Hello Everyone!
Standard disclaimer – I own nothing, it all belongs to Warner Brothers and the CW network, and probably half a dozen other shell companies I don't know about!
The only things that are mine are the two characters I created - Darren and Alexandra, and to be honest, they really belong to themselves. I have no idea how my brain came up with them.
I'm just getting back into writing, and I'd love to know what you think, so please review, make comments, tell me you love it or hate it, whatever you want.
I'll try to update once a week. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
There were upsides and downsides of being a vampire. One of the upsides was the incredible hearing, and the incredible sense of smell. Sometimes, that incredible hearing and sense of smell was a real pain in the butt too.
Elena knew Damon had left their bed, after thoroughly ravishing her to the point of exhaustion. He'd taken a nap, but he woke up only a short time later, pressed a kiss to her cheek, and told her he was going down stairs to check on his friend.
That had been hours ago.
She could smell the bourbon and the tequila. She'd gotten used to Damon's bourbon – but tequila was a totally different scent all together. This smell wasn't bad, just different.
They talked quietly – or attempted to. The drunker they got, the more they had trouble with volume control. Damon rarely did this, and he was going down memory lane with an old friend – a good friend from the sound of it. She couldn't be mad. He didn't have many real friends from his past. A few now, but his past was mostly dark and dreary.
But she also heard someone else, soft steps that came partway down the hall and just stopped. It had to be Alexandra. Elena would have just gone to sleep but she thought she heard a few quiet sobs, and that she just couldn't ignore.
So she got out of bed, pulled on loose fitting silk pants and a camisole, and padded down the hall.
She found Alexandra curled up in a window seat, dressed in a pair of girly sleeping shorts and a tank top, looking out over the city lights. The moonlight was gone, soon the sun would rise.
"I didn't wake you up, did I?" Alexandra asked, blinking, and wiping at her eye's.
"No," Elena said, and she sat down on the other end of the window seats, "The boys did . . . but they're taking one of those trips down memory lane, and they seem happy . . . so I'm not about to complain."
Alexandra nodded, wiped away the last bit of moisture from just under her eye.
"Want to talk about it?" Elena asked.
Alexandra looked up, "I'm just afraid . . . I'll get over it. I always do."
Elena nodded. She understood afraid. It had terrified her. She'd tried Stephan's bunny diet – and it sucked, she couldn't handle it. Even knowing now that it was a sire bond issue, she wouldn't go that route ever again, unless she was totally desperate and starving.
She'd been terrified she go all ripper and not be able to control herself. As it was, she learned self-control pretty fast. It looked like Alexandra wasn't learning that self-control quite as fast.
"So you always do huh? What else have you been afraid of that you conquered?"
"Dating a vampire," Alexandra said, glancing over her shoulder, seeing the two men through the slats of the walkway down below, "that was a mind bender – I'm a – I was – a scientist. I thought he was having a psychotic break when he first told me. I seriously thought he'd gone bat shit crazy – and then I realized he wasn't. That's a hard thing to wrap your brain around – dead cells that still function – but not quite the same way . . ."
Elena nodded, "I was in high school –and you'll hear about it – I was dating his brother –he's a sweet guy really – and when he told me – I didn't know what to think – but it was all right there in living color . . . and Damon – there was a time I just wanted Stephan to kill him and get him out of our hair."
Alexandra smiled a little, "Really? Because the two of you look so . . . perfect – totally in sync."
"We both changed and grew . . . a lot," Elena said, brushing her hair back from her face, and she really looked at Alexandra, "You're a redhead and you have very dark blue eye's . . . how did that happen?"
"Recessive genes," Alexandra said, "Two blondes with blue eye's in the family tree . . . I got lucky and I know it . . . but this hair and this skin – I can't tan to save my life."
"Especially now," Elena pointed out, smiling.
Alexandra laughed a little, "Yeah . . . that's true . . . check this out."
Alexandra reached up felt around her scalp just past her temple parted her hair. The roots were white – and they hadn't been there yesterday –or at least not that Elena noticed.
"This is a real pisser – I used to be able to cover this with hair dye once a month – I've had to cover it every three days since the accident."
"What happened to your head?"
"I have a small scar, the hair grows in white – I got smacked with a crow bar when I was a teenager – my mother had this asshole drug dealer boyfriend – too bad he isn't still around, I wouldn't mind losing control on him."
