Preparations
It was warm outside, and for the first time since September, and I was basking in the glory of the sun. I finally had Elena, and we were soon going to be married. Katherine and Stefan had decided to make it a short engagement, travelling to Vegas immediately after Christmas, but I wanted to wait just a little bit. Elena deserved a wedding fit for a queen, and we couldn't organize that kind of a party in a short amount of time. Mystic Falls was a small town, and we had to have almost everything brought in from surrounding towns in order to make the masterpiece wedding that I envisioned in my head. 1000's of white roses, the most delicious steak (rare, for my benefit), and every citizen of Mystic Falls. Being a Gilbert, Elena had certain duties to uphold, which included inviting some random strangers to her own wedding.
I was walking along the streets with Elena, going in and out of shop and registering for gifts; I never thought Elena could be so excited about gifts, but she was. She acted like a giddy school girl, though she had graduated already. She pranced into the shops holding my hand, and together we picked out the things that Elena thought were the most beautiful. She was finally getting the princess treatment that she deserved and needed after the crazy year she has had.
"What do you think of this, Damon?" Elena held up a large, colourful punch bowl. I smiled at her and shook my head no. I think this was the first thing I had told her no on, and I immediately felt bad for saying it to her, but it was the most ugly punch bowl I had ever seen in my life, and trust me, I had seen a lot of ugly things over the past 145 years.
We continued this way for a few hours, giving my approval for registering for items that would probably just end up in the basement of the house. After we reached the last store in the town that could possibly hold anything of interest, we decided to head home.
"Damon, I have to go…..take care of something. Would you mind just heading home without me? It's bride stuff, very hush-hush," Elena laughed. I stroked her cheek with my hand, kissed her head, and nodded, signalling my approval. She ran off down the street, turning back to wave at me before turning the corner and vanishing from my sight.
I walked back towards the house at a very quick speed, carrying the lists of items that Elena had chosen over the course of the day, and set them down in my bedroom. After that, I immediately went and got a blood bag from the fridge before heading into the living room to relax. It was harrowing, walking in and out of shops all day and deciding between tall glass vases and different assortments of silverware. I took a swig of blood and walked into the living room, and to my surprise, there sat Stefan and Katherine.
"I see you two are back from Venice already. Why the rush home?" I asked them, sitting on the couch across from them. They smiled at me before they spoke.
"It's no big deal," said Katherine.
"I don't think you should tell him, dear. You know how he gets," said Stefan.
"Oh shut up!" Katherine yelled at Stefan before turning back to me.
"What's going on? This is really starting to piss me off," I said angrily.
"Well you obviously know that your wedding is coming up soon, but there is something else," said Stefan.
"The werewolves are back. We caught their scent on our way back. Tyler is with them," said Katherine, grasping Stefan's hand tighter than it already had been.
"What does this mean?" I asked.
"What do you think? We killed most of them the last time, but this time there's more of them. About 20 or so. We don't know what they want yet, but it can't be good."
I sat there, totally amazed by the information I had just received. It had barely been 10 months since the werewolves had killed Rose and abducted Caroline. They knew that there was no point in trying to come up against us again, not without a full moon.
"Why would they try something like this again? It's not going to work without a full moon. There's no way that they could beat us? Are wolves really as stupid as I thought they were?" I got off the couch, and paced across the room. The werewolves were our only weaknesses, and they knew it, but why attack now?
"I have to go tell Elena what's going on. She'll want to know," I told them as I ran out the door. They were both behind me within seconds.
"Do you really want to ruin her excitement over the wedding?" Stefan asked.
"Do you really expect me to lie to her and tell her everything is ok when it isn't?" I asked, speeding up.
We arrived at Elena's just as she was getting home with a large black garment bag.
"Damon, what are you doing here? I said I would be back to the house later," she said, shocked to see me, " Katherine, Stefan, what are you guys doing back so early?"
"We'll let you know when we get inside," whispered Katherine, grabbing the garment bag from Elena and rushing it up to her room and re-joining us before we knew it.
"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong? You guys look so worried!" Elena asked, worry plaguing her voice. I hated having to do this to her, but she needed to know.
"Elena, the werewolves are back," Stefan said, looking at Katherine.
"Ok, why is this a problem?" she asked, grasping my hand.
"It's a problem because there's 20 of them and we don't know what they want," I told her. She looked horrified; the last time that we dealt with the werewolves they had tried to kill Caroline and Elena. I was not too thrilled myself, in fact, I was pissed off. Didn't they know that I would rip out their hearts if they tried anything with Elena?
"Don't worry, Elena, we won't let anything happen to you. With us and Caroline, and maybe Bonnie, around to protect you, there is nothing to worry about," Katherine tried to comfort Elena, but I could tell it wasn't working.
"It's not me I'm worried about, it's you guys, and the rest of Mystic Falls. What if they go after the people that I care about? They've already done that once, what will stop them from trying again?" she asked, worriedly.
"Nothing's going to happen to anyone, my love. Not if I have anything to say about it," I kissed her cheek and gave her a hug.
"I won't let anything happen to you guys. What if I can help?" she asked, smiling hopefully at Stefan and Katherine. I could tell what she was thinking even before the idea had come out of her mouth.
"There is no way in hell!" I shouted, letting go of Elena's hand and walking to the window.
"Oh come on, Damon, why not? I can help you guys!" she begged, rushing to my side and grasping my hand.
I didn't look at her. Of course, I would have to deal with that problem eventually but not now. If I wanted Elena for eternity, I would have to give her eternity. But not for this; I would not let the werewolves dictate how Elena's life would play out.
"Damon's right, Elena, the werewolves shouldn't dictate the rest of your life," said Katherine. She had gotten in my head; I guess that is what happens when you've been alive for a good 500 and a bit years and have been drinking human blood without stopping all that time.
Nobody said anything for a little while after that. It was tense and uncomfortable; Elena had never brought up the subject before then about her turning in to one of us. Was this everyone's solution to everything?
"Well, I need to go... do some stuff. Damon, can I call you later?" Elena got up, gave me a kiss, and went up to her room.
"Did I say the wrong thing?" I asked after Elena had gotten upstairs.
"No, Damon, it wasn't wrong, it was perfectly right. But she's going to have to turn someday, or you'll lose her eventually," Stefan came over and pat me on the shoulder. I took little comfort in his kind gesture after how I'd hurt Elena.
We all left shortly after that and returned to the boarding-house. I still had a lot of work to do before the wedding; I still hadn't written my vows yet and I had to address the small number of invitations for friends of mine. I'm sure Elena had a lot of work to do as well, but she would be doing nothing but worrying now.
I sat in my room, thinking about Elena, the werewolves, everything. I was worried about Elena, worried about what the werewolves were planning. I wasn't going to let anything happen to Elena or the people of Mystic Falls; I had come to care for the town as I once had before the vampires were discovered.
Hours later, after a good nap and a cold drink, I called Elena to apologise. She didn't answer her phone, so I called her cell phone a few times, and once again she did not answer. I started to worry after about the 7th time I called. No answer, no nothing, just a busy tone. I ran downstairs to where Katherine and Stefan were after I tried one more time.
"Stefan, Elena's not answering her phone. It's just a busy tone!" I shouted, worried and scared for Elena.
"I'm sure that Elena is fine. How many times did you try to call her?" Katherine asked.
"8 or 9. I lost count," I said. Stefan and Katherine immediately got up off the couch and we ran for the door. 2 minutes later, we were at Elena's house. I ran through the door and up to Elena's room, but was back down stairs before Stefan and Katherine could say Mystic Falls.
"SHE'S GONE!"