Here is a pretty long chapter for you guys. Here we see a little different side to Damon that may be a little OOC. Although Damon is very messed up and a jerk, we also see a side to him that proves he is still the good guy from 1864. We have to remember that Damon is so love sick by Katherine, that everything else does not matter to him. However, Alex is kind of the same way. Misunderstood and used to being on the outside. That is why these characters click.

Season 1 Episode 6 Lost Girls

I woke up with a splitting head ache. In fact everything ached, but I was used to that. I rolled over on my side groaning. I didn't want to get up. I could barely move. Why was everything hurting? I felt very tired and groggy, I guessed this was what it was like to wake up with a hang over. I probably could have slept for a couple years and that still wouldn't have been enough. And… what was on this pillow? There was something wet staining the pillow that was under my head. It smelled like… I opened my eyes and was met with red. I jumped back, hurting myself in the process.

Was that… blood?

My hand flew to my neck. I pulled my hand back and flakes of dried blood were caked on my hand. How long had that been there? How long had I been asleep? I pulled myself up, still dizzy and light headed. Where the hell was I? I wasn't familiar with this room at all. I tried to think of what had happened to me, but my head ached so much it was hard to really try and remember. I pulled myself off the bed, using everything I had to hold myself up. I felt like I would faint. How much blood did I lose? I made my way over to a mirror that hung on the wall.

Bite marks and blood.

I looked around the room I was in. It was not my own. It was filled with books and other things that looked old, maybe antique, but I didn't have the time or the energy to sit there and figure out what they were. This was not my room. I had a bite mark on my neck. I had lost a lot of blood.

And Damon Salvatore was a vampire.

I swallowed, processing that revelation. Bodies drained of blood, animal attacks, it all made sense. The creatures that the Sherriff and Logan Fell were talking about, they were vampires. The Salvatore brothers were blood sucking demons.

And I was locked in one of their bedrooms.

I had to think quickly. I needed to get out of here before Damon came back for another feeding. He wouldn't mess up and leave me alive this time. I knew his secret now. He wouldn't let me live if I knew his secret. It didn't matter how much I begged him or how much I told him I wouldn't tell, he would kill me. And if I could stop that I would.

I ran to the door, unsurprisingly finding it locked. Damon wouldn't have left that open, he was much more clever than that. I then went to the window. I tried to push them open but the lock on it had been broken. I couldn't get out through the window either. Besides it was on the second floor and even if the lock hadn't been broken I would have broken a leg if I jumped. But I guess a broken leg is better than being dead. So, with rash thinking I took a chair in the far corner and charged for the window. I threw the chair, but it didn't make it though. It just bounced off and clattered to the floor. I knew that that would catch attention. I was screwed.

"Well that was embarrassing."

My eyes went wide when I heard his voice. I felt a shiver go up my spine and a deep feeling of fear pricked at my gut. I turned quickly and there he stood, looking very satisfied with his signature smirk. I swallowed down my fear, replacing it with anger and resolve. He wouldn't kill me without a fight. I wasn't tough, I knew that, but I also knew that I couldn't just let him kill me. I grabbed the first thing I could find, a baseball bat, and held it up like I was ready to swing.

"Stay away from me." I ordered him. He chuckled stepping closer and closer to me, against my threat. I tried to stand my ground, but the closer he got the sicker my stomach felt. He had me backed up into the wall by the time he stopped moving. I never stood a chance.

"Alright slugger." He said as he effortlessly took the bat and tossed it away from me. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You already did." I spat. His eyes flickered to the wound on my neck. My hand went to cover it but he stopped me. He continued to look at it, daring to rub his thumb on it. I hissed at the sting it left behind.

"You're going to be fine." He said before he met my gaze. I felt like I was going to cry. I wanted to go home. I just wanted to crawl into bed with my mom and never leave again. It was crazy to me that for years I didn't care if I lived or died, and now all I wanted to do was survive. I wouldn't tell his secret, I wouldn't even bat an eyelash if I saw him. I just wanted to go home.

"Please let me go." I begged him, sounding very pathetic. I wondered if I begged if he might let me go. I didn't think that he would, but I had to try anything I could. He searched my face, looking for something but I didn't know what. I could feel the tears pricking my eyes and I fought to keep them inside. I couldn't show him weakness, although he probably already knew I was scared shitless of him.

