Prologue:

1958 - New Years Eve Party at the Whitmore's

"Now you see it..." He broke the cuffs with a grin.

Damon shoved his thumbs into Doc Whitmore's eyes, his dulled emotions bursting with newfound glee as he felt his captor's eyes popping with the pressure. He bared his fangs and ripped open the human's neck, not even considering the possibility of it being poisoned with vervain. The blood was clean and it hit the spot after being nearly starved for five years. Damon needed more, barely noticing the toppling candles and flames springing up from the carpet. For the first time in years, he vamp sped at the next closest man, shoving him down and tearing the throat out of the screaming woman beside him. His strength returning, he joyfully twisted around another guys head, snapping the victim's spine, and watching people flee while blood dripped off his chin. He grabbed another man from behind and drained him before breaking his neck as well and speeding onward to another terrified party guest. Damon was completely consumed with bloodlust at this point, barely aware of Enzo calling him out of his glorious rampage.

"Damon! We've got to get out of here!" Enzo yelled desperately, "Damon NOW!"

Damon turned and sped over to the cage that Enzo was still locked in, unable to think clearly and attempting to break apart the vervain coated bars with his bare hands, groaning as they burned him. Still he attempted to pull the bars apart, shaking his hands off again as they sizzled.

"Damon stop! Get the keys, he dropped the keys!" Enzo shouted, pointing down at Whitmore's body as the flames drew hotter and nearer to the two vampires.

Damon looked around frantically, barely spotting the key ring through the smoke, as they glinted from the light of the fire. He scrambled over to the corpse of the mad scientist, tossing it aside and grasping the keys, nearly fumbling them while trying to unlock the cage. The keys were also coated and burned his fingers, but Damon barely noticed at this point, he was so enhanced by the overdose of blood and adrenaline.

The cage door flung open, and his friend was tumbling out...Damon could hardly focus on his surroundings anymore. The fire...the blood...people screaming and running elsewhere in the house, the overwhelming bloodlust, this must be how Stefan feels when he's a ripper, Damon thought vaguely, barely aware that a panicking Enzo was guiding them out of the house. Damon wanted to go after the rest of the Augustines and rip them all apart, but the air was suddenly cooler and he realized they had made it out of the building.

His mind snapped back to the present. His clothes were singed and sooty, and Enzo fell to his knees next to him, with barely enough strength to crawl a few feet further from the burning deathtrap. Damon's thoughts cleared and he realized that he needed to get them far away and fast, before more Augustines arrived or those who had already escaped returned to try to recapture them. Enzo was in no condition to fight, and they couldn't risk going after any more people here.

Damon heaved the weakened vampire over his shoulder and headed for the cover of darkness. He could smell the sweet air of freedom, and it tasted like blood and smoke.

Damon had carried Enzo away from the burning house fire until the other vampire found enough energy to stand on his own two feet again. The two of them stayed in the shadows until they spotted an inconspicuous motel, and Damon helped Enzo walk in. They must have looked and smelled terrible, but it was a small lobby and the only other person in the room was the clerk, who stared at the men in shock at their appearance. Damon compelled him to ignore what he saw and give them an unoccupied room. There were no vacancies but not everyone had arrived yet, so Damon made the clerk cancel someone's booking and give it to them instead. It would appear to be a clerical error if anyone showed up to claim their room. He helped Enzo get to the suite and dropped his friend on the bed, before telling him he'd be sending food his way and then he'd be back in the morning.

Damon had no intention of settling down for the night yet. He was too full of energy and excitement and wanted to have some fun, temporarily forgetting he was a complete mess. Damon closed the door to Enzo's room, putting a 'do not disturb' sign on the handle as he was leaving. Before he got to the end of the hall, his ears perked up to listen in on an argument he could hear happening on the floor above between a man and a woman. Lover's quarrel? he thought, as a third guy rushed past him in a panic while buttoning up a wrinkly, untucked shirt. 'Ah, love triangle' He smirked, and sped back in front of the guy, startling the man and grabbing his collar.

