Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, I was a bit busy the last days. To make it up to you, this chapter will be the longest so far. Hope you enjoy!:)
Warnings: Violence, blood, harsh language.
*Hunger*
The room was covered in darkness. It was quiet. All she could hear was her own heartbeat. Bam. Bam. Bam, Bam. Elena had difficulties to breath. She felt as if she was hyperventilating. Carefully, she looked around but there was just nothing. The darkness engulfed her. Swallowed her alive. She felt lost. Alone. Well, not completely alone. Even though she could see nothing, she still knew – felt – that someone watched her. It was a shadow, lingering at the edge of her consciousness. Hunting her. Taunting her. Wanting to devour her.
Elena didn´t move. Didn´t dare to. She felt caught in this moment that seemed to stretch forever and ever. And he was there. Moving in the dark silently. Watching. Scheming. She could almost feel his eyes on her. And he wanted more. All of her. Everything. Elena felt frozen to the spot. Couldn´t move. Couldn´t even breath. She was caught in this darkness. Caught in his gaze. Caught. Caught. Caught!
Then something changed. At first, she wasn´t aware of it. Then -suddenly- it became all too apparent. There was light, she realized with a start. Not much. No. Just a little bit, a tiny spark. It took her a moment to understand that it came from the crack of the door, illuminating the room just slightly. It slowly dawned on her that she was in her own bedroom. And now she also heard voices! They were coming from downstairs, breaking the silence that seemed to have captured her before. She heard laughter. Happy chatter. From one moment to the other, Elena realized that she was not alone at all. They were all there! Her friends, her family! Only separated by the door of the bedroom. If she could just reach them, whoever was watching her would disappear in the shadows again. There was light! She just needed to reach it!
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Elena pushed herself up. It was strange using her legs after they had been immobile for such a long time. But to her huge relief they seemed to work just fine. Elena felt determination wash over her. She had been in this room for too long. It was time to leave, time to leave this fear behind her. She pushed on. Her heart was beating wildly. She could feel these eyes on her. Watching her. Lurking in the shadows. Ready to pounce. But the attack she expected never came. It took her what felt like hours, but finally she reached the door. Her fingers tightened around the door handle. She pulled and the door swung open easily. Light filled her vision and she had to screw up her eyes to not be blinded by it. She could swear that she heard an angry hiss coming from behind her, but when she turned around all she could see was her bedchamber looking like it always had. She was not fooled though. Elena knew she had to get away from here. As fast as possible. Without further hesitation, she stumbled forwards. The upper floor was illuminated in a strange light, giving it a pristine air. Elena stopped for a moment and listened. She could still hear the voices, much closer now. She realized that they must come from downstairs. She took a quick look behind her but could see no one. The feeling that she was watched remained. Realizing that she could not waste any more time, Elena sprinted forwards. She moved fast, her breath becoming faster and faster. She had reached the stairs in no time. Still seeing no-one behind her, she fled downstairs, following the voices coming from the living room. Hope flooded her when she reached the door. She pushed it open with a triumphant sound. A big smile started to appear on her face when she saw the people occupying the room. Her family, her friends… they were all here! She could see Bonnie and Jeremy, sitting on the couch, chatting. Jenna was also there, talking to Matt and Caroline. A strong feeling of calmness washed over her. She was safe, she thought. No one could hurt her here. Elena took a step in the room, smiling at her friends. They didn´t stop talking to each other though. Elena frowned but was not ready to give up just yet. She moved further into the room, but it was as if they weren´t even seeing her. "Jenna?", she asked carefully but her aunt didn´t look at her. She looked at Bonnie and Caroline, her best friends. "Guys, what´s going on?" No reaction. Her heartbeat accelerated again. Something was wrong! In three long strikes she had crossed the space between her and her aunt. She extended her hand and touched Jenna´s shoulder. Still no reaction. Panic-stricken, Elena started to shake her but even though Jenna´s body responded to the movement, it still seemed as if she wasn´t even seeing her. Elena stared at her aunt with an open mouth. Her hand fell, spiritlessly.
"How are you coping, Jenna?", she heard Matt ask kindly. "It must have been so hard for you."
Jenna smiled but Elena knew her well enough to see the sadness hidden behind the façade. "It has been hard", she admitted. "But we owed it Elena to try and move on." She looked at Jeremy and smiled. "I think he is finally over it as well."
