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Here's the next chapter….. Enjoy : )
Chapter 9
I looked at him, I was so annoyed.
"I thought I told you to stay away from me." I said.
"Well sorry, you're so irresistible." he said smirking,
"Just shut up Damon." I sat down on the bed.
He looked down at my sling.
"Thanks for that." I said sarcastically, glaring at him.
"Your welcome." he smiled a 250 kilowatt smile.
I sighed. "Are you aware you nearly killed your brother?" I stared into those black eyes that made me swoon.
He smiled. "Did I?" I smacked him on the head, I knew he did care about Stefan, he was just covering up his worry.
"Ow." he said rubbing his head.
"Why did you throw him down a well?" .
He looked at me surprised. "Throw him down a well?"
"Don't act dumb." I said exasperated.
"I did not throw my brother down a well." he looked confused.
"Don't lie." I stared at him, he actually didn't look like he was lying.
"I'm not." he said quietly.
"Okay, well who did then?"
"I don't know. Is he okay?" he did care about him.
"He is now, he looked so pale and cold. They wanted to get a doctor to look at him, but he didn't want one, for the obvious reasons." I looked at him and he nodded.
"So in the end we had to agree to letting Bonnie's sister look at him."
He looked at me. "We?"
"Um..yeah. Elena knows, Stefan told her."
"Oh." he said quietly.
"Sorry about, um… well, you know." he said gesturing towards my sling.
I looked into those big black eyes that gave me butterflies. He wasn't very good at apologising.
"Okay, just don't ever do that again."
He nodded. "I promise. So when did you and Matt start getting so friendly?"
"Were you stalking us or something."
"No." he said laughing. "Just flying around."
"Why would you care anyway, you only care about yourself" I said, and he surprisingly looked hurt.
"So who's a better kisser?"
I sighed. "How do you know we kissed?"
"Remember, I have powers." he said winking. "So who is it?"
I shook my head. "That's not fair." He just smirked.
"So what do you think of the weather." he said changing the subject.
"I don't really like it because it's freezing…." I looked closely at him.
"Why are you asking me about the weather?"
"I'm asking you because I can control it, I did this." he smirked.
I just looked at him, I didn't know he was that powerful.
He laughed silently. "I know, it's a turn on isn't it."
I rolled my eyes and laughed. "I suppose it can have it's advantages."
He nodded and went over to the window to look out at the snow, as he got up a small tattered envelope fell out of his pocket.
I picked it up, but before I could see what was inside, he grabbed it out my hands.
He was glaring at me. "You dropped it." I said quietly.
"You were going to look inside?" he said annoyed.
"Sorry." I whispered, I didn't want a repeat of last time he got angry.
I was really curious to see what was inside, especially because he didn't want me to.
He put the old envelope back in his pocket, it was yellow from age and tattered.
I sat there quietly, I patted the bed and he came and sat back down.
He sighed and took out the envelope and handed it to me, I carefully took out what was inside, it was two pieces of heavy paper.
I unfolded the first piece of paper, it was an oil painting, Why would Damon have paintings in his pocket?
The first one was of a woman standing in front of some trees, holding a small baby.
The woman had dark black hair braided and put into a bun, her skin was porcelain and beautiful, she had piercing green eyes like miniature forests.
Her beautiful dress was made of rich brocades and rich-jewel toned velvets. She was wearing a red and gold chemise underneath the gold and brown dress, with a white netted shawl draped around her shoulders. She looked like a noblewoman.
In her hands was a beautiful baby with creamy white skin with rosy cheeks and locks of soft downy hair that was as black as ebony. The baby's face looked angelic. I looked at it's deep smoldering dark eyes, they were beautiful and familiar.
They were large and innocent with long lashes, they had a certain indefinable sparkle to them with a touch of mischief.
It was dressed in white gown that covered it's feet with an embroidered bodice, the neck was trimmed with fine lace, and he was swaddled in a white woven linen shawl.
I looked up at Damon and smiled. "They're beautiful, who are they?"
"That's me and that's my mother." he said pointing carefully.
"She's beautiful, she looks a lot like you." I said looking at the picture again. He just nodded.
"What was her name?" I said looking at his deep eyes, they hadn't changed much.