"I can't do that." He told me honestly. I felt a tear fall from my eye. "You my dear now have valuable information and I can't let that out yet."

"I promise I won't tell." I vowed, but he shook his head. He released my arm then and took a few steps away, much to my surprise. I felt better now that he wasn't so close, but I was still afraid. He set the bat down and started walking around the room.

"How do I know that's true?" He asked me. "I could compel you to forget, then neither of us would have to worry about this."

"Compel?" I asked. I cursed myself for being so curious.

"Compulsion, we vampires have powers of persuasion." He said. I probably looked utterly confused. "Long story."

I nodded, my eyes flickering down to the bat that he left within arm's reach of me. I then looked back to him, my fingers twitching. Stall him. Distract him. That is your only chance.

"Or I could just kill you." He said, slightly shrugging his shoulders. I sucked in a breath and he chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not sold on that one yet."

"Why not?" I asked, curious, eyes flickering to the bat once more.

"You, Miss Gilbert, are quite… tasty." He said dangerously. I swallowed at the idea of him drinking from me. "It would be a shame to lose that."

"I agree." I replied. He chuckled and then turned his back to me. I grabbed the bat then and started to slowly make my way over to him. He didn't move, he just continued to search through his book shelf. I raised the bat back into my swinging motion and once I was close enough I hit Damon over the head with it. He didn't flinch, he didn't even twitch. The bat however, splintered into a million pieces and scattered across the floor. I felt a sudden moment of dread come over me. He then turned and gave me a murderous look. I took my chance and ran to the door but he beat me there throwing me back toward the bed. He was on me in a second.

"I wouldn't suggest doing that again." He said. His hands were trapping my wrist to the bed, his body leaning over mine. I squirmed underneath him, but I wasn't getting anywhere. He was much too strong. He leaned down past my jaw and to my wound. I whimpered and let a few tears fall for fear that he would bite me again. To my surprise he locked his gaze with mine again.

"What are you going to do with me?" I asked him. I wondered if I started to cry and beg hysterically if he would get annoyed and let me go. Or at least kill me. Then I wouldn't have to wait and see if he would.

"I'm not sure yet." He said before he got off of me. He headed toward the door, and this time I didn't dare move. I just watched him from my spot on the bed and he stood at the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked him. He just chuckled before he closed the door behind him. I heard him lock it and I sank to the floor. I felt the tears come before I knew what my emotions were. I was stuck, and I wasn't getting out soon. So, I cried. I cried and cried until I couldn't anymore.

Damon was a vampire. He was the one who had killed those people. If Damon was a vampire, that meant that Stefan had to be a vampire. I wondered if I would ever live to tell Elena that her boyfriend was a blood sucking creature who survived off the very thing that we lived on. I wondered if I would ever see my mom again, if I would ever hear her voice. I wondered if I would ever find out what was going on with Bonnie, and if she was a witch or not. Now that I knew vampires existed, I knew that witches must too. Maybe Bonnie really was a witch.

My thoughts went back to the day of the party when Bonnie had her vision of me. Maybe this is what her prophecy meant, that I was going to die at the hands of a blue eyed vampire. I wish I would have heeded that warning more than I had when she first told me. Then maybe I might not be here. I wondered where Stefan was and if he was in on this too. I didn't believe Stefan to be a bad guy, but I always thought all of this stuff was fiction. I was so wrong.

I wondered where Caroline was and if she had even gone for help. Did she even know that I was still here? Where the hell was she? I felt totally abandoned and she knew I was there. Unless she was under Damon's compulsion as he called it. I wondered if that was why I couldn't remember certain things. Those holes in my memory must have been Damon messing with my head. But that meant that this wasn't the first time Damon had drank from me. He must have done it several times, and I had no clue.

I wondered if I was going to die, if the taste of my blood could really save me from Damon's wrath. I wondered if that would be better than being his personal feeding bag and slave. I wondered how he had gotten this way and what made him so angry. I wondered if this bite would turn me into a vampire too.

I wondered how my life would change after this.


