Title: Echoes of the Past.
Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries and characters therein are the property of L.J. Smith and HarperCollins. The TV series is the property of the CW network, Alloy Entertainment, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec, and various other persons. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: It spells 'trouble' for Mystic Falls when Elena is the first to get attacked by an unknown vampire. And this is just the beginning as more vampires appear and take over the city. Now it's up to the Salvatore brothers to work together if they want to survive // Damon/Elena. Stafan/Bonnie. Ensemble. Warning for violence.
~ Echoes of the Past --- Part 01 ~
*
It all happened very quickly. One second she was stomping across the cemetery, all but oozing righteous indignation and the next she found herself on the ground. On the cold, icy ground.
Elena groaned and pushed her hair behind her ears, then quickly corrected the mistake when the cold air hit her ears. She'd rather deal with impaired sight than frozen ears, she decided.
After all, she was all alone. No one around to witness her indignity. It was just her, the contents of her bag (now lying scattered across the path) and the thin layer of ice covering everything with a beautiful, albeit slippery white-ish sheen. And therein lay the problem, Elena reflected as she tentatively got back onto her feet. Being alone for a change. It felt good, though she had no problem admitting that it certainly wasn't the smartest thing to do in times like these. Times where everyone and their vampire chinchilla seemed to notice that she was a dead ringer for her ancestor Katherine and felt compelled to settle a few grudges with Elena since Katherine, being (hopefully) dead and dusty, was no longer available to seduce young (stupid) men and turn them into vampires.
Elena scoffed, her anger surging right up again as she reached for her diary which was lying innocently on a pile of frozen leaves last time she'd seen it. Just that it wasn't there anymore. Elena blinked in confusion. It had been there, she was sure of it. It had...something nudged her shoulder.
"I believe you lost something." A hand held out the little book to her and Elena, polite despite the shock, gave the newcomer a grateful smile.
"Thanks."
"My pleasure." The stranger had an accent Elena couldn't quite place and though he was doubtlessly attractive with his dark hair and eyes (what was it with her running into attractive strangers in the cemetery, anyway?) there was something about him that just screamed 'Run away!'.
Instinctively Elena's hand rose to touch the spot where the vervain-filled necklace was hidden beneath her clothes – a movement the man seemed to regard with interest.
"Allow me to help you back to your feet." He said in a silky voice and took Elena's hand whose instincts went into a frenzy. There was something wrong here. Seriously, seriously wrong. And then it hit her – there was no sound at all. The place was not only bereft of any human beings except for the two of them, but there also seemed to be no animal life. No birds, no insects, no nothing and even the faint sound of traffic in the background felt curiously muted. As if every living thing had fled in the face of a predator.
Elena's eyes flickered back to the stranger and her mouth went dry.
"You can let go of my hand now." She said in what she hoped was a calm way, but the man's smile showed that he'd caught the slight tremor in her voice.
"I'd rather not." His grip tightened painfully around Elena's hands and it almost didn't come as a surprise to her when she caught a glimpse of pointy, elongated teeth when he smiled.
Elena stifled a scream and though knowing that it was useless, she couldn't help but fight against his iron grip.
"Let. Go." She snarled, earning nothing but a triumphant smile.
"I've waited a long time for this." He growled, baring his teeth. "A very long time."
"So waiting a little longer is out of the question?" She heard herself ask in a thin, unnaturally high voice. She was going to die, she thought. This couldn't happen. Not now. She'd borrowed Bonnie's skirt and she had to give it back first and why for goodness sake couldn't she stop thinking about such stupid, superficial things when faced with certain death?
"Enough foreplay." The vampire grinned and abruptly Elena felt her head painfully being pulled back by her hair, exposing her neck. She'd barely gasped in pain when the pull on her hair vanished and something roughly shoved her back, sending her sprawling onto the ground once again.
"Where-?" Elena gasped then winced violently when something heavy landed right next to her, then was gone the next second with a vicious snarl. She moved backwards on all fours, barely able to make sense of what her senses told her.
The was a flurry of motion. The unknown vampire collided with a black-clad figure that simply moved too quickly for her to catch a clear glimpse of, but there was no doubt in Elena's head that there was only one person who would put himself between her and danger.
"Stefan," she breathed and then, as her body reacted faster than her mind, she ducked out of the way as once again a body landed next to her, toppling a gravestone as it crashed into it.
"Stef..." Unthinkingly Elena moved forward as the fight came to a sudden halt, both combatants breathing heavily as they glared at each other, both sporting numerous cuts that were oozing blood. However, it wasn't Stefan who shook his head to clear it of the dirt and leaves that had gotten entangled in it during the fight. It was...
"Damon?" For a moment Elena was too surprised to be scared. "What the hell are you doing here?"
He didn't even react, which all in itself served to be more unsettling than any of the flippant remarks Damon was known for could have done. Instead Damon's gaze remained on his opponent, completely focused on the fight. That alone had to mean that he was up against some serious threat this time, Elena realized and paled just as the silence was broken once again.
"Don't get between me and my prey." The strange vampire snarled nasally, blood pouring down on his lips from the smashed nose.
"She's not yours for the taking." Damon said in a dangerously quiet voice. "Leave now and perhaps you'll survive this."
