It has become a tradition. Luke, this is for you. As always we tried our best, we love you a lot and we hope this little gift makes your day a bit brighter. Enjoy!
Att: Steph & Caro
It was a cold and empty night. There was no soul in sight, except for a car across the road. The loud music coming from it could be heard from the distance. The quietness and darkness should terrify anyone, but not the young couple returning from a party, blissfully happy and carefree, unaware of their surroundings.
"We've been driving for hours, or it was just ten minutes since we left? I can't tell" Complained the girl, annoyed and a little bit tipsy from the alcohol she was consuming before.
"Relax baby, we are almost getting to my place. Why don't you keep your hands busy if you know what I mean" was the answer her so attractive boyfriend gave to her, with a wink and the hint of a smirk, remarking his suggestion.
She rolled her eyes, but smiled and was willing to comply. Using her hand, she started to draw circles on his thigh, making him shift of position in the drive seat. It was the reaction she was expecting. Just when she was moving her hand up further, the car turned around 180 degrees and she was taken aback by the force with her head hit the steering wheel.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" was the only thing she could manage to say. Her head was spinning.
"I think I saw someone lying on the road. We almost hit someone!" He was trying to regain his composure. It wasn't that he cared hitting someone, but it wasn't smart to have problems with the cops again, not even 2 months after he was caught trying to rob from some store.
"Shouldn't we check then?"
"Maybe it's just someone more drunk than us" He replied, shrugging his shoulders. At the 'are you serious?' look from his girlfriend, and without wanting to be called a coward, he got out of the car, with his girl following him close.
"There's no way I'm staying there alone" She said in answer to his silent question.
The cold air hit them in the face. An abrupt change from the warmth they got used to while inside the car. It was too quiet, their footsteps echoing along the road. As they kept approaching, the person they almost hit before started to take the form of a man, apparently unconscious. He was wearing a black leather jacket, a black t-shirt underneath, black pants and black boots. His hair was messy and black too. He could be easily confused with the dark of the night. His hands were resting over his chest, and a big ring with a 'D' on it was placed in one of his fingers. Even in this state, his features seemed harsh, giving him a sinister look. There was something about him, they couldn't figure it out what yet, but it made them feel uneasy. As they wanted to reach for the man and check if he was still alive, he was already on his feet, which was weird considering they didn't see him move. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. One minute he was lying on the road, the next minute he was in front of them. His eyes were drained of any emotion, and his mouth was twisted in a diabolical smile.
"Don't move" Said the stranger with an indifferent tone, first to her boyfriend, then to her. She started to panic when she realized that her body was frozen in place. She wanted to run to the safety of the car but her muscles weren't responding. The panic was growing. This was supposed to be a fun night, with friends, music and alcohol, ending up with her having sex with her guy. But it was turning into a nightmare. She couldn't move, was it because the fear was overpowering her survival instincts? Or it was because of his command? But that was absurd, and yet she could only see what was happening around her.
The man was standing there, motionless.
"You've been a very naughty and sinful girl" Were his next words. He was staring at her, his lips curved into a smirk, as if he knew every one of her dirtiest secrets and it made her shiver to her core.
Turning around, he was facing her boyfriend now "Your poor soul is so corrupted, it'd serve well to feed Sybil"
Before they could even register the meaning of his words, Damon sank his teeth on him, in front of the astonished look of the girl and her scream of horror, before leaving the guy unconscious. With his mouth covered of blood, he approached the girl, like a predator haunting his prey. His teeth were on her neck as soon as she was about to scream once again. The taste of her blood was delicious, but Damon stopped his assault when he felt her body going limp. Sybil needed them alive. He released her and positioned her right next to the guy. When he started dragging their bodies to the hidden Camaro, his vampire hearing captured another sound. Footsteps. He wasn't alone. Someone was coming.
Damon turned away from the battered bodies of his victims in alert. Waiting patiently for the person who was about to turn into his new victim. He grinned maliciously. He wasn't expecting his night to become so interesting. And then he saw her. It was Elena. But that was impossible. Was he hallucinating? Wasn't she supposed to be under the sleeping spell, still in a coffin? At the vision of her, his heart grew in his chest and he rested his hand near to it. His whole face lit up. A real smile appeared this time. He could feel Sybil tense in response, trying to reach out to him, trying to not lose her control over him. She knew who Elena was. Of course she knew. Elena was present in his mind at every moment. She knew that Elena was the only one who could bring him out from the darkness. The only one capable to set him free from her chains. He fell to his knees, trying to fight the agonizing and excruciating pain in his head. It was an agony. His body was trembling, his vision was blurry. Trying to stop the evil force ready to take over, he fought back with all his strength. He was weak, but seeing her again was all he needed to not give up. He had to make sure that she was really there; he had to see her again.
