Abby Wilson spends a crestfallen and guilt-ridden day in her apartment near the UNLV campus. She isn't happy at the school. She's not only heartsick from breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, she's also homesick for her parents in Kansas. A feeling which is only exacerbated by a telephone call from her brother shortly thereafter telling that their father had suffered a massive heart attack. The only saving grace had been the news, hours later from his doctors, that he would survive.
Abby, whose major is Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, feels a little better after the second call, and she agrees to join some of her theatre group friends for a night out on Freemont Street. They plan to eat out, gamble, and drink pitchers of margaritas.
Shortly before six, Abby, a petite woman with dark wavy hair, hops a cab to go downtown. She promises her roommate she won't be late. Wearing blue, denim shorts, a matching floral top, and platform sandals, she leaves her apartment for the last time.
Abby enjoys her meal at the Binion's Casino smorgasbord. Having already had a couple of drinks with her meal, she excuses herself to go outside to get a breath of fresh air, telling her friends she'll be back in a few minutes.
Like the others, she encounters someone sinister.
When she fails to return, some of her friends' volunteer to look for her. Once outside, Mary Louise and Nora go one direction while Jamie turns and walks the other way.
"Abby? Abby, are you out here?" Jamie calls aloud, his eyes scanning the area. Finding nothing, he walks around the side of the building where he finds her body slumped against the brick with two suspicious-looking puncture marks in her throat. He rushes over to her, futilely checking for a pulse although realistically he knows he won't find one. In a near panic, he dials 9-1-1 before going to the corner to wait for the police.
Elena never really wanted to move to Las Vegas. When her mother had proposed the idea over breakfast one rainy morning, she'd scoffed and brushed it off, arguing that she didn't want to deal with the sweltering summer heat nor the huge throngs of tourists. Her father, who was visiting at the time, also encouraged her, citing his own move from Virginia to Las Vegas as being one of the highlights of his life.
All around, the visit had been awkward, the conversation only making it more so. The air had been thick with unsaid words. Vegas, the place Grayson went after he left Miranda. Not once, but twice.
Nevertheless, just fifteen months later and with her mother's blessing, she decided to take the plunge, relocating to work for her dad's newspaper, telling him at the time she'd stay for only a year before returning home to Mystic Falls. When Grayson passed away unexpectedly, however, she promised her Uncle John that she'd stay on to help at the paper.
Five years have since passed, and now she finds herself navigating through heavy traffic to get to Binion's Gambling Hall, the site of the most recent murder. The summer breeze curls around her skin from her open car window, plucking goosebumps up in waves as it sweeps by and she shivers; a lot of people don't realize that the desert gets chilly at night.
When she arrives on scene, she searches for a parking spot, finally finding one in a garage a couple of blocks away. She locks her car and walks quickly to the scene; well, as quickly as she can with the throngs of people going the opposite direction. When she gets close, she hears her name.
"Elena," a voice calls out, carried by the wind. The figure approaches her quickly, his gait confident.
"I might have known you'd be here," Elena remarks, giving him the onceover.
Damon looks at her uneasily, seemingly assessing the situation. "Me being here is entirely coincidental. I was trying my luck and enjoying a little burlesque when I heard all the commotion." Leaning in, he lowers his mouth to her ear, whispering, "Vampire hearing."
"So, your hearing is magnified?" she tilts her head as she stares at his fine form.
"That, along with vision, emotions...everything is heightened," Damon explains, winking at her.
"Do you know anything?" Elena starts walking closer, stopping when they reach the yellow tape barricade.
"Your friend, Detective Mikaelson over there, he says her name was Abby Wilson. She came out here for a breath of fresh air after eating. Never returned to her friends, so a couple of them went to look for her..."
"One of her friends found her like that?"
"That's what Elijah said," Damon confirms.
"Did you happen to notice who the friend is?" Elena looks around.
"Yeah, the one talking to the detective over there," Damon replies, pointing to them.
"I'm going to try to talk to Elijah. Will you wait for me? I don't want to walk back to my car alone. It's at that parking garage down the road."
"I'll wait," he agrees, and lifts the tape barrier, allowing Elena access. She looks over her shoulder at Damon, who stands there for a beat longer before turning and stepping out of the way.
Her nerves, which had bristled like a porcupine, settle back into place, and she relaxes. "Elijah," she calls, waving her hand to get his attention.
