Chapter 1: Hello brother
Stefan turned around, seeing Joseph standing in his room at the ledge. “Joseph.” Stefan said.
Joseph smiled. “Hello brother.”
“When did you get here?” Stefan said.
“I couldn’t miss your first day at school.” Joseph said.
“It’s been twenty years, Joseph.”
“Thank god. Couldn’t take another day of the nineties.” Joseph said, his voice a dry rustle that matched the dead leaves skittering across the balcony behind him.
“Why are you here?”
“I miss my little brother.”
“You hate small towns. It’s boring, there’s nothing for you to do.”
“I’ve managed to keep myself busy.”
Stefan’s eyes, usually so warm, hardened to chips of amber. “You kept that girl alive the other day. That’s very clumsy of you.”
A slow, predatory smile spread across Joseph’s face. He stepped from the shadows of the balcony into the weak light filtering through the dusty window. He looked exactly as he had in 1864, and yet completely different. The centuries had sanded down any softness, leaving only sharp angles and a gaze that cut. “That could be a problem for you.”
“Why are you here now?”
Joseph moved then, a blur of black that resolved itself leaning against the carved bedpost. “I could ask you the same thing. However, I think your answer could be summed up all into one little word. Elena.” He let the name hang in the air, thick as the dust motes dancing between them. “You know, she took my breath away. She’s a dead ringer for Katherine.”
Stefan didn’t flinch, but the air in the room grew colder. “She’s not Katherine.”
“Well, let’s hope not. We both know how that ended.” Joseph pushed off the bedpost and began a slow circuit of the room, his fingers trailing through the dust on a dresser. “Tell me, when’s the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?”
“I know what you’re doing. It’s not gonna work.”
Joseph looked at Stefan.