3. BITE ME.
The afternoon came through and forced Kadie to pull a blanket over her head. That day, she didn't want to get up. The bed that she was in was unfamiliar to her, even though she spent most of her life sleeping in it. Her own skin felt unfamiliar. There was no one next to her, unlike the previous night she spent in the Gilbert home. Kadie sighed and covered her eyes with her arm, slumping back into the bed. She could feel the raw skin around her eyes stinging from being touched by the soft pillow, and her hair was sticking to the sweat on her neck. She felt awful; more than awful. She felt like she was dying, and she may as well have been. She should have been.
Kadie went downstairs after slipping on a pair of pants. Her entire body felt sick, and she wasn't sure if it was because the loss of all of her friends had really taken a toll on her mental stability the night before or if it was because she hadn't had a single thing to drink- or eat- yesterday. She spent it all with Elena, helping her out and trying to piece together the vampire problem. Was it really even a problem? Kadie didn't want it to be. She wanted them to disappear and let her live her life like she had been. A part of her wished that Damon never took her and Vicki that night; that they left the second that her little brother left. At least she would have the kid to hang out with, even though they were pretty different. She just needed someone, even though she didn't feel like she did. Too many deaths.
There, on the couch, sat Jenna Sommers. Her strawberry blonde hair fell past her shoulders easily, shaping her rounding face. She was perfectly sized for a woman, and sometimes Kadie found herself wishing that she could look like that and still look as beautiful as her aunt. She was young and wild- free to do as she pleased up until she had to take care of two teenagers. It was really taking a toll on her life, because she had no idea what she was doing. She was supposed to get married and have children of her own, not take care of the two her sister left behind. Kadie sighed. It'd been too long since she'd seen her aunt. "I didn't know you were here." Jenna grinned at Kadie. Her eyebrows shot to the tip of her forehead and she looked at Elena, most likely wondering who in the world convinced her to hang out with the family. Kadie was convinced she'd need to check herself into a psych ward as soon as possible. Nothing was average, and her emotions were fluctuating. Her mind seemed to be going in and out of reality and daydreaming. Kadie couldn't tell the two apart.
Jenna got up and wrapped her arms around Kadie, like she hadn't seen the blonde in years. "We missed you," She mumbled into Kadie's shoulder. It felt weird to wrap her arms around another person and comfort them, instead of herself. She didn't know how she was supposed to cope with the death of practically everyone that accepted her for who she was, and didn't give a fuck where she came from or what she planned on doing with her life. They hung out with her throughout high school and had her back whenever she got herself into fights. Melissa had broken a girl's nose once, for shoving Kadie aside whenever she was still new to them all. They were like a family outside of her family, up until they all graduated and Kadie became less and less herself. After a while, she didn't know what she was doing or thinking. She was just living with a fucked up mind and not caring who she hurt in the process. She could only hope that the one that ended up hurt in the end was herself, but self-destruction only gets a person so far. Kadie destroyed everything she touched.
"Nice to see you, too, Aunt Jenna," Kadie laughed out. Her smile was genuine, but she laughed because she felt the need to. It was subconscious for her to do so, whenever she found a situation amusing or she was supposed to find it entertaining. When everyone else laughed, she would laugh as well to make herself feel more normal and accepted. It never replaced the true things lying underneath, but it did well to keep people off of her case. She knew that Elena saw her break down. Being in the same room as her felt weird, knowing that she had showed some sort of emotion. It wasn't that she hated having people know that she was in pain, no, but the fact that Elena knew the truth behind it all unsettled Kadie to no end. "I should get going, though. I'll… uh… I'll be back later, alright?" Jenna nodded and smiled awkwardly, taking notice to Kadie's discomfort.
Kadie avoided eye contact with Elena as she hurried out of the home and back into the world. She went straight to the Mystic Grill. Just before she walked in, she checked the phone in her back pocket. There were ten voicemails. Some of them were from the friends the night before they all died, and others were from her boss. She listened to the ones from her boss and deleted all of the rest. She didn't need anything else reminding her that they were all dead, especially when she was so set on getting away from it all for a little while. "You haven't showed up in the past four days, Kadie. You didn't bother to call in and tell me what has been going on. I had to find a replacement for you. I wanted to call you in, but you haven't been answering your phone. I'm sorry. You're fired." Kadie sighed and flipped the phone shut. She figured this was going to happen. If anything in her life could go more wrong, she would be dead beside Vicki somewhere in the woods.
