"Be my distraction" he whispered in my ear, littering kisses along my neck. I arched my neck up farther to give him more access. I pulled his face up to look in my eyes. His blue eyes pierced mine, and he leaned down to kiss me. Wrapping my arms around his neck I was lost in him. "May I?" he asked, licking my neck lightly. Before even hearing my answer there was a pain in my neck, and I woke up screaming.
I had been having these dreams for months. I had just graduated college and was looking for my first job. I was hoping to find work as a biology teacher. My hands stroked my neck, no marks, nothing. It hadn't happened. Furrowing my brow, I tried to remember the man in my dream. He had bright blue eyes, that I remembered. I had run his hair through my fingers… his black shaggy hair. His face… he had been smirking. I sighed. That's all I remembered. Getting up from my bed I slipped on a nightgown and went to the mirror. I looked at my reflection and focused. My eyes flashed purple as my aura flared around my body. Its normal purple hue was shot through with silver. Silver? That was odd. I had wondered if it was the color of the aura of the man I was dreaming about. Somehow, the silver felt wrong. It didn't feel like a live aura. After a moment, the silver faded.
I went down to my front door and picked up my paper. I moved to my kitchen table, sipping on some water. Opening the paper I began to read the wanted ads hoping for a lead on a job, but my eyes automatically drifted to one at the bottom in small print. "Wanted- Biology Teacher, Mystic Falls High- Desperate"
Mystic Falls? I felt a shiver slide over my body, and the face of the man in my dream was clearer than ever. Was he in Mystic Falls? Only one way to find out. It was time to make some phone calls.
Damon Salvatore lurched awake. The woman had been in his dreams again. He lay back, closing his eyes. It had been a couple months since Elena had chosen Stefan over him. He had tried to be good to her, to win her over while Stefan had his emotions deactivated, but she waited for Stefan, and there was nothing Damon could do. She had let him think he had a chance, even kissed him, but it was not to be. He had tried to get over Elena, but she was always around. He liked to think he had been a good sport about the whole thing, but it just made him angry, impulsive, and somewhat cruel. About a month ago, this woman had started appearing in his dreams. She had breast length wavy brown hair. He remembered running his fingers through it while kissing her. Her lips had been so soft. Her eyes had captivated him. They were a greenish grey but then they flashed… purple? He shook his head. Not possible.
He had to know who she was. He was tired of her getting in his head. He had to find her… and drain her, compel her, or something. This had to stop.
Not even a week later my bags were packed for Mystic Falls and I was saying my goodbyes to my neighbors. I had even managed to find a house. I was ready to start my life over, and to figure out who was haunting my dreams.
Damon was having another dream. "I'm coming for you" she whispered in his ear, before her eyes flashed purple and he woke up. Who was this woman? What did she want?
"We're so glad to have you on board Ms. Allen." The principal grinned. "Summer break ends in a few weeks, so you have a couple weeks to prepare your curriculum and get settled here in town."
"Thanks" I replied. "I'm so glad to be here."
"What brought you to Mystic Falls anyway? We're such a small town."
"I'm looking for someone. I doubt I'll find him, but I thought I'd put down some roots. Your town is quite adorable."
"Well I hope you find who you're looking for. It looks like the paperwork is all set. See you in a couple weeks for our faculty meeting."
"Of course! Thank you so much!" I shook his hand and left his office with a wave. I removed my keys from my pocket and was about to unlock my car when I felt someone watching me. When I turned my head to look, they were gone. This town made me feel tense. Something was wrong here, and I figured that whatever it was would lead me to my mystery man.
Damon stood hidden across the street. He was sure it was her. She was here. Now he had to decide what to do with her. Was he going to drain her? No, he didn't think so. He would do what he did with his other distractions. He was going to compel her, to make her his. He didn't want her having any power over him. Just killing her would be too kind a fate after the past month of dreaming. He took after her car, following her home.
I could tell someone was following me. I could feel his aura, so I wasn't surprised when I opened my door to see him standing right in front of me.
"Who are you?!" He demanded. "Why have I been dreaming about you?"
"Why have I been dreaming about you?!" I yelled back. "You're the one looking for me. I wouldn't be able to communicate with you that way if you weren't."
"What are you?" He yelled. I watched his silver aura curl off him in wisps.
