A/N – Thanks for the great responses to the intro. Here's chapter two. Hope you guys enjoy!
Damon drives back to the old Salvatore mansion. When Stefan mysteriously decided to move back to Mystic Falls a few weeks ago, Damon had decided it was best to follow his younger brother. Thankfully, his instincts proved right and led him right to Elena. The image of her smiling face is stuck within Damon's mind. He can't stop thinking about her. The sudden and unknown desire is both enticing and frightening. Is it possible these strange feelings are emerging just because she looks like Katherine? He drums his fingers against the steering wheel as he speeds down Mystic Falls' old roads. It feels strange to be back in his hometown, even stranger to be back in it with his brother and a Katherine look-a-like.
As Damon pulls into the driveway, he spots Stefan's car. Damon smirks to himself. If he wants to get to Elena first, he needs to make sure Stefan has a distraction for the next few days or so. The house is quiet, and Damon finds Stefan in his study, once again hunched over one of his diaries. A glass of blood is in Stefan's hand, and Damon grimaces at the smell—rabbit. "What has you so entranced?" Damon asks as he walks towards his brother. He starts to lean over Stefan's shoulder, but Stefan instantly slaps the diary closed.
Stefan turns around so that he's facing his brother. His tone is surprisingly aggressive. "Nothing," he snaps.
Damon backs up a little bit and holds up both of his hands. "Sorry," he says. He narrows his eyes. "Must be a very touchy subject."
Stefan leans back in his chair and folds his arms. "What are you even doing back here, Damon? There's nothing for you in Mystic Falls."
Damon smirks. He's tempted to reveal just how much is here for him in Mystic Falls, but that would just ruin everything. "Is there something wrong with wanting to spend time with my little brother?"
"I think we've spent more than enough time together."
Damon walks around the study. "Maybe I just wanted to reconnect with my roots, my hometown. Some things haven't changed very much around here. Some things look very familiar." Damon knows he's toeing the line here, but it's just too tempting to frustrate Stefan. He turns around and walks once again towards his brother. "By they way, there was a phone call for you earlier today."
"Who was it?" Stefan asks, already suspicious of foul intentions from Damon.
"She sounded very upset."
"Who?"
"She was begging me to get you the message."
Stefan quickly rises out of his chair and steps right in front of Damon, their bodies less than an inch apart. "Enough with the games, Damon. You're over 150 years old, not a six-year-old child. Who called?"
Damon smiles. "I think she might even be dying."
In an instant, Stefan pushes Damon up against the wall of the study. His arm is pressed up against Damon's neck, cutting off almost all circulation. The pencil he was writing with is aimed right at Damon's heart. His eyes are dark and serious. "Who called Damon?"
The smile widens. "Well played," Damon says. "It was Lexi."
Stefan's face pales. His grip on his brother relaxes slightly, but he keeps the pencil ready to strike. "What's wrong with her?"
"Hate to be the one to break the new to you. It's just so tragic." He pauses. "Werewolf bite."
Stefan backs away, grief filling his face. "What?"
Damon crosses his arms and leans against the shelves of books. "Got bitten a few days ago at the full moon. She's in New York still. Apparently the venom works pretty fast. No cure. She'll be dead by the end of the week."
A look of hate crosses Stefan's face. "This isn't information you play with, Damon. This is serious. I don't understand you, and I never will." A second after Stefan says this, he zooms out of the Salvatore house and is on his way out of Mystic Falls.
Damon smiles wickedly. His brother is just so gullible. And now Damon has at least a couple of days alone with Elena Gilbert. In Stefan's rush to leave, he forgot to take or hide his journals. Damon sits down at the desk and starts to flip through the pages, trying to find any additional information that might be helpful. One passage catches her eyes:
...our meeting can't be suspicious. She has to trust me first. I almost have it worked out perfectly now. I'll pretend to be a high school student, go to classes and everything...once she trusts me, maybe I can reveal who I really am...
Damon laughs to himself. A high school student? That idea is so Stefan Salvatore. There's absolutely no way that Damon is going to regress to that level. But Stefan is right; Elena needs to trust him first. Maybe—maybe he can pretend to be a college student. That's a lot less demeaning at least. That way, he can meet Elena in the library or something. But how can he get Elena to the library? He leans back in the chair and props his feet on Stefan's desk. A solid plan eventually forms, and he smiles. In a few days, Elena Gilbert will be all his.
Damon smiles at his good fortune. It's dark, almost eight at night, and he is standing in the Mystic Falls' high school parking lot. The place is deserted except for one, lone teacher leaving the building. Damon casually walks towards him, and the man steps back in surprise. He looks strong and confident, but Damon knows there is something inherently threatening about a vampire, and even a powerful man instinctively stays back.
"Hello," Damon says, smiling. He holds out his hand. "Damon Salvatore."
The man stares at him strangely, but after a moment, he shakes Damon's hand. "Alaric Saltzman," he says. "You look too old to be a student."
