The next few days were surprisingly quiet, with Stefan in school and Zach avoiding his unwanted house guests. Surprisingly, it was Damon who I seemed to be spending the most time with as he seemed to research and go over some kind of plan of his. Unlike Stefan, though, he was a lot less inclined to share those plans with a dog.
Instead, I got my info by reading over his shoulder discreetly and looking around the room at the book covers he was looking into. From what I gathered, Damon searched for an unknown magical artifact that had something to do with the Bennett witches and a tomb. What tomb, you ask? I have no idea, even by himself, Damon was too paranoid about leaving anything lying out for long.
He even took me with him into town, stealing an expensive-looking bedsheet from Stefan's linen closet and using it to cover the back seat of his gorgeous glue Camaro. Today, he took me to the woods, where he parked off a side road and hiked out to a creepy-looking ruin where I was guessing the tomb was.
The whole place was drenched in the stench of death and decay and had my hackles rising and my body tensing with the instinct of fight or flight. This place was dangerous, and going by the magical signatures covering the site, the fault of a witch, made me even more disinclined to want to stick around.
The entire time Damon scoped the place out, I kept to the edge of the clearing and remained on high alert. I kept hearing weird shuffling coming from the ground below, and that was making me anxious.
What the hell was down there? What was Damon searching for and why?
Finally, after ten minutes of waiting, Damon emerged from the giant hole and began the trek back to his vehicle. I wasn't exactly sure why Damon seemed to want my company so much, but I had a hunch the so-called bad boy was lonely and needed a friend. And despite my best interests and how cruel Damon had shown himself to be at times, I found myself fond of the impulsive vampire.
From the glimpses I'd seen of him being sweet with the stray dog he thought me to be, I knew he had the capacity for great good but also great evil; Damon just hadn't decided which he wanted to be yet. Not really. He put on a mask of not having any emotions. Still, I knew he did, going by his bitterness towards Stefan and his melancholy over the loss of Katherine. Hell, he even showed emotion in his growing obsession over Elena Gilbert, whose only defining trait so far was sharing another woman's face.
The drive back was tense as I was filled with images of imaginary threats coming for my boys and me. I was fond of the Salvatore Brothers, and I didn't want them hurt, even if it meant escaping unharmed.
A week ago, I would have left without a second glance but now, fuck, now I cared, and it sucked.
When we arrived home, it was mid-afternoon, and school was over. Unfortunately, I didn't catch wind of Stefan's scent, meaning; he hadn't come home yet. Instead, he was probably trying to fix Damon's mess with the girl he bit his first night in Mystic Falls.
Just as Damon was pouring himself a bourbon and I was lying down in preparation for a nap, we both heard the sound of a car pulling up the drive and parking. Footfalls followed as Damon smirked and closed his eyes in concentration.
What followed was a drama-filled production of an unknown brunette walking in when no one answered - rude much? - and Damon scaring her with his crow and a cliche jump scare.
Elena Gilbert was pretty, I supposed, in a boring girl-next-door kind of way. She wore simple bootcut jeans, a black top under a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up and her hair straight with simple makeup. I had a feeling that with time and more confidence, she would grow into a beautiful woman with the confidence to wear more exciting and bolder clothing and styles.
"I...I'm sorry for barging in. The door was...open." the girl stuttered as she took a startled step back from Damon's imposing frame, standing too close for comfort.
Of course, like an ass, Damon ignored her discomfort and said, "You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." At my low annoyed bark, he continued, "And this is Cara. Our dog."
As I wagged my tail slightly and took my place sitting at Damon's feet, Elena blinked in shock and said, "He didn't tell me he had a brother. Or a dog…."
Damon smirked, "Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."
As Damon led Elena further into the living room with me on their heels, the teen said, "Wow. This is your living room?"
"Living room, parlour, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste. I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."
This ass, I didn't know whether to be amused or horrified that Elena was actually falling for his act. I think I was landing on concern for her mental wellbeing because even I would tell Damon couldn't act for shit. I nipped at his hand slightly in reprimand, but the dick only scuffled my hand in reply and took a step away, ignoring me.
Elena looked uncomfortable as she hesitantly asked, "The last one?"
With a low groan at the direction this conversation was going, I trotted over to my bed and laid down to try and nap my way through the awkwardness. Unfortunately, I failed and was forced to listen to the trainwreck happening fifteen feet away.
Continuing his nice-guy facade, Damon smiled inanely and said, "Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend? Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet." He faked embarrassment over his supposed 'blunder.'
Wincing slightly and avoiding eye contact, Elena muttered dryly, "Nope."
"Oops. Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."
Dick
Elena looked slightly suspicious when she said slowly, "You say it like every relationship is doomed to end."
