Chapter Nine
Rebecca was weak; she'd nearly been killed - friggin' Stefan. Their friendship was out the window. She found she couldn't even walk on her own and it was embarrassing. She couldn't stand up or do much of anything else since both Damon and Stefan had fed from her. Her blood was obviously low in her system.
She, Stefan and Damon had moved back into the Salvatore house. She'd warned them about Veritas and how the townspeople would probably be hunting them now. They couldn't be seen by anybody. Stefan didn't seem to care one way or the other; Damon said they'd be careful, but they needed a place to stay. She needed a place to stay and food and a way to stay warm. Stefan and Damon couldn't get sick anymore, but she still could.
Damon had been the one to point that out. His . . . heightened emotions made him obsessively protective of her. It was okay since she had no way of protecting herself now, and she didn't mind his company anyway.
When she'd said they couldn't get in without being invited into the house Stefan decided to tell them that Giuseppe was no longer alive. No invite was necessary.
Damon had destroyed the town's vervain supply only because he or Stefan might have to compel people not to mention them or to stay away from Veritas. There had been a fire in the parlor of the mansion and Rebecca didn't know exactly what had happened, but she could tell people had been burned there. It wasn't so much that there was physical evidence as much as it was the stench from the flesh that had been burnt.
Stefan had been feeding from the servants and neither Damon nor Rebecca was able to control Stefan. Tabitha had been the first to go. She'd done it to save her sons. Rebecca had told Emmett and Jonas to run after that. She didn't know how far they'd gotten.
Damon never left her alone with his brother; he said it was because he no longer trusted Stefan to leave her alive. Rebecca knew she couldn't do anything about it now, but she'd kept count of how many times Stefan had fed - on average he needed at least two full bodies of blood a day. And he didn't just feed; he killed and relished in it, then Damon would have to clean up Stefan's mess.
She wondered how the Stefan from her time period had been able to say anything bad about Damon when he was like this. Rebecca had been sure Damon had been the one to attack Vicki, but now she wasn't so sure. Stefan had been there both times too. It wasn't just Damon.
Speaking of Damon, he didn't seem to want to feed at all even though the damage had already been done. And he needed to feed to keep his strength up, and so he wouldn't starve. Starving couldn't feel good.
Rebecca noticed he also had trouble with his emotions. No, he hadn't started spouting out poetry to her or anything like that, but his love for her had intensified. Everything else, too, had become more intense. She wasn't sure what that meant for him, she just knew it was hard for him and she wanted to help him make that adjustment.
She'd taken to staying in Damon's room since Stefan was uncontrollable. Damon seemed calmer when she was around, though she noticed that when he was feeling something intensely it made his face change. Red eyes, veins protruding under them, fangs. His vampire face.
It was because everything was still so new to him. He'd learn how to control it someday. She'd kissed him once and he'd lost control and had had to pull away. But at least he could; he had the restraint to do that, with her at least. She'd wanted to cry when he'd thought he'd needed to hide his face from her in those loss-of-control moments. He was . . . ashamed of being a vampire?
Her mind flashed back to future Damon hiding his face from her once and she wondered if he - calm, cool, and collected Damon - had done that because he'd lost control for a split second. She also wondered if she was lucky to still be alive. But if he had lost control it had been because she'd moved him, touched him in some way.
But back to the present time in the past: Damon had turned his face away so he could hide it from her. She'd been gentle and reassuring of the fact that she didn't care that he was a vampire.
"It doesn't have to change who you are, Damon."
She caressed his face until his canines went back to their normal length and his red eyes changed back into the beautiful blue that she could easily get lost in.
"You shouldn't have to see me when I'm like that," he said softly, grabbing her hand.
Oh, my sweet Damon, Rebecca thought, but she didn't comment on what he'd said. She just decided to take his mind off of it. New vampires seemed to be easily distracted.
"Damon?" Every time she said his name he sort of snapped to attention and almost every ounce of his focus went to her. "I need you to do something for me."
"Anything." So simply said and the response had been pretty much automatic. It was a little scary, but good to know that she wasn't the only one who was powerless in this relationship.
"You know how I said I don't know how long I'm going to be here?"
He nodded and grimaced at the same time.