Elena looked from Jenna to Jeremy and back. She had no clue what they were talking about. "Jenna, I´m right here," she whispered but just as before, no one seemed to hear her. Slowly, the whole impact of the situation was dawning on her. She was gone, she realized. For some time now. But how? Why?
"Do you still sometime hope that she will come back?" Matt asked and Elena wanted to scream. She watched in disbelieve as Jenna shook her head no. "She´s gone, Matt", Jenna answered very softly. "And she´ll never return."
Elena felt as if she had been hit by a brick wall. She stumbled backwards, while she shook her head from one side to the other in disbelieve. "No. No. No, no, no." She mumbled again and again while she still refused to believe what she was hearing. "Yes," a dark voice whispered into her ear. Elena shrieked. She whirled around but there was no one there. When she turned around again, the living room was empty. Elena stared at the places her friends and family had been seconds ago in disbelieve. "Where are they?", she murmured without understanding.
"Gone", a voice behind her said and this time, when Elena whirled around, she looked directly in the blue eyes of Damon Salvatore. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed before his body, his hunting eyes watching her intently. "They are gone," he repeated simply, before he pushed himself away from the wall and walked towards her. Elena wanted to back away, but her feet seemed to be glued to the floor. "Why?", she breathed. Damon smirked. He was still moving closer to her, moving in on her. Every movement of him seemed fluent. His muscles tightening and relaxing in an almost hypnotizing manner. He looked like a panther about to pounce.
"Isn´t is obvious?" he asked. He had reached her now. He was looking down at her and his eyes held all kind of dark promises. His hand cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. He was so close. He was everywhere. His eyes were pulling her in and Elena felt as if she was falling. Falling. Falling. A fog seemed to cloud her mind and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn´t clear it. She was going under. And he was the reason. "They were standing between us", he whispered, and his voice seemed to come from everywhere, echoing in her head. "No," Elena tried to say, but the words got stuck on her tongue. She tried to move, to get away from his grip, but he was holding her in place easily. "You can´t run from me," his haunting voice promised her. "I´ll never let you." In a way she believed him. "They said that I´m gone", she said, or maybe she was only thinking it. But Damon seemed to understand anyway. He smirked demonically. Moved even closer. Only centimeters were separating their faces now. "They´re right."
Elena stared at him blankly. "Why?"
A scary smile appeared on Damon´s face. He was pulling her closer. She could feel his body engulfing her. His lips brushed the skin right beside her ear and Elena felt goosebumps appear all over her body. This, however, was nothing compared to the terror his next words evoked deep within her. "Because the shadows have found you, Elena. I have found you. And there is no escape. You´ll fade from their memory. More and more until there is nothing left but an echo of who you used to be."
Elena didn´t want to hear this. She wanted to lift her hands to cover her ears but found that she couldn´t move at all. Her body was frozen and suddenly the realization hit her that it was his will alone that was holding her in place. She was like a marionette and with every second that passed, it felt like the strings, that were holding her in place, were wrapped tighter and tighter around her body. They were cutting in her skin, leaving paths of burning pain behind, making it harder and harder to breath. She was not able to speak anymore but it didn´t even seem to matter. Damon understood her anyway. "Oh yes," he answered her unspoken question tauntingly. "You´ll be mine, sweet Elena. And I´ll never let you go." She didn´t need to look at him to sense the smirk on his face. His fangs grazed the tender skin on her neck and she felt as if she was flying. His voice came from everywhere, surrounding her, reverberating from the walls in a never-ending loop. "You really should have run while you still had the change."
And then he buried his face in her neck. Elena screamed in pain.
Elena woke with a scream. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and her body was covered in sweat. It wasn´t the first time tonight that she was waking from a nightmare. Ever since she had left the kitchen, her thoughts had been wild and full of fear. Even now, so many hours later, she still couldn´t believe what had happened. Damon kissing her, Damon threatening her…it all seemed like the worst nightmare of all.
