Chapter 3: California land of dreams.
A/N Dream and thoughts in this chapter folks will be in italics.
Damon was sleeping the sleep of the dead, a sleep that was completely no control no raising of the chest he was to tired for that, he could breathe if he wanted to his lungs did technically work. The same part of the brain that controlled his lungs still worked it was more like if he wanted to breathe you could but vampires didn't really need to. He remembers being sick with the vampire bite and thinking why am I coughing up blood and for that reason why am I coughing. Damon remembered and questioned it only because he had never coughed while he was a vampire, sure, when he got the wind kicked out of him, or when his lungs were ever hurt it was a reflex to cough and release the tension in his chest. Today though he was sleeping the sleep of the dead instead of the usual no dreams that came with it he was in a dream world.
The world was upside down he was back at the Salvatore manor his friends where around him. It was pleasant he was acting like the put up a front Damon it was familiar after all these years but he couldn't be that guy. There was a cracking sound and the Damon he didn't like went away, it shattered into a million pieces. What was left standing there when the jerk Damon died was the guy Tabatha saw as her brother, he was wearing a black t-shirt, his pea coat, his jeans that he often wore when taking care of Mandy. The jacket had been a gift from Tabby when she complained about him being suspicious looking with a leather jacket on. He was standing in the middle of the Salvatore manor and everyone was staring at him only Stefan stepped up to him.
"Brother it has been ages since I have seen you, where did you go?"
Damon pondered the question, Stefan knew where he was and he remembered that same questions being asked when he didn't call him a childish nickname when he answered. "Who are you and what have you done with my vampire brother?" is what Stefan had actually asked him though.
It was strange but only Stefan would probably recognize the Damon Salvatore he was while he was in California. This Damon was the same one who had grown up in 1864 and was let out whenever he felt like the monster had done enough, he would disappear and just let the demon be gone, the human remnants all that was left. The man who had wanted to be a father, the man who was a bit of a womanizer and man-whore in the army, the man who fell in love easily and still wanted to act like Peter Pan. This was the human who had grown up in the 1800s and whenever Damon had turned on his humanity.
The party was going again like the people in it would just accept what Damon had kept protected from them. He didn't like it when people saw his humanity poking through as Elena would have said. These people would not have accepted him like this, they would have questioned what the ulterior motive was or if he was acting. They would never truly know that this man in front of them was not the mask but his true self.
Damon tossed and turned in the real world, he was restless, he didn't like being exposed like that. It was like he was being put on display now, and to Tyler crouching by the window it was strange to see the vampire so human like. To Tyler it looked like the demon was having a bad dream this night. It was just like what had happened to him when he had crashed on Mitch's guest bed.
A few hours earlier Tyler was in the throws of a nightmare the same state Damon was currently in, the wolf spied. He was tossing and turning in the bed a towel wrapped around his waist and his cleanly shaven face taught with fear. It wasn't a complete dream just a parade of flashes that would bombard Tyler.
"How could my son be gay, he isn't my son then no boy of mine would be gay." His dad bellowed at Tyler, pointing an accusing finger at the hybrid' chest and making Tyler cringe at the thought of his father disowning him for what he was.
"Son what do you mean you're a monster?" his mother asked as Tyler transformed in front of his mother during the full moon. She had screamed in terror at what her son had become, if only she knew what he was like now, an undead werewolf.
"Petro," Tyler called to the empty room that they shared in Italy. He waited for a reply but never got one his inner thoughts turning against him. Why would he love you you're an abomination half wolf half vampire unable to be complete.
"Tyler!" Petro called as he was whisked away to blackness, it wrapped around the smaller wolfs body it grabbed hold of his chest pulling him in, it got his legs dragging him into the darkness and Tyler was stunned it was just like the night Petro had been alone and been attacked by a rival wolf pack. Tyler hadn't been there and it felt like Petro had been swallowed up by darkness. Tyler had sworn revenge for Petro as he was healing only to find that Petro had not wanted more blood on the young wolfs hands and rejected him. The blackness had all but swallowed his former lover, his inner wolf was clawing at him to take action and save his former mate.
"Petro!" he shouted only to see the blackness recede and Petro standing before him sobbing.
"What have you done my love why did you stain your hands for me?" Petro pleaded as he cried out before Tyler. Petro was backing away now completely devastated that his mate had stained his hands for him. Petro new that Tyler would have to leave now, leave him because he could barely deal with his own murder. It might have been a drunk driving accident that claimed his passengers the curse didn't care blood on the hands was blood on the hands.
The dream shifted again it was storming and he was running he didn't know where yet, he didn't know if he was being chased or if he was pursuing something. He leapt up a tree a giant willow and looked down at a body underneath the wispy branches. It was that same angelic face, except this time he stirred and opened his eyes, the eyes of the demon greeted him. They were blood red gone was the serene utterlessly peaceful face here was the Damon he had known. A thing that only wanted blood he could sympathisize he felt the blood craving to as a hybrid. He saw the eyes stare at him for a minute almost questioning what Tyler was doing in the tree and then the car door slamming made the vampire snap to attention and speed off towards the sound. Tyler pursued and found Damon sucking the life out of a faceless woman he could smell herbs and an eltricty like the ozone after lightning it was how Bonnie smelled. He could smell it on the woman as she stared at him and asked wordlessly
"Why didn't you stop this?"
Then the demon was turning his face towards him a huge snirk on his face as he smiled with blood all over his front and in between his teeth. The eyes still red and staring into what felt like his soul it was utterly cold to the point of shivering and shuddering under that Demon's stare.