She waited outside of the Mystic Grill for what felt like eternity. She leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette, inhaling as quick as she could before blowing it all out. She didn't want to savor. She wanted to destroy and harm. She thought about what Stefan said when Vicki was turned into a vampire, about how she had some issues because of her drug use. Was that why Kadie couldn't think properly without taking those thoughts away from her? She didn't want to spend her time in reality. She couldn't remember a time in her life that she did. Maybe it was the pain killers taking away her memory. Her mother would be so sad to hear that her daughter doesn't remember her childhood. She'd had that taken away a long time ago. She held her breath for as long as she could, keeping the smoke inside of her lungs until it hurt. It stung when she released it, burning her insides instead of soothing them. That was what she wanted.
She relaxed and shut herself off before anyone else could see her. The cold wind blew her hair in her face and her gut twisted uncomfortably. The sky was gray and it all felt the same to her. She was wearing another outfit that she had to borrow from Elena. This time it was sleep pants that she was sure Elena stole from Jeremy, a tank top, and a large light gray sweater than Kadie was lucky enough to leave at her sister's house. She still had makeup on from the night before, but it was smeared and didn't look good in the least. It only darkened her already almost black eyes and blended in with the black circles forming around them. She looked like she just got out of the hospital from a serious disease. Her body was reacting with hatred for her not taking anything or eating anything while she was hanging around Elena. Normally, she could squeeze in a couple of fries here and there, if it didn't make her feel sick to eat. She didn't want to give her anything that might make her feel a little better. She wanted the pain. Her stomach was practically screaming at that point, and she didn't know where she found the power to stand and walk around. She was exhausted.
Kadie flipped open her phone yet again and looked through her contacts, pressing call whenever she found the name of the person she wanted. A couple of rings later, a woman's voice came on the other line. "Hello?" Kadie sighed.
"Hey, Aunt Jenna."
.:::.
THE NEXT DAY
"Wow, your apartment is…" Jenna couldn't find the right words to describe Kadie's apartment. It looked like someone packed up all of their nicer things and left what would be too heavy to carry. The mattress that Kadie slept on was on the floor in the room and without stylish sheets. It looked like she was using something that her grandmother got her a long time ago and never was able to let go of. The couch in the living room was obviously from the 90's and could have been mistaken for junk if Jenna didn't know any better. There wasn't food on the counters or in the refrigerator, and the dishes piled in the sink mainly consisted of bottles of alcohol and a few cups. It didn't look like anyone lived there, but Jenna knew that Kadie was there all of the time.
"Pretty cool? Yeah, I thought so too." Kadie was sarcastic as she grabbed a black backpack and started throwing clothes inside of it. She had to pick a few up off of the floor in her room because she rarely ever used the closet. For the most part, it was empty save for some old shoes that Kadie planned on leaving behind. "I'm sorry about this. Everything has just been kind of crazy lately." It surprised Kadie how easy it was to sound like this was perfectly normal. Her voice was easy and nonchalant, lazy as she spoke to the worried aunt. Jenna didn't know any better, so she smiled and started helping Kadie pack up.
"Don't worry about it. You know that you're always welcome in our home. I'm sorry about your job. Why didn't you call in?" Kadie shrugged and slung the backpack over her shoulder. Jenna finished with hers and did the same. There wasn't much to pack, so it wouldn't take the day for them to move out. She already had to talk with her landlord and had to work out a way to move out before the lease ended. She told him that she wasn't going to pay any more bills, and he said that she may as well pack up and leave. The conversation wasn't all that hard, but Kadie didn't want to have it anyway. She hated confrontation.
"I'unno. What happened just hit me really hard. I didn't want to do anything. Elena was there for me, though." Kadie's voice kept on with such ease. She didn't even know that she had gotten so great at pretending everything was fine and that she could actually feel something else. Her smile was so warm and her eyes shone when they connected with Jenna's. The innocent strawberry blonde accepted that kindness and took her in. She was so young whenever Kadie was born, and she was her first niece. Even with everything all out of whack, Kadie still looked like that little baby in her arms. They all did. It was hard to think of them any differently and let them all handle things themselves. "This should be it. Unless you think I should pack my bed too?" Kadie motioned towards the old mattress on the floor and Jenna laughed, shaking her head.
"I think the one at the house is a lot more comfortable." Kadie nodded and looked away, tensing her shoulders. Her smile disappeared for a moment as she looked down at the stain by the front door. She completely avoided the couch and stayed clear of her bed. She didn't look down whenever she walked in, but her eyes couldn't help but wander. They looked everywhere twice, dancing around the edges of the stain on the ground before actually landing on it. Her gut turned. She wasn't sure if it was from the hunger or the memory of Jared.