After having left the kitchen, Elena had gone straight to her bedroom locking the door and her windows, even though she knew that those things wouldn´t prevent Damon from entering. This thought made her feel more vulnerable than ever before. In the last months, it had become normal that Damon entered her bedroom from time to time and that she would find him there, waiting for her and wanting to talk. It had never bothered her much. But now everything was different and the fact that the man who had just threatened her so cruelly was able to enter and leave her own home whenever he wished, felt like an extreme abuse to her privacy. The first thing she had done after locking the door of her bedroom was to listen for the front door, wanting to make sure that Damon was making good on his promise and really leaving her alone. To her huge relief she didn´t had to wait long. Only half a minute later she could hear his steps and then the front door falling shut, telling her that she was alone in the house. It was not only the fact, that he had left her alone that was responsible for the huge relief Elena had felt at that moment, but also the fact that at least some of the old Damon still seemed to be left. If anything, Damon had always made good of his promises. It was the one thing that you could be sure of with him and it was good to know that this still seemed to be the case.
A beeping sound pulled Elena out of her thoughts and she locked at the clock. It read 6.30 am. Time to get up, Elena thought with a sullen feeling. With a sigh she turned off the alarm and went to her bathroom to take a shower. The night had been hell, so she was kind of happy that it was finally over. But at the same time the last thing she wanted to do right now was facing the next day. She didn´t even want to know what Damon had planned. How far he would go with this whole thing. With a sinking feeling in the depth of her stomach, Elena entered the shower and turned on the water. It was only when the hot water hit her that she was finally able to relax a bit. She tried to focus on what she needed to do today, tried to lay out a plan on how to play this. Even though she had been full of fear yesterday, she had still managed to go through all of her possibilities and come up with a plan. Elena had to admit that Damon had been kind of thorough with his compulsion, making it impossible for her to ask for help, but there still had been one little detail of which he had not thought. It was this fact that gave Elena hope. Even if it might have felt like it yesterday, she was far from being beaten yet. Damon had called this whole thing a game and Elena was determined to play her cards just right. If he really thought it would be that easy, he certainly had another thing coming.
At the time Elena left her bathroom, she knew exactly what she had to do today and felt kind of better. If her plan worked out, she had at least one thing less she needed to worry about. It might not be enough to totally dissolve the whole situation but it would shift the dynamics a bit more to her favor. It was the best she could hope for right now.
Elena had just pulled on a T-shirt and Jeans and was about to pull her hair in a tight ponytail when she heard a knock on her bedroom door and froze. Almost immediately her heart was beating wildly again. Maybe it was just Jenna, she tried to calm herself while taking a deep breath and facing the door. "Jenna? Jeremy?" she asked slowly, but only a second later her last hope was shattered when she heard his laugh. "Guess again."
Elena bit on her bottom lip while she tried to calm herself. She could do this.
"What do you want, Damon?" Her voice sounded dismissive and she was proud of it.
"I made you breakfast. Come on, open the door."
Elena frowned by hearing this. Breakfast? Honestly?
She was still staring at the door, contemplating if she should open it or not, when she heard his voice again. This time he sounded much less patient.
"Elena. Now." she heard him say and somehow the edge she heard in his voice gave her the last push to walk over to the door and slowly turn the lock. They both knew that he was capable of getting in there anyway, so it was probably better to remain in his good graces for the moment. Elena just simply couldn´t let him ruin the plan she had formed in her head. He would only know that she had played him when it was too late. Or at least this was what Elena was telling herself, when she opened the door for him and watched him stand there, holding a tray with breakfast in his hands.
He did look good in his tight jeans and dark-blue T-Shirt. She could not deny it. He also looked like the devil himself. Damon smiled brightly at her, his blue eyes shining in the half-light of the corridor. "Good decision," he said before pushing his way in her bedroom. Elena watched him carefully, her arms crossed before her body. He was making his way over to her bed, putting the tray with food and coffee on her bedside table, before sitting on her bed and facing her.
Elena took a deep breath. "What are you doing here?"
"I made you breakfast."
She rolled her eyes. "I can see this. Why are you making breakfast in my house, in my kitchen just one day after having forced me to kiss you and threatened to compel me? Do you really think I want to see you right now?"
Damon smirked easily. "Oh, someone´s a bit grumpy this morning."
Elena clenched her hands, while she was sure that if there had been something in her proximity, she certainly would have thrown it at him.
Damon still smiled. And she hated it! Elena fixed him with a dead glare, already having lost her composure to play his game. "I´m not hungry."
