~"His crown lit up the way as we moved slowly, pass the wandering eyes of the ones that were left behind… Though far away, we're still the same.
Howling ghosts the reappear in mountains that are stacked with fear. But you're a king and I'm a lionheart.
In the sea that's painted black, creatures live below the deck. But you're a king and I'm a lionheart.
And as the world comes to an end, I'll be there to hold your hand because you're my king and I'm your lionheart…"~ King and Lionheart – Of Monsters and Men
Chapter One – Released-
(_1863- Mystic Falls, Virgina_)
Making her way up the long gravel path of her family's estate, Claire kept the sides of her dress above her ankles so that she could see the path in the dim moonlight.
Humming a soft tune under her breath she smiled to herself at how her night had turned out.
"Where have you been?" A small voice asked as Claire's heels tapped on the wood of her family's porch.
Gasping and placing a hand over her heart, Claire looked to see her 12 year old sister, Mary, sitting with her back against the brick house.
"What are you doing out here, it's the middle of the night! Mother would have a fit if she knew you were out of bed." Claire said dramatically placing a hand on her hip and looking at her.
"I wasn't able to fall asleep with all the yelling." Mary said as she looked up at her older sister.
Claire sighed, knowing her younger sister must have meant that their parents had been fighting again.
"Mother… has a black eye." Mary said a few tears slipping down her face.
Claire sighed and shook her head.
"Has father been drinking?" She asked already knowing the answer.
Mary nodded, wiping her eyes again.
"Come on, I'll tuck you back in bed." Claire said extending a hand to her.
Quietly opening the door to her younger sibling's room, Claire looked at the large bed in the center with her 8 year old Sister Edith sleeping in the middle.
"Get some sleep Mary, I love you." Claire said as she kissed her sister on the head.
"Were you out with Damon again?" Mary asked a small gleam in her pale blue eyes.
Claire tucked some hair behind her ear that had come out of the pins holding it up.
"Don't tell father, ever since he and Giuseppe had that argument her hates me talking to Damon." Claire said.
"He already knew where you were; that's what they were fighting about." Mary said.
"What did he say?" Claire asked taking a seat beside her sister and making sure they didn't wake Edith up with their talking.
Mary shook her head no.
"Tell me." Claire urged.
"Father said that tonight was the last night you would see Damon. Mother begged him to reconsider." Mary gave away some of their parents fight.
"Is that all?" Claire asked sensing her sister was holding something back.
"I don't want to say it." Mary admitted, biting the inside of her cheek.
"Please." Claire said her voice soft but revealing a bit of the fear she was feeling.
"Luke told him that he saw you and Damon in the barn last week… he said that you were doing something terrible, and that your soul would be damned." Mary whispered.
"Oh god." Claire said, her head now feeling like it was spinning.
"Mother said that Luke must have been mistaken, but Father believed him." Mary went on.
"Close your eyes and get some rest." Claire said, holding back tears as she kissed her younger sister on the head again and blew out the candle on the bedside table.
Making her way through the large upstairs of her house she went to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Taking a seat at her vanity she removed all the pins from her hair as she looked at herself in the mirror, her reflection illuminated by candlelight.
Using a dry cloth, she rubbed her skin on her face raw as she removed the last traces of her make up.
~The next Day~
"Luke…" Claire said as she walked to the back of her family's large farm.
Luke looked at his sister and back to the slaves who were working away in the hot sun.
"Won't you speak to your own sister?" She asked, angered as his ignoring her.
"I have nothing to say to a sinner." He responded as he then barked a few orders at the family's slaves.
Her pale porcelain cheeks reddened from his words as he avoided her eyes.
"I think you're confused… I wasn't…" She tried to defend herself but her cut her off.
"There was no confusion. I saw you and Damon. Being bedded by a man before your wedding night… you're a sinner." He said his words were harsh and stung her.
"We're going to get married." Claire said, finally gaining the strength to look at him.
"You're going to have to… after all, what man would have you now?" He said.
Claire shook her head angrily and stomped off back towards the house, returning over an hour later to the fields with glasses of water.
"Claire! What do you think you're doing?" Her father Garret asked her as she had handed the last glass of water to a slave.
"It's sweltering out here father." She responded, her voice soft.
"Come here!" He instructed.
Carrying the now empty tray down by her side she walked up to him.
"They don't drink until I say they've earned their water, it's barely a quarter after 12, they haven't earned anything." He told her.
Her jaw tensed in anger.
"I don't want to ever see you doing that again, you hear?" He asked, his southern accent stronger with anger.
"They are human beings." Claire said, knowing she might get struck if she spoke against him.
"They are my property, I bought them." He told her.