With this thought in mind, he slowly stood up. It felt as if he was trying to carry up a heavy body that didn't belong to him, but that didn't stop him. His girl was right there and it was the most alive he felt since the moment he was tricked to going into the vault. His vision was getting clearer and he was more aware of his body now, responding only to him. Damon focused his vision and time stood still. There she was. It was Elena, his Elena. His girl. He dreamed day and night with this moment. He could see her in front of him from afar. He could recognize her silhouette even with his eyes closed. Why wasn't she getting closer? Was she afraid of him? Of the things he could do? Was she disappointed of seeing him attacking that couple? Disappointed that he wasn't the better man she thought once he was? He was terrified of seeing the disappointment in her eyes. But then, another thought occurred to him. What if he was being tricked? The last time he was full of hope thinking he could see her again, only for his happiness to be taken away from him. But none of it mattered; he had to make sure that she was real.
Elena started to approach, uncertain. Thanks to the light coming from the forgotten car of his victims, she came in full view and he was flooded with the same emotion he felt every time he was in her presence. A single tear escaped from his eye, when he saw that she was still wearing the same blue dress he dressed her up with, before saying goodbye. It made his heart ache with nostalgia. That moment still present in his mind. It was the worst day of his life, because he lost his life. A part of him was gone since the moment he embraced her for the last time and she went to deep slumber. He was desperate to feel her, to touch her again. Using his vamp speed he got right in front of her.
"Elena" His tone of voice was low, the one that it was only reserved for her. Before he could cup her face in his hands and kiss her with everything he had, he felt a sharp pain in his neck and then darkness took over him.
Voices, familiar voices, but he felt no response from his muscles, he could feel darkness looming over him, but not the kind of darkness that had been surrounding him for the past months, no, this was different…He felt his limbs heavy and his mind fuzzy, he tried to start small and go from there so he touched the ground, cold stone floor, where was he?
His fingers finally managed to grasp the ground below him, the movement to his legs was slowly returning, he tried moving his kneecap and slowly succeeded, next he moved his neck a little, trying to get a good look to where he was.
After minutes of slowly feeling how sensations were returning to his limp body, he finally managed to turn his head to the left, he saw a very familiar wooden door with little bars on top and then he turned right and saw a bench. He knew where he was now, he was at his own house, or used to be. He felt anger running through his veins when he grasped the fact that somebody had done this to him, he moved his hand and then he felt it, shackles. Of course Saint Stefan had put shackles on him, he was too unpredictable, too reckless. He chuckled humorless, he tried moving his legs and what do you know? Shackles as well, he guessed he wouldn't go anywhere until Stefan once again understood he couldn't be saved.
He tried rattling the shackles but they were incredibly secured, he rolled his eyes and sat on the floor next to the bench. He was playing with his daylight ring when he heard it…
"You can't let him down there Stefan, he's not in a good state of mind but he's no criminal and no murderer, not on purpose". That voice…It couldn't be, she was sleeping in a coffin…How?
The last thing he remembers before waking up in this place was seeing Elena on the road, or at least he thought he saw her. It wasn't a hallucination after all? What was going on?
"Elena, he is dangerous, and even though I want you to help him, I also care about your safety, its better this way". Elena…He said Elena, but that couldn't be, how? He felt a new surge of anger at the possibility of Elena waking up and no one bothering to call him to let him know.
"Stefan, this isn't going to work if he doesn't see me, he needs to know I'm real, that you guys found a way to wake me up before Bonnie died, that I'm here and I'm not going anywhere"
Damon heard nothing but silence for what felt like an eternity and finally a long deep sigh.
"Okay Elena, we're doing this your way only if you're sure about this"
"I'm sure Stefan, it's Damon, I'm not gonna give up on him"
Damon heard when the door opened and a pair of boots went down the first step.
"I won't be long, okay? I just need to run some errands with Caroline for the twins"
"Okay, Stefan" He heard how her feet went down 3 more steps hurriedly and he felt his heart involuntarily beating faster to the possibility of seeing those brown eyes that he loved so much. Stefan's voice interrupted once again.
