. Caroline has used the opportunity to get Tyler to talk to her, and they have both admitted feelings they hadn't voiced before. However, he is bleeding and she is afraid that if she turns, things could get ugly. On the shoreline, Stefan, Elena and Bonnie are left helpless to act.
Final chapter folks – hope you think it's a good'un!
Dog Day Afternoon
Chapter 4: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
"So kids, why exactly are we looking out to sea….?" All three of them jumped as Damon spoke.
"What are you doing here?" Elena said, thinking this day was going from bad to worse.
"Ah, I may have listened in just a little bit to your oh-so-brilliant plan. And kids, lets be honest, you just don't have any fun unless I'm around." He smirked, raising his expensive sunglasses so he could wink at Bonnie, who sneered in return. "So, where are they, dog boy and vampire girl?"
"Where do you think?" said Stefan, with a raise of his eyebrows. Damon cottoned on.
"Well why haven't you gone after them? You aren't seriously going to leave her with him alone are you? He's dangerous." A note of genuine worry had entered his voice. He may profess not to have had any residual feelings for Caroline, but in reality, he was quite protective of her now she had turned vamp and was, as he a put it, 'a lot more interesting'.
"If you didn't have a boat," he said, "you should have taken one!"
He strode away towards the moorings and choose a motorboat with a couple of berths. He unhooked the boat's painter and jumped on board. Breaking open the engine housing, he fiddled with the electrics until the engine started.
Stefan felt shame run right through him. He should have thought to do this himself. Elena and Bonnie were running up the boardwalk beside him, just as Damon pulled away.
"We should follow." Stefan said, looking around for a boat that he too could steal. He found a day-cruiser, with a small wind breaker that was just big enough for the three of them.
"Get in," he said.
His eyes didn't leave the club house as the girls clambered aboard. Someone was running towards them realizing boats were being stolen; they began to shout and raise the alarm.
"Hurry," he hissed, dragging Bonnie on board, "we don't have much time."
Stefan didn't possess his brother's skill for grand larceny, but he didn't need it as luckily the owner had carelessly left the keys in the boat. He switched the electrics on so they would have lights, then grabbed the pull-start on the outboard motor, giving it a couple of firm tugs. By now, a team of staff and appalled bystanders were running towards the harbor. A security guard pulled his gun from its holster. He looked like he meant business.
"Get down!" Stefan shouted and the girls ducked as best they could as two shots rang out over their heads. Luckily they were fairly wide of their target, but Stefan took it that he shouldn't hang around and grabbed the tiller, making a desperate attempt to negotiate his way out of the harbor. He clipped a couple of boats as they headed for open sea.
"How will we know which way to go?" shouted a desperate Elena over the noise of the chugging motor. She finally got up from her position from the filthy floor as they were now out of range.
"If we get away from the shore, I may be able to hear them." Stefan said. Hoping, rather than knowing, that this would be the case. "In any case," he added, "when have you ever known Damon to be hard to find?"
"That's what I was worried you'd say." Bonnie added.
Elena chewed her lip as she looked back to shore where a search party was being organized, not for her friend, but for them – the boat thieves.
Damon used a bit of boat knowledge, his keen eyesight and even keener hearing to find the couple. He had estimated how much ground they would have covered and had headed in a logical direction towards a nearby island which was probably considered the right distance away for a day's pleasure cruise.
He was no stranger to boats, having spent rather a lot of money and time on one back in the eighties. When he hadn't been snorting coke out of some hookers' cleavage, he had been cruising around in circles drinking the proceeds of his stock market windfalls. Frankly, he could barely remember a single thing about the year 1984. In any case, the one thing it had taught him was that people like him could get away with anything if they had enough money. And for some reason, he really hated that.
He spotted the boat from about three miles away. They appeared not to be drifting, (so at least that idiot Tyler knew enough to stop that from happening). He cursed and dropped the engine's speed to a few knots. He wanted to hear what was going on, before he made his entrance.
He strained his hearing to pick up even the slightest sounds, but found it was surprisingly quiet. No, he definitely could detect something. It sounded like… like…
Oh hell. He was too late.
