Damon's Chance at Love
by Haldirsbaby
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Vampire Diaries, its characters or the TV show. I DO WISH I owned Damon...he is so hot! All OC s belong to me as does the plot parallel to the show. No monies are being made from this work of Fiction.
Note: I began this chapter, feeling kind of lost. I had chewed on it for a while, long before this time. I sat at my computer, and just began to write, and it wrote itself. Most of you my loyal readers have helped to jump start me wanting to see how Damon would react to Arie...well guys here it is...Enjoy.
Chapter Eight: Little Girl...revealed
All in the room, turned toward the door and stared at the newcomer. Rose. It seemed to them that she liked to make an entrance. Rose walked the rest of the way into the room, and stood there. "Bonnie is right. You cannot compel her. She is immune to it." Rose stated simply.
"Oh, come off it, Rosie. Of course she can be compelled. She is human." Damon shot back at her.
"No. She is not." she argued back.
Damon rolled his eyes. He knew the girl was human. Any vampire could tell it. He looked at her, then crossed his arm across his chest. "Alright, little Rosie. If she is not human, then what is she?" Damon spat out.
Rose looked at Stefan, her eyes questioning, "Stefan has he been brought up to speed on the meeting from this morning?"
"Elena and I just told him." Stefan looked at her, his voice passive.
Rose looked at Damon. "She is not human, Damon. She is more than that. A hybrid. One of the same you were told of."
Damon looked at her in disbelief. "What? You mean that innocent girl up there is one of those things? No way. She is as innocent as a kitten. I can't believe this." It was clear that Damon was refusing to believe what he was told. He pulled out his arrogant side and letting it come through. "I have hunted humans for a hundred and forty-five years. She is human."
"There is not time to argue here. She is what I say. I know cause I sensed her and if you were paying more attention, you would feel it too." Rose said turning away from him and headed for the armchair near the fireplace.
Damon shook his head, that girl upstairs on his bed, could not possibly be one of those abominations. Could not be. He refuses to believe it. "Alright. Then tell us ROSE," he emphasized her name, "If she is one of them, how come she is here and why when I found her being attacked, she did not fight back?"
"Simple, Damon, it is the secret to her success as a hybrid. She hides her abilities, not wanting to unleash them just on a whim. If she unleashes it before she feels is necessary, it will undo her goodness. She will lose control, she chooses to keep her humanity in tact, and to only keep what she is truly capable of doing hidden. It is her nature." Rose said.
Elena heard this. "Alright, we established that she is not a normal human, what does she have to do with me, and protecting the town?"
Rose looked at Elena. "Everything Elena. Right to the end of things. Without her, you have nothing to go on."
Damon sat down on the arm of the couch beside his brother. He looked at Rose. "Rose, alright, I am willing to call it truce. Who is she? We know, cause you so adamantly come in and announce she is a hybrid, but who is she? What's her name?"
Arie came from her reveries, her mind clouded, her body ached, her neck hurt. Taking a hand up to her neck, she felt the bandages. Opening her eyes, she fought to clear her sight. She laid on something soft. A bed. Looking up at the white ceiling, she wondered where she could be. Last thing she remembered was...Maximus biting her and the blue-eyed man standing between her and the small gang of vampires. She sat up with a jolt.
Her vision swayed at the sudden reflexes her body responded to at the thoughts of what had happened. She closed her eyes in hopes of stopping the sway. Looking around she found herself in a room. Not her hotel room, but a room decorated in rich browns, tans, and finely furnished. It was a man's room she figured. Looking around, she tried to figure out where this place was. It was not a room in Nigel's home. So that comforted her.
With the keen hearing, her hybrid body possessed she listened for some sign of where she was. Voices, she heard, were coming from somewhere. She could not quite sure where. A room downstairs, perhaps? She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. Looking down, she became shocked to find that her clothes were missing, replaced with ones, not her own. Her bare legs exposed from the shorts she was wearing. The tee-shirt hung on her a little snugly. They belonged to a man, she could tell. She stood up, but then fell butt first back on the bed. Her legs wobbly. She attempted it again, this time grabbing the nightstand for support. After gaining some stability, she slowly made her way toward the door, which had been left slightly ajar. She could not go out of this room without a cover. Looking around, she found a black silk robe hanging on one of the posts of the bed. Backtracking to the bed, she grabbed it and put it on. Tying the tie, she did not need slippers, cause thank God, whoever cleaned her, left on her socks.
