A/N: AND SO I RETURN. To everyone who still reads this piece of whatever it is, I apologize for taking a long-ass break and for coming back with this right here, and I thank you for still sticking around. So here's the new chapter. Played a bit with the POV's again just because I can. I love writing Damon, sue me. Alright everybody, enjoy ~
LIDYA
My head was killing me. Darkness made it impossible for me to see where I was going. I ran. A newly created vampire running wildly trough the forest, trying to save her pathetic existence as this fascinating being. She should be so lucky. The fangs hurt. They kept coming out, like knives, hurting my lips at the faint scent of blood emanating from any animal that crossed my way. But it wasn't the time for a hunt. Right now, keeping my chest free of stakes was the main priority. I could hear angry voices calling out for me, trying to return me to the men who destroyed us. I knew what would happen. My body would end up staked to a wall for everyone to see. Just like them; they got the worst, and all because of me. Because I wouldn't sell my sister out. I kept running. Images of their lifeless bodies scattered in pools of blood haunted me. They were lost; my sister was lost. She had decided to stay despite all my efforts to keep her away from his hands. In the end, she was just another one of them, ended up being a murderer, condemning people to an eternity of hiding and running. Centuries of these selfish acts for people to take and no one to blame. Just a memory. And now I was damned too. She sentenced us to a life of fear.
My name was called louder. They were getting closer. I could feel them over me, smothering me, closing every possible way of escape. Faster, faster. She wouldn't die, she was too proud for that. She would keep on living with everything she had unleashed chasing her tail. Typical Katerina. I didn't mind dying. I was more concerned for our pride, if we had any left. But I should've died months ago, why keep it up any longer? I could stop running. If I'm lucky, they'll kill me right on the spot, no reunions necessary. That sounded rather tempting in what seemed to be clear thoughts. That's why, when they come, I'll let the stake in on my chest. That's why I will close my eyes and never go back.
Good thing Damon was there to wake me up.
"Hey. Shhh… Lidya." I felt his touch as he ran a hand through my hair. "It's okay."
"What?" I managed to mumble.
"You're sweating, and not in the good way."
My breathing was heavy. My throat felt as if I had been screaming for hours, and my glassy eyes made it hard for me to see. "I'm sorry. It… it wasn't you, I-"
"You had a bad dream. No big deal." He said. "Besides, I couldn't possible be that good." He smirked.
Good, I could still laugh. "I can't believe we did it." I said as I turned to face him.
"Yeah, you took some time." He responded.
"Hey, this is nothing. Do you know when the last time I slept with someone was? New York, 2006"
"Fair enough. That sure explains lots of things."
"Anyway," I said. "What do we do about this?"
"About what?" I felt the force of his gaze on me. He looked confused, trying to figure me out.
"Well, this. We're keeping it secret, aren't we?"
Before he could answer, the door opened. "Hey Lidya, do you want to- WHOA! " Caroline stormed in. She stared at us, perplexed with what was in front of her. "Oh my god. You guys!" She squealed.
"Caroline!" I sat up on the bed, covering both of us with Damon's sheets.
"Blondie. Get out." He said.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. OHMYGOD!"
"Now!" I said.
"Okay!" She exited the room and closed the door. "I was just going to invite you to the Grill tonight, but I'll tell you about it later!" She said from the other side.
"So much for secrets." Damon laughed.
"Damn it, Caroline…" I said under my breath.
"Come on, it's not like they'd never find out." He smiled at me, wrapping his arms around my bare waist. When I didn't speak, he sighed. "You're nervous. Why are you nervous, Lidya?"
"I just don't want the wrong people knowing this. Information is power, Damon!"
"You're paranoid."
"I'm not – " I scoffed softly. "You know what, I'm just gonna talk to Caroline."
"Good luck." He winked at me before getting out of the bed. The sheets dropped beside him as he walked towards the bathroom.
"Put something on!" I laughed as I tossed him a piece of clothing.