"Hello, Elena," he smiles tightly.
"How are you?" she asks, noticing the stiff set of his shoulders.
"I don't know how many more, Elena," he responds with a deep sigh.
"I hope she's the last one...what can you tell me?" Elena queries, pulling her recorder out of her pocket.
"See that camera up there?" Elijah asks, pointing to one at the corner of the building. "We're hoping this time we might have some footage. Detective Gerard is checking on that now."
"Oh, wow! That would be a huge break for the good guys..." Elena posits, looking as a couple officers lift the body onto a stretcher for transportation to the morgue.
"One we desperately need right now."
"Indeed. Will you let me know if the surveillance tape turns up anything?" she asks.
"Elena, there's going to be another briefing on the homicides. If the tape shows someone, I'm sure Chief Forbes will release the photo. We want the public to help us. Maybe someone will recognize the perp? The purpose of the briefing is twofold; first it's to inform. Liz suggested we get yours, and other journalists' impressions of the case. I believe we have all the bases covered so far, but maybe one of you can shine the light on something that we may have overlooked? Sometimes it takes multiple sets of eyes to see what's right in front of us."
"You know I will do all I can, Elijah," Elena replies, her eyes drifting over the crowd.
"I do," he nods, pausing for a moment. "Before we got called here, we spent the day going over both follow-up and the medical examiner's autopsy reports in the cases. We have another one actually. Sarah Nelson. She had told friends that she was running away to Oregon and had last been seen alive March 25th hitchhiking on Highway 95.
Her friends saw her getting into a pickup truck with a male driver. She waved goodbye, and disappeared, having never arrived at her Oregon destination. On June 30th, a DOC cleanup crew found her body in a ditch. She was lying face down and was fully clothed. Decomposition was far advanced, due to an unusually warm winter, and ravaging animals had carried away her heart, lungs, and liver.
The pathologist's tentative conclusion was that she had been strangled, perhaps had her throat cut; the primary wounds had been to the neck. She had been dead since shortly after she was last seen. The time lapse between her disappearance and the discovery of her body makes it next to impossible to get a handle on the man who killed her."
"Why are you telling me this?" Elena asks, locking eyes with Elijah.
"We're beginning to think that she may have been killed by the same man. Keep that to yourself."
"I remember hearing about a body being found but never would've connected her murder to the other women." Elena states, her brows drawing together.
"I'll see you at the briefing tomorrow. I need to get back to work."
"Thanks, Elijah," Elena returns, but she's already lost in thought as she turns to find Damon. What does this new murder mean, if anything? And if the disappearance and murder of Sarah Nelson is related, why did the killer wait three months before starting this spree? And could there be others, just like Sarah, whose bodies have yet to be found?
"This is it," Elena mentions, as she unlocks it. "Thanks for waiting for me."
"I can't let anything happen to you. Ric would kill me," he says, looking off to the side.
"How do you know him?" The inflection in Elena's voice changes as each syllable spills out. Crossing her arms over her chest while she waits for an answer.
"That's a story for another day. It's late and time for you to go home," Damon replies.
Elena isn't fooled by his attempt to obfuscate and shakes her finger at him. "This conversation isn't done."
Damon merely gives her a wave. "Night, Elena."
"What do you see in that man?" Elena asks herself, leaning back in her seat as she considers the question. He's witty, smart, ridiculously hot, and charming..." she answers herself. Shaking her head, she starts to put the key in the ignition when suddenly her door flies open. She's dragged out of the vehicle and summarily dumped onto the concrete.
"What the hell are you doing?" Elena starts to get to her feet when someone - a man! - gives her a shove and sends her sprawling on the floor, causing her to skin both knees and her palms.
"Money! I want your money," the man growls, waving a gun wildly at her.
"My purse, it's in the car, but I only have a couple of dollars," Elena tells him, trying to imprint his description in her mind.
He leans in and grabs her bag while Elena tries to skitter backwards. She thinks if she can just sneak far enough away from the man, maybe she can make a run for it? Before she can get to her feet though, he backhands her with the butt of his gun. Just as her vision goes black, she catches a glimpse of Damon.
As Damon's walking away, he overhears Elena talking to herself. "Ridiculously hot, charming..." he smirks at her comment as he continues back to his own vehicle. He stops abruptly when he hears a thud and a demand for money. Wasting no time, he turns on his heels and blurs back to her.