Taking a minute to re-acclimating herself to all the motion she had done, she turned and walked to the door. Cocking her head to listen where the voices came from. She opened the door, and slowly began walking down the short hallway, that seemed to open up, the banister indicating that there was a bottom level of the house. Though she could feel her strength returning slowly, she held a hand to the wall for support. It was massive, the house was, done up in turn of the century styles, done in rich wood tones of cherry and mahogany. The carpet still remnant of the time the house was built. The furnishing showing age of time.
She made it to the banister and slowly looked down over it. It opened up over a foyer, the rooms downstairs not open enough to see. She heard the voices coming from a room, where the double doors were slightly ajar. She continued on her trek toward the voices. She had to know where she was, who had saved her.
The stairs were a bit of a challenge, seeing how she would get waves of dizziness ever so often, she held tight to the railings as she descended. One by one, she said silent prayers that she would not stumble and fall. She was glad when she made it off the last step. Quietly, she made her way to the double door. She stopped to listen.
"Rose, alright, I am willing to call it truce. Who is she?" a man said, his voice a deep tenor said. 'Rose?' she thought. 'She must be here.' She gasped at the knowledge. Her heart hopeful. The man continued, "We know, cause you so adamantly come in and announce she is a hybrid, but who is she?" Her hand shot to her mouth. 'They know of me?' she thought. 'Rose must have told them of me. Which means Marcella has spoken to her.' she thought. "What's her name?" She heard the question, seeing no harm in revealing, she decided to enter the room. Slipping in, no one seemed to notice.
"My name is Arie." she spoke from the entrance to the massive parlor. All heads shot to her. She had never been one for public speaking, but this small group should be nothing. When they all turned she wanted to crawl under a rock, hide, but she could not turn back now. For too long she hid, and now she was outed. She stepped wobbly into the room. Damon stood up as if to come to her aid, but she held up a hand. "I am Arie. I could not help over hearing, you speak of hybrids." it was a statement, not a question.
Rose stepped forward and stood almost in front of her. "I am-" she was cut off.
"I know of you, Rose. Marcella spoke of you to me." Arie took a ragged breath. "I need to sit." She felt the dizziness come on harder. Damon came forward, staring at her, waiting to step in to assist. That was noble in Arie's eyes, just like how she remembered him all those years ago. Arie stared at him as if he had two heads. Up close, she was stunned by him. Her heart ached at the knowledge of what he had become. She did not speak, she did not move, it was when Rose tried to help her to a chair, that Arie's gaze was broken. Why was she so weakened? She had been fed on before, and never had she had these symptoms.
After sitting down, Arie regain some sense of composure. She looked from one person to the next. Her gaze went to Stefan, and like when she looked at Damon, she just stared. He was more handsome than he had been at age eleven when she last saw him. She looked at Bonnie, she knew, she had felt the witch's touch just a bit before she awoke. Deep in her dreams, she saw that face. A face of a Bennett witch. The blond girl, she was a vampire. One that was very flighty in her personality, but yet new. 'She has not been a vamp for too long' Arie thought.
Her eyes drifted to the girl beside Stefan. Arie gasped a little, shocked a little. Her heart nearly stopped beating in her chest. Her face was a mirror image of Katherine, but Arie knew it was not Katherine. It was a doppelganger. The girl was a good human, selfless, full of love, full of compassion and kindness. She saw something when she looked at the girl. Her heart was tied to Stefan. He had found his one true love. But there was a looming cloud. Arie looked to Damon, who was looking at her, but felt something there. It was an ability Arie had since she was young, she could pick up on things, Damon was in love with this girl.
"Arie. Odd name, sweet cheeks. Is it short for something?" Damon asked breaking the reveries.
"Yes, but you all were talking of hybrids. Why?" Arie asked, wanting to hear more.
"Arie, I have been looking for you for a while now. Where have you been?' Rose asked.
