AN: I am so sorry this update has taken so long. I had university assignments and then my laptop crashed on me and I lost all my work, including this chapter. It's frustrating as I don't think this is as good as the first copy I wrote. But I hope you enjoy it!

Believer

Chapter 4: Bitten

Vicki's chest rose and fell with each breath. She was laid flat on her back, one arm hanging limp off the edge of the couch. Her mouth hung open and her breath whistled softly as she slept.

Damon sat, still and silent, watching her. She was dead to the world…literally.

She moaned softly and rolled onto her side, her mouth closed and her lips turned up in a smile. Damon simply stared, his bright eyes half-closed, lost as he was in thought. He still couldn't quite understand why he had turned her. Was it boredom? Had he actually felt pity for her? He smirked to himself and glanced away, shaking his head. The light was fading outside; the days were getting shorter and shorter. As the sun fell in the sky, the shadows stretched across the large room, reaching for him. Damon let them take him, for once glad to see the sun fade. The black of night matched perfectly to his black mood. It was a blanket of darkness for him to brood under. For all that he would mock Stefan for it, he felt like brooding. His eyes glittered in the fading sunlight as he scanned the horizon outside the large windows. He could feel her there. Katherine. His Katherine.

He tore his gaze away, the muscles of his jaw clenching. But she was not his. She had always been shared.

He heard Stefan approaching long before he saw him. A bitter surge of fury rushed through his body and he stood, moving quickly into the corner of the room. Stefan's light, sure footsteps entered the room and stopped. They stood in silence for a while, the sun falling ever lower. Damon's back was rigid with tension.

'I'm heading over there,' Stefan ventured eventually. His words crashed loudly against the silence.

Damon said nothing.

Silence again. Then Stefan sighed loudly, 'Make sure Vicki doesn't go anywhere.' His footsteps began to move away.

'Will you be letting Elena know this time?' Damon said suddenly. He turned, folding his arms across his chest and flashed his familiar smirk.

Stefan paused on his way to the door and glanced back impatiently. He saw Damon's smirk and expected it, but he also saw the hardness around his brother's eyes and the cold fire within them. 'Know what?'

'That you're there…that you're watching her,' Damon pushed himself forwards and shrugged his shoulders dramatically. 'It's a little…creepy,' Damon's eyes flashed, his tone only barely passable as playful, 'don't you think?'

Stefan's response was a slight shake of the head. He jabbed a finger towards Vicki's sleeping form and said, 'Watch her.' Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Damon's smirk disappeared in an instant. 'Yes boss,' he murmured darkly. With a long sigh he stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and sauntered across to the cabinet on the far wall. He grabbed a bottle, not bothering to even check what it was, and pulled the cork loose. Then he put it to his lips and threw the liquid down his throat. Warmth trickled through him, warmth that his dead body sadly lacked. He glanced at the bottle and grinned to himself, he had never quite figured out if a Vampire could truly have an addiction. He reached for a glass but his hand fell as his stomach lurched sickeningly.

Katherine. The realisation struck him like a sledgehammer. Maybe most human vices, drugs and alcohol, were simple toys for the supernatural. But that other age-old addiction, women…or love, was universal.

Damon's grip clenched on the bottle in his grasp, his knuckles whitened and his arm twitched, itching to smash it against the wall.

'What…'

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His arm ached to vent his rage but somehow he managed to place the bottle down gently and turn. Vicki was gazing around, jaw hanging open, from her position on the couch. Her eyes were wide, yet dazed, still doused in exhaustion.

Damon stated simply, 'You're awake.'

Vicki's eyes focused on him and everything seemed to come flooding back. She looked stunned for an instant then her expression darkened. Her eyes narrowed and she pouted as she threw herself back onto the couch with a dramatic sigh.

Damon watched her, his misery mounting steadily. He was regretting turning her already.

'Why did you do this to me!' she moaned loudly, clapping her hand over her eyes.

'I really have no idea…' drawled Damon in reply.

'Seriously,' she sat and glared at him, 'I'm sat in your creepy house, with old blood down my top and Stefan says I can't go anywhere.' She swung her legs to the floor and rested her chin on her hand petulantly, 'I'm bored. And I'm hungry…' her eyes lit up suddenly. She shot an excitable look towards Damon, 'I want to see Jeremy, can I go?'

Damon's lip curled. He found her almost as amusing as she was irritating, but not quite. He considered it for a second. Imagined the horror on Stefan's face when he realised Vicki was loose in Mystic Falls.

Sighing loudly, Damon fixed her with a stare and a smile, 'No.'

Vicki threw her hands up and groaned loudly, 'Why?'

'Two reasons,' Damon said lightly, holding up two fingers to illustrate his point, 'firstly, there's still enough sunlight out there to burn you to a crisp,' Vicki wrinkled her nose in disgust, 'Secondly,' Damon continued, 'you're new. You can't control yourself.'