I forced myself not to fall asleep whilst I was in my prison. I didn't want to sleep and Damon come in and drink from me without me knowing or… other things. I did explore the room, considering I had nothing else to do, and I concluded that it was in fact Damon's bedroom. There were so many books that I didn't know how he had that much time to read them all.

Wait, he was a vampire. He lived forever. That made sense.

I didn't find anything else of interest, nothing that held the secrets to killing him or a secret passage way to get out of the room. I was trapped and at the mercy of Damon the vampire. I didn't like these odds at all. I was a simple human… I had no way of escape or defending myself. I was screwed.

Suddenly, I heard the click of the lock and I braced myself for what could happen when he entered. I swallowed the lump in my throat and waited for him to come in. I just leaned against the end of the bed, completely vulnerable and defeated.

"Well isn't this pathetic."

I looked up from my seat on floor slowly. Damon leaned against the door frame, muscled arm crossed over his chest. I didn't say anything I just looked away. That wasn't what he wanted from me.

"Have you been crying?" He asked me. "You look… puffy."

I didn't look at him or even acknowledge him. I wondered if I ignored him if he would get bored and go away. But of course, when I wanted something Damon did the opposite. He walked over to me, crouching down to my level. I didn't meet his gaze, so he made me. He grabbed my chin and made me look into his eyes. I was sure my expression was full of complete disgust.

"What you don't have a voice now?" He asked me. I glared at him, pulling my chin away. "Still feisty though."

"I want to go home." I muttered. My voice was hoarse, due to all the crying and such. He looked back over to me. He didn't smile, or smirk for that matter. He was just kind of gauged my reaction.

"Come here." He said and pulled me to my feet. "Until I figure out what to do with you I can't let you leave."

"I told you I wouldn't tell." I repeated to him. "My mom is going to freak out."

"I already took care of it." He said, whipping my phone out of his pocket. "Texted her and told her you were at Elena's."

"So then you are planning on keeping me alive." I concluded my heart skipping a beat. He cocked an eyebrow. "You wouldn't cover for me if you were going to kill me."

He stuffed my phone back into his pocket before he started walking around the room. I watched him through my sore eyes, calculating his every move. He wasn't on the offensive, but I knew that if I tried anything he would stop me. I couldn't win here. I was a fragile little human and he was an invincible vampire. I didn't know how to kill a vampire, not that I had the strength or the guts to do it.

"I'm not going to kill you Alex." He admitted, his back facing me. "You could be of great use to me."

"Like a personal feeding bag?" I asked him. He turned around. "Or like a mindless slave like you did to Caroline? No thanks."

"You don't get to call the shots around here missy." He said after he sped right in front of me. I gasped at how fast he was. It was like he came over in a blur. He towered over me, his height giving him much more leverage than me. I tried not to let him see how terrified I was.

"You can't just mess with people's minds like that." I told him. "It's not right."

"I never said I was a good guy." He replied. "In fact, I'm the worst guy to get involved with."

"You couldn't have always been like that." I concluded, trying my best to get inside his own head. "The bad guys are never born bad."

He chuckled, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I shivered as his fingers brushed my skin. Even as scary as he was, I couldn't stop my natural reaction when he touched me, or when he said certain things. He wasn't a good guy, I knew that, but something about that danger pulled me in. I was like one of those stupid girls in horror movies.

"You are terribly naïve." He told me, looking into my eyes. "So innocent."

"We are all innocent at some point." I told him, pushing his hand away from me. I didn't like the way he made me feel. It was a good feeling, but the thought of it made me terrified. He chuckled again and took a few steps away from me. There was something about Damon that made me feel like he was very damaged. Something must have happened to him before he became this evil and dangerous person.

"What happened to you Damon?" I asked him. I could see him tense. "What took your innocence away?"

"That's a very long story." He replied, setting his jaw. I licked my lips and then jumped on the bed, bouncing a little. He cocked his eyebrow.

"Well, it seems to me like we have a lot of time." I told him. He shook his head and started to laugh. I watched him, he was very handsome when he laughed.

"I just attacked you, threatened to kill you, and now you want to hear my back story?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I'm naïve remember." I reminded him. "And I'm very unpredictable."

