Damon smelt her before he saw her. Vampires smelt different to humans, and after being surrounded by humans for the last week, the change in smell was refreshing. But it was more than just a standard vampire scent, it was delicious. It was the type of scent that had it been human, he would have been outside right now, draining the blood. But she was a vampire, the first he had seen in days.
He had been sitting at the hotel bar, drinking the beer that the bartender had just passed him, when she had walked in, her scent assaulting his senses. He had breathed in deeply, relishing the smell, and not wanting to turn around, not wanting to be disappointed. Because what beauty could match such a scent? He gulped down the last of the beer, and then finally turned, preparing himself for disappointment. Instead, he felt regret. Regret that he hadn't turned around sooner. Because the sight that greeted him was ravishing.
The girl was wearing a tight fitting short, black dress, that hugged every curve and left nothing to the imagination. And whereas normally that would have been the first thing he would have noticed, it was the last thing his eyes were drawn to now. Because she was beautiful. He reserved that word for very few people, but now there was no other way of putting it. Her dark, brown eyes were mesmerising, her chestnut-brown hair was stunning. It fell down her shoulders in soft waves, lightly bouncing as she entered the bar.
She looked around the room, her dark eyes judging and assessing before they finally landed on Damon. Her full, red lips pulled up in a small, victorious smile. He had seen that smile many times, on humans and vampires alike, and he wasn't surprised to see it now. While she was gorgeous, he was no slouch himself. He knew he was handsome and charming, and in short, they were a perfect match.
He watched to see where she would sit, ready to go and join her, but to his surprise, she strode directly over to him, pulling out the stool next to him and seating herself.
"Scotch. Neat." She told the bartender, and he immediately started working on it. Her voice was soft, but seductive. "Put it on his tab." She said, once the bartender slid it over to her. He didn't even stop to check with Damon, instead nodding eagerly, and walking back over to till.
Damon grinned, a flash of white in the darkness. "Please, allow me to buy you a drink." He said sarcastically, turning to face her.
"So you weren't going to ask?" She replied, raising an eyebrow.
Damon paused, for once, unsure what to say. This was new for him. Normally, he had a pretty standard formula for this type of thing. Offer to buy a drink, then another, some flirting and joking over dinner, and then back to his hotel room. Then slip out the next morning, and never see them again. It had never failed him yet, but for the first time, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar situation. He watched her as she took a long sip of her scotch, and then licked her lips. Now that she was so close to him, he could smell the faint scent of human blood on her breath. She had fed, recently.
"Good drink?" He asked.
"Smooth."
"I wasn't talking about the scotch."
"Neither was I."
Damon grinned again. He was liking this girl more and more every second.
"Can I buy you dinner?" He offered. Normally, he would wait longer, giving time for his charm and wit to work on the girl. But this wasn't a normal situation, and as far as he could tell, she wasn't a normal girl.
She smiled, amused, as if he had told a joke. Taking out a room card, she slid it along the bar towards him. "Room 465. Be there in ten minutes."
Damon frowned. Now this was definitely something he had never experienced. Firstly, as far as he could remember, a girl had never refused to have dinner with him. And secondly, she definitely hadn't refused and then offered him her key card. "I was thinking more a restaurant, rather than room service." He said, nodding down at the card in front of him.
"You know what you want, I know what you want, why waste time with dinner? Time I don't have actually. It was all leading to the same place anyway, the drinks, the dinner, I'm just skipping a few steps. The hotel room is all you and I were ever interested in." She flashed another seductive smile at him, before hopping off the bar stool and turning to leave. He caught her wrist, thoroughly captivated by this woman. She was like no one he had ever known, and her bluntness intrigued him.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Like you care." She shot back, her eyes flashing with mischievousness.
"Beautiful name. Is it French?" He asked, and was pleased to hear her laugh. It was musical, like her voice had been.
"If it makes you feel better, I don't care what yours is either."
"This isn't how my one night stands normally go." He said, searching her eyes for any hint of an ulterior motive. He was always suspicious, it's how he had survived so long.
"It's how they should go." She replied, winking at him. She shook her arm free, and walked over to the door. "10 minutes." She called over her shoulder, and then disappeared from his view, leaving him intrigued by this mysterious woman.
