Blood Red Roses

He could have moved silently had he wanted to. He could have made it so she didn't know he was coming for her until it was too late to run, but that would be boring, and Damon Salvatore didn't do boring. By the time he reached the upstairs landing, he wanted the fear to be strong, pungent in the air, so he made his steps purposefully heavy. Rationally, he knew that it was Stefan who should be punished, but he knew it would hurt him too if he bullied Elena a little – they both deserved it, after all. Her heart beat thundered deliciously in his ears.

Stefan was unconscious on the floor below, the broken bones in his face slowly mending. He couldn't remember the last time he'd fed on more than a rabbit, and the lack of blood was beginning to take it's toll on all of his powers. Right now, he had the strength of a human and only a fraction quicker healing. His arm was still broken, twisted at an angle behind his back, and his cheek bone must be cracked from the force of Damon's fist ploughing into him. The worst injury, though, was his inability to fight the darkness which kept dragging him deeper.

Damon heard her gasp as he slowly inched the door open with a creak. Elena was sitting, frozen, on her bed when he first saw her. Her eyes were wide and her fingers were trembling in the lap. She gulped, but he could only see her throat move. He was intent on that throat, and it was clear that she knew it. "Elena," he said coaxingly, with each step closer to touching her, "you must know why I am here. Do you like feeling pain, or just inflicting it, Elena?"

Elena screamed shortly and stood at once. For a heartbeat they stared at each other, the owl and the mouse, the owl waiting for the prey to make the first move. That's how it worked, in the wild, in nature, part of why birds of prey intimidate before they strike. It's more fun if the prey runs. He caught her before she had moved two steps and pushed her to the floor at his feet. She tried to stand but he held her down, ensnaring her in his arms and not giving her any use of her upper body.

"Damon, let go of me! Let go!" she shouted, glaring at him, too frightened of the beast to consider using her legs as a weapon. "Please!"

He put his lips on hers, but what he was doing wasn't kissing. He pinned her to the floor with his mouth and used his left hand to grip her chin. His right he used to pinch the soft skin at the bottom-centre of her neck, causing her to gag and struggle as he slowly cut off her oxygen.

"The ring," he said.

"What?" she choked, done with thrashing and lying still beneath him. She'd never been so roughly treated in her entire life, and even Klaus had never hit her like Damon did. He slapped her to make Stefan suffer that little bit more, hoping that his hand on the side of her face would leave a bruise. He took her hand and held it up in front of him.

"The ring," he said again, and instead of waiting for her to move he grasped the diamond ring and tugged it off her finger. She tried to snatch it back, but her human reflexes were no match for his vampiric speed. As soon as he gripped it tightly, he stood up seamlessly and disappeared in a blur of speed. He left Elena staring after him while clutching her bare ring finger.

He leapt from the second story window and landed as graceful as a cat on the grass outside. Mrs Flowers was not outside to see him, and for that he was glad. It was not his inhuman abilities that he would rather she not see, but instead the red rose he plucked from her garden. She would probably tell him he could have it anyway, she was a kind woman, but he would rather not have to ask for something he could just as easily take.