"Come on, Elena, don´t be like this. I´ve gone out of my way to come here and make you breakfast just to show you that this whole situation doesn´t have to be so bad. I promise you that I can make it nice for you as well."
Elena raised her eyebrows. "You mean "this situation" where you force me to be with you? Well, of course, I can totally see how this can be "not so bad"!" she spat with heavy sarcasm in her voice, glaring at Damon. For only a moment she could see some anger in his eyes. "Ok, that´s enough", she heard him mutter, before he suddenly moved, faster than she could look. Elena felt herself being grabbed and for a moment the room whirled around her before she found herself on her bed as well, sitting on Damon´s lap, his arms encircling her from behind. "I made you breakfast, show some fucking gratitude" he growled into her ear and Elena had to close her eyes for a moment. She hated him touching her. She absolutely hated it. But she needed to play this cool. Elena took a deep breath, then another, before she finally felt calm enough to answer.
"Ok", she said, giving in for the moment. "Ok, why not. Coffee does sound good."
Almost immediately Damon relaxed. She felt herself being lifted and placed on the bed beside him before he grabbed for the tray and handed her a cup of coffee with a smile. "That´s better," he said before also taking a cup and leaning against her headboard, giving the impression of totally being at ease. Elena´s fingers tightened around her coffee while she eyed him carefully. Very slowly she took one sip. "Is this why you are here?" she finally asked him, thinking that maybe like that, they would be able to talk about this whole thing in a more calm and rational way. They so needed to talk about this. "To show me that it can be…not so bad?"
Damon smiled at her and nodded. "It´s not my intention to make your life miserable, Elena."
Elena looked up, looked in his blue eyes and she could have sworn that she saw something similar to honesty there. When he looked at her like this, she felt as if she could trust him, as if he was telling her the truth and the last thing, he wanted to do was to hurt her.
It was the same look that had made her trust him to begin with, that had made her think they were friends…that had given her the glorious idea to take off her necklace, to show him the trust she felt in him. And where had it brought her? She was in the biggest mess she had ever been in. Damon had used the first moment of vulnerability for his advantage. And now, she could never trust him again.
"Well, if that´s true you actually do a pretty bad job."
Damon chuckled, while he grabbed for the plate again and placed it on her lab. "Come on. Eat. I´ve at least spent 20 minutes making it for you." His eyes were honest and open still. There was no comparison to yesterday, but Elena knew how fast this mood of his could change again.
Her eyes fell on the pancakes on her plate and she felt her stomach churn. If anything, eating really was the last thing on her mind right now. But at the same time, she saw the hopeful look in Damon´s eyes and knew that he had really tried here. She didn´t need to be a genius to understand that refusing to eat even a little bit wouldn´t help keeping him in a good mood.
Just play it cool, she thought. Make him happy… at least for now. She was still not totally beyond hope that she could talk some sense into him. Taking a deep breath, she took the fork and knife, cutting off a part of the pancake and delicately placing it in her mouth. She had to admit that it tasted pretty good.
"And?", Damon propped with a tiny smile playing around his lips. "Do you like them?"
Elena nodded and forced a smile on her face. "Yeah, they´re great." She answered truthfully, before taking another bite.
"Didn´t knew you could cook," she said lightely while somehow feeling caught between the wish to talk about everything and pretend it hadn´t happened at all.
"When you are as old as me, you learn a few things. Cooking was one of the more useful skills. It never fails to impress the ladies."
Elena rolled her eyes. "Sure."
Damon pouted by hearing her sarcastic tone. "What, Elena? I´m sure you are impressed. Hell, they are probably the best pancakes you´ve ever eaten!"
Elena knew that he was just joking around. She also knew why he was doing it. It was as if Damon had basically sprung at the first opportunity to go back to their normal teasing and bickering, as if nothing had happened between them. Elena asked herself if he really believed that it could be like this. Like it had been before he had started to act like the world´s biggest asshole.
"You are always so full of yourself," she humored him for the moment and Damon seemed to be happy that she was participating in this bantering of theirs.
"Oh, come on, you just can´t admit that they are marvelous."
As if to prove it he fetched the fork from her hand and ate some of the pancake himself. His eyes rolled in the back of his head in the most exaggerated manner she had ever seen, and he groaned in satisfaction. "God, I am an extraordinarily good cook."
