Chapter 2
- Black Knight -
"Jesus, Elena!" Jeremy exclaims while at the same time trying to dodge and defend himself from his sister's aggressive sword.
The sun is about to go down and they have spent hours practicing sword fighting and other skills. Elena pants, already bracing herself for the next strike. Her muscles are aching, sweat runs down her face, hair sticks to her forehead and the heat is already making her throat begging for water. But she won't stop.
"Who pissed you off, sis?" Jeremy huffs when jumping up to a rock, kicking it to get a leverage and make a flip to land behind her back.
She spins around, brows furrow and strikes. She doesn't like having her opponent behind her back.
"Definitely not me." Jeremy yelps when the tip of her sword cuts through his shoulder pad as he crouches down and doge her right swing.
"Shut up and concentrate." She huffs, advances a few steps and backing her brother on his feet while their swords meet in the air.
Jeremy squints and grins before tossing his sword aside, taking a low stance with his knees bent. She gets distracted and he tackles her in her middle and pin them both to the sandy ground.
"Damn it!" She curses when her back hits the ground with a thud.
Jeremy rolls off, laughing heartily.
"Seriously, who pissed you off?" He asks when he sobers up.
"No one." She pants, relaxes her limbs, starting to feel the aftermath of overworking her body sinking in every muscles.
"Is this because of last night? One of them got you off guard didn't they?" Jeremy turns serious.
"We need to train harder. We're not strong enough, not fast enough." She stands up, dusting her training suit. "We're weak… I'm weak."
"Elena." Jeremy gets to his feet and places a hand on his sister's shoulder. "You know I never want to get you into this life. You're young. You shouldn't be worried about hunting vampires or killing the devils. It's not …"
"It's not my job because I'm a girl? Is that what you're saying?" She peers into his eyes.
"It's not your responsibility to live this life if you don't want to. You're my sister. And I don't want you to waste your life living mine." He said impatiently
"We went through this before. I want to do this." She brushes off his hand, trying to end the conversation.
"I shouldn't have let you talk me into agreeing with you going with me." He scratches his head. "I should have forced you to stay home with Aunt Jenna … "
"Stop it." She glared. "Do you really think I can stay home knowing you're wandering around hunting vampires at night?"
He stays silent. He was the one to come up with the idea of revenge. He didn't think it would cost his sister's youth and a normal life to do it. Three years ago Elena was just a 15 year-old girl. He feels guilty every time he looks at his sister and sees how much she has grown and realizes how much in life she has missed out.
"You're just trying to distract me from the fact that I just beat you." She points her sword at him.
"Fine. End of conversation." He holds his hands up, knowing the stubbornness runs though the Gilbert's blood.
"I'm going to the river and wash up." She says, taking off her shoulder pads.
"I'll be nearby. Yell if you need me." He nods.
She walks slowly, feeling every string in her body hum with exhaustion as she approach the stream running across the forest behind the village. The water runs from the falls deep in the woods, cool and clear. She carefully looks around, makes sure the trees and rocks on the side block her from the sight from the houses and cabins on the outside rims of the forest. She strips down behind a big rock, letting her sweat soaked clothes pile up next to where she puts her bow and sword there before stepping into the stream. She slides into the water until it reaches her shoulders, she glances back to make sure that she is still a few steps close enough to grab her weapons to defense herself in case she needs it.
Elena finally lets herself relax as the cool water currents wash away her sweat and dirt. She dips her head down to her hair get soaked up, hoping it will help wash away her tangled thoughts too.
"You probably ingest vervain on a daily basis right?"
Elena screeches, reflexively curls under the water and letting the water rise up to her chin, her arms wraps around her upper body and her legs clenches tight.
"You." She huffs, can't mistake those piercing blue eyes, that arrogant smirk and his velvet voice. He lounges on the flat side of the rock, right next to her discarded clothes, looking radiant under the last rays of sunlight.
She automatically looks down to make sure the water isn't too transparent to cover her body from him. Unfortunately, it is. She feels vulnerable, exposed and helpless.
"Leave right now or I'll scream." She keeps her voice firm and harsh.
"And I'll kill anyone who comes to your calling. I meant it last night, still do now." He holds up a finger, waggling his brows at her.
"What do you want?"
"For now, your name would be nice."
Silent.
