Chapter Seven: The Truth
"I'm a vampire." That was what Elena thought Damon had said, but it didn't make sense. Was he out of his mind? Vampires didn't exist. Damon held up his hands before she could speak. "Hear me out. I know, trust me, I know, how little sense this makes to you."
"I don't know what kind of joke you think you're playing on me, Damon Salvatore," Elena began, getting a little louder. Damon hushed her. He had decided not to tell her about Katherine, more than was necessary; she didn't need to know why he was back in Mystic Falls and she certainly didn't need to know that she was Katherine's spitting image. Instead, Elena watched as his eyes darkened and the veins around them began to stand out terribly against his skin. He opened his mouth and she saw that his canine teeth had become pointed and elongated- like fangs. Any argument she'd had for him died in her throat, and Elena Gilbert was afraid.
"Don't move." He said. Elena found her limbs were suddenly frozen and unable to move. "What I just did, was compel you. Vampires can do that- it's a kind of mind control. That's what I did the night that we met- I compelled you to forget me. It's extremely difficult to break compulsion, but a huge shock like the car going off Wickery Bridge can do it. That's what happened. That's why the memory came back to you and why nothing made sense- I never explained. I just compelled you."
Elena thought back to when she had woken up in the hospital. Nobody had been able to work out how she'd gotten out of the car. As she'd lay there, staring at the ceiling while painkillers were being pumped intravenously into her system, the first real thing she'd thought about was Damon. She'd wondered who he was and why she hadn't known before her body was being starved of oxygen.
"Those animal attacks- the two couples, Vicki Donovan- those weren't animal attacks." Damon informed her frankly.
"They were you." Under normal circumstances, she'd never have believed him. Vampires didn't exist, they were fictional, and everything that did exist and did happen could be explained rationally. But some of the things about Damon didn't add up rationally- the mild control, the speed and agility… and the same was true of Stefan. She remembered something similar happening to the veins around his eyes. It had only been for a split second, and when she'd looked back he had returned to normal so she'd assumed it was her eyes playing tricks on her. "And Stefan."
"Not Stefan." Damon corrected her, "Stefan doesn't drink human blood." Elena had read the 'Twilight' books, and though she'd been left unimpressed, in those stories the Cullen's didn't feed on humans either. But then again, the Cullen's sparkled in the sun too and neither Stefan nor Damon did that. Traditionally, of course, vampires couldn't go in the sun at all.
"You killed those people and you hurt Vicki." Her own voice sounded strangely calm to her ears, and somehow she didn't feel shocked. Damon had carried an aura of darkness with him ever since they'd met. "How do I know you aren't going to hurt me?"
"You don't," Damon admitted, "But I'm not going to. I haven't so far, have I?" Vampires bit people in the neck, ripping their throats out…
"But you've been feeding on Caroline." It was not a question.
"She's a semi-willing participant."
"She knows everything, then." Elena knew she should be running away from him now as fast as possible. She hadn't even asked how he'd gotten into her house, she suddenly realised- that would have been the most natural first question. And yet she didn't want to run away and she didn't want him to leave, despite what she was discovering and in spite of how much it horrified her to her core.
"Elena, Stefan and I grew up in a very different Mystic Falls from this one. We were turned in 1864- just before the end of the civil war. When I say that our… issues go back a long time, I mean, a long time. But my brother- I hate to say it- is a good guy. He's the type of guy you should be with." Not me. He didn't say it but she heard his words and suddenly knew that he was fully aware that she had mixed feelings towards him. "Vampires… we have a kind of humanity switch. So we can switch our emotions off just like that, and do whatever we have to do. I was just doing what I have to do."
"Which is what?" Elena sensed he had said more than he intended then. "Does this have to do with you and Stefan's ex?"
"What?"
"Oh come on, it's obvious that's why you have issues. Which one of you dated her first?" Elena, on the inside, was wondering how she'd found the peace of mind to keep her voice level. But Damon had been honest with her. He had admitted to her what he was, the things he had done, and he had not begged her forgiveness. She wondered how long she would have had to wait to hear the truth from Stefan, if she ever did. He was playing the part of brooding teenager very well. Damon made no pretences, she saw. And, he hadn't hurt her yet- despite having had so many opportunities to do so.
