Alright guys, getting closer to the end! Here is chapter 34!

Chapter 34

I was confused beyond belief, as I saw the man who had just been very much dead, sit up and look around, very confused. I imagine I was just as confused looking as him, because usually when I kill people, they stay dead. However, this guy was very much alive.

I sped to him and checked his face, looking for any sign of the transitioning having started. A human would never have been able to see the signs, but for a vampire, it was a bit different. I would have been able to see the teeth starting to work their way down through his flesh, and I would be able to see the veins under his eyes work a bit differently - but no. There was nothing to indicate that he was anything but a completely normal human, besides the fact that he had just come back from the dead.

"What are you?" I growled, letting him know I wasn't playing around. I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up, trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary about him.

"Wh-what do you mean? I'm just me!" he said, and I could hear how his heart was racing and his body was shaking. I had expected there to be something about his body that could tell me how he had managed to come back from the dead, but no. No talisman, no weird witchy object, no nothing.

"Look, I'm sorry I pissed you off at dinner, but I really don't think Elena should be with you!" he said, struggling to get loose from my grip. I raised an eyebrow, wanting to laugh at him. He was being held by the throat by an obvious supernatural being, and the first thing he does, is to insult me. Was this dude an idiot?

"You do know that exactly that attitude has already gotten you killed once tonight, right?" I said, letting him down. It would be stupid to think I could get anything out of him. He obviously didn't even know what had happened to him, so this was as big of a mystery to him as it was to me. Great. Just great.

In the end, I compelled him to forget everything but the dinner and then I made sure he got home. I knew I was going to have to explain this to Elena, even though I had no real idea about what had been going on. She had to have some explanation for why he was going to walk up to her tomorrow at school and pretend like nothing happened. She wasn't going to like the fact that I had used compulsion again, but to be honest, I didn't really care. While Elena's happiness meant a great deal to me, it meant a lot more to know that I wasn't at risk of being exposed by a freaking drama teacher. No way I was going to have to move Elena and I away. Compelling was a better idea.

When I came back to the apartment, Elena was still in the bedroom - I could understand why. It had been a long evening and I was sure she didn't really want to have to deal with anything else. That put me in a really hard dilemma - I knew the right thing was to go and wake her up and tell her about what had happened with Nate, but I also knew that she probably needed the sleep. I knew she wasn't happy with me and even though I could give her the good news that Nate was alive, it wouldn't make up for the fact that I actually killed him.

While many would say that killing people just because they irritate me, is a normal thing for me, but it hadn't been like that ever since Elena had come into my life. I was trying to do right by her and it had actually gone well, ever since I killed Kelly, but I knew I couldn't keep it down all the time. It had been my nature for so long, that I wasn't really sure I knew a life without it.

In the end, I made the decision to just go to sleep on the couch, knowing that she wouldn't want me to interrupt her sleep. I would talk to her in the morning, before she left for school. I wouldn't be able to sleep through her morning routine anyways. She was always noisy in the mornings, listening to music on the stereo and singing along while she ran around the apartment, trying to do everything before she had to be at school. And hopefully, she would want to wake me up the next morning.

I thought wrong. When I woke up the next morning, she was gone, without even leaving a note, and I knew I wouldn't get to see her until later. It took me a few minutes to realize why that was a really bad thing - she would see Nate at school. I cursed, as I got up, grabbing my car keys and heading out the door quickly. I had to get to her before Nate did. I was once again really happy that we had our Singer connection, because it took me no time to track her down, catching her just before she was about to enter class. She didn't even want to look at me, but I really didn't care. She had to know, and she had to hear it from me. So I grabbed her arm and pulled her with me, despite her protests.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she yelled, as I pushed her into the empty girls' bathroom, "I'm not having makeup sex with you in here, Damon, we haven't made up yet."

I couldn't help but chuckle at her, even though that probably wasn't the right thing to do. She did look even more pissed, but she would have to admit she was being cute. I mean, here she was, knowing that had there been nothing in the way, sex in the bathroom would have been a great idea.

"Although sex in here sounds like the best idea ever, that isn't what I'm here for," I said, stepping closer to her. While I was a bit pissed at the way she was acting and I was busy trying to figure out what the hell that Nate dude was, I missed her. I missed not being able to cuddle up to her at night and I missed kissing her and having her close to me. So, now that I had the chance, I tried to be as close to her, as I could. It made me happy to see that she didn't step away from me.