"I'm a psychic." I responded. "I can sense things, and see auras. I'm very amateur. I could tell something was looking for me here, and I had been dreaming about you, so I came."
"Well I don't want you here!" he yelled. "I'm having enough problems."
"What are you?" I asked unfazed. "You're something else, like me, aren't you?"
"That I won't tell you" he growled. He walked up to me and looked me straight in the eye. "You will forget about me. You will go on with your life as a normal school teacher. You won't recognize me when you see me."
"How am I supposed to-" I started, but by that time, he was gone.
Damon Salvatore stood outside her house shaking. Well that hadn't gone as planned. He had wanted to seduce her, to compel her and win her over. Instead he had just snapped. He didn't frighten her, even when he was angry. He didn't understand how she was so calm. And a psychic? Was that a witch like Bonnie, or something else? Maybe that's why he didn't have to be invited in to her house. She was some sort of supernatural. He had to talk to Stefan. He hoped the compulsion worked, but he wasn't sure it would. He slid his phone out of his pocket and dialed.
"Hey brother" he said with a wince. "We have a problem."
I dreamt of him again. This time we were just standing in a doorway. "Why did you treat me like that today? You were cruel."
"That's what I do, baby." He said sarcastically. "I ruin everything I touch, burn every bridge I come across."
"You know, you don't have to do that." I said. "What happened to make you like this?"
"My brother made me a monster. I lost both girls that I loved. I lived through the prohibition. Horrible tragedies." He finished with a sarcastic shrug.
"Well we all have problems."
"And I'm sure yours are so horrible." He finished with an eyeroll.
"You can confide in someone you know." I remarked, ignoring his previous comment.
"The last person I trusted chose my brother over me. Why would I ever trust anyone again?"
"Maybe because there are people worth trusting."
"Maybe because there are people worth trusting." Her last words echoed in his head as he awoke from his dream. So the compulsion hadn't worked after all. This dream had been different. This hadn't been like the sex and blood filled dreams of the past. They had been talking. She had wanted to know more about him. Though he had been his usual sarcastic self, he couldn't hide information from her. If she asked a question, he answered. He wondered if it was her forcing him to answer, or if it was just his subconscious. He got the feeling he didn't really WANT to hide anything from her. He had to figure out what was going on. But first… he needed a drink.
I walked in to The Grill, looking for a bite to eat. I had yet to buy food for my new place, and I knew it wasn't a good idea to go grocery shopping while hungry. Glancing around, I noticed people mingling everywhere, a pool table in one corner, and what looked like a well-stocked bar across the restaurant. Who should be sitting at the bar but the man from my dreams.
"Well hey there" I said with a grin, coming to sit beside him.
"Leave me alone" he groaned, putting his head in his hands.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Damon Salvatore." He said with a sigh, "It looks like I won't be rid of you no matter how hard I try. I can't compel you."
"So that's what you were trying to do yesterday." I said. "What are you?"
"Not here" he said. "Come with me and I'll explain." He grabbed my hand and led me out of the bar, leaving his empty shot glass behind him.
He took me out to the back of the restaurant. "Okay" I said, placing my hands on my hips. "Now spill. I'm tired of all the mysteries."
He looked at her, up and down. She was rather attractive, but he needed her gone. He couldn't compel her, so he couldn't make her an obedient distraction like all the others. He would just have to kill her. He pounced at the speed of light, his veins rippling around his eyes, turning them red. He sank his fangs into her neck, drinking deeply. It had been so long since he tasted human blood from the source. She was almost dead, he felt her pulse slowing, then all of a sudden he was repelled. A purple sheath surround her body. He reached over to snap her neck, but the sheath protected him from even touching her. He couldn't kill her. He had no choice, he had to take her home. He slowly reached over to pick her up. The sheath sensed he wasn't about to hurt her and allowed this. Boy would he have a lot of explaining to do.
I felt myself coming to. My head felt fuzzy, and I couldn't open my eyes. Every part of my body felt heavy, like it was filled with lead. Then I heard voices.
"What were you thinking!?" One voice exclaimed. Not Damon's voice. Some other man.
"I don't know. She had me all angry! She's been messing with my head, infiltrating. I can't lie to her, I can't compel her! I needed her gone. I didn't want any more complications." That was Damon's voice. Were they talking about… me?
