Hey there! It's been a while. I'm sorry, readers. I've had a busy year. I started university last September which certainly took up a lot of my time. Don't worry, I've (hopefully) figured out a way to write regularly and (hopefully) update regularly as well. On a brighter note, this story has reached 70 reviews! That's amazing! I hope you enjoy 20+ pages of this new chapter! As always, do favourite, follow, and review. It helps inspire me to write more.

P.S. I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters. I only own my original characters and my story.


Chapter 9

Adelina was tired. She'd had a long day. Today was her 12th birthday. Of course, nobody really gave a damn about those kinds of things in the foster care system. They only seemed to care when kids turned 18 and they could kick them out to fend for themselves. It was Adelina's second year in the foster care system. She had been moved to different foster homes multiple times in those two years, each one seemingly worse than the last.

She'd spent her birthday getting beat up by her foster parents for the smallest mistakes. She got pushed down the stairs for not getting Veronica, her current foster mom, her beer fast enough. Then Grant, her current foster dad, whipped her with his belt before he locked her in a closet for two hours for not doing the laundry on time. It seemed that no matter what she did she was bound to get a beating. The beatings were better than what happened when everyone went to bed at night, though. She prayed to whatever entity there was up there that she wouldn't have to go through that tonight. That was her birthday wish.

It seemed as though her prayers had gone unanswered once again. As soon as she climbed onto her dirty mattress in the linen closet, which was now her makeshift bedroom, and curled up underneath the blankets Grant came in through the door. He reeked of booze and looked downright sinister as he climbed into bed and started to stroke Adelina's hair.

Adelina stifled a whimper as his hand continued its path down her chest, pausing there to grope her budding breasts before trailing down her tummy and stopping over her private area. Grant slowly pulled down Adelina's shorts before unbuttoning her shirt to leave her only in her panties.

Adelina knew better than to fight. When Grant first started coming into her room, she would fight like hell and piss him off. That in turn would make the abuse worse for her. So she quietly pretended to be asleep as Grant continued to grope her breasts. He then pulled down her panties to leave Adelina completely naked and vulnerable. Her skin broke out in goosebumps as she felt Grant start stroking her intimate area. He had pulled out his member and had begun stroking it while he touched her. She couldn't help as a few tears broke free from her eyes. She wondered what terrible thing she did that made her deserve such torment.

Suddenly, a finger stabbed into her small passage. She let out a cry of shock and pain as she felt blood leak down her thighs.

Grant smirked. "I knew you weren't asleep. Do you know what that means? You were faking it. In my book, that's lying. And you know how I hate liars."

"Please, I'm sorry. Just don't hurt me anymore," cried Adelina, trying to wrestle free of his grip on her body.

"You know, I checked your file today. It said that it was your birthday today. Your 12th birthday to be exact. You're a big girl now. Do you know what that means?"

"N-No."

Grant smiled eerily. "It means that you deserve a big girl birthday present."

Adelina was confused as to what Grant meant. That was until Grant started to pull his shirt over his head and stand up so he could step out of his jeans and boxers. Adelina started to realize what was happening, but before she could run or even react, Grant had tied her hands down with his belt and stuffed his shirt into her mouth to gag her. Adelina tried screaming through the gag, but her screams came out as muffled moans. Adelina was crying uncontrollably now, her eyes bloodshot and her face splotchy.

"Aw, don't be that way, doll. You'll like it...eventually," snickered Grant.

Adelina started shaking her head frantically, pleading with gestures for him not to do this. But her pleas did nothing to warm Grant's cold heart. She wasn't even sure he had a soul, let alone a heart. Grant only laughed at Adelina's pleas before positioning himself above her. Adelina threw in a last-ditch effort to stop him by wriggling wildly to get him off of her. Unfortunately, it only excited the pedophile further. He made his arousal known by pressing into her entrance before ramming his way into her.

Adelina's screams were muted by the makeshift gag, but whatever noises she made only made Grant further excited, which made him go faster. Her pain turned into absolute agony as he thrust faster into her small body. It felt as if she was being torn apart and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

After what felt like years, Grant pulled out and spilled his release onto her belly. He murmured something about not wanting to get her pregnant. It fell on deaf ears, however, as Adelina remained there frozen. Grant quietly untied the belt looped around Adelina's wrists and took his shirt out of her mouth, not bothering to put it back on. He pulled on his boxers and jeans before leaving the room, whistling as he did.

Adelina just lay there, naked and bloody as tears streamed down her face. She wished he had just killed her instead.