"Stefan's answer would most likely differ from mine." Damon replied to her question after a moment's thought.
"What is your answer?"
"We've never been sure which of us was really with us first. Katherine liked to play with her food." Damon admitted, but Elena's ears pricked at the name he mentioned.
"Katherine. That's what you called me that… that night. You said I reminded you of her." Her voice sounded breathless now but was still quiet.
"A little." She could tell from his reluctant grimace that he hadn't even meant to let that name slip- and it occurred to Elena too that although he had come out with the truth that he was most likely also concealing a lot of details from her.
"You said you were just doing what you had to do. So what are you doing right now?" She asked him.
"Honestly, Elena?" Damon got to his feet, evidently having decided he'd said quite enough for one night, "I have no idea. Thank you for hearing me out." She nodded, but then leapt out of bed after him.
"Wait! Damon," She caught his hand as he turned and headed to her bedroom door. He turned back, his eyes meeting hers, "Thank you for… for telling me. I don't know what to really think yet but… you haven't hurt me. Please don't hurt anybody else, though. I won't be able to trust you…"
"I can't make any promises, Elena. But I won't hurt you, I swear." His eyes burned into hers with sincerity and for a moment she felt as if she was falling into two ice cold whirlpools. Elena let go of Damon's hand. "Elena, a vampire has to be invited into a house by somebody who lives there to get in at all. I realise I haven't been keeping a very low profile lately- Stef and Zach keep mentioning that- and where vampires go, trouble tends to follow, so be careful. And, please don't tell anybody about this."
"Nobody would believe me." Elena pointed out with a small, humourless laugh.
"I wouldn't say nobody." Damon told her seriously. Elena nodded in agreement, unsure of herself. "Goodnight, Elena. Sleep well."
She didn't sleep at all after that though- how could she? Everything she knew about the world had just collapsed around her and yet- so much more of it made sense now. Stefan's reluctance to talk about his past- obviously because his past was much longer and more varied than he'd like anyone to know; Damon's general behaviour was now explainable, though of course she did not know the whole story just yet. Now that she knew some of it though, she was determined to find out the truth. And although she'd promised not to tell anybody, she could surely talk to somebody who already knew. And that meant Caroline.
When the sun finally rose, she was surprised to find Jeremy and Vicki already up and about.
"We'll be at the pep rally." Jeremy told Elena when she asked about his plans. He seemed happier now that he was spending more time around Vicki, which of course made her glad, but did not end her concerns. Vicki smiled slightly shyly at Elena.
"Gotta be there to support Matt." Vicki added. Elena nodded, trying not to let her dislike of this plan show.
"We'll be out pretty much all day before that though so we won't be in your hair." Jeremy smiled, leading Vicki by the hand as they made their exist. Elena rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch, scrolling through her address book until she reached Caroline's name. She dialled. It only rang a few times before Caroline, forever the early bird, picked up.
"If you wanted to join the squad after all, you're too late." Caroline informed her teasingly.
"Are you at home?" Elena asked her friend.
"Duh, I have so much to do today before the rally tonight."
"So Damon isn't with you?" This question was asked with some trepidation. She wasn't exactly sure of everything vampirism entailed but she was sure super-hearing probably went in hand with super-speed.
"No, I couldn't sacrifice my beauty sleep with a day like this ahead and besides, the loser said he was going out last night after dinner and to quit bugging him." Elena could almost hear Caroline rolling her eyes.
"Caroline, I know." Elena told her. Caroline's intake of breath told her she'd understood, but she wasn't foolish enough to spill the beans straight away. "Damon told me uh… in the kitchen last night, when we were talking." She didn't think Caroline would appreciate the true version of events leading up to Elena knowing.
"We need to talk."
Damon was snooping around Stefan's room. He'd done it before of course, making fun of him for his emotional diary entries and fussy collection of belongings, as well as the ridiculous hints of the human life Stefan was trying to pretend to lead. He knew the reason Stefan stayed away from human blood; he believed that because in the past he'd ripped people to pieces, that it always had to be that way. He'd never learnt to control his bloodlust and had gone so far to stop himself having to feel the guilt he felt afterwards, that he was denying who he really was.