Damon shrugged and smirked as he said, "I'm a fatalist. Hello, Stefan."
Whirling around, Elena gasped in shock when she saw Stefan standing only a couple of feet behind her, glaring at Damon. Then, after a tense moment, he said, "Elena. I didn't know you were coming over."
"I know. I should have called, I just…." Elena apologized, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable standing in such a tense situation between the two brothers.
Damon decided to add to the tension more by stepping forward and chirping, "Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But...I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."
Just as Elena smiled and began to answer, Stefan cut in sharply, "Thank you for stopping by, Elena. Nice to see you."
Seeing the clear dismissal for what it was, Elena cleared her throat and said, "Yeah, I should probably go. It was nice to meet you, Damon."
As the two smiled at each other, Damon took her hand in his and kissed it on the back, and said, "Great meeting you, too, Elena."
As Elena turned to leave, she paused; Stefan was still blocking her way with his staring contest with Damon. She shuffled on her feet as she tried to gain his attention, "Stefan... Stefan?"
Having been over this entire conversation from the moment it began, I let out a loud, sharp bark that seemed to scare Elena and jar Stefan from his dark thoughts. Then, without looking at Elena, he moved over slightly, forcing the girl to scoot past him on her way out the front door.
The girl practically ran as she scampered out the door without a backwards glance. If Damon was trying to drive a wedge there, he was doing a pretty good job so far. I didn't know whether to be impressed or annoyed; I was leaning towards the latter.
"Great gal. Whoo. She's got spunk. You, on the other hand, look pooped. Did you over-exert yourself today? Let me guess...hospital." Damon jabbed, looking smug.
"Someone had to clean up your mess." Stefan scowled, crossing his arms. He looked stern as he tried and failed to stare Damon down.
Instead, Damon looked amused and said, "Well, were you successful? Did the powers of persuasion work? Remember, if you don't feed properly, none of those little tricks work right."
"How long was Elena here?" Stefan ignored Damon's taunting, walking further into the living room.
"Were you worried, Stefan? Scared we may be doomed to repeat the past? Isn't that why you play your little game, 'I'm a high school human'?" Damon said, standing his ground and looking wholly unaffected by Stefan's tough-guy act.
"I'm not playing any game." Stefan denied, looking incredulous.
Damon scowled slightly, "Of course you are. We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it." He looked almost manic by the time he was done spewing his venom.
Instead of giving Damon the reaction he was obviously looking for, Stefan asked, "What kind of game are you playing, Damon?"
Damon smirked and began to walk out, calling over his shoulder, "Guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"
Thankfully, when the time came for the supposed "Night of the Comet' to start, Stefan decided to take me with him. I had been going stir crazy with the discontinuation of our morning jogs, and Damon wasn't exactly social when he decided to take me out. No, instead, he was too busy with his creepy research into weird tombs covered in dangerous magic. Although in his defence, I thought all magic was dangerous, PTSD and all.
The only downside of being in public was that Stefan had decided that I needed a collar and leash to walk around the town square. I hate fucking collars, and it was only because I liked the guy that I didn't bite his hand off when he put the stupid thing on me.
And yes, I have bitten limbs off before, don't judge me; you weren't there.
This brings me to now as Stefan led me through the busy crowd searching for his lady love Elena. Personally, I thought it was creepy that he was getting hung up on an underage girl who he stalked for three months because she looks identical to his ex, but I couldn't exactly tell him that. Plus, in the five minutes, I saw her, she seemed… nice? Boring? I don't know; the girl doesn't really leave much of an impression if you didn't know her predecessor Katherine it seemed.
We took a short detour when I caught the smell of fresh hot dogs, which of course, I pulled Stefan towards and begged until he bought me one with ketchup. Because of my shifting, I could enjoy animal foods like raw meat, grass, and other gross substances humans typically avoid, but that didn't mean human food wasn't awesome still. There's a reason pets beg for food.
After eating, we searched for a little while before I caught Elena's scent and began to tug Stefan in the correct direction. We found her looking melancholy as she lit other people's candles. Stefan, of course, being Stefan, didn't introduce himself like a normal person and instead snuck up on her with his own candle and waited silently as she lit his without noticing it was him.
An awkward conversation followed where Stefan tried and failed to apologize for his earlier behaviour and rekindle their romance. Instead, Elena called him out for his sketchy behaviour about Katherine and Damon and dumped him. Kind of dumped him? Could they even be considered dating? I don't know, but Stefan looked like a kicked puppy, and I decided I hated the girl on principle.
I mean, seriously, you know the guy a week, and you expect him to spill his life story, tragic deaths and all? Rude and presumptuous. After that, we kind of wandered as I tried and failed to make him feel better through various puppy antiques and hand kisses. That is until Stefan's attention was pulled towards an unknown blonde teen who was marching towards him with determined eyes.