"Well now we're going to have to explain everything. You said she can't be killed or compelled?"
"Definitely can't be compelled. I tried killing her but this purple shield surrounded her and prevented me from hurting her."
"A purple shield?"
"My aura" I replied, finally able to sit up and open my eyes.
"Your what-a?" Damon asked.
"My aura, the electromagnetic field that surrounds my body. As a psychic I'm automatically more tapped in to my aura."
"What all can you do?" The other man asked.
"Well I never had any professional training. I can access my aura and connect to people through dreams. That's more subconscious. If they're searching for me, I can appear in their dreams, but I can't force it. Damon must have been looking for me."
"But I wasn't!" He exclaimed.
"You were telling me you were wondering who you were supposed to be with if it wasn't Catherine or Elena. You said the doppelgangers were destined to love me, so you were wondering who you were destined to love." The other man replied. "That was about a month ago. You might not remember, you were very drunk."
"So I brought this upon myself then" Damon groaned.
"Doppelgangers?" I asked.
"It's a long story." Damon replied.
"So spill" I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm sick and tired of this."
"Alright, alright." The second man said. "I guess we don't have a choice. I'm Stefan Salvatore."
"My goodie goodie brother" Damon added. Stefan rolled his eyes.
"We're vampires. We wear daylight rings so we can go out in the day. I drink only animal blood, and Damon usually only drinks donated blood. An herb called vervain can really hurt us, so we have to be very careful. If someone ingests it and we drink their blood, it poisons us. We also can't enter a house unless invited in."
"So that explains…" I placed my hand on my neck. "Wait, how could he get in my house? I never invited him in."
"It must be because you're a super natural too, a psychic."
"Why are you telling her all our secrets!?" Damon exclaimed.
"So she can protect herself from you" Stefan shot him a glare.
"Well it looks like her aura is already doing that for her."
"I'm still a little dizzy…"
She lay there on the couch, having passed out once again.
"Do you see what you did?" Stefan yelled at him.
"I'm sorry, I can't help myself, being a bad vamp and all."
"Well take her upstairs to your room and give her a place to lie down."
"Why my room?!"
"Because you did this. Please brother, just do this. I'll talk to Elena and Alaric and keep trying to think up what we should do."
Damon picked her up, still grumbling. He knew he shouldn't let Stefan push him around, but this was his fault. He had no idea what to do with her. Gingerly, he set her on his bed and tucked her under the covers. He sat on the side of the bed, staring at her. She was beautiful. Her hair was exactly as he remembered it from his dreams. She wore glasses though, but he thought that made her look more sophisticated. He leaned down to brush some hair off of her face. He felt a shock run through his hand, and watched a wispy silvery substance form around it. He watched the purple shield form around her head, as it had done around her whole body before. He watched some of the silver from his hand flow onto her head, and some of the purple flow into his hand. That must have been his aura. They were… mixing. He had no idea what that meant, but it freaked him out. He had to calm down. Time for a drink and a shower. Pouring himself a glass of bourbon he downed it, turned on the hot water and stepped under the stream.
I gasped awake, bolting up in bed. Something felt different. I looked down at my aura. My normally purple aura was shot through with sliver, completely intertwined with it. I had no idea where I was. I certainly wasn't home. I looked around for Damon, Stefan, anyone, when I heard the shower. Wrapping my arms around myself I walked over to the bathroom.
"Hello?" I called.
"Good morning sleepy head!" A voice called from the other side. Damon.
"How long was I out?"
"Not long this time." He said. "I got in a couple minutes ago."
"May I join you?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't necessarily want to be in the shower with him, but I needed a shower, and I had more questions.
"If you must" he sighed.
Sliding off my dress, my underwear, and setting my glasses on the bathroom counter I stepped into the shower. I glanced Damon over. He was well built and had defined muscles. I couldn't bring myself to look lower.
"Oh come on I know you want to" Damon teased, so I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Real mature" he smirked.
"Why did you bring me here?" I asked.
"Stefan told me to. He wanted to wait until you came round. He wanted to make sure you wouldn't spill the beans about our secret. This town is rather… hostile towards vampires."
"Of course I won't. I have my own secret to keep anyways. Have been keeping it for years."
