Hello lovelies! I hope you enjoy this chapter, as always please comment/review and let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions! Happy reading!
Chapter 4:
I awoke the next morning to a knock on the door, and groaned as it was pushed open.
"Good morning, how'd you sleep?" Damon was weirdly chipper this morning. His question was just met with another groan as I covered my face with one of his extensive collection of pillows. He had been right about his bed though, I don't think I'd ever had such a good night of sleep. It was heavenly, like sleeping on a cloud. His laugh seemed to cleave though my soul and I was suddenly acutely aware of his presence.
"Not a morning person I see." He chuckled again, "Alright then." For a moment I thought he might have left, until the mattress shifted and I felt his weight settle to the left of me.
"What?" I asked, not exactly happy to be woken up, but annoyed at the fact that my heart was once again racing in anticipation of what would happen.
"You're going to get up, Sleeping Beauty." I could hear the smirk in his mischief laced voice. I didn't think before retorting.
"Make me." I replied, curling back up under the covers and my brain registered what had just come out of my mouth.
"With pleasure." He purred, before he pounced, huling the comforter off of me as his fingers attacked. I screamed in laughter, cursing him as his fingers danced across my skin, seemingly finding my every weak point. I kept wiggling, trying to free myself from his grasp, but he was stronger than he looked.
"Ok! I'm awake!" I screeched out in between laughs.
"Are you sure?" He was joking, but still didn't stop tickling me.
"Yes!" I screamed before another attack of his skilled fingers, my stupid mind wondering what else those fingers would be good at. I think he somehow felt the shift because he stopped his assault.
"Alright, now up and at it with you!" He chuckled, pulling away from me. I shook my head no, just to see what he'd do. This was a dangerous line I was toeing, and he knew it. He just smirked, making tickling motions in the air. I laughed and climbed out of his bed.
"You might want to fix my shirt." He observed, his face set in one of those signature smirks I'd grown to love as his eyes raked over my body. I looked down to see he was right, a light blush forming on my cheeks. My boobs were practically hanging out and the hem of his shirt just barely covered my lady bits.
"Well, I'm keeping it, so it's really my shirt." I replied, trying to gather myself and regain my composure. He just laughed again.
"Have it your way, I told you last night, I like seeing you in my clothes." He purred, stepping impossibly closer. I sucked in a breath I hadn't noticed I was holding, this little thing we had, it was a bad idea. A mixture of emotions crossed his face before he realized it and hid them again. This wasn't the first time I'd noticed him do that.
"Why do you do that?" My voice was soft and full of compassion. I wanted him to know he could tell me the truth.
"Do what?" He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly, attempting to distract from the subject.
"Hide your emotions from the world?" Why do you hide them from me? I knew those unspoken words shown in my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to say them out loud. It felt too personal, like I expected him to talk to me, which wasn't really fair.
"Because it's easier." Was his only reply. I wanted to push a little bit more but he just turned and walked out, mumbling something about making breakfast. I sighed, deciding it was probably best to just get dressed. I grabbed my jeans from yesterday, paired with Damon's shirt and headed down the stairs as I pinned my hair up in a quick bun. Already the savory smell of bacon wafted through the house.
Just as I reached the first floor the door opened and an energetic Caroline burst in carrying two suitcases of clothing.
"Ahh good morning Lena!" She spoke with a huge smile, dropping the suitcases by the now closed door and bounding over to give me a big hug.
"Hey Care!" I replied, her enthusiasm was slightly contagious.
"Oh my lord, what is that amazing smell?" She beamed and brushed past me to the kitchen. I rolled my eyes with a soft laugh as I heaved my suitcases up the stairs and deposited them by the foot of Damon's bed.
Heading into the kitchen I found Damon and Caroline chatting as he cooked and she munched on some fruit.
"Hello there, Damon was just telling me that you are not a morning person." Caroline laughed as she spotted me. Damon just sent me a wink as he plated the food he'd been working on. Turns out Damon Salvatore is an amazing cook, we feasted on chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit salad and something he called the 'Famous Salvatore Smoothie', which I was 95% sure was just bourbon, orange juice, and some ice. We finished eating fairly fast and Caroline took off, something about needing to finalize plans with the annual Halloween bash. Damon and I cleaned up, working in comfortable silence and before long he was grabbing his keys and headed to the door.
