Chapter 34
"We need to go talk to my brother and tell him everything."
Damon glided his fingers up and down Dahna's bare arm in a loving caress. She was curled up against his side with her head resting on his chest and her arm draped over his stomach. Dahna borrowed further into his side and draped her leg over his, both of them blissfully naked. The sun had just risen over the horizon and neither of them had gotten sleep, too busy making up for lost time by making love throughout the night. They took small breaks, but for the most part Damon remained buried to the hilt inside of Dahna's gorgeous body. If they could stay like this forever, Dahna would be perfectly content with her life.
"Tell him what exactly?" Dahna looked up at him through sparkling emerald eyes, stroking his stomach with her soft fingers.
"I want to clear up everything and tell him about page 14. The more help we have with this, the faster we'll be able to solve the problem and move on."
Dahna felt tears swell in her eyes and lowered them to her lap, a wave of anguish crashing over her. "I-Is that why you came here last night? To sex me up and get your precious information about that stupid missing page?" She couldn't keep the anger and pain out of her voice, a single tear slipping down her cheek.
Damon sat up as well and hooked a finger under Dahna's chin, forcing watery emerald eyes to meet electrified aquamarine. "I told you last night that's not the reason I came here. I didn't use sex as a way to get information out of you, Dahna. I love you." His forehead rested against hers, their eyes not leaving each other. "If all I wanted was information, you know there are other ways for me to get it without sex. I wanted to be with you, Dahna, plain and simple. And you know that."
"T-This means a lot to you, doesn't it?" Dahna whispered, not trusting her voice at the moment and felt Damon wipe her tears away with his thumbs. "I told you my Uncle Luke probably has it." Then she remembered the conversation she had with Meredith the previous night and swallowed hard. "Damon…Luke is missing."
Arching a thick black brow, Damon tilted his head slightly and wasn't sure he heard her correctly. "Who told you this?" He demanded tensely, anger welling up inside of him at the thought of Luke Fell leaving town like a coward.
"My Aunt Meredith. And no, I'm confident she doesn't know anything about the missing page." Dahna replied, shifting to sit with her knees drawn up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
"Did you ask her?"
"No, but-"
"Then you don't know for sure if she knows about it or not." Damon cut her off and stood up from the bed, tearing a hand through his thick black hair. "Dahna, if that damn page ends up in the wrong hands, it could be the end for all vampires, including me and my brother. We have to go talk to Stefan about this. And we need to question Meredith."
Dahna stood up with him, not bothering to cover herself up since Damon had seen her naked throughout the night. "And what about my Uncle Luke? We were under the assumption you killed him since you told me you were going to do it when you dropped me off a week ago." She still couldn't get those words out of her head.
"If I killed him, I would be gloating about it, Dahna." Damon growled, sounding annoyed as he swiped his jeans from the floor, yanking them on and put his t-shirt on next. "Get dressed, we're heading to the mansion."
"Damon…"
Dahna sighed when he shot a stern expression her way and knew she had no choice, pulling out a pair of jeans with a long sleeved orange top. It might've been harsh, but Damon had to find out what his Uncle Zachary and Landon Fell planned before he snapped Zachary's neck. He walked over and wrapped his arms around Dahna's waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. No matter how long it took or what lengths he had to go to, Damon would prove his love to Dahna. Compulsion had been the only way to stop Landon from killing and taking Dahna away from him. Damon planned on turning her into a vampire, but only if Dahna asked. He would not push that decision on her and would love her even if she wanted to grow old and gray.
"I love you, beautiful." He murmured gently in her ear, nuzzling her neck and felt her melt against him. "I swear after we find this damn page 14 and find out what's on it, I'll do anything you want. I have a lot to make up for and I know that, but you have to give me the chance to do it. I've been through as much pain as you have the past 3 years, possibly more because I had to live with the harsh reality of wiping your memories of me from your mind. I had to watch as the woman I love went on with her life and the fire slowly die out of her beautiful eyes." Damon slowly turned her around to face him, brushing his lips against hers. "I had to watch you date other idiots and couldn't touch you or hold you, make love to you – anything. I had to force myself to stay away from you, even after Landon died because of his conniving brother. They were like two peas in a pod and Luke would've killed you had I come back into your life too soon. And just so you know, I've never touched or looked at another woman since the night I had to let you go."
