Persuasion.
Damon stood arrogantly. The cold whiskey in his hand made him feel powerful and above everyone else in the room. His calm and judging look passed by each person present in the room. The truth of the matter was that he was nearly bored to death, but how could he possibly admit it to his own brother that his soiree of a century had turned into a tragically passive event, where he didn't have the urge to seduce an innocent girl and ruin her reputation for life. Damon sipped his cool drink, feeling the freezing liquid pass through him and the perfectly square ice cubes sound in his glass. As girls passed by him in their form fitting dresses and their superbly arranged hair and glammed looks, Damon felt he might at times even yawn. For some time now he had felt like the excitement had been missing from his life. Of course he still bedded each girl he could seduce and who proved to be even the slightest challenge, but he now found no adrenaline in it. Damon deduced that he had simply become too good at the game. With a sigh he decided to take a lap around the room and find the least disagreeable candidate for the night.
"Your charm not at its best tonight, brother?" Stefan stopped his brother in his tracks as Damon was just about to survey the party. Stefan looked dashing in his dark attire, but had the most horrible of grins upon his lips. Damon felt repulsed by his brother's too self-assured attitude and simply passed him with a scowl. The room seemed dark, as the lights were dimmed to their minimum and everyone was dressed in dark shades. The air of the room smelt of tobacco and alcohol and you could hear the chatter of people all around, whilst the deeply depressing music faded in the background. Despite the quite appropriate atmosphere, the party was dull as death. To rephrase; death would have been more intriguing and interesting at that moment, but the unfortunate occurrence was that Stefan actually believed the soiree to be a success. Damon's eyes passed from person to person, but he simply rolled his eyes each time as the person he encountered was not to his taste at all. Damon stopped as he finally recognized a familiar face.
The petite, round faced, always smiling blonde beauty was laughing heartily. Caroline Forbes, the daughter of the local sheriff, was known for her charm, ability to socialize like the brightest and most vibrant of butterflies and many affairs with many people that eventually led to her having too many friends, but not enough lovers. Damon had been one of them, because upon arrival to this town she had been the first person he'd met and the first girl he'd had intimate relations with in Mystic Falls. Caroline walked unsteadily towards him and when almost having reached him stumbled slightly, but Damon caught her in his arms.
"Upsy-daisy!" Damon said as Caroline started giggling, whilst still not being able to regain her balance. She was most certainly not one of the strongest drinkers and Damon constantly had to look after her. After they'd ended their affair and Caroline had settled down and turned her attentions elsewhere they had become good friends. Now, Caroline constantly introduced Damon to all her friends, who could be potential candidates for Damon's flings. This was of course by Damon's demand, but Caroline had entered a stage where she did not care anymore, so it worked out perfectly between the two.
"Take me aside," Caroline whispered into his ear and Damon helped over to a chair, where Caroline sat down with a deep breath and all of a sudden appeared completely cured. Caroline gracefully took the nearest glass of champagne and motioned for Damon to sit down next to her, whilst she had her drink and then revealed to him something of great importance. Damon sat down reluctantly as he actually had intended to leave before he dies of old age, but his strong feeling of protectiveness for Caroline made him incapable to do that.
"You know," Caroline began in a calm and toned down voice, "I have a new bird under my wing," Damon raised his eyebrow suspiciously in amusement. He leaned in and expected Caroline to show him who it was, but this time instead of plainly doing that; she leaned closer to him and said, "This one is different Damon, darling," Damon turned his smug self-satisfied look to a more angrier one, "The girl has just lost her parents and she is new to this town, so whatever you do, do not hurt and embarrass her like you did all the previous ones. If you do, I will end our friendship or at least avoid you as best I can," Damon grinned and spoke;
"So where is this sublime young lady, who is apparently as delicate as a flower?" Caroline stood up and strode confidently across the room, catching the look Stefan was shooting at her, implying a very obvious case of attraction. Damon followed closely behind and as they approached a herd of girls all exactly alike, Damon immediately knew who Caroline was talking about.
