"Alright, hold on. Whatever you both are thinking." Henrik quickly started de-escalating the tension. "I didn't do it, I'm innocent. So, don't look like cats that had their tails stepped on."
"And you, Alaric. Try not to be so easy trigger, please." Henrik continued as he saw Alaric's slight movements. "Being a vampire and a Mikaelson doesn't necessarily mean evil and dangerous."
"I don't know what your problem is with my last name, but I'm not the one causing trouble." Henrik finally added.
Alaric and Damon looked at each other in doubt for a while as they considered his words. Before Damon gave Alaric a look to relax, as he wasn't sure they could take down Henrik if they acted and it was better to have him on their good side than the bad; maybe he could become useful at some point. Maybe cashing out to repay what he owed him so far?
"Fine, what kind of Mikaelson are you? Where did you come from?" Damon asked as he started the car engine again, revving it a little. They started moving along the road as if everything had returned to normal before they stopped. "What is Klaus to you? Your brother?"
"The good ones? What kind of question is that? One does what needs to be done; there is no good and bad in the process. You should know that by now, with all your long life, unless you're a fresh one." Henrik had a sarcastic smile on his lips. "I already told you, I suddenly appeared outside your house. The 'how' is complicated; let's just leave it at that."
"Niklaus's relationship with me is... complicated; let's leave it at that too." Henrik shrugged, not really telling them anything they wanted to know. "What's your problem with him anyway? Are you in a pinch? He isn't known to be amicable to those not to his liking."
"Yeah, you tell me. We already saw what kind of man Klaus is, and 'good' isn't an adjective someone would use to describe him." Alaric said from the back.
"Well, that's Klaus; he quickly makes clear what kind of character he is. But in his defense, he can also be charming—to women at least." Henrik had a wry smile.
"In any case, I just hope you don't come to add more trouble than we already have, Henrik." Alaric said as he relaxed a little with this unknown 'Mikaelson' around them, seeing that he wasn't so prone to being aggressive.
"I believe I'm not. Currently, I'm looking forward to partying tonight and a cozy bed." Henrik made himself comfortable in the seat as the two calmed down. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"Tennessee," Damon said as he focused on the road, but he was also thinking about a myriad of things in his head. "We need to check something."
"Alright, I don't know where that is, but cool," Henrik said as he enjoyed the landscape passing by while the two got quiet, immersed in their thoughts. "Just remember to stop by somewhere so I can have food; it was part of the deal that you accepted."
"I know, we will look for a place so you can eat," Damon said with a twitching eyebrow after being pulled out of his thoughts by Henrik's words.
"Nice," Henrik smiled.
Alaric raised an eyebrow at that, thinking that this Henrik must be a young vampire.
Time passed quickly. They stopped at a bar along the road so Henrik could have a fast snack, but the guy ate until he was stuffed, making Damon pay quite a hefty sum than he thought. After the little stop, they continued on their way, this time with Alaric driving and Henrik pushed into the back as Damon sat in the passenger seat.
They came to a stop outside a big, wood colonial-style house that had quite a large pasture and woods surrounding it—a very pretty place for a summer house. As the engine stopped and they exited the car, Damon's phone sounded.
"Elena?" Alaric inquired.
Damon just gave him a hand signal as affirmation, like saying she was bothering him about the lead.
"I don't know why you just don't come clean and tell her where we are," Alaric said as they walked into the house.
"'Cause Andie said this was a half-lead and I don't want to get her hopes up," Damon said, as if they were to actually believe what he was saying when his voice didn't even sound the part.
"Yeah, well, they're all half-leads and I'm your accomplice," Alaric said calmly. "What do you want me to say to her? I'm practically living there."
"Still sleeping on the couch?" Damon smiled.
"You know, I keep waiting for them to kick me out, but they don't. I don't know why." Alaric said sincerely while looking around the place. "It's not like I'm helping or anything."
"Mhm-mhm."
"You both have a weird kind of dynamic to be here for each other," Henrik said as he observed and listened to them for a while. "How did you both come to know each other?"
"Shit happened." Damon simply said, reducing their relationship to two words.
"Yeah," Alaric nodded.