Before Elena could help herself, a small laugh escaped her mouth by seeing his mannerism. Damon returned the smile, obviously pleased with himself. "Ah, there she is," he grinned, effectively remembering her of the situation. She shouldn´t be smiling, she thought. At least not with him. He didn´t deserve anything from her.
Just as fast as it had come, the smile disappeared from her face. Damon seemed to see it too and Elena could literally watch his expression becoming darker as well. He sighed, looking at her as if she were difficult. "Look, Elena. I´m trying here…"
From one moment to the other anger surged through Elena. Her head jerked up and she couldn´t help but glare in his direction while she watched him sitting in her room on her bed, having the nerve to act as if nothing had happened at all.
"What exactly are you expecting, Damon?" she asked him slowly, giving her best to hold it all together. "Would you like me to act as if nothing had happened, as if you didn´t threaten me?"
She was sure Damon could see the anger in her eyes, even if she tried her best to keep it at bay. He sighed, his fingers weaving through his raven black hair. He kept quiet while he took hold of the plate on her lap again. "I guess eating time is over." he noted while he put it away. "Shame. I really did put a lot of effort into it."
Elena couldn´t believe him. "I don´t care about your fucking food!" she almost screamed, crossing her arms before her body.
In a way, she had expected for Damon to get angry as well but all he did was chuckling. "Language, Elena", he chided as if he was speaking to a little kid and Elena felt her restraint snapping.
Before she realized what she was doing, she had already jumped up, just intent on bringing some space between them. "God, I hate you," she murmured, wanting nothing more than leaving her room and getting away from him. Unfortunately, she was aware that that wasn´t her best option right now. She was sure he would just drag her back in. So, she settled on walking into her bathroom and starting to brush her hair. She could hear Damon´s voice from the bedroom. "What are you doing?"
"Getting ready for school," she replied, not even bothering to come out of the bathroom again. Some desperate voice in her head just hoped that he might be gone when she returned, but of course that was just wishful thinking. He let her alone for the whole amount of 20 seconds, before she saw him in the mirror, leaning against the doorframe of her bathroom. He had his arms crossed before his body, while he looked at her with a thoughtful expression. For just a moment, Elena´s eyes wandered all over his body and she could see his very much pronounced muscles. Elena gulped, hoping against hope that he would just let her be. She tried to focus on her image in the mirror, applying a bit of mascara, trying to ignore the fear in the pits of her stomach that had been a constant companion since the last evening.
Another minute passed in which Elena busied herself before Damon finally seemed to have enough. She didn´t see him move but suddenly he was there, right behind her. Elena could feel his arms circling around her, his body pressing closer to her than she would have ever liked, and she shrieked in surprise. "Damon, let me go…", she told him, trying to pry his hands away from her. Anyway, Damon didn´t even acknowledge her struggle. He hugged her tighter from behind, making it impossible for Elena to get out of his embrace. His chin rested on her shoulder while he looked into the mirror. Their eyes were meeting. He smiled. Genuinely. As if he wasn´t fucking holding her against her will!
"You always look beautiful, Elena," he murmured. "You don´t need to spent hours in the bathroom."
Besides the compliment, Elena felt cold while she looked at him. There was this thoughtful expression in his eyes, as if he was contemplating what to do with her now that he had her. And Elena didn´t like it. Not one bit. She could feel his muscled body pressing against hers, could feel them moving slightly when he breathed in and out. She had never been that close to Damon. There was not an inch of air between their bodies. But even though Damon certainly was what a lot of girls dreamed of and even though Elena also couldn´t deny that he was attractive at some level, she also was painfully aware that she didn´t want this. She was with Stefan and he was the only one who was supposed to touch her like this. But Damon didn´t seem to care. He just took. And right now, Elena was painfully aware that she was simply too weak, physically, to do anything against it.
She looked at her image in the mirror and saw the fear in her own eyes. Damon seemed to guess what she was thinking. He chuckled; his eyes as cold as ice. She could feel his hands on her stomach, holding her in place. One hand was gliding along her side, caressing her. Her body tingled wherever he was touching her. "Some fear certainly is healthy," Damon breathed against her ear. His eyes were still looking at their picture in the mirror. They were scanning her body, taking in every inch of her. "Hmm…" he hummed. "There was a time when I couldn´t understand why Stefan was trailing behind you like a lost puppy the whole time. I thought he was silly because he was satisfied with some replica of the real thing. I didn´t understand why he didn´t at least try to get Katherine but…", he tilted his head to the side and looked at her with something in his eyes that could only be described as lust "I guess you do have your whole own charm. When I look at you like this, I can see why he wants you."
