Children Of The Damned
"Hey, sunshine, wakey wakey." I heard Damon's voice singing into my ear.
"Nooooooo." I moaned and buried my face into one of his pillows.
"Yes, I need you."
"I'm not having sex with you."
"Not that kind of need. It's time to torture Stefan." I flipped over onto my back to see him sitting on the side of the bed, grinning. "But if you wanted to have sex…" I rolled my eyes and smiled before pulling his covers over my head.
"One more hour, please?" I asked, closing my eyes, hoping he'd say yes.
"Nope." Damn.
"Why so early?" I whined, pushing the covers off my head and sitting up.
"It's seven-thirty. It's not early."
"Well, I'm sorry I'm not a vampire. I actually need sleep."
"Well, you can sleep when you're dead." He pulled the covers all the way off me.
"When I die, I'll most likely come back as a vampire." I groaned. "With all the supernatural in this town, I doubt I'll die a normal human death. Or a normal manipulator death. Whatever."
"Well, until then, you can help me. Get up."
"I need a smoke." I groaned.
"No, you don't. You need to get up."
"Damon, I haven't smoked in days. It's killing me." I whined.
"Deal with it. It's not good for you."
"Neither is alcohol and you consume that like its water."
"Touché." He smirked, as I crawled off his bed and began stumbling towards the bathroom.
"I'm gonna take a shower." I mumbled as I walked. "No, you may not join me." I added, sensing his smirk.
"Damn." I turned in the doorway to see him smirking at me from the bed. I smirked, lifted my shirt, quickly flashing him before slamming the bathroom door shut and locking it. I watched the door handle jiggle a moment later.
"Oh come on!" Damon growled from the other side of the door as I cackled in laughter from the other side.
"You love me!" I shouted back.
"Not right now I don't!"
"But you'll live!"
"I don't think I will, maybe you should come save me so I can repay you." I could hear his smirk through the door. I shook my head and turned on the shower.
I climbed in, grateful for the warm water. I sighed happily as the hot water streamed over my head. It felt so good and helped me to wake up.
A half an hour later, I climbed out and wrapped a towel around me. I unlocked the door and walked back into Damon's bedroom. He was near his closet, pulling on a pair of jeans. I stared for a moment at his perfect six pack as he pulled his jeans up. He looked up when I walked out. He hadn't buttoned his pants yet, so I could still perfectly see his v-line disappearing into his boxers. He smirked and zipped over, pinning me to the wall. I forced myself to look up, keeping a firm grip on my towel to stay covered.
"You are not very nice." He growled, his face inches from my own.
"I'm not a nice person." I replied simply.
"And I'm not human." He grinned, his face vamping out. I tossed my damp hair to one side and angled my head so he had full access. He sank his fangs into my neck and I gasped, not expecting him to be so rough.
"Damon…" I whimpered, beginning to feel lightheaded and dizzy.
When he didn't respond, I closed my eyes and let my head tip back to hit the wall. My legs began to wobble, on the verge of giving out and I started feeling cold. As I felt myself sinking towards the floor, Damon unlatched his fangs from my neck. The next thing I knew, he had my back pressed to his chest and his wrist was being shoved into my mouth, forcing me to drink.
"Ashlee?" Damon removed his wrist once I had drank enough. "Are you alright?"
"Now, yeah." I replied, rubbing my newly healed neck. "I didn't expect you to be so rough." I looked up at him, trying to sense his feelings. He was upset, and something else. Scared? Why would he be scared?
"I got carried away. I almost killed you, Ashlee!" he hissed. "How can you be so calm?" I shrugged.
"Can… Can I get dressed now?" I asked, feeling small under his gaze.
He was upset that he had almost killed me, but to be honest, I wasn't sure how to feel. A part of me knew he had just been hungry, but another part knew that his emotions had taken over and gotten carried away. But it didn't bother me. I trusted Damon. He was my friend. I think…
Damon released me and I walked over to his dresser, pulling out a black tee. I hurried back into the bathroom with it and closed the door behind me, not once looking at Damon, who hadn't moved an inch. I could feel his anger at himself, it was radiating off him in waves. I felt timid, unsure of what to do or say to him. My heart was pounding in my chest.