"I've got to go take care of some things. I'll be back in a couple hours, don't answer the door and just stay away from the windows." He spoke, pulling on his signature leather jacket.
"I'm not five Damon, and I get it, I'll be careful." I rolled my eyes, what was it with Salvatores and being overly protective? I waited until I heard his car head down the drive before I headed back upstairs. I reached Stefan's door and was surprised when I found it locked. Damon didn't want me in there. I smirked, slipping a bobby pin from my hair, Damon clearly didn't know me very well. It didn't take me long to pick the lock and I stepped back into the eerily quiet room. I walked across the room, half expecting Damon to jump out and scare me as I reached the desk. There it was, exactly where I'd left it yesterday. The girl in the photograph stared eerily back at me.
"Who are you?" I whispered, almost expecting the girl to reply. She looked so lifelike, so much like me. I flipped the photo over, inspecting the back once again hoping for some insight I missed on who she was, and of course, why Stefan had a picture of her. Nothing, nothing but the name and date.
"I didn't know what I was expecting." The room suddenly seemed too quiet, my voice barely more than a whisper. I returned the photo to where I'd originally found it and turned to face the many books and journals. I noticed the journals were dated and headed to look on the shelves. I found one dated 1860-1870 and flipped to the date matching the one on the photo. 1864. There looked to be eateries in Stefan's neat squished handwriting covering page after page. I happened across one titled by her name.
"Kathrine, September 26, 1864
The most wonderful thing happened today, I happened upon the most beautiful, charming woman. She is an orphan from Spain who recently arrived here with her maid, Emily. She passed by me briefly this morning, but our eyes met and it felt as though sparks flew between us. How can I feel this way about a woman I just met today? Ah she is absolutely wonderful, her beauty unparalleled.
I ended up running into her later this past afternoon and after a good hour of conversation I discovered she had no place to stay. Of course I invited her to come stay at the Salvatore Boarding House with me and my brother. Father wasn't too happy, but he's never happy nowadays, not since Mother. I cannot keep her from my mind, Kathrine Pierce, even her name is as lovely as she is!"
I stopped reading, what the hell was this? Was this some sort of weird fantasy or story Stefan was working on? Was this some weird prank? I closed the journal, hurriedly placing it back on its shelf and pulling out another one.
"January 28, 1957
The bloodlust has become unbearable, I nearly fed again today. Damon says I need to just embrace it, but I don't want to be like him. He kills with little to no remorse and I can't do that, especially with his humanity not all the way back yet. It tears me up inside that I want to hurt people, I want to kill them, to drain the blood from their veins and I know I wont be able to stop. Lexi tells me it's going to be ok, that I will pull through this, but I don't believe that either."
I gasped, dropping the journal all together. What the hell kind of twisted story was this? I quickly replaced the journal back on the shelf and hurried from the room. Regardless of whatever made up danger was out there, I suddenly felt the urge to run. I did not want to be here anymore. I didn't even bother to grab my things in Damon's room as I headed down the stairs and out the front door just to crash into someone standing on the door stoop.
"Oh wow, where are you off to in such a hurry?" A hand reached down to help me off the ground. The lady's eyes widened as she beheld my face. She was absolutely gorgeous, with long blond hair spilling over her shoulders like a cascading waterfall. Her emerald eyes sparkled with kindness and wisdom and though she barely looked a day over twenty five, she somehow seemed ancient.
"Uh, thanks." I sent her an uneasy smile as I climbed to my feet, "Oh I'm just running late to work, per usual." I laughed, trying to ease the awkwardness. She joined in, even her laugh was melodic, and contagious. I dusted myself off and she glanced back at the house.
"Do the Salvatore still live here?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, uh, yes. Stefan's out of town and Damon is who knows where. He left a little while ago." I rolled my eyes, "I'm Elena."
"Oh, I- You just look so much like someone I used to know." She just shook her head and smiled, "I'm Lexi." I inhaled sharply, it couldn't be the Lexi from that weird ass story, it had to be a coincidence.
