Chapter ten

"I'll carry you home tonight,"- We Are Young by Fun featuring Janelle Monae

1569

France

Aria kicked her blood stained dress aside, then stood still as the servant girl undid her corset. She let out a sigh of relief, finally able to breathe again. As the servant girl turned to leave, Aria grabbed her arm.

"Yes, my lady?" the young girl didn't meet Aria's eyes, and she smirked to herself. She liked the affect she had on the servants of the house she and Anthony were staying at. Even though they were all compelled, they were still intimidated by her. It's like their natural instincts told them to fear her.

She loved it. She loved being the predator that humans feared.

"Come here," she ordered, her voice haughty. The girl approached her slowly, cautiously. Her brown eyes were wary, and Aria knew that the servant girl knew what she was. All the more fun for me, she thought.

The suspense was the best part to the predator and the worst part to the prey. The prey could do nothing but wait for the predator to attack. They just had to wait, their mind creating possible scenarios of what might happen, messing with them. Their hearts beat wildly, fear seeping into them. The suspense did almost as much damage to the prey as the predator did. The suspense was just as lethal to the prey as the predator.

The servant girl's big brown eyes were swimming in fear, her heart pumping her warm, sweet blood throughout her body. Aria just stared at her, waiting while the suspense tore the poor human apart. She smirked to herself. Nothing cured boredom like killing an innocent.

"W-what did you want, my lady?" the young girl stuttered, her voice giving away the fear her eyes and pounding heart did not.

Aria smirked again, her blue eyes darkening to crimson, the veins darkening underneath. And then, the most foreboding part of her transformation into the monster she was, her fangs were exposed. The long, white teeth was the only weapon Aria needed, the most deadly weapon she could have.

The servant girl's eyes widened, and a piercing scream fell from her lips. She turned to sprint away, but Aria easily blocked her path to the door. She gripped her prey roughly, then sunk her fangs into the servant's smooth, white neck.

After about fifteen seconds or so, the girl fell limp in Aria's grip, and her veins went dry. Aria dropped the body then wiped her mouth clean on the back of her hand. She looked down to find her corset splattered with blood and she sighed. The only downside to being a predator were than you tended to stain your clothes.

Aria kicked the dead servant into the corner, like she was important as the stained dress on the floor next to her. then she started to undress, wanting nothing more than to burn the body of the servant she had killed and then to go to bed.

"Well, I guess I showed up at the right time."

Aria yanked her dress back up, covering her bare breasts from Anthony's eyes. she turned around and glared at her maker, who was lounging on her bed, smirking.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him.

"Enjoying the view," he retorted, his eyes wandering up and down her body.

She sighed and pushed her blonde hair out of her face. "I am in no mood for you, Anthony. Leave," she told him.

He ignored her and looked at the dead body on her floor. "I see that you had dinner without me." he fake pouted.

Aria rolled her eyes. "More like a midnight snack." She frowned at the servant. "What was her name again? Gabriella? Claudette?"

"Does it matter, Ria? She was a servant, irrelevant in a pool of irrelevant humans." He frowned at her. "Why are you even asking? You never cared before."

She shook her head. "I don't care, it's just-" she cut herself off. Lately, she had been thinking about her family, the great Moretti clan, vampire hunters for centuries. And she had become the predator they hunted. What did her family think of her? her ancestors, who might have been the first hunters to ever exist? They probably loathed her for disgracing the family name with her darkness, her evilness.

Lately, she had been thinking about the lives she had taken. Aria had turned off her humanity- one of the first things she did as a vampire. Caring was not an advantage, not as a vampire. Feeling the guilt that came with taking lives would only weigh her down.

Still, lately Aria had been thinking about the people she had killed. What were their names? Did they have families? Children? Parents? Husbands? Wives? Friends? Lovers? Did people love them? Care about them? Even poor Gabriella/Claudette, somebody had to have loved her. She had to have affected somebody's life in some way.

Anthony was suddenly in front of her. "Don't think about them, Aria," he told her in a low voice, his eyes meeting hers. "They don't matter, humans. They exist only to feed us and entertain us. We, vampires, are better than them."

Usually, Aria would have agreed. But now she was tempted to say "Are we?" How did being a vampire make you better than humans? If anything, it made you worse. It made you a monster.

As if sensing Aria's thoughts, Anthony quickly said, "It's just your hunter heritage getting to you, Ria. We are better than them. Don't ever think differently."

Aria sighed but nodded. Anthony was right. Of course he was right. Aria was foolish to believe otherwise. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't even notice Anthony pulling her strap down her bare shoulder until his cold hands came in contact with her warm skin.

Usually, Aria would have glared, pulled away, and slapped him. But now, Aria was too tired to fight back. Her thoughts were wearing her down, Anthony's constant advances were wearing her down. It was just so much easier, giving in. Fighting required energy and passion, two things Aria didn't have any longer.

Her warm lips met his, and Aria allowed Anthony to push her down onto her bed and remove her dress. That was the first time of many times that they had sex.

~EIATT~

Things between Damon and Aria were tense. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since their semi-failed best friend date. Aria was busy worrying about if Anthony was going to tell Damon about her feelings, and Damon was busy thinking about Aria's brother, Antonio. What had Aria done to him?

