Chapter Two: Lightening Rod
"What did you do to me?" I demanded.
"I made you into something better," Damon replied. "Something more."
I stood up on shaky legs, bringing a trembling hand to my neck. It was fine, intact, not at all broken.
"You broke my neck," I snarled.
"I did you a favor," Damon retorted.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I snapped. "Am I supposed to thank you? You murdered my family and you just killed me!"
"You woke up," Damon responded.
This was surreal. The more alert I became the more I realized how sharp everything was. I could see clearly, a lot more clearly than I have ever been before. I could smell things better and I felt stronger. The thing I felt clearly more than the others an overwhelming hunger. It felt like it was invading every sense I had and it was.
"Hungry?" Damon whispered.
My eyes locked on Damon's as I attempted to gauge his mood. In the past month I had seen him in multiple states: furious, sad, happy, and back again. His mood could flip on a dime, he had a hair trigger temper. He had murdered my family, had killed me, and now he was looking at me in what I could only describe as tenderness.
"Stay here," Damon said. "The sun will burn your skin."
I didn't have a chance to respond as Damon suddenly darted from the room and out of the door. I stayed where I was in the center of the room, noticing now that the sun was high in the sky.
"There are only a few things that vampires can't tolerate: sunlight, vervain, and fire," My father had told us.
Damon came back shortly with someone in tow. "You know this person, correct?"
"This man sabotaged my family's crops so that he wouldn't have competition," I said.
"Ginny?" Michael Crowe gasped. "There are people looking for you."
"You found me," I hissed.
Damon looked between us with a smile on his face. I watched as the veins bulged around his eyes as his fangs grew. Before Michael could move, Damon was on him, biting deep into his neck. Ordinarily, the sight of blood would repulse me, now though, it was a different story. I could feel veins shifting around my face as a second set of teeth broke through my gums. It hurt but what hurt more was how hungry I was. Seeing the blood flowing I lunged forward latching onto Michael's throat with a growl. Blood splattered all over Damon and I as Michael's body slumped forward. I held him up, taking but a second to realize that it felt like I was cradling an infant instead of a fully-grown man. When the blood was no longer flowing, I let him drop to the floor, wiping the excess off my face. I glanced up noticing that Damon was watching me.
"What?"
"You never cease to be a surprise," Damon shook his head.
I didn't talk, didn't move as Damon closed the distance between us and held up a small platinum ring. It had a three dark blue stones with a silver pattern connecting them together. It was gorgeous. Next to it was a matching necklace with the same stone in a teardrop shape.
"It'll let you walk in the sun," Damon said as he slid the ring onto my finger.
He then fastened the necklace around my neck. I wasn't able to move as he spun me around seizing my shoulders in a brutal grip.
"Never take those off," Damon ordered. "Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"If you do, you will die."
"Okay, Damon, I understand."
Present Day (Circa 2009)
Damon Salvatore might have been a bastard but in turning me into a vampire he gave me the salvation I never knew I wanted. The 1800s weren't known for woman's advancement and in my family, woman didn't have an opinion, and if we did it wasn't shared. The men made all our decisions, down to the man I would've married. I was trapped in a life that I never wanted. I wanted to learn and get out of the house. Instead I was trapped in the role that was meant for woman: cooking and cleaning and being a mother. That didn't mean that I wanted them dead. I didn't want the life that my father had picked for me, the one where he'd auction me off to the man who could give him something but this life was everything I had never dreamed of and more.
We, Damon and I had stayed together for a few months, enough for me to acclimate to my new life. And, then, one day he was gone. No note, no nothing. Instead of searching for him I had fond the first way out of the United States, traveling the world and seeing things, meeting people I had never imaged being able to do. I learned as I moved how to make sure to cover my tracks, learning exactly how much blood I could take from a person before I killed them. I had only been back in the states for forty-eight hours, going back to Virginia. I still had a house in Williamsburg, which is where I was heading towards, if I had to think about it. The house that I had was where all my extra money, clothing, and the like were stored.
"Ginny."
I nearly swerved off the road at the sound of Damon's voice but by the time I turned he wasn't there. Not that he was there in the first place; I was the only one in the car.
"Ginny, help me."
"Damon?" I gasped.
"Help me, Ginny."
He had appeared in the passenger seat before disappearing again. Only this time I saw a crow on the hood of my car, cawing at me. I tilted my head as I suddenly saw a map leading me to someplace that I had never seen before. I passed by the exit ramp to Williamsburg knowing instinctively to go another hour out of my way before taking the off ramp to Mystic Falls. The crow never left the hood of my car, cawing occasionally, as if it was encouraging me that I was almost there. Close to two hours later I pulled up outside a large house. It was reminiscent of the old Tudor style houses. It was beautiful.
