Okay, so the last chapter was a filler chapter, pretty much, and the action happens in this one.
Previously on Vampire Diaries . . . Damon had compelled Caroline to set up a party, it's Stefan's birthday, and Lexi, his friend had come to celebrate it with him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The party Damon had compelled Caroline to throw was a hit. A lot of people came and Caroline was drunk within the first thirty minutes of it. Damon may or may not have had something to do with that; he wasn't going to take complete credit for it. Lexi had come with Stefan and the blond vampire had compelled the bartender not to ask for ID's. That was the major reason Caroline was able to get alcohol that night.
Lexi and Stefan had been playing pool for most of the evening, and Damon had been eavesdropping. Stefan had been talking about the recent Vicki incident and the Logan-trying-to-kill-him thing.
"I don't know, okay. If some freak shot at me with wooden bullets, I'd bail in under sixty. And why is a news reporter hunting vampires?" Lexi said.
"I don't know," Stefan answered. "I don't know who knows about us. That guy did. There could be others. And do me a favor. While you're here please be careful."
"Why stay? I'm headed to New York for the weekend. Bon Jovi, in The Garden. "Wanted Dead or Alive" It's our theme song. It'll be a blast."
"Hey, do you think he would actually remember us? That was a pretty crazy weekend, huh?"
"We can make him remember us," Lexi said. "Come on. Let's go. I mean, what's keeping you here?"
"I told you. Her name is Elena."
"Well, let's hope she's better than the last girl you got all sprung over."
"You didn't even know Katherine," Stefan said, in a way that was suspiciously close to being defensive of the psychotic vampire that had ruined his and Damon's lives.
Lexi laughed softly. "Because if I did I'd kick her ass, the little bitch."
"Hey, Lexi . . . I'm really glad that you came here," Stefan said.
"Well, it's not every day that a guy turns 162 years old," Lexi answered. "Happy birthday."
Damon tuned them out then and ordered a bourbon at the bar.
Damon began eavesdropping again when Elena showed up because Lexi almost had a conniption fit when she saw that Elena was pretty much Katherine's doppelganger. Lexi hadn't showed it with Elena, but when she'd gotten Stefan alone the blond had given Stefan hell.
"Are you out of your freaking mind?"
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked.
"I just met Elena. She looks exactly like your old girlfriend. You have some serious explaining to do."
Damon was always ready to hear Stefan getting a lecture, so he didn't feel bad for listening in. Besides, he had supersonic hearing for a reason. Granted, it could be put to better use, but who really cared anyway?
"You have some serious emotional damage," Lexi said.
Stefan began to explain that it wasn't what it seemed like - because, yes, Stefan knew what it looked like, but he swore it wasn't. Lexi and Stefan had been friends for almost a century and a half - Lexi had shown up in Mystic Falls shortly after Rebecca had been sent back home to her time period - and Lexi knew about Katherine and all that she had done to Stefan and Damon, so the only part that needed to be explained was why Stefan was with Elena.
"She's not Katherine."
"Then they're related because they could be twins."
"I don't know," Stefan said.
"You don't know? You didn't find out?"
"No, maybe I don't wanna know. I have - I have no desire to tie Elena to Katherine. Okay, yes, the resemblance is what drew me in, but that's it. Katherine and Elena may look the same on the outside . . . but on the inside they are completely different."
"Oh, so Elena's not a raging bitch then, huh?"
"No," Stefan said quietly. "No, Elena is . . . Elena is warm and she's - she's kind. And she's caring and she's selfless. And it's real. And, honestly, when I'm around her, I . . . I completely forget what I am."
"Oh, my God. You're in love with her."
"Yeah. Yeah, I am," Stefan answered. Damon didn't have to look to know that his brother was probably grinning like an idiot. Damon could relate; he felt the same way when he thought about Rebecca.
"Wow," Lexi said.
Damon, bored now, walked out of the Grill. He had to find a way to pin all the animal attacks - well, his attacks from when he'd been starved - on Lexi, and then Lexi would have to be taken care of - preferably in a way that would make him seem like a shining light in this town. And sometimes . . . fate just steps in and has it's way because as soon as Damon stepped outside, he saw a way to make his plan come to life.