"Elena, whatever you do, don't let him loose okay? That's all I ask from you, that's my one condition to leave you alone with him" He said with a somber voice.
"I won't Stefan, I promise" Damon smirked, knowing his girl was lying, he knew her and he could hear the mischief in the tone of her voice, which was weird, giving how Elena wasn't usually like this, but he guessed his girl was as desperate to see him and feel him as he was desperate to see her.
He finally heard her footsteps going down the stairs and turning the door knob to open the door, he could feel his mouth going dry. Would she look different? Would she see in him the monster he really was? Would he see love in her eyes or some other emotion? It felt like an eternity when he finally had her in his field of vision, and what a vision she was.
It seemed after he saw her at the road his girl had opted for a change of clothes, she was wearing those cute brown combat boots she loved, a pair of worn out tight jeans and a blue shirt that coincidentally matched his eyes, he thought. Her hair was loose, straight with a slight curve on the edges, just like she had it before she fell into that comma. When he finally reached her eyes he felt a twinge in his heart, she was looking at him curiously, as if she was trying to figure him out.
He tried to smile at her but felt a sharp pain in his head, Miss Evilness was trying to take over, he could feel it deep inside him; she knew Elena was his light and the only thing that could make him snap out of the darkness that she forced him into. Shaking his head he set his eyes on her again and softly spoke.
"Elena" He said as if it was a prayer he had learned upside down long ago. She was as striking beautiful as he remembered her, then like a switch in his brain he recalled what he heard just minutes ago "When did you wake up?" He said in his best business voice, he would get answers first to make sure this wasn't some kind of trick and he would smother her with kisses later, that is if he convinced her (and himself) that he posed no threat to her.
"Yesterday…They woke me up with a spell somehow, I don't know the details, I only cared that all the people I love were alive and well" She said with the softest of voices while fidgeting a little with her hands "Well, almost everyone at least" She said looking at him intensely.
Damon couldn't look at her in the eyes for long knowing sooner or later they'd be filled with disappointment so he lowered his head and decided to do what he did best, approach things in a sarcastic way.
"Well, I don't know about that, Elena, I'd say I'm fine, wouldn't you? I mean my body is eternally hot, I'm sure you remember that" He winked for good measure "I drink my weight in human blood straight from the vein every day and since Enzo is a pansy and could actually be saved, he's no longer with us, so it's just me and my Camaro driving across the state, I'd say I'm doing fine"
She looked at him with pity and that made him very uncomfortable, she had never looked at him that way, always with compassion, with kindness, never with pity.
"Damon, you really think you can't be saved? What about me, huh? Do you even care about me? About all the promises that you made? She said visibly getting agitated "Do you even know how hard it is for me to see you like this? We said we would have a bunch of" she swallowed audibly as if she was having trouble saying the word and Damon narrowed his eyes "kids, you said we'd have a family, you said we'd be together forever…And what about Stefan? Don't you care about your brother at all? He's been nothing but loyal towards you and that's how you repay him? By not fighting back? She scoffed "Typical".
Damon could feel himself getting angry, it's like Elena didn't know him, and did she even know he was in this situation because he decided he could be the hero she convinced him he could be? Did she know he took one for the team and went inside the vault and it was in fact HER voice what triggered him to go further into the vault and fall into the clutches of Sybil?
"Did you even bother to get the rest of the story or are we back to the good old days when you just blame me for everything going wrong? I didn't go into the vault because I was bored and I wanted some adventure Elena, I went inside that vault to save my brother, and the scooby gang"
A shocked gasp left her mouth "What?"
Damon rolled his eyes "Yeah, and it was your angelic voice the thing that made Sybil finally trap me, for a second I thought that you might have woken up and you were in danger, and I couldn't think of anything else but saving you, and seeing your face again and holding you, it was like nothing else mattered in the world"
She sighed softly and pronounced his name in a softer tone "Damon"
He turned his back to her for a second to rub his eyes and temples when a loud noise shook him from his thoughts; he turned around and saw Elena closing the door of his cell, only…she was inside.