'But I'm hungry!' Vicki exclaimed.

Damon rolled his eyes, 'Stefan has a whole stash of bunnies in the fridge,' he threw her a mocking smile, 'help yourself.'

Then Damon froze, his smile fading to a tense frown. His heightened senses heard footsteps on the gravel outside. His eyes narrowed and he turned to the door. Vicki raised an eyebrow. Her senses were not quite so well tuned.

The doorbell rang and Vicki looked towards the door then back again. A wide grin split her face, perhaps starting to realise that there may be perks to her new lifestyle. Damon relaxed and he tipped his head curiously.

'It's Elena,' he said with evident surprise.

Vicki's brow lowered, 'Elena…'

Something in Vicki's voice roused Damon's suspicion. His head turned to her. He watched her face scrunch up in confusion, then…something else. His eyes darkened dangerously, 'What?'

Vicki's eyes slid away from his, focusing anywhere but on his face. She smiled thinly, 'Nothing,' she said quickly.

He knew she was lying, he knew she was hiding something and his curiosity was piqued. He turned fully to face her, forcing menace into every muscle and sinew of his body but the doorbell rang again. He looked from Vicki, to the door and back again, frowning softly. Then he said in an unfamiliarly serious tone, 'You won't be able to control yourself, go upstairs.'

To Damon's surprise Vicki stood without argument. She brushed past him, keeping her gaze averted and shot up the stairs before he could say anything else. He shook his head, he would worry about that later, then he sped across to the door. He fixed his smirk into place and opened the it with a flourish.

A number of emotions flittered obviously across Elena's face as he appeared before her. Firstly surprise, then anger, irritation and finally, the slight flush of her smooth cheeks betrayed something else. Damon felt that familiar twinge of desire upon seeing her, a twinge that he could never stop no matter how hard he tried. His eyes slid from hers to her throat to her eyes again and he could do little to stop them. She glared at him but did not move.

'Elena,' Damon leant his head against the door, 'what a pleasure to see you.'

She puffed out her cheeks in irritation and he took pride in the fact that he was already infuriating her. She folded her arms and pursed her lips. Damon grinned, genuinely amused.

'Is Stefan here?' she asked, resigned to the fact that she probably wouldn't receive a straight answer.

So Damon surprised her, 'No. He's at yours actually.'

Elena arched an eyebrow, 'At mine?'

'Yes, like he was at yours all last night,' Damon stepped back and held out an arm, 'it's cold. Would you like to come in?'

Elena ignored him. She shifted on the doorstep, her brow crinkled in thought, 'Stefan wasn't at mine last night…'

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently, 'Yes, he was. He has been watching over you like a guardian bloody angel. Now would you come in?'

Elena failed to hide her surprise. She eyes twitched wider, confused/ Then she met his gaze and asked simply, 'Why?'

Damon's nostrils flared slightly, he was growing impatient, 'Because he wants to protect you or some…rubbish like that…'

Elena shook her head quickly, 'No.' Damon's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She fixed him with a stare, intense and curious. 'Why should I come in?'

For once it was Damon that felt confused. He did not understand what he was seeing in her warm eyes. With her words she was asking one thing but with those eyes…was she asking something else? Damon shook himself, brushing the notion aside, his own eyes passed from hers and over her shoulder to the skyline beyond, 'Because not only is it cold, but it is also dark and darkness, at the moment, means danger for you.'

Elena scoffed and rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth, no doubt to shoot Damon some sardonic retort when she froze. Damon smiled as he watched realisation strike her. She tensed visibly; her brown eyes widened and caught his. He saw the sudden fear there, the trepidation. Without words he stepped further inside and without words Elena followed him.

Damon led her through into the main room and he couldn't help but think of the first time he had seen her there. She had spun around to find him behind her. Her hair had whipped across his face, filling his senses with the scent of spices. Her lips had been so close to his. He had struggled to control himself then, for a second, a part of him was sure that she was Katherine. That he could take her in his arms and keep her there forever. But she wasn't Katherine. Damon shot a look over his shoulder to find Elena looking at him strangely. He stopped and faced her with narrowed eyes.

'You do seem to be on a mission today, your eyes are burning with questions.'

Elena mirrored his stance and he smiled appreciatively. The fire in her eyes and in her heart were things even his dark heart could admire.

'I wanted answers from Stefan,' she said simply, 'but I suppose you'll do.'

Damon did not know why, but those words stung him. I suppose you'll do. His jaw twitched and his gaze cooled. Always second best.

'What would you like to know?' he snapped.

Elena started at his change of tone. She shook her head softly, eyeing him with her own cool anger. She folded her arms and lifted her chin.