Elena reached out, gently took Alexandra's hand into hers, "Bad idea – besides, you'd probably be stoned for day's off whatever is in his system."
Alexandra laughed a little, "probably – I was little stoned last night – off what I don't know – liquor, the blood . . . god only knows what else."
They were quiet for a few moments.
"Why aren't you down stairs curled up in your sexy Mexican boyfriends lap?"
"I'm giving him a break," Alexandra said quietly, "the last three weeks – he's spent every last minute taking care of me – making sure I'm not going off the deep end, keeping me fed – and he left behind a life he'd been comfortable in for me."
"We move every few years, no matter what," Elena told her, "Because people will start to notice that we don't age. We make friends we won't keep – unless their one of us – and most of us, most vampires - are not so nice . . . you've chosen a hard life Alex."
"I know," She said, "I wasn't quite ready . . . I was going to do it, I just . . . I thought I'd have more time, finish my degree or something, I don't know . . ."
"I didn't want to turn," Elena told her, "It was an accident – we didn't even know I had Damon's blood in me. So I understand – and it gets easier."
Alexandra nodded, and looked out over the night sky again, "How much longer will it be this intense?"
Elena drew in a deep breath, "It's always going to be this intense Alex – but we get used to it – after a while, it doesn't feel so intense – and to be honest – sometimes I pity people who can't feel and sense everything I can. When you become a vampire – it amplifies what you were before, and soon you'll get some confidence back. I have this friend – insecure – control freak – and she had just gotten to that good place where she was getting comfortable in her own skin – she was damn lucky she got turned when she did. Now she's a super organized control freak – but she's at least nice."
Alexandra laughed a little, "God, if you only knew what I almost did in that club tonight . . ."
Elena laughed a little. She'd seen what Alexandra and Darren had almost done in the bar. She and Damon had done it in the bar – against the wall.
"I'll show you some of the things I do to try and keep myself under control – and a lot of it is practice . . . maybe we should be practicing someplace where you're not also thinking about having sex with Darren."
Alexandra groaned, put her face in her hands, "Dear god . . . you did see – didn't you!"
"I saw what 150 other people were doing – which is why we go there – it's all totally anonymous. Relax, it's ok – I did it in the bar with Damon tonight – it's one of my guilty pleasures – hot out of controls sex right after we've fed together."
Alexandra looked up, "Oh my god . . . what if someone walked up – said something at the wrong moment?"
"We'd compel them to go away," Elena said matter-of-factly, "Or have a snack – then tell them to go away."
Alexandra laughed a little, and looked over the two men below, through the slats of the railing.
"They seem to be really enjoying themselves . . ."
Damon tossed back the last little bit of bourbon in his glass.
"That Mayan priest at the ruins in Mexico, I thought he was going to have a heart attack right there," Damon said, and he reached for the bottle of bourbon.
"You were feeding on some hapless girl right on some alter, of course he damn near had a heart attack – what would you think if you hiked your ass up there – prepared to do whatever a Mayan priest does, and you find a vampire sucking on some girls neck."
Damon shrugged, "the girl was hot – and she wanted to see the view of the whole place in the moonlight – what was I supposed to do? Say no?"
"Not bite her?" Darren suggested.
"I did a lot more than bite her at the top of that pyramid," Damon snorted, "she got to leave with some misty memories of wild sex on top of the pyramids, and a couple of weird bug bites."
"Bug bites? Seriously?" Darren said, "that is so lame!"
"They had bugs the size of small cars there!" Damon said, spacing out his thumb and index finger, "You weren't exactly respecting your ancestors either! I saw you slink off to that place where they play that game and kill the winner's with some girl. Screwed up game if you ask me!"
"I didn't do her on top of a pyramid," Darren said, "where a Mayan priest might find me and curse me – and they aren't my ancestors – I don't think . . . my family came from farther north –mostly. That's a mystery really, we were a really prolific bunch."
He reached for the bottle of tequila, refilled his glass, and sighed "It was a screwed up way to end a vacation – but it was a damn good vacation."
"What was I gonna do? Some holy man was trying to put a curse on me – and he couldn't be compelled – what was I supposed to do?"
"How much bad luck did you get for drinking a Mayan priest dry," Darren asked him, leaning forward, "Cause that had to bring on some bad karma."
Damon groaned, "You have no idea . . . next four towns I went to – witches – everywhere – I had no idea there were so damn many witches in the world."
