Chapter 25

All at once, Dahna's mind flooded with hidden memories she didn't know she had, making painful tears flow down her face. Her fingers gripped her head tightly, pulling her hair as she pressed her forehead to the cool grass, breathing incredibly heavy. All the dreams she'd been having about Damon recently actually happened and she was currently experiencing every single moment they spent together when she was 17. Dahna couldn't move, her entire body trembling from head to toe as the pain slowly vanished, her heart pounding furiously against her chest.

The bookstore, their secret meetings in the woods at the very place they were currently at, the lovemaking, all the sweet words and promises…it was all there. The rock where they carved their initials in it because Damon had promised to marry Dahna as soon as she turned 18 and graduated from high school. He swore to take her far away from Mystic Falls so they could live together peacefully because she knew her family would never condone her being with a vampire.

Damon heard how fast it was and wanted to do something to help Dahna, but also knew there was nothing he could do. She'd had these memories taken from her and shoved into a tiny box in the back of her mind...because of him. Landon's idle threat was no excuse for what Damon did to Dahna and he had nobody to blame except himself.

At the time, he felt desperate and didn't want anything happening to Dahna, knowing Landon would've shed his own daughter's blood if it meant that she loved a vampire. Now, the more Damon thought about it, the more he regretted his impulsivity by wiping her memories with his compulsion. Ever since meeting her at the bookstore downtown, Damon had been completely captivated by Dahna Fell and Katherine Pierce ceased to exist in his mind. She was the reason his obsession over the woman who made him and his brother vampires disappeared completely.

Slowly, Dahna pulled her forehead away from the grass and sat up, staring straight ahead with a tear-stained face, refusing to get to her feet. She was afraid if she tried standing too soon she'd topple over, still trembling from the after effects of the intense memories. The cool wind blew through her hair and across her face as her eyes closed, more tears falling as the stars glittered above them, the crescent shaped moon their only light.

"Damon." Dahna whispered, the sound of recognition in her voice along with so much emotion that it made her thankful she was still on her knees.

"I'm here, Dahna." He replied, walking over to crouch in front of her until concerned aquamarine eyes met bewildered emerald.

There were so many things Dahna wanted to say to him, but she had no idea where to start. "W-What the hell was that?" She decided not to beat around the bush, not reaching out to touch him and pulled back when he went to grab her hands, not wanting to be touched at the moment. "Answer me."

Damon sighed heavily, expecting this type of reaction and sat back on his haunches, folding his arms in front of his chest. "I made you remember me." He said it as simply and direct as he could, not removing his eyes from her. "Are you okay?"

"Do I LOOK like I'm okay?" She snapped back, narrowing her eyes at him and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to make sense of everything. "That was the dumbest thing you've ever asked me. Of course I'm not okay! What the hell do you mean you made me remember you?"

"Precisely what I just said." Damon brushed off her attitude because, honestly, she deserved to be angry with him for what he did. "I made you forget me with compulsion."

Staring at him wide eyed, Dahna suddenly recalled their final night together at this specific spot and felt fresh tears burn her eyes. "My ankle bracelet…" She suddenly sat full on the grass and pulled her pant leg up, fingering the silver bracelet her father gave her with a small emerald charm dangling from it. "You asked me to take it off because you gave me this charm." Her voice lowered, remembering that night vividly now that the compulsion was lifted. "Are you telling me you gave me the charm as a way to get the bracelet off so you could compel me to forget you?"

Damon looked away from her, the guilt written all over his face and closed his eyes briefly, remembering that night as well. "Yes." He answered, refusing to lie to her again, especially after everything he'd already lied to her about. "Dahna…"

"No, don't talk to me." She stood to her feet instantly, not wanting to hear anymore and had to get as far away from Damon as possible. "I need to get out of here."

Damon flew over to stand in front of her, slowly shaking his head and pulled something out of his back jean pocket. "That's not the right one." He extended his hand that had a black cloth in it, her REAL vervain laced bracelet wrapped in it. "I swapped your real ankle bracelet with a replica because otherwise I wouldn't be able to lift your compulsion. I did it the night of your dinner, while you were showering."

