Doom and Gloom

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Damon dismissed Stefan and decided to dispose of Mason's body on his own. He kicked the rolled up carpet that housed the corpse hard, more to vent his frustration than anything else, because, well, dead people don't feel pain.

As always, Katherine was involved in absolutely everything that concerned him, and as always, she moved her pawns around to execute her plans while keeping a safe distance. And Damon hated her for it.

Mason, like a good pawn, had done his part by reporting to Sheriff Forbes what he and Stefan were, and the two of them would have died if not for Caroline. It didn't please him to admit it, but Caroline had been showing her worth, despite being completely untrustworthy. She was another one of Katherine's puppets. How long would the bitch make his life a living hell? For almost 150 years Damon had believed she was locked in the tomb, and done what he did to free her, only to discover that she had always been alive and free, only hadn't bothered to look for him. Yet now she had come back to make his life hell and rub it in his face that he meant nothing.

If he was honest with himself, he would acknowledge that he tortured and killed Mason for pleasure, because he wanted to get at Katherine somehow. It was for the same reason he had dialed her number on the werewolf's mobile phone, but it had backfired. He kicked Mason's body again before picking up a shovel and starting to dig.

"Fucking bitch," Damon muttered and dug the shovel into the damp earth. The vampire dug a deep grave angrily, remembering everything he had been through all the years he had been nothing more than a puppet for Katherine. It was her fault that he and Stefan were shot by their own father, it was her fault that they didn't die. It was her fault that Stefan forced him to drink blood and Damon was doomed to an eternal life all alone.

Stefan had, as usual, hit the jackpot. Katherine was "dead," but it was obvious that the younger man would get a girlfriend who was the carbon copy of the vampire. Elena made Damon face some inner conflicts. He was angry because looking at Elena was like looking at Katherine, looking at Elena was seeing that Stefan was once again the chosen one. Looking at Elena was a daily reminder that he was fated to be discarded and left alone. Maybe that was why Damon was so insistent on making himself present to Elena, even if she didn't like it. He wanted to prove to everyone that, this time, he would be the chosen one. That Elena, sooner or later, would realize that she wanted Damon, not Stefan.

Damon loved Elena? Maybe. What he knew was that he had lived long enough to know himself and know that his stubbornness would not let him give up trying to take the girl from Stefan. The vampire kicked Mason into the grave and proceeded to cover it. When he was done he threw the shovel away and wiped the sweat from his brow. He walked at a slow pace to the entrance of the house, and found Stefan hurrying out.

"Where's the party?" teased Damon.

"It's Jenna," Stefan replied, "Elena said Katherine compelled Jenna to stab herself."

"What?", Damon questioned in surprise, but his brother didn't answer. Damon decided to get in the car and go to the hospital with him.

It was obvious that Katherine would find a way to retaliate against both of them, and Damon didn't know if the retaliation was because she really needed the moonstone for something the two of them remained completely alienated, or if it was just to demonstrate power. To demonstrate that she would always have them in the palm of her hand.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Stefan jumped out of the car and ran to the reception without even turning off the engine. Damon huffed and pulled the key out of the ignition, got out of the vehicle, slammed the door and locked the car. He walked slowly to the hospital entrance, where he spotted Emma smoking a cigarette. The young woman looked worried, and when her eyes met Damon's, she frowned. He realised she was studying him from head to toe, and approached in silence.

"What the hell happened to you?" she asked, indicating his clothes with her chin. He looked down and realized he was wearing muddy trousers and boots.

"I was burying a body," he replied, and she laughed low through her nose. Damon gave her a smirk, revealing in the fact that she had no idea what he was and what he was capable of. "How's Jenna?" he questioned. Emma didn't find the question strange. She knew Elena had called Stefan and, well, Damon was Stefan's brother.

"She's stable," Emma replied, putting out her cigarette in a bin and discarding the cigarette butt. "I still don't understand what happened, Elena said things that make no sense at all".

"What did she say?"