"And the slave-trade is a terrible thing. They are the same as us, the color of their skin doesn't make them animals." She said her voice strong.
"Get in the house." He said his teeth gritted in rage.
"Father…" She started to say, but he yelled as loud as he could, "Get in the house!"
"What's wrong, honey?" Her aunt Judith asked.
"I told father he was being unfair to his slaves, they are human. One person should not own another like they are nothing more than cattle. He treats the farm animals better than he treats them." Claire said as she picked up the book she was reading from the kitchen counter.
"Shush your mouth. You know that kind of talk will get you nowhere with him, your father is as strong and stubborn as a mule." Judith said to her niece as she poured herself a glass of lemonade.
"You know I'm right." Claire said, looking over the top of her book.
Judith smiled at her niece. She had always admired Claire's strength and the way she seemed to always speak up, even knowing how severe the consequences.
"Kids, go to your rooms…" Garret said; all three girls and his one son started up the staircase.
"Claire, you stay." He instructed.
"What is it?" She asked, as she stood in the parlor.
Her aunt Judith sat in a chair reading a book, while Claire's mom Francis nervously knitted in the seat beside her.
"You and Giuseppe's son seem to be getting close." Garret said, closely watching his daughter's reaction.
"Stefan and I have been great friends since we were children." Claire said.
"I wasn't talking about Stefan, Claire." Garret said.
She was silent.
"I'm talking about his eldest son." Garret went on.
"His name is Damon." Claire said, through gritted teeth.
"You have been inseparable for going on a year now." Garret said, angered by his daughter's attempted deception.
"We enjoy each other's company." Claire said as she smoothed her dress down over the constricting corset.
"You make me sick Claire Ann Worthington. How is anyone supposed to find you respectable when you've been whoring around?" He asked his words harsh and razor edged.
"You are 15, in a year or so it will be time for you to be married off, but because of your lack of discretion and giving into the sins of the flesh you will die alone, an old hag." He said, his words a little slurred.
"No I won't." She said.
"Ha! Are you that naive child? After what you've done, you think any respectable man will take you as his bride?" Garret yelled.
"Garret…" Francis said her husband's name, trying to get him to calm down.
"Shut your mouth, woman." He yelled, pointing a finger at her.
Francis looked back down and started knitting again; her hands shakier than before.
"Damon will have me." Claire said.
Francis gasped under her breath.
"A Salvatore – marrying a Worthington?" He asked, a loud booming laugh filling the house.
"Both of our families are founding families. They are by no means living in poverty, what is so wrong with the Salvatore's?" Claire asked.
"We are the most prominent family in the town, I always pictured you marrying a Fell, or at the lowest a Lockwood. Not a Salvatore." Garret said.
"We are in love, father." Claire said her bright blue eyes rimmed with tears.
"You are a disgrace. I'm tempted to just send you away." He said.
She looked down at the floor.
"Tomorrow is the Summer ball, I assume Damon has requested your company to the event?" Garret asked.
She nodded.
"Good, you tell him that you are no longer going to be seeing him- on any terms." Garret ordered.
"That's not fair." Claire said, her tears now spilling down her face.
"Fair?" He questioned, another drunken laugh filling the open space.
"If you don't, you will no longer be my daughter. I will tell every one of your sins and you will be banished from the town, no one will help you." He said.
"Please fathers… don't make me do this." Claire begged.
"I won't give you a second warning." He said.
Feeling a sudden sense of bravery she shook her head, "I won't do it. He owns my heart."
Taking a quick step forward and with a quick swipe of the hand, he slapped her across the face.
Gasping in pain she held onto her now red cheek as it burned under her touch.
Claire looked back to where her mom and her aunt were sitting, both afraid to even look up in her direction.
"I'm a disgrace? You've struck your own daughter…" Claire said, knowing he wasn't going to back down. She'd either have to end things with Damon, or she'd be disowned.
Again, his hand roughly collided with the side of her face, this time the corner of her mouth busted open against the force.
Tasting the salty coppery taste of her own blood, she cried harder than before.
"I've worked my ass off to build this family an empire. I'll be damned if I'm going to let my daughter ruin our good name." Garret said, before storming out the front door, headed to the local saloon.
"Oh Claire! You've got to learn to not speak back to your father." Her mother said, as she dropped her needlework to the floor and rushed to her daughter's side.
"Let me see." Judith said, as she turned Claire's face to the side and looked at the bright red hand print and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
~The next day…~
"You look so pretty Claire!" Mary said as she sat on her older sister's bed and watched as she pinned her hair back and did her make up.
"I wish I was old enough to go!" Edith said, puffing her bottom lip out and crossing her arms over her chest.