"Then what is it?" she asked and this time, she sounded like some of the stubbornness was falling away. I couldn't help a small smile reaching my lips, as I fought the urge to take her into my arms.

"I have to tell you something," I said, and she frowned at me. She was probably thinking what the hell more I could have done wrong.

"Nate isn't dead," I said, getting it out there as quickly as possible. Her face went to happy and then confused.

"Wait, but I saw him die. There was no pulse," she said, confused. I sighed, hating that I would have to tell her and not have an explanation for her. Usually, she turned to me for explanations on anything supernatural, but I couldn't give her one this time. She would just have accept that there was no real explanation.

"And he was dead. He was dead until I was done digging the grave, actually, where he suddenly sat up and was very much alive again. Kind of irritating, do you know how hard it is to dig graves?" I said, watching her brow furrow even more. At least she didn't know something that I didn't.

"How did that happen? Oh my God, Damon, did you turn him?" she said, holding both hands over her mouth. I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. Did she really think I'd wanna turn someone like him?

"No, Elena, I didn't. And he isn't in transition, either. I have no explanation for it, to be honest. But I compelled him to forget about me killing him, which worked, so when you see him, I need you to act natural," I said, looking her in the eyes. I knew that she had dealt with compelled people before, but I also knew she didn't like to do it.

"You did what?" she said, clearly upset. I put my arms on her shoulders, and I could feel the well-known sparks in my hands, when I touched her. I had missed those.

"Elena, he can't know what I am. He can't know he died. We'll just have to make sure he doesn't die again and then… well, we'll have to deal with it, when he's old enough to actually die of natural causes," I said, trying to figure out what the best plan would be. I just needed to make sure Elena knew to act natural, and then I would have to meet up with Ric to see if we could figure out what Nate could possibly be.

She looked at me for a little while, almost like she was thinking of saying no, but then she finally sighed and muttered an 'alright'. I pulled her close and hugged her, even though I knew she was probably going to be a bit mad. She did, however put her arms around me as well.

"This doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you," she muttered against my chest. I chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Believe me, I know," I said, feeling very content, now that I had her in my arms. Hopefully she would forgive me, now that Nate was actually alive and kicking. I would just have to do my best to not kill him. Again. It wouldn't be easy, but I needed to do it for Elena's sake.

"I should get back to class," she whispered, after a few minutes. I sighed and she pulled her head away from my chest. I looked into her eyes, and sensed that she needed me just as much as I needed her, so I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers. She responded immediately, which made me relax even more. We would be okay.

"And you're sure he wasn't in transitioning?" Ric said, a few hours later when I was sitting on his couch, telling him everything about Nate's resurrection.

"More than 100%, Ric. I checked," I said bitterly, taking a swig from the glass of bourbon in front of me. It seemed like drinking alcohol was all we ever did, but sometimes you just need it. And it just seemed like every time we got together, the circumstances required lots of very strong alcohol.

"I don't get it. I've never heard of a human being who were able to survive being killed like that. I mean, you're sure you actually killed him, right?" Ric asked, just as desperate as I was, to find a reason behind the madness.

"I did, Ric. And he was dead. It was just like when we've been killed and come back to life. He gasped for air and he was back. I don't think he remembered exactly what happened, but I compelled him for good measure," I said, racking my brain to think of all the supernatural creatures I'd met over the years. It wasn't as though I'd met many - most of them had been witches and I'd heard of a single werewolf living in Italy, but they were so hunted that he hadn't been alive for long, before he had been killed by vampires. Apparently we don't get along all that well. But I had never met, or heard of a human being who was… well, immortal, I guess.

"I'll see what I can find about it, but I really don't think there'll be anything. Maybe it's best to just stay away from him, until he dies of natural causes," Ric suggested. I frowned.

"That's a no-go, Ric. I don't like Elena being around him. Who knows if there's more hidden in him? I mean, if he can survive being killed by a vampire, who's to say he doesn't have hidden powers or alike? I'm not taking a risk on Elena," I said, fire flaming up in my chest, by the sheer thought of Elena being hurt by that son of a thing was certain - that wasn't happening.

"Don't you think we would have noticed by now, if there had been anything else special about him?" Ric said, frowning at me. I shrugged and filled my glass again.