Tyler woke with a start it was near 11 and his body felt like it was the afternoon, after a few months of living in India. His chest was heaving and he felt like he had been running for hours. He looked around the room and listened hearing snoring down the hall of Mitch and his wife. The small fast heartbeat of Nora, Mitch's pregnant wife, pattering along as the baby slept along with its mother.
He felt calmed knowing that none of the dreams had actually happened in a minute he would forget it, but he wasn't to sure he could ever forget the face of that nameless face asking him "why?" he couldn't get it out of his head. After splashing his face, he went to the duffle bag with his clothes and pulled on a hoodie and some jeans. He laced up his running shoes and grabbed his cell phone and keys, he was taking a risk venturing outside but wanted to know what was Damon doing here.
He trekked down the fire road and made his was towards the highway, it was a 10 mile walk but the cool ocean air calmed him. The storm had passed and it was a clear night the water was not calm but it didn't look stormy. He was there within the hour, and was feeling foolish when he was about to knock on the witches door without evening knowing her name.
The wind picked up then and he smelled graveyard dust, blood and the familiar shampoo again, it was coming from a window in the front of the small ocean cottage. He walked to the window and saw Damon in a bed, he was tossing and turning his night shirt riding up in certain places revealing an amazing body. The man was wearing flannel pants pulled low to show a hip bone and Tyler's inner wolf wouldn't let his imagination stray to far from what he was looking at it decided he had a job to do. The vampire was in the throws of a nightmare and then he saw him stop moving like what ever had been frightening had stopped. The wind picked up and he saw Damon nose twitch like he was smelling a flower or judging by the look on his face garbage.
Tyler would have been close if only he knew, Damon's vampire mind had been close enough to waking when the wind picked up to smell wet dog, sun, graveyard dust and blood. Was he imaging things or did he really smell a hybrid that made Damon wake up instantly. He had only ever smelled that on hybrids which meant Klaus or one of his hybrids was here. He looked around the room saw a shadow cast from the window he hadn't moved yet he didn't want to scare the hybrid off he wanted to know who it was, he was looking through his eyelids. The shadow moved and he knew he was going to leave, he tore off the bed and went though the window making a crashing sound loud enough to wake the neighbors. He got hold of the man and spun him around without much effort he was obviously young, not very strong for a vampire, the face that he saw stopped him dead in his tracks though.
"Tyler," Damon questioned what the hell was the Lockwood boy doing here, Damon thought as he retracted his fangs and had his eyes turn there brilliant blue.
"Can you get off me?" Tyler asked the vampire who looked like he was about ready to punch him but that stopped him because he had questions.
"As soon as you tell me what your doing here," Damon argued a sly smile forming on his face as lights went on in the house and Tabatha came running out with a stake in hand like Damon taught here and one hand extended ready to use magic.
"I came to see you," Tyler admitted to see if you were going to snack on that lady over there.
"Alright, false alarm Tabby I know him," Damon said to the woman holding the stake and looking like she was about ready to hurt anyone who stepped within an inch towards the house. "You finally break the sire bond Lockwood?" Damon asked as he pulled Tyler to a standing position noticing for the first time the piece of glass buried in his shoulder and stomach. "Oh I really liked this shirt, too" Damon complained and then looked up at Tyler still expecting an answer from his question.
"Oh yeah months ago," Tyler informed Damon as he saw Tabatha approach Damon a look of concern on her face.
"Damon what are you doing jumping through windows at midnight trying to wake up the baby and me?" Tabby asked her dear friend who had acted like a lunatic.
Tabatha had woken up to the window crashing and ran to her baby's room to find she was thankfully still asleep even after the crash. She then ran back to her room and grabbed the stake Damon had made her when he got here and turned on the lights only to come out the door and find Damon on top of a man much bigger than him.
"I was asleep when Tyler was looking in my window looking in my window, I smelled him in the air, I'm glad it was you and not Klaus," Damon laughed. He then grunted as he pulled out the last shard of glass of his shoulder and felt the skin close slowly on the one on his stomach. He would have to get a new shirt he wasn't one for modesty but this place was freezing he only had the window open so he could hear and smell the air while he slept, he was always alert like that.
"I'm glad you didn't try and stake me the moment you saw me though you know that wouldn't have killed me," admitted Tyler. His dream was forgotten the moment he saw how Damon and Tabby interacted her concern for him seemed genuine and the way Damon had just taken glass to place that hurt like hell to protect this woman seemed genuine. Maybe Mitch was right, maybe Damon was protecting the witch, not as a ploy but out of kindness.
"Well now that where all up and I see you two need to catch up I guess I'll go put on the electric cauldron," Tabby announced to which Damon laughed and it was not a spine chilling laugh that Damon normally gave off it was a genuine laugh.
"Damon? Are you sure you're really Damon?" Tyler asked the man who stood in front of him that was now disappearing to a garage.
"Yes just as I'm sure that you're the young Lockwood werewolf hybrid from Mystic Fall my home town," Damon replied as he pulled a tarp from the garage and tacked it up over the gaping hole.
"Yeah but…never mind," Tyler dismisses with a shake of his head he could ask Damon why he was acting this way later..
"Its okay when I'm not with people who tend to hate me I can be pretty nice and besides Tabatha is like my sister how could I not protect her," Damon concludes to the unasked question Tyler was going to say but dismissed them. "You young hybrid are going to enjoy some tea with me and Tabatha while we catch up about all sorts of things starting with why you were sneaking up here."
^*^ Thank you for your time and so sorry for the cliff hanger but it works better for the next chapter where are two love birds talk. Remember if you see an error tell me and review if you liked it.