Two people - a couple of teenagers - were making out in the back alleyway of the Grill. One of them was already becoming collateral damage in his mind. The girl was pushed against the wall and the boy was trying to convince her to, well . . . what do all teenage boys want? Damon came up behind him and viciously bit into his neck, and the girl began screaming in terror. As soon as Damon looked into her eyes she stopped screaming. He compelled her to wait in the alley until someone found her and called the cops. Then she was supposed to tell the cop who arrived what happened, and that would get the Sheriff to come out here; then the plan could be put into action.
When Damon went back into the Grill he saw Lexi and Stefan off dancing, and Elena was off by herself looking at the two. There was no jealousy in her face, but she did look a little down. The last Damon had heard about her was that she was still confused and scared about the vampire thing. Damon thought that was ironic because Elena didn't really know what Stefan was capable of. This Stefan was . . . well, not a normal vampire by any means.
"Stefan smiles; alert the media," Damon said, stopping beside her.
"You haven't given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately."
"No, you're right. Poor Stefan. Persecuted throughout eternity by his depraved brother." Damon heard Elena sigh impatiently. "Does it get tiring, being so righteous?"
"It flares up in the presence of psychopaths," Elena said casually and began moving away from him.
"Ouch. Well, consider this psychopath's feelings hurt," Damon said, placing a hand over his heart, feigning pain.
Elena stopped and turned back to him. "What did you do to my brother?"
"I'm gonna need a less vague question," Damon commented.
"When you did what you did to Jeremy's memory of Vicki . . . what else did you do to him?"
Damon moved closer to her so they wouldn't have to talk so loudly - they were in a public place, after all.
"You asked me to take away the memory of fangs and -" Damon let out a fake growl - " - and all the bad stuff. You wanted me to take away his suffering."
"But he's acting different. He seems okay with everything, and a little too okay. He's studying, he's not doing drugs, he's not drinking. Are you sure you didn't do something else?"
"Elena . . . I took away his suffering," Damon said patiently. "Jeremy is a fifteen year old who was acting out because he was in pain. He's not in pain anymore. He doesn't need drugs or alcohol to make him feel better."
Elena let that sink in and then nodded once. "I never thanked you for that, by the way. And I'm . . . sorry for accusing you of killing Vicki when I . . . when I didn't have all the facts. It was wrong of me."
"Hm. Apology accepted," Damon said. "Next time just don't be so judge-y."
Suddenly there was a drink being put in front of him and in front of Elena. Lexi was there.
"Ah, the famous Elena."
"I didn't know that you guys could drink," Elena said.
Had she not paid any attention to what Damon had been doing for the last hour and a half?
"Oh, yeah. It helps curb the cravings," Lexi explained. "But it makes for a lot of lushy vamps."
Elena smiled uncomfortably. "You know, I've never seen Stefan drunk. He always seem so . . ."
"Uptight?" Lexi and Damon said at the same time.
"Yeah," Elena agreed. "But not with you," Elena directed that last bit at the blond vampire.
"Well, that's the benefit of knowing someone for over a hundred years. You can just be yourself."
"Yeah, he can't be himself with me," Elena said.
"Not yet," Lexi said. "The first step was him telling you. The rest comes with time."
"You seem so sure," Elena said.
"The love of my life was human," Lexi explained. "He went through what I imagine you're going through. Denial, anger, et cetera. But at the end of the day . . . love really did conquer all."
"I'm scared," Elena admitted.
Damon was a little surprised that she was admitting that with him standing right there.
"But you're here. Because you're crazy about him. I get it, okay. I mean, what's not to love? Listen, take it from someone who has been around a long time. When it's real, you can't walk away."
Lexi downed her shot and then took Elena's away from her and downed hers too, then the blond vampire went back to Stefan.
Rebecca was in the middle of studying when she got a call from the sheriff, though technically, it was for her dad, not her. There had been an attack at the Grill - a boy had been killed, and a girl had witnessed it. They had been in a back alley - Rebecca rolled her eyes at the stupidity of humans; even before she knew about vampires she'd known to stay away from alleys.
"Uh, I'm coming with you," she said to her dad. "I, uh . . . Caroline was throwing a party and I wanna make sure nobody else got hurt."
Rebecca's first thought was that the vampire from the other night had been lying and someone had been sent to terrorize her town. Someone knew where she lived and everyone she cared about was in danger because of her.
Rebecca and her father got to the Grill just as two police officers were leading Lexi away from the building; they were following Liz. Lexi suddenly broke free and tossed the two officers off - one hit the side of a car and the other shattered the window of another car. Lexi went after the sheriff, and Liz shot her four times. Rebecca was assuming the bullets were made of wood, but they didn't faze Lexi at all. If it hurt her very much, Lexi ignored it.