"I don't know, Ric. I mean, if it's anything like the werewolves, it won't be triggered until they kill someone. What if this is the same, except it triggers the first time he dies? I'm not taking a risk. Elena is special and we all know Singer blood is better than normal humans," I said, thinking of Elena who was probably hanging out with him right now. I didn't like the thought.

"You know she's not going to like you going all caveman on her. She's not going to like it if you try to keep them from hanging out," Ric warned me. I sighed, because I knew it was right. She was never going to forgive me, if I tried to keep them apart. Hell, she was never going to listen to me in the first place.

"I know that… then I'm just going to have to keep trying to kill him, until he stays dead," I said, tightening my jaw. I didn't like that idea all that much either, but it was better than trying to keep Elena away from him. It would just have to be one of those things I would have to keep hidden from her, just like what had happened to Kelly, back when we had our first Christmas together. Some things are better left unsaid.

"She's not going to like that, Damon… it might even make her even more angry," Ric said, still in a warning tone.

"I know, Ric, that's why I'm not going to tell her. If I finally do succeed in killing him, she's just going to think he went away or something like that," I said. Ric obviously didn't like that idea too much either, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. We only had 5 years left now, and there was no way I was losing her, unless she chose to die. I had to protect her, no matter the cost.

"You sure about this, Damon?" he asked. I threw the glass of bourbon back again and stood up.

"I don't have a choice."

So, that was the way the next 4 years went by. Elena and I were living together, she was doing great with her degree and every few months, I killed Nate, but he kept coming back to life. Bonnie had moved in with us after their sophomore year and to my surprise, all three of us were turning out to be really great friends. We had been helping Bonnie with her magic, or at least as much as a vampire and a Singer can and I felt great, knowing Elena had a friend to hang out with, other than just me.

I was getting more and more frustrated with Nate and how he wouldn't just die, but I still had to keep it a secret from Elena. It was easier with Bonnie living with us, but I still had to come up with some ridiculous excuses sometimes.

It was February, so it was cold outside and I was planning another attack on Nate. So far, I had tried to behead him, remove his heart, tear his limbs off (that one had been a lot of fun), let him bleed to death, remove vital organs, thrown him off a cliff, choked him and crushed him under a rock, but nothing had worked. I had read that removing the head and heart killed most supernatural creatures, but this guy just didn't want to die, no matter what I did. This time, I was going to let myself enjoy a bit of the attack - normally, I got enough satisfaction from just killing him, but it had been a while since I had fed, so this time, he would be my victim. I had tried to only feed on Elena, but it had turned her into a human blood bag and I didn't like it one bit. She was so much more to me, so of course, I had stopped. There was also a limit to how much blood I could steal from the nearby hospitals, so instead, I had picked up on old habits and started feeding. I had always stopped so they were able to walk away without any real damage, but not tonight. Tonight, I was going to feed until his heart stopped and then I was going to drain him for every last drop in his body. And it was going to feel damn good.

I had to time it, though. Elena had just started on her masters, which meant she was busy with homework and parties with her fellow students. We had talked about it before, and she knew that I supported her being out with them and spending time out. Don't get me wrong - I loved spending every minute possible with her, but I wanted her to have the college experience she had hoped for, which meant I would just have to wait for the forever we had in front of us, when she was done with her degree.

The convenient part of that, was that I had lots of time to plan Nate's new horrific death, without her looking over my shoulder - and of course, I had lots of time to carry my plans out as well. I was of course still compelling Nate to forget everything, so she hadn't noticed anything over the years.

Sometimes, he didn't even seem to remember what had happened when he woke up, but for the most part he did and he was scared of me. I had thought of letting him be scared, but in the end I had compelled everything away - he might try even harder to come between Elena and I, if he really believed I was capable of killing someone. Maybe he knew, somewhere deep in his consciousness, but he had learned to keep it to himself.

This time, I was going to enjoy scaring him. I knew he had a late class, so I was going to follow him, let him see a glimpse of me, maybe even hear something, so he knew I was following him… and I was going to build up the feeling of dread and horror, until he was scared shitless and then I was going to pounce. Maybe I'd make him beg to kill him. It wouldn't be the first time. Although he tried to come off as a tough guy, he really wasn't. At least not when he knew he was going to die, which was one of the many reasons why I had zero respect for him. I just tried to behave when Elena was around. After all, I had an outlet for my frustrations; killing him.

The thrill of the chase set in, already before I had found Nate. He had to go through a dark part of the forest on the way home, and I knew I had to get him somewhere along that trip.

