Title:Broken Strings

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:M

Summary:see chapter one

Warnings:see chapter one

Disclaimer:I, unfortunately, own nothing. Vampire Diaries is my favourite show and Damon my favourite character in it and that is all. This plot is mine, though and the whole idea of phantasmists(which will appear later)is mine, too.

So note:As far as the show goes, ignore the whole bloodline thing that came to light season 3 episode 18 because I happen to think that is the stupidest fucking thing ever. Klaus died, and so did the rest of the Originals, but the people they turned did not.

And a random thing:I've recently become super obsessed with Supernatural and am thinking of writing a fanfic for it at some point. Maybe when I finish watching up to season 7 cause I'm only on season 3 at the moment. But if anyone has any ideas for what that fic should be about, PM me.

Now on with the story.


Chapter 2:Phase One

He threw the girl carelessly aside, her blood dripping from his lips like crimson rain. When her now boneless body hit the ground, he turned away from the ravaged corpse, slipping his sunglasses back on and licking his lips clean.

As the dark red veins receded into his skin and his eyes returned to their usual shade of steel-blue, they focused on the pile of bodies he'd left at his feet.

All carved to pieces, all drained of blood;if that didn't send a message, he didn't know what would.

His flawless, now clean white lips twitched into a slight smile. This was just a prelude, though;starting unrest, spreading terror with his presence while staying hidden in the shadows.

His real plan hadn't even begun yet-no, that was going to wait until Elena's little brother was alone tonight. He was the key;he needed a Gilbert and since there was no way Elena would acquiesce, the boy was the next best thing.

Through the dark lenses of his sunglasses, his eyes scanned the trees and the dense forest foliage around him.

He was going to need to find a better place to stage his attacks if he was planning to stay here long term.

Fog surrounded his legs, rising up to his knees, and making it even harder for human eyes to see clearly. Luckily, Damon's eyes were even more advanced than the average vampire, so he had no problem seeing through the thick, grey-ish mist.

It was becoming truly night now, the star-strewn sky turning a deep shade of indigo, but becoming shadowed almost instantly by heavy, obsidian cloud masses.

It looked like there was going to be a storm tonight;his kind of weather.

The corners of his mouth quirked.

The peace this town had achieved since Klaus and the Originals' defeat was going to be very short-lived. The ones who truly had no hand in his death would be spared as long as they stayed out of his way;but people like Elena, the witch and his brother were the one who would have to watch out.

They were the ones he had died for;they were the ones who only pretended to mourn his death and now, they were the ones who were going to pay.

Damon kicked aside one of the corpses. He didn't have time for clean-up, and this time, he wasn't trying to cover his tracks;he wanted people to know that Damon Salvatore had returned to Mystic Falls-and he was after revenge.

With that thought fixed in his mind, he turned and melted into the darkness as the sky was besieged by freezing rain.


(Jeremy's POV)

The rain started almost the instant that Elena and I arrived home, with Stefan close at Elena's heels.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Stefan, okay?I love you,"I heard my sister bid farewell to her boyfriend in a falsely cheerful tone at the front door;I knew the tone was fake because I had seen that tonight's events shaken her. Seeing your name carved into a dead girl's back would do that to you.

Since we had had dinner at the Grill, I headed straight upstairs after grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

I passed our bathroom and dropped my school bag onto the floor before flicking on the lights and shutting my door.

"Smart move, little Gilbert. We wouldn't want anyone hearing us,"

I froze at hearing those words coming form behind me.

I recognized that voice, but it wasn't one I'd ever thought I would hear from inside my bedroom, never mind the fact that, according to Elena, its owner had died several weeks ago.

My throat seemed to close up and I swallowed hard, trying to maintain my composure as I slowly turned around to face the speaker.

Sitting on my bed, looking utterly relaxed with his gloved hands laced behind his head and long legs crossed at the ankles, was Damon Salvatore.

My sister had told me that he had been turned human before he died, but looking at him now, I found that extremely hard to believe;although without his fangs out, it was impossible to separate him from a human.