"Very stupid is what I would say." Damon told me. He sat down next to me on his bed, close but not too close. I wondered if that was because he knew that I wanted to keep a little distance between us considering the circumstances. It made me think that Damon still had boundaries, although they were blurred sometimes.

"It was 1964 when I met Katherine." Damon said. "Katherine Pierce. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on."

"1864…" I said out loud. I didn't realize how old Damon actually was. Katherine had been a long time ago, and yet when he talked about her, I could still see his love for her.

"Stefan and I… we were close back then." Damon continued. "But that all ended when Katherine came into our lives."

"You let a woman come between your best friend?" I asked. "Your brother?"

"You women do not know the power you have over us men." He told me, smirking a bit. "With just one look you can make a man fall to his knees."

I scoffed. I never thought I could do that in my life. I was too mild, too innocent as Damon put it, to make anyone fall in love with me with just one look. Someone like Elena or Caroline maybe, but not me.

"You have no idea how beautiful you are do you?" He said suddenly. I felt my face heat up and I looked away from his intense gaze. "It's a shame."

"So, Katherine… she was your first love?" I asked, trying to chance the subject. I wasn't comfortable with the way he watched me, the way he complimented me. It made me feel things that I didn't understand.

"Yes, yes she was." Damon continued. "But she was Stefan's too. And Katherine… she wanted both of us."

"So, she was playing both of you." I concluded. "She tried to get into the middle of you two."

Damon didn't say anything. I could see him swallow and his demeanor change instantly. I had to remember not to say anything bad about Katherine, if Damon was still in love with her like I thought, he wouldn't take too kindly to me bashing her. I had to play this out, get him to let down his guard and then try to escape. Or at least try to survive.

"She wasn't all bad." He said, staring at the wall. "She would light up a room when she came in. Her laugh was contagious. And she was undeniably sexy."

I blushed again at the comment. He chuckled.

"You're a virgin aren't you?" He asked me, amused at the idea. I didn't know that I could blush any more than I already was, but apparently I stood corrected.

"I don't think that is any of your business." I spat at him. I wasn't ashamed of my virginity, but I would not be teased about it. It wasn't necessarily a choice of mine, but I knew myself that I wasn't ready to be that close to someone, to be that vulnerable.

"Be careful then." He said before leaning close to my ear. "Vampires prey on virgins."

I pushed him away, his usual cocky demeanor was back. I figured then that story time was over. It was good to know that Damon hadn't always been this way, that at once he was young and in love. But that didn't change the fact that he had attacked me, more than once, and had killed several people.

"You killed all those people." I said, staring at the floor. He didn't speak and neither did I. He waited until I looked up. He didn't look particularly regretful of what he did, but I think he was more concerned about what I thought.

"I did." He admitted. I swallowed. I knew the answer before I said it. "You're afraid of me."

There was something about the way he looked at me that made me want to say that I wasn't. I was fascinated by him, and I was definitely attracted to him. But I couldn't lie and say that I wasn't afraid. I knew what he could do, and I knew he could kill me with a snap of his fingers. I couldn't deny that fear.

"Terrified." I replied. He nodded, standing up and heading toward the door. I stayed where I sat, not moving an inch. He stopped at the door, gripping the frame before he turned around and met my gaze.

"Good."

And with that he walked out of the room, but he didn't close the door. I was confused by this action, but I wasn't complaining. I didn't walk out of the room right away, I waited about twenty minutes before I walked down to the parlor. There was loud music playing, and I could see Damon dancing around drinking from a bottle. His shirt was opened and he looked like he was having a grand time. But he wasn't alone.

"Vicki?" I asked when I saw the half-dressed girl dancing around the room. She turned and surprisingly ran over to me. I could smell the alcohol on her.

"Hey Gilbert." She screamed into my ear. I pulled back and she laughed before she started to spin around. I turned to Damon who was smirking at me.

"What did you do?" I asked him. He shrugged. "Damon."

"I bit her. She didn't die. Now she's here." He said before walking over to me and handing me a bottle of liquor. "Relax."

"I don't drink." I said. He rolled his eyes, and pushed the bottle back to me.

"Yeah I know." He replied. "But you need to loosen up and this will help you."

