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"Take my mind and take my pain, like an empty bottle takes the rain."

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I open my eyes and smile as I head towards the girl, not hesitating as I dig my fangs into her neck, not thinking as I suck every drop of blood from her body.

The feeling the blood gives me makes me feel as if I'm as high as the clouds, more powerful than ever before.

I drop her lifeless body to the ground, licking my lips of any blood before I turn to the group. The sound of her heart thumps lightly, the sound becoming weaker as it eventually stops. She's dead and I killed her. The best part is, I want to do it all again. I would do it all again.

The taste of blood lingers in my mouth and I find myself wanting more.

"Blair?" James calls out.

I glance up at the people around me, my eyes landing on the man with familiar hazel-blue eyes; eyes that use to bring butterflies to my stomach and stop my heart.

His eyes are full of sorrow and pain, but all I see is weakness. Of what a weakness it is to feel, and what strength I have gained by simply not caring.

James shakes his head angrily as he walks towards me but Joel steps in his way.

"She's turned it off mate," Joel says.

James looks at Joel in disgust, shoving his arm away.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" James asks.

I snort, unable to keep in my laughter. "That, my friend is your long lost brother," I say, crossing my arms.

"What?" James asks.

"Oh right, I completely forgot. I no longer need you to stay away from your brother anymore Joel, I have Blair now," Klaus says, clearly finding just as much amusement in this as I am. He speeds over to James, his hands placed firmly on his shoulders.

"I want you to remember everything about your brother," Klaus compels James.

James stumbles backwards, his eyes wide as images and memories flash through his mind.

The memories that I once strived for no longer serve a purpose in my life. I don't need the memories, nor do I want them. All I want now is a warm blooded body to fulfill my hunger, and I know Klaus can give that to me. I am powerful, and Klaus respects power just like Joel says.

"Now that's settled, lets go now shall we?" Klaus instructs Stefan and I.

I smile and nod, a hop in my step as I make my way towards the exit of the gym, while Klaus carries an unconscious Elena to take her to the hospital, in need of her blood.

∆ ∆ ∆

JAMES POV

The last thing I expected to come from last night was to hear I had a brother.

After the cloud of confusion and denial passed, everything finally made sense as the memories Klaus took from me were finally returned. Although it was quite weird and awkward to say the least, to walk down stairs seeing my younger brother, it was almost as if he had never left.

After last night's events and watching as Blair passed me with a cold shoulder while walking so happily with Klaus, Joel explained everything to me about how Blair and him met, to what he had done over the years.

To say the least, we were pretty caught up in details of each other's lives, seeing as he had been keeping tabs on me over the years. Unfortunately, that left us with not much to talk about.

"Good morning," I say, heading to the kitchen.

"Good morning," Joel replies.

I stand across from him, awkward silence filling the air. The awkwardness in the air is so thick, I feel as if I'm chocking on it. I clear my throat and bite my lip, not knowing what to say.

Just when I've begun to suffocate on the awkwardness, Damon walks in the door.

Damon arrived home last night and picked up Elena from the hospital after scolding me about not looking for her sooner. I didn't bother arguing seeing I had enough on my mind, and frankly Elena is not my main concern. She never really has been.

"Good morning Branson's," Damon greets, as he sits on the stool beside Joel.

"What have you two been talking about?" Damon asks, an amused smirk on his face.

"Why is it that you are finding amusement in this?" I ask.

He shrugs, as a serious expression replaces his smirk. "Any word from Stefan or Blair?" he asks.

Just as I'm about to reply, the front door opens, followed by a series of bangs and commotion. All four of us jump out of our seats and walk towards the door, soon coming to a halt when we see who it is.

Stefan and Blair come barging through the doors, dragging their luggage bags behind them carelessly, bickering like children of what type of blood they claim from the freezer of blood in the basement.

From where I'm standing, I'm able to smell a mix of blood and alcohol radiating off their emotionless bodies. 

I can see the annoyance on Damon's face, as the rest of us clench our jaws shut before we say anything we'll regret.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asks bitterly, breaking them out of their argument.

"Well, last time I checked, we still live here," Blair snickers.

"And, we are here to protect Elena," Stefan adds.

She glances at me with a cheeky grin before her and Stefan drag their bags up the stairs. As they disappear upstairs, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. The sight of Blair without emotions physically hurts me, and I don't know what to say.

Deep down I always knew Blair was going to come back from Klaus like this. One way or another she was going to turn it all off, I just didn't expect my own brother would encourage it.

Just as I start to believe things couldn't get more hectic, a familiar blonde walks through the door.

"What the bloody hell do you three know about Mikeal?" Rebekah asks.

