Chapter 7: Use Somebody
I listened to Damon and Lexi argue while I polished off two bowls of cereal, still not quenching my insatiable appetite. The one protein bar I was given yesterday had long since left my stomach and it snarled as I inhaled my food. And I was thirsty, so thirsty! It felt like I'd drank a gallon of water by the time I was satisfied.
Lexi had led Damon into the living room so I could eat in peace and I followed their angry voices.
"Whatever trouble you're in, I don't want to be in the middle of it," Lexi shouted.
"Don't tell me you're scared of a little adventure," he quipped back, flashing her his trademark smirk.
"You said Klaus, Damon. I didn't even think he was real until I saw her!"
Lexi motioned to me and they both stared for a moment, and finally, Damon's cold face softened, losing some of his dark humor.
"She's one of the reasons I want your help," he explained.
"Don't tell me you've actually started to care again. I thought you said you fried that switch?"
"It doesn't matter what I feel. You care. We both know that you hate the thought of letting her die."
Lexi scoffed, crossing her arms and trying hard not to look at me as the next words left her mouth.
"You're wrong Damon. I have a really nice life with my boyfriend right now and I'm not about to throw that away for some girl, no matter who she is."
"Okay," Damon continued, eyes flashing momentarily to meet mine. "If you won't do it for an innocent girl, what about Stefan?"
This was only the second time I'd heard Damon mention his brother and as he said his name now, I could hear the emotion brewing deep in his voice. But the effect that name had on Lexi was nothing I had anticipated.
"Stefan? You know where he is? What does he have to do with this?"
"I thought that'd get you moving. Apparently, he's been Klaus' little lap dog since the twenties. Once Klaus is dead, he'll be free to go."
Lexi contemplated his words, staring out the front window, and finally she turned.
"I'll go with you, but my boyfriend can't find out. You said this Elijah would find you in a couple days?"
"Yep."
"Alright. But you and your girlfriend have to stay somewhere else; Nathan will ask too many questions if you stay here, and honestly he doesn't take well to jerks."
It was obvious that Lexi had no tolerance for Damon, but he seemed satisfied and turned back towards the room we'd shared the night before.
"So, she'll help us," I asked, following him into the bedroom.
"Don't sound so excited. Taking down Klaus won't be easy. Now, I need you to stay here for a couple hours."
"What? Why, where are you going," I asked, the panic clear in my voice.
"You want me that bad," he taunted, suddenly right in front of me.
"No," I stated, forcefully willing the word to be true.
"Don't worry. I'll be back soon. I just need to find us a place to stay and grab something to eat."
"Eat? You mean… blood? Are you breaking into a hospital or something?"
"Actually, I'm in the mood for something a little warmer."
He eyed my neck seductively, hinting at exactly what he wanted, and I quivered under his stare. Somehow, over the course of the last few hours, I'd forgotten what him being a vampire actually meant. How had I let myself become so blind?
"You're going to kill somebody?"
"No. Not that I'd mind, but I'm trying to stay under the radar. You know, with the growing list of people that want to kill us."
"You're not going hunting at all," Lexi yelled through the door, opening it a second later to toss him a blood bag. "Take that and go. Nathan will be home any minute."
"How kind of you," Damon remarked sarcastically.
He snatched his coat off the chair in the corner, probably where he'd tossed it after taking it off me and shoved the blood bag in the pocket.
"Get your shoes on," he instructed, already hurrying out of the room. I did as I was told, running to catch up with him. He was already outside, starting the car and I jumped in the passenger seat.
"Where are we going," I asked as he pulled away from the curb.
"Don't know yet. Probably another hotel room. Katherine will expect me to go for fancy, so I'm looking for… standard." He made a face on the word 'standard' and I assumed he was used to the best. I could see it in him; why would a vampire settle for second best? While we drove, I thought back to the questions I'd wanted to ask him at Lexi's; mostly the statement of his brother in the twenties.
"You said your brother had been with Klaus since the twenties. So, how old are you, anyway?"
"Is this your idea of road trip bonding?"
"I guess. We are kind of stuck with each other."
"Fine. Stefan and I were turned in 1864 by Katherine… sort of."
"What do you mean, 'sort of'?"
"Katherine started my transition, but you have to die. My father was the one that killed us."
"Your father?" I couldn't form a sentence, I was in shock. How could a father kill his son?
"As shocking as it is, I'd rather not get into the 'my father never loved me' conversation right now."