"Okay, well, your father kept a journal and so do the other council members. Giuseppe mentioned me and the others may have, too. When the time comes and I'm not here anymore, I need you to get rid of any evidence that I was here, okay? I don't think anyone from my time period would make the connection with just a name, but if they did it would not go well for me."
Damon smoothed her hair back from her face and smiled softly - his first smile since he'd been turned. "Consider it done."
"Thank you." Then she bit her lip and looked away, already feeling guilty for what she was about to ask. "If I asked you to, in a few days, feed from me again, would you?"
He was already shaking his head. "I could kill you."
True enough, Rebecca thought. And then it hit her that something was seriously wrong with her because she was willing to risk her own neck to keep him fed.
"Well . . . Feed from an animal. Pearl said some vampires do that to keep from feeding on people. Human blood keeps you at full strength, but animal blood will work if you're that against drinking from a human. But the truth is the longer you put off feeding, the bigger the risk you have of killing someone because when you finally do get it you're not gonna be able to stop. Plus, if you continue not to feed, you'll get weaker and seeing as to how I'm not in the best shape I can't take on Stefan if he attacks me again."
She knew that was mean and manipulative of her to use that against him, but it was all she had.
"That last part is not fair." Damon almost pouted and she had to hide a grin.
"No, none of this is fair, but it's true." She put one hand on either side of his face. "I don't want you to lose control like Stefan. Stefan isn't even a vampire; he's a vicious, violent animal."
"About that," Damon said. "Why can he not control it?"
"Well, I'm not an expert but . . . I think it's because Stefan had this nice, structured life that his dad built for him. I can't be sure because I've never been around new vampires, but I think it's because he never did what he wanted so now he's having a bout of teenage rebellion or something. He's had a taste of freedom and power and it's going to his head. And . . . He's shut his humanity out; he doesn't care anymore."
Once Rebecca was strong enough to move around on her own Damon let her help him feed. He'd thought of what she'd said and decided he didn't want to become like Stefan either. Stefan was careless and clumsy. He'd left a trail of bodies all over Mystic Falls; it was a miracle Stefan hadn't been captured and killed.
Damon wouldn't become that. He could be a vampire without becoming a monster or a killer - he just had to learn how. He could be careful and not kill his food source. Speaking of food, he was delighted to find he could still eat human food - Rebecca had taught him that. Actually, he found his body worked normally as long as he fed properly. His heart even beat when he was healthily fed. It was strange to him because dead people didn't need beating hearts. Or they shouldn't, he didn't think.
It had been seven days now since Rebecca had been bitten, since Stefan had attacked her and since Damon himself had drank from her. He'd taken her advice and had fed from a few animals - it wasn't ideal; in face it was downright disgusting, but it kept him from killing people - but now she was going to let him drink again from her. Her scent alone was intoxicating so he knew the taste would be hard to resist. But he'd done it before; he could - would - do it again. He knew that if he lost control just once he could kill her. He was, after all, supposed to be a hunter now, a predator.
Damon kissed her first, an apology in advance for the pain he knew he was about to cause her.
"You won't hurt me," she said with more confidence than he thought he deserved because he could hurt her and that was the problem.
Damon laid her on his bed in case she fainted again like she'd done the time before. They shared a room and a bed now - in the sense of sharing; it was strictly for protection purposes.
He knew from experience with Katherine that being bitten didn't have to be completely painful, but he didn't yet have the experience or the control to make it pleasurable for Rebecca and he was sorry for that since she was so willing to help him.
Only when Rebecca was completely relaxed did he travel down to her neck and let his canines elongate. He grazed her skin a few times and almost smiled when she shivered. He could tell it was in anticipation and not fear; he would've been able to smell the fear.
He used just the tips of his sharp teeth and made two small puncture wounds. He was experimenting; he needed to know what hurt her and what didn't. He assumed he wasn't causing her pain when she buried her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer. Then he was biting down harder and controlling how fast the blood flowed.
Rebecca's blood tasted sweet, like she was, and strong, also like she was. There was something else, something not . . . normal. Her slayer thing maybe? It made the blood more powerful, which in turn made him more powerful. He could also taste how much she loved him, if that made any sense at all.
Damon had to keep reminding himself to be careful because it was Rebecca he was drinking from. He knew that if it was any other human he wouldn't be able to control himself. But since it was Rebecca he pulled away when her breathing turned just the tiniest bit shallow and went about making sure her neck healed properly. He gave her the least amount of his blood she would need to heal and then he just held her until she went to sleep.