"You will be soon enough." Claire said looking at her two younger sisters.
Even though she was wearing a brand new dress and her hair laid down perfectly, her make-up had even went on flawless but she couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes.
"Leave your sister alone, she's got a ball to attend." Judith said as she chased the younger girls from the room.
"How do I look?" Claire asked her aunt.
"Beautiful." Judith said as she looked at her stunning niece.
"You do to." Claire replied, looking at her aunt's new ball gown.
"Here; a little more powder and you won't be able to see the bruise." Judith said as she brushed some more powder on the side of Claire's face.
Descending the stairs Claire looked at Damon standing at the landing, smiling at her.
"You look so beautiful." Damon said as she reached the bottom of the steps.
"Thank you." Claire said her eyes searched his face as she spoke.
"Go on out, she'll be right there." Garret said his tone gruff as he spoke to Damon.
"Yes sir." Damon said with a nod as she walked out of the house.
"I will never forgive you." Claire said as she looked at her father.
Heading out the door to the horse drawn carriage with Damon waiting for her, Claire looked back at the house one last time seeing Mary and Edith standing in the door way, both smiling and waving to their big sister. Feeling a stabbing pain in her chest, she knew what she had to do.
"Are you alright?" Damon questioned from his seat across from hers in the carriage as they headed to the Lockwood Mansion.
"Not entirely." She admitted her blue eyes dark as she looked at him.
"Are you ill?" Damon asked, leaning forward and looking at her.
"No." She responded, shaking her head.
"Let's just enjoy the ball and our time together." She said, pushing back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
Cocking his head to the side, he looked at her, his eyes full of concern.
As the night drew to a close, a few of the guests started to leave and she knew it wouldn't be long until the entire property was vacated.
"Can we get some air, I need to talk to you alone." Claire said, as she leaned forward and spoke into Damon's ear.
"Of course." He said, as she led her toward the house and out the back door.
Walking to the back of the property in silence, Claire looked up at the stars and tried to rehears what she would say to him.
It wasn't until she felt something drip onto her chest she realized tears were pouring down her face.
"Why are you crying?" Damon asked, facing her and resting his hands on the sides of her hips.
"We can't do this anymore." She said shaking her head as the tears just kept falling.
"Do what? What are you talking about?" Damon asked, growing more worried with every passing second.
"My brother saw us last week… when we were in the barn… alone together." She said her eyes red from crying.
Damon's eyes widened at the realization of the night she was referring to.
"I told you we'd be found out. It was only a matter of time before we got too careless and didn't cover our tracks. But I always get so caught up in the moment with you, and when I'm with you… nothing else matters." She said, looking at him.
"We can bribe Luke not to tell anyone." Damon offered.
"It's too late, he told my parents. After tonight I am banned from having any sort of contact with you." Claire said.
"No… they can't do that to us. I love you." Damon said, looking at her.
She was silent.
"We can run off, head up north, get married." Damon said, pulling her closer to him as he spoke.
"I can't run away." Claire told him.
"Why? We could be together for the rest of our lives… isn't that what you want?" He asked.
"Of course it is. I love you more than life itself Damon Salvatore." She said, biting down on her bottom lip.
"Then let's go. We can leave Mystic Falls tonight." Damon encouraged.
"I'm the only thing standing between my younger sisters and my father's beatings. If I leave he will single one of them out as the bad child and make their lives hell. I can't abandon my sisters." Claire said.
"They will be fine." Damon said, not able to imagine never being able to touch Claire again.
"You cannot make a promise like that. Every day my father spends more and more time at the saloon, his drinking has increased and so has his anger. My mother is hiding out at home with a black eye for trying to stand up for me." Claire explained.
"We could take Mary and Edith with us, we could all start over new." Damon said his hands now clutching onto her sides, not wanting to let her go.
"Raise two children? I'm 15 and you're 19, what kind of job could you get to support all of us? It's unthinkable that we could give them a good life, we'd be lucky to support ourselves without the help of either of our families." Claire told him.
"I will find a way, if I have to work from sunrise to the dead of night every day I will." Damon vowed his eyes now watery to.
"Then I will ask your father for your hand." Damon said.
"He doesn't think you're good enough, if we don't go our separate ways than he is going to tell everyone of our sins… I'll be banished from the town and carry the shame wherever I go." She said.
"Claire…" He begged.
"Please don't make this harder than it is… my heart is already broken." Claire said, as she placed a hand on the side of his face and looked in his eyes.
"I don't want to live without you." Damon said, as he pressed a desperate kiss to her trembling lips.
"You have to. I am so sorry." Claire said as she stepped away from him.