Adelina was jolted awake by a hand grabbing her shoulder from behind. She screamed and fought off the hand, unsheathing her claws before stabbing at the intruder. A familiar grunt sounded from the intruder's lips, snapping Adelina back to reality. She turned to realize it was Damon who had tried to wake her. She's just stabbed Damon completely through the chest. Choking back her horror at what she'd just done, she quickly sheathed her claws and jumped out of bed. Adelina murmured her apologies as she racked her brain on what to do to help him. Damon just stood there, hunched over as the wounds in his chest started to heal.

"I-I'm so sorry! Are you gonna be okay?" Adelina whimpered.

"...Yeah, just...gonna take a little time to heal," groaned Damon.

"Do you want some blood? Will that help?"

Before Damon could even answer, Adelina had rushed down to the cellar to get two blood bags. She didn't bother warming it as she was too worried about Damon being in pain to wait around for something as minor as that. She darted back up the stairs with the blood bags, handing Damon one and gesturing for him to drink. Damon rolled his eyes at Adelina's concern but heeded her instructions. He found it kind of sweet. The last time someone had taken care of him was Elena when he lay in bed dying from a werewolf bite. That was last year. He was used to having to take care of himself, but he couldn't deny that it felt nice for someone to care for him. He finished the contents of the bag within three minutes. The wounds in his chest had long since healed, but he took the second blood bag from Adelina once he saw the look of worry still etched onto her face.

"You have no idea how sorry I am, Damon. I can't say it enough," said Adelina.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm a vampire. We heal fast as long we've got enough blood in our system and nothing major is damaged. Like my heart getting a wooden stake through it or my head getting chopped off execution-style," dismissed Damon.

Adelina rolled her eyes. "Only you could joke about getting stabbed in the chest."

"Are you okay, though? You were screaming in your sleep again. Mind telling me what that was about? Because whatever it was, it must have been really bad to get you attacking me."

Adelina didn't know what to say. How could she answer that? Oh, don't worry about it, Damon. I just dreamed of the past memory of my first time being with some pedophile. Yeah, I was raped. But it's no big deal. Yeah, there was definitely no way she could say that to him. She didn't want him to pity her. Or worse, be disgusted with her.

"It doesn't matter," Adelina finally said.

"I don't believe that," countered Damon.

"Believe what you want. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower."

Adelina started for the bathroom, but Damon grabbed her arm before she could get even two feet away from him.

"Adelina, believe me, I don't want to hurt you. I just want to help you," he murmured.

Adelina stiffened. "I don't want or need your help. Now let go of me."

With that, Adelina wrenched her arm out of Damon's grasp and grabbed some fresh clothes before heading into the bathroom. Damon sighed as he heard the bathroom door's lock click in place and the shower turn on. He didn't know what to do. One part of him wanted to give Adelina her space. The other part, however, couldn't help but want to break down her walls and know every part of her, demons and all. That other part scared him because if he got too close he was afraid he'd get burned. But would it be worth it, if I got to know her scars and all?

Damon decided that he didn't want to ponder such things. He was in love with Elena, not Adelina. It was Elena that made his world go round, not Adelina. He would do well to remember that. Steeling his resolve, he made his way downstairs to make breakfast.

Adelina felt numb. It had been two weeks since she had accepted Damon's offer to stay with him at the boarding house. It seemed that during that time she had even more frequent nightmares of her past. The visions were overwhelming as well. She had recently started taking Valium again to try to have dreamless slumbers. Unfortunately, it seemed her body had gotten used to her regular dosage of the drug. So either she would have to risk overdosing on the drug when she went to sleep at night, or she'd just have to tolerate the nightmares and visions. The former seemed far more appealing but she, unfortunately, had a mission. A mission that wasn't negotiable in the slightest. Adelina didn't care what hurdles she had to jump over. She was going to find Zoriayah if it was the last thing she ever did. She didn't go through the hell that was her life just to not get her answers.

Freshly showered and having changed into clean clothes, Adelina made her way out of the bathroom and checked her phone. Damon had insisted it was unacceptable for her to be without one what with all the supernatural dangers out there in the world. She had rolled her eyes at him when he presented her with the latest iPhone. She had to admit though, it was useful having a phone on her. She could get in touch with anyone now in case of an emergency. Not to mention that it made it easier to coordinate plans with Bonnie regarding her education in witchcraft.

There was another reason why she hadn't wanted a phone. She knew that once she got one she would feel increasingly tempted to dial Xander's number and call him. And sure enough, here she was dialling in Xander's number before hovering her finger over the call button. She pressed the button and put the phone up to her ear. The line rang for a bit before someone picked it up.

"Hello, who is this?" came Xander's voice.