"That Jenna stabbed herself," Emma replied, frowning even more. "She spoke as if Jenna had, in fact, stabbed herself. But that doesn't make sense. Who takes a knife and buries it in themselves? She must have fallen on the knife, or fallen with the knife in her hand, or something like that. Alaric doesn't ring a bell either!"

"Alaric was with her?" Damon asked, throwing his head to the side and studying Emma's face. It was as if he could hear engines working inside the girl's head in search of a logical answer to what had happened. Which, obviously, she wouldn't find. There was nothing logical about Mystic Falls. There was only the supernatural.

"He was. And it would take my sleep away if Elena wasn't along too."

It was Damon's turn to frown.

"Why?"

"Because that means it wasn't Alaric," Emma replied, staring Damon in the eye. For the first time, the vampire realised that her eyes were the color of whisky. "This damn town gets weirder every day".

Jeremy emerged through the hospital door, sighed at the sight of Emma and Damon, and approached the two. Damon nodded at the boy; after all, it was thanks to him that they had found out about the moonstone. Jeremy had proved to be a more aggregating force than Elena herself in the fight against Katherine.

"She's fine", Jeremy assured Emma, and the girl let out the air she hadn't even realized she'd trapped inside her lungs. "Jenna's coming home in a few days, maybe even tomorrow. The knife didn't hit any organs, but the doctors think it's best if she spends the night here for observation".

"Thank God", Emma exclaimed. "Where's Elena?"

"Inside with Stefan and Alaric", Jeremy replied, and the girl nodded.

"I really need a coffee, and some fries", Emma said, and looked at Damon "You're invited, if you want".

"I'm not a man to deny coffee", Damon replied and waited for Emma to lead the way to the hospital cafeteria. Jeremy walked beside the vampire and intended to say something, but Damon gave the boy a look that said the two of them would talk later. Jeremy nodded and followed his cousin in silence.

The three of them sat down at a table at the back of the cafeteria and Emma ordered three coffees and a large portion of fries. Jeremy and Emma sat side by side, while Damon sat opposite the girl. The table was so small that his knees brushed against hers, but she didn't seem to mind. The girl surveyed the entire cafeteria, as was customary for her. Emma always analyzed the whole environment around her. She liked to know how many people were in the place, who the people were, where the doors and windows were, among other things. She watched as the waitress came out from behind the counter and picked up a salt and pepper shaker, which were magnetically stuck to the drinks fridge in the place. With her other hand, the waitress picked up three coffees and made her way to their table.

It was only in the light of the place that Jeremy noticed Damon's dirty clothes, and raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to your clothes?" the boy asked a few seconds before the waitress appeared with a tray carrying the three coffees. Jeremy took his, and Emma and Damon repeated the gesture.

"He was burying a body", Emma replied, bringing the cup to her lips. Jeremy spat out the coffee and proceeded to cough. The girl then turned to her cousin and patted him on the back. "Oh no, not you too!"

Gilbert wiped his mouth and the table with a napkin, and Emma rolled her eyes. In less than three days, Damon had had an allergic reaction, Jenna had stabbed herself, and now Jeremy had choked. It was a lot happening in a short time. Damon, unlike Emma, decided to have a little fun at the expense of the young woman's total ignorance regarding the supernatural, and the visible concern of the boy, who knew very well what he was.

"It's the fastest and most effective way to hide a body when you're a vampire. Superhuman strength and speed, you know?", Damon commented, smirking in a corner. Jeremy stared at him wide-eyed, and mimicked a desperate plea for the vampire to stop talking. Emma set her cup down on the table, lowered her arms into her own lap, and faced Damon with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you a vampire now?" she asked teasingly. Damon smiled even wider.

"Not now, actually, it's been a few years", he teased. Jeremy kicked him under the table, but the vamp didn't take his eyes off the girl, who stared at him in defiance.

"Well, since we're being honest about our true identities..." Emma replied, leaning forward, her arms still resting in her own lap. Jeremy watched intently as the salt shaker on the table moved slowly from the corner of the table until it stopped right in front of Damon, who had one eyebrow raised. The vampire also followed the salt shaker's movement with curiosity. "I'm Magneto", Emma finally spoke, and Jeremy sighed in relief before falling into laughter.