Darren laughed a little, "I roamed through my old village – thinking no one would possibly make me – you know? They all had to be dead – I mean – my whole family drank like fish, we smoked lots of pot, hell we smoked everything we got our hands on, we gambled – and sure enough – my sister is still there – old of course – practicing witch – white magic – I still think she knew who I was. She looked right at me and told me to keep moving. It was La dia de la muerta – so I visited my family's graves – a few generations down they were still tending them. Someone put one up for me – god only knows who's in there."
"Maybe no one," Damon said, "My father put graves in for Stephan and I – our coffins were probably full of rocks."
"Creepy," Darren said, "I haven't been back since."
"I went back to mystic falls," Damon said, and he glanced up at the upper walkway – towards the big bay window Elena and Alexandra were sitting in and talking quietly, "I went back, intending to screw with Stephen – I was still pretty pissed –and I was going to get the psycho bitch out of the tomb – but it all played out differently."
"Stole your brother's girlfriend," Darren said, and sipped his tequila, "I'd say that's different – bet that didn't help your relationship with Stephen."
"No," Damon said, "It did not . . . but he practically handed her to me on a silver platter – and it took me all of a few weeks to fall in love with her . . . god I am such a sap! It all worked out for the best – sort of – he say's happy with psycho bitch – he hasn't had any more ripper benders but that one I told you about, and Elena and I . . . that's just perfect."
"All except for the brother who's a hunter."
"Thankfully he can be selective – now," Damon said, "I had another close friend who was a hunter – sort of – not a supernatural type – but the kind that chooses to be – I kind of slept with and turned his wife."
Darren's eyes widened, "that's a shitty thing to do to a friend."
"It was before we were friends actually," Damon began, "it started when . . ."
Elena had an idea. Alexandra's biggest concern was going too far, and killing someone innocent. In the right mood, she didn't seem to have a problem actually doing the snatch, eat, and erase routine.
So where does one find a population of people that no one minds if they just happen to disappear? The sex offender registry came to mind rather quickly.
She was drinking a cup of coffee – she'd had more than enough blood last night, and even after all this time, she still enjoyed the taste of coffee, and the kick of the caffeine – and she didn't need to add sugar or milk to make it taste good.
She was sitting at her desk, her laptop open and set up, when she heard him come up behind her, took a deep breath of that scent was that so distinctly, intoxicatingly Damon.
Damon gently grasped her shoulders, bent down, pressed a kiss to her cheek.
"Sex offenders? Nice Elena – is this the crap you're studying at that college?" Darren asked, his disgust evident in his voice.
She laughed a little, "No . . . I was just thinking – who can Alex hunt – and kill – and no one would really care?"
A smile slowly spread across Damon's face, "I like it. It's dark, devious, right up my alley – but Alex is like you – she still has a conscious."
Elena snorted, "No one cares about sex offenders Damon – especially women. I say we research a few – find one no one will miss at all – someone who deserves it, and let Alex go to town. What better way for her to practice pulling back – and if she doesn't – she's done the world a favor."
Damon grinned, "I love it when you get all devious – who did you have in mind?"
Alexandra sipped on a bag of blood, still wrapped up in Darren's arms. He and Damon had been up all night talking – well, half the night. They had not returned to Damon and Elena's apartment until 2 in the morning, and then Darren and Damon had started drinking their way through a trip down memory lane.
Alexandra had tried to sleep, but she was just too wound up and anxious. All those hypersensitive senses . . . or something like that. It would get easier over time. She knew Darren could sleep well, not be woken up by just the most miniscule sounds, but right now, she hadn't mastered how to filter stuff out yet.
She hoped she learned soon – that, or she'd pass out from sheer exhaustion.
The sun was just rising when they finally decided they were done for the night, and when he'd come up the stairs, he'd pulled her off the window seat gently, suggesting they go to bed and get some rest.
Of course, he hadn't really been interested in sleep – not at first. As soon as the bedroom door was closed, he was pulling her pj's off, touching, kissing, stroking, and for a little while, everything that bothered her disappeared. All she knew was how good is hands felt on her, what his mouth could do, how amazing it felt when he was inside her, and the intense mind blowing orgasm that felt like nothing she'd ever felt before – it made what they had when she was human seem like nothing. One of the benefits of heightened senses.
But when it was over, sleep only tugged at her for a little while. Darren somehow managed to entangle their arms and legs, and promptly pass out.