"I haven't been invited in," I told the crow.
It cawed at me in response and almost as if it was prodding me, I approached the house, not surprised when I was allowed in. The crow flew by my head and I followed after it. Running as I followed it down into the basement and to a door, where it had disappeared.
"What is this place?" I asked out loud. It wasn't every day I saw a dungeon in a rather upscale house.
"Ginny," Damon croaked.
"Well, you look like shit," I scoffed, approaching the gated door.
He was sprawled on the ground looking seconds away from dying.
"Get me out of here," Damon growled.
"I drove two hours out of my way for you," I rolled my eyes. "A 'please' would be nice."
"If you don't let me out of here, I'll kill you," Damon snapped.
"Been there," I cooed. "Done that."
"NO!" Someone shouted as my hand wrapped around the outside lock.
I reacted instantly, shoving him away as Damon rushed out of the little cell. He broke the person's neck, before he was gone. I followed after him only to hear him scream as he swung open the front door. I found him curled in the shade, panting in pain.
"Damon?" I questioned.
"Stefan stole my ring," Damon growled.
"Your brother, Stefan?" I asked.
"Stop it with the questions and help me," Damon ordered.
"God, always so bossy," I huffed as I pulled off one of my lapis lazuli necklace and threw it at him.
Damon caught it and quickly lopped it around his neck. He stood up and stuck the tips of the fingers of his right hand in a sunbeam. When it didn't sizzle and burn he stepped fully in to the beam and smirked.
"You found me," Damon grinned.
"Well, that crow trick certainly helped," I rolled my eyes. "That and you appearing in my car."
"The years have done you well," Damon complimented.
"I wish I could say the same," I smirked. "Let me go find you someone to eat."
"Yes, let's," Damon agreed. "I believe we have catching up to do."
"You're the one who knows the town," I prodded when Damon didn't move.
The glare he leveled on me was ferocious as I finally realized why Damon couldn't move he was too weak. I couldn't help but smirk at him, for once I was stronger than he was, the person that I loved and hated in equal measure.
"Ginny," Damon warned, angrily.
"Let me just bask in it for a moment," I laughed.
For a moment I stood there before grabbing Damon's hand, tugging him to his feet. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders before I ran, blurring out the door and straight into the woods. My heightened senses allowed me to pick up a party in the woods. I caught Damon's grin and took us straight into the center of the party.
"Whoa, man," One of the teenagers gasped. "Who the fuck is that?"
I didn't say a word, choosing instead to let my bloodlust talk for me. My face changed in an instant I was baring my fangs with a hiss.
"Holy shit," Some one yelped before chaos struck.
They scattered and I smirked running so that someone ran into my chest. The person barely got out a gasp before I latched onto their throat taking deep greedy mouthfuls. I could hear Damon tearing through some of the others. When I sucked the kid dry, I dropped him to the ground.
"Kids these days are so fucking stupid," I scoffed.
I watched Damon leaving bodies in his wake, no one had gotten away. When the last person dropped he looked up at him, a different kind of hunger in his eyes. The smirk he threw my way was one I immediately recognized. One second he was about ten feet away from me, the next he was right in front of me, one hand grabbed my red hair in a fist as he brought my lips to his. His fangs poked holes in my lips as we both fought for dominance in the kiss. I pulled away and he latched onto my neck.
"Damon," I gasped.
"Ginny," He mocked.
Using the grip I had on his shoulders I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist. He then backed me into a nearby tree where I leaned back before we began to kiss again. A few minutes later Damon pulled back setting me back on my feet.
"We have to cover our tracks," Damon ordered. "Give me your phone."
I tossed him the cell phone in my pocket and then began to drag the bodies to the bonfire that the stupid kids had started in the first place.
"I want my ring," Damon barked into the phone. "I'm at Sizzler, I had the buffet. Where's my ring, Stefan? No, no, no, what have you done? You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy." Damon paused for a moment before he scoffed, "I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan. Where's my ring? Ha, ha, you almost got me. Where is it? What? Did you FedEx it to Rome? Where is it. I want my ring, Stefan, or my next stop's Elena's."
I shook my head as I grabbed an abandoned bottle of Vodka, taking a healthy swig before tossing it on the bodies. Instantly the fire glowed brighter.
"Don't give me another reason to rip you apart," Damon snapped. "Just get the goddamn ring."
He hung up the phone, tossing it towards me. I caught it and smirked.
"Don't say a word," Damon growled.
"I wasn't going to," I scoffed.
"Yeah, right," Damon muttered walking by me to pour liquor on the last remaining body.
Unlike all the others this one woke up when the liquid splashed against her skin.
"You just don't wanna die, do you?" Damon laughed.