A fresh and natural beauty, with long chocolate brown hair stood at a slight distance from the other girls. There seemed to be no imperfection to her as her skin glowed in the dim light and her dark eyes, almost raven black, sadly and in utter melancholy looked out of the nearby window. These eyes then met Damon's and just for a moment he was willing to forget his old ways and pour all his love into his cold and wretched heart, but this redeeming thought only lasted for a moment. Damon rapidly realized that this girl might be the perfect challenge as she really did appear to be so innocent and untouched. There was an air about her that made her seem very correct, smart and abiding, which were all things Damon knew how to play with although he had to admit to himself that his previous intimate encounters had been a little more easy going and playful, the more modern version of a girl.
"Elena, I'd like you to meet Damon, a very good friend of mine and the most charming and appropriate specimen for showing newcomers around our humble town," Damon smiled at this as he accepted each praise and compliment with the most arrogant and proud of feelings. The moment Elena turned to him, he felt petrified by her severe and striking beauty. It was as if something entirely divine and pure had come into Damon's life and he felt himself become slightly awkward, which he was very unaccustomed to.
"It is always nice to meet a friend of Caroline's," Damon smiled patronizingly and took Elena's hand and kissed it, which in turn made Caroline slightly jealous inside, but as she realized she'd requested nicer behavior from Damon she was glad he abided to her wish.
"Hello," Elena smiled shyly as she was not used to direct advances from the type of man Damon was. Everything about him was so arrogant and snobbish that Elena did not even want to associate with him, but since he was Caroline's friend she was obliged to. Damon would not stop looking at her and from the corner of her eye she saw Caroline leave swiftly. Before Elena managed to take a step to further herself from Damon's advance, he was standing right in front of her, now looking deep into her eyes, but instead of feeling the love she desired from any man, she could not help but gain an impression that he was mocking her. The tall figure overcame her, as Damon was much taller than her and even this made her feel inferior.
"Are you not drinking anything?"
"I do not feel like it tonight," Elena whispered quietly.
"Oh, but surely you must! You would not want to insult my brother, who put out some of his best preserved alcohols for this event," Damon teased her because he believed that this always worked as the first step into gaining the fancy of an impressionable young girl.
"I did not know the host of this gathering was your brother. Caroline brought me here under false pretenses and I feel quite uncomfortable in such unfamiliar surroundings," Damon was taken aback by her honesty and complete reluctance and abundance of confidence as she ignored his charm completely. Damon decided he'd like to put his time and remaining energy into this girl and chose her to be his next victim. After all she certainly was the most diverse and interesting of the 'bunch' and could prove to be the challenge he was looking for.
"If you'd like to get away from this buzzing and chatter, I can offer to show you the grounds and also the rest of the house. That is if you would like that," Damon smiled and slightly lowered himself to see into Elena's eyes, which stubbornly would not look into his.
"That would be rather splendid, since I feel this party does not excite me as much as some of the rest," Elena smiled and followed Damon, perhaps to naively and trustingly.
The air was quite chilly as the first breaths of autumn could be felt. It was late August and the evenings now became darker and days shorter. People were still attempting to endure the last few adventures of summer and live it out as properly as they could. All except Damon, for her always lived life in the same manner and nothing could throw him out of his rhythm. He delighted in the way he lived his life and did not regret anything, because of his belief that no matter what he did, he would still be better than anybody else.
Elena and Damon walked beneath the night sky as Damon took her along the small paths of his estate. Damon's and Stefan's parents were gone for the week and they were throwing regular soirees at their mansion. The mansion alone implies that they were very wealthy, but in fact it does not do them justice because the truth was that their parents were both very careful with money, so most of their assets were locked away in a bank rather than presented before everyone in material form. The gardens, however, were magnificent and no money was saved on them. Every imaginable type of bloom could be found, orchards one beyond the other stretched out far and beyond, brightly green grass sparkled amongst the stars and the sweet smell of jasmine and lily filled the air.