Damon smirks. "Definitely way too old to be a student." He leans towards Alaric. "If you don't mind, I need to ask you for a favor. You're a teacher here, right?"
Alaric nods suspiciously. "What do you need?"
Damon's eyes widen as he starts to compel Alaric. The man's eyes go blank, and Damon feels his mind as putty in his own hands. "Is Elena Gilbert one of your students?"
"Yes." Alaric's responses are automatic.
"What class do you teach?"
"History."
"Perfect," Damon smiles. "You will assign a history project and tell the students that they need to do research at the Mystic Falls library. The project is due in two days. They better get started soon."
"That's not a lot of time."
In slight annoyance, Damon says, "That's the point. Now repeat what you're going to do."
"I'm going to assign my students a project—"
"Make sure Elena Gilbert is in the class."
"And I'm going to make sure Elena Gilbert is in the class. They have to do research at the Mystic Falls library, and it is due in two days." Confusion appears on Alaric's face. 'What's the project on?"
Damon leans closer, "I don't give a fuck. Just make sure they go to the library." For a second, it looks like Alaric is almost trying to fight against his compulsion, as if he is aware of what is happening to him. Damon narrows his eyes. "I don't really like you, Alaric," he says. "And I'm hungry." He catches Alaric's gaze and compels him as strongly as possible. "You will not remember any of this."
He grabs Alaric, and his fangs sink into his neck. He gulps down the sweet blood greedily, but he forces himself to stop after a minute. He needs Alaric alive and functioning tomorrow. "You might not be so lucky next time," Damon says, and then he disappears, leaving Alaric alone and bloody.
The next day, Damon heads to the Mystic Falls library right before high school is supposed to let out. He seats himself at a table in the back of the room, allowing him to see everyone who walks through the building. For the sake of his college-student character, he throws a bunch of books on his table and a notepad. He also has a thermos of coffee. He might as well make this look convincing. For a while, the library is extremely quiet, but eventually students start to trickle inside. All of Damon's body is on alert for Elena; the desire to see her again fills his mouth with distaste. He's in dangerous territory with the way he's responding to a girl he's never met.
The students whisper loudly as they spread out among the library. With his extra sensitive hearing, he can easily catch their conversations:
"This is so not okay. I thought Mr. Saltzman was a cool teacher."
"Seriously—two days to complete a research project? It's like he's possessed." Damon smirks at the truth of that statement.
"I've never even been to the library."
Eventually, Damon starts to filter out the boring conversations. He couldn't give a damn about these other students: he just wants Elena. The library door opens again, and Damon's attention snaps to the girl walking in. It's her. His gaze slowly combs over her body—long, slim legs, a tiny waist, just the right amount of curves. Everything about her is as appealing as Katherine. The resemblance is unsettling and dangerously seductive. Elena has a girl next to her, and Damon's eyes narrow in apprehension. The dark-skinned girl also looks and even feels entirely too familiar. Although she is definitely not another doppelganger, she looks very similar to Emily Bennet, a witch from 1864 that was very close friends with Katherine.
Both of the girls walk towards the back of the library, and at the same time, they both look at Damon. Thankfully, his reactions are fast enough that when they look towards him, he appears to be bent over his books in deep thought. Out of the corners of his eyes, he watches the girls watch him. A small smile graces his face. It's very easy to lure people in when he is graced with such good looks. With more pleasure, Damon watches them sit down at a table right across from his. He listens as they whisper in low tones:
"I saw him at The Grill yesterday," Elena says. "He was just standing there, staring at me."
"Have you ever seen him before?" The must-be witch responds.
"No." Elena pauses. "Have you?"
"No. He must be new here."
"He's really...attractive," Elena says.
"I don't know, Elena. Something seems wrong about him. I wouldn't talk to him."
"Something seems wrong? How can you tell?"
"It's just a feeling. You know how I get feelings."
Elena sighs. "Maybe you're right, Bonnie."
Damon is frustrated. He already hates this new, little Bennet witch. She's making things a lot more difficult for him. He'll have to get a little more aggressive. He waits a few minutes, and eventually Bonnie and Elena stand up and disperse throughout the library, looking for books. Damon stands up and follows Elena. He smiles when he finds her in a back corner, secluded from everyone else.
He walks towards where she is standing, deeply concentrated on book titles. He stands right besides her and pretends to also look at books. For a moment, she doesn't notice him. But when she looks to the side, she's so startled that she drops one of the books in her hands. Damon quickly picks the book up and hands it to her, his most charming smile gracing his face. Their hands brush against each other as she takes the book, and Damon can hear her pulse increasing.
Elena looks at him, a combination of attraction and mistrust clouding her face. "Thank you," she says softly.
Damon smiles and holds out his hand. "I'm Damon Salvatore."
A/N – So you'll get there main first interaction next chapter How do you guys like the story so far? Do you like the idea of Damon getting there first? Do you think Stefan is too gullible? Please R&R!