Chapter 6
"Dahna, I know you're probably going to hate me for saying this, but…Max was a huge mistake. It's been a really long time for you since you had an actual man in your life." Jenna said, speaking her mind and folded her arms in front of her chest. "Why not just use Damon as a way to get some of your frustrations out? Hell, why do you think I finally took Alaric up on his offer to take me out on a date? Of course, Elena and Jeremy don't know about it yet, they just think I've been working late hours at the college…and I do." She smirked, both girls laughing in spite of the conversation topic.
"You are terrible, Jenna Sommers." Dahna stopped at a red light, giggling. "I'm glad you finally let Mr. Saltzman take you out because he does seem like a nice guy. Way nicer than Logan." Even though Logan was her uncle, Dahna did not care for him at all and was glad when he left town. "At least you're getting your kicks while you're still young enough to get them."
"Oh in more ways than one, hon. My ex has NOTHING on him. That man is hung like a horse."
Unbeknownst to both women, they were being overheard and couldn't see the ear-splitting grin on Damon's face. "Please use me to take your frustrations out, beautiful. I'm begging you." He murmured to the silence of his car and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel thoughtfully.
Hmmm maybe a nice little sexual swapping was just what he needed. Now if he could just get his dirty thoughts under control because he really didn't need to be walking into the grill with an erection. Pulling up to the grill, Damon cut the ignition and quickly made it to the door before the women, opening it like a gentleman. His aquamarine eyes instantly went to Dahna, admiring the dress she wore because it hugged her curves in all the right places. After they walked past him inside, his eyes zeroed in on her perfect rear and Damon had to pretend he was texting someone on his phone in order to rip his gaze away before he got caught.
"So, what is everyone having?"
Secretively, Dahna had given Damon several once overs and had to admit he was gorgeous from the top of his messy black hair to his beautiful aquamarine eyes and down to the black shiny dress shoes he wore. She'd never seen eyes like his before, they were hypnotic and definitely dangerous. Dahna ordered a Vodka cranberry while Jenna opted for a margarita and Damon had a double scotch. Elizabeth stuck with beer since she technically was on duty twenty four hours a day.
"So, how's the business going, Damon?" Elizabeth decided to start the conversation, breaking the silence that loomed over them.
Dahna sipped her drink while they started talking, listening in when Elizabeth started filling him in about the animal attacks that hit Mystic Falls recently and she couldn't help snorting. "Bastards." She hissed, suddenly downing the rest of her Vodka cranberry and requested another.
"They killed her father, Landon Fell. You remember him, right?" Elizabeth smiled sadly when Damon nodded, lowering her eyes. "She wants every last one of them dead just like the rest of the council."
"And burned."
"That too."
Damon admired her fiery attitude and spirit, nodding in agreement with them. "I can see why you'd want them dead and burned." He had to stifle a chuckle.
Both women would probably keel over from heart attacks if they knew he was the very thing they wanted dead. A vampire. Landon Fell…Damon knew the man well because he was the vampire that attacked and killed him, draining him completely. That was something Damon would never divulge to Dahna Fell, not unless he felt the need to reveal the truth.
Damon had no conscience, no sympathy, so he didn't see the reason to ever do that, the thought of actually being sympathetic to humans laughable. He was almost half tempted to let his fangs drop and scare them both to death, but pushed that temptation away. Maybe later if he got bored enough. For now, he would behave and swallowed his scotch in three large gulps before flagging down the bartender, requesting another and turned his gaze back to the caramel haired beauty.
"I'm very sorry to hear about your father, Dahna. If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know." Wow, Damon could win an academy award for his flawless performance, biting back another smirk and looked completely serious when he said those words.
"Thank you." Being as Damon was a council member, of course he knew about Landon's death and everything that happened. Then something occurred to Dahna and she suddenly gave him her full undivided attention. "You're a vampire hunter, of sorts, right?" She asked, watching him nod with another heart stopping smile and Dahna was thankful she currently sat or else her weak knees would've buckled. "Since we're all a part of the council, I have a request for you."
Elizabeth knew exactly what Dahna was about to ask and encouraged her with a smile, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's already looking into it. I asked him to do it shortly after Landon's death. He's been on the case for almost three years and nothing has popped up yet. But we're still looking and we'll keep the case open until we find the monster. It's out there somewhere and we will kill it before it harms another member of this society."
"I appreciate it." Dahna finished off her second Vodka cranberry and asked for a third, the sudden thirst for alcohol too strong to ignore.
"It's no problem really. Liz has been a great friend since we moved back into town, so when she asked I couldn't decline. I've got a few leads that I've been following, but sadly, they aren't nearly enough to find the monster yet." Oh that's it, lay it on THICK, Damon thought, raising his glass up to the ladies. "But I've constantly got new leads coming in. I assure you, once we do get him, Liz will be the first person I call."
"Damon is one of the very best, so I know as a personal favor to me, he's been working extra hard on this case. Hopefully soon, it's all we can really wish for at this point." Elizabeth said, nursing her second beer and could only hope they weren't on Landon's case much longer.
After a third and final drink, Dahna finally decided it was time to head home. Alaric Saltzman had already come and whisked Jenna away, saying he needed help grading papers for his students. He was Mystic Falls High School history teacher and Dahna knew he'd be having a private session with Jenna in his own way. Shaking her head, Dahna walked over to the cashier to pay for her drinks, when Damon stopped her by tossing his credit card on the table. She immediately snatched it up before the cashier could grab it and turned to face him, handing it back.
"You don't have to do that, Mr. Salvatore. I can pay for my own." She assured him softly, sliding her own card across the counter and sighed when Damon slammed his hand down on the counter, their eyes locking.