Rebecca stepped in front of the blond vampire and tried to make her stop but Lexi tossed her into the side of a brick building. She hit back first but landed on her feet when she hit the ground. Lexi obviously hadn't wanted to hurt her; Rebecca hadn't been the one to shoot her.
Damon seemed to appear out of nowhere and Rebecca watched as Lexi was then staked. Lexi mummified and Rebecca looked on in horror. Yes, she'd seen a vampire die before - more than once, actually - but never one that she had actually liked. She had been friendly with Vicki, yes, but she'd actually liked Lexi.
She stood up and walked over to Damon and Liz. She nodded at Damon when he arched an eyebrow at her in question - he wanted to know if she was alright. She was.
"Thank you," the sheriff said to Damon, who was doing an excellent job of acting concerned. "Get it in the car, quickly.
"Yeah."
"Her," Rebecca said instinctively, "get her in the car."
Liz looked at her briefly but didn't say anything to correct her. She probably thought it was because Rebecca was so young.
"You're pretty handy with that stake, Damon."
"Just a . . . reflex. Guess the adrenaline kicked in."
"This nightmare is finally over."
"Yeah. Caught a break with that witness. Without her you wouldn't have been able to ID the vampire."
"Very lucky."
Once Lexi was in the car the sheriff thanked Damon again. Damon got this 'aw, shucks' expression on his face, and at any other time Rebecca would've found it funny. But not right now.
Once the sheriff was gone Rebecca shook her head and turned away from Damon, her throat already tightening. She now knew what had happened. She knew Lexi hadn't done this, and now she was dead.
"I won't need you to take me to John Tyler tomorrow, Damon. I'd rather go alone."
Her dad was inside - damage control or something - so she went to wait in the car. Her body hurt with every step but she continued on anyway. She slammed the door harder than necessary but she didn't care. She didn't look at Damon when he appeared at the window.
"What's your problem?"
"You killed her," Rebecca said softly. "And you killed that guy, and you blamed Lexi. Or you did it so you could blame her."
Damon looked confused by her accusation but she could tell the confusion was false.
"Stefan drinks animal blood now; Lexi drank from blood bags. There aren't any other vampires in town, so that leaves you. And the way the girl just happened to remember exactly who had killed that guy? It was a little to coincidental to be an actual coincidence."
Damon's eyes went cold in an instant; it was almost like he was shielding himself from her anger. "Yeah, well, she was convenient."
Rebecca's breath caught in her throat. How could he say that? He'd known Lexi and Stefan had been friends. Oh, God, poor Stefan. Had that been why Damon had done this? To bother Stefan?
Rebecca looked at Damon now, her eyes flashing with fury. "Yeah? And what happens when I become convenient? Are you just gonna throw me away too? Maybe you should just try to kill me now and save yourself all the trouble."
Damon's cheek twitched in irritation and he stepped away from the car. He was . . . furious. How dare she talk to him that way? Of course she wasn't just convenient. When had he ever made her feel that way? He'd only asked for her help once - all the other times she'd done it with no provocation of his own. And he'd needed a cover because without one the Council never would've stopped looking, and they would've eventually had to look at the Salvatore's and he would've had to leave. He didn't want that and neither did Rebecca.
"Just go home, Damon. I'll talk to you when I'm ready."
Once Rebecca's dad had come back to the car she and he both went home. Rebecca had been surprised Damon had left without a fuss. Surprised but glad. She didn't want to argue about this. Damon shouldn't have killed someone just so he could blame another vampire for it, and he shouldn't have picked Lexi to blame.
She didn't like being angry with him; during her whole transitioning-into-Slayerhood, he'd been the only one to make her feel better even before she'd blasted into the past. And she hadn't really meant anything about him trying to kill her - she knew he wouldn't do that to her - but it was a thought that had passed through her mind. What if Damon, at one time, needed to cover his own ass and she was the only one around to make ends meet?
Rebecca went straight to her room because she didn't want to have to lie if her dad asked her what was wrong. She considered locking her window to give Damon the hint that she didn't want to see him right now - just in case he came - but she knew, if he wanted to see her, he'd break the window just to get in.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She needed something to distract herself so she got up, locked the door, and pulled out one of the books Diana had loaned her. She hadn't mentioned any names to Diana, but she had asked for books on vampires - specifically 1864 on up. Rebecca hadn't really found anything on Damon - maybe he'd covered his tracks; it had been easier to cover one's tracks before all the forensics technology came about.
