Chapter 3

Elena clutched Damon's leather jacket tightly as John stepped into the house, smiling at Damon innocently. "Pleasure to meet you."

Damon stared at his hand for a while before extending his and grasping it firmly. "I'm Damon."

John nodded and looked at Elena who quickly turned her face away from him and buried it in Damon's chest. "Elena, what's wrong? You don't want to see your uncle John?"

Elena didn't respond, she just kept her head in Damon's shirt and dug her tiny nails into the black fabric. Moments later, Miranda walked over and gasped when she saw John standing there. "John, what are you doing here?"

"I just came here to see my family, what's wrong with that?" John replied as he took off for the living took and plopped down on the couch, patting the seat next to it. "Come and sit down. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Damon inwardly growled at the smirking fiend. Who did he think he was? And why was Elena so terrified of him? He knew she didn't like him but he had no clue that she was this deeply scared of him. Something should have happened when she was little, and Damon was going to find out exactly what that something is. "I don't think this is a good time." Damon replied flatly, looking down at the still shaken up Elena in his arms.

"Grayson won't be happy that you're here, John. It's best if you leave." Miranda replied, stealing a glance at Damon whose eyes were blazing.

John sighed as he stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll be back when my brother is here."

The door slammed shut with such a force that caused the whole house to shake. Damon turned to Miranda, intent on getting answers. "Go put Elena upstairs and then we can talk." Miranda instructed.

Damon nodded, walking up the creaking stairs and to Elena's room. He slowly pulled her tear streaked face away from him, seeing the pain shining brightly on her face. "Hey you're ok." Swiftly, he wiped away the tears away from her face and laid her on her bed. Elena cried softly in protest as Damon pulled away from her. He sighed as he dug through the toys until he found her brown bear. "Do you want your bear?" Damon questioned as he held his hand out to her. Elena wasted no time in taking the animal and hugging it close to her body, giving Damon a silent look of thanks. Damon ran his hand through her hair delicately before walking out of her room and quietly shutting the door behind him.

He walked down the stairs to where Miranda was waiting for him at. She sighed as Damon sat himself on the couch and gave her his undivided attention. "Last year," Miranda began, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, "John came to see Elena when she was two. Elena had no idea who he was since he never came over when she was a small infant but once she found out that he was her uncle she grew instantly attached." Damon listened to her intently, never once breaking his gaze from her saddened face. "Then, the problems started. John began to come over more and more until he declared that he wanted to stay a whole week. I didn't have any objections since I knew he and Elena were close. Or, so I thought."

Damon could feel his body tense at where this story was headed but struggled to remain calm as he painstakingly listened to the rest. "One night, we woke up to the sound of Elena crying and screaming bloody murder I ran in there as fast as I could but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. Elena was lying on her bed, covered in cuts and blood." Miranda took a shaky breath, not able to get the next words out without crying. "She was lying there naked, all of her clothes were thrown to the floor in a mangled heap and when we took her to the doctor, he said she was victim of-of-" Without even thinking, Damon pulled the crying woman into a hug and stroked her hair between his fingertips softly.

"Hey it's ok. That man isn't going to touch Elena anymore. I'll make sure his heart is ripped out before that happens." Damon vowed, fighting off the overwhelming urge to go after John and rip his head off along with his heart.

Miranda nodded, calming down a bit and resumed her story. "After we found out what it was, John had already left. We haven't heard from him since just a few minutes ago. Grayson was so sick and morbidly disgusted by John that he disowned him as soon as he found out."

Damon nodded, too wrapped up in his anger to form a response. How can somebody do that? Damon knew he had done awful things in his life but doing that to an innocent child was absolutely unforgivable. He was going to kill John. Then once he got back to the present he was going to do it again.

A loud crash in Damon's ears startled him as he stood up suddenly, the sound of muffled cries ringing in his ears like a bell. Miranda looked up at him curiously. "Damon?"

Damon growled, letting out an animalistic hiss as his face became painted with red and fangs sprouted out from the delicate pink flesh. Miranda's eyes widened in fear as Damon turned his head towards her, fangs barred angrily. "That monster's back."

Before Miranda could respond, Damon was gone.