"What is your name, Elena?" His handsome features flash up in a wicked grin as he looks at her gasping in shock.
How did he know? How long has he been here? Watching? Did he see ….
"Beautiful name. Originally in Greek means a beautiful burning light." He smiles.
"I don't like hearing my name rolling out from filthy bloodsucking mouths." She spits.
"A little bit too biased don't you think?" He says still playfully but his face hardens at her insult.
"Why are you here?"
"To enjoy the view of this beautiful sunset and that of your naked flesh." He says, matter-of-factly.
"Leave. Now." She yells, feeling the tingling heat on her cheeks. She tells herself that is from anger.
"I'm afraid I have to say no." He says simply, shifting so he's lounging on his side, propping himself up on one elbow, deliberately ogling her.
She has never been so angry in her life. She has never wanted to physically hurt someone that much in her life.
"You might want to get out of that water. I can tell you're getting a little shaky." He grins wider.
"Mark my words. I will drive a stake through your heart at the first chance I have." She grits.
In a flash, he's in front of her, soak to his chest in the water, his cloak floating around them like a wicked black cloud.
"Really?" He snorts, takes a step forward. She steps back. "Here I am. Feel free to get your claws on me." He says, pun fully intended.
She gulps, circling around, stepping further from him and closer to her weapons. The scent from him mixes with the freshness of the water, the muddy scent of earth gets to her, and there comes that shivers coursing through her spine again.
He won't let her get away easily. Damon speeds up, blocking in front of her again. He lifts her chin up with a finger, running the back of his hand along her tense jawline before brushing his thumb slightly on her lower lip.
It has been a very long time since he's interested in something. She wants to kill him. She puts up a fight. And he's enjoying it all far too much.
"That is not fear." He smirks, tracing his finger down to her chest. "You're … excited."
"You're right. I'm anticipated thinking about the possible ways to kill you." She retorts.
"Is that right?" He chuckles, floats closer to her, clearly enjoying invading her personal space.
She caught the sight of his muscular chest as the wet fabric clings tightly to his body. She adverts her eyes away only to look into his gorgeous face.
Think. Elena, think.
She bites her lips out of habit, her chest heaving as her heart races. His eyes darken before his lips land on her. She struggles but it goes in vain when he easily cups her face and keeps her still, her kicking legs go useless under the restrain of water, her arms protectively wraps even tighter around her bare breasts. She stiffens, his lips sensually nip hers and his hands slide down on either sides of her body, resting on her hips, his thumbs caresses her protruding hipbones.
Think. Elena… think…
He pulls her towards and flushes her against his body. She gasps. He slides his tongue in her open mouth. She chokes on the sensation, the texture, the taste of him in her.
No. Focus.
She backs up, he follows. She feels the water level goes down as her body exposes more to the air. She reaches back until her hands touches the dry and rough rocks lying on the banks.
She pushes him back, breaking the contact. He opens his eyes, frowning in confusion. He was so sure she surrendered. She places both hands on the high edge of the riverside to lift her body up. His eyes widen when he takes in the sight of her perky breasts, her golden skin glistened with water dropping down, her dark hair matted on her shoulder.
"Go to hell." She spits when she stretches over and gets a hold on the handle of her wooden bow.
She pulls back the string, aims and shoots. He snaps out of his shock just in time to step aside and the thick wooden arrow misses his heart but punctures deep in his left upper arm.
He groans, pulling the offended stick out of his flesh. He looks up just in time to see a pair of mile long legs, honey gold glowing skin as she drapes her coat over and runs for her life.
Something unfamiliar boils inside of Damon. He doesn't have time to think much to register what he's feeing or surprised at the fact that he's feeling anything at all. He's not a thinker. He only knows he wants more of that, of that kiss, of her skin against his skin. He needs more, more of her.
Caroline Forbes is a pretty blond, very young and very lively girl that lives with her mother next to Tyler's wood house. It is clear that Tyler is head over heels with this human girl. He invites her over for dinner and Elena turns out to be very very grateful for that. Caroline is a talking machine. She talks about basically everything and nothing at all at a non-stop pace. Elena finds an amusement in the way Tyler listens to every words of the blond girl's babbling with an adoration twinkling in his eyes. It distracts her from thinking about the 'incident' in the river yesterday.