"Caroline told me of your tragic misfortune. I am very sorry about your parents," Damon sounded so compassionate he nearly believed he had a conscience. He saw Elena's eyes turn teary and she looked away, "You must remember that no matter how you feel, you can always express it to either Caroline or me. We will not mind and I am most certain we will both be very understanding," Damon wanted to grin, as he once again felt so proud of his capability to influence and play his part perfectly.
"I would rather not talk about that. Can we go back inside? It is getting quite cold here," Damon led Elena back to the house and felt quite disappointed they'd left before he had a chance to go on about his poetic inspiration he finds in the gardens and use all his wonderful adjectives about the night sky. Another disappointment was that he hadn't even kissed Elena yet, which he normally succeeded at doing quite early on.
"You're older than the rest of them aren't you?" Elena asked bluntly and as Damon felt like he had nothing to hide he answered honestly, for once.
"I have already acquired a university diploma, quite recently, but I am happy to remain where I am,"
"You mean living with you parents and being financially supported by them? How old are you?"
"Old enough to know where the advantages of life lie. Besides I don't live here. I live in town, but I visit, because I am such a good son. In other words, I am 26 and yes, I am financially supported by my parents, but that is merely because I find it to be very convenient and comfortable," And suddenly Damon realized he was talking to a girl he'd just met about his opinions, his lifestyle, his family, everything to do with himself and he never did that. It simply seemed too personal for him, but this foolish girl had persuaded him, quite subliminally to do so. "Enough about me. Why don't we go upstairs and see the some of the more interesting rooms," Damon smirked, but he then understood that being the girl Elena was she'd need to hear something else to come upstairs with him. "My family has quite an impressive collection of art and also a vast library. Come," Damon climbed the stairs very pleased with himself as Elena followed out of curiosity.
Elena felt her heart beat fast as she walked behind Damon. There was something odd about the way he'd expressed himself just now and yet in the gardens he had behaved in the best manner possible. Something was telling Elena to run, but her legs refused to move another direction except for the one Damon was leading her to now. There was something so despicably charming and broodingly romantic about him, but at the same time his personality was quite estranged from how he looked. Elena wished to herself he'd be more like his looks and less like the arrogant fool he truly was.
They had now come to a room and as Damon entered through the old wood double doors, Elena admired the house's old exquisiteness. Elena took a step inside the room and found herself alone, but after an instant Damon was behind her and now as she faced him, she wanted to take back her actions and leave for downstairs, but as Damon stood in her way, she was forced to face him.
Damon admired and found delight in Elena's quickly blushing cheeks and the panic her eyes shot at him as he could see them search the room for an escape. Damon thought to himself, that he would like to play with this girl a bit more as she appeared so vulnerable. There was something about her that intrigued him greatly and he wanted to confuse her before he made his move. Make her believe he was actually more decent than he was.
Damon reached his hand forward, passing by Elena's waist and as he did so, Elena stared into his eyes with utter fear. Only then did Damon smile softly and slightly move her sideways so he could take the glasses and bottle of whiskey that were placed on the table behind her. Elena breathed deeply with relief, but was quite bewildered by his restraint and also by her own emotions and impulses which had passed through her when she felt his gently touch. There had been such a burst of lust in her that she suddenly felt ashamed, because it was clear now that Damon did not intend to seduce her at all and quite possibly was not even interested as he could only be doing Caroline a favour by taking her off her hands and considering this as a friendly obligation. Elena blushed once again and then after quietly murmuring an excuse to leave rushed out of the room and left the house immediately.
Damon sat back in the leather arm chair and rested his arm with the glass of Lark Whiskey upon the nearby table. There was still an overenthusiastic smile upon his face and as he sipped the icy beverage he imagined his following exploits with the girl, who till now proved to be the most arousing and fascinating creature he had had the pleasure to behold.
Note/ Well hello again! Having just recently finished Possessive Nature I could not help myself and began writing again. This time I feel this might be a shorter piece, but who knows, as I have decided to explore Damon's darker side. I feel quite a 'Dangerous Liasons' theme coming, but I have always found the story so intriguing that I simply must try my version of it. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter as there will be many more like it to come!