He wished she could stay with him. Partly because he loved her and partly because he hated the thought of facing the next 145 alone. He would survive, though, if only to get to be with her again.
With those thoughts in his head he went to sleep.
When Damon woke up he was alone, but he could hear Rebecca downstairs. He also heard music, a piano it sounded like.
He got up, stretched, and followed the music to the ballroom of Veritas. He knocked before entering. Rebecca was playing the piano on the stand where the band would be if they were holding a dance. The music wasn't familiar, but he figured it was because it was a song from her time period.
Her green eyes connected with his blue ones and her fingers froze over the keys.
"Don't let me interrupt," he said, smiling and going to sit beside her on the bench for the instrument. "Continue."
Rebecca's face flushed - it was even more attractive now - and her heart sped up.
"I haven't played in front of anybody in a long time."
"Define long time," he said.
"Going on four years?" She began playing anyway. "This is not my song, by the way."
Damon nodded and let the music wash over him. He was happy she was finally sharing this with him even if the music was extremely loud to his newly sensitive ears.
This new song Damon did recognize - Mozart. The words weren't familiar, but the music was.
There was always the voice of an angel
In the sweet lullaby of my dreams
Who would sing me a song made in Heaven
That awakened the music in me
You gave my life such meaning
Shined light upon my soul
And you were always there to hold
When I come to the end of tomorrows
And I look back on all of my days
I imagine I'll be there beside you
And we'll talk in our usual way
And we will dance, we will sing
Still amazed by everything
And we will dance and we will sing
We're still amazed by everything
The simple joys that like can bring
The songs you taught me how to sing
And, yes, we will sing them again
In my heart they'll never end
Rebecca's voice had control in it and Damon could tell she had had lessons before. The way she was singing made him wonder about her even more, though, because she acted like she was part of the music, like she was living the music. Her voice was soothing to him.
When I'm lost I pray that I can find you
When the darkness seems to hide the light
When I'm up I know I'm flying with you
All the things I love are all because of you
Because of you
You were always the one with the courage
Taught me all that I needed to know
When I needed a shoulder to cry on
You would reach out a hand I could hold
Your strength and all your kindness
Became a part of me and I will always try to be
I'll be the me you hoped I'd always be
We will dance, we will sing
Still amazed by everything
And we will dance and we will sing
We're still amazed by everything
The simple joys that life can bring
The songs you taught me how to sing
And, yes, we will sing them again
In my heart they'll never end
In your eyes I always see my future
In your smile I see the reason for my ways
In your voice I know the truth has meaning
When you sing to me I hear your heart speak to me
There was always the voice of an angel
In the sweet lullaby of my dreams
Who would sing me a song made in Heaven
That awakened the music in me
The music in me
When the song was over Rebecca looked down shyly. Damon had been quiet during her . . . performance, and she really couldn't tell anything from his expression except that he was peaceful now.
She loved that she could give him that. She didn't know what he was going to do when she had to leave. She hoped he didn't go too crazy, that he didn't do any damage to himself that she couldn't help him fix later.
"So . . . Music from the future, not what you expected?"
"The music is fine. You probably picked that one on purpose. It was an interesting song choice. You . . . seem to connect to it."
She shrugged. "No reason why. I just . . . really love music."
"You are very talented, Miss Rebecca." Laughter danced in his eyes.
"Thank you, my sweet Damon," she'd said it lightly and smiled when a healthy flush filled his cheeks. She caressed his heated skin briefly before turning back to the piano just to press the keys randomly. She was giving him time to recompose his face if he wanted.
Just then Stefan stepped into the ballroom with three girls that were around Rebecca's age. She groaned inwardly. Stefan was going to get them all in trouble.
"What are they doing here?" Damon asked, his peacefulness suddenly gone. "Leave them alone, Stefan."
Stefan was killing the townspeople - revenge maybe? - but regardless of the cause he was still evil and needed to be stopped. He was compelling these girls to not be afraid at least. But they would still end up dead. And why was it so hard for Stefan to be good? Damon had been the wild one, so why was it not the other way around? Not that Rebecca wanted Damon to go on an irrational, uncontrollable killing spree, but . . . It was still a valid question.
Damon was still Damon; Stefan was a completely different person. If the word person could be used to describe Stefan when he was more animal now than human. Whereas Damon had kept his humanity fully intact.
