"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other."
~ Audrey Hepburn
" You are strong, you are strongest person I know" Damon reassured her lifting her head so he can look in her eyes. " Elena, you are the strongest out of all of us, you just don't realize it. You don't see what I see." His voice was soft and tender.
"What do you see?" Elena asked, with tears treacherously escaping her eyes.
" I see beautiful, determined, resilient girl in front of me. The girl who lets others underestimate her, who doesn't see how special she is" his eyes captivated her, as he held her by the shoulders.
Damon words echoed in her heart, she wondered how was it possible for her not too see this side of him earlier. How could she be so blind, passing by, dismissing and underestimating him? Yet there he was, standing next to her, telling her how special she is…
" Why don't you let others see this you?" she asked brushing few strands of loose hair from his forehead.
" Because I reserve this "me" for you. You are the only one I trust, remember?" The simplicity and honesty of Damon's answer made Elena's heart melt.
" Don't switch topics! We are here not discuss me, we are here to teach you. You really should trust yourself a little more… but not when it comes to risking your life." Damon added last point with a threat. He turned her around to face the door, standing behind her he leaned closer to her ear.
" You can do this, I will be there if you need me. But you won't because you will be fine!"
Elena closed her eyes and took deep breath in, she was a little distracted by Damon being so close to her, all she wanted is to kiss him and not let go. However he was right, she needed to feed. He explained her what they discussed with Stefan earlier, it seemed like the only possible option for now.
So there she was, standing outside of the some unknown bar, god knows where, getting cold feet.
" Okay, I can do this" she opened her eyes and squared her shoulders, Damon stepped away releasing her from his hands. He was nervous for Elena but at the same time he was sure she will be fine. He was tired of Stefan treating her like a glass doll, Elena had some fangs and it was time for her to realize that. Potentially Damon knew that it can get back at him, Elena being more independent and all. But she truly needed to realize her potential.
" But you will be there? " Elena looked back at Damon with question.
" Even if you don't want me there!" Damon smirked.
Elena turned back to face the door, rolling her eyes at Damon's reply.
" Here goes nothing" she pushed the door inside.
It was even darker inside, loud music was blasting through the speakers. Elena found herself in the middle of a dancing crowd, she looked around not sure how to proceed. She looked for Damon but he was no where to be seen. Panic started to set in, did he leave her? She felt his hand leading her away from the crowd, instantly she felt better. Damon pulled her away from the people to the corner. He was holding two shots of tequila in his hands.
"When did he manage to get them?!" Elena wondered to herself, looking at the alcohol.
"It will help you let go a little" he placed both shots in her hands.
" Both?"
" Yup, seeing that I know you can drink a bear under the table, its only a start" he smiled.
"That was fun" Elena smiled back, remembering their trip to Georgia. She had to admit even then, not being huge Damon fan, she had fun with him.
"You seen nothing yet" Damon promised her 'C'mon drink up!" he ordered and she obeyed, emptying both shots within seconds. She had to agree it did make her feel better, she could feel trembling going away. Damon placed his hands on her waist, turning her around to face crowd.
" Pick" he whispered seductively in her ear. Elena had to swallow hard, suppressing the urge to jump on Damon right there. But she concentrated on the crowd. There were few college students having girls night out, few couples dancing on the dance floor. Elena didn't think it will be possible to pick one of the visitors…they all seemed so normal… she couldn't bring up the idea of hurting innocent people.
It was then when she noticed some guy at the bar " C'mon baby, I know you'll like it" he was saying drunk to the girl, who by the looks of it didn't like it one bit. She tried to get away from him but his hands were tightly wrapped around her delicate wrists.
" By all means" Elena heard Damon say, giving her a little push in the direction of a bar.
Elena took one more breath in and proceeded, she made her way through the crowd, keeping her eyes fixated on her pray.
"Let me go" she heard the girl cry, trying to break free. Elena made her way to the bar and occupied seat next to the guy.
" You should do what lady says" she leaned in to him.
"And why is that?" he swiveled on his chair facing Elena, his jaw dropped open. Instantly he released girls wrist and she made her quick getaway.
Elena couldn't help but roll her eyes on the inside, Damon was right.. He had her wear this tiny purple dress which left little to imagination. She was sure it was only in his personal interest… but now she saw what he meant " looking like that you will have no problem luring your prey".
Elena turned a little in the direction of a sketchy guy and gave him her best seductive smile. Damon standing across the dance floor could feel his jaw tighten, seeing Elena flirt with that guy was not highlight for him. He was piercing her with his eyes but then again she was stunning and it was no surprise that about dozen of man were openly staring at her. She was a natural Damon thought to himself. He saw her leaning closer and whispering something seductively into guy's ear. As Elena pulled away, she was close enough to kiss that slimy bastard but left him hanging. She stood up and her pray followed her like a lost puppy. Damon pursed his lips and quickly followed them.