But Stefan, on the other hand, had a colorful past. Every couple of decades or so something would happen and he'd go on a crazy killing spree. Something would set him off and he wouldn't stop for a while. Stefan had taken out an entire village by himself one time in the early 1900s.
From what Rebecca could tell from the history book Stefan hadn't had a reason for snapping, he just had. At least there was usually a method behind Damon's madness, but Stefan had just gone crazy and killed everybody. He . . . was considered a ripper in every sense of the word, which mean he literally ripped people apart when he let himself get into a feeding frenzy.
Rebecca shuddered because she remembered what he was like when he'd first turned. Sadistic, never satisfied, and . . . he'd wanted her. Or her blood anyway. Probably just because Damon had her, because Rebecca loved Damon, and Stefan couldn't take the fact that someone would choose Damon over him. It wasn't really his fault, Rebecca didn't think. Stefan had grown used to people picking him over his older brother, and, in turn, Damon was used to always being looked over when it came to them.
Rebecca sighed and closed the book. She didn't want to read anymore; she was almost sorry she had read it at all. She learned things she hadn't wanted to learn.
Rebecca got her phone out and, because she was a helpless pushover, she texted Damon. Or . . . she was going to, but then . . . this intense, stabbing pain came over her. God, she was being torn apart on the inside. Her stomach was killing her. Literally, it felt like she was dying.
She was vaguely aware that she was screaming and that there were bangs coming from her locked bedroom door. Her dad was shouting; her aunt was shouting; Chelsea was wailing, and then there was nothing.
Damon had been waiting for Stefan in his room. He knew Stefan would want to have words with him about Lexi. What he hadn't expected was for Stefan to react so violently.
"I told you I'd take care of it," Damon said.
Then he found himself thrown against Stefan's dresser. Stefan hit him three times before Damon could get his legs up to kick him away. Stefan landed on the other side of the room, and Damon stood up to face off with his brother.
Damon rushed him but Stefan had been waiting for that, and Damon found himself held against the wall.
"Oh, come on, I did this for you, to get the town off our trail."
"No, you never do anything for anyone but yourself," Stefan said, practically seething.
Before Damon saw it coming Stefan had shoved a stake right in the middle of his gut. It hurt so much Damon couldn't scream. But . . . he was still living, so . . .
"You missed," he said.
"No. I didn't. You saved my life and I'm sparing yours. Now we're even."
When Stefan let him go Damon fell to the floor and tried to breathe through the pain. The stake was shoved in deep and if he'd been human he probably would've passed out from the pain. It hurt worse, though, because he was a vampire. Humans would never know true pain. Pain was magnified for him, for every vampire that existed.
Vampire . . . pain . . . humans . . . Rebecca. She could feel when he was in trouble, so would she have felt this?
Would it have come across as a physical thing like it had when he'd been starving? Would she had felt it and just felt it or would she have . . . actually been stabbed?
Damon grabbed the end of the stake and mentally prepped himself for the pain that was going to come, and then he pulled hard enough to pull the sharp piece of wood out. He clenched his jaw so he wouldn't make noise and he felt himself heal slowly. He wouldn't have healed as easily if he hadn't fed earlier.
Now . . . now he had to check on Rebecca. He had to know if she was okay, and they really needed to learn what this bond between them entailed. He needed to know her limits and the limits that the bond held.
Rebecca slowly came back to herself and the first thing she realized was she wasn't in pain anymore. She wasn't in pain because Damon wasn't in pain anymore. She'd seen what had happened. She'd seen that . . . Stefan had staked Damon; she couldn't find it in herself to be mad at Stefan even though he'd unwittingly caused her pain. Damon had deserved that. Lexi had been Stefan's friend and Damon had known that and he'd still killed her.
In a part of Rebecca's mind that was completely owned by Damon, she understood why he'd done it. but she still didn't agree with it. It was not right to blame other people for something that wasn't their fault.
Still, she could forgive him as long as he didn't do it again.
She realized that someone was talking to her, and when she came fully back to the present she realized it was her dad. He was wondering if she was okay. And for the life of her, she didn't know what she should say. She couldn't tell him the truth; her dad would go after Damon and end up dead.
"Why were you screaming?"
"My stomach was hurting."