"Good morning to you too Barbie," Damon greets.

"I'm serious! My brother left me after you brought up our father!" Rebekah yells.

"And I thought I had daddy problems," Blair says, walking down the stairs, dressed in a black laced tank top and short shorts, far from the style Blair would normally wear.

"All I said is that Katherine knows where he is, and she plans to wake him," Damon says, ignoring Blair.

"You bloody bastard! Now I have no where to go!" Rebekah complains.

"Why don't you stay here with us!" Blair suggests, earning groans and whines from the rest of us.

"Woah, woah, Blair, hold up," Damon protests.

"Yeah, let's think this through," I add.

"I did. And it's done," Blair says, walking towards the door.

"Where are you going Blair?" Joel asks.

"We're going to school," Stefan answers, following behind her.

As soon as they exit, Rebekah turns to us, a huge smirk on her face. "You know James, I like Blair a lot more without her humanity. She's got more spunk," she says.

"Yeah, well that's all thanks to your brother," I growl.

"Lucky for you, I'm not too found of him at the moment. Chow," she says, walking out the door after leaving her bags on the floor.

After Rebekah leaves, I turn to Damon, glaring at him.

"Where the hell is Elijah?" I ask him. "You were suppose to be with him, figuring out the coffins, and then I hear you've been talking to Katherine? About Mikael?"

"Elijah, doesn't want to leave those coffins sides, and Katherine can help us defeat Klaus!" Damon defends.

"Well then, guess what we're doing today?" I ask him.

"Going to see Elijah." Damon mutters under his breath.

"What about me?" Joel asks.

"You're coming too," I reply.

∆ ∆ ∆

Out of all the places in Mystic Falls, Elijah had proposed that we hide the coffins in the abandoned Gilbert Mansion, as he insured the witches were willing to help hide the coffins, due to their immense hatred for Klaus.

In all honestly, the place still gives me the chills, so I want to spend as little time in here as possible.

"Elijah?" I call out.

We walk down the creaky and rotted stairs until we reach the room where the two coffins are. We haven't the slightest idea where the other coffins are, so for now we have leverage with only two. The coffins are protected with some sort of spell, preventing us from opening them. Therefore, we don't even know who's in the coffins.

"I'm here," Elijah answers, stepping out from the shadows.

"We need to talk," I say, walking in with Joel and Damon behind me. At the sight of my younger brother, Elijah's eyes widen and his expression turns shocked.

"Joel Branson? How long has it been?" Elijah asks.

"Oh, I don't know. Probably since Klaus compelled James to forget about me," Joel replies.

Elijah grins. "Well, it's good to see a familiar face," he says.

"Wait a moment, you knew I had a brother Elijah?" I ask, feeling a little betrayed.

Elijah purses his lips, trying to remember. Either he assumed Joel had died, or he refused to inform me earlier about my brother's existence. Whatever the case may be, I know now is not the time to pick fights about the past.

"Sorry to interrupt this reunion, but at the moment we aren't particularly winning this game of revenge," Damon interrupts.

"Yeah, about that. I might have, kinda, unintentionally told Blair to turn her switch off," Joel says with a wince.

"You did what now?" Elijah asks, the tension in the room growing as fast as a wildfire burns through a drought.

"It wasn't his fault. Klaus compelled Blair to kill someone, so to make it easier Joel suggested she turn it off," Damon defends.

Elijah turns to me, looking for clarification. "It's true," I say.

"What do you propose we do?" Elijah asks.

"We came here for you actually, not the coffins, nor did we come to discuss Klaus or Mikael," Joel says.

I glare at Joel who only shrugs. "What he's trying to say is that we hope that when Blair sees you alive, it might spark something," I clarify.

"Oh." Is all Elijah says after the load of problems we just dumped on him. However, he seems more concerned about Blair than his own father. "Lock Blair up, and call me when it's done. Then I'll let her see me," Elijah instructs.

∆ ∆ ∆

Back at the house we wait for Blair and Stefan to get home which should have been hours ago seeing as it's already dark, and school is long over.

"For the love of baby Jesus where the hell are the twins?" Damon sighs, sipping his bourbon.

"I shouldn't have let her go to school. I should've kept an eye on her," I mutter to myself.

"Let's not go blaming ourselves here. They'll walk in any moment," Joel assures us before walking to the kitchen for a glass of bourbon.

Sighing, I lean back on the chair by the living room, about to close my eyes when suddenly the front door opens.

Damon and I jump up and speed to the front door where we come face to face with not Blair, not Stefan, but my sister.

Standing in front of me in none other than Lexi Branson.

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[completed & edited: 08/15/2021]