"Hiding. It has been that way for months now." Arie answered, peripheral vision caught sight of Damon staring at her. He was cocking his head to the side to side glance studying her. "I had to, Nigel has made the plans. He was planning on handing me over to Klaus. That mad man, cannot have me. I came to Mystic Falls to help. SO here I am."
"Help in what exactly?" Stefan asked, wanting clarification.
"Help to protect the town and the Doppelganger. I had heard she was here and that Rose could be coming soon." Arie answered. It was true, well most of it. The only thing she kept secret was the vision, foresight of some of it. She knew what was about to happen, how it would go, but the one thing that eluded her was Damon and Stefan's existence, and the out come of it all.
Stefan leaned forward, his elbows resting upon his knees, looking at her. Damon stared down at her, his arm joined at his hands. The rest looked like they were on pins and needles, wanting to know who she was, how she was tied to it all. This was the feeling she got from them, her gift of discernment picking up on all of them. Stefan spoke softly, "Tell us, Arie, how is you are tied to Mystic Falls and to Elena? Rose said the hybrid was, please we need to know."
Arie looked at him. He was still the same kind Stefan from all those years ago, Damon but a shadow of the one she loved at such a tender age. Would they remember her? Arie looked to Rose. "Did you not tell them?" she asked quizzically.
Rose shook her head, "No. I did not have the chance. Elena feeling so overwhelmed, left before I could finish. Since you are here, I think it is best they hear it from you."
Arie thought on the words. How would she begin? How could she convey what they all wondered? She closed her eyes, feeling the rush of memories trying to find the beginning. She got it after only a few moments. She opened her eyes and stared off into the memory.
"I was born here, in Mystic Falls in 1851. The Spring following my mother and father's wedding. Both my parents were considered outcasts. My mother because she was rumored a witch, and my father, because he was the illegitimate son of a local founding family. They loved each other from the moment they met in 1850. After a whirlwind romance they married, with only the local preacher and his wife as their witnesses. I was born in the following spring." she paused. " when I was seven I was plucked from the local woods by a woman, who I found out later was a vampire. It was 1858. She had taken me, used me as a gift to a vampire sect, she was hoping to join. Nigel's sect, in the next small town over." she paused again, looking into the faces of those around her. Rose stayed silent, her eyes downcast to the floor. " I was raised by vampires, given all the luxuries any girl would be proud of, things I never had here with my parents, nurtured by Marcella. When I turned thirteen, the woman responsible for my captivity fled the sect. I never saw her again." Arie stopped a moment, to refresh her mind. They needed more than the answer she had just given them.
She looked at Stefan and Damon, feeling the need for them to remember her. She became fidgety in her seat. She was healed now, her strength renewed. She sat up and lifted her chin.
"Alright. You need more, that all was true, but it goes deeper than that. My ties to Mystic Falls go deeper than just being born here, but it ties me to Elena, directly. My mother moved here from England in the winter of 1849. She had powers, but not like you," she looked at Bonnie, "you are a Bennett Witch. I sense that because I had met your great gram Emily Bennett. You look like her. My mother's powers were of the mental nature. She could read minds, discern people's feelings and tell whether they were good or bad, she could touch things and tell you things about the people who had touched the items, telepathic, telekinetic, but her most prominent power was of that of foresight. She was seen as strange, unusual, even a devil incarnate. But she was none of those things. She never spoke about her abilities, and a rare few knew of the true nature of them. She became the head housekeeper at the Lockwood estate two months after moving here. Not many knew it, but she had passed those abilities to me, but because of circumstances I kept them a closely guarded secret."
Damon had look of recognition on his face, like he had heard of something familiar. "Your mother was the head housekeeper?"
"Yes. My father was the bastard son of a prominent family, one of the original founding members. When he met my mother, he fell deeply in love with her. He was drawn to her, like a moth to a flame, she never saw him as such a vile thing as most of the people here in town did. To her he was the greatest thing. Papa, had friends in town, one of which was Giuseppe. A good man, who treated him like family." she stopped when Damon stood suddenly and looked down at her.
"Your father knew our father?" Damon asked shocked. He looked at Stefan, who held his cool, but was puzzled.
Arie ignored him a moment. He needed to hear it. She continued, "As I had stated in 1851, my mother gave birth to me. I attended the local school and befriended, both of Giuseppe's sons, both older than me. Both saw me as their little sister. I loved them both, but I was drawn to the oldest one."