Elena slowly shook her head while she tried not to panic completely. "Damon, seriously, I don´t know what has come over you the last few days but you cannot simply replace Katherine with me. This is not how it works!"
Damon smiled darkly at her and nothing of the Damon from a few minutes ago who had made her breakfast seemed to be left now. He was colder, somehow more unstable. Silently Elena wondered if maybe something had snapped inside of him when he had learned that Katherine wasn´t in the tomb. He seemed more unpredictable than ever.
"And what Elena," he asked slowly while one of his hands was gliding along her body, wandering higher, touching her body. "…what do you think will stop me from doing exactly this? What will stop me from having you when I can´t have Katherine? What will stop me from taking from you…everything…that I want?" The lasts words he had breathed against her ear and Elena felt her body stiffen immensely while she understood what he was telling her.
Her face blanched and in a desperate attempt she tried to struggle out of his grip again but the more she tried to get away, the closer Damon was pressing against her, the more suffocating his grip got.
"You know I don´t want this," she said desperately. "Please Damon, tell me you wouldn´t…"
Elena looked at him pleadingly but the shear desire and lust she saw in his eyes weren´t helping her at all to calm down. She had known for some weeks now that Damon felt attracted to her. God, the electricity had literally been tangible while they were dancing during the Miss Mystic Falls competition. And even though she would have never admitted it, there was some little part of her that felt flattered by it, because honestly, Damon certainly was one of the most sinfully attractive guys she had ever met. Anyway, for her that had all been on a really innocent level because she knew she was with Stefan, she knew she loved him and nothing could ever change this. Especially not his brother… But now everything was different. She was standing here in the embrace of said brother who just seemed to have snapped. And this guy, who certainly could have any girl he wanted, was momentarily looking at her as if he would love to fuck her senseless in front of the mirror. And he also didn´t look as if it meant much to him that she didn´t want it.
Elena gulped. No, she thought, this new Damon didn´t seem to care at all. He would simply take what he wanted. And this scared her more than anything else. For the first time since she knew the Salvatore brothers, Elena was clearly aware of the disadvantage of being human. Up to now, she always had the brothers defending her, protecting her. But she alone against one of them? How could she possibly hope to win?
Damon seemed to be aware of the struggle Elena was going through. He watched her deeply and maybe, just maybe he even enjoyed the fear he could see. "Don´t worry," he finally told her with a small evil smile. "When I take your body, it´s not going to be like this. And you certainly will want it."
Elena felt relief wash through her. She did realize that he had said "when" and not "if" but pushed it to the back of her mind. She couldn´t worry about it right now. What was important was that she seemed to be safe for the moment. Ok, she thought. Ok, as long as he is not going to do this, I can take it. I just have to make it through the day and things will be different. Elena looked at the hands that were still holding her in place. If he would just let her go now, she thought. If he would just let her go to school, she would be safer. Stefan was there, he had to be there, and while she was with him, Damon couldn´t do anything.
She tried to tug at his hands, tried to pry them away from her but he didn´t budge. Frustrated, Elena looked at him in the mirror. He had his eyebrows raised, as if questioning what she was doing. Elena sighed and ceased her struggling. She knew she couldn´t physically fight her way out of this. But there had to be another way. Maybe pleading will do the trick, she thought, even though it was the last thing she wanted to. But she needed him to let her go. And she needed to get to school if she even wanted to have a change in succeeding with her plan. For a moment, Elena gulped down her pride and looked at him with her best huge puppy dog eyes. "Can you just let me go now? You got what you want. And I need to get going if I don´t want to be late."
Damon looked at her thoughtfully and when he didn´t answer for a while Elena felt her desperation taking over. She wholeheartedly hated his hands on her. She wanted them gone. Every second he was touching her, every second she wasn´t able to get away, she felt more and more suffocated. "Damon, please!" she said and this time the desperation in her voice was much more real.