"True" Damon said with a nod. "Stefan just wanted to make sure. We both have our roles here in town."
"And what are those roles?"
"Stefan plays a high school senior with his girlfriend Elena. I'm sure you'll be meeting her soon. They're always together."
"She's one of the doppelgangers Stefan mentioned..." I stared at him. "You loved her."
"How do you know that?" his eyes flashed.
"I can just tell. I can't explain it. There are some things I just know by looking or talking to a person. The better I know them, the more I know."
"Anyways, I am on the secret town counsel."
"Secret town counsel?"
"To deal with the vampire problem."
"And how did you manage to get on that, being a vampire and all?"
"Very carefully." Damon responded with a smirk. I raised my eyebrows. "Really" he said. "Very carefully. I'm the head of the counsel. The sheriff has a vampire daughter who is one of Elena's dearest friends, and the mayor has a son who is a werewolf hybrid, who is sleeping with Elena's dearest friend."
"Goodness this town is complicated."
"I haven't even mentioned the witches"
"Witches?!"
"Well actually it's more like witch. Another of Elena's nearest and dearest. And then we have the Originals."
"Originals?"
"The original vampires. There are four of them left. We know that two of them are still in town, including the most dangerous, a hybrid between werewolf and vampire."
"What have I gotten myself into?" I squeaked.
"A hell hole" Damon replied, reaching behind me to turn off the shower. "By the way, nice rack." I squeaked again and tried to cover them up while Damon stepped out and tossed me a towel. "Just remember, you came looking for me. It's not my fault if you don't like what you found."
I rolled my eyes and dried off, slipping my clothes back on. Damon tied the towel around his waist and searched for clothes.
"We better be getting you downstairs. There will be some people who want to meet you. What is your name anyway? I don't think I ever bothered to ask."
"I'm Kat Allen, so nice of you to ask." I replied sarcastically. Damon slipped on a pair of jeans and a simple t-shirt.
"Alright up we go." He picked me up bridal style.
"Hey!" I called, squirming about. "I can walk you know!"
"Don't want you passing out again. Gotta keep you off your feet!" I crossed my arms in defeat and Damon chuckled.
"What?" I demanded and he carried me down the stairs.
"You're just so adorable when you're angry." I stuck my tongue out at him again. "And so mature."
There were three people in the living room. Stefan, who I recognized from earlier, a girl who must be Elena, and another man, whom I didn't recognized.
"Who is he?" I whispered in Damon's ear.
"That's Alaric Saltzman. He's a history teacher, vampire hunter, and is haunted by the darkness of the ring he carries. It protects him from death by supernaturals. But it wore away at his mind, and he has a dark alter ego. Very dangerous. He's under constant supervision here."
"Wow things are complicated."
"You have no idea."
Damon set me down on a plush chair and moved to stand behind me, hands on the back of the chair. "Kat, you've already met Stefan"
"Nice to see that you're awake and on the mend." He said with a nod.
"Yes I feel much better, thank you."
"We'll have time for pleasantries later." Damon said sharply. "She's till tired and will need more rest soon. This is Elena, who you've already heard plenty about."
"Hello" Elena said shortly. I nodded.
"It's nice to meet you."
"And this" Damon said with a wave of his hand, "is Alaric Saltzman."
"So you're the new Biology Teacher everyone is all in a tizzy about. The principal said you appeared out of nowhere, looking for a job in Mystic Falls."
"I was looking for him" I said pointing up.
"Looking for Damon?" He asked with a laugh. "The only people that ever come looking for Damon are looking to kill him."
"He was appearing in my dreams. I am not here to kill him."
"So he's turned you into one of his obedient pets then?"
"I am no one's pet Alaric. Be cautious of who you speak that way to. I can see your aura. You have known great sorrow, been betrayed by those closest to you. There is darkness on the outskirts of your aura, looking for a chance to find its way in. If you are not careful it will destroy you completely." Alaric closed his mouth, and Damon let out a laugh.
"Isn't she a hoot?" Damon said. "I wouldn't want to be on her bad side!" Stefan cleared his throat, glancing at Damon.
"Right, down to business then." Stefan said. "It looks like you've accidently, or not so accidently, stumbled into our world, though it seems that you were already, unwittingly however, a part of it. We need to know you'll keep it secret."