Damon's jaw dropped, Stefan cocked his head to the side, he wanted to say something, but found no words to come out. Elena looked at Stefan then Damon. Bonnie and Caroline just stared at Arie. Rose sat back and watched the shock ripple through the room. Arie looked around, she felt like a prisoner up for execution.
"One day in the fall of 1858, I had went to the home of my two friends like always, got my cookies and milk, the oldest boy, which actually was fifteen then, offered to walk me home. Somehow, in my stupidity, for not listening, and due to my whimsical nature then, I entered my own little world and got separated from him. A fog came up, and we lost one another. It was after dark, the air grew colder, and I was eventually found by a woman, named Katherine. Who took me and gave to Nigel as payment for allowing her to join his sect." Arie looked around again.
Damon shocked look was priceless. He was one, that she knew, never shocked easily, but she had done that. Stefan looked at her with new eyes, like she was a delightful ghost of the past, he smiled. Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie sat there letting out small laughs of disbelief. Rose said nor did nothing.
Damon furled a brow, "Arie. What is that short for?"
Arie could not believe it. All the clues to who she was was not enough for him? She shook her head. Looking at him, she held her hands out. "Damon? Stefan?" her gaze went between them, "Don't you remember me? God, do I have to spell it out? It's me Arabella Burrows."
Damon placed a hand to his mouth looking quite taken aback. Stefan smiled at her, then got up suddenly, coming to kneel in front of her. Arie teared up, looking down at him. He searched her face, the joy his heart was feeling, was bringing tears to his eyes. He reached up and brushed a hair from her face. "Little Arie? God, I would never had believed it in a million years. You are beautiful." he looked at her as she smiled through her tears. "My, my. We thought we'd never see you again." His face shadowed, anger welled up in him. "What did those bastards do to you?"
"I will get to that, when I can. You all needed to know who I was." she told him smiling. She looked up at Damon, who looked like he was coming unglued at the seams. "Damon? Say something. Please." she pleaded.
Damon was processing it all. It was clear on his face. He did not know what to make of her. "I-I don't know what to say. I am happy, very happy. But I had given you up for dead all those years ago." he turned away stunned.
"I had given you both up for dead as well. Katherine left the sect the year you both died. Rumors had drifted in from all around Mystic Falls about a vampire raid that rounded up vampires and killed them in Fells Church. We thought she had been killed. But, later, I am not sure exactly how now, I had heard that you and Stefan had been involved with Katherine and were both killed. I thought you both had died. I grieved terribly, my heart developed hate for the vampires, but not all, only those that hurt me. SO I decided to play along and plan my escape. Which brought me here. I was and still am determined to seek my revenge." Stefan stood and returned to his seat, Elena curled up next to him. Arie stood up, the wobble she had felt earlier was now gone, she walked over to Damon. She reached for his arm, then walked around until she was face to face with him.
She saw a glint in his eye, a small trickle of wetness formed there. It broke her heart, he was fighting it. His eyes closed. She reached up and brushed it away. She felt his feelings, and knew that this side of him had been hidden for so long, his heart hardened by his life. A tear fell as she looked up at him. "Damon." she whispered, not wanting the others to hear her, "Please look at me." He opened his eyes, the tear fell from it. "It's me, Arie. I know this is hard, but I came back for a reason." Damon looked away from her, she pulled his face back to hers. "Damon, please. For a hundred and fifty-two years I waited to see you, the least you could do is look at me." Her voice was soft as silk to his ears. He opened his eyes, raw emotion shone through.
Damon looked down at her, her scent tickling his nose, driving him mad. She was the little girl he had known all those years ago, and lost in the woods. For years he had wondered what happened to her, where she was, if she was alive and grieved as the years passed knowing that she had to dead. Now here she stood before him. Grown into a body of a twenty-one year old girl, but now immortal. 'Those Bastards will pay' his mind declared. He had not felt this much emotion since he had become a vampire, and never thought he would again. He loved Elena, but this feeling right here, this moment was more than he could fathom. His breathing became erratic, if his heart was beating, it would have sped up. He had dreamed of her lately, but he had only seen her as the little girl he had remembered. The urge to reach out and hold her to him came to him so strong, but he resisted.