Holy shit…
Damon's POV
I watched her grab one of my shirts, then scurry back into my bathroom. She looked nervous and slightly scared of me, but she had been so calm. I had almost killed her!
How could I have been so stupid?! This girl let me drink from her so I wouldn't hurt other people, and I lost control and almost killed her. She didn't hold a grudge against me for turning her best friend. She had fallen for me against all odds. Then I took her memory of caring for me away. Why did I listen to her?
Katherine.
That was why. I wanted Katherine back and she didn't want to be hurt when I freed her from the tomb. I had dealt with girls falling for me before, so why was Ashlee so different?
Fuck…
Ashlee's POV
I quickly dressed, throwing on his shirt instead of my tank top. I pulled my shorts back on and opened the door again. Damon hadn't moved, but looked up at me when I walked back out. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his torso, pulling him into a hug. He stiffened in surprise. I reached up with my right hand and held his cheek and stood on my toes to kiss his other cheek.
"Don't feel bad. It happens." I whispered before walking away. I could feel him watching me, surprise and confusion surrounding him. I wandered down the stairs and across the house towards Stefan's room, knowing Damon would follow me. He caught up as I was walking up the stairs. He zipped ahead of me, now fully dressed and I silently followed him into Stefan's room.
Stefan and Elena were still curled up in bed, quietly talking to each other.
"Rise and shine, sleepy heads." Damon sang, sitting on the edge of the bed. I leaned against the doorway and watched, amused, as the couple jumped and fumbled with the sheets, surprised at our entrance.
"Damon! Please!" Elena whined, covering herself with a sheet.
"What are you doing?" Stefan asked.
"Oh, stop being smutty." Damon smirked.
"Seriously, get out of here." Stefan protested.
"If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it." Damon sighed. "Now listen, there's some very important business to discuss."
"And it has to be right now?" Elena asked.
"We have lots to do, now that we're all friends and working toward a common goal." Damon replied.
"He woke me up an hour ago." I pointed out. "And since when did we all become friends?" I asked.
"Last night." Damon replied, before turning back to Stefan and Elena, who had shared a glance behind his back. I narrowed my eyes at them. They were up to something. "So, in order to open the tomb, we need to find the journal to get the grimoire to undo the spell. So first things first, since you are Elena Gilbert, you are on journal duty."
"Since when am I helping?" Elena asked.
"Well, Stefan's helping and you've taken up residence in Stefan's bed, ergo…"
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." Stefan told her as she buried herself back under Stefan's sheets.
"Good." Damon smiled.
"How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire? We're really gonna take the word of this vampire, who seemed like a bit of a dimwit?"
"In lieu of any other options." Damon replied.
"What exactly is a grimoire?" I asked.
"That's what I was just wondering." Elena came back out from underneath the sheets.
"It's a witch's cookbook." Damon replied.
"Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself, so each witch would document their work." Stefan elaborated.
"Yeah, cookbook." Damon simplified.
"What about our mystery vampire? Dimwit obviously wasn't working alone, so whoever's out there, knows who we are." Stefan asked.
"Yeah, and I don't like that disadvantage. So," Damon clapped his hands, turning to leave the room. "chop, chop!"
"You know, I really like this whole ménage foursome team thing. It's got a bit of a kink to it." Damon chuckled, placing a hand on my waist to lead me out of the room. "Don't screw it up." He sang as we left the room.
"You think they will?" I whispered as we walked down the stairs. I looked up at Damon and he nodded.
"I don't trust my brother. Not fully." He replied.
"And Elena's not good at keeping secrets. She'd spill if pressured enough." I mused.
"Good to know. You're on sister duty. Keep an eye on her and my brother." I nodded and walked into the living room to wait for Elena and Stefan to come down.
-VD:AG-
An hour later, Stefan and Elena were in the kitchen looking through some of our ancestor's old stuff, while I lounged on the couch, watching TV. I was mainly ignoring them until I heard Elena ask,
"What's this?"
I got up and walked into the kitchen to see Elena holding a wooden box with a thing made out of metal and leather straps inside. It looked kind of like a muzzle for a dog.
Jeremy walked in behind me. "What are you guys doing?" He asked.
"Hey, just, um, going through some stuff." Elena replied, putting everything back into the box. "Feeling sentimental, Dad had this old family journal from years ago I thought I'd dig it up."
"Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"
"Yeah, what do you know about it?" I asked him, crossing my arms and leaning against the door frame.
"I just did a history report on it."
"Where is it now?" I asked.
"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman, he wanted to see it." Jeremy replied as Elena and Stefan shared a glance. I turned and walked out of the house to my car. I dialed Damon's number as I got in and drove to the school.
"I know where the journal is, I'm going to get it."
-VD:AG-
I walked into the school and headed to Mr. Saltzman's room. When I got there, Mr. Saltzman wasn't in his room. A moment later, Stefan appeared in front of me. I opened my mouth to say something when Mr. Saltzman came into the room, pointing a gun-like thing at us. He fired and Stefan spun around just in time to catch the stake that had been fired from the weapon.
Mr. Saltzman stood there for a moment, surprised to learn that Stefan was a vampire, before his brain kicked in again and he reloaded. I flicked my powers on and used them to disarm the teacher. His gun went skittering across the floor to Stefan's feet.
"Shouldn't have done that." Stefan stated, picking up the weapon, before shoving Mr. Saltzman back into the desks. He was up again a moment later, leaning against a desk for support.
"Oh be nice to the poor guy, Steffy." I cooed, walking over to my teacher and placing a hand on his arm. "He's in shock."
"Have a seat." Stefan gestured towards the desk Mr. Saltzman was leaning against and he carefully eased himself into the desk.
"What is this? Compressed air? You make it yourself?" Stefan asked, examining the weapon.
"Can I borrow it to shoot Damon when he pisses me off?" I looked between Mr. Saltzman and Stefan. Mr. Saltzman wasn't moving, but holding a stare at Stefan, who smirked a bit at my comment.
"Who are you?" Stefan asked our teacher a moment later.
"He won't hurt you unless you don't answer." I whispered, when he didn't answer. "Or try to shoot us again." Stefan handed the weapon back to Mr. Saltzman. He picked up a desk and sat on it, facing Mr. Saltzman.
"Now, who are you?" Stefan asked again, more sternly this time.
"I'm a teacher." Ric replied. Stefan smirked a little bit and looked down. I sighed.
"Are we gonna have to do this the hard way?" Stefan asked.
"I'm also a historian." Ric added.
"That makes sense since you're a history teacher." I butted in. "Can we skip the obvious?"
"While researching Virginia, I made a few discoveries about your town."
"So you show up like Van Helsingr?" Stefan asked, amused. "Come on, tell me the truth."
"My wife was a parapsychologist. She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area."
"Well, there's plenty of that here…" I mumbled.
"It was her work that led me here."
"Where is your wife?" Stefan asked.
"Dead." Ric stated. "Vampire killed her."
"Where's the Gilbert journal?"
"Why do you want it?"
"Where is it?"
"It's on my desk."
"No, it's not." I replied. Ric looked over.
"It was on my desk."
"How long have you been aware of me?" Stefan asked.
"I learned just recently. But you, Ashlee, I had no idea about." He turned towards me.
"Me? Oh, no, I'm not a vampire. Manipulator, so supernatural, but not a vampire. Kinda close though, now that I think about it…"
"What about your brother?" Ric asked Stefan.
"You met Damon." Stefan stated.
"Who do you think killed my wife?" Ric asked.
"What?" I looked at Ric. "I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but still…"
"You certain it was Damon?" Stefan traded a glance with me.
"I witnessed it."
"If you're here for revenge, this is going to end very badly for you." Stefan warned.
"I just wanna find out what happened to my wife."
"I thought you just said that Damon…" I trailed off.
"Ah." Ric breathed. "I saw him, draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming and just, disappeared. So did her body. They never found her." There was a moment of silence before Stefan spoke.
"Damon can never know why you're here. He'll kill you without blinking."
"I can take care of myself."
"No you can't." Stefan replied. "I can help you. If you let me."
"You can't just come back into town and kill Damon." I spoke up. Stefan sighed and walked over to me.
"You won't tell Damon anything about why Ric is here. Go away, Ashlee." I watched as he compelled me.
"I won't tell Damon." I monotoned, before walking out of the room.