Adelina couldn't speak. She felt like she hadn't heard his voice in so long. Is this a mistake? Should I even have called?

"Hello? Anyone there?" said Xander.

Adelina hung up the phone. Tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't take it. She wished Xander was here to tell her it would be okay. That she'd be okay. That she'd finally be happy soon. But it seemed her past was determined to constantly remind her of its existence. She felt like she wanted to die. It was too much. So she did something she knew would help only temporarily. She unsheathed the claws from her right hand and slashed the top of her left forearm. The slice of pain she received was so addicting that she couldn't stop. She kept cutting her pale flesh until her blood had soaked through her shirt. Adelina's tears had long since dried. It was as if her self-mutilation had soothed her tears. Adelina finally calmed down, so she washed her face and arm before changing into a new long-sleeved shirt and heading downstairs for breakfast.

Damon was already sitting down at the dining table with a breakfast spread laid out before him. He was sipping on a steaming mug of blood while reading the newspaper. He briefly looked up at Adelina as she sat down at the table before returning his focus to his newspaper. Adelina took a deep breath. It seemed that Damon had taken Adelina's words as a reason to give her the silent treatment. She felt a stab of pain as she realized that he might've decided to take her words as a reason to distance himself from her as well. Adelina shook off the hurt as she grabbed some toast and scrambled eggs. If he wants to distance himself from me that's fine by me. It makes things easier for me.

Damon and Adelina both ate their breakfast in silence. They were both too stubborn to be the first one to break the silence. Adelina wasn't feeling all that hungry, so she finished her breakfast quickly before grabbing her car keys and heading out of the boarding house. It was the weekend, so she was heading straight to Bonnie's house for her witchcraft lessons rather than waiting until the afternoon to do so. It was good because she desperately needed a distraction from her nightmares.

Adelina arrived at Bonnie's place in approximately twenty minutes. She had taken a detour from the regular route so she could make a temporary stop at the police station to see if there had been any leads in Mrs. Flowers's murder. There were none, so the case had been closed with the official word being that it was an animal attack. Adelina was disappointed by this but not surprised. Mortal police were at best useless and at worst an absolute nuisance. She did find out that they'd be holding her memorial tomorrow, which she planned on attending, even though she had already attended her funeral, to pay her last respects to the kind old woman. It was the least she could do after everything.

Adelina climbed out of her car and walked up to the front door. She rang the doorbell and waited for a few moments before Bonnie opened the door and let her in.

"Hey, Bonnie," greeted Adelina.

"Hi, Adelina. Ready for your lesson for today?" asked Bonnie.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good. Let's get started then."

Bonnie set up some candles all around the living room, leaving them unlit. She then turned off the lights and brought her grimoires to the coffee table by the couch. Bonnie gestured for Adelina to sit down next to her, to which Adelina complied.

"I want you to light the candles yourself this time. I've seen what you can do when they have already been lit, so now let's see you do it yourself," said Bonnie.

Adelina nodded. "Alright. Here goes nothing."

Adelina closed her eyes and concentrated on the candles around her, searching for them in her mind and willing them to ignite. Sure enough, the candles flickered to life.

Bonnie looked surprised. "You lit the candles without using the Latin chant for it. How did you do that?"

"I just concentrated on the candles with my mind and they ignited. You light them most of the time without saying anything, so why does it matter?" asked Adelina in confusion.

"Well, it's different for me as I am already a somewhat experienced witch. Not to mention that I'm a Bennett witch. You, on the other hand, don't have much experience with witchcraft. So you being able to light all of these candles without taking even five minutes or even muttering a single word of Latin is quite peculiar, to say the least. Not to mention that newbies usually end up starting something they can't control if they manage to start anything."

"So I guess I should stick to using the Latin incantations then?"

"Well, I never said that. Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like what you did was wrong. If you feel like you can control your magic without the use of Latin incantations, then by all means go for it. I just request that you leave doing the more powerful spells for when you're with me. You can't really do those without incantations as it is but they still take a toll on your mind and body, especially for rookies. That way if anything goes wrong I'll be your safety net."

"That sounds reasonable enough."

The rest of the day went by relatively fast, with Adelina picking up the new spells Bonnie had decided to share with relative ease. Soon enough, the sky had become tinged with orange and pink as the sun touched the horizon. Adelina noticed this and quickly darted her eyes to the grandfather clock in the room. She had been practicing magic with Bonnie for 4 hours over her allotted time.

Adelina blushed. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie! I didn't notice the time until now. I'm sorry if I kept you from anything important."

"Don't worry about it. I had nothing better to do anyway," dismissed Bonnie with a wave of her hand.