"Madelena" he said quietly, his shocking black hair was falling into his face, he was breathtakingly beautiful.
"That's a pretty name, she was beautiful."
He just nodded and handed me the next one, it was a smaller oil painting of two young boys and a man.
The man had dark curly hair and a dark beard, he had mud brown eyes and bushy eyebrows. It was Giuseppe Salvatore, Damon's father.
He was wearing a black sleeveless doublet with gold buttons down the front, with a white cotton shirt underneath and black cotton drawstring trousers, he had his hand on the eldest boy's shoulder , the boy was sulking.
The elder boy was obviously Damon, he looked around eight.
His straight dark hair was longer than it was now and his wispy fringe was falling into his alluring dark eyes, his lips were heart shaped. His skin was very tanned. He looked grumpy, he was pouting.
He was wearing a brown and cream tunic it was very simple but smart looking, he had a brown leather belt around his waist and was wearing brown leather sandals.
The youngest boy, it must be Stefan, was sitting at Damon's feet with a grin on his chubby face. He looked about two years old.
He had dark curly hair and rosy cheeks, he was also wearing a tunic, it was plain white, it was also very simple and he was bare foot.
They were standing in a magnificent garden in front of a large water fountain, the architecture in the background was magnificent, the sky was a clear blue.
I just looked at Damon, these pictures were amazing.
He carefully put them back in the envelope and put it back into his pocket.
"Where did you get them?" I asked curiously.
"After my father died, I went back to our house and I took these two paintings out of the frames, you're the only person who knows that I have them." he said pausing. "I think Stefan has one of Katherine."
I nodded, "They're so beautiful, it's nice that you have something to remember them by."
He nodded and got up off the bed, I grabbed him by the arm.
"Don't go, stay for a while." I said smiling.
He came and sat back down on the bed, he was very quiet.
We sat in silence for half an hour, the only noise was the clock on the wall and my breathing.
He lifted up my head gently, smiling my favourite smirk, he stroked my cheek, I could feel his cool breath on my lips, I parted my lips slightly and leant towards him, our lips pressed together softly, it sent my pulse racing, our lips merged together, so many thoughts racing through my mind. I stroked his silky hair.
We tugged away slightly, staring in each other's eyes, my breath ragged. I laughed silently.
"I love you." whispered Damon, his face looked kind, different somehow.
I looked at him, in disbelief and joy. I tried to reply but I couldn't speak, I just smiled.
He laughed and brushed my fringe out my eyes, planting a kiss on my cheek.
We sat there talking for hours, it was interesting talking to someone who had been around for hundreds of years, the whole time I was thinking of Matt, I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to hurt him.
"Do you want me to drop you to school?" Damon asked me while I was eating my breakfast.
I nodded and put my bowl in the dishwasher. I rang Elena to tell her that I was getting a lift with someone else.
I got into his black Ferrari, it was so cool. He laughed when I smiled in admiration. He was a fast driver and obviously loved rock music, because he had the radio up full blast.
As we drove into the car park heads turned to look at the car, it's engine purring softly.
Matt, Elena and Stefan were standing over at Stefan's Porsche, they were also staring.
Damon gave me a quick kiss on the lips and I jumped out the car.
I started walking over to Stefan's Porsche, Matt wasn't there anymore.
"Hey." I said smiling. Stefan looked a lot better, his cheeks had regained their colour, but he still looked tired.
"Hi." said Stefan after a few minutes of silence.
"Was that…Damon?" said Stefan gesturing towards the Ferrari that was driving away.
"Yep." I said smiling. "Is that okay?" I said looking at Elena.
Stefan nodded his head. "Of course, I wasn't saying that. Just be careful Sophie."
I rolled my eyes and nodded, no point in arguing.
"He's dangerous, look what he done to you." said Elena.
Stefan looked at me worried. "Exactly, he has a bad temper, and Sophie , he's a player, just stick with Matt."
I looked at them frowning. "Who do you think you are?" I could feel the anger rising up in me.
"I'm entitled to see who I want." I said trying to keep my voice down and I stormed away into the school, I was fuming.
The day passed quickly, I didn't have any of my classes with Matt so it was easy to avoid him. I wasn't looking forward to European History, I had that with all of them.