Rebecca . . . She loved Damon so much it made it hard to breathe. Sometimes it was even hard to think around him. He sometimes made her head foggy just by being in the same room with her. Like now. Here she was thinking of Damon when she should be focusing on the fact that Stefan was killing people.
Right. Stefan . . .
"Have you been going into town?" she asked. "That's dangerous, Stefan. They will find you."
"I'm dangerous," Stefan declared almost proudly.
"You don't have to be. And anyway you're not the kind of danger I'm talking about. The townspeople have a way of finding vampires. A compass. Someone was working on it. Seeing as to how most of the vampires have been captured . . . I think it's safe to say the compass works."
"A compass?" Damon asked.
"Yeah. Yes. It points at vampires instead of pointing north. I didn't think he could pull it off, but I was wrong."
Rebecca didn't want to name names, not around Stefan. He'd go and kill whoever it was she was talking about just out of spite.
Damon grabbed Rebecca's shoulders and began leading her away and she let him. She'd do whatever to make him feel better. Only, on the way out Stefan grabbed her by the hips and jerked her against him. She let out a gasp of surprise.
"I want a turn," he said, moving Rebecca's hair from her neck.
Damon's cheek twitched with irritation. "Well, too bad for you because I'm not sharing. Now give her back to me before you do something I'll make you regret."
"I'm not afraid of you."
Rebecca thought Stefan sounded like a petulant child.
"Oh, you should be, dear brother," Damon said. "You should be."
Rebecca stood as still as she could be while Stefan had her; she knew that if she fought right now while she was in Stefan's arms that the predator in him would make him attack her faster and more brutally.
"There will be other Rebecca's, Damon. Let me have her."
Rebecca noticed that Damon's eyes were getting angrier and angrier; if Stefan wasn't careful he would have a very pissed off Damon on his hands.
Damon looked at Rebecca and, as if they were on the same wavelength, she nodded her head at him. In all of about two seconds Damon had Stefan pinned to the ground; Rebecca had known exactly when and how to move so Damon wouldn't have any chances to hurt her.
Was that because they had exchanged blood the night before? Or were they just made for each other? Either way, the result was the same. Rebecca didn't get eaten and neither did the three girls Stefan had brought home; Rebecca escorted them out while Damon beat the tar out of Stefan.
It seemed like Rule #1 with Damon was to not threaten anyone he cared about. And apparently Rebecca took priority over Stefan at the moment.
Rebecca went outside to sit on the porch even though it was cold. Well, cool - November in Virginia wasn't always frosty. Actually it was mild compared to other places. She kept the three girls with her; she had to wait for Damon so he could compel them to forget they were ever here.
She felt rather than saw or heard as Damon came out the door. He did what she'd been thinking without having to be told, and then he sat beside her and she leaned against him.
"We need to either stop him or help him, Damon. If he keeps going into town he's going to get all of us killed. They'll track him back here to you and to me."
"Well, then maybe we should leave," Damon suggested.
"Um . . ." Rebecca grimaced. "I don't know if I can. I might wake up in another state or something when I go back."
"So I'll come get you," Damon teased softly.
Rebecca giggled and shook her head. "Yeah, you would."
Unless she was totally messing up his future and he didn't even live to see her in the future. She didn't want to even entertain that thought.
"I love you, Damon." She made it a point to tell him that because she wasn't sure when she'd have to leave.
She noticed he was breathing heavily so she gave him a few seconds to regain control before looking at him. Apparently it wasn't only his emotions he had problems with.
"It's okay if you can't say it back yet. I just needed you to know how I felt . . . so there'd be no room for doubt later."
A genuine smile pulled at his lips and said, "You have no idea how happy that makes me, Miss Rebecca."
"Well, you know me. I aim to please. Sometimes." She wanted him to be happy at least. He needed some happiness.
The next night, Rebecca, Damon and Stefan went into town, only they stayed away from the densely populated areas and the areas where they would be recognized.
Damon and Rebecca had agreed without actually speaking that they would try to help Stefan so they could help themselves. Damon didn't want to put Rebecca in more danger than he already had, so if teaching Stefan some control was what he had to do he would do it.