"Hey," Blondie looked frazzled as he barked more than said the greeting.
Frowning as he turned to face the teen fully, Stefan answered, "Hey."
"Have you seen my sister?" The teen demanded, looking worried.
"No, sorry," Stefan said earnestly, looking concerned at the news.
Who was Vicki?
This answer seemed to agitate the teen further as he said, "I can't find her. She's missing."
"I'll keep an eye out for her," Stefan said, turning to leave, but before he could turn fully, he was stopped by the blonde.
Matt regained his attention by saying, "Hey. I saw you at the hospital yesterday."
I felt Stefan tense as he answered, "Did you?"
Way to look shady, dude…
Matt wasn't deterred by Stefan's confident tone and asked, "What were you doing there?"
Stefan was quick with his answer, "Visiting."
Matt didn't look convinced as he said incredulously, "Visiting? You know, Elena and I, we've known each other for a long time. We might not be together right now, but I look out for her. And I'll always look out for her."
With that parting shot, the blonde turned and stormed away to presumably look for his sister. Stefan looked worried as he looked around and seemed to pick up on something up on the roof of a nearby building.
Then, looking down at me, he said, "Hey Cara, wait here, ok girl?"
Before I could even blink, he was using his vampire speed to tie me to a light pole and leave me there. I yipped in alarm and pulled at the leash, but the vampire was already long gone. I knew that if I really wanted to, I could rip through this leash like butter, but I trusted Stefan to come back, and if I escaped, that would only cause more trouble.
Groaning under my breath, I hunkered down on the cold pavement to wait. Hopefully, no humans decided to pity me and try to take me to the pound or something; I did not have the patience for that.
It could have only been a couple of minutes when a familiar scent caught in my nose, and I heard the sound of combat boots approaching. Jerking my head up, I saw Damon approaching me, looking dishevelled and agitated. Going by the smell of blood hanging off him, I would guess that he was the reason Vicki had gone missing; he'd already taken a bite out of her once.
Kneeling down to my level, he scuffed up my fur and said, "Hey there, did big bad Stefan leave you here all alone? Let's fix that."
With a devious smirk, he untied my leash and led me away. I knew he was probably doing this to punish Stefan, but there wasn't much I could do to stop him without pissing him off, so I went along with it. I'd see Stefan back home anyways; what was the worst that could happen?
A lot, apparently, going by where we were now. As I watched Damon flirt crassly with the cute blonde, I began to feel sick to my stomach. I knew the guy had his emotions halfway off and was looking for an in with the council, but this girl looked sweet. She didn't deserve whatever Damon planned on doing to her.
As I watched Damon lure her towards his car, I felt my panic rise. I couldn't let this happen; feeding was one thing but keeping human pets was another level I wasn't comfortable with. Barking loudly, I was glad when Caroline seemed to snap out of whatever gaze Damon held her attention with and looked at me. Trying to scare her off, I snarled and jumped against Damon's window. But instead of having the desired effect, the teen looked love-struck as she strutted towards me, and I couldn't believe my eyes, opened the door.
As soon as my feet touched the pavement, she was on me. With goo-goo eyes and high-pitched baby talk, she squealed, "Aren't you adorable! Aww!"
Locking eyes with Damon over her shoulder from where she held me in a bear hug, the vampire looked just as shocked as I felt. This girl was nuts if she thought a pissed-off wolf-dog looked cute.
Then again, she was about to jump in a car with a stranger just because he was hot, so…
"You didn't tell me you had a dog!" She mock scolded Damon as she continued to pet me and shower me in affection.
Shaking himself from his shocked staring, Damon regained his composer and said silkily, "If I knew it would gain this kind of attention, I would have."
No! Fuck, what do I do?
Pushing my body further into Caroline's hold to encourage her affection and hopefully bide us more time, I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I needed to warn her off; I needed to tell her–!
And that was when it happened. As soon as I felt the familiar and all too missed sensation of heat and stretching of my skin, muscles and bones, I pulled myself frantically out of the teen's hold and ran on shaky legs. Ignoring her shocked cry and Damon's call, I ran for the nearest hiding spot, which happened to be a nearby alleyway.
Thankfully, I made it before the transformation took over my body. The usually effortless change felt stunted and forced as my body changed from animal to humanoid. Then, for the first time in a month, I felt and saw clear skin, free of fur as I looked down and saw hands instead of paws.
Sobbing slightly in relief, I was almost bowled over by the sound of my vocal cords making human noises instead of growls and barks. Blond hair obscured part of my vision as I struggled to sit up from my kneeling position on all fours. My legs felt like jelly; I used the alley wall for support and stood on two legs again.