"I've been keeping my own secret for many years, I can keep yours."
"We'll have Damon look out for you for a while, to make sure you aren't in danger and that you keep your mouth shut."
Damon opened his mouth to protest but Stefan silenced him with a look. Damon slowly shut it with a glare. Though he didn't want the responsibility, the woman did intrigue him. He was curious. Very few things ever made him feel anything anymore, not after Elena chose Stefan, but she was candid, clearly intelligent, and they had some sort of connection he wanted to know more about.
"For tonight" Stefan continued. "We'd like you to stay here."
"But-" I began.
"Would you rather be taken to a hospital? We just want to know you're going to be alright. It'd be a shame for Mystic Falls to lose its new Biology teacher so soon."
I sighed in defeat. "So where will I be staying?"
"With Damon of course" Elena added.
"Why with me?" Damon groaned.
"She's under your protection" Stefan remarked. Damon sighed. He would argue more, but at this point, it was arguing for the sake of arguing. She was here, and he had more questions for her. It was best if he just kept his mouth shut.
"Do we have any more business here?" Damon asked.
"Who's Elena's doppelganger?" I asked. "Or who is she the doppelganger of?"
"Katarina Petrova." Damon answered coldly. "The other woman I loved. She was also a doppelganger, of the original Petrova that was used to bind the curse of Klaus, one of the originals I told you about. The hybrid. It hid his werewolf side. He broke free of that curse a little while ago. Now he uses Elena's blood to turn werewolves into hybrids, like the Mayor's son."
"Thanks" I said, smiling up at him. He stared down at me, his blue eyes piercing.
"Well let's get you back to bed, and get some food and fluids in you. Blood loss is a serious thing to recover from." Damon remarked dismissively.
"Are you going to cook for me?" I asked. "I didn't know vampires liked food."
"It helps with the cravings." Stefan responded.
"Yes I'll cook for you. Make anything you like. Sound okay? It's the least I can do after I almost killed you. That's the only reason I'm being so nice to you and listening to my brother." Damon grunted.
"Well, thanks for that all the same." I smiled. "Can I sit with you in the kitchen while you cook?"
"I suppose" he grumbled. Picking me up again he carried me to the kitchen.
"What do you think of her?" Stefan asked Elena.
"Well she certainly doesn't take crap from anybody." Elena replied.
"I think that's a good thing when it comes to Damon." Alaric interjected.
"I think she could be the best thing that has ever happened to him" Stefan said.
"You know, I think you could be right." Elena remarked.
"So what do you want?" Damon asked.
"You know, I usually love to cook. I could help you." I got up out of the chair that Damon placed me in.
"Oh no you don't!" he exclaimed, coming over and throwing me over his shoulder, forcing me back into my seat.
"You won't let me do anything!" I pouted.
"Not at least until the day after tomorrow." Damon insisted. "We need to make sure you're alright."
"What about unpacking my house?!" I demanded.
"I can help you with that tomorrow. You can even tell me where to put everything."
"Ooh you're letting me tell you what to do? Doesn't sound like something Damon Salvatore would do."
"And how do you know what Damon Salvatore would do?"
"It's not how you are. I can just tell. I must be pretty special."
Damon didn't reply. Instead he asked, "Well, what will it be?"
"What do you have?" I asked.
"Anything you could possibly want. Now tell me what to make you before I lose my patience."
"Okay, okay. How about ravioli and meatballs?"
"That's good. Has lots of protein, will help make sure you don't become anemic." And he set off making my food straight away. He pulled fresh ground beef out of the fridge, and ravioli out of the freezer. "You don't mind frozen ravioli do you?"
"Well, as long as you unfreeze it" I joked.
"Of course I'll unfreeze it" he grumbled. He filled a pot with water and set it to boil.
"Are you going to make the meatballs from scratch?" I asked.
"The sauce too" Damon said with a smirk. "If you're going to do something, you have to do it right."
I watched with curiosity as he cooked. He was quite agile, but had a very clear attention to detail. I wouldn't have imagined a vampire like Damon would enjoy cooking.
"So can you eat garlic?"
"Of course I can eat garlic." Damon said with a sigh. "Don't believe anything you read. The only things they got right was the bit about the sun, and the part about the wooden stakes."