Damon burst into Elena's room in one fluid motion, startling John who had Elena's face pressed roughly into a pillow and a belt in his hand. Damon felt whatever control he had on his emotions slip away as he launched himself at John, pinning him into the wall. John gasped and stared at Damon's face in terror. "Wha-what are you?"

Damon didn't respond as his fangs elongated and he ripped into John's neck, quickly draining him dry. Once John's body was completely dry, Damon let it drop to the floor and leaned against the wall, giving himself a chance to get his emotions in check before he went near Elena.

The sound of someone gasping caught his attention. Damon slowly lifted his head up to see Miranda standing in the doorway with her hand over her mouth, shock freezing her in place. Elena's cries broke Damon out of his trance and soon he was holding her in his arms as she wept into his shirt. "Shhh..." Damon whispered softly as he rubbed circles on her back in an attempt to soothe her.

His eyes wandered over to Miranda who was still in shock, not believing what she just saw. "You were just-"

"I know." Damon whispered as he carried Elena over to her mother and placed her gently in Miranda's arms. "I'll understand if you want me to leave."

Just as he turned to leave, Miranda grabbed his arm tightly. "No don't leave. Please."

Damon turned around and smiled when he saw Miranda half smile. "I would never hurt you or Elena."

"I know." Miranda whispered, giving Elena back to him. "I just need to be alone to digest some things. I'll be in my room if you need me."

Damon nodded, holding Elena protectively to his chest. Miranda flashed Damon one last smile before leaving the room. He looked down at the child in his arms who seemed to be resting peacefully in his arms, the past events seemed to be forgotten.

Damon laid Elena down in her bed, kissing her temple softly. "Are you ok?"

Elena nodded, taking Damon's hand and pulling him closer. "Stay with me."

Damon smirked, shoving Elena playfully out of the way. "How can I when you're hogging up all the space?"

Elena laughed as she tried in vain to push him back. "You mean!"

Damon smirked as he pretended to be affected and rolled towards the end before he almost fell off. "Oh now you're gonna get it!"

Elena screamed as Damon pinned her to the bed, smirking devilishly at her. "Don't ever, do that again."

Elena pretended to be mad and turned her face away from him while hiding a smile. Damon's face then turned serious as he rolled off of her and laid next to her, his blue eyes captivating her. "Elena, there's something we need to talk about."

Elena nodded, looking at him with curious blue eyes. "What is it?"

Damon sighed. He didn't know how he was going to put this into words for her to understand, but the sooner she knew the better off it'll be. Then she can decide if she wants him in her life or not. "You saw what I did to John a few minutes ago, right?"

Elena cocked her head to the side. "Didn't you kill him?"

Damon nodded. "Yes I did but do you know how I did it?"

Elena shook her head from side to side. "No, I couldn't see anything."

Damon nodded and without a word he got up off the bed and felt his face change. Reddened veins overlapped the rims of his eyes and his eyes transformed into a violent red color. He studied Elena's reaction, searching for any signs of fear. He found none, only of sheer curiosity. "I'm a predator Elena. I kill people to get my food, which is blood." He paused for a second to see Elena's expression remained the same. He arched an eyebrow. "Why aren't you afraid of me like most kids would be?"

Elena smiled warmly up at him. "Because you would never hurt me. If you wanted to then you would have already. You good."

For the first time in a long time, Damon smiled a real smile and let his vampire face disappear. He crawled back into bed with Elena, wrapping his muscular arms around her small frame. "As long as I'm here, no one can hurt you."

"I know." Elena replied, yawning.

Damon chuckled a little and stroked the side of Elena's head softly, occasionally catching strands of her long hair between his fingertips. "Go to sleep."

"Damon?" Elena looked up at him as he continued to stroke the side of her face.

"Yes?" he replied gingerly.

"I love you."

All the cold remains around Damon's heart broke off and shattered at those three words. The words he had been dying to hear escape from Elena's mouth in the time that he was from. But now, he didn't care. Having Elena's trust and love, no matter the age, was the best thing that could ever happen to him. "I love you too." Damon whispered, kissing the sleeping Elena's forehead before falling off into a deep sleep, his princess of darkness held tightly against his body.

A/N: God how I would love to end the story there but I can't. We have to get Damon back to his own time don't we?

Oh and about Bonnie calling Damon, that will be explained in later chapters!

Review please!:)