If I hadn't compelled him as much as I had, he would know to be careful on this part. Humans always get scared when it's dark and in a forest - I blame horror movies, and I always took advantage of it. Before Elena had come into my life, I had loved creating a horror-show for my victims. While I tried to stay away from that kind of thing now, because I knew Elena would disapprove, it was nice to be back in the game.

He came, just as I expected, walking down the path, his bag over his shoulder and the path in front of him lit up by the light from his cellphone. I had to hold in a scoff from the sheer ridiculousness of him actually using his cellphone to make sure there weren't any scary monsters. It definitely wasn't going to stop me from killing him. It was just making the chase even more fun.

My veins and fangs were already bared, as I made sure to stay just far enough behind him that he wouldn't be able to see, but close enough that he'd feel like someone was after him. I could already hear his heartbeat speed up and his pace quicken a little. The forest wasn't too big, so I knew I had to be quicker than I wanted to.

I put my hands over his mouth, arms around him and pulled him away from the path, enjoying how much he was screaming against my hand, as I dragged him into the woods. I knew it was a human response, to try and fight against whatever was hurting you, but I still found it ridiculous, that he was trying. We were far enough from the path for anyone to hear him and his panic had made his blood flow so much quicker that I couldn't help myself. I let my fangs fall out, pushed his head to the side and sank my teeth into his neck, pulling the blood into my mouth.

Elena's POV:

Caroline, Bonnie and I were sitting in the corner of the bar most of my college friends had gone to tonight, after eating dinner together. Caroline tried to visit us as much as possible, even though we were so far away and she was a work-o-holic. This was one of the times where she had been able to get time off from work and Stefan had been okay with her going out with us, and we were having so much fun. Bonnie and Caroline were both pretty tipsy, but I had stayed on the water-wagon, volunteering as the designated driver. Caroline had given me a look when I volunteered, since she was a vampire and would always be able to drive, but to my luck, she hadn't commented on it. I needed to talk to Damon before I as much as thought of talking to Caroline or Bonnie about it. It felt bad to keep a secret from them, but I knew I had to make sure Damon was the first one that heard about it.

"Elena? You still with us?" Caroline asked, trying to get my attention. I lifted my head up, realizing I had been staring at my hands in my lap and the ring resting on my finger. It had become a security blanket for me, ever since Damon gave it to me. The meaning of it had changed a little, of course, ever since I found out that we were literally destined to be together and connected to each other in a greater way than I could ever have expected.

"Yeah, sorry, I zoned out!" I said apologetically, turning my look back at the two girls in front of me. Bonnie had her eyes on a guy sitting by the bar and she was currently looking at him, while playing with the straw from her drink, with her tongue. Caroline and I couldn't help but giggle at her.

"What's on your mind today, Lena?" Caroline asked, letting Bonnie drool over the guy in peace. I sighed and sat back in the booth, grabbing my coke zero.

"I just have a bad feeling, you know?" I said, looking at her. She smiled at me and took a sip from her Cosmopolitan.

"I wouldn't worry about it. I had a bad feeling about everything when I was away from Stefan as well, before I turned. I think it's just the feeling of wrong, because you're away from your vampire," she said, smiling at me, "you'll see him later. In bed." She winked and I couldn't help but laugh. Her and Stefan had busted us more than a handful of times over the past 4 years - in honesty, I'm not even sure if it counts as busting, when we were having sex in the hallway. I should have been embarrassed, I really should, but Damon made everything so damn funny that I hadn't felt any shame. Besides, we had busted them several times as well, so in a way, we were square.

"There's something else too," I said, a smile sneaking it's way onto my face, "I've decided."

Caroline's mouth dropped open. She knew it was about time, I knew it and Damon knew it, but nobody had pressured me. There was less than 6 months until my 24th birthday and the time I had to decide whether I wanted to die and stay dead, or die and wake up as an undead person after. I knew it was torturing Damon that he didn't know whether or not he would lose me soon, but he had never asked me about it.

"Elena, are you sure? This is huge," she whispered, putting her drink down and moving closer to me. I smiled and nodded.

"It's coming up so soon… I mean, we've been together for so long and I've known about this for a while and it's just… it's time I tell him, so he won't have to worry about it," I said, smiling. Caroline smiled understandingly.

"So… what did you decide?"