At that moment, Dahna realized just how much pain and agony Damon had endured, shutting her eyes as she draped her arms around his neck. "Even though my memory was wiped clean, I never…" She trailed off and buried her fingers in his black hair, crushing his lips to hers in a soul searing kiss. "I never slept with any of the guys I went out with. I had no desire to do it and now I know why because I wasn't meant to be with them. It was always you, Damon. Even through the compulsion, my love for you never changed or faltered and it's almost like my brain was waiting for those memories to be released. And whatever is on that stupid page, it's never going to change. I've always been yours and I forgive you for compelling me to forget, but don't ever do it again. If my life is on the line, we'll figure out another way, okay?"
"Agreed." Damon kissed her again softly and pulled back, taking her hand as their fingers laced together. "Come on, time to go talk to baby bro."
The drive over to the Salvatore mansion was made mostly in silence with Dahna staring out the window, a genuine smile on her face. She felt Damon squeeze her hand and looked over at him, her eternal stud. Eternal. Damon would always stay handsome with flawless pale skin and gorgeous aquamarine eyes. His hair would never change either, always having that muddled style to it that made him drip with sex appeal. Dahna was 21 and only growing older with each passing day, knowing eventually she would wither away due to old age. If she wanted to stay with Damon forever, the only way to do it was becoming the creature he was. A vampire. Did she want that? Did she want to rely on drinking human blood in order to survive and stay young forever? Dahna had a lot of thinking to do and turned her eyes to stare out the window again, wondering what it would be like to be a vampire.
15 minutes later, Damon pulled up to the Salvatore mansion and cut the ignition on his 1969 Chevy Camaro convertible, stepping out to fly over to open Dahna's door. Dahna took his hand and let him guide her inside the mansion, both of them stopping in the doorway at the sound of squealing. What the hell? Dahna and Damon looked at each other simultaneously, both of them having a feeling who that squeal belonged to. They both headed down the hallway into the living room/parlor, staring at Stefan and Elena engrossed in a heated moment.
"Stefan, stop!" Elena giggled as he blew more raspberries against her neck, her legs wrapped around his waist and bit her bottom lip when his hand slid down to cup her jean covered sex. "Ohh…"
Damon really didn't want to see his baby brother having sex and cleared his throat loudly, smirking as Stefan practically flew across the room away from Elena. "I see you two have made up. That's great, but you really need to remember you're not the only one who lives here, brother." He walked over with Dahna and plopped down on the opposite couch, pulling her to sit across his lap.
"Damon…" Dahna scolded, folding her arms in front of her chest. "That wasn't very nice." It was amusing though, Dahna added in thought, turning emerald eyes on a red-faced Elena Gilbert. "Hey Elena."
"Hi…" Elena muttered, completely mortified at being caught in a precarious position with Stefan and tried stopping her cheeks from flaming. "I-I didn't know you two were together…"
Dahna nodded, wrapping an arm around Damon's neck and rested her cheek on top of his head. "It's a long story. Have you heard from Dace at all?" She asked, abruptly changing the subject.
"I saw her yesterday before the storm hit at the park." Dahna would know which park Elena was talking about. "She needed some girl talk and then we went our separate ways. I think she might've went to see Tyler Lockwood though."
"Hmm…that makes sense." She pulled her cell phone out to send Dacia a quick text, asking her to come to the Salvatore mansion when she had a free minute. "I told her no more secrets between us." She explained when Damon gave her a disapproving look. "I trust her with my life, she won't say anything to anyone if I ask her not to, not even Tyler Lockwood. And be nice to him, he loves her and she loves him."
Either Dahna didn't know the full story about Tyler Lockwood or she really did accept him for what he was, tail and all. She giggled at that inner joke and looked up when Stefan finally joined her, elbowing him in the gut. Stefan grunted, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leaned back against the couch, kissing the top of her head. After he opened up to Elena about his past regarding Katherine and spilled all of his secrets to her, they felt closer than ever. Elena hadn't left the mansion in a week besides to go to school and Jenna knew where she was, not minding her being here. Stefan couldn't believe how open she was about his past and even about being adopted. She was extraordinary and Stefan was lucky to have her in his life.
