Amongst the Ruins
A/N: Hey Everybody. This is my first TVD fic. I'm just posting this here to see what people think of it. I guess you can call this a teaser (or a one shot for now) because if people like it I will continue developing the story but I probably won't be able to post another chapter in a really long time (sorting out some personal issues). So review and let me know what you think.
Bonnie POV
Tic Toc Tic Toc. Those are the only echoing sounds of the gold vintage grandfather clock that hung on the creamy white wall, next to a simple portrait, that could be heard in my office. If one could walk in this room blindfolded they'd never guess two individuals occupied this room, me being one of them of course, but there, peacefully with his glacial eyes focused on the chandelier design on the ceiling and his hands behind his head lay Damon Salvatore. We've been like this for ten minutes now and approximately five minutes of our session remains. There has been no ounce of progression since his first consultation two weeks ago and every time each session ends my anxiety escalates.
"Mr Salvatore, it's been ten minutes since you've said you'd help me get a clear understanding of how you've been feeling"
Damon stops looking at the chandelier and tilts his head to face me with a pointed yet bored expression on his face. He analyses me before blinking twice, sighing and then returning to blankly staring at the ceiling.
"Mr Salvatore if-"
"Like I've said before, it's Damon. I've had to endure you calling me that for the past four sessions I've had to waste my afternoons here. Mr Salvatore was my father's name and God knows how much I loathed that bastard", He interrupted eyes still on the unmoving chandelier which seems to capture his attention more than I did.
"I apologise for that. I wasn't aware it offended you until now", Brushing off the rude manner he spoke to me. Having no insights as to what it is that caused Damon's condition I was simply happy that by him mentioning his father he might have unintentionally tossed me a bone." Do you think perhaps your relationship with your father has caused your condition?" I asked holding onto a spark of hope.
Silence ensued before a deep throaty laugh filled the room. This carried on for a good minute leaving me in confusion as to what the hell was so hilarious that had this man laughing so hard he had to clutch his stomach. When his laughter died down and he wiped the tear that had rolled down his cheek from laughing and spoke.
"Listen Bonnie-"
"Mrs Michaelson", I corrected tightly.
"Bonnie", he continued ignoring what I said completely "The day I stopped thinking about my father was the day of his funeral when I knew that the last things I had to worry about concerning him were picking out the Mahogany coffin he wanted and the cuisine to serve the people at his funeral who were there for the food or to be sure the prick was truly dead. Either than that, fleeting thoughts of him occur when people who think I give a fuck about him bring up his name ",he answered in a dull voice.
Simply great . I'm lead to yet another dead end. I was grateful that in that moment my office phone starts ringing. Luckily I had apologised to my clients beforehand, including Damon, that I'd be receiving calls from Mystique Falls Hospital or my husband updating me on my six year old daughter Arielle who had injured her foot yesterday during practise. I excused myself from Damon telling him it would only take a minute and picked up the phone.
"Mrs Michaelson, I have your husband Mr Michaelson on line one. He'd like to speak to you ",April Young's chirpy voice rang out on the other end.
"Thank you Miss Young. Put him through please", I heard shuffling in the office and turned around to see Damon walking around the room.
"Afternoon love, are you still with a patient ? "
"I am, but our session's almost over"
"Mother heard about Ari's accident so she wanted to spend time with her for the weekend. Michael and her have picked her up from the hospital so you don't have to anymore"
"Nik, I thought we had spoken about this ",I said placing my finger on the ridge of my nose "I wanted to take care of Arielle this weekend and her friends, Grams and all our family could visit her at home. They can't do that if she left with Esther who lives two hours away from us"
"Those lockwood gremlin twins , Kira Pierce, Lila Star and all of Arielle's little friends can see her at school. As for Grams, your mother and everyone else, it's not like she won't be coming back once the weekend is over. I thought you'd be happy about this seeing as you'll now have the chance to accompany me to Galen Vaughn's Annual Dinner Party", he emphasised seemingly annoyed. I sighed loudly feeling frustrated. Of course it always boiled down to business first with Niklaus.
"Under different circumstances I would be happy to accompany you-"
"And I've changed those circumstances to better suit everyone and you could also freely accompany but yet you still seem displeased. Now you know how important a business associate like Galen Vaughn is to me. He could help me land a lucrative deal with Silas Enterprise. "
"I want to spend time with our injured daughter. If your business associates are that important to you then you should've walked down the aisle with Galen Vaughn instead of me. I'm fetching our daughter as soon as I leave the office" I said raising my voice having completely forgotten about Damon.