"Okay then, if we weren't in this situation right now, would you be out there killing someone?" The question came out a little more forceful than I'd planned, but I couldn't rectify the idea that he was a true monster.
"Most likely. The blood tastes best when it's fresh."
"And, you're okay with that; with killing people."
"I'm a vampire, Elena. That's what we do."
"But those people you kill have families and lives and dreams. You can't just–"
"And I don't care."
"Yes, you do!"
"Excuse me?"
"You care, Damon. I can see it in your eyes when you talk to me. If you didn't, you wouldn't be challenging Klaus. You'd just hand me over to save yourself and you wouldn't care what happened to me or your brother. You care, Damon."
For a second, he looked like he had an angry retort planned, but instead simply focused on the road, never responding to my accusation. It was true then; this beautiful, but deadly, vampire really cared for me in some way. Why did that truth bring a smile to my face when I shouldn't have any left?
While we drove, he pulled the blood bag from his pocket, tearing it open and downing it in seconds. I had to look away while he "ate." But he didn't seem offended, still ignoring me. After only twenty minutes of driving, we pulled over at a Motel 6 that looked like it hadn't been updated since the seventies.
"Well, this looks… scary," he commented, looking over the motel with disdain. I followed him to the desk, not really paying attention as he spoke to the desk clerk, though I did note that he'd used compulsion in order to remain anonymous. But since I hadn't listened to the actual words coming from his mouth, I was all the more surprised when he opened the door, revealing only a single bed.
"I thought it would make things a little more cozy," he commented, watching my eyes go wide as I took in the small bed."
"They really didn't have a room with two beds?"
"Guess not. The more important question to ask is what will you be sleeping in tonight?"
That took me off guard. I didn't have anything except the clothes on my back and I doubted a shopping trip was on the agenda with so many people after us.
"My clothes, I guess."
"You can make yourself comfortable. It's not like I haven't seen it before."
The memory of that first day we'd met, when I'd been too sore to undress myself, sent a blush over my cheeks. It was still embarrassing to think that he'd seen every part of me, but he didn't push it. I heard the click as the door closed behind him and it hit then.
I was in a hotel room alone with Damon.
My heart was pounding in my chest, my palms getting sweaty the more I thought about being in this tiny room alone with him for two days. I barely knew him and it was no secret that his intentions were far from honorable. It didn't help that every time I looked at him my knees felt too weak and my stomach twirled. He moved around the room, checking the view from the window, and then the bathroom.
"Well, it's not the Ritz, but it's not the worst I've seen. Maybe they'll have some tasty room service," he allowed.
"I hope so; I'm still hungry. I didn't eat anything yesterday."
As soon as the words were out, I realized what he'd meant… he didn't mean actual food. I blushed at my misstep, but he only smirked.
"I know you're a vampire and all that, but I would really appreciate it if you didn't kill anyone." I tried to make my voice sound firm and nonchalant, hoping he would see the true fear I felt of that side of him. "I know you have to eat, but–"
"Don't worry; I'm staying under the radar, remember. Besides, I can feed without killing."
"How?" I didn't really want to know, but curiosity was getting the better of me and the more we talked – even though it was about his feeding habits – the more relaxed I started to feel.
"Compulsion. I only take what I need and then compel them to forget."
"And you feed them your blood to heal them," I guessed, running my hand over the now perfect skin at my neck.
"No, I can't just give that to random people."
This confused me. If his blood healed, there could be so many possibilities. People with fatal injuries could live and all the diseases. Why wouldn't he help people when he had such an amazing gift?
"Why not."
"Can we pick a different topic? All this talk of feeding is making me hungry and you smell amazing."
He stalked closer, his blue eyes hypnotizing, but I refused to be derailed. There was something odd about his aversion to share his healing blood and I wanted an answer.
"Why don't you want to help people with your blood?"
He stopped, only inches away, and stared at me long and hard.
"You won't like the answer."
I waited, watching the uneasiness on his face, but soon it melted away as the cold mask took its place.
"If you die with vampire blood in your system you'll come back… as a vampire."
I continued to stare at him. At first he seemed to be growing taller, but then I realized I was sinking, falling down on the bed. Still I stared at him, not letting the words take root in my mind. Because I couldn't think about this. But if something happened while his blood was…
"Elena," he called, suddenly kneeling down right in front of me. "It not… I won't let anything happen to you. It will be out of your system by tonight. I promise you'll be safe."