Damon cracked the first sincere smile Emma had ever seen stamped across his face, and the girl leaned back again, dropped her keychain on the table, and directed a wink at the vampire before going back to drinking her coffee. Damon decided he was starting to like the girl. The waitress finally brought their portion of fries and Jeremy stepped forward to get the salt shaker. Emma took three fries and stuffed them into her mouth, she hadn't eaten all day and was starving. Damon watched the girl close her eyes and let out a moan of pleasure as she chewed on her food, and wondered if she also moaned like that inside a room, completely naked. He felt his eyes burn towards the girl. Yes, Emma was definitely a rather interesting person and one that he was starting to like.

Emma's mobile phone started ringing and the girl quickly wiped her fingers on a napkin before picking up the device and answering the call.

"Hey," Emma answered.

"Emma, Stefan is going to take me home, is that okay with you?", Elena replied.

"Sure, I'll take Jer as soon as we finish eating", Emma replied, and Jeremy stared at her in question as he heard her name. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, it is. Jenna's fine, Alaric's staying the night. I'm just pretty tired".

"Okay, let me know when you arrive, please", Emma asked, and Elena assured her that she would let her know as soon as Stefan dropped her off at home. The woman hung up the phone and looked at her cousin. "Stefan will take Elena home".

"I can give you guys a ride", Damon offered quickly, without even thinking. Emma turned to him and smiled appreciatively.

"No need, I came by car. But thanks, Damon", Emma replied, raising her hand high on the table to call the waitress. Politely, the girl asked for the bill, and Jeremy was quite amused to witness a small argument between his cousin and the vampire over who would pay the bill. Ultimately, Emma paid for everything, and Damon rolled his eyes, muttering that she was insufferable.

However, something in the tone the vampire used gave Jeremy away that this was not true. Emma had only been in town a few weeks, and with the exception of her own family and Alaric, Damon was the only person she'd ever approached. Or rather, Damon had approached her. Jeremy hadn't failed to notice that the vampire always embraced every opportunity to strike up a conversation with her, or to be in the same place as her. Honestly, Jeremy never imagined he'd see Damon sitting in a coffee shop eating fries and looking like he was enjoying himself.

Maybe that was Emma's effect on people, at least that was the effect she always had on Jeremy. The younger Gilbert had always been very attached to the girl, ever since he was a child. Despite the large age gap between the two, Emma had always looked after him and kept him company, much more even than Elena.

Jenna was more rebellious, and Jeremy remembered his aunt thinking she was too grown up to spend time with them, even though she was only a teenager. Elena had always been quite self-centered. She was spoiled by their parents, was popular at school, was always surrounded by her friends, and didn't take much time to hang out with him. However, Emma could handle it all. She was popular, she had her rebellious moments with Jenna, and yet she always, always made time for him.

When Jeremy suffered his first bike fall, Emma was the one who cleaned his bruises while telling jokes to keep him from crying. When some boys surrounded Jeremy at school and tore up his notebooks, Emma was the one who caught one of the boys by the collar and threatened to finish him off if he touched Jeremy again. She would never do that, she couldn't even hurt a fly, but her words had an effect and Jeremy went two years without being bullied.

When his parents passed away, he missed Emma very much. Maybe, if she had been there, he wouldn't have turned to drugs. Or, even if he had, he knew Emma would be the one person not to make judgements. She would listen to him, and help him. Yes, she would definitely help him. Witnessing Emma's interaction with Damon also made Jeremy consider telling the girl the whole truth. It was only fair that she knew that the town was full of supernatural beings, that Jenna's accident hadn't been an accident, that there was a crazy vampire out to hurt her family. She deserved to know, deserved to be prepared to protect herself. Jeremy would never forgive himself if Emma came away hurt because she knew absolutely nothing. He decided he would think about it, and consult with Elena about Emma's need to know about Katherine, about Mason, and about Damon and Stefan.