" You will remember nothing" he heard Elena whisper as he turned the corner. Elena bared her fangs and dug into the guy's neck. Damon stood behind her, waiting.
"Um.. Elena… its time to let go…" He said but she didn't' react, he could see the life draining from the guy's face. Damon pulled Elena back by her shoulders, she resisted at first. Damon had firm grip on her until she calmed down. He motioned to the guy to leave.
"How do you feel?" Damon asked turning Elena in his arms. She smiled , happy bright smile.
" I feel… excellent! Can I get more?" she asked, wiping away blood from her lips
" Definitely but no more flirting."
" Oh, so you saw?! " Elena fake pouted
" You had half of the bar looking at you"
" I thought that was the point of you picking this dress for me! Damon Salvatore, are you jealous?" Elena challenged him. She was ecstatic from blood, she felt it spread through her body, burning inside.
"NO I don't get jealous" Damon retorted, his eyes burning. Next thing she knew, she felt Damon hot lips claiming hers in a kiss. She matched his ferocity, kissing him back, running her hands all over his back, neck, hair. In need for support Damon pushed Elena to the wall, kissing her neck. Elena wrapped one of her legs around him, wanting to be even closer to him. Damon kept kissing her, she was in heaven. He pulled away catching his breath.
" You are driving me insane" he panted. Elena smiled restoring her breath as well.
" Let's go get you "more" before I rip that dress off"
Damon stepped away rearranging his shirt, and running his hand through Elena's hair in attempt to smooth it down. Damon turned in the direction of a bar to go find more victims but Elena grabbed him by his hand turning him back to her. She pulled him closer to her in another kiss.
" You drive me crazy too" she whispered to him, pulling away. "Now we can go!" she smiled, pulling Damon out to the dance floor.
Couple of hours passed, Damon was sitting his back to the bar. Everything seemed to be going fine, Elena had no problem with human blood. She managed to control her hunger and was able to let her victim go without Damon's help. She was still rough around the edges but it will go away with time. Damon was drinking bourbon, he looked around trying to locate Elena. She was dancing right in the middle of the dance floor, clearly enjoying herself. Probably the last time Damon saw her this happy was during their trip to Georgia… Now she was relaxed, not caring what any thought of her, just simply enjoying herself.
Elena felt darkness pulling her in, she couldn't shake it off. She felt desperate, helpless, trying to get out. It consumed her, paralyzed and pulled her even deeper in the never-ending horror.
"ELENA!" she heard Damon's voice cut through the dark as bright light of sunshine. "ELENA!" he kept calling her. Elena opened her eyes and jerked up on the bed. Without realizing she pushed Damon, who tried to wake her up, sent him flying across the room.
"Oh my God! Damon are you okay?" she gasped in horror, jumping off the bed towards him.
" Not my ideal way to wake up" Damon grunted getting up.
" I'm sorry…"
" It's okay, another nightmare? "he asked question that didn't require an answer. For the last two weeks it's been like this, Elena kept screaming at night. Damon would always wake her up, it killed him not being able to help her.
Elena had the same nightmare, with few small things that changed over time. It would always revolve around blood, in one way or another, locations and people changed but the main thing remained intact, blood. It wasn't enough she felt guilty feeding from unsuspecting people, nightmares added insult to injury. She tried to put it out of her head but they came back every night. She could see that Damon got more and more concerned as time passed.
" I just have to get through it… they will pass with time" Elena said, trying to prevent Damon from worrying.
" It's already been two weeks of this… I don't see you getting any better"
" I will, I just need time" Elena snapped, she didn't want to discuss it any further. It would end up the same way.
They had other problems to worry about. According to Sheriff Forbes there were new vampires in town, Damon and Stefan were working around the clock, trying to figure out who those vampires were and what they had on their agenda. City council kept the lid on the whole thing, stating to the city that it was " animal attacks". For the time being it calmed people down but knowing Mystic Falls it will not be enough for much longer.
Adding to all of this Damon kept researching a way to stop Elena's nightmares, he kept searching for new information but every time came up with nothing. He just got back to Mystic Falls yesterday, exhausted. Elena didn't want to stress him out even more.
" Fine, whatever" Damon dismissed Elena's " I'll be fine" it was the only thing he heard from her for the last weeks. He was getting frustrated with the entire situation, Elena was once again protect everyone around her without consideration for herself. Both he and Stefan were trying to figure out the solution but came up with nothing.
Stefan was concentrating his research in Mystic Falls, while Damon tried to get more information from the outside. Robin helped a lot in their search.
Robin was old friend of Stefan's, she dropped in for a quick visit and stuck around. She and Stefan spend a lot of time together, she seemed to have positive effect on him. He was finally able to stand human blood, little by little. Robin reminded him of Lexi in a way, she was just as stubborn and persistent. She knew how to get Stefan to loosen up and stop being brooding self. She was a breath of fresh air for Stefan, she didn't take no for an answer. She was tall with a short pixie haircut, she always changed her hair color according to her mood, this time she stuck with plum color. It surprised Damon that Stefan managed to be friends with her, she was his complete opposite… which made her fun. She was a little more than 300 years old and knew a lot about vampire history, she traveled all around and saw a lot. Which made her very helpful. Damon was travelling to the neighboring cities, as they had a spike in vampire attacks as well, he was gathering all intel he could get.