"My board meeting begins in five minutes so I want you to listen to me very carefully love because I won't be repeating myself. I won't have your petty issues interfering with my image and jeopardizing what I've built for so long. So this is what you're going to do. Wrap up your little consultation with Mr Salvatore, call our daughter and tell her to enjoy her time with her grandparents. Then you're going to dress you pretty self in that 17000 dollar Zuhair Murad lace gown I had Greta pick out for you and from the moment Maddox picks you up to the moment we return from the dinner party you will play the supporting dutiful honorable wife I married. Are we clear?" he finished in a cold low tone. I remained quiet contemplating what to say. I know my husband well enough not be defiant with him. I've dealt with the repercussions of disobeying him countless times in the past and it has not been pleasant. I've known him to be the most doting husband but he can flip a switch and be the complete opposite. However, this is my… I mean our daughter and I'll be damned if he thinks he'll have me on a leash like some lapdog.
"Bonnie?! ", he growled impatiently
"Crystal", I replied sweetly.
"Good. See you at 5 sweetheart. I love you", I noted just how quickly his tone changed as soon as I submitted to him.
"I love you too". I hung up the phone and ran my fingers through my curls in frustration.
"Your husband sounds like a first class dick", I jumped turning around and there behind me stood Damon holding up a framed picture of me and my husband with my husband holding Arielle and both of us kissing her cheeks. We were at one of Arielle's junior figure skating Nationals League last year. Her uncle Elijah and Aunt Lucy were also there with their son Christopher. My best friend Caroline and her fiancé Tyler Lockwood were there and brought their twins J.P and Alex, the cute troublesome two who my husband awfully refers to as the gremlin twins, to support Ari. Elijah had taken the picture. Kira Pierce won that year and Arielle and her JP finished second but she was just as happy because Kira was her best friend. Nik had asked Elijah to take that picture with our 'little champ' as Nik calls her.
"Now I know that took longer than I anticipated and for that I'm sorry , but you had no right eavesdropping on my personal phone call", I fumed snatching the picture from him and then trying to compose myself. Damon shrugged and went back to sit on the chaise longue chair.
"Your daughter, Arielle, looks exactly like her father well except for the freckles and her eyes. Those green eyes are the incarnate of yours"
"It's good to know your observant but I'm sure these consultations weren't paid for you to analyse anything either than your condition"
"I'm well aware of the money that's being generously drawn from my account. Elena, my wife, who you so kindly answer to as well as my literary agent, has a way of wreaking havoc on my bank account on absurdities including this shit."
"Could we go back to you describing your feelings for me like we discussed before", I said sitting across from him crossing my legs with a straight face on.
"I've told you about my feelings Bonnie",
"You've said nothing for about ten minutes Damon. I was literally counting"
"I thought with all these fancy little certificates on your wall and degree that you'd be smarter than this", Damon said getting up and picking up his leather jacket from the arm chair.
"Excuse me?!",I stood up ready to track after him demanding he answer me if he was about to insult me about what I did best and leave me with one of his stupid riddles again. He turned and faced me looking at me with a face of pity.
"The silence, the echoes of the outside world that seem louder than the inside of this room when we have our sessions is exactly how I feel. I feel emptiness, hollow and complete nothingness. Nothing inspires me anymore, over the years I've lost my muse to do the one thing I never thought I'd stop doing and that is writing." Damon put on his jacket and proceeded to walk closer to me.
"But that doesn't explain you trying to kill-
"I'm in a transitioning process Bonnie. I've found a way to get my muse back. The irony however lies in the fact that everyone who wanted me to go back into writing: my literately agent, publishing company, fans, my wife, brother doesn't seem to appreciate the way I'm going about it. Darkness used to be my muse and I'm reaching out to it. There's nothing wrong with me it's everyone else who sees this completely different than I do. This is my blessing". He is almost reaching me now and his glacial eyes reveal to me that he is telling the truth. I automatically take a step back when he reaches me and he tips his head down smirking before stepping closer to me once more.
"If you're hell bent on doing what they've paid you to do then by all means follow through. However your one prominent challenge will be trying to figure out how to save a man who enjoys playing with his demons. I hope for your sake you don't get dragged down with me", he slowly tucked in a loose strand of hair behind my ear before making his exit and leaving me utterly in fear.
Thank you for reading :)