It was cramped in the cabin, but they had found surprisingly athletic ways to make use of the small space. It hadn't been like before, this time, it was fun, playful even. When Caroline had hooked her toe accidentally onto a little galley kitchen rack, she had brought the whole thing clattering down around them and he had actually thrown his head back and laughed; a long and hearty sound, that made her feel happy too.
Afterwards, he had sat her on his lap and held her close. She snuggled into his warm body and tried not to mind the fact that this wasn't really helping them get home.
"Do you think someone will find us soon?" she asked hopefully, "I think my mom will get worried if I don't contact her." He had nuzzled her neck and she soon forgotten her question.
He still couldn't quite control his emotional surges, but he did however notice that she made him feel calmer. He actually felt a strong need to protect her, which is maybe why he had stayed away from her for the previous three days. When anyone came near her, he had felt his metaphorical heckles rise.
Now he was using the backs of his fingers to stroke the soft blonde hairs that stood up on her arm.
"You're cold." He said and grabbed a blanket to wrap her in. She snuggled further into his chest, drawing her arms further around him. He could smell the Bergamot in the shampoo she used and breathed in the scent deeply. He told her how all his senses seemed heightened now. She leaned back, took his injured hand and looked at it and told him it was the same for her. She said that the blood she drank made everything seem more real, more alive. She said it took time to learn control, but it could be done. She lowered his hand and returned to her previous position neatly proving her point.
He told her he was truly sorry that he had got them into this predicament. He was even more sorry that he had been acting crazy lately. He said that now he was with her, he felt the madness was beginning to subside.
At that, she pulled him down to kiss her and he felt his body begin to pulsate with the need for her again. She clearly felt it too and repositioned herself to straddle him, taking his face in her hands. He took the corners of the blanket she was wrapped in and supported her body, feeling himself growing hard as she let her hands wander.
At that moment, he heard the door of the galley being kicked open. He scrabbled to his feet, and Caroline was unceremoniously dropped.
Tyler strode fully naked into the galley, where the Vampire, Damon Salvatore, greeted him with ready and glinting fangs.
"Vampire!" he growled - a deep throaty sound that he didn't even know he could make until now. Damon took a small step back as in front of him was a fully naked man, with deep yellow and very angry eyes, and livid in every sense of the word.
"Leave her alone, dog." Damon said, with not quite as much bravado as he had hoped.
Caroline, who had scrabbled to find at least some of her clothes, had now also ducked into the galley close behind the naked Tyler. She threw a blanket around his neither regions which he took from her, without his eyes ever leaving the Salvatore brother in front of him.
"Damon? What the hell are you doing here?" she said, "Why have you kicked the door in?"
His eyes briefly glanced her way and realized his mistake. What he thought was the sound of struggle, was something quite different.
"I thought you were in trouble!" he said, then finally put two and two together. "Oh my God, I need to wash out my eyes! Euw..."
Caroline chucked a shoe at him, but missed. His body relaxed and his vamp teeth retracted.
Tyler did not stand down. If anything, his stance became more animal like; he readied himself to pounce, curving his body towards the vampire. If Caroline and Damon hadn't been so busy finding out why each other was there, they would have noticed how dangerous the situation had become. When Tyler launched, it took them both by surprise.
Damon was knocked off his feet with the sheer ferocity of the move. He was only saved from being killed by the lack of space in the galley, which had meant Tyler could not sink his teeth into him. He may have remained 99% percent human to look at, but the 1% beast was seriously menacing and had utterly taken control.
Damon quickly recovered and was immediately his vamp self again, evening the score. He used his incredible speed as momentum to knock Tyler away from the doorway he was blocking. He made a dash for the bow of the boat, with Tyler leaping up ably behind him.
Caroline didn't remember when she started screaming, but suddenly she was. Damon and Tyler hit the deck together and tried to tear chunks out of each other. They made horrible sounds, like wild animals fighting. Damon smacked Tyler's hand down on the edge of an oar, forcing his wound open. Caroline found her vampire teeth protracting from her gums before she could control it. She hissed at them both to stop.