"No no no no no! Are you freaking insane?" He said with desperation as he rattled his shackles "Stefan told you not to come inside, I'm dangerous Elena, you know what I've been doing these past months, you know how many people I've killed and hurt" He could feel his nostrils flaring in anger at the little self-preservation she had "I could hurt you Elena, if…she takes over and she wants to hurt you, there's nothing I can do about it, she owns me" He said with a barely visible sad glint in his eyes
"I don't believe that" She said with that stubborn streak he adored and hated in equal measure "You wanna know what I believe? I believe you love me Damon, I believe that you would do anything for me and you would never hurt me, even if Sybil gets inside your head" As she was talking she got closer to him and he took a step back, even so and thanks to the reduced space on the cell, they were now close enough to touch "You are strong enough to fight this Damon, you just need the right motivation" She said passionately as she cupped his face with rough hands "You can do this, I'm here now"
And then he felt her tiny arms around his strong body, how her hands were pushing their heavy breathing chests together, still he couldn't bring himself to hug her back, not when he had chains around his wrists and their contact would be limited, no, when he finally get to hold her in his arms again he wanted every limb of his free, free to grab her legs and wrap them around his waist as he pushed her into a wall and ravaged her with kisses.
Damon stood still as she hugged him for what in reality was a couple of minutes but felt like two seconds. Suddenly she stepped away from him and looked him in the eye in the strangest of ways, like she was proud of herself? And also he noticed a glimpse of something he couldn't quite put his finger on…And then he felt it, the blood flowing to his wrists, she had released his shackles while she was hugging him. He turned to look at her in disbelief and a bit of anger when she showed him the key in her hand with a pleased smile, a genuine smile.
"I don't believe you would ever hurt me, Damon, and I'm going to prove it to you" She slowly lowered herself to the ground without taking his eyes from his and carefully opened the lock of his shackles on his feet, once she seemed satisfied with her work she returned to her original position and threw away the key outside the cell through the bars of the door.
Damon was transfixed and speechless by what she had just done, she had given him the ultimate proof of her trust for him, she had released his every shackle and now she was standing in front of him, waiting for him to make the first move…But why did it feel…wrong? The Elena he knew, his Elena, would be as thirsty as him to taste his slips again, she would jump to his arms as she wrapped her legs around him, she would flung herself into his body like that night when she became human again.
Making a first move on each other had never been a competition or a matter of pride like it had been for Damon with other relationships, if you could even call it that. Both Elena and Damon knew they were equally consumed by each other and equally thirsty to demonstrate their love for each other with kisses, touches and making their bodies one. It sort of reminded him of his time with Katherine, she always expected him to make the first move because her pride couldn't allow him to know she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Katherine always wanted to be worshipped and even if she could be really passionate with their lovers, every encounter was more about her, about pleasing her, about pushing her. And then like a light had been turned on in his brain he recalled the looks he couldn't quite put his finger on, that "Elena" had been giving him…The mischief in her look, the curled up smile with a hint of naughtiness, the little gestures of pride she had shown so far…This wasn't Elena, she hadn't woken up, this was Katherine and she was trying to trick him…He snarled inside.
"Katherine" He finally snarled as he took a step forward. He saw her flinch almost invisible to the human eye but very visible for a vampire that had been drinking his weight on human blood for months, even on vervain his abilities were superior.
"What? Damon what are you talking about? Why are you suddenly mentioning Katherine when we're finally reunited? She said making her most innocent look "I'm Elena, look at me"
"No, you're not" Damon turned around from her for a minute to recover his composture, when he felt it was safe again he turned to her again "What on earth are you doing, Katherine? Did Stefan put you to this? Did he think I wouldn't notice the difference between the love of my life and the woman I despise the most in the world?"
"Damon, it's me, look at me. I'm Elena, I'm here for you, to love you, to save you, to let you know that you're not a monster…I want us to start that life we talked about before I fell into that coma, please " The traitorous bitch said with her eyes getting teary, making him *almost* second guess himself, almost. She suddenly grabbed his hand and put it in her heart "You see? I'm human, my heart beats and it beats for you, Damon"
Damon gave her an incredulous look and roughly took his hand off her heart "This isn't real, Elena is not here, she is sleeping inside a coffin, in a warehouse in Brooklyn, with people compelled to take shifts to watch over her, with Tyler Lockwood supervising…She is not here" He said suddenly in a desolated tone that made the woman in front of him soften for one split second, and then the storm came back to his eyes "She's not here…But you…" He took a couple of steps towards her until he cornered her in the wall "You are" He practically snarled in her face "You, the woman that cares for no one versus the woman who gave it all for the ones she loves…"
The woman in front of him took a step back and let the tears that had been cornering her eyes fall freely, rolling down both her cheeks "Damon…It's me, it's Elena, look at me" She shook her head "I can't believe you're doing this to me again" She took a deep breath and got closer to him "You can't tell the difference between Katherine Pierce and me…again" She said the last word with anger and for a mini second Damon actually doubted.
