CHAPTER 1

'Damon...Damon…please…'
'I can't…I can't…it's too late now…leave me alone…I wanna die…'

Stefan couldn't stop the fresh tears that were coming out of his eyes and sliding down his cheeks. The sight of Damon breaking in front of him alone broke his heart to pieces. However, none could compare to what he was feeling now when he heard Damon say he wanted to die, sounding all broken and hopeless. It just killed him.

'No…I wouldn't let you…you have to try! – please, Damon, look at me…I don't want you to leave me…' Stefan was fighting very hard to keep himself in control. He couldn't break down now, not when his brother was still contemplating suicide.

Damon had refused to drink blood of the woman who Stefan had kidnapped earlier and used his power to compel her into giving in. He was reluctant to complete the transformation. Katherine, the woman he loved, had died, leaving him all alone.

His father was the one who had found out that she was a vampire and captured her when she was in his little brother's room. She had been weakened by the vervain in Stefan's blood; no doubt his father had laced Stefan's drinks with the substance while he was unaware. Was he?

Damon couldn't be sure if Stefan was in on the plan but all the same; his brother had betrayed him. Not only had Stefan been the one to tell on Katherine to his father, she had also chosen the brat over him in their sick love triangle.

What actually made Damon very angry was the fact that Stefan didn't shy away from the relationship. He made no effort to stay away from her and with no respect whatsoever to his older brother, Stefan went on to vie for her love even though his brother clearly knew that Katherine was his. Feeling betrayed, he had started to form a grudge against Stefan – the little brother whom he used to love with his whole heart.

It wasn't love that filled his heart at the moment; it was agony, envy and pure hate. He began to think about revenge against his brother. Suddenly he was filled with a strange determination. He had wanted to die in the first place because he was awash with great sorrow at Katherine's death but now, finally looking at his brother after hearing his pleas and cries, Damon made up his mind.

'I'll…I'll do it…'

Relieved by his brother's willingness to do what he asked, Stefan smiled a little to show his gratitude. Damon stared at him all the time while biting and sucking blood at the victim's exposed neck. It wasn't long before he gave in to the animal within and Damon turned wild. His fangs bared and mind gone crazy, he ravaged at his victim – or food, as Damon now realized, mercilessly.

Only after a while did he let go of the woman, now dead and drained of blood. He tossed the corpse easily aside, feeling much stronger and better than before.

Stefan made a move to hug him and kept telling him he was sorry but suddenly, one of his brother's hands flew up and gripped his neck tight. 'Damon…what are…you doing?' Stefan attempted to speak while frantically clutching at his brother's hand to release his iron-hold grip. 'Please.' His green eyes, scared and confused, caught Damon's light blue ones which were filled with anger and hatred.

'Shut up. Listen to me –'

'Please, Damon…' Stefan whispered imploringly at his older brother.

'Shut up!' Shocked and scared out of his mind, the younger boy became quiet and grew still though his eyes continued to search his brother's frantically for some sort of comprehension.

'I hope you listen to me now, little brother. You've taken away everything from me. You stole my love –'

'Damon, I –' Stefan began before his brother suddenly shouted 'Silence!' and Stefan immediately fell quiet.

'You've wronged me, you've wronged me so much, Stefan. You betrayed me. You stole the love of my life and you killed her. For all the years I have been standing up for you, protecting you, caring for you little brother, you just have to go and mess it up!'

Tears were flowing freely down his cheeks now and Stefan yearned to tell him 'I'm sorry'. Damon, however, wouldn't let him speak.

'Now you've made me turn into this, so I could be a monster and so…we could have each other for all eternity…well…let me make it clear to you, Stefan –' Damon's eyes turned hard.

'I would make you suffer as long as you're…in this state, just as you made my human life miserable. I would make you regret for turning me. I would give you an eternity of misery.'

Damon threw Stefan to the side and flew off into the night.

As emotional pain struck him, Stefan curled into himself and cried uncontrollably for several hours. His heart was ripped into pieces as he slowly realized he had lost his brother forever.