A/N: And now we're back thanks for the reviews I'm having a lot of fun. Let's head the Mystic Falls shall we? A little bit of my inspiration for the last part of this comes from a different vampire book series. Can anybody guess? Good luck.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own twilight or the vampire diaries they each belong to their respective parties. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.
Chapter 4
Bella pov:
We finally arrive in Richmond, Virginia after a 7-hour flight of explanations. Damon kept questioning me about Victoria. What she looks like and how she fit in with her coven. He also asked for more details about his family, their gifts, the day of the accident, and exactly what he said when leaving. I did not want to talk about it, but he wouldn't shut up just saying it's important. Damon wouldn't explain why it was important, but I did tell him everything. He also gave me information about what was going on in Mystic Falls. I felt bad about his brother but showed no emotion towards it. I knew who to avoid so that's all that mattered. Damon read me the riot act about not telling him about the cold ones and how he expects me to act at home.
Using his 'I mean business' voice, "Isabella when we get home, I get that you don't want to do anything but wallow in your heartbreak, but I'm not going to let that happen. When I talk to you, I want you to answer. I want you to take care of yourself, actually eat regularly and when school starts get good grades. I want you to go out with people your age and do something. I'm not going to watch you waste away." I just did an internal eye roll and said a simple "yes sir" and stared out the window. It was pretty much a quiet flight after that.
Once we exit the plane and grab my luggage, we make our way outside and Damon starts looking around. He spots whoever he was looking for and we make our way over to a guy who looks to be in his thirties. He is tall with his brown hair dressed in a black jacket, grey t-shirt, jeans, and boots. The man looks surprised to see me with Damon and I watch as his blue eyes widen slightly and Damon says, "Hey Ric this is my goddaughter Bella. She's coming to live with me for a while. Bella this is Alaric, our very own Buffy the vampire slayer."
"Nice to meet you Bella. You can call me Ric. Um goddaughter Damon?" Alaric asks quirking an eyebrow.
"Yes, she knows. I gave her the basics so she should be fine." Damon confirms his silent question as he loads my bag and suitcase in the trunk of the car, and we get in and drive. "Speaking of your Buffy-ness, I need you to include her in your little training sessions with Elena." He turns around from his spot in the front seat and smirks at my angry expression. Just as I go to open my mouth he continues, "I don't want to hear it Bella. You're doing it. Who knows maybe it will help with your clumsiness." Turning back to Ric, "Two words. Cold. Ones."
Ric just gasps and looks at me from the rear-view mirror and says, "And you're still alive?! How is that possible?"
"Bambi diet Ric. You think that's impossible; you should see her nifty little souvenir scar on her wrist. She's being hunted by a bitch with a mate for mate vendetta and those sparkly shits abandoned her." Damon explains.
"We need to go to Isobel's office for weapons. I know she had a few things there. I've only dealt with cold ones a few times, so I don't bother with the heavy artillery. Vervain works enough to get away. I have some swords and daggers made from cold one ash and vervain, a grenade launcher, and a flame thrower."
"Oh toys! I like the way you think." Damon says happily.
"Details Damon now."
For the rest of the ride Damon and Alaric start talking about my history, Victoria, and battle plans. We stop by Duke University and grab Alaric's 'toys', then make our way to the Salvatore Boarding house. It's about 7:30 when Ric drops us off and made our way inside. This place is huge! It's even better than the Cullen house! Inside I'm in awe, but outside I stay emotionless. Damon shows me to my room, which has a mahogany king-sized bed with a matching dresser and desk. The room has its own bathroom. That I could get used to. Damon sets my suitcase and bag on the bed the turns to me. "Do what you need to do to freshen up. We're leaving in ten minutes to get dinner from the grill," then he walks out leaving me to myself. I grab my toiletries and walk to the bathroom to wash my face and brush through my hair. After that I make my way to the living room where Damon is there on the phone and sipping on a glass of bourbon. Once he sees me, he downs the rest of the glass and a simple "Got it" then hangs up. Then he nods his head to follow and we get into his car and head to the grill. Looking out the window at the small town I realize this place over uses the word Mystic. Mystic hotel, Mystic High, and Mystic grill. What's next Mystic post office?
The grill is a quaint little bar and grill with few pool tables, a Foosball table, a stage, with a nice bar and a couple of tables and booths. It has a homey feel to it. I'd imagine this place is like a hangout considering the amount of people here on a Thursday night. Damon just walks up to the bar and takes a seat. I sit down on the chair next to him and he says, "order what you want, and I do expect you to get a meal and eat all of it." I quickly glance at the menu and decide on a simple burger and fries. The bartender sees Damon and sighs pouring a glass of bourbon and coming over to us and sets the glass in front of Damon. "Matt, Bella. Bella, Matt. She's going to be here a staying in town for a while and is going to be at school with you guys this year." Damon says with a hand gesturing to us. Matt is a tall blonde with an athletic build that kind of reminds me of Mike Newton. I hope they aren't the same because I don't need that.
He just kind of rolls his eyes at Damon then turns to me with a smile, "Hey Bella, how's it going what can I get you?" I just nod and point not wanting to talk hoping to stay invisible.
"Use your words Bella. I'm not going to repeat myself." Damon snaps while sipping on his drink.
I just glare at him and tell Matt "A burger and fries with a coke please."
Matt just looks between Damon and I then says, "Sure no problem." He goes to turn away, but Damon holds up his hand to stop him and looks at me with a smirk.
"Matt asked you how it's going Bella. Answer him."
I decide to get Damon back. "Damon kidnapped me and is holding me against my will. How is your night so far?" I say sarcastically.