"As if you wanted me to."
I grabbed one of his shirts and put it on, along with my shorts, and fixed my hair a little before going out the door. I found Caroline in the living room sitting on the couch.
"Hey! Are you two done?" She raised her eyebrows and grinned.
"I'm sorry. You weren't really supposed to see that."
"Are you kidding me? You're spilling the details. That's why tonight's perfect! I was going to invite you guys to the Grill, it's karaoke night again." She said.
"Sound fun." I replied.
"Great. Then I'll see you both tonight." She made her bubbly way to the front door.
"Hey, do you happen to know where Bonnie is?" I asked her before she could leave.
"I think she was by the school a while ago. Anyway, don't be late!"
She smiled and gracefully bounced her way out he door. By the time I was ready to go out for the afternoon, I had already eaten (really good blood bags I found in the storage), shared an early coffee with Vane, and taken a shower, in which Damon happily jumped in.
"Where are you going?" He asked me once I got to the door.
"Um… I'm going to see Bonnie before tonight. You know, help her with some… magical ancestor issues."
He stared at me. He formed a suspicious smile and closed in on me. "What are you up to, Lidya?"
"What makes you think I'm up to something?"
"Well, you've got your I'm-definitely-not-up-to-something look on you. Is there something I should know about?" He asked. "'Cause I'll be pissed if you leave me out."
"I am just meeting Bonnie, don't sorry about it. I'll see you at the Grill, okay?"
He sighed. His hands went up my neck and reached for my face in a second. He kissed me before saying, "Can't wait."
And so I made my way to Mystic Falls High school. Bonnie better not be hard to find. I walked around the school grounds, trying to spot her among the crowd, until I finally saw her sitting on a bench, big bad Grimoire on her lap.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Lidya, hey! Check this out. I found some pretty cool spells I'd like to try out. Not here, though, maybe some other time." She laughed a little. "Are you okay?"
I looked back at her. "Yeah, yeah, I just… I need a favor."
"You mean…" She pointed at the grimoire.
"Exactly. I need you to help me track someone." I said.
"Okay, Who are we tracking?"
I lowered my voice. "Klaus."
"What? Why would you want to find Klaus?"
"Better find me before he finds me."
"Are you crazy?"
"Bonnie. Trust me on this. I just need your help." I pleaded. She hated the idea, I could tell. "Please."
"I usually don't help with suicide missions." She scoffed. "Fine. Let's go to the labs, we'll do the spell there."
"I reached for her arm before she could get up. "Thank you."
She smiled warmly. "Come on, you don't wanna be late tonight."
DAMON
After the annoyingly persistent calls from Stefan and 5 texts from Caroline, I made my way to the Grill. Lidya hadn't called, so I guessed she was still with Judgey. I sat on the bar and distracted myself with my phone for a while. The singing in the background was getting more and more screwed up. I called Ric. If Stefan bailed, he would be my only drinking buddy left. Not that Stefan was really that fun, anyway. He arrived after three calls of telling him to hurry his ass up.
"Okay, I'm here. Geez, one would think you'd be in a better mood today." He joked as he sat beside me.
For a lack of something more creative, "Shut up" was not that bad.
"Is there something you wanna talk about?"
"I'm pretty sure you already know everything about me sleeping with Lidya."
"Caroline spilled."
"Figures."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"What, so we could sleep over and talk about boys while you braid my hair?" He laughed silently. He waited for me to say something that actually made up for my recklessness. "I said I love you, Ric. I don't do that."
"So, you're saying you're taking this seriously?"
"I… intend to."
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I brought it up and looked at the ID. "Hold on." A text. "It's Bonnie"
We've got trouble.
I sighed. "You gotta be kidding me. I'll be right back." I walked towards the back of the Grill and went out through an emergency door. Just when I was taking a break from trouble…
Bonnie paced silently before me. "What do you want now, Judgey?"
"It's Lidya."