"Can you two men clean up for us? I want to show Elena something and I can't wait any longer." Caroline claps her hands together, bats her lashes and widens her baby blue yes, her porcelain skin contrasts beautifully with her rosy lips.
"Oh. Sure. Of course. Just stay close to the houses because it's getting dark." Tyler nods enthusiastically, already on his feet and collecting their dishes.
Jeremy lets out a big groan and Elena suppresses a laugh that is already on her lips.
"Thank you so much Tyler. You are the sweetest." Caroline does a little skip on her feet and pats Tyler's shoulder.
It was a totally innocent and platonic gesture but a smile plasters on his face and Elena has a feeling the guy might never wash his shirt just because Caroline has touched it.
"Oh my God! I'm so happy you're here! I always want a close girlfriend and you've been great so far! I love this!" Caroline walks with her arms hooked around Elena's as they walk out into the twilight of the day.
"Thanks." Elena laughs, this girl's energy is contagious. "Where are we going?"
"We're going to a best friend of mine. We've been friends for like all of our lives. She's 17, my age, but already a very powerful witch. And she's awesome. You two will be great friends!" Caroline squeals and Elena laughs again. She's starting to feel like talking in high pitches and walking with skipping in her steps too.
"Now I know why Tyler is so … fond of you. You're nothing but adorable." Elena gives her hand a squeeze.
"What are you talking about?" Caroline brushes it off but her cheeks flushes a little.
"He's a nice guy." Elena smiles.
Caroline says nothing but rolls her eyes, her cheeks turns even pinker and her blue eyes shine brighter.
Elena smiles and looks around taking in the surroundings. Caroline has taken her to the south part of Mystic Falls. Instead of the variety of houses in shapes and forms like in the central part, houses in this area have a slight vibe of union in their dark wooden doors, red roofs with hazy glass windows. There's a lingering scent of burning sage and herbs in the air, the mixed aroma of different spices swift around the steam coming from the open doors. Caroline stops in front of a small but cozy looking hut and knocks on the door.
"Bonnie!" She calls, knocking a few more times until the door opens and reveals a petite girl, beautiful with a caramel skin tone, big bright green eyes and long dark curly locks of black hair.
"Caroline!" Bonnie smiles a radiant smile that lifts up her dark features and hugs Caroline.
"Bonnie Bonnie! This is Elena! She's new in town with her brother, who is an absolutely fine guy you should see him…" Caroline goes on her rant before anyone can stop it to happen.
"Hello I'm Elena." Elena smiles and offers her hand to Bonnie once Caroline has slowed down to take a breath.
"Good to see you!" Bonnie smiles back and takes her hand.
Elena can feel the shudder in the other girl's body when their hands touch. Bonnie gasps and shuts her eyes momentarily before opening them again to stare at Elena in an eerie and peculiar way.
"What's wrong Bon?" Caroline frowns, cautiously taking Bonnie's small shoulders in her hands.
Elena withdraws her hand, keeping her eyes on Bonnie as the girl starts to focus her gaze on them again.
"Not you too." Bonnie whispers more words, too low for Elena to hear out anything.
"I'm sorry? What do you mean?" Elena asks, rubbing her hands together in confusion.
"Damon!" Caroline screeches beside them before Bonnie can speak.
Elena looks over only to see a blurry glimpse of Carline's blond hair as she darts pass her.
"That's what I mean." Bonnie says dryly, following Elena's gaze.
Caroline throws herself into a man's arms. Lean and strong figure, dark hair, flawless pale skin, defined jawline, strong arches of dark brows, piercing blue eyes and a set of sultry pouty lips. She reaches up on her tip-toes to place a kiss on Damon's cheek before wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"Now, what did I say about tackling me?" Damon frowns, clearly annoyed, peeling the snickering girl off of his waist.
"You never visit me any more!" Caroline pouts when she gets detached from Damon's body.
"I made sure of that." Bonnie steps out of the shadow of her front door and comes up behind Caroline but keeps a distance between herself and the vampire.
"What?" Caroline spins around to look at her friend.
Damon doesn't get to pay attention to the girls' bantering as his eyes look over Bonnie and sees the girl behind her. His eyes find Elena and his mind blocks out everything else but her.
And as times before, her thoughts go scattered all over the place once their eyes are locked. She has never seen such blue eyes. Her body has never experienced the tingling sensation with just a look of blue eyes. Her heart has never before raced just because someone with blue eyes shows up. She has never felt upset or angry just because she sees someone kisses someone else before.