"Hmm," Damon hummed with an expressionless face and she could feel the vibration in his chest. "Did I ever tell you that I love it when you look at me with these huge, terrified eyes of yours? It´s just so cute."
This was not what Elena wanted to hear. It seemed as if Damon was enjoying her suffering. Elena felt cold. "Damon, stop touching me!" she said with more force in her voice, before softening it again and linking her eyes with his, trying to get through to him. "I know you, Damon. And this… this isn´t like you. Come on, I know you are better than this… than forcing yourself on me like this!"
Elena hoped that he had at least some conscious left but all he did was rolling his eyes at her. "And here we are again with this "you are better than this"-speech", he chuckled, leaning away a bit from her. He was still acting extremely indifferent.
One of his hands left her stomach, carefully taking hold of her hair and placing it all on her left shoulder in a tender motion. Elena felt her body stiffen. His eyes met hers in the mirror and the sudden coldness she saw there made her breath hitch. He let his hand wander along the skin of her neck, creating Goosebumps all over her body. "You still don´t understand. Elena," he breathed, while his eyes fixed on her skin. Elena could have sworn that she even saw something red in his normally blue eyes. Very slowly Damon smiled and Elena could not breathe because he was looking at her with something that she could only describe as predatory. Oh God, she thought with a sudden, intense panic while she realized that this situation had just turned from bad to worse. Oh god, oh god, oh god.
Damon was leaning closer again, putting a lingering kiss on her exposed neck, creating Goosebumps all over her body. "I´m wondering when you will finally realize that those things mean shit to me." He whispered each word very slowly. His breath tingled on her sensitive skin. "I´m wondering when you will realize that those huge eyes of yours don´t affect me as much as you think they do." For just a moment he looked up in the mirror, while his lips were still touching the skin of her neck. She could feel his lips vibrate against her skin when he spoke again. "I´m a vampire, Elena", he stressed and for just a second Elena was sure that she could actually see his fangs. "And as a vampire there are certain things I do. Things I enjoy."
His words were so dark, so evilly promising, that Elena felt herself getting into a frenzy. If she had been afraid before, it escalated when she saw his red eyes, the veins on his face. She was looking at the monster inside of him and she had never been more afraid. Because this wasn´t Damon. This person was going to hurt her just because he could. With a terrified shriek, Elena tried to wriggle out of his grip, to somehow get away but Damon was unyielding. He is going to bite me, she thought hysterically. Never in her life had she thought he would do something like that but now it became apparently clear that it was really going to happen. If anything, the hunger she could see in his eyes was enough to convince her that he would really do it. Tears were stinging in her eyes and every sane thought was slowly leaving her. Her body jerked wildly in his strong grip. "No, Damon! No, no, no, no. Don´t do this. Please."
But Damon didn´t seem to listen to her. His eyes were fixed on her neck, a hunger in them, she couldn´t even understand. "I have wondered," he said slowly. "How you would taste. I have fantasized so much about it." He looked up, their gazes meeting in the mirror and even though she already had seen Damon and Stefan in her vampire form nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. There was nothing human on him anymore. He looked like a monster and the coldness, the hunger in his eyes, were only making it worse. She was sure there was no one who wouldn´t fear him like this. "I´ve wanted to taste you for so long, Elena. I imagined how it would be. Do you remember the first time we met? I could smell you from a mile away. And when you saw me, your heart was bumping your blood so strongly through your body. It was so delicious."
Elena shook her head. She didn´t want to hear his words. She wanted to close her eyes and pretend this was just a nightmare.
"Back then, I´ve decided I would play a bit with you first, before I would take your blood, but…" He shook his head. "I somehow lost focus." If it was possible his smile got even more evil. "But don´t worry, now I´m back on track."
Elena frantically shook her head. She knew she had to do something, anything. Damon wouldn´t stop. He had snapped or something and he would drink her blood. Maybe he would even kill her. She needed to get away. Before she could further think about it her mouth had already opened, a scream tearing from her throat. "Heeelllp…!"
Her words echoed just very shortly through the small bathroom before Elena felt a hand tightening around her mouth, effectively stopping her scream. Elena struggled against his grip wildly, screaming in his hand, even going as far as biting him but Damon didn´t seem to even recognize it. "Hush…" she could hear his voice whisper in her ear, his calmness standing in total contrast to Elena´s panic. "I just want a little taste, Elena. But the more you struggle, the worse it will be."
