-prologue-
-1984-
"September 1864. Dear diary,"He starts to read aloud, lying on my bed with my latest diary in his hands while I pack for a trip home to Transylvania.
"I'm friends with a woman who's toying with two sweet southern boys. The Salvatore boys. It's not fair. Through my time in battle, I've never been so torn between my emotions. Should I go along with Katherine's games or set the boys free? But setting them free would only cause them pain and she'd just compel them again, so what's the point?"He continues, glancing up at me with his big blue eyes.
"After everything I've done in my life time, from conquering entire armies along side my grandfather to slaughtering entire villages out of spiteful rage and starvation I've never had this strong of an urge to protect a man other than Vlad himself. Not like I do Damon."He says, pausing on his name as if it were a mistake. He knew that the battles I fought in along side Vlad 'Dracula' Tepes were horrible and the murders I committed haunted my dreams, but by the pleading look in his eyes he didn't understand why I was protective over him. Everyone cared about his younger brother, but I wanted to be there for him. I...I loved him and he didn't understand how or why. It broke my heart.
-part one-
-Damon Salvatore pov-
Waking up from another nightmare, I find myself clutching the sheets and growling her name through barred fangs.
"Katilina."I whisper into the night air like I always do, sitting up in bed next to a human girl wishing she was the girl in my nightmares. All I've ever wanted since these nightmares began was to wake up, just once, and find her sleeping next to me. Though that's how they'd always start. I'd wake up to a normal human life, no daylight ring, no fangs, nothing but my beautiful Katilina. But like always she'd start bleeding from a hole in her chest. My mind knew it was a stake but it was never confirmed in the dream. Thank God. I've never been much of a religious man, but this girl could make the darkest things in the universe shine like the sun. She just touched your soul like that. Even though she was friends with the woman who used me and my brother and is the doppelgänger of his vampire girlfriend Elena Gilbert, I knew she'd never hurt me.
That's what calmed me down each time. I growled for the woman to wake up, compelled her to forget me and concentrated on Katilina. Her memory served me well, even in the 30 years of her absence. I can still her metallic hazel-green eyes shining up at me when she glanced in my direction. I can feel the silk she wore before she left in 1984, covering her 5 foot 9 inch house glass frame. I can smell her vanilla and rose perfume as if she had just sprayed it. I can see her tan skin glistening in the sun light as her long wavy brown hair runs down her back like a beautiful water fall. Every thing about her was gorgeous, but the way she said my name through her Romanian accent when she was angry was my favorite.
"What it, boy."She growled once when I pressed too many of her buttons near Stefan. Her eyes clouded with blood before her fangs ever became visible, her head tilted in most sinister and yet alluring ways.
"What's wrong, sweetheart? Don't like the name Kitty Kat?"I pressed, mimicking a clawing cat. She hisses and flashes to my side, pinning me to the wall behind me by my throat. She leans into my ear and growls, "I'll show you just how much this Kitty can claw if you insist on calling me that, Damon." The sound always drove chills down my spine.
I fall back against the pillows again and sigh in annoyance, glaring up at the ceiling as if it were the problem. No. It wasn't the problem. She felt she needed to be home. Her grandfather needed her and she couldn't say no. She begged me to come with her, but it didn't belong there. In that magnificent castle I had seen in her sketch book over a thousand times, along with the matching medallions she and her grandfather wear.
"I'd give anything to see you again."I whisper so softly that not even Stefan or Elena, if they had happened to walk by in that very moment, would've heard it. I pull my sheets up over my face and turn my back to my bouceny doors, forcing myself back to sleep.
-Katilina Tepes pov-
"Miss Tepes. Miss Tepes, wake up."My maid Sarah calls softly, shaking me awake with the same concerned look in her eyes as every morning since I left him. He was who I would wake up screaming for.
"Damon."I whisper as if I needed confirmation yet again. Sarah nods slightly, sitting next to me and patting her lap. I close my eyes to keep the tears away and lie my head in her lap. She runs her fingers through my hair until my grandfather runs into my room. Nearly every day for the past 30 years I've had them running to me like this, checking on me because of my nightmares. My daring Damon. Vlad doesn't have to ask, but searches my eyes nonetheless. I nod ever so slightly made sigh. He flashes toward Sarah and I and kisses my temple.
"Maybe it's time you go home."He says softly, looking up at Sarah.
"I am home."I say, closing my eyes as Damon's memory consumes my mind. His bright ice blue eyes shining through even the darkest of rooms. His shaggy raven hair almost unchanged through the decades. His devilish smile, always so alluring and dangerous. And then there's his voice. The way it could sever your very soul one moment and melt your heart into a puddle the next was amazing. He knew just how to use it.
"You know what I mean, sweetheart."Vlad says softly, covering my hands with both of his. His eyes were hazel, almost grey with everything he's seen in his lifetime. Just like Damon he held his raven hair, devilish smile and charm with ease, though his voice was much more devastating than Damon's. Within Damon's I could always hear the pang of jealousy and passion seethe through over a person name as he defends me, but Vlad's was pure darkness and horror. The dark sound became a rescue for my heart nonetheless and I saw him as a father I never knew. I sigh and sit up in bed, it's large frame much too big for just me.
"You're right. I can't do this anymore."I say as Sarah moves to pack my things. He smiles and leans into me, kissing my forehead.
"You'll be happier there, Princess. You never know, maybe your nightmares will finally end."He says, standing and walking out. I sigh and fall back against the pillows, pulling the sheets over my head as Sarah packs silently around me. His memory was bad enough in these nightmares. Do I really need to go back to Mystic Falls and face him? Yes, but I don't want to. The fear that settled in my stomach after every morning was still there. I growl lowly at myself to get it together and close my eyes, forcing myself back to sleep. If I was lucky, Vlad would let someone take me to the air port while I slept through the inevitable pain. Maybe even compel someone to take me to my old house in Virginia. I could only hope.