Rebecca sat up slowly and took in the scene around her. She was still in her room; she obviously hadn't been out that long. Her door was broken in - she'd have to get that fixed. Her dad was looking at her with concern, something she couldn't remember the last time he'd done. Her aunt was red-faced and looked like she'd forgotten how to breathe. Chelsea was still wailing because Rebecca had been screaming. She'd probably frightened the girl.
"I'm okay," she said to her aunt so she wouldn't pass out from oxygen deprivation. "Give Chelsea to me, I'm okay, she'll stop crying."
Tina listened automatically, like she was on cruise control, and Chelsea was in Rebecca's arms. The girl didn't stop crying instantly but she did quiet down.
"Bec." The word spilled out of the little girl's mouth and Rebecca froze. Chelsea had tried to say her name!
Rebecca smiled and she held the girl tighter. "Say it again!"
"Bec," Chelsea obeyed.
Rebecca almost immediately forgot about what had happened because her sister was talking Her dad didn't forget, though, and he wanted to talk to her about it. He made a valid point, which was that she'd been screaming like someone was trying to kill her, and she could tell he was really worried about her.
Rebecca, however, wanted to see if Chelsea could say anything else. She tried words out and Chelsea repeated them back to her the best she could.
Then Rebecca saw a problem. She wouldn't be able to talk freely around her sister anymore. Chelsea could hear and repeat things that shouldn't be repeated, ever. Then, after Chelsea was asleep, Rebecca thought of another problem. What had happened to Damon, she had felt it. It was . . . dangerous - she thought that must have been what Sheila had meant when she'd told her that. What if that happened when she was out in public? Or when she was fighting? It could get her killed.
She couldn't . . . she couldn't let Damon know about this. She didn't know what he'd do, but it wouldn't end well if he knew. He might . . . he might force her to drink his blood all the time, just in case something like this happened again. He might, in a fit of rage or worry, make the same mistake Stefan had made with Damon - force that decision on her. And she didn't want that, didn't want that bad blood between them.
No pun intended.
The next day, after Rebecca had come back from taking her math test, she arrived at home to see Damon's electric blue Camaro in the driveway. She knew that both her dad and her aunt were home and she wondered what Damon wanted with them. Rebecca wasn't in the mood for any games so hopefully he wasn't in one of his moods.
When she walked in the house she was happy to see that her dad, her aunt, and Damon were in high spirits, though she couldn't tell if Damon was just pretending or not. She knew she had probably hurt him last night when she'd basically accused him of using her.
"Hey, guys, I'm back." She threw herself on the couch beside Damon, who she noticed didn't look mad or unreasonable.
"How did you do?" Tina asked.
"Well enough to pass, I'm sure. I have to take science next week."
"Damon's been waiting for you. He asked if he could take you somewhere." Her aunt smiled. "I told him it was up to you."
"Take me where?" Rebecca asked, looking at Damon.
"It's a surprise," he answered, smirking. She noticed that his eyes didn't hold their usual gleam, so he was only pretending to be happy and she wanted to know why.
"Fine. I'll, uh . . . Do I need to change?" She had on a long sleeved shirt and jeans.
"No, you're good."
Damon stood up and offered her his hand, which she grabbed without hesitation. She wasn't afraid of him or mad at him - anymore - and rejecting him now would cause him further pain. Though she shouldn't be worried about that because he had been in the wrong here, not her.
Rebecca got a quick 'bye' from Chelsea and she smiled again at her baby sister's voice.
Once they were in Damon's car she turned to him and immediately asked what was wrong.
"Why do you think there's something wrong?" he asked.
"I'm not telling you that. Then you'll learn to hide it and I don't want that."
"Hm. So . . . how long are you going to stay mad at me for killing Lexi?" he asked bluntly.
She glared at him, her anger from last night returning. She wasn't mad at him for killing Lexi - though that was a problem in and of itself. She was mad because he'd used someone else to cover his own ass. And he'd done it so . . . easily. It was like it didn't matter at all that someone innocent - mostly - had paid for his crimes.
"That depends. How long are you going to pretend what you did wasn't wrong?"
"I never said it wasn't wrong," Damon pointed out.
"You knew it was wrong and yet you did it anyway?" Damon didn't answer, so she took that as a yes. "Damon, that . . . that makes me feel really bad because I'm letting you do these things. And you know I'm going to keep letting you do these things because I care about you, and that's not fair. That's taking advantage of my feelings and it's wrong. So you should stop doing the things I let you do."