I began walking through the school towards the front door, thinking about what had happened throughout the afternoon. The Gilbert journal was missing again. We didn't know who had taken it, except that maybe they were working with the vampire that had been killed the night before. Ric was involved somehow, but the details were foggy. I didn't remember him saying much about the subject.
I looked around me. I had wandered back to the stoner pit. I looked at the couches and the graffiti on the concrete and then it hit me. I was alone. There was a ton of weed hidden in the couch. I glanced around me again before digging into the couch and pulling out a dime bag. I held the bag up to my nose and inhaled. God, it smelled so good. I rolled the bag around in my hands.
I knew I was supposed to be cutting back, getting myself off for the sake of my family. But it smelled so good… I closed my eyes and gave in. I quickly scoured the area for rolling papers and rolled a blunt, pulling a disposable lighter from my pocket (some habits die hard) and lit up. I inhaled from the blunt and held it for a minute before exhaling. I closed my eyes and sank onto the couch. Boy, had I needed this…
I smoked the rest of the blunt before searching for more weed to make another. Coming up only finding one more dime bag, I made another blunt and began to smoke that one too. I closed my eyes, enjoying the high that I had missed for a few days.
"What the hell are you doing? I thought you knew where the journal was." I heard a condescending voice ask. I frowned and opened my eyes.
"Oh no, it's the drug police. Are you going to arrest me?" I shot back. Damon scowled.
"No, but I'm sure Jenna will have something to say about that. As well as about you missing family night." He growled.
"The journal disappeared, Mr. Saltzman didn't have it. How did you even know to find me here?"
"Stefan said you had left the school to head home, but I was at your house, and you never showed. Lucky for you, no one really noticed. But, it's time for you to help me again. And I might need your powers."
"I don't want to go." I protested.
"Too bad, cause it's time to go." He threw me over his shoulder and took off vamp running. I screamed. He stopped in the middle of the woods and set me down.
"Well, what do you know?" He said, walking past me. I turned around to see where we were, and spotted Stefan standing in a grave, Elena kneeling beside him. Both were looking at a book. "This is an interesting turn of events." Damon sighed, angrily. I looked at Stefan, confused. Why was he standing in a grave? I had definitely missed something while I was off getting high.
"I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry." Stefan replied, jumping out of the grave. Elena and I shared a look.
"So am I. For thinking for even a second that I could trust you."
"You are not capable of trust." Stefan scoffed. "The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and were planning on doing this yourself."
"Of course I was going to do this by myself. Because the only one I can count on is me!"
"What about me?" I whispered, slightly offended. "All I've done is try to help."
"Yeah, not now, Ashlee." Damon brushed me off. I looked down, hurt. "You made sure I couldn't trust you years ago, Stefan. But you," Damon turned to Elena. "You had me fooled." Elena looked down ashamed. A moment of silence passed.
"So what are you going to do now? Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out." Damon threatened, placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked up, trying to hide the fear on my face.
"You won't kill her." Stefan stated. Damon raised his eyebrows and the next thing we knew, he was over by Elena, holding her against his chest. She struggled against him as he spoke again.
"I can do one better." Damon bit into his wrist and shoved it into her mouth, forcing her to drink his blood.
"No! Damon!" I shrieked.
"Gimme the book, Stefan. Or I'm snapping her neck and you will have a vampire girlfriend."
"Let her go first." Stefan replied, pleading all over his face.
"The book."
"I'm not gonna give this to you until she is standing next to me."
"The problem is that I no longer trust that you'll give it back."
"You just did the one thing that insures that I will." Stefan replied. Damon nodded towards the book.
I walked over to Stefan and looked up at him. He glanced down at me and I held out my hands. Stefan looked back at Damon and Elena before handing me the grimoire. I looked at Damon and walked over to stand beside him. He let go of Elena, and she cast a betrayed glance to me before scurrying over to Stefan. He pulled her close, both looking over at us before walking away.
I sighed and looked up at Damon. He looked back down at me and held out a hand. I placed the grimoire in his hand, before reaching up to his face with one of mine. I got up on my toes and kissed his cheek.
"You can trust me." I whispered. "I'm in this with you." I shared a glance with him before turning to walk home. I made it home just in time to see Stefan bolting out the door.
"Stefan? What's wrong?" I asked.
"Anna, she took Elena."