"I better get going then. Thanks for today, even if we did go overtime."

"It's no big deal. Hey, I just realized that we missed dinner. You should eat something before you go. After all, you did use up a lot of energy today. Six hours of almost nonstop witchcraft is enough to make a regular witch feel drained, let alone a newbie."

"I don't know… I don't want to be any trouble."

Bonnie snorted. "Seriously, don't worry about it. I'm gonna be making myself a late dinner anyway, so there really won't be an issue with you sticking around for some of it. Think of it as keeping me company so I won't be suffering through a lonely meal."

"Well, when you put it that way… Alright, I guess it can't hurt to stay for dinner."

Bonnie smiled and ushered Adelina into the dining room to sit down. But Adelina shook her head.

"What? What's wrong?" asked Bonnie.

"I'm not just gonna sit around while you cook for the both of us. So you get an assistant to help you out tonight," said Adelina.

"Alright then, suit yourself. Let's go take a look in the kitchen to see what we can scrape together for dinner."

The two witches found that the fridge was reasonably stocked as were the cupboards. They traded ideas of possible meals until they both agreed on making quesadillas. The two witches worked side by side to prepare the meal, making small talk as they did so. Adelina was careful to not let Bonnie touch her, even by accident. She didn't know if Bonnie had the same ability to see visions when she touched someone, and she'd rather the Bennett witch didn't catch wind of her recent flashback from this morning, or of something else buried deep in her past.

Eventually, dinner was ready and the two girls fixed up their plates before seating themselves at the small dining table in the dining room. They spent the next hour or so eating and exchanging small talk about different topics. Adelina was glad for that, as she wasn't in the mood to have some deep conversation about life and the supernatural aspects of both of theirs. By the time they were both finished dinner, Adelina had noticed it was now quite late. So she thanked Bonnie for the meal and made her way out of the Bennett house. Starting up the Mustang, she pulled out of the driveway and out onto the road.

Adelina didn't want to head to the boarding house yet. She just didn't want to deal with Damon. Not like she believed that he would do anything to break down her walls after what happened earlier that morning, or at least not anytime soon. I guess I just don't want to deal with the silent treatment right now.

With that in mind, Adelina drove to the forest that Damon had taken her to during her first tour of Mystic Falls. She pulled up onto the side of the road and parked the Mustang before climbing out of it and starting down the beaten path to the river. She made it to the river in less than ten minutes. Adelina peeled off her shoes and socks and carefully dipped her feet into the cool water, sitting down on the riverbank and sinking her calves into the water once she deemed the water a reasonable temperature. Swishing her feet around in the water, Adelina looked up to gaze at the stars and the sliver of the moon that was on display tonight. She could make out a few constellations. She closed her eyes and imagined herself deep in space and looking at the Earth from an outsider's perspective. What I wouldn't give to be far away from this world, far away from my worries and sorrows.

A branch snapping suddenly broke through Adelina's thoughts. Her eyes snapped open as she perked up and focused her hearing on her surroundings. She took a deep breath through her nose and caught a familiar scent. She relaxed and turned back to face the water.

"I know you're there. No point in hiding like a creepy stalker," Adelina called out.

Damon emerged from the trees with a sigh. He sauntered towards Adelina and gracefully sat down beside Adelina on the riverbank. They both sat there quietly for some time, just staring out at the moonlit water and the star-splashed sky. Finally, Adelina decided to break the silence that had enveloped them.

"Why are you here, Damon?" asked Adelina quietly.

Damon didn't answer at first but then sighed. "I swear I wasn't stalking you. I just needed to clear my head so I came to my usual spot. But you were already here. I didn't want to disturb you, so I just watched you. God, that sounds creepy as hell when you say it out loud."

Adelina finally turned to face Damon, temporarily taken aback at the beauty of his face in the dim moonlight. His pale skin was almost glowing in the moonlight and his eyes were a few shades lighter than usual. She almost reached out to gently stroke his face, but she managed to control herself before she did so.

"Look, I don't want things to be awkward between us. I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier today when you asked about my nightmare. You were only trying to help me, so you didn't deserve that. I'm just not ready to open up about certain parts of my life. I'm not sure I'll ever be, either," said Adelina.

"Hey, I get it. We've all got skeletons in our closets. Some are worse than others. I shouldn't have been giving you the silent treatment earlier, especially over something I have no right over. So...truce?"