But if that arrogant twist of his lips was anything to go by, he was definitely still very much a vampire.

When I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out, Damon let out an icy, humourless laugh. "I've scared you into silence,"he gave me a sardonic grin, "It happens,"

"You're dead,"I was finally able to say flatly, still trying to force some feeling back into my numb lips.

"For almost two hundred years now,"Damon said matter-of-factly, showing his canines.

"What are you doing here?"I asked slightly hoarsely, my hands retreating into the pockets of my jeans so the vampire wouldn't see them shaking, "Elena said you and Klaus killed each other after all the other Originals had been defeated,"

"We did,"the vampire confirmed slyly.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Then how are you here?"I questioned blankly, not bothering to mask my confusion.

His bloodless upper lip curled.

"I was given some really powerful blood and it brought me back, malevolence and all,"he explained carelessly, being deliberately vague, I assumed.

I crossed my arms over my chest, not really sure if I believed that or not;it sounded rather sketchy, to be quite honest. But I didn't think Damon would tell me anything more than that, so I reverted back to my original question; "What are you doing in my bedroom?"

"It just so happens, Jeremy, that I need you for what I'm planning to do here in Mystic Falls,"the vampire said offhandedly as if it were a throwaway matter of no real importance.

"And what makes you think I'll help you?"I shot back defiantly, setting my jaw.

The elder's trademark Devil-may-care smirk curved his flawless lips, "Oh, I won't be giving you a choice,"

Then suddenly, his hand was closed around my throat and he was on his feet, pinning me to the wall so fast I barely had time to blink.

He slipped off his Predator sunglasses and those inescapable crystal orbs caught my brown ones effortlessly;I knew he was compelling me when he spoke in that silky, reverberating baritone.

"You're not going tell anyone about this meeting, but you are going to do whatever I tell you from this moment on, including dropping a line to your history teacher that I'm back in town when no one's looking,"the vampire intoned smoothly, tone leaving no room for argument.

"I'll do what you tell me from this moment on,"my mouth reiterated the words of its own accord, but inside, I was reeling.

How was he compelling me?I was wearing vervain;wasn't it supposed to prevent compulsion?"

As if he were reading my mind, Damon's free hand grabbed my wrist, idly fingering the vervain bracelet that Elena had given me about a year ago now.

"Vervain can no longer repel me in any way,"he stated coolly, his grip on my throat tightening fractionally, "You and I are two of a kind now;both of us have powers that are unusual for our species,"

The vampire's smirk widened for a split-second before it vanished, being replaced by a cold, emotionless mask.

He released me then, retracting his hand and dropping me on the ground to cough feebly to get air back into my lungs.

"What do you mean?"I quipped throatily, voice slightly raw from the suffocation. Damon just shook his head.

"Ask one of your dead girlfriends,"he replied cryptically before vanishing effectively, leaving me with far more questions than I originally had.

(Damon's POV)

I watched my target carefully from the shadows of her kitchen. She had no idea I was there and I intended to keep it that way-at least for a little while longer.

Meredith Fell, the doctor who used vampire blood to heal her patients. She didn't start out as someone I wanted to kill, but now she was just a means to an end;Elena cared about her now, so she had to die. And she wasn't going to be the only one, either;but she was going to be the first.

The lovely doctor was currently in the middle of making herself a late-night cup of coffee;so she was perfectly oblivious of my presence in her home.

That whole ''have to be invited in'' thing was, thankfully, null and void for me now-I could go wherever I wanted without having to wait for someone to invite me inside;so that's why I was able to be in her house without her inviting me in.

It was only when she made the mistake of straying too close to my hiding place that I decided to strike.

I leaped forward and clapped a gloved hand over her mouth and nose, steadily cutting off her air supply until she stopped struggling

When she slumped forward, I caught her around the middle and hefted her over my shoulder in a fireman's lift. I wasn't killing her here;she wouldn't be found for ages since no one spent very much time at her house, not even her.

So I walked out her front door and quickly sped to the only female vampire in town's house. I dropped the doctor's unconscious form down behind the door and moved to Vampire Barbie's bedroom.

