Damon

I had the deep feeling of being followed.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Alaric Saltzman. He had fury in his eyes and I saw that he was on a warpath. I could see the vervain dart in his hand and what I liked to call his Van Helsing gun in his other hand. It was a very lethal gun that shot stakes.

"What do you want, Alaric?" I asked, stopping dead in my tracks and turning to face him. I could mock him for being human all day long, but I would not underestimate him.

"I am sick and tired of you being in this town." He spat, holding up the gun. Damon easily danced out of the way of the stake and smiled at the teacher triumphantly.

"You think you're something else, don't you, Damon Salvatore?" He asked, cocking his head.

"I know I'm something else." I said with a wicked smile.

"I know I'm no match for you. And that is why I didn't come alone." He said, motioning around us with his hand. Ah, hell I thought to myself as I looked around. It was the Founder's Council. Sherriff Forbes, Mayor Lockwood, a few people I didn't recognize.

I accepted the fact I was outnumbered and cornered. I was standing on the sidewalk in downtown Mystic Falls at 2 a.m. No one was here.

"Goodbye, Damon." Alaric said, and motioned with his hand. Then I felt stakes and vervain penetrate my body. I collapsed to the sidewalk in an unconscious, dying heap.

P.O.V Change

"Oh my god." I whispered as I looked out my window. All I saw was the man collapse. He'd been shot with something or tranquilized. I couldn't tell which because I could only see him. I wouldn't have even seen him had he not fallen under a streetlamp. He'd fallen unconscious when he'd fallen and looked whiter than any person should even have the capability. I stood up and began unlatching my window.

He could have been shot because he's a psycho! You're terrified, why don't you just close the window and go back to bed! That man is dying out there on a sidewalk! All of these thoughts blared through my head as I swung out of window and hit the ground on my feet. I took off at a dead run across the street and kneeled beside the man when I reached him. He was on his side, so I could plainly see the four stakes protruding from his chest. Jeez, did people think he was a vampire or something? Shaking my head and trying not to throw up, I began pulling the first wooden stake from his body. He cried out in pain as I pulled it free and met my eyes with pain filled blue ones. That was what made up my mind. Not the pain in his eyes, not the way he'd cried out. It was the way he just closed his eyes, as if he had nothing to live for. It made me want to sob for him.

"Why are you out here at 2 a.m.?" I asked, trying to keep him awake.

"I'm a vampire that couldn't sleep. What's your excuse?" He asked through a half smile. My eyes widened at the word "vampire." Vampires aren't real! This guy is crazy! I thought frantically, staring down at him. I simply decided that even if he was insane, he was harmless in this state. So I pulled him across my lap and began pulling the stakes out. He looked up at me all the while, panting with exhaustion and pain. His face was even whiter than I'd thought, and it stood out in stark contrast against his dark hair. He closed his eyes and his body relaxed. He was dying. I fought tears as I stroked his dark hair.

"What's your name?" I asked, trying to keep him awake.

"Damon Salvatore." He whispered, barely speaking through the pain.

"Hi, Damon. I'm A.J." I told him, trying to act like it was a perfectly normal introduction and he wasn't a slightly crazy guy who thought he was a vampire dying in my arms.

"Hello, A.J." He whispered, his voice fading. His body slumped and panic took over me. I had no idea why I was panicking so bad. I felt like a part of me was dying with him. I felt tears slide silently down my cheeks as I pulled his head onto my shoulder, which lolled limply.

"Damon, wake up." I said, shaking his shoulders. He didn't respond.

"Damon, please." I said, a frantic sob escaping me. I pressed my fingers against the side of his neck where I should be able to detect a pulse. Nothing. He was dead.

I sobbed so violently I thought I would never stop.

Then, with tears still streaming down my face, I decided that if he wanted to pretend he was a vampire, then he should look like a vampire when he died. I grabbed my hairpin out of my hair and jabbed myself with it until I bled. I prodded and pulled until I had my index finger dark with blood. I drug my finger across his mouth, making him look every inch a vampire that had went down fighting. I didn't care that he was crazy.

I held him in my arms until the sun came up, but after that I realized I had to call someone. Damon had to have some sort of family. But I'd left my cell phone in my room, so I had to leave him briefly. We were on the deserted end of downtown, so there was no risk of him being found before I could get back to him.

Damon

I licked my lips on instinct. Blood was what I tasted on them, and I had never felt anything so good in my life. I was too weak to sit or stand or even prop myself up on my elbows, but I managed to turn my head to look for A.J.

I remembered her vividly. Her clear gray eyes, her waist length light blond hair, the way she'd looked so desperate as she stroked my hair. Now the sun was up, and I was alone. After a lot of gasping out in pain, I finally forced myself to my feet. She saved my life, I thought to myself. Trying to stop myself from thinking of the girl who had held me while I seemingly dying, I turned into a crow and disappeared.

A.J.

I walked back outside with my phone in my hand, but the sidewalk was empty. I looked down at a black crow feather on the ground where he'd been and picked it up. There was a stirring deep in my soul that told me that somewhere, Damon was alive.

"Angel of Mercy, how did you find me? How did you pick me up again? Angel of Mercy, how did you move me? Why am I on my feet again?"

~One Republic