Jenna looked down at what she was staring at, not understanding the significance. She never would. Kadie wouldn't be able to open up like that. "I'm sure they won't mind if there are a couple of stains on the carpet." Jenna placed her hand on Kadie's shoulder and rubbed. It took a lot of willpower for her to not pull away from the touch. "Come on, kiddo."
Jeremy was waiting outside by the car. Kadie smiled at him and he smiled back. Neither of them addressed the fact that they were both there the night all of her friends were murdered. She knew that Jeremy had to have some questions- or maybe he didn't. Maybe the vampire tricks that Kadie still didn't understand completely changed him and made him forget everything he used to be. There was a large, innocent smile on his face and he looked healthy. He wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders and pulled her close. "I missed you, Kadie." Kadie pressed her eyebrows together and hugged him back. Was she ever really gone? Or was it just because they all thought that she was changing? She felt like she was leading them on. She was Vicki, trailing her little brother behind her while she pursued Tyler- the boy that Vicki had a hard time shutting up about.
"Missed you too, Jer," Kadie replied, patting his back. They released each other and Kadie slid into the back, next to the bags of clothes. She only had two backpacks filled with them; not a lot for one girl. The third had shoes in it and other things that she might need, like her laptop. In the very back of the car, behind Kadie's seat, was the television that the women convinced Jeremy to carry out.
After they were all buckled up, Jenna decided to take them all out to eat in what seemed like the only restaurant in Mystic Falls: Mystic Grill. Kadie was tired of looking at the place, but she didn't say anything as she went inside and sat in a booth across from Jeremy. She was on the inside, and Jenna placed herself on the outside. She felt awkward, sitting there with a family and eating like she had never done with both Jenna and Jeremy before. Back whenever Jenna first got her license, she would take Kadie out for birthdays and random occasions where she just felt like driving. Kadie never disagreed to doing any of those things. She never really had friends growing up, considering that she would rather run around pretending that she could see witches in the forest and that the abandoned house on the other side of the fence was occupied by an angry spirit. Most other kids thought she was weird. A few of them talked to her and played with her because she could imagine up the best games, but most of the time she stuck to herself. She didn't realize until that moment that she'd always been a bit weird and fucked. She looked a lot better then than she ever did as a child.
"Hi, my name's Todd. What can I get you to drink?" Jenna ordered a diet coke and Jeremy a regular one. Kadie gave him a tight lipped smile and replied with, surprise me. The teenage boy with dark, shaved hair smiled at them all as sweetly as he could and rushed off to bring them their drinks back. Todd was painfully average for a waiter. He had a kind smile and bright, young eyes. He wasn't around whenever Kadie worked there, telling her that they had her replacement serving them that day. Wonderful.
Jenna lifted her eyes and smiled; small, shy, and flirtatious. Kadie and Jeremy both turned around to look at who she was staring at. Kadie had never seen him before. He was older, probably around Jenna's age, with short blonde hair and soft eyes. He was eating by himself. Kadie blinked and looked at Jenna, who kept her eyes locked on him. "I like a man who can dine alone. A quiet strength."
"I thought you were still in that whole Logan depression thing," Jeremy replied, grinning at his aunt. Jenna's smile grew, but only a little.
"I've sworn off men forever, but it doesn't mean I can't observe them from a safe distance." Jeremy laughed. His eyes were sweet and better. He didn't look like he'd been into anything ever since Vicki died. Kadie knew that he would quit as soon as they were over. He didn't know that she was dead, though. When he figured out- if he ever did- would he go back to a life that he didn't belong in? He was so happy, sitting there across from his aunt. Kadie felt nervous sitting next to someone that didn't know his girlfriend died; that couldn't remember. Whatever Elena had Damon do, Jeremy looked like he would most likely never be sad again. The psychopath took the pain out of his life. Her gut turned. Would he be pained if he knew the truth?
"Well, I can introduce you." Jenna shook her head and looked down. Kadie sipped on the water that Todd brought her back, and she hated to say it but she definitely was surprised. Of all of the drinks that the Mystic Grill carried, she didn't expect for him to bring her back water. Todd did good.
After a few moments, the man that Jenna was staring at got up and walked over to the table. He noticed Jeremy and smiled. His eyes crinkled at the side and Kadie found herself admiring him like Jenna had done before. The only thing that she will ever like about an aging man is the way that they smiled and their eyes crinkled at the sides. It was the truth behind their smiles that made them looks so happy, and the crinkles that revealed that truth. Kadie bit down on the inside of her lip. "Mister Saltzman," Jeremy addressed him. The man patted Jeremy on his shoulder.