The smell of coffee had drawn her out of bed, and she'd gotten dressed, had a cup, and Damon handed her blood bag as well, only barely commenting that it helped to stay full. He didn't say much, he shuffled around, and seemed a little quieter than yesterday. Hangover, she thought.
So for lack of anything else to do, and unsure about her surroundings, she went back upstairs, crawled back in bed with Darren, and sipped on the bag, managing to suck it dry pretty quickly.
She tried to sleep, and at most she managed to dose. The little sounds of everyday life drew her attention. Traffic outside, the sounds of some bird someplace scratching for something, soft sounds of someone walking through the house. But she felt safe at least, right now.
Darren glanced at the clock, and tried to ignore the throbbing in his head. One in the afternoon – not nearly enough sleep and he wouldn't get much more – not until he did something about the hangover. How much had he drank? He blinked a few times, watching Alexandra stare at the ceiling, and he brushed her hair back from her face.
"Did you sleep?" he asked her.
"I dosed," she replied, "I'm about ready to start taking horse tranquilizers."
He managed a smile that made his head hurt a little, "I'm about ready to find some for you – at least we know they won't kill you."
She snorted, "another perk."
He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm reminding myself often of all the good things about this . . . you know, that whole positive attitude thing – I'd have it licked and be just fine with it all – if I didn't want to eat everyone making so damn much noise outside."
He nodded, "It gets easier – I know you've got to be tired of hearing that by now, but it does."
She nodded, and was quiet for a few minutes, snuggling into his side.
"How long did it take you – to be able to take a deep breath, not be constantly distracted, constantly hungry."
"Months," he said, "and it's more that we get used to it."
She nodded.
"We do," he said, "You know how a coke always sounds good? It's like that – you get to the point where a nice drink of blood always sounds good, but you don't have to have it going down all the time."
She sighed, "This must be what it's like for an alcoholic on the wagon."
The sound of Damon calling up to them drew their attention.
"Wake up you two! I know you're not really sleeping! You better be dressed soon or I'm going see something you don't want me to see! Maybe – maybe not!" Damon's voice floated up from down stairs.
"Damon!" Elena scolded him, "Don't you dare!"
They heard Damon laugh, "Hey – maybe they're into that! Darren can be a real freak when the mood hits."
Darren sighed, "He'll do it, He'll come right in. He can be such an asshole."
Alexandra shrugged, "I'm not the one who's naked – are guys his thing too?"
"No," Darren said, "Definitely not."
But it was enough to get Darren to get up, and grab a pair of sweatpants from his bag.
They headed down the stairs together.
Damon had a highball glass in his hand, two fingers of bourbon in the glass.
"Hair of the . . .chihuahua?" Damon asked, taunting Darren with the bottle of tequila.
"Asshole," Darren grumbled, "Yes, damnit."
Damon laughed, and poured a highball glass half full, and handed it to Darren, then he picked up the bottle of spiced rum, "Is this it?"
Alexandra nodded, "yeah, but I'm not really hung over."
"It takes the edge off," Darren told her.
"Welcome to alcoholism," Damon commented, and poured another half glass of into another highball glass.
Alexandra took the glass, and sipped. Normally she liked it mixed with a coke or pepsi . . . but this was good, really good. She took another sip.
Elena came in then, coming from one of the rooms down the hall of the first floor.
"Alex, I have an idea . . ."
The target . . . that's how she thought of him, had a long history of violent rapes. The only reason he wasn't in jail right now was because his victim's didn't testify against him. Elena had come up with four potential targets for her – and this was the one she chose. Out of all of them, he seemed to be the worst.
So the four of them set out that afternoon, to hunt.
It only took a few hours to track him down. He came out of a bar, cigarette still in hand, taking a long drag on it. He looked around, an evil sneer on his face, and started down the street.
They followed. They'd dressed for the neighborhood, wearing older well used cloths, nothing to fancy, they didn't want to stand out. They walked arm in arm, as if they were out as a group, going somewhere.
If they were still human, the long walk might have tired Alexandra out. She'd probably be terrified he'd make them, turn on them. But she was walking with three very lethal predators – and she was one herself – now. She just had to learn when to be a predator, and when not to be a predator.
"When is this guy gonna pick a damn alley?" Alexandra asked after a while. She was hungry – again.