As Jeremy said goodbye to Damon, he took advantage of Emma's distraction by getting into the car and starting the engine to tell the vampire that he would be going to the Salvatore house the next day to arrange what they would do about Katherine. Damon nodded positively and shook the boy's hand. The vampire walked over to the driver's side of the car and leaned over with his elbow propped on Emma's window.

"Drive carefully, doll" Damon said, and Emma let go of the steering wheel, leaning into the open window. She stood with her face quite close to Damon's, who was smiling mockingly.

"You too, frowning boy" she commented. "A bath would be nice to you".

Damon laughed and stood up, patting the roof of the car twice before walking away towards the spot Stefan had parked his car. It was only when Emma's car disappeared down the street that Damon realized he wasn't with his Camaro. Stefan had left with Elena and left him on foot. Rolling his eyes in irritation, the vampire walked towards the Grill for a drink before heading home. After all, he deserved a good scotch after dealing with Mason.

He was on his fifth or sixth glass when a familiar vehicle caught his eye across the street. He dropped a few bills of money on the counter and exited the Grill, tossing his head to the side as he watched curiously Emma's car parked right in front of a small, brick building. It was an old building, like everything else in that city. It only had four floors and probably didn't count with any elevators.

"So this is where you live", Damon muttered to himself, and decided to cross the street. He glanced at his wristwatch and saw that it was past two in the morning. He'd lost track of time drinking alone and thinking about the joke that was his life. A joke that lasted more than a century and a half. He stopped in front of the building and looked up, wondering which flat belonged to Elena's cousin.

Checking the street and finding that there was no one there, he jumped from floor to floor until he found the window that overlooked her flat. It was on the top floor, of course. Why did people who lived in buildings without elevators always choose the top floor? He looked inside the flat and analyzed the surroundings. It was small, but quite cozy. His vision allowed him to see every detail of the place, even with the lights off. It was a three room flat. The living room and bedroom were in the same room, but Emma had done a good job with the furniture arrangement, managing to delineate well the living area and the sleeping area. The other rooms would be the kitchen and the bathroom, both out of sight for him. The window Damon was standing at was thankfully right in front of the bed, and he watched Emma completely sprawled out on the bed, face down with her back against the mattress. She had one arm across her chest, while the other was splayed across the pillow, right above her head. Her hair formed a crown of strands, and her face was turned slightly toward the window, so that Damon could see her peaceful expression.

He knew it was completely creepy to watch someone sleep, and he wasn't familiar with this stalker behavior, but Emma intrigued him. He knew nothing about her beyond the fact that she was Elena and Jeremy's cousin. Only now did he know where she lived. He wanted to know more about her, he didn't like being oblivious to anything. It bothered him that Emma knew more about him than he knew about her, and that she didn't even know he was a vampire. And it was because of that nagging in his chest that he stood there, watching the girl sleep peacefully in a tangle of sheets and covers.

Just like drinking at the Grill, watching Emma seemed to make him lose track of time. Damon didn't know how many minutes or hours he stood there before he noticed her breathing start to get heavier. He frowned and moved his face closer to the glass of the closed window, sharpening his eyes and ears. He could hear her racing heartbeat, the sound of her failing breathing cut off by a few mumbles, and the sound of her hands and legs wriggling against the sheets. He could see when her lips twitched downwards and a few tears escaped her closed eyes, and he was puzzled.

Emma had nightmares, there was nothing unusual about that. Lots of people had nightmares, he used to have them himself when he was still human. However, he felt uncomfortable to witness such an intimate and seemingly painful moment for her. Despite this, he found himself unable to turn his back and walk away. He watched the girl's discomfort grow until the moment she woke up startled and quickly sat up in bed, placing her head between her hands.

Emma swept away the tears with the tip of her thumbs and looked startled to the side. Damon watched, frowning, as she got out of bed and quickly ran to the door, checking that it was locked. Before the girl could reach the window to do the same thing she'd done with the door, Damon clattered against the bricks and hid himself from her view. He couldn't say why, but the vampire waited until Emma was back in bed before finally returning home.

