Notice: Yes, guys, I know I am using the same song again but it just seemed to be perfect for the scene, hope it's ok with y'all ;)
Chapter 3
He took her away from all the uproar deep into the woods and now they were sitting on a wormy tree trunk covered with thick moss, facing each other. It took her a while to pull herself together but even now Stephan was holding her arm as he knew she could still feel a faint craving in the pit of her stomach and a fading thirst in the back of her throat.
Valerie noticed that the nail marks on his arm were already gone and there wasn't even a scratch.
"Thank you for coming for me" she nervously nibbled her lower lip "I was dangerously close to losing it. I couldn't control myself and I felt as if something was out of my reach. And then…" she hesitated but didn't let her emotions take over her "It would have been over for me. 20 years of a diet gone to waste"
Stephan smiled at her but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Stephan, I know I wasn't ready" she was being serious now "and I fully understand how irresponsible and careless I was. But I'm going to work on it, I promise" She was. She knew she was.
***
Zach was waiting for them in the living rom.
"What's going on?" he asked worried when he saw Stephan's face.
"Someone else was attacked and Zach, it wasn't me" he was evidently tense and upset.
"Wait, I didn't see any wild bears running around; so if it wasn't you and it wasn't me, then who was it?" Valerie looked at both of them.
"That's what worries me" Stephan said over his shoulder and disappeared on the stairs.
She had a bad feeling about this.
***
"I know what you are" by Carter Burwell (Twilight OST)
00:01 She gently pressed the door handle and let the door swing full open with an eerie squeak.
There was nothing wrong with the room, it looked just as usual; books neatly stacked on the bookcase, her clothes folded on the armchair, her four poster bed covered with silk cushions. The smell of dust blended with the aroma of wood and her perfumes filled the air. But she could feel it again.
The fleeting presence that she had felt earlier at the cemetery.
She looked to her right and noticed that the terrace glass door was widely open and the muslin curtain was softly dancing with the wind.
She took a step forward and the floor squealed under her feet.
00:35 A black crow flew into the room through the open door and sat on one of the beams under the ceiling. It was looking straight at her with its black bead-like eyes.
0:46 That's when a single gust of wind brought to her a very characteristic aroma.
One that she had been dreading for the last sixty five years.
One that she didn't want to ever smell again.
01:10 And that's when she finally realized who was behind all this.
Her whole body tensed and before she looked back she knew who was standing in the doorway.
She slowly turned around and there he was, standing on the other side of the room and looking straight at her.
"Damon" she put all her will into stopping her voice from shaking but she knew he could feel her dread through the bond between them.
So there he was; handsome, tall, dark, with an evil smirk on his face and ready to strike like a predator lurking around his victim.
"Hello, Valeria"
01:32 music fades away
***
His smooth seductive voice that sent a shrill all over her body and she couldn't do anything about it. An evil smirk o his face put her body on fire.
"It's Valerie now" she finally took control of her voice.
"I don't see any difference" he slowly walked into the room but that didn't intimidate her this time.
"It's different enough. That woman is long dead. But you already know this; you made sure of that" some distant memories started to flood her mind but she did not let him notice how much his presence disturbed her.
He slowly walked to the desk between them.
"So it's true" he looked at her wryly "the vampire apprentice is on her mission".
"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" she asked frigidly.
"Wait till you can see what I can do with the fog" now he was looking through some books on the table nearby.
"What are you doing here?" she watched him suspiciously.
"I couldn't miss Stefan's first day at school, could I?" he walked up to the bookcase and leaned on it.
"You look different, I like it" his blue eyes were piercing her throughout.
"It's been a long time, Damon. Why are you here?" Damon being in town could mean only one thing.
Trouble.
"You hate small towns, they're boring, there's nothing for you to do" she still remembered his habits and routines.
How pathetic, she thought.
"I'll manage to keep myself busy" now he was sitting in her leather chair and rocking from side to side.
"You let this girl alive in the open today, very clumsy of you"
"Oh yeah, I saw you there. It looked like you were in some kind of trouble. That could be a problem. For you" he saw her suffering in the forest and he enjoyed every second of it.
"Damon, why are you here?" he was still not answering her question.
"I could ask you the same thing" he smiled at her evilly "However, I'm pretty certain your answer is gonna be one little word. Elena"
A cold chill flooded her heart.
"She took my breath away, Elena. She's a dead ringer for Katherine" she saw in his eyes that whatever his plan was, nothing good was coming out of it.
Especially when it involved his beloved Katherine, she thought bitterly.
"She's not Katherine" she said slowly as if testing how far she could go before he turned against her "Leave her alone"
"Oh, Val, she is the reason I'm here. You see, I once made a promise to your dear Stefan to make a hell out of his life; so actually the only reason I'm here is to keep my promise" he took a closer look at her "By the way, when was the last time you had something else than a squirrel"
"I know what you're doing, Damon, but it's not going to work. Not this time"
She was fully aware that he was much stronger than her not only because of his rich human diet but also because of the way he was changed into one of them.
Suddenly he was by her, pinning her to the wall.
"You need to remember that I am more powerful than you, little Valeria. You two lost this battle when you stopped feeding on people" his lips lingered inched apart from her "So if I were you, I wouldn't try to get rid of me because it's gonna end ugly for you" she knew that he could snap her as easily as a twig "And I would suggest you hold on to this necklace of yours" he looked at her neckline where she was wearing one of the ancient medallions protecting her from the sun, an identical one was on his finger "We wouldn't want you to get a sunburn, do we?"
And with these words he disappeared with the incredible vampire speed into the darkness.
She couldn't move for a minute and when she finally did, she walked to the glass door and shut it with such a force that the glass almost rattled in the frame.
She was didn't think her task of protecting Elena would be so easy any more.
***
"The Background" by Third Eye Blind
00:01 It was after 2 in the morning when Stefan got home and he was surprised when he found her sitting in the old armchair by the fireplace with a glass of red wine in her hand.
At least he hoped it was wine.
00:23 He didn't want to disturb her so he was about to walk away when she stopped him.
00:37 "How's Elena" she asked without looking at him.
"She's alright" he leaned on the wooden doorframe adorned with the Salvatore family crest "She's a little shook up with what happened to Vicky but she's gonna be alright"
"That's good"
From her reaction he assumed she wanted to be left alone so he started towards the stairs.
"By the way, your brother is in town"
From his reaction she assumed he had known about it long before her.
"You noticed" from the tone of his voice she could tell he was ashamed as they never kept secrets from each other.
"Well, it's hard not to when you face him" now she got up and gave him a wounded look "That's why you need me here, isn't it? You didn't summon me just because you need protection for Elena. You want me here because you think I will be able to protect her from him" she whispered the last words "Stefan, for Damon there are no limits, you know that" she paused for a moment "Besides, I'm just a girl from his past and she's the great love of his life. And if she's involved in any way, he's gonna do everything to bring her back"
He nodded slowly.
He could only hope she was wrong.
01:24 "And Stefan" she called after him "Keep him away from me"
01:32 zooming to her expressionless stone face in the shadow covered with a red glow from the fire
