On Your Marks

Chapter 1:

The dust from the Salvatore boarding house floated thin in the shards of light streaking through the curtains of the morning sun. Damon stood behind the liquor cabinet, sleeves rolled up, with a bottle of scotch and a glass in hand. He poured the ale into the glass and then down his throat, the burn taking away the hunger. He hadn't fed for a few hours. Not for lack of want but rather he'd simply forgotten. His mind was plagued with thoughts of Elena. It was only hours ago that he'd had to coerce her from killing a good Samaritan on the Wickery Bridge. Her humanity switch flipped meant that her actions would become unpredictable and reckless, actions he already found unpredictable when she was a human. He poured himself another glass and went to shot it. "Starting a little early aren't we?" Stefan asked as he entered the room, an eyebrow raised.

"I could really do without the lecture right now little brother," Damon retorted.

"Nevertheless a lecture deserved big brother. You're the one who convinced Elena to abandon her emotions, leaving the rest of us to deal with the fallout."

"And if I hadn't she'd've probably stayed in that house with Jeremy's body and burnt to the ground with it," Damon spat back. Stefan's eyes darted to the floor. Damon took another shot and set the glass down on the table. "Besides, in terms of fallout no biggie's have happened. Plus if push comes to shove I'll just invoke the sire bond and get her to flip her switch back."

"Things aren't that simple, Damon. Getting her to turn her humanity back on that suddenly would mean all the emotions she's suppressing, the guilt, the rage, the loss, would all come rushing back at once. She'd shatter under the weight."

"So what do you propose we do?" Damon asked matter-of-factly as he sat down on the couch.

"Well seeing as the 'show her a good time' route was a bust I think what she really needs right now is to go back to school," proposed Stefan.

"And what you think she'll ace a pop quiz and remember the good times? I don't think so," Damon scowled.

Stefan began, "you think I want to go to school and play chaperone? You can't go because you're not a student-"

Elena emerged into the space, her school bag over her shoulders. "As much as I enjoy hearing you two talk about me like I'm not upstairs, Caroline's picking me up any second. Besides, between the both of you keeping me on a pretty short leash I've got nothing better to do with my time."

From outside the horn of Caroline's car blurred into all corners of Ché Salvatore. Elena turned towards the door, her perfectly straight hair whirling with the movement. Damon grabbed her by the arm. "Elena, it would make me really happy if you didn't feed on any of your senior class members today. Do you understand?" he asked.

"Sure, whatever," Elena replied, rolling her eyes as she crossed the front door threshold. With Elena out of earshot Stefan turned to his brother.

"In the meantime you need to find Katherine. Elena needs that cure now more than ever," he uttered before setting off after them.

"Sure, you and blondie take Elena duty and I suppose I'll hunt down the psychotic doppleganger," Damon called after him.

Left alone for the time being Damon began thinking of ways he could find Katherine. Logically he turned to the only person that wanted to find her as badly as he did. He raised his cell to his ear and listened to it dial. "Klaus, my good man, how's this beautiful thursday treatin' ya?"

"Spare me the false sentiment, what do you want, Damon?" Klaus replied.

"I prefer to think of it as what do we want."

"What could we possibly have in common?"

"A need to find Katherine is what."

Klaus looked up from his phone. He was sat facing Haley at a table set with a magnificent array of breakfasts. Haley's eyes studied him, her werewolf hearing allowing her to hear the entire conversation.

Klaus began, "can't help you mate, goodluck though-"

"What'd'you mean you can't help? Katherine has the cure Klaus, we both want it for Elena," Damon argued.

"I did have a run in with a vampire who may know where Katarina is, as for Haley sorry mate she's off limits, but the source my dry up soon, too bad I bit halfway through his bloody neck so time for chit chat is probably limited."

"Where?" Damon asked bluntly, anger setting in.

"Petrol station off the Wickery highway, better hurry if you want to save precious Elena," ended Klaus as he hung up.