"So what's so important you had to interrupt us?" Stefan demanded, holding a tumbler of bourbon and sipped it, the fireplace roaring with crackling flames like always.
"Page 14." Damon knew that one word and number would gain Stefan's attention, his eyes moving to Dahna. "I lifted her compulsion and she remembers everything now." He added as an afterthought, quickly explaining their sudden behavior. "Dahna has information that will help us find it, I think."
"Can I look at the documents?" Dahna suddenly asked out of left field, her eyes focused on the flames almost in a trance of some kind.
Stefan frowned and nodded, standing up from the couch. "Sure, I'll go get them." He kissed Elena softly and flew out of the room upstairs, studying them ever since Damon came clean about everything that was going on. He flew back down not even a minute later, handing them over to Dahna. "Everything alright?"
Dahna didn't answer him, taking the documents and slid off of Damon's lap, sitting beside him on the couch. It was if something clicked in her mind at that moment, like a lock on a safe, and another rush of memories came flooding back to her. For 10 minutes straight, all she did was sit there with a blank expression on her face, not sifting through the paperwork like she should've. It was only when Damon slightly shook her shoulder did Dahna snap out of her small trip down memory lane. Blinking, tears slid down her cheeks and Dahna gasped, touching her cheek to feel them, a perplexed look on her face.
"I was 17 years old standing in my father's study looking over paperwork on his desk. It was right after he forbid me to see Damon again or else there would be consequences. I didn't know how he found out, but he did. So I was trying to find something to use against him to make him back off because I wanted to be with Damon." Dahna explained, feeling Damon grab her hand as their fingers laced together on her lap. "I remember these documents vividly and I know what page you're looking for. I actually planned on telling Damon about it the night he…"
"Compelled you." Stefan finished quietly, holding Elena's hand and knew he'd have to explain to her what Damon did to Dahna Fell later on. "Go on, Dahna, please."
"Page 14 is a blueprint of a machine built to dispose of vampires once and for all. It has wooden stakes, vervain and is powered by magic."
"A witch?" Damon questioned, listening intently to everything Dahna said and couldn't help cringing when she mentioned the compulsion. "A machine powered by a witch?"
Dahna nodded, swallowing hard. "A powerful witch. The magic is bound by the moon, a celestial event and it was a spell cast by a Bennett witch." Her emerald eyes suddenly locked with Elena. "Bonnie's grandmother, Sheila. They made a deal with her, but I don't think she had any idea what the machine was used for. I saw the check amount my father wrote out for her, it was a 6 digit sum. From my understanding, Bonnie's grandmother fled Mystic Falls shortly after my parents death and nobody has seen her since. Zachary and my father were secretly building the machine prior to their death, but I don't know if they ever finished it. This is more than just a stash of vervain, you guys. This could be catastrophic to the vampire race if that machine is done because the magic is bound to it."
"Son of a bitch…" Damon growled, standing up from the couch and began pacing in front of the fireplace, not believing Zachary would betray them like this. "Can a witch break that spell that powers the machine?" He suddenly asked, directing the question at Dahna since she'd been the well of knowledge they had needed to crack this mystery.
"I don't know. But it would have to be a very powerful witch, preferably a Bennett." She hated saying that because of how close Elena and Bonnie Bennett were, but drastic times called for drastic measures. "First things first, we have to investigate my Uncle's home and find Meredith. If she knows anything about this, we need to know. And we're not leaving until Dacia gets here because she needs to be filled in on everything that's going on."
Damon nodded, snapping his fingers. "Fine it's settled. Elena, call Bonnie and get her over here so we can explain to her what the hell is going on. Stefan and I will go to Luke's house and investigate since he's missing and there's no way for me to rip his tongue out of his mouth right now. And you sit here and wait for your sister. Any questions, comments, concerns? No? Good. Let's go Stefan."
Stefan looked back at Elena, seein the apprehension in her eyes and squeezed her hand. "Nothing is going to happen to Bonnie, I promise." He stated, standing up from the couch and followed Damon out to his car, leaving the women sitting there playing the waiting game.