Elena was sitting beside Stefan, she just looked at me and Stefan looked concerned, again.
Matt looked at me, I smiled at him, he looked away, the guilt made me feel sick.
I slid into my seat beside Meredith and I looked up at the blackboard.
There was a man standing at the board, he must be our new teacher, he looked very young, he had sandy hair that was quite long.
On the board he wrote 'Alaric K Saltzman' when he turned around he had a big smile on his face, he looked friendly.
The room was quiet, it was almost awkward.
Nearly everyone was sitting down except for Tyler and Caroline who had just walked through the door together, both grinning sly smiles.
"OK, to start off, why don't we put all these desks in a circle?" said the new teacher, still smiling.
"Come on, let's do it. That way we can all see each other's faces when we talk."
We got up out our seats and arranged the desk and chairs into a circle.
The new teacher took a chair and joined us at the table.
"Now." he said. "I know you must all be curious about me. My name's on the board : Alaric K Saltzman, but I want you to call me Alaric. I'll tell you a little more about me later, but first I want to give you a chance to talk."
"Today's probably a difficult day for most of you. Someone you cared about is gone, and that must hurt. I want to give you a chance to open up and share those feelings with your classmates. I want you to try and get in touch with the pain. Then we can start to build our own relationship on trust. Now who would like to go first?"
We all just sat there silent, no one volunteered.
"Well, let's see…what about you?" he said pointing to a blond haired girl, who was named Sue, she was in my biology class.
"Tell us your name and how you feel about what's happened."
She looked shy, but she stood up. "My name's Sue Carson, and uh…" she took a deep breath, she was very nervous. "And I feel scared . Because whoever this maniac is, he's still loose, and next time it could be me."
"Thank you, Sue. I'm sure a lot of your classmates share your concern. Now, do I understand that some of you were actually there when this tragedy occurred?"
Chairs noisily scraped the floor as people stood up, Tyler had a grin on his face.
"Most of us were there." he said quickly glancing towards Stefan, others copied.
"I got there right after Bonnie discovered the body, and what I feel is concern for the community. There's a dangerous killer on the streets, and so far nobody's done anything to stop him. And-" he stopped in mid sentence, Caroline was glaring at him.
"OK, thank you. So most of you were there. That makes it doubly hard. Can we hear from the person who actually found the body? Is Bonnie here?"
Bonnie put up her hand and slowly stood up. " I guess I discovered the body. I mean, I was the first person who knew that he was really dead, and not just faking."
Alaric looked at her confused. "Not just faking? Did he often fake being dead?"
I knew it was a serious conservation, but I had an urge to laugh it sounded funny that Alaric though Mr Tanner often faked being dead.
There was a few snickers around the room. I looked at Matt, he looked confused and Stefan was frowning.
"No- no." said Bonnie. "You see, he was a sacrifice. At the Haunted House. So he was covered with blood anyway, only it was fake blood, and that was partly my fault, because he didn't want to put it on, and I told him he had to do it. He was supposed to be a Bloody Corpse, but he kept saying it was too messy, and it wasn't until Stefan came and argued with him-" she realise what she said and stopped.
"I mean, we talked to him and he finally agreed to do it, and then the Haunted House started, and a little while later I noticed he wasn't sitting up and scaring the kids like he was supposed to, and I went over and asked him what was wrong, and he didn't answer. He just- he just kept staring at he ceiling, and then I touched him and he- it was terrible. His head just sort of flopped…" she sounded like she was about to start crying.
I stood up, and so did Elena, Stefan and Matt and a few other people.
Elena went over to her. "Bonnie, it's OK. Bonnie, don't. It's OK."
"And blood got all over my hand. There was blood everywhere, so much blood…" she sniffed, tears running down her cheeks.
"OK, time out." said Alaric. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to distress you so much, but I think you need to work through these feelings sometime in the future. It's clear that this has been a pretty devastating experience.
He got up a walked around the centre of the circle, Bonnie still crying silently.
"I know." he said, smiling again. "I'd like to get our student- teacher relationship off to a good start, away from this whole atmosphere. How about if you all come around to my place this evening, and we can talk informally? Maybe just get to know each other, maybe talk about what happened. You can even bring a friend if you want. How about it?"
