I don't own the Vampire Diaries or their characters. I only invented a few new characters. So tell me what you think by reviewing! Enjoy!
Chapter 9
When Ashley was finally feeling better, the two of them went downstairs where Stefan and Elena were sitting in the kitchen.
"Already back from school?" Damon asked while pouring himself and Ashley a drink.
"Yeah. And it was tricky telling them why you wouldn't show up." Stefan stated with a glance at Ashley, who was sipping her drink.
"I'm going to be back tomorrow. Did anyone talk about the party?"
"Everyone talked about the party. They wanted to know where we vanished because the police found blood and a stake and all that" Elena said while taking a bite from her sandwich. She was long over the point feeling awkward to eat in a house where no one else would eat.
"Well when they find out that it is your blood, you are going to have a problem. No human could live with having lost that much blood." Stefan said matter-of-factly.
"They won't discover that it is my blood. Don't forget that I am over five hundred years old. Don't you think I have my ways to be sure, that no one ever gets my blood?"
Elena made round eyes and managed to choke out between bites, "And how do you do that?"
"Some things are better left in the dark" she said with a shrug and went into the living room.
Damon followed her and sat down next to her on the couch where she was staring absent-mindly into the empty fireplace.
"Hey, Ashley, what's up? You should be happy. You just cheated death again, and I am finally starting to remember our past. What's bothering you?" he asked while relaxing against the soft leather.
"I am bothered that my only foe, who I have been avoiding my whole life, and seriuosly, that is a long time, is back. For the past two hundred years now, I thought she was dead. Burned to the ground with all the other filthy vampires who couldn't live hidden and quiet among the humans. But now, I discovered that she is back and that the only man I ever truly loved was brain-washed that much by her, that he didn't stop looking for her nearly 200 years. How am I supposed to feel?" Her voice had risen and tears were welling up in her eyes again.
"Sorry, Damon, but I need time. I am going to go now." She turned on her heels, caught her leather jacket and was out of the door before anyone could react. When the front door closed with a loud bang, Stefan poked his head around the corner.
"What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, Stefan" Damon spat out, angrily, "she just left. Why are women that complicated?" He threw a sideward glance at Elena, who just shrugged and continued eating her sandwich. Damon took his own jacket and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked in a stern voice.
"I don't think I have to justify myself in front of you, mother" he emphasized the last word and with an evil grin, he banged the door shut and left Stefan shaking his head.
Damon was driving at speed limit with his black Porsche and not merely paying attention to the road. He was deep in thoughts when the memory suddenly hit him.
He was looking out of the window of his bedroom on the first floor, overlooking the whole garden of the estate. He could see two small figures running through the grass, obviously laughing and enjoying the tickling of sun on their skin. He went out of his room to join them and when he stepped out into the warm, loveable sun, he saw that some of the blond locks of the lady were falling down her back and escaping her tight knot under her light green hat. Her dress was twirling around with her and her skirt looked like floating waves, it had a deep blue-green colour, just like the sea. The little brown haired girl that was running and playing with her, she was laughing and suddenly they both plunged down into the grass and continued laughing. Damon stepped over to a tree where his brother was sitting in it's shadow and reading a book.
"They look so sweet together" Damon stated when he sat down next to Stefan.
"You are right" Stefan said, looking up from his book, "Stella sure came out of herself since Miss Ashley arrived."
"She's growing up so fast. And so are you. Stefan, you just turned sixteen and you talk more mature than I do myself" Damon laughed and looked down at his brother lovingly. Stefan put the book aside and looked his brother in the eyes. Where Damon had the icy blue eyes, Stefan had the warm, caring and loving green eyes. His eyes told all about his wisdom but you could still see a hint of his mere sixteen years.
"Damon, I know what you want to talk about. Father already told me." He dropped his eyes sadly.
"I know how you feel, even though I can not understand it. Why do you want to leave me so badly?" Tears were welling up in the smaller man's eyes. Damon himself had problems holding his back. He looked over to where Ashley was playing with the little girl.
"Stefan, I don't want to leave you. I just have to. You have to understand, I have a duty to my country. Even though we are not originally from here, I really have to do this, mio fratello. It is difficult for me to leave you. I don't want to, I love you far too much. But I won't be accepted in this society and then I won't be able to marry Miss Ashley." He knew how Stefan liked it when he talked their mother tongue, Italian, since Damon could talk it fluently while Stefan never really learned it.
"Please, Damon, don't leave me. I love you" Now the tears were floating freely down Stefan's face and he now looked more like a seven-year-old. Damon took his brother in his arms and Stefan sobbed against Damon's shirt. Damon let his tears fall down on Stefan's head.
"I know, amato fratello, I know."
Damon's tears were blocking his sight when he looked at the road clearly again. He slowed down and stopped at a parking lot do draw a deep breath, even though he didn't need it. The memory was too overwhelming for him and he didn't even now that he had it. Katherine hadn't just merely erased everything connected to Ashley, she had extinguished every memory Damon had collected in these two years. Sure, he remembered fighting in war but he would love to give these memories up just to get the ones about his brother back. How could they drift so much apart when they were that close once?
Damon shook the thought away and turned to drive back to Mystic Falls. He definitely had to have a little chat with someone when he got back.
Damon dashed into the boarding house, crashing the door open and stomping into the living where Elena and Stefan sat and turned their heads to look at him when they heard him enter. Stefan muted the television.
"What happened to you, have you been crying?" Elena asked mockingly.
"Haha. Funny, girl-that-has-no-tears-left-'caus-I-have-to-cry-every-night-after-having-sex-with-my-boyfriend." Elena turned her attention back to the news, blushing deeply and grumping slightly.
"Did another memory came back to you? You look so shaken" Stefan stated and stood up to meet his brother.
"Sure as hell did. It was a few weeks before my departure and it was a sunny day. You and I were talking and Ashley played with a little girl in the grass" Stefan's face turned slightly grey at Damon's words.
"Yeah, we surely had a nice talk." Stefan managed to get out. He was obviously deeply ashamed that Damon had to remember that.
"How come you know so much more than I do? Katherine compelled you as well!" he practically yelled.
"Well, maybe she didn't took that much memories from me after all. I can't remember Ashley though, but maybe she took more from you because you voluntarily gave in to her anyway. She had to compel me to drink her blood."
"Obviously you are right. But then you surely can tell me one thing. Who was that little girl, Stella?"
Stefan took his time answering. When he finally looked up into Damon's eyes and said the words, he could see shook.
"Stella was our little sister."
Sorry that the chapter is so short, i will make it up with the next one.
What do you think so far?
Yeah, a few surprises will come back up and soon enough more details about Ashley's past will be revealed.
Stay tuned! Please review!