Adelina's lips curved into a small smile. Damon got up and offered Adelina his hand to help her up. She accepted it and Damon gently but firmly pulled her up to her feet. Adelina giggled a bit at the intimate gesture. She looked for her shoes and socks and picked them up once she did find them, not bothering to put them on since her feet were still wet from the water. Adelina started for the path back to her car, but Damon didn't let go of her hand.

Adelina looked up at Damon, confusion scrunching up her facial features. "Is everything okay?"

Damon simply smirked. "Are you really gonna walk barefoot through the forest?"

Adelina blinked. "Uh, yeah? What else am I supposed to do? Hover above the ground?"

"Well, you could just let me give you a piggyback ride. That way you don't have to dirty those pretty little feet."

Adelina snorted as she started walking towards the path with Damon trailing closely behind her. "First of all, do you have a foot fetish? Second of all, my ancestors would walk barefoot all the time. They'd be rolling in their graves if they thought I was afraid of a little dirt."

"First of all, I don't have a foot fetish. I have a fetish for hot women. Second of all, why were your ancestors walking barefoot? Unless you're talking about the Stone Age because our ancestors were probably all walking barefoot around that time."

"I was talking about my ancestors on my father's side of the family line. My dad was born to a British-French settler and an Indigenous woman from the Innu tribe. Indigenous people greatly value the connection between human beings and the Earth. We came from the Earth and we return to it at the end of our lives. Everything we need to sustain ourselves comes from it, so a little soil on my feet isn't going to unnerve me."

Damon remained silent at that statement.

Adelina smirked. "What? Cat got your tongue, Mr. Salvatore?"

"More like wolf got my tongue. Although, if I said that after we make out then you'd quite literally have my tongue," said Damon.

Adelina simply rolled her eyes.

"I gotta say, I was not expecting that tidbit of information. You are pretty closed off most of the time when it comes to your personal history," Damon said thoughtfully.

"Hey, it's not like you've shared much about your personal history either! Also, I let you in on my supernatural identity or whatever you want to call it." Adelina countered.

"Oh please, I shared about my relationship with my brother. Oh, and you know about my unrequited love for a certain doppelganger. As for you letting me in on the fact that you're a card-carrying member of the supernatural world, well that's not as big of a deal as you'd think it is. Is it the first time I've heard of a werewolf-witch-vampire hybrid? Well, yeah obviously. Not to mention the claws that happen to have a chrome dip. What's with that, anyway?"

"Oh, the metal coat on my claws is just a nifty upgrade that I thought would be a good weapon to have on hand. Or rather, to have in hand. It hurt like a bitch to acquire and could have cost me my life, but hey, no risk means no reward."

"Okay, so that's one of the few things you've shared. As your friend, I should know more than whatever crumbs you've dropped here and there."

Adelina snorted. "Oh, so we're friends now?"

"Uh, yeah. That's what you said to Elena weeks back," retorted Damon.

"Ugh, true. I didn't know claiming to be your friend would lead to such incessant intrusiveness. Fine then, ask me some questions and if I'm comfortable with them I'll answer. But the catch is for each question you ask me I get to ask you one as well. Sounds good?"

They had reached her car at this point, so Damon waited until they both climbed into the car and Adelina had pulled away from the side of the road before giving his answer.

"Okay, I'll play by your rules. But to be clear, if I'm not comfortable with any question you throw at me I also have a right to decline to answer," said Damon.

Adelina rolled her eyes playfully. "I thought that was a given. But surely some harmless questioning won't cause you the great Damon Salvatore to clam up like…well, a clam."

Damon's eyes narrowed at Adelina. "Are you mocking me? Or rather, challenging me?"

Adelina's eyes were trained on the road, but she couldn't help the small twitch her lips gave. Damon, of course, caught the reaction.

"You know what, I'm taking that as a challenge. So…I suggest a wager," Damon offered mischievously.

Adelina briefly glanced at Damon before she responded. "What kind of wager?"

"Well, we'll alternate asking each other questions. For each question, somebody passes on answering that person has to take one shot more than the last time. So for example, the first question you skip on you'll only take one shot, but for the next question you skip you have to take two shots, and for the one after that three and so on."

"Okay, so those are the rules. What's the actual wager?"

"Whoever is least smashed by the end of the night wins the right to command the loser around for a whole day of their own choosing."

"So you're saying whoever wins gets their own bitch for a whole day?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Adelina mulled over the wager. She didn't really have much to lose. She could refuse whatever questions she found too invasive, except she could possibly become completely inebriated due to her penchant for avoiding personal questions. This in turn could lead her to answer questions she would later regret from her drunken stupor. Then again, she had a high tolerance for alcohol. Question was, was it higher than Damon's? Probably not, given that he's been a vampire for almost two centuries, she thought.