They were at a seedy tavern where most of the customer's were drunkards so they wouldn't remember them in the morning anyway. Damon, Stefan, and Rebecca sat at a table. Or they had been; Stefan was now talking with three women who either hadn't heard of the Salvatore brothers or didn't know what they looked like. Both Rebecca and Damon were watching him, making sure he didn't cause any lasting damage.
"Can you multi-task?" Rebecca asked. "Listen to me and him at the same time?"
"Yes." He smiled softly. "Though I'd much rather just listen to you."
Rebecca's eyes sparkled at his flirting and she glanced at the table before looking back up at him. She always did that whenever he became . . . extra-charming, looked away before looking back.
Suddenly Damon tightened his jaw. He was around so many people and he hadn't fed for almost two days. He knew it was only because Rebecca was there. He didn't want her to think he was a monster so therefore he couldn't act like one, not like Stefan. Even if every instinct he had told him to feed, to quench the thirst he had. Just one person, what would it hurt? But he also knew that one would lead to one more and then another. It would never stop.
Then Rebecca would hate him, but then again . . . he would hate himself, so why would she be any different?
Damon lowered his head as he felt the skin under his eyes tighten and his gums ache when his canines elongated. Did that ever go away? He covered his face and tried to massage the ache away.
"Breathe through it," Rebecca whispered. "You're better than Stefan."
Better than Stefan, Damon thought. Rebecca was the first person to say that to him and it gave him a warm, tingly feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't hate it.
"You don't have to kill to feed, Damon. You're stronger than him. You know how to do it without killing. You've done it before."
"Only with you." And that was the problem; he didn't know if he could control himself with other people. He didn't really care about anybody else.
"Yes, but you know the signs to look for. Shallow breathing, slow heartbeat, uh . . . Paleness?" She seemed unsure of the last one.
"Yes, paleness." He watched as Stefan took one of the women he'd been talking to toward the door of the tavern. "Don't kill her, Stefan," he said, knowing full well his brother could hear him and probably wouldn't listen.
"Okay, um . . . Find somebody," Rebecca said. "Find somebody here."
"Why here?"
"Look around," she instructed, placing a gentle hand on his knee. Her touch startled him at first since he hadn't seen it coming, but he relaxed fast enough. "The people here, what do you see?"
"Um . . . A lot of people who probably don't have anyone to go home to."
"Right. Now, you still need to be careful, but . . . If you're going to feed - especially now when you might slip - it should be on people that nobody will miss. Homeless people, um . . . Prostitutes . . . People like that."
Damon watched as she grimaced and he automatically knew it was because she couldn't believe she was having this conversation.
"I'm not saying it's okay to kill them because they're homeless, but it's the best way to be careful. No one can report you missing if no one knows you existed in the first place."
"It's still . . . wrong," Damon muttered and she smiled.
"Yes, it is." She caressed his cheek. "I'm very glad you know that. It means you're still you."
Rebecca hated telling Damon that if he slipped up she would understand, because she didn't want him to slip up. He was doing so well with the control thing, so much better than Stefan. What was wrong with the younger Salvatore anyway? Couldn't he see what a monster he was becoming? Or did he just not care?
But she would understand and she'd be there for Damon just the same. Well, as long as she was allowed to be here anyway.
"I think we should see what your brother is up to," she said. "Even if no on will miss the girl he's with she shouldn't have to die on purpose."
"Agreed."
Once outside, Rebecca used her slayer radar to track Stefan; he hadn't gone that far. He and the woman were in an alley near the tavern and he was tearing into her neck. Jeeze, didn't he have any manners at all?
"That's enough, Stefan," Damon said.
Well, Damon could talk all he wanted; Rebecca could clearly see that it wasn't working. So she broke a wooden crate that was in the alley and picked up a sharp piece and jammed it into Stefan's side. She wasn't going to kill him - that would affect the future too much and Stefan was Damon's brother . . . She couldn't do that to him unless she had permission from him.
Stefan's head arched back and he growled in pain. He'd turned around, snarling and dropping the girl to the ground. His hands went straight to the wood and he yanked it out.
Damon, whose eyes were wide like he hadn't expected her to react so violently, stepped in front of her to shield her in case Stefan retaliated.
"You're a meddlesome girl," Stefan said, tossing the wood away. "Now I need a new shirt."