I was about to answer, when pain tore through my chest, making me scream out loud. My heart was beating so hard I thought my chest might actually burst and my head was searing with pain.

"Elena! What's wrong?" Caroline said, putting her hands on my shoulder.

"Damon!" I gasped, beating on my chest to make the pain go away. It didn't, though, it got even worse. It felt like fire was burning from my heart and through all of my veins and I knew something was up with Damon.

"Focus, Elena, where is he?" Caroline said, her voice a little strained. I knew she would be as panicked as I felt, but unlike me, she was thinking of some way to figure it out.

"Damon… he's…" I stood up in the booth and Caroline helped me out of the bar, throwing money on the table to cover our drinks.

We didn't talk on the way. Caroline just followed my instructions and somehow we got there before too long. We were in the middle of some forest, close to campus. I could feel my heart feeling better the closer I got to Damon, but when I got to where he was, I wanted to throw up.

Nate and Damon were both lying on the ground, Nate obviously dead with blood everywhere, and Damon was lying next to him, in a pool of a mix of vomit and blood and his veins were pulsating in a weird way, that didn't exactly make me feel more calm.

"Damon!" I yelled and fell to the ground next to him, shaking him. I quickly wish I hadn't, because it made his eyes open and his eyeballs were all white, no irises. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and I held him closely, willing him to wake up.

Caroline crouched next to me, gently pulling me away from Damon's body and then picked him up. Bonnie was standing next to me, and she put her arms around me and pulled me with her.

I don't remember much from the trip home. The next thing I knew, I was lying in bed with an unconscious Damon, looking at his beautiful features, wondering if I was ever going to see his electric blue eyes again. I had cried so much that I wasn't sure my eyes were ever going to recover. I knew I wasn't ever going to recover, if he didn't wake up. I would never let anyone but him turn me.

I looked up as someone knocked on the door and saw Caroline and Bonnie walking in, both of them with grim expressions and Bonnie with her spellbook in her hands.

"Did you find the cause?" I asked, never letting go of Damon's limp hand. Caroline shook her head. More tears fell down my cheeks. I wasn't sure how I knew, but he didn't have long. I was sure of it.

"But we might have found a solution," Bonnie said, putting down the book on our bed. I looked at her, confused. I hadn't dabbled a lot in magic, but I knew it was hard to do anything about something she didn't know what was. I wiped my tears away and looked at the book.

"I can put him in a coma… it won't make him better, but… it'll give us time. I'll contact my granddad, we can get him to look at it and he knows a bunch of witches… we'll find the answer, Lena, but we need time," Bonnie said, watching my expression. I knew they would never proceed without my permission, and truth to be told, I didn't like the idea, but it was better than just letting him die.

"Do it…" I said vaguely, letting my fingers run across his stubble. Bonnie sat down on the floor next to Damon's side of the bed and put her hands on Damon's chest. I tightened my grip on his hand, not liking how limp it felt. She then started chanting, closing her eyes and looking to the ceiling. Seeing her do magic always freaked me out - right now her eyes were closed, but I knew behind them, there were no pupils, no color, just whiteness. Her skin was glowing golden, enough to light up the entire room and her hair was flying all around her, in a very graceful way.

I could feel Damon's hand shake a little bit and then it became still again. He started breathing more naturally and our heartbeat slowed down.

Bonnie went back to normal and I was surprised that was all that was required to put my vampire boyfriend in a coma.

"There, Elena… now all we have to worry about for the next six months, is finding a way to make him better… just breathe, it'll be alright," Caroline said and sat down next to me, putting her arms around me. I looked at her seriously.

"We kinda have a bigger issue…" I said, reaching over to open my bedside drawer. The girls looked at me as I picked up the little white stick in it. It hurt me to tell Caroline and Bonnie before Damon. I had planned for a while now, how to tell him and how he would react, and now I couldn't. But the girls had to know. Caroline put her hands over her mouth as soon as she realized what it was.

"I'm pregnant."

.. Plot twist? I know this may seem like I'm ripping off some other big vampire fandom, but trust me, it isn't what you think! I've talked it over with multiple people and I can reassure you, it isn't what you think. So, phew, big chapter, huh? I felt really unsure about doing SUCH a big time jump, but I feel like we were getting there and we needed that jump. Only six months left for Damon and Elena, and right now, it doesn't look too good,huh? Wonder if they'll figure it out or not, hey?

See you again sooN!