(*)
The sound of shattering glass woke Damon up. He looked at the broken window, through which he could see the dark night sky and leaped out of bed, immediately alert, as two men jumped through, landing lightly on their feet opposite him. This had been a regular occurrence for him in the last 2 years. After all, he was on the run from Klaus, and Klaus wasn't one to give up easily. But neither was Damon, and despite Klaus's best efforts, Damon had so far managed to evade both him and his men. This would be no different. However this was the first time he hadn't been alone, and he looked to the bed, concerned. However the girl who had been asleep next to him wasn't there. He turned, confused, just as she emerged from the bathroom. She was dressed in jeans, a tight black sweater and high, black boots. Her brunette hair was swept to one side, and she smelt of soap and water, freshly showered. She froze as she caught sight of their uninvited guests, and Damon got ready to spring into action. But he wasn't expecting what happened next.
"Stay back." The girl said, and pushed him roughly backwards. Completely taken aback, he stumbled, before regaining his balance. By then, she had skipped forwards and kicked out the legs of the first man from under him. He fell to the ground, as she rammed her elbow into his chest, winding him. The other man moved towards Damon, but before he had a chance to react, she jumped in between them. Damon watched, throughly amazed. Was she protecting him?
The man raised his arm against her, but she ducked underneath it, twisting as she went so she ended up behind him. Then she kneed him hard in the back. As he was going down, the first guy was standing up again. But he was still winded, and she danced past his weak attempt to grab her, and snapped his neck. She turned back to the other guy who was still on the ground, grabbed a fistful of his hair, and snapped his neck too. The whole thing lasted less than a minute, after which both intruders were out of action, lying on the ground.
Damon looked up, shocked, at the girl, who looked like she had barely broken a sweat. He was completely thrown. Sure he had seen female vampires who were good fighters. But Klaus's men weren't ordinary vampires, they had been trained specifically by him, and what he had just witnessed had taken him aback. The way she had neutralised the two with ease was completely spectacular. And she had been trying to protect him! Damon Salvatore! The man who had never asked or wanted protection in his life. Damon was quickly learning that there was a lot he didn't know about this girl, and he was also realising he would quite like to find it out.
"Outstanding." Damon said, not bothering to mask his admiration.
She looked up, meeting his gaze. She seemed tense and on edge, as if she was getting ready to run at any second.
"I'm sorry about that." She said, breathing hard, but with adrenaline rather than fear. "There's a man who's after me. His name is Klaus, and he's an Original vampire, but also a hybrid. He-"
"I know who Klaus is." Damon cut in, amused. He had a whole history with him and he knew the Original very well.
"If you've heard of him, then you know he's extremely dangerous. Those were his men." She said, gesturing to the two unmoving bodies on the floor. "He's sent them after me. I am sorry that you got caught up in this, but I'm going now so - "
Damon interrupted again, growing more and more bemused by the second. "As much as I enjoy seeing you flounder like this, I feel like I should let you know that those men were after me, not you."
She looked up, her dark eyes registering surprise and then amusement. "Trust me, I've been running from Klaus for over 100 years. Those men were looking for me."
"I've been running from him for over 200 years. Don't get me wrong, it's cute that you think Klaus is after you. What did you do, refuse to go on a date with him?" Damon smirked.
"A little worse than that." She replied, and Damon noted that her eyes were twinkling slightly. He felt that she was looking down on him, she was so convinced that Klaus had been after her not him, he couldn't help but notice the condescending tone with which she was speaking to him.
"Well I killed the person he was using as his bloodbank to make more hybrids. So unless you think whatever you do was worse - "
"I killed his brother."
Damon paused, midstream. That, he definitely had not been expecting.
"You killed an Original Vampire?" He asked, impressed despite himself. It took a lot to make Damon admire someone, but this girl has been surprising him at every turn, from the very first moment he had met her. She shrugged, as if it was nothing, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. It just wasn't possible, was it?
"How?"
"White Oak stake to the heart."
"If you killed an Original, then you'll know that if one dies, then - "
"Every vampire connected to their bloodline dies too? Yes, I know."
All the facts seemed to check out. This girl had in fact killed Klaus's brother. She was looking at him with a small, patronising smile, as if she genuinely thought she was better than he was. It was a position that Damon Salvatore had been in very few times in his life, and it was starting to prickle his pride slightly.
"So now that we're past that, again, I apologise for putting you in this situation. I'll be going now." She said, and Damon noticed the small, victorious smile that flashed over her plump, red lips.
"While I am impressed, I have to point out that they were still after me."