"Jeremy, what's up, man?" He kept his eyes on Jenna as he spoke. There was an obvious connection between the two. Kadie felt more and more trapped as the seconds passed. She wasn't as relaxed as she was when the day had started, and her nerves were slowly building up. Her chest felt like it was going to explode and she needed to move, possibly outside to smoke or something, and calm herself down.
"This is my Aunt Jenna," Jeremy introduced. Jenna smiled up at Saltzman and he took her hand.
"Alaric Saltzman. It's nice to meet you."
Jenna grinned and looked away, taking her hand back at the polite time. "Jeremy was just telling me about his paper. Thanks for giving him another chance." Kadie looked anywhere but the group and her eyes landed on a certain dark-haired psychopath at the bar; the man that practically took everything that she had and most likely drained it dry, beside the man that took the last thing that she had. She couldn't bring herself to be mad at either of them. The emptiness inside of her refused to let her blame anything, not even the ones at fault. Did they not know that those people had family and friends? Kadie wondered how Jared's mom took it. How his sister felt whenever the police knocked on their door and looked them in the eye. She knew that the two of them cared a great deal for him. Her and Jared were close growing up, so she went over there a lot and saw how his family worked. They were caring and sweet, the two of them. Damon didn't care, and for some fucked up reason that made her incredibly attracted to him. Because she didn't either.
"I'll be right back," She muttered. Jenna looked over and smiled softly. Jenna moved so she could escape from the booth, and she silently thanked her aunt. Kadie made her way over to the bar and sat down next to the vampire just as him and his brother stopped talking. She was wearing the same smirk that she had seen on Damon's face so many times before; a smirk that she could imagine him wearing as he killed all of her friends. She wasn't looking for revenge, but she wanted to destroy him. She wanted him to destroy her.
Kadie took a sip of her drink, knowing that he knew she was there. His shoulders tensed lightly when she sat next to him. "Hey there, American Psycho. You look like you could use some company. Still bored?" Damon looked over at her and smirked as well. Stefan's eyebrows pressed together whenever he saw the bold blonde. She had always been so quiet every time him and Elena were near her. They were never properly introduced, but he didn't want to be. Anything to do with Damon caused trouble, and this woman was talking to him like they were old friends. It made him uncomfortable.
"Nancy, hey. How've you been?" Kadie raised an eyebrow at him and her smirk turned flirtatious. Stefan still stood there, but neither of them cared. Damon wasn't too fond of his little brother. Besides, how could he resist a woman with no self-control and horrific taste in men? She knew what he was, and still she walked over to him and sat down. She knew what he had done to those people that she was with at the park, and even what he did to Vicki. She watched him snap her neck.
"Nancy?" Damon leaned in closer to her. His blue eyes were piercing her black ones, and he couldn't help but feel a little intrigued by how dark they were. He'd never seen a color like that before, like she had never seen a blue so bright. His smirk grew when she didn't fidget or pull away. She knew what she was getting herself into.
"Like it?" Kadie wrinkled her nose and pushed her alcohol away, remembering that she had went to the Grill with Jenna and Jeremy. She had to leave with them as well. All of her things were still in Jenna's dark blue car. She didn't know what she was going to do with the TV, but she couldn't leave it behind. The rest of her things would go back in her old dresser and then eventually it would scatter across her floor. She found it was much easier to dress when all she had to do was reach down and pick up anything that smelled nice.
"Do I look like a Nancy to you?" Damon chuckled and took her drink, downing it.
"Do I look like a murderer to you?"
Kadie raised her eyebrow. "That was a stupid question." Damon knew what he was doing by bringing that up. It didn't seem to faze the blonde sitting next to him. That was the fastest he'd ever seen anyone get over death. Most were lining up to chop his head off, unable to control their anger in his presence. He was cocky and arrogant. She wanted him to take her and make her feel something. Kadie didn't expect it to be positive. She didn't want it to be. "So, binge drinking and wallowing in your shitty life? Is this how you normally spend your nights?"
Damon shrugged and made a face. "Yeah, pretty much. Add in the average woman with low self-esteem and poor judgment, and my night is done." Kadie laughed. It seemed so natural as it rolled out of her chest. She leaned forward and tapped her fingers on the wooden bar. Stefan was still staring at them. Kadie completely ignored his presence. She had other things on her mind.
"Well, have you finished your night yet?" Damon eyed her.
"Yep." He popped the 'p'. Her smirk returned.
"Your house?"