One mini second, and that was all it took for Katherine to blow up her cover when he noticed her head imperceptibly moving up, her neck stiffer and higher. He knew that was Katherine's characteristic move, she never wanted people to see her cry, for her crying was a weakness and if she let the tears fall, she always stood higher to maintain her prideful and tough image. There was not a doubt in his mind now, the woman attempting to make her tears believable was none other than the elusive Katherine Pierce, his Elena was still in a comma and this bitch was breathing and walking when it was the girl in the coffin who deserved that privilege.
He was aware and he could bet anything Stefan and possibly Caroline were behind this, thinking they could fool him, he would prove them all wrong…He felt how the darkness inside of him twitched to the possibility of punishing those who had wronged him, the thought excited the monster inside of him. They would pay but first he would start with the faux doppelganger in front of him. She wanted to play? Fine, he could play.
He got closer to her and softly, almost tenderly cupped her face and whipped her tears away "I believe you baby, I'm sorry, I've been tricked before and I needed to make sure it was really you, not the selfish, manipulative Katherine, hell not even Tatia or Crazy Pants if they ever found a way to bring them back to life" He rubbed his nose against hers "Forgive me?" He asked using his best pout.
She smiled and put her arms around him, playing with the hair on his nape and then taking a step closer to him, making the space between their bodies almost non-existent "Of course I forgive you…Now, I seem to recall you haven't said a proper hello since you've seen me, don't you think we should change that? She asked, her voice getting huskier by the second and making Damon smirk, oh she did not know what was coming to her.
"We haven't?" He slowly slid his hands down from her face to her waist, hearing what he was sure was an involuntary gasp coming from Katherine's mouth, he had her right where he wanted "We need to fix that as soon as possible" He said as his face was inched closer to hers, his nose rubbing hers and his lips barely touching hers, teasing her, driving her insane. He was aware he wasn't playing fair, he always did this with Katherine because he knew every touch and every kiss with her was a power struggle, one he was not willing to lose.
He could swear he heard her growl before she snapped, roughly cupped his face and kissed him hard, she was the devil but damn, Miss Hell in heels could kiss.
Their hungry lips kept colliding again and again and the kiss grew more intense as Katherine licked the seam of Damon's lips with her tongue, asking for entrance to which he, who was as caught up on the kiss as she was, immediately granted permission opening his mouth and allowing their tongues to tangle in a fiery battle of dominance, one both of them knew all too well by now.
Damon slowly lowered his hands to Katherine's backside, fully cupping it as she let out a loud moan and bit his lip drawing blood, he suppressed a moan as he felt her sucking his bloody lip into her mouth. Suddenly he grabbed her backside harder lifting her legs and wrapping them around his hips, carrying them up to his room in vamp speed.
He let her fall straight into the bed and pounced on her again as she giggled and purred "My sweet Damon, I've missed you"
Damon only smirked as his lips returned to hers with a vengeance, this time he was the one sucking her lip into his mouth as his hands roughly caressed her tights and slowly went up, fingers running through the front of her jeans as she moaned, passing through her stomach only to inch upwards the shirt she was wearing to fully caress her toned stomach with his fingertips.
She smiled at him and pushed him back a little just to get some room to take off her shirt and throw it away on the floor somewhere, never taking her eyes off him, eyes that were currently lustful and dark with desire.
He smirked and lowered his head to her stomach as he made a path of kisses upwards, making her moan and wriggle in pleasure.
"Damon" She moaned and he smiled against her stomach, it was time to up the stakes of the game.
Damon trailed his lips, kissing and licking from her belly button to the valley of her breasts 'til he reached his destination, her neck. He left a couple of kisses in the soft spot behind her ear and then his lips were in her ear, whispering huskily "Gotcha" And then his lips were in her neck again but this time his fangs were doing the job, he bit as hard as he possibly could as Katherine let out a blood curling scream, a scream no one but him heard.
He continued to drink her blood and mentally rolled his eyes, her blood was really nothing like Elena's, her blood was an elixir to him and Katherine's blood was merely decent. He drank until he felt her body going limp from the blood loss and she passed out.
He stood up from the bed and wipped the blood from his jaw as he went to his closet to get some rope…
"Time to play, Kitty Kat"