Dahna's mouth fell open as she snatched the cloth from him and unfolded the cloth, tears sliding down her cheeks at the sight of her real ankle bracelet. "You son of a bitch!" She cried, clutching it to her chest and couldn't believe how deceitful Damon was. "How could you do this to me?!"

"You think I enjoyed everything I've done to you, Dahna?" He shot back, trying to keep his temper in check because she was the victim here, not him. "You have no idea the kind of hell I've been through the past three years without you in my life. You think it was easy for me to make you forget me? You think I did it because I WANTED to? If you give me a chance to explain…"

"Explain what? Explain how you've lied to me and manipulated me for the past three years? Explain to me how you've pulled the wool over everyone's eyes by making them believe you've been searching for my father's murderer? Explain how you had no choice when you decided to wipe my memories of you, of US?" Dahna snapped, wanting to hurt him, but he was a vampire and damned near indestructible. "No, I think I've pretty much heard everything I need to, Damon. Now get the hell out of my way so I can go home." She was cold, tired and emotionally exhausted, thanks to the man that had singlehandedly destroyed her.

"Goddamn it, will you just LISTEN TO ME?" Damon growled, grabbing her shoulders tightly in his hands and forced her to stare at him with cold unforgiving green eyes. "You're not leaving here until you hear everything I have to say. You love me still, I know you do! And once you hear the REASON why I compelled you to forget me, maybe you'll change your attitude toward me a little."

"Don't count on it." Dahna stated, pursing her lips tightly together and had to look away from him, her heart breaking all over again every time she stared in those deep aquamarine eyes. "I don't need to hear your explanation."

"Yes you do." Damon refused to back down, knowing if he chipped away at her long enough she would eventually stop fighting him. "I know you're upset with me and you have every right to be. I didn't expect you to just fall back into my arms, but you HAVE to know the complete truth. I'm not lying to you anymore and I only lied because you had no idea who I was. I had to wait for the right time before lifting your compulsion or else you would've freaked out."

He could justify his actions all he wanted, but Dahna didn't buy a single word that came out of his mouth. The fact was he lied to her, Dacia and the entire council for three years, though she didn't have contact with him until recently. Then again, maybe she did and he compelled her to forget that too, Dahna didn't know what to think or believe anymore at this point.

No matter how hard she tried, Dahna couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face as her chest constricted tightly, the emotions overwhelming her and it nearly made her knees buckle. Damon noticed her sway slightly and instantly wrapped an arm around her waist, forcing her to lean against him even though he knew she didn't want to be touched right now. He also didn't want her falling to the ground and getting hurt, so he would risk holding her so she stayed unscathed.

"H-How could you do this to me?" She whispered out painfully, doubling over as the pain washed over her once again and felt Damon's grip tighten around her waist, her back pressed tightly against his chest.

Damon's heart broke at her words as he buried his face in the side of her neck, breathing her in and tried calming her down the only way he knew how. "I didn't want to." He admitted in a low voice, feeling the anguish pouring from her body in intense waves that crashed over him, but Damon withstood it for her. "Dahna, if I could go back, I wouldn't have done it. I would've told you the truth instead of trying to protect you by keeping you in the dark. I swear on my life and all that I am. I never meant to hurt you like this, but…I panicked at the time and didn't want you ending up dead because of me."

"W-What are you talking about?" Dahna stammered out since her crying turned to heart-wrenching sobs, barely able to breathe. "I-I wasn't in d-danger…"

"Yes you were." He whispered, his nose pressing against her temple gently as he continued holding her from behind. "Please, just let me tell you and then I'll let you go home." It would kill him to lose her again, but Dahna deserved to know the truth about her deceased Daddy dearest and they weren't leaving here until that happened.

Dahna didn't understand what he was talking about, her mind whirling already from the memories and tried breaking away from him, but Damon had a vise grip on her. "Then tell me." She ordered through clenched teeth, hot tears stinging her already soaked cheeks. "Get it over with, Damon."