"Stop doing the things you let me do?" Damon was now fighting back a grin at her convoluted way of expressing herself.
"You know what I mean! The three kids you killed? I could've given you hell for that, but I didn't because I knew you did it because you were starving. Hell, you almost killed me because you were starving and I didn't complain at all! I came back the next day to see if you were okay when I was the one who'd had my neck ripped open! And then Logan; I didn't say anything about him either because I knew he'd never keep his mouth shut. He would've killed you and Stefan. But Lexi? She didn't deserve to die for something you did."
Rebecca took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and then let it out slowly, trying to let all the anger flow away.
"There, I'm done. You know how I feel now and what you do with it is up to you. Now, where are we going?"
"Just somewhere I used to go when the world looked a little bleak. I'd like to . . . share it with you."
"But you won't tell me where we're going?"
"No."
"Okay." Rebecca felt at least a little better since she'd yelled at him, and her body loosened up a little. "I really am sorry for saying what I said. I know I'm not just a convenience to you. You wouldn't have waited so long if that were the case."
"Apology accepted."
Rebecca looked at him and noticed that he looked like he felt better now, too. Even though Damon hadn't said anything he'd probably been worried about how mad she'd been at him. he'd been worried about whether or not she'd forgive him.
"You did something wrong, Damon, and it won't be the last time. I know. But trust me . . . I don't turn my back on my friends and I don't give up on them either. It would take a lot more than that to get rid of me. But you still shouldn't take advantage of that."
"I wasn't . . . consciously taking advantage of you. All I knew was that I needed to find someone to blame because I didn't want to have to leave, okay? And they would've eventually looked my way once they'd exhausted all other options. The sheriff already suspects vampires can get around during the day."
"Hm."
That didn't bode well for Damon or Stefan. It was a headache waiting to happen, so she decided to focus on something else. When the car stopped she looked around and realized where they were.
"The falls?"
Damon smirked, gleam back in his blue eyes now. "Have you ever been to the top?"
Rebecca grinned, a thrill of excitement going through her; she was always up for something new. "No."
"Well, then -" within two seconds he was outside opening her door "- come on."
She got out and they began walking side by side toward the woods.
Damon didn't say anything for a while. He hadn't admitted it out loud but he had had this weight on his chest ever since he'd seen how mad Rebecca had been the night before. He really had taken for granted that she would just forgive him for this misdeed like she had all his other ones. So he'd let her vent and then had let out a silent breath of relief when she had forgiven him.
Damon made the decision then, partly because of the Council and partly because of Rebecca, to use blood bags for his food source, and, excluding snapping and necessity, he'd try not to kill anyone. If no one died the Council wouldn't think anymore vampires were in town and he wouldn't need to cover his tracks anymore. If no one died Rebecca wouldn't have to feel bad about letting him get away with stuff. She wouldn't have any reason to push him away or be angry with him.
"It's really pretty here," Rebecca said as they continued walking along.
They hadn't even made it to the pathway to the top yet. They were still in the woods - the trees were bare and brown leaves were crunching under their feet. The air was cool and crisp but refreshing, and Rebecca was bundled up enough not to catch a cold so all was good. They sky was a clear blue and the sun was shining through the branches.
They finally came to a rocky upward path and Damon grabbed Rebecca's elbow as they started to climb so she wouldn't fall.
"You said you used to come here. You don't anymore?"
"Last time was in the 1950s," he admitted. "It hasn't changed much. I know Stefan used to come here too. Not sure if he still does."
Damon had come here when he'd been human, too. It was one of the only things about Mystic Falls that hadn't changed. The falls were peaceful to him - he didn't know why, they just were. Aside from the rushing water and the animals scurrying about, it was usually quiet. Sometimes he liked the quiet.
"Damon, can I ask you something and you not make jokes about it?"
As always his response was, "Depends on what you ask."
Rebecca smiled a little but rolled her eyes too. "Okay then. Did you . . . uh . . . Well, my dad's been acting really strange and I was wondering if maybe you'd compelled him to be nicer or something."
"Would it make you angry if I had?"
Rebecca shrugged. "No. I mean, I like that he's agreeable. It's easier that way. So if you had, I would understand."
"Well . . . a little. Maybe."
"Maybe?"