I stood there dumbfounded when he left to go dance with Vicki. I put the bottle down and sighed. I didn't understand how he could go from very vulnerable to this in a second. I pouted on the couch for a while before I started to explore. The boarding house was huge so there was a lot of space to check out. I found the kitchen and that's when I hatched a plan.

I took one of the kitchen knives, a smaller one, so I could hide it and hid it into my pocket. If I couldn't escape while under Damon's watchful eye, I would have to distract him. I headed back into the parlor to see Damon now up on the rafter. He jumped down when he saw me and before I could react he had my hand and was spinning me.

"I don't dance." I told him over the music. I heard him huff.

"You don't drink. You don't dance." He commented before spinning me into him. "What do you do?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed myself away from him. But he still held onto me. He pulled me back and looked me dead in the eyes.

"Dance with me." He ordered. And with that I had no choice. I wouldn't lie and say that I didn't have fun with him, I actually did. After he did his little mind trick, I found myself very much relaxed.

"So, why can you go into the sun?" I asked him as we jumped on the couch. "Don't you like burn or… sparkle or something?"

"Please don't tell me you have used that book for a point of reference." He groaned. I found myself laughing. "We burn. But Stefan and I have rings that protect us."

"Where is yours?" I asked him, looking at his naked fingers. Now that he mentioned it, I do remember Stefan having a big ring on his middle finger. He never took it off either.

"My lovely little brother stole it." He told me spinning me around. "And I plan to get it back tonight."

"Tonight?" I asked him. He nodded.

"I can't go out into the sun sweetheart." He told me. "I can only leave this house when it's dark."

"And what are you going to do with me?" I asked him. "Keep me locked in your bedroom forever?"

"Don't tempt me." He smirked. I rolled my eyes. We danced until it was over and he released me. I bit my bottom lip as he seemed to be watching my every move. I didn't like being under such scrutiny. I felt like I was being judged, and he was in no position to do that.

"You two are so cute." Vicki said suddenly from across the room. My head snapped to the side with wide eyes.

"No… no we're not… I mean I'm not…" I said pointing in between us. "There is no we."

"Either way it's cute." Vicki shrugged before she started dancing again. I looked back to Damon who was smirking that smirk that drove me nuts.

"Don't do that." I said, shoving him. He didn't move an inch.

"Do what?" He asked leaning forward just a touch. I swallowed and squinted my eyes.

"You know." I said, he urged me to go on. "That stupid smirk that you do."

"It is not stupid." He told me. "Most women find it sexy."

"Well, I find it annoying." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. He seemed to look down at my breasts that were now pushed up for him to see. I tried my best to cover them up, which made him chuckle.

"You Alexandra Gilbert, are not like most girls." He said. I gave him a curt nod. I wasn't like most girls. I wasn't one to wait on a man who had no interest, and I didn't put myself into situations where I could get hurt. That was good, keeping my heart full and unbroken. However, it was also lonely sometimes and I was bored a lot. So there were good sides and down sides to being different.

"Why because I don't throw myself at you?" I asked him. He started circling me and I watched him out of the corner of my eye. I still didn't trust him, and my guard was still up. I didn't think I could ever trust him, considering what he had done to me and my friends.

"Yes." He said stopping just behind me. He leaned closer, I could tell because of his hot breath on my ear. "But I like a challenge."

I didn't respond I just swallowed. He laughed quietly before giving me my space. I didn't trust him, but I didn't know if I could trust myself around him either. There was this desire that flared up inside me when he said things like that. Although he scared me to my core and the idea of giving myself to him was even scarier, I didn't know if I could truly deny that this attraction was real.

I eventually got bored and tired, grabbing a book from the shelves in the parlor. I hadn't read it before, and I honestly couldn't tell you the title. It was pretty awful, the lead girl was whiny and the whole time she was letting her lover walk all over her. It wasn't my kind of story so I shut it. I then asked Damon for some paper and he gave it to me. I felt like Damon knew all this stuff about me, but he looked confused when I asked for it. So, I started to draw. I wouldn't let him see it, even though he tried. I had to force myself not to watch him while he danced around the room, but his shirtless body was very distracting.