As arranged, Jeremy showed up at the Salvatore house the next day to help organize a plan to kill Katherine once and for all during the Masquerade Ball that would take place in two days. Emma, in contrast, took the time to pick up Jenna from the hospital and console Elena, who had broken up with Stefan. The young woman was relieved that she wouldn't start work at the school until the following week, so she could dedicate her time to her family.

The Gilbert girl didn't go into detail and seemed uncomfortable with her older cousin talking about the breakup, so Emma asked no questions and only hugged Elena, letting her cry on her shoulder. When Jeremy let them know he was going to the Masquerade Ball, both Emma and Jenna were happy that the boy was living out his youth more and enjoying the few events the town offered.

Jenna and Jeremy used to insist that Emma sleep at the Gilbert house, but Emma always denied it. She was afraid that everyone would find out that she was plagued by nightmares every night, so she preferred to sleep alone in her flat. And it was for this reason that the young woman remained completely oblivious to all the events of the Masked Ball and Elena's kidnapping.

.

While Emma remained in her flat preparing the classes she would begin teaching on Monday, Damon had been living hell. Ever since he'd discovered that Katherine wasn't in the tomb, and especially after learning that the vampire had a vested interest in hurting Elena, the elder Salvatore believed that he wouldn't have peace of mind until he finally drove a stake through her heart and ended her life once and for all. Locking her in the tomb with the moonstone after Bonnie's plan seemed, at first, like a delicious revenge. Katherine would finally be locked away, forever, in the place where she should have remained all those years.

However, none of it eased the weight Damon carried within himself. Nothing seemed enough. He had gotten rid of Katherine, yes, but there was still Elena and all the conflicting feelings he had for the doppelganger. When he heard Gilbert was in danger, he didn't think twice about taking on an Original. Because yes, that Elijah guy was an Original.

Elena seemed like a magnet for trouble, just like Katherine. But Elena wasn't Katherine. Damon knew that, and it hurt. It hurt to admit to himself that he had feelings for the duplicate, perhaps stronger feelings than he had for the original vampire. It was enough to learn that Elena had been kidnapped for all those feelings to plague him at once. For the first time in a long time, Damon didn't know what to do. Would he fight for Elena? Would he leave the way for Stefan? What was the right thing to do? And, more importantly, did he really want to do the right thing?

He felt that he needed, for once, to admit his feelings out loud, and so he went to the Gilbert house to return the vervain necklace to Elena. Damon looked her in the eye and said the words. He thought the confession would bring him some comfort, but the truth was that the syllables tasted bitter against his tongue. The words, which when inside his head seemed so true, sounded strange once spoken aloud. And he couldn't understand why.

So he did what was obvious: he compelled her to forget. He made his way back walking down the dark street, convincing himself that he had compelled her because it was the right thing to do. Because he didn't deserve Elena. Stefan did. Because he loved her and wanted her to be happy, even if it wasn't with him. But again, something felt wrong. What was wrong? What?

Emma, for her part, was walking down the street with her arms crossed and irritated. She had called Elena more than five times, and all she got was voicemail. Jenna was at Alaric's house and Jeremy had been vague on the phone. Emma wouldn't have suspected anything if Jeremy hadn't strangely asked his cousin to stay home and not allow anyone into the flat. The request, of course, was enough for the young woman to grab her car keys and walk out the door.

She was annoyed because, in addition to her cousins' evasive behavior, she found her car with flat tyres, and it was too late to find any garage open to do the repair. In fact, it was so late that there wasn't even a taxi on the street, so she decided to walk. She walked briskly, frowning, muttering to herself how much she would like to shove Elena's mobile phone down the girl's throat, since it was apparently useless.

As she crossed the last corner, which marked the end of the city's commercial perimeter and the beginning of a large road that led to the outlying districts, where Jenna's house was located, a man leaning on a lamppost whistled at Emma. She pulled in a sharp intake of breath and locked it inside her lungs, and kept walking, hurrying her pace a little and trying to ignore the man who was probably drunk and only meant to be completely inconvenient. However, the man started to follow her, and Emma felt the hairs on the back of her neck creep up.