Damon hadn't told Rebecca about it and he didn't think Stefan knew about it either. Before Damon had supplied the Council with vervain he'd compelled both Robert and Tina. It was nothing major - basically he didn't want them to suspect that Rebecca sometimes had Damon in the room with her at night. Tina didn't need much compelling - she liked him anyway - but Robert . . . well . . . Damon compelled him to treat Rebecca better and to not give her such a hard time. It wasn't her fault that she had all this extra responsibility now. He'd told Robert to treat Rebecca and Chelsea like his daughters. He should take care of them even if he didn't really care about them.
Damon explained all of it and Rebecca nodded. "I knew it couldn't be real. People don't just change over night. But it is easier." She sighed. "Okay. Another question. After me, was there anyone else?"
"Anyone else?"
"Yeah. That you got close to?"
"You wanna talk about this now? Really?"
"Well, we don't have to if you don't want to. It's just a question."
"A loaded question," Damon muttered. One he really didn't want to get into but, since she'd asked, he would humor her. "Is it that important to you?"
Rebecca shrugged and looked vaguely uncomfortable. "I just wanna know, you know? I mean . . . there's so much about your life that I missed out on, so much I don't know about you and what you've been through." She wanted to understand him better. She wanted to understand how her sweet, innocent, human Damon became who he was today. Or who he was pretending to be. She wanted to understand why he pretended.
"Pain, death, none of it fun," he responded, no amusement in his voice. He could be serious about this if that was what she wanted. "It's not a pretty story, Becca."
"I didn't say it was going to be. But I'm not asking for all the gory details."
"Right." He walked beside her for about a minute before speaking and then he began. "For the longest time after you disappeared it was bad. I was angry that I had to go on without you because I was . . . scared -" he winced at that admittance "- of being alone. And if you tell anyone I said that, I'll bite you. Hard."
"Duly noted." She smiled and shook her head. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. It's not fair."
"No, it isn't. I left Stefan not long after you went away. I couldn't deal with it, with him." He didn't tell her that he left Stefan with Lexi because he was not going to bring her up again since Rebecca had already forgiven him for it. "And then yeah, I went out. Talked to girls, women, because I couldn't talk to you. It never felt right, though. They weren't you. They weren't quirky or intelligent or funny. They didn't know what I was and if they ever found out they didn't want anything to do with me afterward."
"Some people are so close-minded," Rebecca said, taking in the haunted look Damon had in his eyes. She was almost sorry for bringing this up but she wanted him to know it was okay to talk about these things. To talk about his life, his feelings - he needed to know it was okay to feel, to be bothered by things and to deal with them healthily and not let things build until he snapped. He needed to know he could talk to her.
"Then there was this girl. She knew and she didn't run away. There was nothing romantic at all - she was barely fifteen. I let her in and things were okay for a while - I wasn't alone, I had someone who knew about me and wasn't afraid all the time. But when it came down to it -" Damon cut himself off. "To make a long story less long . . . every person who I've ever let myself care about has turned their back on me. You open your heart to someone and they let you down. I learned that a long time ago. So I just stopped . . . letting people in."
"If the people you met did that - with no provocation from you - you must not have met many decent people then." Rebecca shrugged. "Though I guess it is human nature to fear the unknown. Maybe I'm the weird one for accepting everything so easily."
"Well, I already know you're weird," Damon said, a smile gracing his lips.
"Hey!" She smiled and pushed him, actually moving him to the side a little.
"Uh, if I fall you're going down with me," he said, shaking the arm he had hold of.
"Uh-huh. You've got excellent reflexes, so if you fall it's your own fault."
They finally reached the top and, thanks to Rebecca's Slayer endurance, she wasn't even out of breath. Damon turned her toward the cliff's edge and she was struck breathless for a few seconds. Rebecca hadn't realized how much time had passed by, but the sky was fading to pink and orange and even a few shades of purple. The sun was setting and the myriad of colors was breathtakingly beautiful.
"So, it's been almost fifty years between sunsets?" she whispered.
Damon wrapped his arms around her from behind and she held onto him.
"Yeah, I figured now is a good time to start watching them again."
Rebecca felt her chest tighten, but it wasn't painful. She had caught the double meaning behind his words. He wanted to start watching them again because he had someone to watch them with now. "I love this. We should freeze this moment or something. I'm glad you brought me here."
Damon chuckled and she felt his breath on her ear. "Well, I don't know about freezing it, but we can capture it."
Damon suddenly had his phone out and they were posing together; they even did a few funny-face ones. And for a moment everything was right. Damon always had a way of making her feel wonderful or making things seem a little less hard. She hoped she could to the same for him one day.