" Damon, I'm sorry! I know I've been jumpy and snarky lately… You've been driving yourself crazy over finding what is wrong. I don't want you to worry, I'll be fine!"
" I don't want you to be fine. I want you to stop having nightmares and stop hiding thing from me. Just because you don't tell me doesn't mean I don't know. Why do you even hide anything from me? I though you trusted me!" he sounded hurt by the fact of Elena not telling him something.
"I DO! I trust you like no one else! "
"You have a shitty way of showing it!"
" I don't want you or Stefan to worry about me"
" Well that is never going to happen. Don't you get that? I will always worry about you! I will always have your best interest at heart, because I love you. And you are not helping by brushing of the problem by your annoying "FINE". I swear if I hear it one more time I will kill someone!" Damon roared with irritation.
Elena walked over to him and put her arms around his neck.
" I am sorry, I will not hide anything from you. You are right, but you need to understand me too. I can see what it is doing to you and I don't like it. I want you to take it down a notch. I want you to calm down and take a breath. You can't be on pins and needled every time something happens." Elena reached up and kissed him.
" I am not giving up search just because you kissed me! "
" I know you won't, because you are stubborn"
" I don't hold a candle to your stubbornness, at least mine is justified. Yours just plain stupid!"
" You are such an ass!" Elena rolled he eyes " And a child!" she added turning away and going back to bed.
" Pardon me, I am 172 years old and you are what 18? so who is a child now?" Damon gloated.
Elena threw a pillow in his direction and he swiftly avoided the impact.
"Very mature Miss Gilbert" Damon crossed his arms, leaning on the wall with a smirk.
"So are you going to stand there? Or you going to kiss me now? "Elena smiled, knowing that their usual quarrels ended with a kiss.
"No, I don't think I will kiss you right now. You don't deserve it. You called me a child, so nope you don't actually get a kiss"
Elena looked at him in surprise, he was playing tough.
" Two can play that game you know" she thought.
" Well if you are not going to kiss me, maybe I will just make you" Elena crossed the distance between them and planted a trace of soft kisses down his neck.
"You don't stand a chance" she said huskily with a smile. She could feel shiver running through Damon as her lips pressed on his neck, she knew she was winning. Elena pressed her lips to Damon's. The kiss was steamy and possessive. As angry as he was, he instinctively returned the gesture. His hands slid caressingly down the length of her body. Tension between them was palpable, you could almost touch it.
Damon caved in, desire flushed through his eyes as he grabbed Elena, pulling her closer to him.
"We are not done discussing " Damon warned her but for now he was willing to put it away until tomorrow. Elena won… for now.
The next morning Damon was already downstairs discussing new found information with Stefan and Robin. Elena could hear their voices coming from library, she tried to go back to sleep but after few failed attempts she gave up. After brushing her teeth and making herself presentable she went to join the gang.
" Is that all you could find?" Robin wondered pointing to few folders with police reports and few dozen photographs.
" I am not google search, it took time to get what we have now" Damon defended himself.
" You two knock it off" Stefan intervened " So what we have? It seems that attacks being centered around Mystic Falls. All of the cities can be reached from here, within short period of time. What I don't get is why they didn't show themselves yet"
" Let's print an ad in a paper " Dear new vampire visitors, Feel free to drop in for a friendly welcoming dinner. Xoxo Salvatore's" ? " Damon offered
"Shut up" Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother's remarks. "Robin what do you think?"
" I would tell what I think if Damon would not interrupt me and let me talk!" she threw condescending look at older Salvatore.
" I don't mind you talking as long as you don't mind me not listening. Because we've heard everything you are going to say!"
"Damon, be nice!" Elena walked in, joining the conversation, she smile at Robin and Stefan. She liked Robin, she was fun to be around, and she made Stefan smile. Elena could see that she liked Stefan, however he was still not ready…
" I don't play nice" Damon answered to Elena " Okay! I'll be quiet… promise. What did you want to say?" he turned to Robin.
Robin started to explain something and both brothers were submerged in the discussion. Elena walked over to the table with the folder of information that Damon brought. She flipped through it in curiosity, Elena stopped when a photograph caught her eye. It was picture from the crime scene in the forest. Elena frowned and took another one… they we familiar… she quickly took another one…
" Oh my God… I know these places… I've seen them in my dreams…" Elena realized on shock dropping pictures back on the table. Everyone turned to look at her with question…
This is the longest chapter i've posted so far. I am dying to know what do you think!
Please share your feedback!
I will post next chapter tomorrow.
Thank you for reading!
Love you all.
V.