"Hey, girl", the man called out, but Emma didn't turn back. She just kept walking. The man repeated the call and the girl rolled her eyes.

"Fuck you", she replied, irritated. Just then, another man emerged from behind a tree, stopping in front of Emma. Both the first man and the second were a good distance away from the girl, but she still stopped, and stuck her hands in her pockets, fitting her house keys between her knuckles, preparing herself in case she needed to hit the men just enough to get away.

She was terrified, of course, but she could also feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins, causing her heart to beat out of rhythm. As usual, she scanned her surroundings for solutions to the problem. She already had the keys between her fingers, and realized that the first man had a choked voice, so he was probably drunk and couldn't run in curved lines. If she ran through the trees, she could lose him, but there was still the second man. Her head was machining alternatives to running away, but then something made her freeze in place.

"Kitten has claws", the second man commented, laughing, and Emma felt the blood leave her face.

"Wha-what did you just ca-call m-me?" she stammered.

"Such a pretty kitten", the man spoke again, and Emma couldn't react, Her body froze in the place, and she felt the air missing in her lungs. Inhale. Lock. One. Two. Three. Release. That's all she could think of. One. two, three.

The man, satisfied with Emma's panicked expression, started walking towards her, while the other threw the beer bottle he held into the distance and also approached. The sound of breaking glass caught the attention of Damon, who was walking through the darkness returning from the Gilbert house, and when he saw the source of the noise, he saw red.

Contrary to what many thought, Damon didn't act out of rage. He acted on impulse, that much was clear, he didn't calculate what to do before he acted. But not out of rage. Anger, maybe, when he didn't get what he wanted, or when he wanted to hit someone else. But rage was something stronger, it was something that awakened something animalistic inside him. And that was exactly what he felt when he saw the two men surrounding Emma.

Before any thread of thought crossed his head, Damon ripped the throat out of the inebriated man and dismembered the other on that highway. He hadn't killed to feed, or even to amuse himself. He killed out of rage. Damon knew what they intended to do, rotten intentions like that were sniffed in the air by him. So he tore the throat out of one with his own teeth, and ripped the arms and heart out of the other. Damon was angry, in a way he'd never been, not even when his humanity was off.

Completely bloodstained, Damon turned to the young woman, who remained frozen in place. Her wide eyes were glued to his. He could still feel that his face was still disfigured, his eyes black and his fangs sticking out. Emma was scared, it was so quiet in that street that he could hear her quickened heartbeat. Her face was white, lips completely without color, and her eyes... Her whiskey eyes were moist and wide, staring straight at him.

Damon was completely soiled with blood, and perhaps still had bits of the men's flesh between his fingers, and yet Emma did the opposite of what he would have expected of her at that moment. She looked in shock, she was terrified, and she wouldn't take her eyes off him. And he didn't know what to do. He should probably compel the girl to forget what had happened, and he took long strides forward with the aim of doing so.

However, Emma surprised him. Without ever taking her eyes off his, she finished crossing the distance between the two of them and hugged him. She entwined her arms around his waist and sank her face against the vampire's chest. Emma clutched him as if he was all she needed at that moment, and Damon was confused, and felt his fangs collect into his gums.

It didn't make sense. Maybe she was in shock, maybe she hadn't yet absorbed what she'd just witnessed. Because nothing there made sense. Damon hesitantly hugged her back, pressing her against his body. And it was... good. The vampire remained silent, holding her against himself until her breathing calmed a little.

"I want to go home, Damon," she whispered against his chest, and the vampire frowned, staring at the bodies on the floor as the girl breathed against his chest. Emma knew it was him, had seen what he'd done, and yet she was hanging onto him like he was a life-preserver jacket. Slowly, Damon, who had his chin resting on the top of her head, nodded positively and, finding voice within his own throat, replied.

"I'll take you home".