The other vampire snorted derisively.
Elena could see the muscles in Damon's legs tensing in response, giving him the air of a wild animal, about to jump right back into the fight and a second later she was pushed out of the way again. From that moment on it felt like watching a movie in fast-forward mode. Hits and blocks and punches and kicks were exchanged so quickly that Elena barely had time to sort out just who was hitting whom. It was strangely elegant and though she shuddered back from the violence of the fight, she couldn't quite bring herself to avert her eyes. And then, abruptly, she caught a glimpse of surprise on Damon's face and the next moment the struggle had come to the next stand-still – the foreign vampire had somehow managed to pin Damon to the ground, his bloody fangs just inches above Damon's jugular vein.
"Say good-night, Mr. Salvatore." He growled and pulled Damon back by his hair just like he'd done with Elena earlier. Elena unconsciously held her breath, her eyes fixed on Damon's, reading a silent apology in them.
Later she would never understand what had possessed her in that moment to act the way she did. In fact, she'd joke about it and plead temporary insanity but the fact remained: one second Elena was frozen by fear and the next she was running at the vampire armed with nothing but sheer determination and a rather meek branch she picked up along the way, screaming like a banshee all the time.
Instinctively the vampire turned, the corners of his mouth twisting into an unbelieving smile. Almost lazily he reached out and brushed Elena aside with what he deemed moderate strength that nevertheless sent her crashing against the nearest tree trunk. And then several things happened very quickly. The breath was knocked out of Elena and for a second she was sure she was going to vomit while the vampire's look lingered on her prone form the fraction of a second too long, giving Damon the break he needed. While Elena was still fighting a battle against nausea, Damon twisted around and attacked. There was a horrible cracking sound like a thick branch breaking but much worse and then, almost as quickly as the attack had started, it was over.
The unknown vampire was flung through the air and landed heavily against a statue of an angel which toppled aside with a loud crash and fell to the ground, almost burying the vampire beneath it. For a moment it felt like time stood still as the vampire seemed unconvinced whether or not to renew his attack. His eyes darted from Elena, his prey, to Damon, the unexpectedly ferocious complication to his mission. Then he spat out a tooth Damon had managed to loosen during the fight and pointed a finger at Elena.
"You've been marked." He said through his broken nose. "Don't think you'll escape me."
With a final growl at Damon the vampire made his escape and Elena released a breath she hadn't even been aware she'd been holding. Ever so slowly realization set in. Against all probability she was still alive and the tree trunk was digging into her back and she was going to be in so much pain from the bruises in the morning and...A fresh wave of fear washed over Elena. "Damon!"
"What?"
"Are you still alive?" She asked, mentally smacking herself for the stupid question the very moment it left her lips.
"No." Came the reply. "Haven't been for over a century."
Elena rolled her eyes and, wincing against the pain that movement brought, she forced herself to go his side. Damon was lying crumpled across a smashed tombstone, an unappealing mixture of blood, dirt and rotten flowers covering his body. He shakily managed to push himself into a sitting position, keeping his face averted.
"Smart-ass." Elena said, making the word sound more like an endearment than an insult. "Look at me. Come on." She said as years of patching Jeremy back up when he'd fallen took over her instincts. Of course this wasn't a simple fall and Damon surely wasn't her brother (Elena allowed herself a brief moment of profound gratitude for that) but the instincts were there nevertheless. She barely kept herself from goading Damon into cooperation with sweets as she used to do with Jeremy when he turned around and she got a good look at his face.
"Sh...!" The word was out before she had any chance to hold it back. "You look like hell."
Damon looked almost comically offended at that and Elena had to stifle the urge to giggle hysterically. Clearly the adrenaline was wearing off and shock was about to set in. Any moment now. Just keep it together a little longer, she told herself firmly even while she noticed the way her fingers tightened around Damon's jacket, holding on to it as if her life depended on it. They caught each other's gaze and kept the contact for a moment before they broke the silence at the same time.
"Who was that?"
"Did you really attack a vampire with a branch? Who do you think you are? Buffy?"
Elena raised her chin defiantly. "I saved your miserable life." She paused, thinking. "Un-life."
"I saved yours first." Damon pointed out.
"How did you even know I'd be here? Did you do some stalking?"
"Why do you think everything in my life revolves around you? I do have other hobbies, you know."
Elena raised an eyebrow. "In a cemetery?"
Damon shrugged nonchalantly, then winced and cradled his arm protectively against his chest. It was only now that the full extent of his wounds really became clear to her and Elena drew in a shaky breath. The nausea was back in full force from the moment she imagined the full extent of his wounds. He really looked horrible, though something was giving her the impression that he was healing even while they spoke.
"You're trembling." Damon interrupted her thoughts quietly and, with a pained expression, managed to stand up. "We should leave. Figure this out somewhere else."
Elena nodded, some part of her mind realizing that the adrenaline that had kept her going until now was rapidly abating. "Yes. Let's go." She agreed absentmindedly, barely realizing how Damon put an arm around her shoulders in a protective gesture. Instead Elena's gaze was fixed on the broken tombstone Damon had just gotten up from.
The inscription upon it read 'Salvatore'.
*