Compelling the man to answer with honesty, he asked amused, "Why are you running?"

"I just got caught sleeping with my brother's wife after sneaking away from a 'New Years Eve' party with her."

Damon laughed. "You'll do. Now be quiet and come with me, don't try to run or shout," he guided the adulterer back to the room where Enzo was resting, and shoved him towards his friend.

"Dinner time, Enzo, drink up." The man stumbled and fell forward at the foot of the bed next to Enzo, putting his arm out to stop his fall. His wrist was grabbed and torn open by the weakened vampire as Enzo immediately began feeding. Damon left again and shut the door, heading upstairs to the room with the ongoing argument.

"How could you do this to me Barbara, with my own brother? I've given you everything!"

"It was never enough Donald, I love Mack. He's always there for me when you go away on business for days."

"You filthy whore, why did you marry me if you were in love with him too?"

"It was always Mack, Donald. I only love Mack, but I couldn't marry him, he couldn't provide me the life that you do. Please don't leave me, I don't want a divorce Donald!"

Damon rolled his eyes and shook his head, stepping aside as Donald burst out of the room, slamming the door and leaving angrily. He could empathize with the poor sod, so he let the man pass by safely. Smirking, he walked towards the room, hearing the woman inside sobbing.

Knock, knock

He heard the woman rush to the door and she pulled it open while calling out with hope, "Mack?"

"I'm sorry, but no. I'm Damon. Why are you crying, doll?" He gazed at her with flirty blue eyes, quirking his eyebrows. The woman sniffled, entranced as he wiped away her tears, tilting his head and looking her over. She wasn't particularly attractive, but after five years of involuntary confinement he wasn't feeling picky at the moment.

"I..I..did something terrible..." she stammered, backing up as he walked into the room and shut the door behind him, keeping her gaze.

"I know," Damon started, "but I don't really care about any of that." He closed the distance between them and she finally noticed his dirty, blood covered clothes.

"Wait, who are you? What are you doing here?" The woman became scared and began to panic, so he grasped her face and compelled her not to be afraid of him. She calmed down immediately and he shed his soiled clothes as she watched, confused. He smirked in arrogance as she gawked at him lustfully.

"There, no more bloody clothes. You've had a rough night, and I'm in need of a shower, why don't you join me?" He didn't even compel her; she couldn't take her eyes off of him as he took her hand and led them into her bathroom. The woman had no inhibitions whatsoever without having any fear, and he had no trouble getting all of his primal needs satisfied.

He was only there about an hour, as she didn't really hold his interest for long. He felt clean and refreshed and left the woman partly drained, sitting on her hotel bed naked and compelled to forget everything that had transpired between the two of them. Whistling, he walked down the hall wrapped only in a towel. The night was still young and he needed new clothes. Thankfully, the motel was filled with troubled couples on holiday, and it wasn't hard to find everything he needed.

After sleeping with a couple more loose women, and collecting a handful of outfits from the men they so easily betrayed, he woke up next to a pretty blonde the next morning. Damon stretched as he stood up, yawning with satisfaction. He opened the curtains and stood in front of the window, thrilled to finally be free to bask in the morning's sunlight. It was the first morning after their escape, and he couldn't be happier. He dressed in a casual outfit and slung the rest of his clothes over his shoulder, heading back to the room where he'd left Enzo.

Unsurprisingly, there was a pile of bodies in the room, as his starved friend had needed a lot of blood last night. In addition to Mack, Enzo had drained all of the unlucky men that Damon had sent down from the upstairs rooms he'd been in. The water was running in the bathroom, so Damon figured Enzo was cleaning up. He plopped down in a chair that was blood free, and waited for his friend to finish. They had a lot of work to do, tying up loose ends and destroying everything and everyone related to Augustine, and Damon was enthusiastic about getting started.