He opened his mouth to say something but she shook her head.
"Go Damon." She said, closing her eyes as she couldn't bear the thought of watching him leave her.
After what felt like an eternity, she opened her eyes and looked around the empty dark yard. Tears rained from her eyes as she dropped to her knees, feeling the cool grass under her hands.
"Claire! What happened?" Stefan asked as he walked over to her, kneeling on the ground beside her.
She gave him a tearful and garbled version of what happened with her and Damon.
Nodding and giving her a sympathetic look he said, "Come on, the ball is over."
Helping the shaky girl to her feet, he led her around to the front of the house where only one carriage remained.
He looked at his good friend, they had been friends for over ten years ever since they were young children.
"Take my carriage." He said opening the door for her.
"How will you get home?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.
"I can walk." He said as he opened the door for her.
"Thank you." Claire said, as she looked at him.
He gave her a warm hug before helping her into the carriage.
((_Present Day_))
"Come on honey, we need to get you changed into some clothes." Judith said as she helped her niece change into more modern clothes; they left her dress from 1864 in a pile of old fabric on the floor of the tomb under where the church used to be.
"How are you alive?" Claire asked as she drained the 3rd blood bag her aunt handed her.
"The same as you." Judith replied as she led her niece through he woods to where she had parked her car in the dark.
"How long have you been a vampire?" Claire asked her entire body still hurt from having over a hundred years of starvation from being locked in the tomb.
"Since 1866, keep moving I need to get you home before the sun comes up." Judith said as she hit the button on her keys to unlock the car.
"I have a ring." Claire said as she looking down at the small band with blue lapis lazuli stone thumb ring.
Jumping and gasping Claire yelled, "What is that?"
"It's a car, honey. Come on… it's safe." Judith said as she loaded her niece into the passenger seat.
"You found her? Good." A friendly male said as he opened the door to a large Victorian style house.
Smelling the fresh blood coursing through his veins, her teeth burned and she felt the skin around her eyes shift.
His eyes widend.
"It's okay Brian, I'll get her some more blood bags… she won't hurt you." Judith said.
"I'm so sorry." Claire said using a shaky hand to cover her mouth as her teeth still ached for blood.
"Come on in Claire." Brain said as he stepped to the side and let the two vampires in.
((A week later))
"Ready?" Anna asked as she stood on the porch of Brian's house.
"Anna!" Claire said with a large smile as she emerged from the house and hugged her.
"I still can't believe Katherine turned you, she never told me." Anna admitted as the two girls headed to her aunts car.
"You'll have to drive; I haven't mastered the technique of the vehicle yet." Claire said, smiling in the warm sunlight.
"It's a car, no one says vehicle anymore." Anna said smiling.
"Sorry, I've been reading and watching T.V. every waking minute… but I haven't seen anything in over 100 years! It's all so new to me!" Claire said, as the girls headed towards the mall.
Walking through the mall Claire looked around and laughed excitedly as she clapped her hands.
"Look at all the clothes! And we can wear pants now! Isn't it wonderful Anna?" Claire asked as she spun in a circle and laughed again.
"You're drawing way to much attention… chill out on the dramatics…" Anna said as she led her into a clothing store.
"I really missed you." Anna said, looking at Claire.
"I missed you too! Well, I missed everyone… I can't believe no one knew I had been turned. So how did you manage to get the tomb open?" Claire asked as they headed to the grill to meet with Anna's mother.
"It took me a long time, it was really tricky." Anna said, deciding against telling Claire that Damon and Stefan had been turned and were still alive.
"Is Katherine still alive?" Claire asked.
"I haven't seen her since the 1980's, but yeah I'd bet she's still alive." Anna said, looking over at her.
"I can't believe she let me get locked in that tomb… she was my best friend." Claire said.
"Katherine is selfish, and when it comes down to it… the only person Katherine is going to protect is Katherine." Anna said.
"I trusted her." Claire said, looking down at her lap as she rubbed her hands over the soft denim fabric from her new jeans.
"Big mistake." Anna said as she pulled into a parking spot at the grill.
"Not my biggest mistake." Claire said, as she thought back to the night she had parted ways with Damon.
"Anna…" Claire started to say but stopped.
"What?" She asked.
"Never mind… I don't think I'm ready to know yet." Claire said, as she decided against asking what became of her old friends and family.
"Claire! How wonderful to see you again." Pearl said as she hugged the girl.
"Pearl, it's been too long." Claire said as she returned the hug to another one of her old friends.
After sitting for a while Claire watched as Anna texted a boy from across the room on her phone.
Feeling bored and annoyed, Claire walked over to the pool table and watched wide eyed.
