Chapter 1
She could almost feel the burn of his eyes boring into her back as she walked towards the convenience store door. It was after midnight, and after a long night spent writing to meet a deadline, she dreaded running this silly errand. Too much time spent trying to focus on her investigative report of Senator Mayfield had caused her to almost forget how her refrigerator was empty. The parking lot was empty as she quickly moved to the door. A blur of movement reflected in the glass of the store entrance confirmed that he was here. Elena felt her stomach fly up and her breath catch. Determined to not acknowledge the specter of his presence, she pushed the door open quickly and practically ran to the dairy case in the back of the store. When he would finally let her go, she wondered in despair. Never, her subconscious answered back, you know he promised to never leave you again. Somehow, after eight years, she liked to think that he could see she was okay, that she had moved on from the death and tragedy and danger. As she reached in to grab a carton of milk, her gaze caught the reflection of his ice blue eyes as her moved up behind her.
Taking a breath, she slowly turned to murmur, "Damon. . ." her voice barely audible as she tried not to get lost in the intensity of his gaze. She wondered why he had chosen to show himself to her. . she always knew he was there, watching from a distance. But normally, he did not force contact with her.
Damon frowned and grabbed the milk jug from her hand, "Do you not have any sense at all? Why are you roaming around here at this time of night?" he demanded. "Haven't you learned there are dangerous creatures that came out at night?"
"Oh, do you mean yourself? Or some other dangerous beast?" she retorted, her eyes flashing as she grabbed the milk back and stomped towards the food aisle. "You have to stop this; I'm not your responsibility to worry about anymore. I'm not a child, Damon. I'm capable of making my own decisions."
Damon followed her, a look of exasperation and desperation on his face. "Where is your cell phone? If you are so capable of taking care of yourself, you would realize that Jeremy has been trying to reach you for hours. Or maybe that's just you making the decision of not taking his calls."
Elena stopped abruptly, whirling around to face him again. "What are you talking about? My phone hasn't rang all day. . " she said as she pulled it from her purse. She glanced at it to see six missed calls and 5 texts messages, all apparently from Jeremy. "Oh, I forgot my ringer was turned off so I could work," she explained.
She looked up to face and the look in his eyes confirmed that the messages were not good news. "It's Bonnie. She's gone missing." he said. Elena knew that couldn't be all of it. There was no way Jeremy would use Damon to contact her unless something truly terrible had happened.
"What else?" she asked nervously. She thought she was done with this drama and danger. It had been eight years since they had found a way to steal Esther's power to lock Alaric in a crypt, just as the previous hunter had been before him. Eight years since Klaus was desiccated and hidden where no one would find him. Eight years since Stefan. .
"The stake is missing too. . ." Damon replied, cutting off Elena's train of thought. "She might be trying to wake Alaric and give him hunting tools. . or she might be trying to find Klaus so she can end all of us." He reached out to touch her arm, "Either way, Elena, you're not safe."
Elena turned and walked through the aisle, haphazardly grabbing a box of cereal as she went. Damon watched her for moment before following behind her. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "Let's get out of here. Anybody in the world can find you quickly enough, since you have taken no chances on advertising your existence with that column of yours." Elena kept walking, gathering a few different food items before heading up towards the cashier. Damon was becoming increasingly exasperated.
"Elena, did you hear me?" he growled.
"I heard you fine, I'm just choosing to ignore you." Elena would not, could not, allow the thought of Klaus to enter her mind. She had spent most of the last decade rebuilding her herself, establishing a career, a life that did not revolve around secret plots and dangerous villains. She hurriedly dropped her items in front of the bored cashier.
Damon grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. "Let's go. I'll carry you out of here if I have to," he said through his tightly clenched jaw.
"Hey, lady, this guy bothering you?" came a voice as the lazy clerk suddenly perked up, addressing Elena as he warily watched Damon man-handle her arm. Damon darted over to the clerk before Elena could even react, grabbing the skinny young man's neck and dragging his face close to his. His icy blue eyes wrestled control over the scared boy's gaze.
"Go in the back room and stay away until we leave. You will not remember seeing us here." Damon said as he compelled the boy, letting his hand drop from his throat. The clerk quickly turned away and scurried to the back of the store like a rat into a hole.
"Great. Now how am I going to pay for this stuff?" Elena huffed, moving further away from Damon to start gathering things. Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, hurriedly fishing out a twenty dollar bill that he threw on the counter.
"That should cover it. Grab your stuff and let's go." he replied. He grabbed a few of the items before shouldering Elena towards to the door. Elena sighed heavily and decided it would be better to just get out of this public space before Damon made his threat to carry her out real.
"Fine. Let's go." She walked to the door and out into the damp air of the evening, heading towards her car without looking back. She went to open the trunk as Damon followed behind her.
"I think we should just take one car. Why don't you ride with me? We can find someplace to go to start sorting things out." Damon suggested.
"Damon, I'm exhausted. I'm hungry. We don't even know what's going on. I'm getting in this car, and I'm driving myself home. I can't stop you from following me. But that's what is happening. " Elena ranked the door open and settled herself down into the seat. Damon's eyes flashed in anger as he reached in to grab her keys.
"Elena, I don't know what's going on with you. But you are not being rational. Please let me protect you. I've done everything you've asked, please just take a moment to think this through and help me. Call Jeremy if you need to." He bent down to stoop beside the car as he held steadfastly onto the keys clasped in her hand. His face was inches from hers and their gazes locked for what seemed like minutes. Elena felt that familiar electric pull, the sizzle that streaked through her skin to her very core whenever he touched her. Her breath stopped short, and she blanched away from him to stop the sudden assault on her senses. Closing her eyes and resting her head on the seat back, she paused just a moment to consider his outburst.
"When have you ever done what I've asked?" she responded, opening her eyes to stare at his face. She felt a slight hysteria building under the surface. She needed to move, get away from his gaze, his presence, before she fell back under his spell. He seemed to sense her growing unease, and Damon dropped his grasp on her hand and moved back.
"Elena, I have tried to do what you wanted. I've stayed away, I haven't contacted you, I haven't interfered in your life. It's been the most painful thing I've ever done, all because you asked for me to go, " he softly chided her. "I promised to never leave you. And you've tried to make me break that promise. I can't stand by now, after all this time, and watch something terrible happen to you." They had been through this so many times. She knew he wasn't being completely truthful. He hadn't ever truly left her. The pained expression on his face tore at her heart.
"You can come to my place, and we'll talk. We can found out from Jeremy what's going on." Elena whispered in compromise. Damon rushed around the car with vampiric speed, sliding into the seat next to her before she had barely finished speaking. Elena shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the parking lot with a building sense of anxiety growing in her stomach as the car entered the dark highway. They sat in complete silence as she clipped down the highway towards her apartment. Why did she feel like she was running towards trouble rather than away from it?