Finally, Aria had had enough of the tension in the boarding house. She decided that she needed air, and went on a walk in town. People looked at her as she walked in the cool air, some staring. In a small town like Mystic Falls, a new person stuck out like a sore thumb. Everybody knew everybody here.

As Aria walked, her thoughts drifted from Damon to Anthony to her family, of all things. Aria rarely thought of her family. They had been vampire hunters, though Aria hadn't known that until after she died. Her mother had died giving birth to her, leaving her father heartbroken. He had been distant to Aria because of that. She always thought that he blamed her for it.

Antonio, her brother, had been very important to her. They had been close, but sometimes Aria felt like he resented her for being born. He had doted on their mother, and if Aria had never been born, she would still be alive. But birthing complications was nothing new in the 16th century, when Aria had been born.

To escape her thoughts, Aria went inside the Mystic Grill for a shot of whiskey. There, she found Alaric, resident vampire hunter, semi-retired. She grabbed her drink and then sat down next to him.

She offered him a smile. "Remember me? I'm Aria. We met for a few minutes a few days ago."

He nodded. "How could I forget? Damon actually has a friend."

She laughed and took a sip of her drink. "You're his friend," she reminded him.

Ric made a face, but before he could deny it, Aria continued. "I just wanted to thank you, for being there for him, which I don't doubt you were. Damon needs somebody to watch over him, he's a little kid like that. If he doesn't, he'll get into even more trouble than he usually does. So, thank you."

Alaric was silent for a few moments. "You're welcome, I guess." He took a sip of his own drink. "You really care about him, don't you?" he added after a minute or two of silence.

Aria smiled slightly. "He's all I have, as sad as that sounds. He's my best friend." She finished her shot of whiskey then signaled for another. "So, how does one befriend a vampire when being a hunter?"

Ric laughed slightly. "I'm a bad hunter," he told her, and she smiled.

"I can't say I'm any better than you. I came from a family of hunters," she told him. "The Moretti clan, killing the creatures of the night for centuries."

He raised his eyebrows. "that must be awkward at family reunions."

She laughed again. "I didn't know that they were hunters until I died. My mother had died giving birth to me, my father… well, I killed my father. And my brother…" she shook her head. Antonio was complicated.

Alaric was silent. "So, you're family's dysfunctional," he said finally.

She nodded. "That's one way of putting it."

They talked and drank for a few more hours, and Aria found that she liked Ric. He was a good drinking buddy, and it was good for Damon to have a friend other than herself. Feeling buzzed, Aria stood up. "I really should be getting home," she said.

"Wait," Alaric said before she could leave. It might have been because of the liquor, but the words fell from Alaric's lips without any thought at all. "Do you love Damon?"

Aria stiffened, eyes widening. How the hell did he know? "Do you?" she retorted, blue eyes still wide.

Alaric's eyebrows furrowed. "What kind of comeback is that?"

She sighed and ran a hand through her golden curls. "Damon and I are just friends. Always have been and always will be. If I had feelings for Damon, not only would I be risking our friendship, but I would be putting myself through personal torture," she said, telling the truth.

"You didn't say no, Aria," Ric pointed out.

"I know," she said quietly, before grabbing her jacket. "It was nice drinking with you, Ric."

By the time Aria got back to the boarding house, it was dark outside. She walked into the living room to find Damon waiting for her, a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"Where were you?" he asked, his voice a little cool. Things were still tense between them, and they both hated that.

"At the Grill," she said casually, taking off her jacket. "Drinking with Ric. He's a good guy."

"Yeah, I guess he is." Damon watched her carefully as she sat down on the couch, crossing her legs. "Can I ask you something, Ria?"

"Of course, Damon," she said, eyebrows furrowing. "Anything. Always."

"Can you tell me about Antonio?"

Aria's eyebrows furrowed even more in confusion. "Antonio? My brother? Why do you want to know about him?"

Damon shrugged. "Just curious," he lied. If he mentioned that Anthony told him to ask her about her brother, he'd never know what Anthony wanted him to know. "What happened to him?"

Aria took a deep breath. Antonio was complicated. She could tell Damon the truth- she was supposed to, they were best friends- and they already got into a fight about Aria not telling him everything. But if Damon knew the truth, he'd think of Aria differently. He would think less of her.

So, despite what Aria knew about friendship requiring honesty and trust, she lied straight to Damon's face.

"He's dead, Damon," she told him, as if it should've been obvious. "He died of old age centuries ago. He got married and had children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Hell, my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great nieces and nephews are probably still running around Italy somewhere."

Damon eyed her. "Honest?"

She nodded. "Of course, Damon."

But Damon knew when Aria was lying, like when she knew he was lying to her. He didn't say anything, though. But both could practically feel her lie stretching them farther apart. Even though Damon didn't know the truth yet, it was still pulling them apart. And that was exactly what Anthony wanted.

~EIATT~

A/N: thank you to: David Fishwick, SomebodyWhoCares, Katerina The Von, Stefanie, and TVDDamonSLover for reviewing!

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~Abby :)