She was, as I expected, asleep and completely dead to the world, pun intended.

The corners of my mouth twitched slightly as I suppressed a smirk. This was going to be way too easy.

I pushed her down so she was laying on her stomach, shoved my gloved hand through her chest and ripped out her heart.

The vervain was bound to burn, but Caroline's scream was cut off by a choking gasp as blood trickled sluggishly out of the corner of her mouth.

That's one down.

I grabbed her body and used her hands to snap Meredith's neck. I dragged them both out of the house and over to Elena's with another message on Vampire Barbie's back, written in her own blood.

Leaving them on her doorstep, I rang the doorbell before vanishing.

Elena was the one who opened the door-I wasn't surprised that she was still awake-and her expression when she saw the second message I had left her was one I wish I could have photographed;she looked as though someone had just punched her in the gut.

Her eyes were watering and her mouth was open in a silent gasp of pain.

"Caroline?Meredith?"he heard her choke, shaking her head as tears began to seep out of her eyes and she fell to her knees next to the two motionless females on the ground.

"You have a Demon on your tail, Elena,"I whispered silkily, repeating the words I had painted on Blondie's back with her blood.

With an icy smirk in Elena's direction I vanished into the night.

(Normal POV)

Elena shook with horror when she saw those eight words painted crimson across her friend's naked back; "YOU HAVE A DEMON ON YOUR BACK, ELENA

-D"

That signature reappearance was even more terrifying than the words themselves. And the play on words was not unexpected, either;but she was still fiercely in denial about who was doing all this.

It just couldn't be him. She had watched the hybrid rip his head off after somehow returning his humanity and setting his corpse aflame just as that white oak stake had pierced his stake.

But all the signs pointed to him;the pattern of girls drained of blood and both messages signed with the letter ''D'';it was impossible, but there was no other explanation.

Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket with a shaking hand, she dialled Stefan's number and held it up to her ear.

"What's up?"Stefan's reassuring tone greeted her when he picked up.

She swallowed hard through her tears before saying in a trembling voice, "Stefan, Caroline and Meredith, they're d-dead,"

Her voice cracked on the last word, but it didn't stop her from adding in a whisper, "I think it's.."She couldn't bring herself to say the name.

There was an ominous silence, then...

"I'm coming over. Now,"Stefan said abruptly.

The line went dead.

Elena pressed the ''END CALL'' button on the touch screen and in seconds, Stefan was on her doorstep, an arm around her shoulders as he read for himself the message left on Caroline's back.

"You think it's Damon, don't you?"he said finally, a worried frown wrinkling his forehead. Elena nodded mutely, feeling too horrified to speak.

Stefan looked back at the two girls briefly and shook his head.

"I'll admit, it fits his old pattern,"he conceded lowly, "But Damon is dead, Elena. You and I both saw him killed with our own eyes."


(Normal POV)

Damon stood in the center of the cemetery, sunglasses firmly in place over his cold blue eyes and arms crossed, clearly waiting for something.

A shadow appeared across from him, shrouded from head to foot in a dark cloak and an obsidian mask which encircled his endless, inhumanly empty eyes.

"Your plans?"the shadow broke the silence in a voice completely devoid of emotion, its lips barely moving in order to form the words.

"Coming along quite nicely, actually,"the vampire responded smoothly, a corner of his mouth slightly upturned.

The shadow nodded.

"And the girl?"

"I'm keeping an eye on her. I'll have her and her brother soon enough,"Damon supplied matter-of-factly.

"Make sure you do. Her bloodline is the key to this whole thing. Don't forget that,"

"What about her brother?"Damon quipped archly, cocking a dark eyebrow.

"Jeremy Gilbert is something else entirely. He has more than a magic ring keeping him alive,"the cloaked figure explained softly, "With the girl's blood and his powers is the only way you will be able to truly take this town for your own,"

"Right then, we know who I'm going after first,"the vampire stated firmly, pushing his sunglasses firmly up his nose.

The two men disappeared.


Man that took forever to finish. Question:do I portray the characters well?