After about an hour I had finished what I had been drawing. It was good, very realistic. It was Damon, but not the sexy Damon before me. It was the vampire face that came before he attacked his victims. I didn't have any colored pencils so the drawing was black and white, but it was still pretty accurate. I felt a chill go up my spine when I looked at it, fueling my fear for Damon even more. I eventually heard him behind me, but I didn't stop him from seeing it. I was hoping that it would hit a nerve or give him some idea of how terrified I was of him. It didn't seem to work.

He took the drawing and set it down, taking my hand and leading me and Vicki upstairs. I assumed he didn't want me to be drawing him anymore, but he still needed to watch me so I didn't escape. He took us to another bedroom, this one I assumed to be Stefan's. There were books scattered all over his desk, ones that I found were actually diaries he had written over the years. I was tempted to read them, but I didn't. Even though he was a vampire, Stefan wasn't like his brother from what I could tell. Or he was at least better at hiding it.

Eventually through my searching I found some old photographs. I smiled at one of Stefan and Damon when they were close. I didn't understand how a woman could come between two as close as them. Even Damon admitted they were close. I went through the years and many different Stefan phases. Some were good and some were very very bad. I eventually came across one that both confused me and terrified me at the same time.

"Elena?" I whispered to myself. But it wasn't Elena, the name scrawled across the bottom was Katherine, 1864. But this girl in this picture looked just like Elena. They were the exact same. I felt my stomach lurch at this new development.

"You shouldn't be snooping." Damon said from behind me when he snatched the picture from my hand. I turned around and he looked far from his amused self. He looked angry, and I didn't like angry Damon.

"But… she looked just like…" I trailed off. He knew exactly what I was going to say. He gripped my arm then and pulled me to him.

"This is none of your business." He ordered to me, but he didn't compel me. I swallowed, not wanting to anger him anymore.

"Is that why you came back?" I asked him honestly. "Because Elena looks like Katherine?"

Damon didn't respond. He just started angrily pacing the room. Vicki was dancing around like an idiot still, and I could see Damon watching her with annoyance.

"It's ok Damon." I told him. "I won't say anything."

"Would you just shut up?" He barked at me. I shut my mouth then. I didn't want to anger him, but it didn't seem like anything I said or did helped the situation. I slowly reached back to my back pocket and felt for the knife. I gripped it tightly.

"Don't you get it Alex?" He asked me. "I have no humanity left in me. Elena… she means nothing to me."

I took a deep breath. I didn't care what Damon said, seeing Elena must have struck a nerve with him. She looked just like his ex-lover, who died. That had to be painful, and it would be natural for him to feel something for her. But Elena was not Katherine. She couldn't replace that love he had for her, even if she looked like her.

"Stefan means nothing to me." Damon continued and then looked at me. "You mean nothing to me."

I felt my heart sink. I knew that it shouldn't have mattered, that I should have been grateful that there was nothing there. But hearing it come from his mouth was something completely different. I wanted there to be this… connection between us that not even we understood. I wanted to be different to him, but in that instance, I was nothing. I was just another girl he took advantage of. I was nothing.

"And this one." Damon said grabbing Vicki's arm and pulling her to him. "She's better off dead."

"No!" I screamed but it was too late. Damon snapped her neck and Vicki fell limp to the floor. I heard the agonizing wail leave my lips before I realized I had done it. I dropped to the floor and scanned Vicki's dead body. She was in fact dead, no pulse, no breath, nothing. Damon had killed her, right in front of me. I felt tears fall from my eyes.

"You monster!" I yelled at him. He towered over me, showing no emotion. He bent down and pulled me up with his brute strength. I whimpered, his grip hard enough to bruise. I tried to push myself away from him but he held me where I stood.

"I am a monster." Damon told me. "I can kill you without a second thought."

I cried, fearing how close he was to me. I gripped the handle of the knife in my hand. He hadn't seen it yet, and I was thanking my lucky stars he hadn't. If there was any time to stab someone, now was the time. When I saw his face start to change I took my chance.

He wailed out in surprise when I pushed the small knife into his chest. He released me and I started running. I stumbled down the stairs, listening for his footsteps. I saw the front door and leaped for it but was caught.