"Can I help you?" A blond boy said as he noticed her standing next to the table.
"What is this?" She asked as she picked up one of the pool balls from the table.
"Some sort of game?" She questioned her bright blue eyes wide.
A dark haired boy exchanged looks with the blond boy.
"I'm Tyler." The dark haired boy said.
"Claire, it's nice to meet you." Claire said as she extended her hand keeping the back of her hand up.
Tyler looked at her strange. "Uh… nice to meet you to."
Taking her hand he lightly shook it before looking at her.
She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
Matt cracked up as Tyler raised her hand to his mouth and lightly kissed the back of it.
Claire nodded with approval.
"I gotta get back to work." Matt said.
"See you later, Matt." Tyler said, not taking his eyes off the blonde beauty standing in front of him.
"So this game, what is it?" She repeated her earlier questions.
"It's pool…" Tyler said, cocking his head to the side.
"I've never heard of it." She admitted, picking up another ball and looking at it before tossing it into the hole in the corner of the table.
"Are you for real?" Tyler asked, looking at her.
Placing a hand over her chest she said, "I am not fake."
"Oh… wow. You're… serious aren't you?" Tyler asked.
She nodded.
"Do you want me to show you how to play?" Tyler asked her, his eyes slowly moving from her pretty face to her form fitting tank top and snug jeans.
"Are ladies allowed to play?" She asked him, her blue eyes wide.
"Anyone can play…" He said, looking around the grill.
"We don't need any sort of special uniform?" She questioned, looking at his clothes.
"Where are you from?" He asked her.
"Here in Virginia, I just recently moved to Mystic Falls with my aunt. I'm homeschooled, and that's why you haven't seen me around before." She said, repeating the story both Anna and her Aunt Judith had told her to tell people.
"Okay…" Tyler said.
Tyler explained the rules of the game and helped her hold the pool-stick right, and guided her through several moves.
"Was that right?" She asked as she shot a ball across the table.
"Yeah! That was great actually." Tyler said, looking at her.
"Yay!" She said, excitedly clapping and slightly jumping up and down.
Tyler smiled widely and laughed with her.
"You… are really strange, Claire." Tyler said as the continued to play pool.
"Strange… is that bad these days?" She asked a slight hint of worry in her voice.
"Normally." He said.
"Oh." Claire said, glancing down as she laid the pool stick on the side of the table.
"But, it suits you." Tyler said, smiling at her.
Smiling again, she brushed her light blonde hair from her pale porcelain skin, her intense blue eyes locked with his.
"Maybe we could hang out sometime, like grab dinner and maybe catch a movie." Tyler said; everything about her drew him in.
Gasping her eyes widened, "Dinner and a movie, a date?" She asked she had been brushing up on current times over the past week.
"Is that a yes?" Tyler asked.
Nodding excitedly she said, "I've been meaning to see a Hollywood film production."
"Great, uhh… do you want me to pick you up, or do you want to meet here?" He asked.
"Well if it's a proper date, you are supposed to pick me up." Claire said her eyes brighter than before.
After giving him her address she looked over to Anna and then back to Tyler.
"Well, I'd better get going. But I'll see you tomorrow night?" She questioned.
"It's a date." Tyler agreed nodding.
Extending her hand to him again, he took it and kissed the back of her hand.
"See you tomorrow Claire." He said, as he released her hand and watched her walk back to the table with Anna.
A little while later Claire gasped, "Oh my god! Katherine?"
"No, Claire. That's not Katherine… That's Elena Gilbert." Anna said.
"She could be Katherine's twin." Claire pointed out, watching as the girl sat down at a table and started talking to a few friends of hers.
"I know right, but she's not and you need to stay away from her." Anna warned.
"Why?" Claire asked, still amazed at Elena's resemblance to her old friend.
"She… just hangs around with some people that could be dangerous is all." Anna lied, Claire was one of Anna's oldest friends and she feared if Claire learned that the Salvatore brothers were alive, she'd go with them and not her. Plus, Anna knew how much Damon had changed since his human years and she didn't want to see Claire get hurt.
"Trust me, you're better off not knowing her." Anna finished her sentence.
"Okay. You know these people better than I do." Claire agreed, nodding her head.
A/N - I hope everyone liked the first chapter! ^_^ I had a lot of fun writing it and I'm excited to continue this story.
Also, I know she set up a date with Tyler at the end of the chapter... but don't worry, this is a Damon/OC story. ^_-
If you liked the first chapter, please take a few moments to let me know. I appreciate your reviews so much! It's the only way I know that I have fans for a certain story, and I focus most of my time on my more popular stories. So please don't be a silent reader. ^_^