The next day Rebecca ate lunch with Elena and Bonnie at school. Just because she wasn't a student didn't mean she wasn't allowed on campus anymore. Bonnie looked seriously sleep deprived for some reason and after a few moments of conversation Rebecca knew why. Bonnie had been having nightmares about Emily, her ancestor, and whenever Bonnie woke up from said nightmare she'd find herself in the woods by Fell's Church.
Fell's Church was in ruins now, but that was where all the vampires had been taken in 1864 - they were now underneath it, locked in a tomb, but Bonnie and Elena didn't know that.
"Do you believe in ghosts?" Bonnie asked.
"Before all this stuff started happening I didn't believe in anything supernatural," Rebecca said. "But now . . ."
"I think I'm being haunted."
"I don't get it," Elena said. "Why Emily?"
"Grams said she was a powerful witch back in the Civil War days. The medallion was hers; it's a witch's talisman."
"And it all started when you got the necklace?"
"I think she's using it to communicate with me."
Rebecca bit her lip, going over everything Bonnie had said. "Well, if she is trying to communicate . . . she probably won't go away until she knows you've gotten the message."
"But I don't know what she wants!" Bonnie said, and Rebecca was sure that if Bonnie hadn't been so tired she would've been crying.
"Well, the dream, can you remember it?" Rebecca asked. "Anything would be helpful."
"Emily said she wanted me to help her. Um, she was looking at the church, she said, "This is where it started, and this is where it has to end"."
"Oh, uh . . ." Rebecca averted her eyes. "Wow. I don't want to freak you out, but I think I might know what she wants."
Bonnie looked up at Rebecca expectantly. "Go ahead. Anything to make it stop, please."
"Okay, when you found the necklace at the Lockwood mansion you told me 'you can't let them out.' But now I think it was Emily telling me that through you. I didn't know what that meant until Halloween night. Back in 1864 Emily lived in Mystic Falls. She was Katherine's -" she still snarled her nose up at the name " - handmaid. Um, the town was crawling with vampires back then. The townspeople rounded them up and planned on burning them to death in Fell's Church. Damon, under compulsion, went to Emily asking for a way to save her, so Emily did a spell. They're underneath the church in a tomb, have been for 145 years. Obviously Emily doesn't want them to get out."
Rebecca was suddenly glad she had already explained the time traveling spell to them or it would've taken forever.
"Uh, that crystal has the power to open the tomb to let them out. Which would be bad. There are almost thirty vampires and, uh, they aren't the friendliest people. I knew some of them and only a few were worth more than a grain of salt. We can't let them out."
"How are they even . . . still alive?" Elena asked. "Or, um . . . whatever you would call it."
"Vampires don't die if they don't feed. They desiccate, but if they get blood somehow they're okay again."
"Oh."
Rebecca noticed Elena was very uncomfortable with the subject. "It's okay to be curious, Elena. It's not a sin."
Elena looked sullen all of a sudden. "Yeah, well, it doesn't matter because I . . ."
"You?"
"I was coming to terms with it. I was, but then Stefan said I'd been right to stay away from him - that if I stayed with him it was too dangerous." Elena became guarded. "Because of Damon."
"Because of the Lexi thing." Rebecca nodded. "Damon was out of line on that one. I told him that. We didn't argue, but I was furious with him. I've never wanted to hit somebody so bad in my life. But he won't hurt you, Elena. Or you, Bonnie. He even stopped feeding from Caroline because I asked him to."
"Stefan . . . Stefan said Damon won't ever change, Rebecca," Elena said sympathetically.
"But he already has just since he's been here with me. He's been miserable and lonely since 1864. He doesn't know what it's like to have friends because . . . no one has ever tried for him. But I am. I wanna help him."
Rebecca berated herself for becoming all emotional, but she was also glad that she could be open with the two girls again. She knew that if they had known Damon when he'd been human and how he'd been when he'd first been turned they wouldn't be so quick to judge and they'd know why she was trying to help him be better. But Rebecca wanted him to be better for himself - or wanted him to want to be better for himself. She wanted him to look in the mirror and not see a monster, not see someone he hated.
So . . . I wanted them to have a big blowout over the Lexi thing, but I just couldn't do it. If I made Rebecca hold a grudge too long then it would be going against her nature, especially where Damon is involved. Rebecca does not like being on the outs with people she cares about. Anyway . . . review, if you want.
Thanks!