Seeing Elena on the garage floor infuriates him. He grits his teeth and approaches the mugger, who's still rifling through her bag.
"Put it back!" Damon demands, enraged.
"Mind your own business," the mugger dismisses him.
Damon stomps over to him, raises him up and sends him flying against the concrete pilon. For a moment the perp struggles to get to his feet but before he can, Damon lands another blow, launching him against the wall of the garage. This time he doesn't get up. He hurries to Elena, lowers his fangs and tears into his wrist. Gently he coaxes her to take a sip. She looks at him through glossy eyes for a millisecond before losing consciousness again. Damon sets her gently into the car. Although he wants nothing more than to take the guy's head off, he calls the cops instead.
With the huge police presence nearby, he's certain it won't take long for them to arrive, so rather than wait, he drives her home.
Elena comes to with pounding headache, eyes closed against the dull pain. The back of her skull throbs like a son of a bitch. How long has she been out? She cracks open her eyes to better perceive how deep in shit she is. Blackness continues to engulf her. A tremor of panic vibrates in her core, one that increases in intensity until she physically shakes in time with it.
Suddenly, she feels a damp cloth against her forehead. "It's okay, Elena. You're safe."
Elena tries to hone in on the voice and pull herself back into consciousness. The metallic scent of blood permeates like fingers of decay forcing their way down her throat.
"Wake up, Elena. It's me, Damon," he says softly, now dabbing the cool cloth to her entire face.
She groans and forces her eyes to open. "Damon?" she whispers and reaches for him weakly. "Where am I?"
"You're at home. Do you remember me telling you that vampire blood has healing powers? I gave you a little bit of mine, but he hit you pretty hard; it's taken you a while to wake up."
"I need to tell the police," Elena says and tries to sit up. Her voice is scratchy to her own ears and her head pounds, making her instantly regret the motion.
"Easy, easy," Damon cautions and sits down beside her on the mattress. "Have a drink of water," he suggests and offers her a bottle.
"Thanks," she nods.
"And no, you don't have to go anywhere; I took care of him. He won't be harming anyone else."
"Did you kill him?" she asks, eyes widening.
"Believe me, I wanted to, but I called the police, and right now, he's in jail. However, if they let him out, I won't hesitate to rip his heart out."
"Damon!" Elena gasps.
"It's his choice to make," Damon responds, looking at her pointedly.
"Thank you for saving me. I might be on one of the morgue's slabs myself if not for you..."
"Don't say that," Damon scolds lightly before bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing it. "It took me a very long time to find someone like you; I don't want to lose you before we're even out of the starting gate...that is...if you want that, too?"
"Wow!" Elena blurts out, and quickly places a hand over her mouth. She becomes aware of her own heartbeat as she considers him.
As Damon's scrutinizing her closely; there's a delicious moment where Elena's face washes blank. She freezes for a moment before a smile begins to creep onto her face.
"I think about you even when I don't want to think about you. You make me crazy, and I have so many questions, and you're a vampire. What do I do with that, Damon?"
"I'm still a man, Elena."
"Look, I don't want a relationship that's like junk food; I want a relationship that's like a healthy meal with a scandalous dessert. The physical part is nice, but show me your soul, show me your heart. Be man enough to be a boy."
"So, what are you saying?" he asks, looking at her searchingly.
"Of all the choices that I've made this will prove to be the worst one...but yes, I want to explore this with you," Elena admits and leans into him.
Damon's heart is practically beating out of his chest. "You're sure it's not the concussion speaking?"
"I'm sure!" she cradles his face with her palm. "I am really tired though..."
"Go back to sleep; I won't go anywhere," he says, prodding her to lay down again.
Wordlessly, she nods and settles back against the pillows.
"That's my girl," he replies as he presses a kiss to her forehead. Once her eyes fall closed, Damon leaves her room, quietly shutting the door behind him.
Sorry for the lateness. I worked last few nights. I woke up a little earlier but my cat, baby Binx- after the 'Hocus Pocus' cat :D- was sleeping under the covers, on my arm. She's so cute, I didn't want to disturb her.
Thank you all so much, reviewers, followers, and those who favorite the story.
Thank you Morgan and Eva. The story is only better because of your contributions.
Chapter title: 'Piece of My Heart' by Janis Joplin.
UNLV- University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
Have a beautiful day.