On the outside, Damon appeared to disdain his younger brother for choosing not to live life as a monster. The reality was, he knew that burying your head in the sand only led to more people getting hurt in the end. That had been a lot less cut and dry when his humanity switch was off, as it'd been easy to just laugh at Stefan, but now he realised the truth was that he cared for his younger brother.
He may not have all his emotions switched off anymore, but Damon was not quite ready to re-join the living. After he'd told Elena the truth and admitted that he had no idea what he was doing, he had decided to refocus his energies on getting Katherine out of the tomb. In order to do that though, he'd have to make sure he never let on to Stefan that he was not an emotionless killing machine.
That was when he found it. Stefan still had a picture of Katherine, dated 1864; the year she'd turned both of them from humans into vampires and in on each other. He had been so hell-bent on freeing her for the past 145 years that it seemed his entire existence was devoted to the woman that'd drove him mad. It was only since he'd seen her physical beauty transplanted onto Elena's kind soul that he was aware something was not right. He'd been in love with Katherine for three lifetimes, cruel, captivating Katherine. But was it love or obsession? He pondered this as he looked upon her face. He had spent so long yearning to see that face again.
He didn't glance up when Stefan entered. "You say you don't care about her anymore but you kept this."
"You have to hold onto even the most unpleasant memories, Damon. You know that." Stefan told him wryly. "Where did you go last night?"
"Why do you care?" Damon responded, "Yesterday it was all 'I want nothing to do with you Damon, get out of my life or I'll kill you'. Now you want to make pleasant chit chat."
"I know you can get into the Gilbert's house now. If you hurt any one of them-"
"Trust me, brother, the Gilbert's are fine. I have no interest in your beloved Elena, her pothead brother or her clueless aunt." Damon replaced the photo of Katherine on Stefan's desk. He'd thought about burning it but then decided against it. "I went out to eat if you must know. Tiramisu at a dinner party isn't the most satisfying meal for me. Not that you'd know much about satisfying meals."
"I'm going to find out what you're up to Damon." Stefan told him with dead certainty. Damon believed him, though he didn't show it. He just had to get some of the evidence out of the way before Stefan came across it to buy himself some time.
"Sorry I'm late, Elena, Damon held me up." Caroline breezed as she and Elena took a walk through the trees. "He gave me this crystal, said to look after it as a family heirloom," She held it up- it was large, square and had a dark yellow stone set into it, "It's ugly, isn't it?" Elena couldn't help but agree, but now was not the right time to be discussing jewellery as far as she was concerned. Before she could raise the subject herself, however, Caroline did:
"Elena, you need to listen to me. Damon is dangerous." She glanced around them as she said it, as if afraid Damon would overhear. "Sometimes I have no idea what's going on, or why I'm doing what I'm doing, I just know that he told me to."
"Like what?" Elena asked, grabbing Caroline's hand, "What did he make you do?"
"Nothing big really. Just, distract Stefan so he can speak to you, or wear a scarf, or let him feed. I mean, I let him feed anyway because I wanted to- it's sort of hot, you know?"
"Caroline. That's really messed up." Elena said stoically.
"I know it is! I just… I need him there at the pep rally. I know it's totally superficial but everyone knows my hot older boyfriend is supposed to be coming and I have a reputation to uphold. After that, trust me, I'm getting the hell away from Damon Salvatore and you should stay away too." Caroline's expression was deadly serious.
"He was there the night my parents died." Elena whispered.
"What?" Caroline gasped.
"I met him the night my parents died. He… compelled?... me to forget, but the shock of the accident let me remember. I had to know the truth, Care, I had to understand and… well, now I do, I guess. I just don't know what to do now. It's just raised more questions than it's answered and Damon…"
"Elena Gilbert, I know that look on your face and DON'T. Damon Salvatore is a terrible person, okay? Stefan, however, is a great guy and you should give him a shot. Really." For once there was no trace of the typical high school gossip in Caroline's voice or face.
A/N: First of all I'd like to thank TXKat and Candy Momo, not to mention the guest in chapter one, for your lovely reviews. They have been very encouraging and constructive for me and make me want to keep on writing. For everyone else, I'd love it if you gave me some feedback too, it'd mean the world. I'm having so much fun with this fic. Thanks so much for reading!