That resistance faded when she suddenly grabbed him around his middle and buried her face in his chest. He could stand it no longer, her wrapped his arms around her tightly, as if she would fade away, kissed the top of her head. But that did not last long, he pushed her away and stalked out of the room. He needed to deal, heal, and process this new development. He hated to do it, but he had to.
Everyone watched him go, Arie's heart broke, but she knew he just needed time to deal with it. He would come around, wouldn't he? She looked at the others, who stared at her, then looked at the door Damon just left out of. Arie made her way back to her seat, disheartened, and a little bruised. But deep down she fought with herself and won..it had went better than she expected.
Elena sat forward a little, she was feeling antsy, Bonnie and Caroline looked a little bored. Arie noticed their reactions and looked at them. "So Arie, tell us, you established how you are tied to Mystic Falls, but that does not fully tell why you are tied to Elena. Care to tell us?' Bonnie said breaking the silence. Rose sat forward.
"I think I should fill in some of the story, I do not know just how much Arie knows." Rose said looking at them all. Each staring back at her.
"I know about my side, and that is it." Arie told her.
The others sat there waiting for Rose. "Being a vampire has many advantages. Most think once you become vampires, all ties with family and old friends become unimportant. While on my run from the Originals, I was able to keep up with all my distant relations. Two of which, were my cousins. Brother and sister, Nickolas and Yolonda Burrows. I had only approached them once, for fear they would discover who I truly was. Yolanda and Nickolas sailed to America, from England in 1848 and settled. Yolanda and Nickolas came to Mystic Falls in 1848, but Nickolas decided he did not like it here and settled in the next town over, fifteen miles away. Yolanda got the position in the Lockwood home and Nickolas made his living as a miner. Yolanda is Arie's mother. I knew of Arie all along, I came over to America and kept tabs on Yolanda and Nickolas secretly. But I never approached them. So I went unnoticed."
"Nickolas married a daughter of a preacher and had a child with her, a little Girl I believe, Lilly I believer her name was. Well over time, after Arie was taken, I then kept up the record of the children that came to Lilly. One of her great-great granddaughters got mixed up with a young man from Mystic Falls. The girl's name was Isobel. The thought dead, but undead wife of your teacher Mr. Saltsman. Now I had spoken that Isobel was a direct descendant of Katherine. That holds true, but the connection is on her father's side. It seems that Isobel's father was of the bloodline of Katherine, not her mother." Rose spoke then looked to Arie.
Arie perked up little, from the thoughts on how Damon was. "I guess that is my cue. My father, as I have stated was considered a bastard. In the day, a child born out of wedlock was considered a sin, a travesty. My father was David Gilbert, the bastard son of Jonathan Gilbert's father, brother to Jonathan, who we know was on the Founding Family council. Product of an act of adultery. In turn, I am cousin to both you and Katherine, but more closer to you, than Katherine. That is how I am tied to you. It seems, fate has brought me to your doorstep and you to mine."
Elena's jaw dropped. "I am your cousin?" she said shock laced her tone.
"Yes. Katherine, I do not believe knows this. Frankly, I do not care if she does. I hate her, of all the people in this world, it is her that I hate the most." Arie said most sternly.
Elena wiped a hand over her eyes, tired. It was way past two in the morning, all that was there were growing weary. Arie leaned back in her seat, watching as Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie stood. After saying a brief goodnight, they walked from the room, Stefan led them to the door, leaving Arie alone with Rose.
"Arie, how are you feeling?" she asked concerned.
"Tired is all. I take it you met with Marcella today." Arie commented.
"Yes. It seems that Nigel has made his decision, and ready to strike the deal. It is good that you got away. Marcella has been worried for your safety." Rose told her.
"She told me that you would make your way here, after we found out about Elena a few months back. I take it Klaus knows of me." Arie assumed.
"Unfortunately, yes. He is quite eager, to hear Marcella's tones about it. I would not worry on it tonight, You are tired and need some sleep." Rose stood and looked down at her. "I am glad you are reunited with Damon and Stefan. They need you and you need them."