Elena shakes her head and shakes away the trap his eyes were putting her in. She walks away, finding her way back to the other side of Mystic Falls, leaving Caroline behind with Bonnie. She just needs to get away from him as soon as possible.
"Elena."
Of course he appears in front of her before she makes her way out of the area.
She keeps her eyes down, walking around him. He grabs her elbow and she spins around, twisting her arm to get out of his grip and reflexively sweeping his feet with her leg. He avoids her easily before stepping to her side and sneaks his hand under her waist and scoops her up in his arms.
"This is making me really impatient and I don't do impatient well." He huffs.
"Let go of me." She gasps, feeling the side of her body touching his chest.
She rolls over, letting herself fall off his arms before hitting the ground with a thud.
"You're asking for this." He growls.
In a blink, he has her up in his arms again. Before she can speak or kick or make another move to escape again, she feels a sharp breeze of air around her and everything turns blur for a moment.
"Oh my God!" Elena screams once the world around has stopped spinning.
She is now on top of the town's watch tower, the highest tower and she, Elena Gilbert is on top of its cone-shaped roof.
"Now if you wiggle you'll fall. All the way down. Which is a pretty long trip. So stop with all the kungfu stunts." He says calmly but a pleased smile stretched on his lips. Finally he has somewhat control over this human girl.
"Put.. put me down." She stutters.
She has never been anywhere at this height before. Sure she set foot on mountains and cliffs but definitely not on a slippery tiny peak of a watch tower's roof. She feels like her heat has stopped beating, her toes feels cold and numb, cold sweat pricks on her skin and she feels nauseous.
"Oh no I won't do that. We finally have the chance to have a civilized conversation and I'm not wasting it." He rolls his eyes.
"Pl… please…" She breaths out, squeezing her eyes shut. They are standing perfectly still but her head is spinning.
Damon frowns at her shaky voice and looks down at the girl in his arms. She really is shaking with her eyes shut and her face pales out of any color.
"Elena." He calls. "Elena, open your eyes and look at me." He shakes her lightly.
Elena takes a few deep breaths before allowing her eyes to open. It doesn't help, her heart is beating so fast she's afraid it will explode. He looks better at close distance. Much much better.
"No." She shuts her eyes again and turns her head aside, doesn't notice that it means she will press her face in his shoulder.
Damon blinks. Something about her turning to him for comfort makes him feel like he is responsible to make her feel better, to make her feel safe.
"I won't let you fall." He says, surprised at how soft his voice sounds and even more surprised when he finds himself leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
He has kissed many women on many imaginable and possible places on their body in his existence. But he has never placed such a tender kiss on anyone with a more ridiculous motive as in to calm her down.
She opens her eyes, this time because she was caught off guard with that kiss.
And Damon curses silently in his head, wonders why he wants her to look at him in the first place. Those big doe-eyes of hers, radiating a melting warm brown are giving him a hard time to get himself together.
"If you're not dropping me to kill me, what are you going to do with me up here?" She asks, her voice is still a little shaky.
He rolls his eyes.
"You, sweetheart, are the one constantly trying to kill me. I'm just responding to the attacks." He says matter-of-factly.
She frowns before tensing up again when he shifts. Damon sits down, placing his foot on the rough edge of the roof to keep himself in place before shifting her so she can sit in his lap.
"As for what to do up here. Take a look around first." He purrs in her ears as he keeps her back against him.
She does as told and eyes wide as she takes in the magnificent view of the sunset far away behind the mountains. She adverts her eyes to the tiny houses, huts and bungalows in the town, steamy with smoke coming from the chimneys.
"Why are you doing this?" She asks, fully aware of the intimacy in this romantic setting.
"Why do you hate me so much? You don't even know me." He chuckles.
"I don't hate you. I hate vampires." She replies. It was easier to talk and think when she is facing away from him. Or is it? Because her body feels like being on fire with his arms wrapped around it like this.
"Well I happen to be a vampire." He laughs a humorless laugh.
"We're on top of a tower because of that." She says. "Why are you doing this?" She repeats with a firmer voice.
"Isn't it obvious? To get to have a conversation with you without the distraction of you trying to knock my head off or putting a stake through my heart."