"You missed." Damon said to me. He had hold of my neck and had slammed me up against the wall. I felt my air supply being cut off and I was struggling to catch my breath. He held up the bloody knife and threw it to the side.

"I just… want… to go home." I told him through struggled breath. I could feel the warm tears on my face and wondered how long it would be until I passed out or died. I didn't know which one was better at this point. If I died, he couldn't kill me later. Maybe this would be a better way to go. I could see his anger but something switched in him and he released my throat.

"Don't make an enemy of me Alex." He told me as I slid down the wall and to the floor. I choked for breath, but I was glad to have it back.

"I didn't have to." I said to him once I caught my breath. "You already did that."

He grunted before he yanked me up by my arm. He didn't speak to me as he took me down the stairs to where the cell that he was trapped in the day before was. He threw me into the cell and before I knew it, the door was closed. He sent me an icy glare before he turned and left. I listened to his footsteps and let out more tears once I knew he was gone.

I wanted my mom. What I would give to see her one more time. I wanted my own bed and to not be trapped. I wanted to not feel scared. There was something that I was very sure of.

Damon was a monster.

A monster who needed to be stopped.


Once it was dark enough, Damon stomped out of the house and onto the darkened street. He absentmindedly touched the now healed mark that Alex had managed to give him. He wasn't usually surprised when it came to humans, but Alexandra Gilbert was something else. She had listened to him, made him put his guard down, and then she stabbed him. Although, he couldn't blame her. She had just witnessed him kill her coworker. But what she didn't know was that Vicki had come back. Damon had given her his blood and now she was in transition. She now had to drink from a human to complete said transition and become a vampire.

"You monster!"

Her voice continued to ring in his head, and he just couldn't shake it. He knew she was scared of him, and frankly he wanted that more than anything. But the look of terror on her face when he threatened her made him cringe. Usually he liked that sort of thing, he took satisfaction in the petrified cries and quickened heart beats. But there was no enjoying Alex's fear. It made him angry, because there was a part of him that didn't want her to fear him. While everyone else took Stefan's side and wanted to hear Stefan's story, Alex was the only one who wanted to hear his. Even as scared as she was, she wanted to know why he had ended up like this.

A monster as she put it.

He eventually made it to Elena's. He couldn't hear Stefan or smell his scent so he knew that Elena was alone. Big mistake. He leisurely walked up to the door and rang the bell. Elena was quick to answer but tried to shut it when she laid eyes on him. But Damon was quick and he pushed the door open again.

"Jeremy, go upstairs." Elena ordered. It was a pathetic attempt to save her brother, which Damon knew that he could kill both of them without much of a fight. But he wasn't in the killing mood tonight. He wanted his ring, and he wanted to be alone.

"You're afraid of me." Damon observed. Elena's heartbeat was beating so fast, it was kind of distracting. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up."

"Stay away from me." Elena spat. Damon rolled his eyes. He had been invited in, therefore he could do anything he wanted with Elena. But again, he wasn't in the mood.

"Hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in? Oh, wait." He said stepping through the door way. "Of course I can. I've been invited."

Elena looked very afraid, which she should have been.

"We can cut to the chase if you want." Damon said. "I'm not gonna kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So... Where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki." Elena said in a judging tone. Damon knew that what he did was risky, but at the time he was angry and he was trying to prove a point. He was dangerous. He could kill anyone he wanted at any time. And yet when he had the chance to kill Alex, so innocent and fragile, he didn't do it.

"Don't look at me with those judgey little eyes." Damon said to Elena, earning a glare. "Girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her."

"Did you thank Katherine?" Elena asked him, picking at his weakness. He had had enough talk about Katherine today.

"Mmm. Got the whole life story, huh?" Damon hummed. Looks like he wasn't the only one who had given up information about the past today.

"I got enough." Elena replied.

"Oh, I doubt that. Tell my brother I'm looking for him." Damon said before walking out the door. He suddenly poked his head back in. "Oh, you might want to go get Alex. She's probably tired of being… locked up."

Damon heard Elena call out to him but he was already making his way out to find his brother. Whether or not he was a monster he knew one thing. He was better off alone.