The boarding house had come into view, so Adelina pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine before hopping out of the car and walking up to the front door. Damon followed her and opened the already unlocked door.

"What did I tell you about leaving the door unlocked? One day, you're gonna end up with an empty house. Or worse, with a stake in your heart while you're sleeping," Adelina complained.

Damon snorted. "I'd love to see who is stupid enough to wander into a vampire's house. Especially when that very house is owned by not one but two vampires, one of those vampires being a ripper."

"What if the intruder is of the supernatural kind?"

"Well then, dear Adelina, a locked door won't do much to stop a supernatural threat."

"Fair point."

Adelina walked over to the couch and plopped herself down, lying face down on it. Damon chuckled at the sight of her.

"Tired, are you?" Damon teased.

Adelina groaned. "Yeah, it's been pretty exhausting." Emotionally exhausting, anyway.

"Bonnie must have worked you to the bone."

"Yeah, that must be it."

"Does this mean you're not up for the game?"

Adelina rolled over and sighed. "Do we have to?"

"Well no, but do you really wanna be the one that chickens out of a drinking-slash-question game?"

Adelina rolled her eyes. "You're really gonna play that card?"

"Yup," Damon said, popping the p.

"Ugh, fine."

Adelina pushed herself off the couch and made her way over to the wet bar. She grabbed a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses from the wet bar and walked back to her original spot. Placing the bottle and shot glasses on the coffee table, Adelina sat down and looked over at Damon expectantly.

"Well, are you just going to stand there? Unless, of course, you're the one who's gonna chicken out of the game," Adelina taunted.

Damon simply smirked in response. He took off his leather jacket and tossed it onto a chair before he moved to sit next to Adelina. Damon leaned over to move his mouth close to Adelina's ear.

He whispered, "So, who gets to start?"

Adelina felt a slight shiver go through her at his close proximity and the feel of his breath on her ear. She hoped that he hadn't noticed it, but sure enough, she glanced at his face and caught the faint twitch of his lips suppressing a smirk.

"Since it's your game you can start with the first question. Is that okay?" she responded.

Damon smiled. "More than okay."

"Okay. I guess you can shoot your question then."

"Alright. For the first question, I'll let you off easy. What's your birthday?"

"February 3rd, 1999. How about you?"

"Is that your first question?"

"Eh, sure why not? Since we're starting off easy and all."

"I was born June 18th, 1839."

"That makes you…178 years old. Damn, you're ancient!"

"Hey, I look good for someone who's 'ancient', thank you very much! Anyway, you're the one whose mom is older than our lovely friend Niklaus Mikaelson. I'm a spry young thing in comparison."

"Fair point, Mr. Salvatore. Anyway, it's your turn to ask a question."

"Alright. What's your favourite position?"

Adelina raised a brow. "Pardon?"

"Sex position? Wait, don't tell me you're a virgin," Damon snorted.

Adelina sniffed. "I'm not a virgin."

"Okay, answer the question then."

"I don't have one."

"Pardon?"

"I mean that I don't have a favourite position."

Damon raised a brow. "Really? Why's that?"

"Whose turn is it to ask questions? Right, it's mine," Adelina retorted.

"Fine, shoot your question."

"What was your most embarrassing moment?"

Damon winced. "Not sure if I should share this one."

"That's up to you. You could always back out and take the first shot," smirked Adelina.

"Ah, fuck it. So this was back when I was human. I think I was 14 or 15. I had ditched school to head over to a brothel with a few friends of mine. My friends had told me that I couldn't call myself a man until I'd lost my virginity. Basically, this was my initiation into manhood. I was from a wealthy family so money was not an issue. Anyway, I went into the brothel and was introduced by my friends to a prostitute to do the deed with. Once it was done, the prostitute asked for her payment. I was in the middle of putting my shirt on, so I just picked up my pants and searched my pockets for my money purse. Problem was, my purse wasn't there. The prostitute was calmly dressing herself this entire time, but once I told her I couldn't find my money purse she lost it. She pulled out a knife from her boot and threatened to castrate me. I ran out of there like a bat out of hell, with her chasing me surprisingly well considering she was wearing a dress and corset. Eventually, I lost her in the crowd, but I didn't stop running until I had gotten a good amount of distance away from the brothel. I had caught stares from the townsfolk as I was dashing through the streets trying to lose the woman. I originally thought that it was because a prostitute was chasing me, but then I realized that in my haste to get away from the homicidal prostitute I had forgotten to put on my pants and shoes. I was stark naked from the waist down. As it turns out, my friends had taken my money purse as a joke. They knew of the prostitute's crazy streak, and they thought it would be funny for me to be on the receiving end of it. They witnessed the whole thing go down and were dying of laughter while I was running away from possible death. Needless to say, I wasn't friends with them after that incident."