"I look like Kathrine, right?" I asked her, watching her expression. She just stared at me, face unreadable. I think she was going to say something, but a familiar blue Camaro pulled up.
"Lexi, what a pleasant surprise." Damon spoke, climbing out of his car. His tone of voice implying that it was not pleasant at all.
"Nice to see you too." She retorted, "What have you told her about Kathrine?" I was surprised she even asked, Damon's face hardened.
"That's none of your business, Lexi." Damon almost sneered.
"It's my business when my best friend is involved. Why does she look exactly like her?" Lexi replied firmly, arms crossed. Damon just ignored her and made to walk past her into the house. Suddenly she had him pinned against the house, Damon groaning. How the hell did they move so fast?
"Ow!" He exclaimed more in annoyance than actual hurt.
"I'm older than you Damon, and that means stronger. Don't forget that." She spoke, her tone low and threatening.
"Yeah yeah," Damon said, shoving her off of him. He looked at me, "Elena." He spoke, I knew my eyes were wide and scared, my face probably pale as I started to walk backwards.
"She didn't know." Lexi said softly.
"Well no shit she didn't know, Lexi!" Damon exclaimed. The pieces seemed to all click together in that moment, Stefan's diaries dating back to 1864, the bloodlust, Kathrine, Lexi, the super strength and speed. That immortal grace that seemed to thrum in their bones. Stefan and Damon and Lexi, they were all vampires. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest, not the nervous excitement Damon used to incite in me, but pure panic. My eyes fluttered to my car, could I make it?
"You really think I could hurt you?" When I didn't reply he continued, "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead, Elena." His words didn't make me feel any better, but he was right.
"You've killed people! Stefan made you sound horrible in his journal!" I said, disgust clear in my face. He just shrugged, stepping towards me. Before I even thought about it I slapped him hard. I immediately realized what I'd done as the panic began to set in. I shrank back as his face changed, the joking sexy smirk I'd grown to love was quickly replaced with a fancy smile. His eyes, once the color of a bright stormy ocean, were now red and inhuman, the veins below his eye pulsing. I held in the scream that wanted to rip from my throat.
"Like you could outrun me." He laughed and I whipped around to find him already standing behind me. I hadn't even seen him move.
"Damon." Lexi's voice was full of warning.
"Please, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to slap y-" He cut me off curtly.
"Yes you did. Don't apologize for being a good person, Elena." His face was back to normal, "I would never hurt you, you just need to understand how wrong I am for you. I'm not the good guy, that's Stefan's job, he doesn't even feed off humans anymore. He eats little bunnies." I didn't know what to say, this was all so much to take in and process.
"I'm, um, I'm going to stay with Caroline for a bit since apparently I'm not safe at home. Safe from what by the way?? Do vampires want to kill me? Is that where Stefan went? Does Caroline even know? Oh my god. What about my family, Jer?" I was spiraling.
"Hey, Elena. Listen to me. Take a deep breath, you're going to be ok." Damon spoke, his voice deep and compelling. I felt my body loosen and my panic dissipate.
"Damon! You can't compel her!" Lexi insisted, stepping to join us. He ignored her.
"Go to Caroline's, take time to process, let the truth sink in slowly, hangout with your friends, be a normal teenager, be safe." Damon spoke again, his eyes dialing. I nodded.
"I'm going to Care's, I'll talk to you later." I replied and headed to my car. I didn't understand the disappointed look Lexi gave Damon as I passed, all I knew was that I had to go to Caroline's and process. As I drove away I called Bonnie, letting her know we needed a girls night. She said she'd finish up with her grams and meet us there.
I looked out my rear mirror, back at the house where Damon and Lexi stood seemingly arguing. Slowly the truth started to sink in and I felt weirdly ok with it. My best friend and his brother were vampires, but they wouldn't hurt me. If anything, I was almost certain they'd do anything to protect me. By the time I arrived at Caroline's I felt slightly better.
The next chapter is pretty dark and I'm not sure if I should totally rewrite it and make it something totally different, or rewrite it with the same plot line. I guess we'll see. lol.