"Nice, best way to make friends." Henrik smiled. "Who are you looking for here? Or trying to track down?"
"My brother," Damon said with a slight tiredness in his voice. "He ran away with Klaus to do stupid shit, becoming someone that he shouldn't because of me."
"Oh. That's hard, sorry." Henrik said wryly.
"It's quiet," Alaric said after a moment of them not seeing or hearing anything.
"Yeah," Damon said, making a not-surprised face. "Too quiet."
"It means shit happened or there is nobody in there," Henrik commented as he followed them inside the house.
"Oh, yeah," Damon said as he opened the door and stepped inside without trouble.
"This place is creepy, even for me, a vampire," Henrik commented as he looked along the hallway they moved through. There were blood marks along the walls and everywhere, even on the doors to the rooms.
"Uh-oh,"
"Vampire for sure," Alaric exclaimed.
There were two bodies sitting on a couch with their eyes open and their hands placed in their laps. They looked like two creepy dolls, except in this case, they were meat dolls using goddamn corpses. They were decapitated, and their heads were put together.
"That's some fucking psycho shit right there," Henrik commented, seeing the corpses.
"Aren't you a vampire? How can you be so sensitive?" Alaric inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm a vampire, not a lunatic." Henrik shrugged as he observed the place and the corpses of the two women.
"It's Stefan for sure," Damon affirmed.
"How do you know?" Alaric inquired as he looked at the bodies of the two women.
"It's his signature," Damon said, sure of their lead now. "There's a reason they called him the ripper."
"He feeds so hard he blacks out, rips them apart, but then... when he's done, he feels remorse." Damon continued. "It's the damndest thing."
"He puts the bodies back together," Damon said as he pushed a little on the leg of one of the women with his feet, and the head of the corpse came rolling down onto the floor.
"Back together?" Alaric said, a little shocked about it.
"Definitely Stefan," Damon said again.
"Well, shit," Henrik said with a mocking tone. "You have quite the brother, Damon."
Alaric didn't say anything, but his face said it all.
Damon left the room and soon came back with a gas can.
"What are you doing?" Alaric asked after a moment.
"Covering their tracks," Damon said as he sprayed fuel around the place. "Clearly they have no interest in staying in the dark, but I do."
"Uh, a fire show. You are quite good at this, Damon." Henrik said as he looked at how naturally he did the work.
"Hang on," Damon said after hearing the noise the floor made as Alaric moved.
"Secret room, cha-chan," Henrik said, looking at the place under Alaric.
"Huh. Okay." Alaric exclaimed, removing the floor rug and seeing the trap door in the floor leading into a secret room.
"Well, what do you know? Werewolves." Damon said after seeing what was under the trap door.
It was a little space that had big chains attached to the wall. They closed the trap door, and Damon fired a match, dropping it into the fuel, quickly starting a fire that was propagating fast, burning all over the place.
They left the room and the house and got into the car again as the house was already becoming a torch. The drive back was a fast one; the evening was starting as the sun came down.
"So, Henrik, how does it feel being a vampire for you?" Alaric made small talk.
"The same as when I was human, but on steroids," Henrik said after thinking for a moment. "It doesn't change me into something else. But being a vampire amplified what I already was; my emotions are on overdrive, and it gets a little tricky to keep them in check. It's very peculiar; it'll all make sense eventually as you adapt to it.
"I am horny all the time now," Henrik added. "So, I will get some pussy tonight."
"You will clean the sheets after," Damon said from the side.
"Dude..." Henrik smiled.
They dropped Alaric back at the house in the neighborhood, and Damon then drove them back to his place.
"This will be your room; you can use the things in it. There is a personal bathroom too," Damon said as he leaned against the door frame. "I will look for some nicer clothes that I have extra for you to use, so you can get some 'pussy'."
"Cool. Thanks for the help, Damon." Henrik said as he looked around the room. "I really appreciate it; I will repay you if you need something."
"I take your word; maybe I will need to cash it in at some point," Damon said as he left the room. "I will look for something and come back in a while."
Henrik, seeing Damon leave, dropped his body onto the bed, relaxing in its softness as he waited for Damon to come back.