Rebecca blinked a few times. She'd stabbed him and he was thinking of a new shirt? And someone was bleeding because of him . . . and he was worried about his clothes. She went around the two brothers to the bleeding woman. Her skin held almost no color and her neck was bleeding profusely.
"Stefan," Rebecca said softly yet with an edge. "Come here."
Stefan looked at her - or glared murderously at her; Damon looked at her curiously and maybe a little cautiously. He'd never seen her react like that; he probably hadn't even known she could.
"What for?" Stefan asked.
"You did this," Rebecca said. "This is your mess, you will clean it up. Now come here."
"She's just a human. One human among millions. Who cares if -"
"I care," Rebecca interrupted. "Now bite your wrist and put it to her lips. Let her drink. It will heal her; it will save her.
Stefan agreed reluctantly and knelt beside her; Rebecca tensed immediately - bloodthirsty animal and all that - and Damon moved closer. She watched carefully as Stefan fed the woman his blood. Her neck healed slowly because of how badly she'd been attacked. But eventually the woman woke up.
"Now compel her to forget we were ever here." She nudged Stefan with her shoulder and watched him make eye contact with the girl/woman. "You need to learn how to stop feeding before the person you feed from dies. Control isn't just not attacking people. You can do better; you don't have to be this way."
"I am a vampire."
"Vampire doesn't lead straight to monster, or killer, for that matter." She shut up long enough for Stefan to erase the memory of the woman being attacked. "Now we are going to find her a nice, safe place for her to sleep for the night."
"I'm not a child, Rebecca," Stefan seethed.
"Funny, she had to punish you like one." Damon seemed almost amused because of Rebecca's lesson-teaching. Then he looked at her, amusement still there, but less so than before. "Remind me not to make you angry."
She couldn't help the open grin that stretched across her face. Future Damon never would've said something like that. Remind me to never make you angry.
But most of the time the only thing a hard-headed person needed was to be taught that everyone else wasn't going to take their crap anymore. She'd obviously showed Stefan that. Hopefully, he got the message.
Rebecca went back inside the tavern to make sure nobody had seen anything or was saying anything. Nobody seemed suspicious of her and nobody was talking about anything that was amiss, so everything was good.
She began walking back to the door when suddenly she was jerked against someone. What was with her and people jerking her around?
"I saw you in here earlier. Where are your friends? Did they leave you alone? That wasn't very nice of them."
Rebecca could tell the man was drunk; the whiskey smell was all over him. And it didn't make his grabbing her right, but she understood that most of the time only loose women came to the bars in this time period.
"They're waiting for me outside. And one of them will not be happy if you don't let me go." Damon was probably listening in as she was speaking. "Now, if you don't mind . . ."
She easily slipped away and made it through the door. She didn't automatically see Stefan or Damon, but she could still sense them so she knew they were close. Besides, Damon would not have left her alone in a neighborhood this sketchy. Rebecca followed her senses to a nearby inn where Damon was compelling the keeper to allow the woman to stay for the night.
When she reached him she touched his arm and smiled when it seemed he relaxed immediately. It was like his body had been tightly coiled, but now that she was there he'd pressed some kind of release button. Rebecca loved being able to do that for him. And she could relate. She felt better when he was around too. She felt even better when Stefan wasn't around. There was just something about him that set her on edge - it couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that he was killing everyone. He would've killed someone tonight if they hadn't stopped him.
"You ready to go home?" Rebecca asked after the girl had been set up for the night. It was funny how quickly she'd correlated home with Damon. She hoped that future Damon would at least let her be a part of his life - unlife? - because she didn't know if she'd be able to survive not being able to talk to him or be around him.
They slept in the same bed, as was their routine now. Rebecca, however, wasn't there when Damon woke up the next morning. Rebecca wasn't anywhere.
He made sure Stefan hadn't done anything to her, though he was sure he would've heard Stefan come in their room, so . . .
She was gone like she'd warned him she would be one day. And one day had come too soon.
Okay, so this is obviously the last chapter of her being back in time. I was going to go farther with it, but . . . I didn't. LOL. I covered the basics, Stefan's bloodlust and Damon's sort of disgust because of it - which is ironic, considering how he turned out. Anyway, as I promised at the beginning, Rebecca being back in time doesn't drastically change Damon - there are, however, going to be minute personality changes, but they're explained and they're not just THERE all of a sudden. It happens gradually because people don't just change over night.
Let me know what you think? And thank you!