Yeah, glad was her flashing thought. "Yeah, I just wonder how this will go. Stefan has always been the good brother, always accepting. Damon used to be that way, but looking into his heart, feeling his feeling, he has been tortured with those emotions. I just hope he accepts me soon. He is the reason I survived all this time." Arie admitted as she stood up, walking out of the Parlor door and into the foyer. Stefan closed the door and turned.
Coming up beside her, he placed an arm about her shoulder, kissed her temple and began leading her up the stairs. They were just about to pass Damon's door, when he opened it. He looked at Arie, and opened his door further, silently bidding her to come in. She looked at Stefan, who smiled gently and said goodnight.
Stepping into the room was like stepping in front of the firing squad. Why she did not know, but it did. Damon did not say anything to her, but went to the chair beside the window and picked up his black leather jacket. Putting it on, he did not look at her or say anything. Looking at him, Arie was confused. Was he mad at her?
"Damon, what is wrong?" she asked him, he was nothing like he used to be, but yet she knew in his now undead heart, he was still the same, just begging for release. "Are you angry?"
He looked at her, shocked by the question. "Now, Arie, why in the hell would I be mad at you?" was his quipped reply.
"I don't know, you seem like you are. I come back, and here you act all pissed off. What the hell?" she asked him sitting on the bed hard.
"Watch that language! Where are you staying?" he asked hotly.
She got angry when he spouted off his command. "Damon Salvatore. How dare you treat me like a child! I am an adult and need no correction from you." she yelled at him.
In a flash, he was there next to the bed, he bent down resting his fists on the mattress. Getting into her face, "Let's get one thing straight. You are younger than me and will listen." his eyes were wide as if to intimidate her.
She laughed at him out right. She was not afraid of him. Getting up on her knees, she leaned into is face. Their noses nearly touching. Glaring back at him. "You listen to me Salvatore. Do not think for one minute, that you can scare me. I know you, though separated from you presence for so long, I know you. Deep in the UN-beating heart of yours is still the young man who was kind to me, caring and protective. I am not scared of you. Not one bit! I am an adult, not a child."
Her heart was beating so fast, just being this close to him. His unique smell, intoxicated her. She had dreamed of him daily during her captivity. The innocent love for him she had for him when she was child, had grown. She knew under the coldness of his skin the warm boy he once was, was still there. He could not deter that.
Damon searched her eyes, looking deep in the dark chocolate pools. He pulled back, and just looked at her. His act of dominance had not worked on her. If what he was told of hybrids was all correct, she would have snapped, unless he got it wrong. Perhaps she saw something in him from long ago. He was not at all the same as he had been all those years ago. Or was he? It seemed with the whole Katherine rejection thing and Elena not reciprocating his love thing, he was going soft. But this girl, who claimed to have abilities, perhaps, she would be useful.
He smiled at her, and laughed. "What are you laughing at?" she asked almost offended.
"You. You did not even flinch when I got in your face. Most people would. My question is, tonight when you were attacked, you acted timid at first then kneed that guy. Why is that?" he asked, his smile never leaving his lips.
"Cause Damon, I learned to pick my battles. I take it, you face all the battles head on don't you? Besides, I am frightened of vampires, and have been for many years. Well at least some of them. But Max, he was a real weenie and not to mention..stupid. Now someone like Klaus or Elijah. I am scared as hell at. You on the other hand..there is not need to be frightened, you would never hurt me." she said, her eyes never leaving his, never blinking.
Damon studied her a moment, shook his head. "So were you gonna tell me where you were staying?' he asked again.
"Mystic Falls Inn." she looked at him puzzled. "Why?'
He rolled his eyes, "Cause, you need you things and I will get them for you."
"You do not have to do that. I can leave in the morning." she said innocently.
"No, you are not. Now where is your room key?" asked.
"In my car." she said. Damon heard her and made his way out the door before she could stop him. She sat up on the bed. Wondering what just happened there. One minute he was being and ass, the next minute, a complete sweetheart.
She decided she's wait for him, but after an hour, he had still not returned. She lay under the covers and fell fast asleep.
N/A: Okay, how did this sound? Did you enjoy it? Please review and let me know what you think.
FOR THOSE WHO ARE CONFUSED about The Tie to ELENA...The next chapter is called Family ties.. it is a simple break down of the lines...After that the Real chapter 9 will come.