"What's going on?" The girl mumbled.
She couldn't have been more than seventeen at the oldest and was staring up at us in confusion. Damon lifted the girl to her feet his hands on either side of her head. The last time he had done that in my presence, he had broken my neck, gifting me with a life of immortality and strength. He gave me the freedom I never thought I'd have.
Just before he could move to snap her neck I spoke up, "Wait."
Damon stilled more to hear what I had to say than actually listen to me. He raised an eyebrow in a gesture to continue.
"We can have some fun with that one," I shrugged. "Aren't you supposed to be pretending that you don't have your ring?"
The smirk Damon gave me was cruel and menacing before he grabbed the girl, tossing her over his shoulder and ran back towards his house with me at his heels. The door to the Salvatore boarding house was thrown open, shutting from the force as we stopped in the living room. The second the girl was back on her feet she attempted to run, though she didn't get far before I was in front of her. She bounced off my chest as my arms wrapped around her. She struggled to get away and then I bit her.
"Great, now our entertainment's unconscious," Damon sneered.
"Oh, damn," I laughed, before tilting my head. "Luckily I know of other ways we can pass the time."
"Have I ever told you that I love your resourcefulness," Damon grinned, suddenly his body is flush against mine.
"Is that all you love?" I responded.
With a scoff, Damon backed up against the wall. My back hit the wall and I swallowed a moan as he kissed me with bruising force. One of the benefits of being a vampire was our speed, which was how it was only seconds before both of us were naked. My legs were once again wrapped around his waist. Damon entered me with one thrust, covering my gasp with his mouth.
It took a while for the girl to wake up, though time went faster with Damon and I having sex in almost every room of this giant house. I had just finished showering, changing back into my clothes as I joined Damon and our guest in the living room. Damon didn't seem to notice as he was yelling at Stefan.
"Bring me my ring," Damon barked. "Damn it." He glanced at me before seeing the girl slumped on the couch. "Aw, don't get blood on the couch." He walked over and brushed the girl's hair away from her neck. "I'm so going to regret this."
Before the girl could say a word, Damon bit his wrist and put it to her mouth. She yelped and struggled before she eventually gave up. I sat by watching it occur, not really seeing the girl and Damon but seeing him do the same thing to me before he had snapped my neck, bringing me into a world I didn't know existed, one where I was no longer weak, but powerful. I was finally able to do what I want, when I wanted to do it.
He pulled his wrist away, stepping back as the girl woke up. She didn't seem to mind that she was in a house with two strangers. She merely got off the couch and walked upstairs, minutes later I heard the shower.
"You did this to her before?" I asked.
"Nope," Damon shrugged. "Her name's Vicki, though."
"Oh man," Vicki exclaimed walking back into the room a few minutes later. "That shower was so great. What'd you give me?"
"Some blood," Damon shrugged. "You loved it."
I expected Vicki to laugh him off, or start screaming. Instead she smiled widely, tilting her head. "I did?" She giggled. "Wait…I'm confused. How did we get here?"
"We met in the woods," Damon explained. "You were drunk. Ginny, there attacked you. Then we killed all your friends and brought you here, gave you some blood. You loved it. And now we're gonna party until the sun goes down."
"Okay," Vicki replied. "But first, can I have a another hit? That blood was so good."
"Why don't you ask Ginny?" Damon said.
"Ginny?" Vicki turned smiling at me.
I scoffed, giving him a look before I walked over to her. I bit my wrist holding it out to her. She held out her own wrist as she latched onto my wrist. I bit into the offered appendage, watching her wince at the sting of my fangs tearing into the fragile skin there. I pulled away from her, licking my lips to clear away any spare drops of blood.
Damon had walked across the room, turning on the sound system. "Let's get this party started."
"You compelled her," I mumbled as I watched Vicki begin to dance.
"So serious," Damon mocked. "It was your idea, Red."
I sighed watching Vicki in only a tank top and panties dancing around. I don't think I had ever been that carefree, even when I was a child.
"Here, Ginny," Damon said, thrusting a bottle of vodka into my hand.
"Cheers," I responded.
"I am so over Tyler!" Vicki cheered, prancing around. "So over him. I knew from the beginning that I was only a piece of ass to him, but I thought maybe if he got to know me better, he might see something more. But, no, now, Jeremy, on the other hand, that's all he's ever seen in me is something more, and I like that."
"Jeremy, huh?" Damon questioned. "Elena's brother?"
"Yeah," Vicki whooped. "Yeah, so, Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together, so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me." She stopped suddenly looking back at Damon before he gaze shifted to me. "Are you guys dating?"
"Nope," I answered. "Damon and my relationship is complicated.
"Why don't you have a girlfriend?" Vicki asked. "You're, like, totally cool and so hot."