"Stefan said you had rings that protected you from the sun."
"Yep" Damon said holding his up.
"Where did you get it?"
"Katarina, or Catherine as I knew her, her witch made them for us. Catherine was a vampire. She's the one who turned us into vampires."
"And how do you become a vampire?"
"You sure have a lot of questions. You become a vampire by drinking the blood of a vampire and then dying while it's in your system. Then you have to drink the blood of a human to complete the transformation."
"Well, I have been asking a lot of questions." I admitted. "I'm just fascinated, sorry." Damon shrugged. "So, do you have any questions for me?"
"Several." He said. "Have you ever met another of your kind?"
"I think my mother. She never told me anything about it. We never really got along. I don't even know where she is now." I sighed. "I think we're very rare. We were burned as witches, even though a psychic and a witch are not the same."
"I can tell. You and Bonnie are very different. She can't do things with aura like you can. She can see things in dreams like you can though, but I don't think she can communicate through them. Do you know of anything else you can do?" He asked while he formed the meatballs.
"Honestly no. I could do more than I know, but I'm not sure. This is only stuff that I've figured out. I was about 16 when I realized that not everyone could see auras. You were the first person I've ever communicated with through a dream. That's how I knew you were special."
Damon was silent. "So that's why you came out here." He stated after a moment.
"I had to find you, to know who you were. I needed to know why you were in my dreams."
"According to Stefan I was looking for my soulmate."
"Well, I think there's a reason that you both are still here. Elena is the reason Stefan is still here. That's why he's been alive so long, waiting for her. Why are you still here?" I asked.
He turned to look at me. "I don't know." He slid the meatballs into the oven and placed the frozen raviolis in the boiling water.
"Well, I think everyone needs a reason to be alive."
"Right now I just spend my time drinking and being mad." Damon said, cursing himself for answering honestly without thinking about it.
"Well that's no way to live." I remarked. "You need to remember why you're alive, why you're here."
"And how am I supposed to do that?" he snapped.
"You let yourself." I looked up into his eyes. "You stop punishing yourself for your past, and stop wallowing over women who didn't and don't and won't love you. Being hung up on them will get you nowhere."
"Thank you" he said sincerely, "for being honest with me."
"Hasn't Stefan been honest with you?"
"Yes, but who ever listens to their brother?" I laughed at that, and he genuinely smiled.
"Well I'm glad you think I'm worth listening to" I remarked with a laugh.
"What?" he teased, pretending not to listen. I glared at him and he laughed whole heartedly. I realized that that was the first time I ever heard him laugh. "But seriously" he remarked, "thank you."
"No problem. I'm always brutally honest."
"What's going on down there?" Elena asked Stefan as they laid in bed, noticing his distraction.
"Laughing. They're laughing." Stefan said. "Damon is really laughing."
"She really could be good for him" Elena said. "We'll see how they're doing in the morning."
"Here's your food." Damon said, handing me a plate heaping with ravioli and meatballs.
"I don't think I can eat all of this!" I exclaimed.
"Well, why don't you try" Damon replied. "You may be hungrier than you think. You went through a lot today."
I nodded and popped one of the raviolis in my mouth. I was surprised by how good it was. "This is really good, Damon" I mumbled.
"You're welcome" he smirked. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."
I scarfed down everything on my plate, to my surprise. Apparently I was very hungry. My head began to droop soon after I finished.
"Looks like somebody's tired" Damon remarked.
"Mhm" I nodded.
"Well let's get you to bed." He picked me up bridal style again, wrapping my arms around his neck. Back in his room, he laid me down on the bed. "What all do you want to wear to bed?"
"I usually wear just a t-shirt." I yawned.
"Give me a moment" Damon said, pawing through his drawers. When he came back he slipped off my dress and helped me get on the black t-shirt he found. "How's that?"
"Just fine" I smiled sleepily at him.
"Do you want me to stay with you or do you want me to sleep elsewhere?"
"Stay, please. I don't want to put you out of your bed." With that Damon undressed to his boxers and slid into bed next to me. He pulled me rather close to him and rested my head on his chest.
I felt myself drifting off, but I heard him whisper to me, "Maybe you will give me a reason to be alive." He kissed my forehead. After that I drifted right off.