She turned back to look at him, an incredulous expression crossing her face. "You can't be serious? I think his family means a lot more to him than some bloodbank."
"Then you clearly don't know Klaus as well as you think you do. The hybrid army he was planning meant everything to him."
"I'm sure he can find another bloodbank."
"You know, doppelgängers aren't as common as you would think they would be. And if I recall correctly, he has more than one brother."
She sighed, clearly irritated. "Fine, you can wait until these two wake up, and then ask them exactly who they were sent to find."
"Fine, I think I will." Damon said, sitting himself down on the edge of the bed.
She rolled her eyes at him, and he admired how expressive they were. Though she was quite difficult to read, her eyes were like an open book, reflecting exactly how she was feeling. At that moment it was annoyance, at him he guessed. That was one emotion he was used to people feeling towards him.
"Do what you want, I'm getting out of here. She turned to the window, which a strong, cool breeze was now blowing through, since the intruders had broken the glass. The curtain was flapping noisily in the wind, irritating Damon.
"Shit." He heard her say, and when he looked at her, the annoyance in her eyes had been replaced with something else entirely. Fear. He looked back to the window to see what she was looking at. Dawn was breaking, filling the sky with beautiful shades of orange and gold. Sunlight was creeping into the room, lighting it up and allowing him to see her for the first time in daylight. The sun hit her chestnut hair, making it almost shimmer. Damn she was gorgeous, it was just a pity that she was so annoying. She looked at the sunlight with fear, stepping backwards, away from the window.
"Problem?" He asked brightly, and she flashed him an angry look.
"We both have a problem. Those two will wake up before the sun goes back down, and by then, Klaus may even show up." She scowled, angry with herself for entering into a conversation with him and wasting time.
"Ah, that is a problem." He said, pretending to look puzzled. He stood up and walked over to the window, feeling her stiffen beside him. Then he stuck his arm out into the sunlight, and heard her gasp in shock. The surprise was followed quickly by confusion, when he didn't burn up. "Oh. Would you look at that? I didn't go up in flames. Huh. I guess it isn't a problem then."
She watched him walk back over to the bed and sit down, her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest.
"How?"
He shrugged at her. "Maybe I'm magic."
"How?" She spat out at him, and Damon could tell she was in no mood for joking around. But behind the anger making her eyes flash, he could see something else. Hope. She didn't just want to know because she was curious, she wanted to know so that she could have it too.
He wiggled his fingers at her, letting the blue gem on his ring glitter in the sunlight. "Lapis Lazuli. Charmed by a witch."
"Give me it."
Damon looked up, his lips twitching in a smile. This girl wasn't one to beat around the bush, he was quickly learning.
"As charming as I think you are, I'm going to keep a hold of this."
"Then I'm going to have to take it from you." She shot back, uncrossing her arms and leaning forward slightly in an attacking stance.
This time Damon couldn't hide his grin. She had courage, that was for sure. And she was a damn good fighter. But he was Damon Salvatore, and he would need to impress that on her. He stood up too, flexing his arms.
"I'd like to see you try."
To her credit, she gave a good effort. Damon had imagined within seconds he would have neutralised the threat, but in actual fact it took a few minutes. She was strong and fast, and all in all, she was a good fighter. But he was better. Soon, he had her pinned down on the bed, pushing her arms down. He couldn't help but remember the previous night, when they had been here, on the bed, in a similar position. Though instead of fighting, they had been doing something quite different. Now, he was focusing on trying to stop her from moving.
Even then she wouldn't give up, struggling hard to push him off her. Initially, he found her determination admirable, but after a few minutes of trying to contain her struggling, he found it tiresome.
"Stop moving, or I will snap your neck." He hissed at her.
She met his gaze, and must have realised he wasn't joking, because she soon stop struggling. He could still see resentment in her eyes though. He jumped off her, moving back to the window, watching her warily. She sat up, breathing hard and running a hand through her now tangled hair, anger simmering at her surface.
"Well as much fun as this has been, I really should be off now." He said, brushing himself down and shooting her a victorious smirk.
"You're just going to leave me here, stuck in this room?! Klaus will find me and kill me." She said, looking at him incredulously.
"You seemed pretty ok with leaving me here, when you were planning to sneak out while I was asleep." He retorted, making his way to the door.
"Wait. Help me!" She said, moving to block his way.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "And why would I do that?"
"You said these men were after you, right? In which case, you put me in danger."
