Interlude: Damon Salvatore

It was a lie. Needing to get out of the house had been a lie that he doubted anyone had believed. Especially that damned clairsentient which by the name of Micah Bennett. Damon took one long draw of air, running a hand through his hair and fighting the surges of emotion at the pit of his stomach.

Was he not supposed to feel better? Was it not supposed to make a difference now that he'd gone back to that hellhole and saved his friend? Then why did he feel even worse? Why was it that now more than ever did he feel guilt?

Damon took another long breath. Starting at a pace and thinking over the last few days. Coming back to Mystic Falls was like salt rubbed into wounds. Every time he was here he had to think of all the mistakes which had happened in this town, the people he'd killed when his emotions had overwhelmed him, the people he had killed for petty reasons. One of them being…

He didn't let the thought enter his mind. If he did there he would have a reason to feel like this, then he might get dangerously close to flicking the switch and go through that dull existence of being without humanity. The route itself wasn't so bad, but it was coming out at the end of the tunnel that worried him. He shook his head. Flicking the switch was not something he wanted to do soon, which meant he had to find another way to decrease the intensity of the unwanted emotions.

Redirection, he thought, and he moved his mind on his goals for the future, cataloguing them with their priority levels: The Council. Anna. The Tomb.

If Zach's notes on the workings of Mystic Falls were to be believed then there were to factions. Two councils. The Founder's Council, which headed many of the crusades on vampires, and the Town Council which were minions in a respect. They knew about the existence of vampires and they held in hunting them, but ultimately decisions were made by the Founder's Council.

Since that little Bennett had outed himself he would be in their sights. They would either hunt him or keep him caged, more especially since they'd saved him. In their eyes he was in league with vampires and thus evil beyond doubt. Either of the council's acts would be in contravention with his plans. They would actively make it harder for him to open the Tomb.

Anna had had the right plan in mind, Damon thought. She'd flooded the town with vampires. Keeping them from looking for her explicitly, but that plan failed on a few counts. Namely, vampires were stock characters, the council would not feel any sympathy for the rogue vampire. No, the problem had to be taken to them directly. He needed to make sure that they couldn't act on their impulse to kill vampires.

The vampire grinned as a particular idea hit him.

Salvatore. Lockwood. Forbes. Gilbert. Maxwell. Fell.

Luckily they all had children.

The next part a little trickier but if anything Damon was old, and with that age was experience. He snuck into the hospital, moving through the shadows, keeping a deft enough speed that he would be a smudge across any surveillance. He got himself a few syringes and made his way outside, finding a dark corner because the next part was not painful as such, but it was gruelling.

Blood was power. Every time a vampire drank human blood they would be filled with strength and invigoration, and to give it away meant giving away some of that power. Their blood could heal, an aspect that had been heavily looked into at Whitmore during his Augustine days, and it could transform. But to give away that part of oneself was a big deal, which was the reason not many vampires turned humans lightly.

To others it would mean nothing, but to him, Damon felt a pit of worry before he pushed it all back. Shoving it into a deep and dark hole from which it would have a hard time escaping. He drew his blood, filling five syringes and putting them in his pocket.

Damon didn't pause, finding his momentum and already confident that his plan would pan out. He pushed out with his mind as he walked, surrounding himself in a field of undirected apprehension and anxiety, those who had Vervain in their systems would feel nothing, but those who weren't, they would be the target. He made quick work in finding them, compelling the poor saps to further his goals.

Now all he had to do was let the dominoes roll.

The next was Anna. She would be more of a problem. The girl was stronger and faster, smarter than anything Damon had had to deal with in a long time, but then again the only thing he'd had to deal with for some time was Stefan. Perhaps a Tracking spell would do? Or the answer was calling Anna out? If they tried to open the Tomb, then Anna would come running, wanting to get Pearl.

Then he would have the chance to avenge a Bennett witch's death.

Damon grinned. He would also get to see Katherine again.

Perhaps it was time to show the Bennetts their family talisman. It was risky, but he made good time, feeling a sense of exhilaration at the night's activity. He entered the house and frowned. Vampire's had super senses, true, but they couldn't scent subtle smells. But the sage clinging to the air was definitely not subtle, nor was the fact that it made a straight line to his room.

He looked in the compartment and it was gone and he knew who took it, that damned clairsentient.

Rage filled him. Bubbled within him. He let it fill him up, drive him forward and give him purpose.

Maybe Anna had had the right idea in her approach.

But the obvious problem: The witch would know.

How had Anna tackled that particular problem, for that matter, how had she known. It didn't matter. He got his phone out and called.

"Damon," said Enzo, his voice a bored drawl Damon couldn't quite read. "You left in quite a hurry. Done with whatever you were doing?"

Damon hummed in agreement. "You aren't still with the witches are you?" he asked.

"Not like there's anyone else I know in this blasted town," the man on the other side muttered, his voice low all of a sudden. "What are you thinking?"

"Do they happened to have a necklace with them, it should have an ember stone on it."

"Give me a second." A second later. "Yes. They do. They're doing some of their witchy business with it. Muttering in Latin and looking all white-eyed. What is it?"

"A key," said Damon. "One that they stole. Keep them at the house. They need to know you don't steal from Damon Salvatore."

He ran and within a few minutes he was at the house and opening the door only to be assaulted by pain. An extra syringe was pulled from his pocket and thrown. He caught the sight of Enzo catching it and the male Bennett witch striding focus, the talisman held in his left hand.

The witch said a word and jerked a hand, suddenly the world was black.

AN: Thus ends the first arc of the story. I found the last few chapters a little disappointing, writing an action scene in first-person is a might difficult than I thought. But it came along well at the end I think, though I might have to look back at it in the future and try to rewrite it. Mystic Falls is about to take a drastic change, when the threat has a degree of separation from one's self its easier to deal with, but Damon thought his plan through. Can the council kill their own children?

Mystic Fall's foundation is about to be rocked. Allegiances tested. Lines drawn.

I think I might not update for a month or two, depending. I've got exams around the corner so I have to put everything that's not top priority in the background. There's also the editing I have to do with A Hero's Journal, it never occurred to me until having to read the damn thing but it is long, not to mention I keep having to go back to previous chapters when I've forgotten the threads that should be tied up. I'll be doing that in between breaks and preparing the third instalment to The Hero Chronicles and the spin-off that has yet to earn a title-I'm thinking about the protagonist being Kai, he seems like an interesting character. Not to mention I should really being working on my other fic as well. I feel like I haven't been giving the kid any attention and it's got me thinking I'm a bad parent.

Sorry. Long author's note, but thank you for the read through and the favourite, and I hope you enjoy the story.