There was another minute of silence, someone said. "Your place?"
"Yes…oh, I'm forgetting. Stupid of me. I'm staying at the Ramsey House, on Magnolia Avenue." He said writing the address on the board.
"The Ramsey's are friends of mine, and they loaned me the house while they're on holiday. I come from Charlottesville, and your principal called me on Friday to ask me if I could take over here. I jumped at the chance. This is my first real teaching job."
I rolled my eyes. That's why he's so strange, different from other teachers.
"Anyway, what do you think? Is it a plan?" he said looking at us.
No one wanted to say no, he was so kind and friendly, even if he was a bit strange.
Everyone nodded, and said yes.
"Great, then it's settles. I'll provide the refreshments, and we'll all get to know each other. Oh, by the way…" He said opening a book.
"In this class, participation makes up half your final grade." he smiled, again. "You can go now."
We got up out our seats and headed for the door.
"Would all the students who shared with us please stay behind for a minute?" called Alaric.
Bonnie went back in smiling grimly at me. Stefan and Matt had to go too, they had football practice.
"Wait for me." said Matt. "We need to talk."
I gulped. "Uh…sure, that's fine."
I went to my locker, I felt so bad, I didn't know what to say to him.
I threw my books into my locker, someone tapped me on the shoulder making me jump.
I spun around to see who it was.
"Sorry." said Matt. "I didn't mean to make you jump."
"That's fine." I said brushing my hair out my eyes. "Was football practice cancelled?"
"Yeah." he said pointing to the window, the sky was dark and grey.
"Nice ride you got to school today." he said, his blue eyes staring at mine, I looked down at the ground and nodded.
He lifted up my chin making me look at him. "Who was it?"
I couldn't look at his eyes. "Uh…just a friend." I couldn't let him know it was Stefan's brother.
"Just a friend." he said quietly, dropping his hand. "Is that what I am too?"
I looked him in the eyes. "No, Matt, I care about you."
"You kissed that guy!" he said raising his voice, he looked hurt.
Stefan and Elena were at the far end of the hallway, they glanced over briefly.
I looked down ashamed. "It didn't mean anything." tears welling up in my eyes.
He raised his eyebrows. "Didn't it? Did ours not mean anything either?" I could see tears in his eyes, he was blinking them back.
"Matt, I didn't mean for this, you weren't supposed to get hurt." the tears were streaming down my face now.
He looked down at the ground. Stefan and Elena were watching.
"Matt." I said, touching his arms gently, he brushed it away.
"Your just the same as everyone else, I'm only okay until someone new comes along, then you brush me away."
Stefan and Elena were coming over.
"You're just the same as Elena." he said the tears rolling down his cheeks.
He turned around and nearly bumped into Elena and Stefan, he just looked up at them and walked briskly away.
Elena looked hurt and worried.
"What happened?" asked Stefan coming over to me.
I shook my head. "Nothing." I couldn't talk about, I just walked away from them, Elena was calling me but I ignored her.
I started walking home, tears streaming down my cheeks.
I heard a soft purr of an engine behind me, I kept walking.
"Get in, Sophie." shouted Damon out the window, he stopped the car.
I opened the door, trying to wipe the tears away with my sleeve.
"What the hell happened to you?" he said, l probably looked a state.
I shook my head. "Nothing." I mumbled.
He shrugged his shoulders "Okay, don't tell me then." and he turned up the radio.
We drove in silence, Damon singing along to a Greenday song.
"There's a party tonight." I said to Damon as I got out the car.
"I know." he said smirking. "I'll pick you up okay?"
I smiled at him, his smirk always made me feel better.
I changed and had a shower, I felt so bad, I never wanted Matt to get hurt.
A few hours later I heard a car horn outside, I looked out the window, it was Damon.
I said a quick goodbye to Gran and went out the car.
"Hello." said Damon flashing a perfect smile.
"Hi." I said smiling as I got in.
He was wearing a black shirt, black jeans and black shoes. All in black again.
We arrived at the party, there was already people there.
A student greeted us at the door and we went in, a lot of people were here.
We went over to some people , I sat on a bar stool next to Damon.
Suddenly the whole room went quiet, I turned around, so did Damon.
Stefan and Elena had just entered, people were whispering.