Damon chuckled, liking the girl's self preservation instincts. "Oh so now you agree they were after me?"
She crossed her arms again, not falling for it. "No. But you think they were. In which case you knowingly endangered me by coming here last night. So you owe me."
While her logic was thoroughly flawed, Damon had nothing to lose by offering her his help. In addition, he enjoyed their verbal spats and her sharp wit. And he quite wanted to hear the story about the killing of an Original, it had intrigued him and few things managed to do that nowadays.
"Ok, come with me."
She took a step backwards, scoffing. "You have got to be kidding."
Damon frowned, he literally had no idea how this girl's mind worked. "You're angry when I'm going to leave, you're angry when I offer to let you come with me. What do you want?"
"I want you to help get me out of here, before those two wake up."
"I will get you out of here, if you come with me. I can get you a ring."
Her eyes immediately narrowed again, as she looked at him suspiciously. "Why would you do that?"
"The enemy of my enemy..." He trailed off, but the look of suspicion didn't leave her expressive eyes. "Actually it's more like keep your enemies close. I haven't figured you out yet, and until I do, until I decide whether you're useful to me of a danger, I'd rather keep you where I can watch you."
She paused, and she could see her internally debating. "Where is the ring?"
"In my hometown, Mystic Falls. I know a witch there who's gotten quite good at making them."
"How far?"
"A day's drive. Give or take."
"We're going by car? You do know we're vampires, right?"
"And you can see that sun out there, right? If the burning isn't an issue for you though, we could run."
She scowled at him. "Funny. But I'm not spending a whole day in a car with you."
"You slept with me, but you won't spend a few hours in a car with me?" He asked, raising his eyebrow pointedly.
"I slept with you because I needed to loosen up and have a little fun. An extended period of time trapped in a vehicle with you does not sound like fun." She snapped back, grimacing at the thought.
"I've been told I'm a lot of fun."
"By anyone apart from your mother?"
"Ouch, you wound me." He said, holding a hand over his heart and looking injured. "You don't even know me."
"I don't want to know you." She shot back quickly.
He shrugged. "You're missing out. Anyway, it really makes no difference to me whether you come or not. I offered my help, my conscience is clear. The rest is up to you."
He saw her mind whirring, as she considered the situation and all the possible outcomes. The possibility of a daylight ring versus travelling with a stranger. He waited patiently, until eventually he saw her eyes harden, as she came to her decision.
"I'm not going anywhere with you." She said, crossings arms once more, firmly.
"Suit yourself." He replied. It was nothing to him. Sure he enjoyed their back and forth, and the circumstances in which he'd met her certainly intrigued him. But all in all she was just another person who he may or may not remember in a hundred years. He slid past her through the door, leaving her deep in thought as she gazed at the two bodies on the ground.
He walked down the corridor, and took the elevator down to the ground floor of the hotel. Stepping outside into the cool breeze, he signalled to the valet to get his car. He debated about where to go next. While being on the run from a vengeful Original wasn't the best way to spend his time, he couldn't deny that he'd gotten to see a lot of America over the last two years. Maybe it was now time to see how Europe was doing, or Asia?
His car pulled up in front of him, as the valet lightly tossed him his keys. He swung himself into the low, black sports car he had bought for himself last year. He may be on the run, but that didn't mean he couldn't do it in style. He started the car and grinned as it came to life from beneath him. Getting ready to pull away, he was surprised when the passenger door swung open.
She sat down, slamming the door shut behind her, and then breathing out heavily, fanning her skin. Though the journey from the lobby to his car had been short, the sun had still done enough damage for the pain to be visible in her eyes. But when she turned to him, her usual scowl was etched across her beautiful features. His windows were tinted with a special glass, so her skin quickly returned to its former flawless state.
"Just shut up and drive."
He shifted into drive, and the car smoothly pulled away.
"And wipe that smug, arrogant grin off your face or I will snap your neck."
Damon's grin only grew, as she threw his own words back at him.
"Last night you were much more interested in me."
"Last night I thought I would never have to see you again." She spat at him, before turning on her side, away from him. It was clear that she had no interest in talking to him, so he leaned back, hit the gas, and set off towards Mystic Falls, thinking about how life always throws surprises at you.
Ok so please please tell me what you think of the concept. I need to know if you like the idea, and if people will actually read this story if I carry on? Thanks so much for reading this chapter though, just leave a review if you think it's worth continuing x