Unlike werewolves, shifters had evolved in time and had created talismans to help us keep our human possession when we shifted. It would do us no good to lose our belongings after every shift, especially while travelling. Whatever we'd happened to be wearing or carried on our person at the time stayed with us until we changed back, making our nomadic life much easier and much more convenient.
Thankfully, I'd had my talisman on this last full moon and was able to keep the clothes I'd been wearing that night. The black leather jacket, dark skinny jeans with rips and low-heeled combat boots suited me as I struggled to navigate my human body. Reaching into my pocket, I was ecstatic to find my wallet and phone still there and filled with cash and my credit cards. I would need them to -
I was jarred from my internal celebrations when a cool voice called out, "Well, isn't this a surprise. What do we have here?"
Whirling around on still shaky legs, I gaped at Damon from his position, leaning against the brick wall a little way down the alley. His face was unreadable as he took in my human form with assessing eyes.
Fuck, I'm so screwed!
Typically, I could handle relatively young vampires with no problem but now? After a month of living as a dog and being disoriented, Damon had me beat.
"Hi…" I croaked, trying to look firm even though my legs felt like jelly under me.
Damon lifted an eyebrow as he straightened from his position against the wall and said, "Hi there, Cara."
I winced at the sardonic tone he used while saying his pet name for me - literally - and said softly, "My name is Willa. Thank you for helping me -"
The last syllable was cut off as Damon zoomed toward me and, with vampiric strength, pinned me to the nearest wall by my throat. Choking slightly, I grabbed the hand holding me to the wall in a tight grip but didn't struggle. This was normal vampire behaviour; if I struggled, it would only set off his prey drive, and I would be screwed. I needed a cool head if I was going to survive this.
Clearing my throat slightly, I croaked out through my clenched throat, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to deceive you. I was stuck in animal form; I needed help."
"What does that mean?" Damon growled, leaning in closer.
"I don't know, I swear. Listen to my heartbeat and confirm I'm not lying."
He looked obstinate but his eye focused on something I couldn't see, and I jumped at the chance, "I'm sorry. I was stuck and needed help. I don't know what happened."
His brows furrowed as he listened to my heartbeat and looked at me after I was done speaking with a begrudging gaze, "Explain."
So I did. I told him about shifters and my life as quickly as possible through dry lips and a sore throat from misuse and trauma from Damon's hold. Just the cliff notes. By the time I was done, his hold had softened only slightly, and I finally asked, "Where did Caroline go?"
He smirked slightly, "Compelled to leave and go home. I think she's expecting me going by the address she gave me."
"Don't," I barked, worry for the teen making me bold, "Don't toy with her. She's just a kid. If you have to feed, feed, I can help you find whatever you are looking for."
This has his gripe tightening and my heartbeat picking up as I allowed myself to panic slightly at the predicament I was in. If Damon wanted, he could kill me and no one would look for me or mourn me. I was completely at his mercy, and that terrified me.
"Why shouldn't I? She's just so… pretty." His tone went from almost conversational to dark and ominous in a second, and I struggled to hold my composure.
"She's a risk. You chose her because she's a Founding Family Member, right? Well, she happens to be the sheriff's daughter. Do you really want to take that risk? I can help you; I owe you for giving me a safe place to sleep."
My words seemed to bring him up short, I think he was shocked I was showing gratitude at a time like this, but he quickly found his composure and snarled, "How can you help me?"
"You need arm-candy, right? To get into places? I can do that, easy. Plus, you won't need to compel me or worry about me running off. I owe you a debt, and honour demands I pay it."
He laughed acerbically and growled out, "Honour? Are you fucking joking? What is this, the eighteen hundreds? Because I have to tell you, I lived through those, and they sucked."
At his mocking words, I felt my temper flare; I was done playing nice. I felt my eyes change to icy blue with a soft growl as I called forth my strength. I had our positions flipped in a smooth motion, with Damon's back bashing into the alley wall with a dull thud.
Groaning slightly, he muttered, "Well, that was unexpected."
"Shut up," I spat out through sharp canines, "and listen here dipshit. Honour might not mean much to you, but it's important to me and my heritage. So when I make a promise," I gave him a harsh shove to reinforce my words, "I keep it."
With that, I released my hold on him and took a small step back. He took the space I offered to stand tall once more. Once I had regained eye contact with him, I held out my hand and asked, "Deal?"
He looked slightly reluctant as he reached out and took the offered hand in a terse shake. Then, he gave me a sarcastic smile as he asked, "Now what, Cara?"
Ignoring the nickname, I answered calmly, "Now, we go home."