"I know," Damon scoffed. He was clearly mocking her but she paid him no mind.
"Don't you wanna be in love?" Vick demanded.
"I've been in love," Damon sneered. "It's painful and pointless, and overrated."
"Except when it isn't," Vicki retorted.
"No more talking," Damon ordered. "Let's dance."
We danced around one another, chugging our liquor of choice. It seemed that the drunker Vicki got the more pathetic she got. A slow song came on and Damon wrapped his arms around Vicki as I dropped onto the couch.
"My mom spends most of her time in Virginia Beach with Pete, he drives trucks," Vicki sobbed. "I don't remember my dad, but from what I gather, he's not worth remembering."
"You're life is so pathetic," Damon rolled his eyes.
"Yeah," Vicki agreed. "I mean, I'm the screwed up one. Matt's got it so easy. He's the golden boy. I mean, he's gonna get a football scholarship and marry Elena and have a lawn mower and some babies, and when I think of my future, I just come up blank."
"You're so damaged," Damon frowned.
"Yep," Vicki nodded.
"You don't have one hint of self-esteem."
"Nope," Vicki grimaced. "None."
"I think I know what can help you," Damon offered.
Vicki couldn't tell but I recognized the look in Damon's eyes. This was no longer the thing I suggested. Instead, Damon looked like a cat playing with a mouse. While the mouse struggles ineffectively to get away from the much bigger animal and can't. But, the cat is bored enough to tolerate the attempts at escape before it gobbles the poor thing whole. I hadn't been lying to Vicki when I said Damon and my relationship was complicated, because it was. While I was grateful for what he did to a point, I couldn't forget how he tormented me for months before turning me into a vampire against my will.
"What's that?" Vicki asked, falling hook, line, and sinker for Damon's ploy.
This smile is a thing of cruelty as he sneers down at her. There's nothing he hates more than pathetic people and this girl had that trait in spades.
"Death," Damon smiled, his hands had been cupping her face in a gesture that could be disguised as tender. Before the girl could even react to his words he used his grip on her to wrench her neck, easily snapping her neck.
The dry crack of bone sounded like I had always imagined my death would sound like.
"You didn't have to kill her," I snapped as he let her body crash to the floor.
"Were you hearing her?" Damon scoffed. "I did the brat a favor."
"That's you, St. Damon," I rolled my eyes.
Rage flickered on his face was the only warning I had that I had gone to far. I was ripped from the couch and held up in the air, dangling from one of his hands wrapped around my throat. I grabbed his wrist in both hands attempting to get free but I couldn't.
"Don't forget who I am," Damon warned. "You understand?"
"Yes, Damon," I croaked.
He dropped me back to my feet and I rubbed my neck, coughing. Though vampires didn't need to breathe, we were used to the habit. Damon took a half step back, grabbing my chin between his thumb and forefinger, analyzing my face. He knew that I was sired to him, had to do what he said. One would think he would lord over someone being in a position of power like that. But, he didn't. Not normally. Whatever he was doing here, it was something that had him wound tight.
Another series of cough broke the tense moment, shifting Damon's attention from me to Vicki.
"What happened?" She groaned. "We were dancing, and then…"
"Then I killed you," Damon responded.
"What?" Vicki questioned.
"You're dead," Damon explained.
"I'm dead?" Vicki repeated.
"Yeah, well, let's not make a big deal out of it," Damon shrugged. "You drank my blood, I killed you, and now you have to feed to complete the process."
"You're wasted," She retorted.
"No, he's telling the truth," I stated.
"You don't wanna be out there all alone," Damon warned. "You're about to get really freaky."
"Okay, I had a really good time, but I just wanna go home," Vicki winced.
"You're gonna start craving blood," Damon explained. "And until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful."
"Come on, move," She groaned, shoving past him.
"See?" Damon demanded. "You're already starting to fall apart."
"And I'm going home now," Vicki snapped.
"Okay," Damon shrugged. "Fine. I'm just warning you." A light bulb seemed to go off in his head. "Actually, you know what? You should go. In fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house."
"Yeah, whatever," Vicki rolled her eyes.
"Bye," Damon called cheerfully. "Tell Elena I said hi. And, if you see Stefan, tell him to call me."
Vicki waved over her shoulder, shutting the front door behind her, leaving Damon and I alone.
"Are you insane?" I demanded.
"Excuse me?" Damon snapped.
"You let her go while she's transitioning?" I retorted. "She's going to get one of those kids killed."
"Don't pretend you have a conscious now, Ginny," Damon warned. "Not when seven hours ago you killed at least five of those kids in the woods. Pot meet kettle."
"You're a dick," I snarled.
"Still feisty as ever," Damon smirked.
