Disclaimer: If only they were really together on the show. But alas, it is not so. Yet. That's why it should be obvious to all of you that I don't own The Vampire Diaries. :P

A/N: This is the sequel to Risveglio di un Nuovo Mondo. I got so many reviews on it that I decided I might as well continue the AU of the previous story. So enjoy, and don't forget to review after reading! :D

Summary: AU, sequel. A month after the battle with Katherine, Elena has yet to become immortal. Damon is starting to lose patience. The fragile thread connecting them begins to waver as a mysterious witch arrives, asking for help, and the Hunters attack… *Delena*

Chapter One

The room was full of shadows, the only light to see with provided by a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. Several men wearing medieval-style dark cloaks with the hoods down were gathered around the center of the room, leaning over several heavy wooden tables. Each had a variety of glittering metal weapons piled in front of them, and were polishing them all carefully. There were guns, daggers, knives, and swords. Clubs and maces, war hammers and spears. Even a scattering of bows and arrows were thrown in. Each device was incredibly old, and had seen its fair share of torture over the years. And none of them were finished yet.

A slight man with brown-blonde hair was watching all this was a strange half-smile on his face. Now he cleared his throat and clasped both hands together. "I must say, all this is very impressive," he said, voice echoing around the cavernous room.

One of the men, who seemed to be the official leader of the gathering, looked expressionlessly up from his work. "We aim to please. And you've paid us quite a lot, Mr. Gilbert. That helps things considerably, of course."

John Gilbert nodded. "Of course." He paused for a few moments, watching the cloaked men continue their work. Then he said calmly, "You all know what to do? Time is running out faster than I'd like. Whatever it takes, I want my daughter safe from that bloodsucking monster, Damon Salvatore." He spat the name out like it was poison.

"Don't worry, Mr. Gilbert. We will take care of your little problem."

John smiled. The shadows thrown over his face made the expression seem demonic. "Oh, I'm not worried. The Hunters have an incredible reputation, as I'm sure you know. You'll doubtlessly be able to extinguish that creature trying to trap my daughter with no effort at all."

The other man held up the sword he'd been polishing; the curved silver blade gleamed brightly. "We already have an agent moving into position for Phase One. It won't be long now."

Still smiling, John absentmindedly stroked the ring on his hand, which enabled him to escape from any supernatural deaths that threatened him. "Excellent. The sooner, the better."

Damon Salvatore didn't stand a chance.

Damon was lying in Elena's bed, head propped up on one hand, watching her sleep. Her face was completely peaceful, eyelids covering her brown eyes. Her tousled hair was spread out across the pillow, and her chest rose and fell with slow, even breaths. He loved watching her sleep, whenever he got the chance. It was the one time when people couldn't control their facial expressions. He was safe in knowing that Elena wasn't hiding anything from him at that one time.

Light was beginning to filter in through the window. Damon estimated it to be around eight o'clock. They usually didn't stay in bed so late, but the night before had definitely worn them both out. A sly smile crossed Damon's lips just thinking about it. How many months had he dreamed about having sex with Elena, back when they'd first met? It had been mostly in the beginning just because such a thing would piss Stefan off immensely, though his feelings had changed a lot after getting out of the tomb.

Stefan. His smile slipped slightly as he thought of his younger brother. Stefan had sacrificed his own life to kill Katherine a month earlier, pulling them both outside to be burned alive in the sunlight. He had died a hero. But that didn't make losing him any easier on those he'd left behind.

Looking down at his hand, Damon silently studied the lapis lazuli ring he wore, as he often did. It had been Stefan's. After everything had been finished, Damon had taken off Katherine's ring and put it back for Elena, once she became a vampire. He didn't want to waste such a valuable piece of protection, but he'd felt dirty wearing it. Wearing Stefan's felt much more…right.

"Hey."

Damon blinked with surprise, eyes moving back to Elena. She had somehow woken without him noticing, and was now smiling sleepily up at him. As he raised his eyebrows at her, she reached to trace his cheek with one hand. Her skin felt warm against his. Yet another sign of her humanity.

"Hello, Ms. Gilbert," he said, leaning towards her until their lips were separated by only inches. "And how are you this morning?"