I wanted so bad to believe him, but there were so many people after us and if Klaus found us first he'd kill me. I didn't want to be a vampire! I didn't want my face to look demonic at the smell of blood! I didn't want to die!
Hurt came across Damon's face briefly before he pushed it away, but the concern never completely left his eyes. I was waiting for him to say something witty or offending, anything to take my mind off this new revelation, but he didn't say a word.
He kissed me!
It was a soft kiss at first, but as my arms snaked around his neck to pull him closer, the passion started building and soon all I could think about was his expert lips assaulting mine and the way his strong arms held me. I wasn't aware he'd pulled me further onto the bed until I felt the soft mattress under my back and his firm body on top of mine.
I'd never felt the intensity with which he kissed me before! It was hungry, but filled with emotion. Everything else was hazy, everything outside of him. I couldn't remember the conversation we'd just been having, or the home I wanted to return to, or the vampire who wanted to kill me. There was just Damon.
Suddenly, I couldn't get close enough to him, couldn't stand that our clothes were keeping me from feeling the smoothness of his skin on mine.
But just as a moan of pleasure escaped my lips, he pulled away!
I stared up at him incredulously. Wasn't this what he'd wanted all along? There was some emotion in his eyes he was trying desperately to hide. He brought his hand up to stroke my face, as gently as if I was made of glass. So careful, almost with a reverence, like he wasn't worthy to touch me.
And then he was off the bed, stretching out his muscles and when he looked back down at me, the emotionless smirk was there.
"I'd say that distraction worked."
"Excuse me," I choked out, breathlessly.
"You sounded like you needed something to get your mind off the whole vampire thing. I'd say it was a success."
Was he really doing this? Did he think he could just pretend there was no emotion what-so-ever in what he'd just done? I could feel it! But he was standing here looking down at me like it meant nothing to him. Like I meant nothing to him. Abruptly, I felt too exposed and almost dirty.
"I can hear people talking in the next room. I'm going to grab a bite to eat, and don't worry, I won't kill anyone. You should see what's on pay-per-view."
He simply strolled out of the room, locking the door behind him. I was still lying on the bed, dazed. But the shock soon turned to anger. Sitting up, I snatched the remote off the bedside table and started channel surfing, flipping too fast to really see what was on. That quickly became boring and I jumped off the bed, too keyed up to remain sitting any longer. I decided to take a shower, since Lexi had thown us out too fast for me to grab one, but in my hurry I was out in a mere five minutes. Dressed in the same dirty clothes I'd had on before, I began pacing.
My pacing grew more frantic as I thought of what he must be doing in that room right now. The feeding. Every so often I'd glance at the clock. Ten minutes passed, then sixteen. As the twenty minute mark grew close I was starting to get impatient. How long did it take to… to do what he did. What if he really was killing someone right now? How could I stand here knowing what he was doing and not stop him? An innocent person could be dying!
Determined, I stomped out of the room, planning to give Damon a piece, no, a chunk of my mind. We were on the second floor at the end of the hall, so there was only one room next door if that's still where he was.
I made my way to the door slowly, suddenly feeling fear creep up, making my hands shake. Did I knock? No, this was an angry tirade; I wasn't going to use manners. Pulling my determination back up from my stomach, I gripped the knob, a little surprised to find it wasn't locked. The lights were dim, and I tip-toed through the door. Once inside I noticed the bed was occupied, but whoever was in it definitely wasn't sleeping. Surely if this was the room Damon was in he would have heard the door open, though I'd been quiet. There were two girls there and a third person in between them, rolling on top of the second girl. It was hard to see in the dim light, but his hair was dark. I knew I should just let myself back out. Damon was only planning on feeding and this was a lot more erotic than that, but I felt a determination to make sure it wasn't him in that bed.
I ghosted closer and as my foot hit a squeaky board in the floor, the man's head shot up. His face was illuminated in the lamp light and my heart broke in my chest as I recognized it. Damon's eyes were dark, but the fangs protruding from his lips dripped with blood. As he stared at me, one of the girls attempted to pull him back down to her, but he simply pushed her hand away, his face taking on a more human look as he stared at me.
So many emotions ran through me then; hurt, jealousy, anger, envy…
I couldn't take this anymore. I tore from the room, running back into our hotel room and slamming the door, locking it. But that wasn't enough. I ran to the bathroom and locked that door as well, collapsing in front of the toilet and trying not to be sick.
A/N: So, I couldn't find anywhere in the show that mentioned Lexi's boyfriend's name, so I named him myself. And I promise more Delena goodness to come!
