Without You

Vampire Diaries Tale

Author's Note: Story begins after the Dangerous Liaisons and All My Children episodes which really did not make me happy overall, but I guess it was a necessary evil in the scheme of things.

Here it is my humble attempt to write a supernatural story that also has hints of romance mingled within it also.

I don't own TVD or any of their characters.

Karen

Without you

Prologue

Well it was done; he'd chosen the path he'd taken tonight without a second thought. Even though he could probably guess as to what they would all say about him, he knew he was right in his motivations. No way Stefan could have stood the censure that was sure to follow tonight's actions. Like he told his brother earlier, he was better at being the bad guy anyway.

That was how they all saw him, even her; the one he had thought was different from all the others. The one he had been foolish enough to believe that she had cared for him in some kind of fashion. Of course when push came to shove, her true colors had distinctly come to light. His saintly brother was the one she had turned to and it just went to show he would always be second best in comparison to Stefan.

Well he knew better now, her callous words to his proclamation of love were proof of that very fact. He should have known better, she had told him before long ago that it would always be Stefan. How had he ever thought he could compete with such virtue his brother exuded without even trying?

So if a cold hearted bastard is what they wanted, and expected, then that would be exactly what he would give to them. He was good at that even if it wasn't something to be particularly proud about, not that he had much pride left in him. Seemed like he had sacrificed his pride along with his balls a while back when trying to be a better man for her, it had been what she said he could be and some crazy part of him had wanted to believe it was true. That her words of encouragement could be brought to life just because she had deemed them to be so.

Well the damage was done, he wasn't a better man, hell he wasn't even human and hadn't been for well over a century and a half. Why should he care what these lesser beings thought of him? He didn't need them, all they did was try and confuse who and what he truly was which was a predator, plain and simple.

A predator that was reclaiming his true nature starting tonight.

Without You
Part 1

Elena stood there in the doorway begging entrance to see the girl who had once been one of her closest and dearest friends, one now who didn't even want to see her. It was strange to say the least that Caroline Forbes could be the voice of reason, telling her calmly that her presence was only a harsh reminder of what Bonnie had lost because of said friendship with her.

She nodded to Caroline as if she understood Bonnie's reasoning and turned on her heel to leave so they wouldn't see her cry. She had hated the sympathy in Caroline's eyes even as she had listened to hear her speaking the truth. Once again they all had to protect her from harm's way. This night had been terrible; she had been stuck with the one person who probably hated her more than anyone else on the planet. Rebekah had looked at her with cold deadly eyes while striking the matches one by one in hopes that she would be set ablaze, only to tell her that she was right, she wouldn't kill her. Killing her would be far too kind, Rebekah wanted her to suffer.

She felt so alone, Caroline was comforting Bonnie while helping her mother Abby with her transition to become a full fledged vampire. She shuddered thinking that Abby had probably never even thought that her life would come to this or rather end only to begin again in another twisted way that her estranged daughter hated and despised.

How could Damon had done this? Then she stopped herself, how Damon could had not done this because she had asked for his help. She should have known Damon would do something erratic and crazy; this had not been what she had wanted when she had pleaded for his understanding, which of course had fallen upon deaf ears because he was pissed at her.

Stefan was still keeping his distance from her, no big surprise there. There had been times she had thought she had broken through to him, for him to return to his former self, but apparently he wasn't as interested in revisiting old times with her as much as her hopes had presumed he would be once he was freed from Klaus' compulsion.

What had she done to them all? Their lives all hung in balance more than once in attempts to save her existence in what had turned out to be a nightmare of a world for her ever since her adoptive parents had died in a car crash at the Wickery Bridge. The night her normal world of being a spoilt teenager came to an abrupt halt.

Maybe she was the one at fault. She was so confused she didn't even know who or what to blame anymore. She needed to talk to Damon, get his side of things; maybe he could make her understand his decision. Then again, he might shut her down cold like he had done anytime she had tried to attempt to speak to him after the ball, the night she had dismissed his feelings for her like they were of no importance.

They had been important, but Damon had been so hell bent on protecting her that he wouldn't let her do what she had felt was right.

Now with her friends all turning their backs on her or so she felt like, all the wanted to do was cry and that wasn't going to help anyone. No one at all…

Without You
Part 2

Fuck them all if they couldn't accept him for who he was, he wasn't going to run from it anymore, that was more his little brother's style, not his, not even for her even if she got down on her knees and begged for him to change his wicked ways. He mirthlessly chuckled, not that he wouldn't have minded seeing her on her knees before him, although when he had envisioned it had been more of a sexual nature. He'd been stupid believing in the power of love because it had been proven once more that he was unlovable. Never chosen to be the recipient of that so very elusive emotion.

He shouldn't have even admitted to Stefan that he still loved Elena, she was never going to be his, he had tried so damn hard and all his efforts had been for naught. In the end she had betrayed him too, just like everyone else had in his life beyond his mother.

He didn't want to think of the kind and compassionate woman who had given birth to him; no doubt she would have been ashamed of him if she could see him now. It was terrible to think that it was better off that she was dead, so that he wouldn't have to see the revulsion in her eyes for him too.

Just like all the rest, maybe Judgy was right, he wasn't worth saving. He had been an idiot to think Elena had thought he was worth saving. Then again after him turning Abby it might be the straw that broke the camel's back. Everyone had a breaking point, even him; he knew exactly when his had occurred the minute Elena admitted that his loving her was the problem.

What woman in her right mind would want his love? No one apparently, all he was good for was a party, a great fuck in bed, but outside of that not much to bring to the table. Hell Elena hadn't even allowed him more than a mere kiss.

He had been such a pansy; he had left that night he had kissed her on her front porch with just a gentlemanly goodnight. He had wanted to court her, to woo her, to show her he was capable of such strong and tender emotions, ones he had tamped deep down especially after Katherine's deception had been revealed.

What kind of fucking moron believed in the power of love after what Katherine had put both he and Stefan through making them both believe she had been held captive in the tomb for one hundred and fifty years? Stefan had claimed he'd been compelled by Katherine although sometimes Damon doubted that especially when he saw them together, but whatever, none of them mattered to him anymore.

Not his stupid brother that whore Katherine and most of all that liar Elena. She had made him believe he had been worth something. Well he knew better now, he wouldn't let himself feel anymore.

Flick the switch, turn it off, it was that simple. If he thought hard enough he could actually hear the mental click of his emotions turning off.

It would be better for everyone if he didn't care anymore, especially for him.

He looked at himself in the mirror, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and forced the switch to turn.

When he opened his eyes, he knew it had worked. His eyes were cold and lifeless, just like his heart.

Perfect…