"I will still do it next time I have the chance." She gulps. She needs him to understand, that he needs to consider her as an enemy and treats her as one. Not like this. She can't handle this.
"Usually most people who have tried that didn't live to have the second shot, not to say the third like you did." He snorts.
"Am I supposed to feel honored?" She bites back, turning around to face him.
"You certainly can and definitely should." He returns her fury gaze with equal measure.
"Spare me the burden and kill me then." She challenges, not knowing what power drives her be so stupid.
He stares at her, clenching his teeth in anger, already feeling his fangs itching in anticipation. Doesn't she know her boiling blood is driving him mad? Is she stupid enough to challenge a vampire or just incredibly brave? He stiffens his fingers around her small waist, considering the option of pushing her off the roof and hears her scream in fear, begging for his mercy. Damon almost curses when he realizes he can't do that, wouldn't do that, doesn't want to do that.
"You're ruining the mood you know. You should really stop talking with that hostile tone." He growls, leaning in closer to her face.
"You can't compel me." She forces herself to stay still, despite the electrifying tingling on her skin when she feels his breath cools off on her lips.
"If I can, you'd be kissing me instead of pissing me off with your talking right now." He smirks.
Her eyes widens at his words. She automatically looks at his lips, his deep berry colored lips, the slight pout on his lower lip, the small shallow crease in the middle of his lower lip that makes it look so inviting and sensuous. She swallows, forcing herself to look away. His eyes catches hers and she runs through her head to make sure that she finds the memory of her drinking the cup of vervain tea after dinner. Yes. She did. She is not being compelled. Then why does it feel like her body and her mind are not working together.
She needs to stop staring at his lips. Damon curses in his head. This girl is evil. Isn't it ironic for him to say that. He leans in closer, smiling softly when she isn't pulling away. She blinks and he grabs her face in his hand before molding his lips on hers quickly, afraid to risk a second of her second-guessing. This time he moves slowly and gently, savoring the taste of her skin.
Elena shivers when he places short but firm kisses on her lips. Every thoughts she has is being wiped out. Her hands find their own way to come around his neck. Her lips fall into a rhythm with his. He runs his tongue over her lips, asking for entrance. She weakly opens up to him. She let out a sigh when he slides in, slowly tasting her, exploring her eagerly while she hesitantly replies. She realizes somehow she has shifted and straddled him between her legs but she can't figure out what that means. She starts to feel light-headed when her lungs giving out the last piece of air. He breaks the kiss just in time for her to breath in. He trails down her neck with closed mouth kisses, still lost in the taste of her and the thrill of intimacy. He brushes his lips on the side of her neck and Elena's eyes snaps open.
Vampire.
She gasps and pushes him off without thinking. She loses her balance when his arms leaves her body as she pushes herself off of his embrace. And she falls into space, over the edge of the slippery stone roof. She screams an ear-piercing scream as her body plummets towards the ground.
She closes her eyes when something hard hits her body, bracing for the pain.
"I got you." Damon pants. He doesn't shed a drop of sweat but he feels like his heart has stayed on the roof, leaving his body. There was a sharp spark of fear stabbing through him when Elena slipped out of his arms and fell over the edge. Over the centuries he has lived, fear almost didn't exist in him. Yet now he's wondering can vampires still have heart attack?
Elena opens her eyes to realize she is again in his arms, safe and whole. He waits for her to calm down before placing her down on her feet. He tucks her wild hair back behind her ears, rubbing his thumbs on her flushed cheeks.
"This can't be happening." She pulls his hands down from her face, shaking her head violently.
"It already did." He chuckles.
"No." She keeps shaking her head before turning around and runs.
Yet again, the second time in two days he watches her running away from him. And he still wants and needs the same thing he did the first time. Only this time, he has a feeling that those feelings are mutual. If realizing that he was experiencing fear was mind-boggling for Damon, he would freak out once he realizes that at that moment another thing has come back to his soulless shell. Hope.
A round of applause for Elena's resistance against Damon. I mean I'd be acting more like Caroline if I'm around Damon for real... haha.
So new chap for this story! Love it or hate it?
It's still a little all over the place for now. I'll think I'll fix it here and there later. This type of story is kinda new for me to write so I'm not very confident at all.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Thank everyone for the reviews on chap 1! I loved all of them. Thank you for keeping this story alive and going :)
Drop me a review of your thoughts on this one!
Love xoxo