She kissed him instead of answering. She obviously intended it to be a simple good morning kiss, but Damon purposefully deepened it, touching the back of her head with his hand and pressing his lips hard to hers. He hoped to be lucky enough to replay the events of the night before.

Much to his chagrin, she laughed and pushed him away. He could have easily used his inhuman strength to force her to keep kissing him, but he didn't. He fell back good-naturedly against the pillows. "You wound my fragile male ego. You should be ashamed." He wiggled both eyebrows at her.

"Damon," she said, exasperatedly giving his name two long syllables. "You know I've got to start getting ready for the grand opening of that new library. I can't just stay in bed with you all day, despite how enticing that might sound."

"I don't see why not," he said with mock irritation. He pulled himself into a sitting position and sighed gustily. "Well, whatever. Go and play with your little human friends. I'll hunt deer in the woods and roam around being generally badass."

She rolled her eyes at him, but didn't get out of bed. "Damon…is something wrong?" she asked slowly. "I can tell you've got something on your mind."

"Are you a psychic now?"

"Damon."

He turned to meet her questioning gaze. "I've just been wondering if you've changed your mind," he said. "You know, about becoming a bloodsucking beast of the darkness and all that. It's been a month, and you keep coming up with more and more things you just have to do before you're immortal."

She immediately looked defensive, also sitting up and pulling the blankets to her chin. "Of course I still want to be a vampire! I want to be with you forever!" she said angrily. "It's just…I have so many loose ends to tie up first. I thought you understood, Damon."

"Oh, yeah, attending the opening of a library full of dusty old books is something I would want to have on my bucket list, too."

"You just don't get it, do you, Damon?" she snapped, eyes flashing like lightning. "You're just being like this because you never got the chance to make a choice about this."

His peaceful mood from earlier was completely broken now. He felt like getting dressed and going out to kill a bunch of helpless animals. But he knew this urge wasn't probably one he needed to share with Elena, so he took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. Without looking at Elena, he said in a cold voice, "I think you should go get ready now."

"Fine. I will." She threw the blankets away and stomped towards the bathroom. The door slammed behind her. A few moments later, the sound of the shower running came through the wall.

Damon closed his eyes and slammed his head into the bed's headboard with a groan. He hated fighting with Elena, but there was really nothing he could do about it. The longer he was around her as a human, the harder it got to control the urge to drink her blood. Again. Sometimes he found himself dreaming about it at night: the sweet taste, flowing into his mouth, around his fangs…

He clenched both hands into fists. He wasn't going to be able to repress the urge for much longer. It was stronger than he was. Elena needed to decide, and soon, whether she really still wanted this immortal life for herself. Because if the deed wasn't committed very soon…he wasn't going to be able to stick around. As much as he hated the thought of leaving her behind, he didn't really want to kill her.

Obviously, things weren't exactly going perfectly for him and Elena right now.

The doorbell rang downstairs. Damon knew perfectly well that Jeremy was out, as usual, doing whatever it was he did, so he called towards the bathroom, "Elena, someone's at the door!" She didn't answer, presumably because the sound of the running water tuned out his voice. "Elena?"

The doorbell rang a second time. Sighing, Damon kicked back the blankets and climbed out of bed. He bent and picked up the tangled pair of jeans on the floor, stepping into them one leg at a time. After securely buttoning them at his waist, he grabbed the button-down shirt hanging across the back of Elena's desk chair and pulled it on as well. He didn't bother taking the time to button it, running one hand through his tousled hair and jogging out into the hall.

Again, the bell chimed out through the house. Damon muttered something unsavory under his breath, hurrying down the stairs with one hand sliding along its smooth wooden railing. Wondering what suicidal human would dare disturb him, he grabbed the knob of the door and wrenched it open.

"What do you–" He broke off, realizing that he was talking to thin air. No one stood on the front porch, which didn't really explain how the doorbell had been ringing. Damon briefly considered the possibility that he had finally lost his mind, stepping over the threshold and peering up and down the street outside. It was empty.

With a frown, he stepped back inside and started to close the door. That's when he noticed the package, brown and featureless, lying on the welcome mat. "What–"

The package exploded. Damon was blown violently backwards, and saw a brilliant flash of white light. He didn't even have the time to cry out.

Sorry it's a bit short, but I thought that was the perfect place to end things. *evil grin* I hope everyone will like this story as much as its prequel. Please review if you have the time!