Elena didn´t listen to him. Adrenaline was surging through her body while she tried to free herself. She only stopped when she heard Damon growl angrily. For a moment she stilled and watched with growing horror as his fangs lengthened immensely, the red in his eyes becoming even more prominent. For just a second they were looking at each other, before Damon smirked and buried his face in her neck. The moment his teeth sank into her soft skin, Elena felt a sharp pain rip through her. She screamed desperately but the noise was effectively silenced by Damon´s hand. Out of reflex Elena struggled even more but she had no chance against his strength. She could feel him biting even harder, ripping flesh and muscle in the progress and the intense pain that was shooting through her was drowning out everything else. She had never felt this kind of pain. It hurt, hurt so much. Tears were running down her face, while she felt him feeding. She could actually feel the blood pumping through her, being sucked in by Damon who was groaning in satisfaction. Seconds ticked by and the room was filled with her muffled sobs and the noises of his feeding. Then very, very slowly the pain faded a bit, leaving her behind numb. A scary emptiness was slowly starting to spread in her head, and she felt weak. It was difficult now to remain standing. Elena could feel her body sack against his, all fight having left her. He is taking so much, some part of her mind whispered but she was too weak to even feel afraid now. Her body felt heavy and she was sure she would have fallen if Damon hadn´t hold her upright. His hand had long left her mouth but even if Elena had wanted to scream, she was far too weak for it now. Even the thought of it seemed to be too exhausting. Her eyes slowly started to fall shut. She felt tired. Bone tired.
He is going to kill me, some part of her mind whispered and somehow the thought gave her enough strength to open her mouth just slightly. "Damon, please…" she whimpered and was terrified of how weak she sounded. Her knees buckled but before she could fall, she felt Damon´s arms catching her and lifting her from the ground. She was flying, somehow. The room was spinning. There was another long tuck at her neck, before finally, finally he removed his teeth from her neck. But the numbness still didn´t leave her. Elena felt her head fall against his shoulder, but she was too weak to help it. Her eyes were half closed while she fought for consciousness.
She could feel his arms grabbing her, pulling her closer to his warm body. It stood in total contrast to how cold she felt and before she realized it, she had already cuddled closer. A hand was tugging at her hair, pulling it out of her face and she could feel his thumb stroking her bottom lip. "You do taste even better than I have imagined." She could hear his voice say from somewhere, but she was beyond caring.
Elena felt herself being carried slowly, before she was laid down on something soft. Something pressed against her neck, stopping the blood flow. Pain shot through her, the moment it touched the wound and Elena moaned. "Hush Elena," she heard his voice from somewhere far away. "Just close your eyes for a moment, the dizziness will pass."
Elena did as she was told and very slowly the room stopped spinning and her thoughts became a bit clearer again. She realized that someone was stroking her hair softly and her eyes plopped open again, looking at Damon who was watching her and had the nerve to smile. "There she is," he said, with a cocky grin. Fear and panic were mixing together while Elena became conscious again of what had happened. She tried to push herself up in a desperate attempt to get away from him, but even in the moment she tried to sit up, she felt dizziness hitting her and fell back on the bed. Damon clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "You should wait a bit before standing up", he told her as if he hadn´t just fed on her. His eyes became a bit harder. "I mean it, Elena. I´m going to fetch you a glass of water and it would be in your best interest when you are still exactly where you are right now when I return." He looked coldly at her. "I hope I´ve been clear enough."
When he wasn´t leaving Elena realized that he was expecting an answer from her. Well, it wasn´t as if she was in the condition to move right now, she thought darkly, before forcing her head to nod slowly. It seemed to be enough for Damon. He smiled at her, as if he had no fucking care in the world, before leaving her room.
The moment he was away Elena felt herself sacking together. Her neck hurt like hell, but this was nothing compared to the all-consuming fear she felt deep in the depth of her stomach. She had thought Damon would never bite her but obviously she had been nothing but a naive fool. And now, finally, she realized that he would stop at nothing to get what he wants. He would just take, whether she liked it or not. It was only when she felt wetness on her cheek that Elena realized she was crying. The whole desperation from the last day was closing in on her and she couldn´t do anything but lie there and sob. For the first time in her life Elena was totally and utterly terrified.