Taking a deep breath she dived straight for the heart of the matter, 'How is…Katherine back?'

She thought he would flinch in some way. She had seen the way he had struggled when Katherine had first appeared, how difficult it had been for him to shut the door. But he didn't. His eyes did not waver; they continued to stare.

'I do not know.'

Elena eyes narrowed disbelievingly but she let it go, knowing that pressing him would gain nothing. 'Why do I…look like her?'

Damon simply shrugged.

Elena took a deep breath, determined not to let him see her lose her temper. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

'Why didn't you ever tell me?'

This time his eyes did waver. He tilted his head and his gaze softened. Elena felt herself flush and hated herself for it. But how could she not when he looked at her that way? He stepped forwards, slowly, and Elena found she was holding her breath. He stopped in front of her, only a few inches between them and Elena would not have been able to breathe even if she had wanted too. Somehow, she never looked away.

Then he said in a voice barely above a whisper, 'Why would I?'

Elena's flush deepened. She stared up at him, her eyes flashing her growing rage. She hated how he could push and pull her emotions anyway that he pleased. And she hated him for wanting too.

'Fine,' she spat. She swallowed heavily as Damon's eyes lingered on her lips. 'If you want to be difficult go ahead, I didn't come here for you anyway.' His eyes snapped back up to hers but she didn't flinch, 'answer me this one thing…why didn't you warm me, or Stefan that you knew she was back?'

Damon watched her for a moment, he could see her trembling, then said, 'What makes you think I knew?'

Elena paused. Suddenly her mouth was dry and she felt unsure. Damon could sense her growing tension and he took the smallest step closer, curious.

Elena's eyes fluttered closed, she was unable to match the intensity of his gaze any longer. 'Because,' she said breathlessly, 'when you were at mine, you knew. That's why you wouldn't let me leave…you came to mine…to protect me.'

Damon snorted and tore his eyes away from her as he turned. Elena blinked at his back, startled.

'Elena, don't let your imagination run away with you. It was a lucky coincidence that I was near your home…nothing more.'

Elena stared at his back, her breathing was growing more and more ragged by the second. She was so infuriated that she could feel her eyes burning. His shoulders were taut with tension and she knew…

'Why do you pretend not to care?' she blurted suddenly, her voice cracking with emotion.

Damon didn't move.

So Elena stepped forward, towards him. 'You came to mine to protect me. You knew I was in danger, just like you knew just now when I was at the door,' her voice trembled and she was stunned by the bubble of pain she could feel within her chest, 'why can't you just admit it? Why is it so hard?'

'Because I don't care.' Damon hissed dangerously.

Elena froze in indecision. But he still refused to look at her. She squared her shoulders. Fire coursed through her as she closed the space between them, grabbed his arm and spun him around.

She was so close to him she could feel his breath on her cheek. His eyes were like ice, staring daggers down at her. She watched his nostrils flare, she could see the muscles of his face straining as he ground his teeth together.

'You do care Damon,' and to Elena's horror she could feel tears threatening to spill off her eyelashes, 'you love Katherine. You love Stefan too, no matter what has passed between you both. You do care. And…maybe…' she pressed her lips together in a vain attempt to stop them trembling.

Damon's eyes, still cold, fell once more to her lips. His adams apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly. Then he looked up again, 'Do not make the mistake of thinking I care about you…'

Elena gasped and stepped back. Her eyes fell away, humiliated and ashamed of the emotions that she was feeling. Somewhere, distantly, she heard a snarl. Through tear-filled eyes she turned to see Vicki baring down upon her, newly formed fangs drawn. She screamed.

'No!' Damon roared as Vicki grasped Elena's shoulders and sunk her fangs into her neck.

For the briefest moment Damon was paralysed by horror. Then he shot forwards and wrenched the two apart. As Elena crumbled into his arms, he shot a deathly stare at Vicki who was gasping on the floor. 'Get out.'

Vicki saw murder in his eyes. She scrambled backwards, Elena's blood dripping off her chin, across the wooden floor until she managed to find her feet. Then she ran.

Damon's eyes fell immediately to Elena's neck. He saw the large gash there and her blood spilling onto the floor. He closed his eyes. The scent of her filled his senses. He felt heat rush through him and his tongue flicked over his fangs, pushing desperately for release. His hands clutched her hungrily, pulling her limp form onto his lap, clasping her against his trembling chest.

'Damon,' her voice was a meek whisper.

His eyes opened in surprise. She was gazing up at him, her eyelids fluttering and he saw something there that both frightened and amazed him. Trust.

'This…this is your chance,' she managed somehow. She lifted her hand slowly, placing it over his heart, 'to…prove that you don't care…'

AN: Hope that was okay, please please review. I appreciate it so much.