Elena was the one who rescued me. I heard the door close and then I heard her call for me. She said that Damon sent her here and that she knew that vampires existed. She tended to my bite wound and told me all about what Stefan told her. We sat in my bedroom for what seemed like hours before I sent her home. I was tired and I just wanted to be alone.

I hopped in the shower, ignoring the sting of the hot water on my neck where I had been bitten. I couldn't believe what had happened, I was too shocked by it all. Never in my life did I think that I would be in this situation, or that any of this would exist.

Vampires weren't supposed to exist. I wasn't supposed to be involved in this. Elena told me that she promised to keep the Salvatore brothers secret, but she broke up with Stefan. I told her it was for the best, but I could tell that none of this was what she wanted. I decided not to tell her about the picture of Katherine, saving that for another day. I knew she would be upset that I kept it from her, but she had enough on her plate.

I shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. I wiped the condensation off the mirror and shook my head at my reflection. I looked awful, and the bite on my neck looked no better. I would have to bandage it up so I wouldn't get an infection. I sighed, pulling on my clothes and heading right for bed. Once I opened the door, I screamed when I saw who was standing there.

"Nice room." Damon said, looking around. "Very… you."

"You don't know anything about me." I told him. He took a step closer to me, but I took a step back. I wanted as much distance between us as possible. He must have understood because he didn't advance on me again.

"You're right." He admitted. "I don't."

"Why are you here?" I asked him. I thought that after what had happened he would know that I didn't want to see him. But then the thought of him coming to kill me popped into my head and I felt fear prick my gut. I realized that I wouldn't be safe with him around. He would eventually kill me.

"I wanted to give you this." He said, holding out his hand. I peeked into it to see silver. I didn't move any closer though. Impatiently Damon stepped forward and put the object in my hand. I looked at it more closely, finding it to be a bracelet. It was a charm bracelet, but only one charm was on it. It was in the shape of an oval, and upon closer inspection I found that there was something in it.

"What's in it?" I asked him suspiciously. If it was some kind of vampire mind control herb then I wanted no part in it.

"Vervain." He answered simply. "It is toxic to vampires. A vampire… I can't compel you if you wear it."

I looked up at him when he said that. If he was so dangerous and hell bent on being a monster then why would he give me something that could thwart his plans. If he couldn't compel me with this, then he couldn't use me. I didn't expect that at all.

"Why would you give this to me?" I finally asked. Damon set his jaw as he looked at me. He reached forward and I flinched away. It didn't seem to bother him. He took the bracelet and tossed it in his hands.

"I… I don't want to be the one who takes that innocence of yours away." He told me, looking at the bracelet in his hands. "I thought it would be easy… tricking you and getting into your head."

I swallowed. He looked me over before he sighed to himself. This was the Damon I had met earlier in the day, the one who talked about Katherine. This was the Damon that intrigued me. The broken Damon who was asking to be fixed.

"I don't want to do that anymore." He admitted to me. "I don't want to be a monster to you."

"Then don't." I replied. He nodded and stepped forward, looking me dead in the eye.

"You're like putty in my hands." He said to me. "You melt every time I come around."

"I do not." I replied, but I knew it was a lie. This Damon could make me melt. This is the Damon I wanted to get to know.

"You can't fall in love with me." He said. "I can't return those feelings."

I didn't say anything as he put his hands on my shoulders. I was tense, but I didn't flinch at his touch. It sent electric shocks through me, wanting more of it. I knew it was wrong and that I needed to push him away, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"That's why I need you to forget." He said. "I need you to forget that I was ever nice to you."

"I-I don't want to forget." I told him. He shook his head, staring me in the eye again.

"You have to." He told me. "And you can never take this bracelet off."

I watched him clasp the bracelet to my wrist. I looked back up and he gave me this very fleeting, sad look. I blinked and he was gone. I looked around the room, wondering what had just happened. It was blank, my memory was blank. I looked down at my wrist and set my eyes on the bracelet. I didn't know why but I hadn't known where it came from and I couldn't take it off. I didn't want to take it off.

And with that I shrugged to myself and climbed into bed. All the while I didn't know that Damon was watching from my window. A broken man who, although dangerous, was very misunderstood.