"Yep." He popped the 'p' again. When Damon stood, Kadie stayed seated. Her eyes fell on the aunt that was still talking to Alaric. She didn't actually plan on leaving them. Nope, just messing with the man that messed with her routine life. If he actually expected her to sleep with him after he said she had low self-esteem and poor judgment- which honestly she kind of did, but that didn't matter-, he was a bigger idiot than Kadie had first expected. She ran her finger down his spine and caused him to shiver. He turned around and crashed his lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he placed himself between her legs. If she cared about what other people thought of her, she would have been embarrassed at their display. She tangled her fingers in his hair. After 200 years of practice, Kadie had to admit he was a pretty good kisser. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't going any further than that.
Kadie smiled against his mouth and pushed him away. "I'll meet you back at your place. I gotta get some stuff done first, okay?" She made herself sound breathless and passionate. Damon's stomach turned when he heard her speaking to him like that. He didn't plan on doing anything other than biting into her and compelling her to go home. He didn't until they kissed. There was something in it that made him feel weird. It was great. He hated that.
"Alright." Damon kept his mask on and he turned back to his glaring brother. Stefan didn't want Damon involving himself with anyone in Elena's life, but this girl walked up to him and willingly got herself into their mess. Kadie winked at them before walking back over to Jenna.
Kadie linked her elbow wit Jenna's and smiled at Alaric. His smile seemed forced whenever she arrived. "I'm going to head home. You two have fun." Jenna gave her a large smile and silently thanked her niece for allowing her to have fun. Jenna handed her the car keys to let Kadie drive home. She winked at her aunt as well before sauntering out of the Grill, with absolutely no plans of going to the boarding house. She wondered how long he'd be there when he finally did leave, waiting for her to show up. Him and Stefan seemed to be in a serious conversation whenever she left. Well, Stefan seemed serious at least. Damon was just Damon.
When she got back to the house, she unpacked all of her bags. It was empty, save for Jeremy who was looking through boxes in the living room. They smiled at each other when Kadie walked up the stairs, but neither of them said anything. She felt weird living with her aunt in the house her parents raised her in. She never expected to have to go back there. Even if she did lose her job, she always had something to fall back on. She had Jared and Melissa and even Tony- who was practically living life to the fullest in his nice van/home. She didn't ever plan on returning to the house that her family lived in. It made her uncomfortable, like she was spending the night at a distant grandmother's house while she sang to opera all night long. It was annoying and weird at the same time.
After Kadie was done unpacking everything, she undressed, showered, and opened a window. She lit a cigarette just for the hell of it. She had done it so many times before that she was sure it no longer mattered. If her walls were ruined, they would have fallen apart years ago when she didn't bother to open a window in fear that her parents would catch her; back when she was still considered a delinquent.
She sat in her window for what felt like hours, staring out at the stars and smoking to try and take the edge off of things. A whoosh sound came from the right and she looked, blankly staring at the vampire that super sped into her room. She would have been surprised if she didn't expect every single thing that she'd ever learned about vampires to apply to them. She'd already seen Vicki practically disappear. She gave him a small smile. He looked wrecked, with a bloody shirt and broken eyes. Why would he go there? "You look like you could use a drink," She commented. Damon tilted his head back, pushing back the hunger as best as he could.
What the hell was he doing there? His night went from bad to worse. Bonnie let the stupid witch take everything from him. Every chance that he had of breaking Katherine out of that tomb was destroyed with that stupid necklace the stubborn, bitchy witch would not give him. He halfway expected to see the young blonde sitting on his couch in the living room, drinking his scotch and enjoying herself like she had at the bar. He could imagine all of the things that he wanted to do to her. He wanted to kill. No, Damon needed to kill. He ran a rough hand through his messy black hair and smirked. "Are you offering?"
Kadie's heart raced at the thought of the pain he could bring her. She wanted to hurt. No, she needed to hurt. Adrenaline pumped through her excited veins and her smile grew, more real than it had been in months. "Bite me." Before she could object, Damon had her pressed up against the wall. His lips lingered a hair's length away from her neck. She could feel his breath brushing against her neck, cold and short. And then he bit down. She flinched at the pain and closed her eyes, grabbing onto his shoulders as tight as her weak arms could. Her nails dug into his rough shoulders. He didn't notice. She didn't care.
.:::.
AUTHOR'S NOTES!
I'm so unimpressed with this chapter, and it's way short. I'm so sorry. I've been trying to write it for a while now but I've had some serious blockage. I couldn't really think of anything, and it feels like I rushed this when it took me quite a few days. I wanted to establish some sort of relationship between Damon and Kadie, one that was and wasn't based off of negative emotions. This is kind of the chapter that I wanted to do that with. I might come back and edit it later, if it is unpleasing to a lot of people. I keep looking over it and I hate it. But I think this is keep-worthy. So just tell me what you think, maybe? I'll post the fourth chapter as soon as I can!
I do not own TVD.