Slowly turning her around to face him, Damon cupped her face in his hands and forced her eyes to lock with his, sucking in a sharp breath at the pain in her eyes. "Do you remember the night we carved our initials in the boulder here?" He gestured with his eyes to the rock briefly before locking eyes with her again and Dahna nodded, making him continue. "Dahna, you were followed here that night by one of the council members. I don't know who it was, but…your father had his suspicions and had you followed because of the fight you had with him. Do you remember it?"

Dahna shut her eyes tightly as the memory of the night she fought with her father over becoming the next Fell to join the council. He wanted her to start attending meetings and familiarizing herself with everything, including how to defend herself against a vampire. Being in love with one, Dahna refused to do it and disobeyed her father, which in turn made him backhand her across the face. She showed up at the secret spot that she met Damon at every night with a bruised face, though she tried covering it up as much as she could with foundation.

"Yes." She whispered, reaching up to touch her cheek as the memory slowly faded. "That's why I begged you to take me away and you refused because you wanted me to finish school first. You wanted me to graduate and then promised to…take me away so we could get married and be together peacefully…"

What happened to that promise? What happened that would force Damon to compel her to forget him completely? Did he regret making that promise to her and figured the only way to break it was compelling her to forget their time together?

"Right, I didn't want you to miss out on anything that life had to offer and graduating meant everything to you. I know you wanted to walk down that aisle and accept your diploma the same way your mother did." He said quietly, having moved his hands from her face to her hips when Dahna reached up to touch her cheek. "I wanted to prove to you that I could wait for you and give you everything you wanted. You were young, Dahna, and if I would've known what the future held back then, I would've said screw it and taken you away from Mystic Falls. I would've listened to you instead of losing you for three years, and possibly forever."

"What happened Damon?" Dahna demanded, needing that question answered more than anything at the moment. "I deserve to know why I lost you for three years. I need to know what happened that possessed you to actually compel me. You owe me that much after everything that's happened."

Damon nodded, agreeing with her and released her hips to grab her hands in both of his, taking a deep shaky breath. "Like I said, you were followed that night, thanks to your father. He had someone from the council follow you and report back to him what he saw. He knew about our plans to run away as soon as you graduated, he knew everything."

Dahna lowered her eyes from Damon and shifted them, not believing what just came out of Damon's mouth, somehow believing every word that he said. "Luke." She whispered, feeling Damon grip her hands a little tighter and felt the anger swell inside of her again. "It had to be my Uncle Luke. He was the one who accompanied my father on his hunting trip a few nights after we made those plans…"

It all made sense now why Luke and Meredith were always checking up on her, making sure she was alright. They knew about her relationship with Damon, at least Luke did. She wasn't sure about Meredith, but Dahna would find out and possibly send them to the hospital for their involvement with this.

"That was my suspicion too." Damon hissed, wishing he would've killed Luke the same night he did Landon because it would've been killing two birds with one stone. "Anyway, after you left, your father paid me a visit here…" He still felt the place was tainted, even after killing Landon, and Damon had tried so many times destroying this place, but he couldn't.

"What did he say?" Dahna was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know, her curiosity burning along with inner rage. "Tell me right now, Damon."

At least her anger wasn't fully directed at him anymore, which is what Damon hoped happened. "He gave me an ultimatum, Dahna." He released her hands and turned his back to face her, raking a hand through his black hair irritably. "It was either 'use my evil powers' to make you forget or…he would kill you. He said there was no way a daughter of his would be with a bloodsucking demon, not as long as he was alive." He stared up at the sky, knowing Landon was probably looking down at them right now and couldn't stop the smirk flitting across his face. "That's why he went on that hunt because he wanted to kill me. That's why the very next night I asked you if you could ever hate me and you said no. You said no matter what despicable thing I did, you would love me forever."

Dahna swallowed hard, every part of her body beginning to quake as her insides clenched violently again, feeling sick suddenly. "Damon…" Her throat closed up, breathing out harsher than before and Dahna could feel the tears starting up all over again as they flooded down her face. "You killed my father, didn't you?"

Slowly turning around, Damon locked eyes with her and didn't bother denying it, nodding. "Yes."