There was no way Damon was letting her pay for her own drinks, so there was no point in fighting him. "Just let me do this and stop being stubborn." He ordered, once again handing over his card to the cashier and grabbed her hand gently but firmly when she went to snatch it again. "It's fine, don't worry about it."
Dahna sighed resigned, too drained to fight him on this and reluctantly stepped back. "Thank you." She murmured and headed for the exit, a loud yawn escaping her.
"Anytime." Damon quickly paid for the drinks and used his enhanced speed to catch up with her, his eyes once again glued to her amazing assets. "This was fun, we should all get together and do it again. I know Liz is a workaholic and needs this release at least once a month." He stood by her car and waited while she unlocked it before opening it, once again being a perfect gentleman. "You sure you're alright to drive? I can always take you home and then bring you back in the morning to get your car." One thing about Damon was, although he was completely reckless when it came to finding his meals, he didn't condone someone driving if they were too blitzed.
"I'm fine. Trust me, if Jenna and Elizabeth thought for a second I couldn't drive home, she would've taken my keys away from me." Dahna said, hiking her dress up a little so she could slip behind the wheel of her vehicle and buckled up, staring back at him. "It was nice to finally match the name with the face I've heard so much about at the meetings. Have a pleasant evening, Mr. Salvatore."
Closing the door, Dahna started the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, heading down the road toward home. She knew Dacia had made it home safely because Elena had sent her a quick text letting her know her little sister left her phone at the Lockwood mansion. Once Dahna made it home, she quickly changed out of her dress and slid into bed, falling asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow. Instead of her usual nightmares about her father's death –they always became frequent the closer his birthday and death date came-, her dreams were filled with Damon Salvatore and his incredible eyes.
~!~
Damon smirked as he walked through the Salvatore mansion, sipping his scotch while looking over some paperwork in the study. He had to have paperwork to show Elizabeth he was doing the investigation, a hoax in other words. The plan was simple, but Damon had to find the perfect sacrificial lamb before carrying it out so she would leave him alone about Landon Fell's death. It wouldn't be easy, but then again, nothing ever was.
"What's got you in such a good mood, brother?"
Damon looked up at his baby brother, Stefan, leaning against the doorway of the study with his arms folded in front of his chest. "Oh nothing, just going over some documents I found in Zach's name. I also found a whole other list of people he was selling vervain too." He tossed it on the desk and propped his feet up, leaning back against the leather chair.
Stefan looked skeptical and walked over to glance at the paperwork, his eyes quickly running over them. Damon was rarely in a good mood and, when he was, he was usually up to something. They were few and far between, never starting this early in the morning. Something was going on and Stefan had to get to the bottom of it before someone else ended up hurt because of his brother.
"What do you mean Zach sold other people vervain?" Stefan scowled, not liking the sound of that. "Were they from Mystic Falls or in the surrounding areas?"
Pursing his lips tightly together, Damon's eyes continued running down the documents in front of him, arching a thick black brow. "I don't know. It doesn't give a direct address, just a longitude and latitude ordinance. Maybe it was a meeting spot to trade money and product. Or maybe it's the location of a town, I'm not sure. I'm gonna go see Liz and have her pull up the ordinances. Then I might run and check it out." He watched as Stefan nodded, spouting something about having lunch with Elena before leaving the study.
~!~
"You look like you slept well, Dahna." Kara commented, one of her co-workers, and handed over some papers that had to be filled out for a deadline. "Mr. Cross wants those done as soon as possible."
"Will do and yes I did."
Dahna couldn't remember the last time she slept this peacefully in a while, blaming it on the alcohol. She wasn't a big drinker, so three Vodka cranberries along with some champagne really did her in. Then again, she hadn't had a nightmare either, another first since her father's birthday was that Saturday.
"I'll have these done before lunch."
"Good and, between us, whatever has that big smile on your face, I hope it stays." Kara walked away and left her with that thought, heading off to give people other things to do.
Shrugging it off, Dahna went back to work and always finished her deadlines before the others in the office. A few hours later, Dahna felt her cell phone vibrate against her purse and took a five minute break to listen to her voicemail. Thankfully it wasn't Dacia, but instead Sheriff Forbes telling her to get down to the station immediately. She knew exactly what that meant and hopped up from her seat, packing her things up.
"Dahna, what's going on?" Kara blinked when the woman blazed past her, heading straight for Mr. Cross's office. "Ohhhkay then…"
"Come in." Mr. Cross called out, typing something on his computer and looked up when one of his most trusted employees walked in. "Dahna, what can I do for you?"
"I have to leave early today, sir." Dahna cut right to the chase, her heart pounding vigorously against her chest and heaved a sigh. "Please, I know this is a busy week for us, but it has to do with my father's death."
Mr. Cross slowly pulled his glasses from his eyes, scrubbing a hand down his face. "Hmm, I see." He knew all about the Fell tragedy and his heart did go out to the girls that lost their parents, but it was three years ago and he had a business to run. "Is there any way you can make up your time tonight? I can give you the keys to come in and get your work done."
Dahna wasn't surprised by that request and nodded, a tight smile curving her lips. "Of course, I can do that no problem. Dacia is almost eighteen and she's very independent. Thank you for working with me on this, Mr. Cross." She really did appreciate it, thankful he was letting her make up her hours and lost work.
"No problem." Mr. Cross pulled a set of keys out of his drawer and handed them over. "Do you know which ones to use?"
"Yes." This wasn't the first time Dahna had to do this and it probably wouldn't be the last. "I really have to go, but I'll clock in and out like last time so you don't overpay me."
Mr. Cross waved her off dismissively. "Get going and let me know what's going on." He watched as she practically bolted out of his office and hoped they finally found Landon Fell's murderer.