"People often react like that when Stefan's around." whispered Damon.
I rolled my eyes. "This is your fault."
He pretended to look hurt, Stefan and Elena went over to Bonnie and Meredith and the conservation picked up again.
I couldn't see Matt anywhere.
"Let's see what they have to eat." he said glancing at my neck.
I glared at him and got off the stool.
There was a table full of food, I grabbed a paper plate and started putting things on it.
I took a handful of cheese puffs and placed them on my plate, they were my favourite.
I noticed Elena over the other side of the table.
I took some Pringles and looked back over at her, I nearly dropped my plate.
Damon and Elena looked like they were about to kiss, their lips were nearly touching, she tried to get away from him, knocking a bit of crisp bread flying across the room. Damon caught it quickly, demonstrating his quick reflexes.
"Easy, easy" I heard Damon say, he took the plate from her and took her wrist, he stroked it with his thumb.
"Easy. It's all right."
What was he up to? Elena looked scared, I walked over putting my plate on the table.
"Elena? Are you OK?" said Sue Carson, touching her shoulder.
"I think she choked on something," said Damon letting go of Elena. "But she's all right now. Why don't you introduce us." he said smirking.
"Elena, this is Damon, um…" said Sue.
"Smith." he said lifting a paper cup as if raising it for a toast. "La vita."
I went closer and stood beside him, he was up to something, he smiled down at me.
"He's a college student." said Sue, she looked at me briefly.
"From- University of Virginia, was it? William and Mary?"
"Among other places." he said staring at Elena, I put my hand on his arm, which Elena noticed.
"I like to travel." he was still looking at Elena, what game was he playing.
"He's just down for a few days." said Sue, still talking. "Visiting- friends did you say? Or relatives?"
"Yes." said Damon.
"You're lucky to be able to take off whenever you want." said Elena.
"Luck has very little to do with it." said Damon. "Do you like dancing?"
"What's your major?" asked Elena.
"American folklore." he said smiling. "Did you know for instance, that a mole on the neck means you'll be wealthy? Do you mind if I check?"
"I mind." said a quiet but clear voice, I turned around it was Stefan.
"But do you matter?" said Damon.
The two brothers faced each other, Stefan didn't look pleased, he knew that Damon was up to something.
I noticed that people were staring. That's probably what Damon wanted. He knew that if he made Stefan mad he would attack him in front of everyone and then people would say that Stefan was violent and he would get blamed for the murder again.
Damon's eyes were dark and cold, he looked like he wanted to kill Stefan.
Elena slowly stepped forward. "Stefan." she said holding his hand. "let's go home."
I looked at Damon. "Don't fight." I whispered, he looked down at me and then he stared at Stefan.
He was ready for a fight and I didn't know if I would be able to stop him, he didn't barely notice me, he was focused on the kill.
I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to stop him and I didn't want to get caught in the middle.
"Stefan" said Elena calling him. "Stefan, please."
I looked at Damon, he wasn't breathing. His body was on alert. He was like a predator, his body was tense. I looked up at him, trying to get him to stop. He was concentrating on Stefan's every move.
I looked over at Stefan, he seemed to be responding to Elena, he looked down at her.
"All right." he said quietly. "Let's go." they turned away and headed for the door.
I felt Damon go back to normal, his body relaxing.
He turned to Bonnie, briefly glancing to me. "And have you heard that kissing a red-haired girl cures fever blisters?"
Bonnie laughed, blushing, she was flattered.
I went back to the table and got my plate. It was raining outside.
Bonnie was still talking to Damon, laughing at everything he said.
I went and sat down on the bar stool again, Damon looked over at me and smiled.
"That was weird." said a sly voice from next to me, it was Caroline.
I nodded, pouring myself a coke.
"Stefan looked like he was gonna attack that Damon guy." she said in her menacing voice.
I nodded and got up, I didn't want to talk to her.
I heard a wolf whistle and looked over to the dining room, Damon was kissing Bonnie.
I stormed in there, putting down my drink. I grabbed his arm, Bonnie looked startled.
"Car." I said firmly, he looked at me smirking. "Now!"
The room went quiet, I didn't mean to shout that loud, Damon winked at Bonnie and turned towards the door.