"Alright. Care to explain?" Horrible night to mess with my mind.
"It's… She wants to find Klaus"
"Wait. She what?"
"She told me to track him." She said.
"And did you?"
"I thought you knew about it. Then she said not to tell you."
"Did she now?" Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid, what the hell was she thinking? Sure, Lidya, let's all go around looking for ways to get killed. "Where is she now?"
"I don't know. She said she'd meet me here."
"She better do."
"Are you going to confront her?" She asked.
"Is there any other way?" I responded, rather annoyed at what was obvious.
I waited almost two hours until she decided to show up. Two goddamned hours.
Fact #1: She was late. Probably because of here secret rendezvous with Klaus.
Fact #2: Ric left me in the bar for some school crap.
Fact #3: I lost count of my drinks.
Which unfortunately for her meant more anger and a significant drop in my tolerance level. I caught up with her when she approached the bar. She said something I didn't catch. Someone was singing a messed up version of a Coldplay song. My mind was foggy, threatening to shut down at any minute. I wanted to go home. Take her home and stay there. Stefan was home, why couldn't I be too? Why couldn't she just listen?
She shook my arm, making me give some sort of reaction. I had a speech, damn it. Free lectures by yours truly. No, Lidya, it's too dangerous to play bait. You'll end up dead, sweetie. Klaus is a bad, bad man, so don't go taking any candy from him.
Are you okay? What's wrong? Voices, voices. Dear friend bourbon's really screwing with me tonight.
"Okay, Damon, you're freaking me out." She said.
"What the hell are you thinking?" I asked once I managed to actually articulate words.
"Meaning?"
"A deal with Klaus? Seriously?"
"Wait, now you're mad at me?" She asked, deciding between a smirk and a smile.
"No, I'm just having a hard time adjusting to the stupidity of your plan."
She sighed. "Witches. You just can't tell them anything. Look, I wasn't planning on lying to you."
"Then what? You'd wait until I found your dead body hanging around?" I shuddered at the thought.
"I was actually hoping you'd help me."
"Don't screw with me, Lidya."
"What, would you settle for running?" I'd settle for keeping us alive. Us. No one else.
"Look, Damon, you can't protect me forever. And I can't protect you. It would be so much easier if we did this together." She pleaded.
"Not gonna happen."
"Damon. I'm asking for your help. Wouldn't you at least do it for me?"
"We're in this together, Lidya. But I'm not going to help you die." I stood up and walked away from the bar. She didn't chase after me, and I didn't want her to. Surprise, surprise. I got into the car and headed back home. Maybe Stefan could lighten me up.
I got inside and took my jacket off. Ah, home… The lights were dim and inviting, not a sound could be heard. "Hey, Stef?" I yelled at the emptiness that surrounded me. "I'm having girl problems! Wanna come and brood with me? It'll be fuuun." No response. "Just come down here and – "
And then I felt bad. Not drunk bad, but really bad. My muscles ached, making me surprisingly numb. "What the hell…"
It took me a while to come to my senses and put the tiny pieces together. No one at home, the insufferable mystery, that old-fashioned, tacky cologne. I figured it was about time for a visit.
"Evening, Damon."
Ah, my favourite Original, back from the dead.
My body did not respond. I tried in vain to stay awake, fighting the blurriness that threatened to blind me. I managed a laugh.
"Elijah, you fancy bastard."
"I must say, you cooperated rather nicely." He said.
"Don't suppose you came in for a drink."
"On the contrary. We have things to discuss."
My evening was going swell. Did he really have to make it worse? Drug me up and screw me over to get even? How fucking sensitive. I tried to get up, defend myself. Then it all went to hell.
A/N: CAN'T DAMON AND LIDYA AND VANE JUST CHILL FOR A WHILE AND GET SOME DRINKS? SERIOUSSLY.
But oh ho ho, here's 'my' favourite Original as well. Hope you liked it, you guys. Thanks again for reading!