Damon stepped out of his car at the gas station. The lott was lined with huge trucks and fuel liners, their stereotypical drivers in plaid shirts and bad jeans lined up at the counter inside. He shut his car door behind him and went to look around. He entered the labyrinth of huge vehicles, each step giving him a stronger smell of blood. The pick up in wind as though somebody was vamp running around the gas station gave him the sense that he wasn't alone. Checking over his shoulder with each footstep expecting to find a crazed vampire infected with a werewolf bite, he continued through the maze. He felt a sudden hand on his shoulder, he turned around with a fist that was grabbed by a blonde blur in his vision. He retaliated with his other fist but he found himself lunged into the side of one of the trucks. Recovering his senses, he saw Rebekah standing in front of him, not a hair out of place. "Thought you were still stranded on coo-koo island," Damon stated.

"Well I was looking for answers, but all I found was your Professor Shane, dead. And with him any leads towards the cure," Rebekah replied.

"Condolences, guess you won't turn into a real girl after all," Damon said, turning to walk away.

"Oh I'll get the cure. I just need Katherine and I'm betting you can help me find her," she called after him.

"Why would I help you?" he asked, turning back to her.

"Because I know Nick bit the vampire you're banking on to find her. And I was smart enough to bring a pinch of my brothers blood. How else would you interrogate a vampire practically dead from a wolf bite?"

"Fine," Damon scowled, "follow me, I think I know where to look."

"And where would that be dare I ask?" she frowned.

"Stefan said that all the blood bag reserves in Mystic Falls have been ransacked, that can only mean that our mystery vamp is in the late stages of sanity decline or our buddy Silas followed us back off the island. Either way, our bitten vamp needs to feed."

"So we set a trap," Rebekah added, following Damon's train of thought.

"Bingo."

Just as the sun was setting Damon and Rebekah stood in the parking lot of Mystic Falls General Hospital. Rebekah watched as Damon fed from a nurse who'd presumably just finished her shift. "Let it be said that nobody could ever mistake you for subtle," Rebekah taunted. Damon glared at her as he wiped his chin of blood. He then turned his gaze to the nurse.

"I want you to walk to your car very slowly, remember screaming bad, walking good," he ordered as his pupils dilated in unison with the nurse. She did so accordingly. He turned to Rebekah, "get the blood ready, with the sun down it shouldn't be much longer before he comes looking for his last supper." He and Rebekah watched as the nurse fumbled with her keys in one hand while the other clutched her neck.

"There!" Rebekah sounded as she caught sight of a messy haired vampire with a tortured look in his eyes step out from behind a tree.

"Quick, give me the blood," Damon ordered. Without thinking Rebekah obliged. "Wait here."

"Why?" She questioned in a higher voice than usual.

"Just trust me," Damon said as he vamp ran to intercept the vampire as he made a break for his dinner.

"Oh sure, because that always works out perfectly," Rebekah uttered under her breath.

Damon grabbed the vampire by the cough of his leather jacket and Frank Zippa T and launched him back into the trunk of the tree. The vampire's head rebounded of the wood and fell to his chest. He picked his head up slowly gazing at Damon. Damon gazed back with wide eyes, his grip loosening. "Damon?" The vampire asked.

"Will?" Damon replied softly and confusedly, his brow furrowed.

"H-hey buddy," Will began. He turned his neck to the right showing Damon his bite, "I think there's something wrong with me." Damon winced at the sight of the wound. "I need help."

"It's okay," Damon breathed as he patted Will on the shoulder reassuringly, "I know what to do." Will breathed a sigh of relief, one cut short by Damon's fist being thrust sharply deep into his chest, ripping out his heart and tossing it aside. Will's limp body fell to the floor.

In seconds Rebekah was at his side, mouth agape with shock and eyes wide in anger. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" she shouted.

"He was too far gone," Damon replied lowly, "put him out of his misery."

"What about the cure Damon, you just murdered our only lead!" Rebekah replied in the same loud tone.

"Let's just say I...had an epiphany," Damon answered as he turned back towards his car.

"No," Rebekah replied bluntly her eyes going dark and the surrounding veins becoming apparent and filled with black blood. She grabbed him by the neck and thrust him up against the tree, his feet barely on the ground. "you just want to throw me off the scent so you can get the cure for poor princess Elena. What did the vampire say?" she demanded.

"This isn't about you Rebekah," Damon managed to say through the force of her crushing his windpipe. She released him and he stammered to the ground. "He served his purpose. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a slayer to break out of juvy."