Adelina was struggling to contain her laughter, but the image of a 15-year-old Damon Salvatore running away half-naked from a prostitute was enough to burst into belly-busting laughter. Damon rolled his eyes as Adelina fell back on the couch, wheezing from the loss of air.

"Glad to see you enjoying yourself," he drawled in a dry tone.

"I'm sorry, I tried my best to not laugh. It's just too funny," Adelina said, wiping away a tear.

"Well, it's my turn. Since we ventured into my first-time story, it's only fair I turn the tables on you. How old were you when you lost your v-card?"

Adelina sobered after hearing his question. She reached for her shot glass and the bottle of vodka.

Damon snorted. "You're really gonna chicken out and take the first shot for that question? Really, Adelina?"

"Yeah, I am. Got a problem with it?" Adelina retorted coldly.

Damon threw up his hands in a surrender motion, catching the iciness of her tone. "No, not really."

In the next 20 minutes or so, Adelina learned that Damon was half French from his mother's side of the family, his favourite book was Call of The Wild, he absolutely loathed the book Twilight (he said it was a disgrace to vampire lore), he loved thunderstorms (then again, it fit his personality), he had slept with a variety of different famous women through the decades (including Marilyn Monroe), his biggest pet peeve was a messy room, his favourite music genre was rock, his parents treated him like garbage, and he had a pet turkey as a child named Penny. Damon learned that Adelina knew how to speak both English and French, her favourite book was Jane Eyre, she kept a journal because she was inspired by Anne Frank to do so, she was a claustrophobe, she had never been high for a minute in her life, she had never been anywhere outside of North America, she dreamed of visiting Europe as a child, and that she'd never been kissed even though she wasn't a virgin. The last fact was a bit confusing to Damon. He didn't understand how a girl as beautiful as Adelina could have gone being unkissed, especially as she wasn't a virgin.

"Okay, it's my turn. What is your full name? And by full name I mean your middle name as well," asked Adelina.

Damon sighed. "My full name is Damon Francesco Salvatore."

Adelina's eyes widened before a giggle escaped her lips. "Your full name is Damon Francesco Salvatore? Francesco? Really?"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. How about you? What's your full name, since turnabout's fair

play and all?"

"Before we get to that, I gotta ask, who gave you the name Francesco? I'm not saying it doesn't suit you, but it's not a name I hear often."

"You forget that I was born in the 19th century. It might not be a popular name now, but it was a pretty good name for Italian baby boys back then. As for who gave me the name, it was my father who was responsible for that. He wanted me to have a more regal name. I don't know where he got the idea from since it meant 'free man' in Italian. That combined with the meaning of my first name being 'one to tame', it's no wonder how wild and free I was and still am. That's something that my father hated for obvious reasons."

"Huh, interesting."

"Since you asked me two questions back to back, I'll do the same. First of all, what's your full name?"

"My full name is Adelina Bellona Howlett."

Damon smiled. "It's a beautiful name. Who gave you your name?"

"My mom gave me the name Adelina. She said it meant nobility in a number of languages. She said it suited me since I was the granddaughter of an Indigenous chief. As for my middle name, my dad gave me the name as it was the name of the Roman goddess of war. He gave me the name because he wanted me to grow up strong and

unwavering, just like the warrior goddess."

"After knowing the origin behind your name, I can only say that it definitely suits you."

"Thanks," Adelina said with a small smile.

The game continued for a while longer. The questions Damon was now asking became a tad too personal for Adelina's comfort, which resulted in Adelina taking more shots of vodka to avoid answering them. Damon obviously noticed Adelina starting to get more guarded as he asked certain questions. She had dodged questions about her childhood after her mother's disappearance, her deepest regrets, what her first-ever vision was, and what were some of the most significant visions she ever had. Adelina got the feeling that Damon was testing the strength of her emotional walls and how far he could get past them, or if it was even possible.

Damon was, in fact, trying to pick at Adelina's secrets. Of course, he'd have more luck if Adelina was even slightly drunk. Unfortunately for him, they had (or rather, Adelina had) polished off an entire bottle of vodka and it seemed like Adelina was nowhere near even slightly tipsy. If anything, Adelina looked hauntingly sober, as if each of the questions Damon was asking her was weighing down on her. Adelina seemed to want to return the favour, as she started asking some hard-hitting questions as well. Damon dodged questions about the worst moments he experienced with his parents, the worst moments of his life, and his deepest desires.