The sun was falling. Not that the dimmer light would stop them, or make it harder for them to track him. But she could smell the wafts of different human scents all around her, some of them pleasant, enticing, some of them outright foul.
Then, as if on cue, he stopped, and started talking to a guy who looked just as mean and vicious as he did.
"Time for a little weed I'm thinking, or meth," Darren commented.
They slowed their pace, creeping up on him slowly. He finished his buy, if they hadn't had those acute vampire senses, they probably wouldn't have seen it. But he tucked it into his pocket, and started off again, glancing around again.
He didn't notice them – still.
He finally reached his destination, an old apartment building that looked like it probably had as many rats a residents as it did humans.
"Show time," Elena said, grabbing Alexandra's arm.
Lightning fast, they were right next to him.
He blinked, smiled after a moment looking over the two stunning women in front of him.
"Compell him – into the alley," Elena ordered her.
Alexandra drew a deep breath, focused her attention, looked right into his eye's, "You're going to follow us into the alley, you're not going to scream, you're not going to fight me."
He blinked, got that glazed over look on his face, and when she stepped away, he followed her, right into the alley.
Darren and Damon were already there, standing guard, or standing ready, she wasn't sure.
Elena pushed him back against the brick wall, grimacing. She briefly wondered what he had flowing through his veins right now, because Alex was going to ingest it.
"Go ahead," Elena urged her, "Just sink your teeth in, take a deep gulp, then pull back."
Alexandra hesitated, put her hand on his shoulder, and she grimaced.
"He's human garbage Alex," Elena said, "Think about what he's done – if you don't do this – he'll be prowling for his next victim."
Alexandra glanced over at Darren, and he nodded.
She took a deep breath, leaned in, and then she could see the pulse in his neck. His heart was pounding fast and hard – and she lost it.
She lunged, bit down, sinking her teeth in, tearing into his flesh, and drank. Hot blood flooded her mouth, she sucked, drank, gulped.
She heard someone calling her name, but she didn't care. All she cared about was getting more –this was what she craved, what she wanted, what she needed.
"Alex! Enough!"
It was Elena who pulled her back. Alexandra gasped, licking her lips, wiped her mouth, "What! Damnit!"
"Stop! Slow down," Elena said, "this is the point, slow down . . ."
Alexandra drew in a deep breath, the scent, the draw was too much.
She pressed her mouth to the gaping wound again, and drew a few more deep gulps.
"Stop!" Elena snapped, "Alex!"
Alexandra reared back, growling, and she twisted around, as if she was going to attack.
Damon leaped forward, between her and Elena. Darren grabbed her, his arm around her waist. But Alexandra didn't struggle.
"I'm not done!" She snarled.
Elena inclined her head, towards the man, now slumping down, "Then you better finish – he's almost done."
Alexandra didn't need any encouragement. She grabbed him, pressed her mouth to the gaping wound she'd created, and drank, and drank – until there was nothing. She felt his heart racing, felt him spasm, and then she shoved him away roughly, and she licked her lips, wiped her mouth, breathing fast and hard.
Then she started to come down, reality setting in.
There was a dead body lying on the ground in front of her, pale, completely drained.
Darren reached down, pulled long knife from his boot.
"What's that for?" she asked him.
"Dismembered body in the dumpster – a little less suspicious than a dead body with a gaping neck wound."
She nodded, and stood back, and watched her boyfriend make quick work of the body in front of her, as if he was just cutting up a chicken for dinner.
Elena pulled out some wet wipes from her purse, and a small mirror, and handed them both to Alexandra.
"Clean up," she said gently.
Alexandra took the mirror, her hands shaking, and wiped the rest of the blood off her face. She glanced over her shoulder – Darren and Damon were just tossing the dismembered legs into the dumpster.
"Is this how you normally get rid of people?" she asked.
"Depends where I am," Darren said, "How do you feel?"
She took a deep breath, "actually – I feel . . . exhilarated – I should feel guilty – but . . ."
"There's a reason we picked an asshole like that," Damon said, "Just keep reminding yourself you did the world a favor. A handful of his victims will sleep better when the police discover his body."
Alexandra nodded, drew in a deep breath.
Darren wiped his knife, stuck it back in his boot, and then stepped towards her, reaching. He gently grasped her arms, run his hands up and down, and then cupped her face in his hands, "Seriously Baby . . . you did good."
She closed her eye's, nodding, and then opened them again.
"I want more."
Well readers? Tell me what you think! I'd love to know!