Damon just keeps on smirking at me. "Not what I was looking for, but it works. Bella is my goddaughter and she's going to be living with me for an undetermined amount of time depending on her attitude. Go ahead and go Matt." Matt just looks at me with worry and I just roll my eyes and nod, then he shrugs and walks away. "Smart ass. I'm going out of town for the day tomorrow I want you to hang out with Ric for the day." I look at Damon and quirk an eyebrow in a silent question. "Words."
"Why? Where are you going?"
"Chicago. I got a lead on Stefan. I'm taking Elena with me which will work out for you so Ric can focus on just you for the day."
"Okay. I'll do it." I reply with a sigh.
Damon's eyes soften as he speaks, "I just want you to get better Bella. You're being hunted and this town has a lot of things that go bump in the night. I know it's hard, but I just want you to try."
I nod and then we sit in silence. The silence is never uncomfortable with Damon. It's nice. After finishing my food, Damon pays, and we go home. Heading inside Damon informs me he probably won't be home when I wake, but he will stay through the night in case I have nightmares which is inevitable. I go to my room and do my nightly routine then get in bed and drift off.
I'm back in the forest alone and searching. It's dark out and the trees look ominous.
" I'm tired of pretending to be something I'm not." His velvet voice rings out to me from all directions. Pain is coursing through me making me feel void of everything, but the pain.
"Change me then!" I cry out to the nothing.
" You're not good for me."
"No! Please Edward I'll do better I promise! Please!" It feels like fire in my chest.
" It will be as if I'd never existed."
"Don't leave me please! Don't go! I'll do anything! Edward!" I run after picking a direction praying, I'll find him, but there's nothing and I start to scream.
I awoke to Damon holding me in his arms stroking my hair and I start crying. " It's okay, piccola. I have you. Shh just relax." he whispers. I just quake in his arms and try to calm down.
"Don't leave me Dami." I sobbed.
Damon just crawls under the covers as I snuggle into his chest and he kisses my forehead, "Never." Eventually I fall back into a restless slumber.
The next morning, I wake to the sunlight shining through my window. That's going to take some getting used to. I get up and take a shower and throw on some black sweatpants and a white tank top then make my way to the kitchen. I figure if Damon is serious about Alaric training me, I might as well make breakfast. I quickly whip up a couple of omelets with bacon and toast, then start the coffee. Just as I'm plating everything, I hear the front door open and close. A few seconds pass by and Ric comes into the kitchen with a gym bag slung over his shoulder.
"What's all this?" he asks.
"Damon is forcing you to help me, so I figured I'd be grateful and make food. Help yourself the coffee should be done by now." I say simply.
"Well thank you Bella. You didn't have to do that." Ric responds.
"I cooked all the time at home for Char-my dad, so I'm used to it. No big deal."
Ric makes himself a plate and grabs a cup of coffee and I just grab some toast and coffee then we sit down to eat. He eyeballs my version of breakfast and tells me "At least eat an omelet. I don't want you passing out on me." I just nod and grab an omelet and start eating. "So, I know you don't want to talk about the things you went through and I won't pry, but if you ever need to talk about it, I don't mind. My ex-wife left me to become a vampire, so I understand where you're coming from." I just nod again and keep eating. We quickly finish and make our way out the front door to the yard. He leads me threw a couple of warm up stretches then turns to me.
"Suppose you're out there somewhere and you run into a vampire. What's the first thing you do?" He asks in an instructional voice.
"There's nothing you can do. The vampire is faster and will easily get you." I reply.
"Wrong. You run. Now follow me and get running. We're only going to do two miles today." I look at him incredulously and he just laughs and takes off at a fast-paced jog. "Keep up Bella." He's serious. This man is going to kill me. I take off after him trying to keep stride with him. I managed to stay close by most of the time, but I fall down a lot. Each time I fall he stops to look at me then states "You're dead. Try again." After the first mile my legs are on fire and I'm breathing heavy, so I start to ease up a bit. "You're slowing down Bella."
"How are you not dying right now?" I rasp out.
"I run. You never know how long you need to run for, so you need stamina. Keep running." Ric instructs. I just roll my eyes and speed up. Halfway through the last mile I notice I'm not tripping as much. I still feel like I'm dying, but hey not falling so much is a good thing. Once we finish our run and we walk back to the boarding house as a cool down. "So, let's do a bit of theory. Running is not an option, what do you try next?"
I think on it for a minute. "Stake the vampire in the heart?" I answer hoping I'm right.
"Where's the heart?" Ric retorts. I point to the left side of my chest. "That's not where the heart is." I move my hand towards the center of my chest. "Nope. Good try though. When we get back to the house, I want you to do some quick research and come back and tell me where the heart is and what's in the way of it too." We reach the house and take a small break for me to do my homework. I make my way to the computer and find the information I need after about 10 minutes of searching then make a quick lunch and go to the back yard where Ric is waiting. "Where's the heart?" Down to business I see. I just point make a fist and hold over my chest slightly to the left, but mostly to the center. "Good. What's in the way of it?"
"The sternum and ribs," I reply confidently.
"How do you get through the sternum and ribs?" He inquires with a smirk.
"Umm... I don't know."
"You slide up through the ribs." He hands me a blunt end stake and starts showing me different maneuvers. We continue this for a few hours, and he stops and says, "That's enough for today. You did good Bella. We'll start again tomorrow. Damon has been watching us for the last half hour by the way." I quickly turn around and there he is leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face.
"Looking good Isa." He praises as I look down with a blush. "None of that. You were working hard. Go get a shower you stink. I'll make dinner." After my shower Damon and I eat dinner and he questions me about my day. I don't bother asking about his day considering it's really none of my business. He also informs me that we are going to a Founders party at the Lockwood's tomorrow, whoever they are. Which I try to protest, but of course stating I'm going whether I like it or not. I finish my food and clean up the kitchen, then collapse in my bed so exhausted that for once in a very long time I sleep without dreams.