Eventually, they had polished off another two bottles of vodka. Adelina was starting to feel the alcohol hit her a bit now, but she was just as guarded as before. In fact, she was ready for the game to be over.

"I'm tired. Can we call it a night and go to bed?" asked Adelina.

Damon smirked. "Now I would never decline a beautiful woman wanting to get into bed with me, but we have a game to finish."

"We've finished three bottles of booze playing your game. How many more bottles do we have to finish before you deem this game complete?"

"Oh, at least another three."

"Fuck that, I'm not in the mood to punish my liver tonight."

"Do you concede defeat then, Ms. Howlett?"

Adelina sighed. "Fine, I concede defeat. Congratulations, Mr. Salvatore. When will you be collecting your reward?"

"That, my dear lady, you will not know until the day of."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?"

Damon simply smiled. "Goodnight, Ms. Howlett."

"Goodnight, Damon."

Adelina fought the urge to look back at the vampire as she walked up the stairs and to her room. She slipped on a tank top and shorts before grabbing her bottle of Valium. She twisted the cap off and glanced at its contents. There weren't many pills left, maybe ten at most. Adelina debated whether or not she should take her normal dose of two pills or double it. She decided on the latter and figured she'd pick up another bottle from one of the town's drug dealers later if she could find one. Popping four pills in her mouth, she took a swallow of water from her water bottle before slipping underneath her sheets. Now if I can have a peaceful night's rest for once…

A 7-year-old Adelina was watching her dad and Xander's dad, Daniel, talk and laugh as they fished by the lake. Xander was helping her mom with setting up the grill to cook whatever fish the men managed to catch. It was a beautiful day, sunny and not a cloud in sight. Adelina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt serene. This was where she belonged, with the people she loved most in the world. She didn't know it then, but this would be a moment she would wish with all her heart that she'd be able to go back to.

The scene changed. Adelina found herself at Mrs. Flowers's funeral from a a week back. She watched as Mrs. Flowers's family weeped from the violent loss of their loved one. Adelina went to comfort one of the family members. The person she reached out to turned around and Adelina's gaze fell on her swollen belly. The woman made an attempt to smile.

"Hello. My name is…" the woman started.

"Marie," Adelina breathed.

Marie furrowed her brow. "How do you know my name?"

"Your grandmother spoke highly of you. She mentioned you were expecting as well."

Marie's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "She spoke of me?"

Adelina nodded. "Yes. She was so excited to meet your child. I'm sure wherever she is now, she's watching over you all."

Marie let out a sob and wrapped her arms around Adelina. Adelina flinched, but relaxed and enveloped the broken woman in her arms. As she held Marie, Adelina couldn't help but let out a few tears herself.

The scene changed once more. Adelina found herself in a hut made of clay. She turned around to see a small girl sobbing. The girl had red hair just like hers, but…it wasn't her. The girl lifted her head and Adelina could clearly see her red-rimmed violet eyes. Is that…thought Adelina.

Suddenly, a woman burst through the doorway of the hut. She looked a lot like the little girl, with the exception of the hair and eyes. Where the little girl had red hair and violet eyes just like Adelina's, the woman had dark brown hair and eyes as black as night.

"Zoriayah!" the woman screeched in anger.

The next few words that came out of the woman's mouth were clearly not English, perhaps Arabic, yet Adelina found herself understanding it perfectly.

"You little bitch, you meddled with my spell again!" the woman snarled.

Zoriayah snivelled. "No. Mama, I did not. I don't know what happened."

The woman glared balefully at Zoriayah. "You must have erred in a way. Your father was useless. I summoned him to grant me endless life and he instead gave me you! I was to be his queen! Queen Arezou of the Nine Hells. Instead, I'm stuck here…with this snivelling excuse for a daughter."

Zoriayah remained quiet. What could she say to appease her mother?

Zoriayah must have been quiet for too long because Arezou grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of the hut. Zoriayah sobbed and fought against her mother but to no avail. Arezou finally stopped in front of a dormant firepit. She flung Zoriayah into the firepit before she spoke her next words.

"Now…we are going to try again. This time, you are going to light the pit around you without lighting yourself on fire. You must learn this if you want to remain my daughter."

Zoriayah just whimpered.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

Zoriayah just sat there. She was too scared to move. This proved to be the wrong move as Arezou growled and picked up a branch off the ground before starting to beat Zoriayah with it. Zoriayah's cries for mercy echoed through the night, yet they seemed to fall on deaf ears.

It seemed that Adelina had inherited some demons from her mother. The question was, however, could she stop history from repeating itself?