In the distance, another boat appeared. If she didn't step in fast, they'd have killed each other or they would all be discovered. Although she was scared of the flailing arms and legs moving at incredible speed, she had to take a risk and jump in, trying to separate them before the boat reached them. At that precise moment, Tyler had reached up and grabbed the boom. With serious force he aimed it at Damon's head. Damon ducked and Caroline caught the full weight of it on her temple. She went down hard.
Something about Caroline's predicament seemed to wake up the Tyler in the animal. He gave an almighty shove to Damon and sent him spinning backwards. Damon took the opportunity to jump across to his own launch, tethered alongside the Eloise. Tyler flew to Caroline's side. He held her body in his arms, his eyes returning to normal as the fear for her wellbeing took over from the rage.
"Caroline! Caroline!" he shook her gently, but she didn't respond.
In a flash, his rage returned. He lay Caroline's body down gently on his boat then took a massive leap across to Damon's, which he was rapidly trying to re-start. The boys got into it again, fighting across both boats.
Their battle was interrupted by the sound of chugging. Damon, who at that moment was being choked by one of Tyler's ropes, strained his eyes to the horizon to see who was coming. Suddenly, as he was slipping away from consciousness, Tyler went limp and sat straight down. The rope loosened around Damon's neck. He didn't understand what had happened, but he was grateful it had. He fell onto his knees and forced himself to recover.
Stefan pulled their little boat up beside the others. It was choking with black fumes from where he had been hard on the throttle. Bonnie was sat cross-legged on the deck, seemingly in a trance, her palms facing upwards to the sky. Elena scrambled quickly up the rope ladder hanging from the Eloise and ran immediately to Caroline's side.
"Come on, Damon, we have to get on board the Eloise."
"What, why do we?" he said, his head fuzzy with adrenaline.
Stefan pointed to the horizon, where two police boats were bearing down on them, followed by at least three of the Club's own launches, packed with angry club members.
"Oh crap." Damon said.
"Exactly." Stefan agreed. He lifted Bonnie, still in her pose, up to Damon, who had made his way on to the only non-stolen boat and readied himself to carry her on board. Stefan scrambled up behind her. The sounds of police sirens drifted across the water.
"That's an awful lot of people to compel." Damon said. "It would be quicker to kill them you know."
"I'll take the left side, you take the right." Stefan said. Damon looked at him.
"You're kidding, right?"
"What do you think?" Stefan said, just as the police loud hailer told them to lie down on deck with hands palm down.
"Ah, you're no fun anymore." Damon complained.
After some considerable persuasion (the whining kind, as opposed to the compelling kind), Caroline had asked her mom to get her friends off the hook. Although Sheriff Lockwood wasn't happy about it, she called in some favors and got all charges dropped on the basis that their actions were only because they thought her daughter was adrift at sea and needed help, (she was fuzzy on the details herself).
For the damage his wild escape from the harbor had caused, Stefan agreed to put in twenty hours of community service at the Club. He didn't mind, preferring to take it as an opportunity to listen to the older club members reminisce about the old times whilst cleaning their pool.
Caroline surprised everybody by how quickly she had recovered (well, almost everybody) and she told her mom she would feel better recuperating at Tyler's house. When she arrived, he folded her into his arms and asked her to stay until things improved for him. She agreed and they went about finding a way out of his 'hormonally challenging' time together. She had a lot to think about, not least of which was how to break the news to Matt.
Back at the Salvatore mansion, Elena curled herself into Stefan's arms.
"Phew, you smell of pool cleaner!" She complained, wriggling away from him. This only made him chase her around the bed a little bit more than normal. Her pleasurable little shrieks reverberated about the almost empty rooms.
Damon covered his ears with as many pillows as he could find. When he could stand it no longer, he got up and went out. He decided he would eavesdrop on Bonnie's house again, as that always seemed to prove interesting. Like that Chinese curse, he thought, 'may you live in interesting times'.
Life was nothing at all when it was boring…. And he did so very much hate to be bored.
Hope you enjoyed that. Let me know what you thought.