Author's Note: Another update and a tension filled one at that. I hope you like it. I want to say in advance for those that either don't watch the series or haven't caught this, but the VD vamps do have heartbeats. That was something one of my pre-readers had mentioned, but VD is different mythology. At any rate, Thanks to MissSherrie and Elohcin for prereading this for me. Not sure when we will see another update, but the plotline is pretty solid in my head, so hopefully I have some time to work on it again soon. So far neither of my prereaders have guessed what's going on. I'll be interested to hear your theories…
Chapter 13
Damon didn't want me to go to work the next day, but I felt it was something I needed to do, even if I was looking over my shoulder every three seconds to make sure Elijah wasn't there. I'm not sure why, but having Damon's blood inside me and the precious heirloom on my finger as a constant reminder of our devotion to one another, I felt like I was safe…as if nothing could touch me.
Stefan and Elena hovered all day long, worried about me, making sure I was okay. Meanwhile, Bonnie and Caroline about lost their eyes they bulged so far from their skulls as they eyeballed my hand during lunch with the two of them, Elena, and Stefan in my classroom.
"I still can't get over this. Damon Salvatore the cocky, jerky, arrogant, egotistical…" Caroline babbled until Bonnie interrupted her.
"You can stop with the string of adjectives any time now, Caroline. We're all quite aware of Damon's nature, well, of his nature before he got involved with Aunt Bekah here and got all tame and gooey."
I snorted as I took a drink of my soda, causing me to cough as the bubbles tickled my nose and throat making my eyes water. "Is he really that bad with me?"
Elena turned to me with a sweet smile. "We're just all use to jaded, cynical Damon. In comparison to that…yes."
Stefan hid a smirk behind his hand across the room, leading me to narrow my eyes in his direction. "Anything to add, Stefan?"
He lowered his hand, his lips quirking as he measured his words. "It's not quite as foreign for me. Before Katherine, Damon had a much softer side, so much so that the only way he could handle what was happening after our change was to shut himself off completely on an emotional level. When we were first changed, he wasn't even willing to take blood to complete the change, but I talked him into it. He's reminding me very much of that Damon of long ago."
I nodded, smiling to myself as I recalled the story Damon told me of those events. I was just as shocked as everyone else to know that Stefan was the one to openly embrace to an overzealous degree their new nature. It wasn't until his friend Lexi arrived in his life that Stefan began to learn to control his 'ripper tendencies' as Lexi had called them.
"Well, Bekah did say he went and did things the old fashioned way with his mother's ring and the flowers, so it sure seems like he is getting back to his roots," Caroline crooned with a wink in my direction. I smiled back at her before getting back to my salad.
"Well, I know there's one other side effect that I'm grateful for. I still can't believe Katherine took off, but I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am." Elena crowed as she curled up to Stefan's side.
I swallowed and stared down at the mixed greens in the bowl before me. After supper the night before, Stefan and Damon went in search for Katherine. They had been surprised that she hadn't been making a pest of herself and went to see what she was up to. That was when we learned why she hadn't been a pest…she was gone, taking all the belongings she had at the house with her.
Everyone was relieved but me. I hated her living in that house with us, but I couldn't help but feel that in her case the old adage of keep your friends close and your enemies closer was definitely a good rule of thumb. If she was there, we could keep tabs on her, but who knew what trouble she was brewing out there on her own. For all we knew, she'd gone straight to Klaus to hand Elena over on a silver platter in exchange for her own life.
Whatever the reason, I had very mixed feelings about her departure, among them a smug satisfaction in the fact that she had been seen lounging around the house the morning after Elijah was gone, and only disappeared after Damon's proposal. Vampire hearing could be a real bitch, especially if you had designs on proving something to the world by trying to steal a certain mated male from what she would see as an inferior female. It was in poor taste, but the fact that I was the one who retained Damon's heart was very good for my ego.
Our lunch ended on the topic of Katherine, but the subject would no doubt return to the forefront of our lunch discussions in the not so distant future.
Life continued as usual the next few days. Despite my constant searching everywhere I went, there was no sign of Elijah…that was until Friday evening when I had to stay late for a Parent/Teacher Association meeting that one of my colleagues roped me into, saying that the PTA needed new blood.
It was dark by the time I left the building that night. We walked out to our cars in a group before waving and departing the parking lot, each of us going in different directions. My drive was uneventful until I turned down the long, quiet road that the Salvatore property rested upon only to have to slam on my brakes to avoid crashing into the glaring form of Elijah. He placed his hands on the hood, pushing the car backward until it was wedged between two trees, keeping me from escaping through any of the doors.
My heart pounded in my chest as he jumped up on the hood and walked to kneel in front of my windshield, digging his fingers into the seal at the top edge of the windshield and popping it out in a solid piece as if it were nothing. He tossed it aside where it shattered into hundreds of pieces.
"Why haven't you come when I have called you, Rebekah? I want an explanation."
My eyes bulged before a thrill of excitement went up my spine. My feelings had been right. Somehow, Damon's blood blocked Elijah's compulsion. The elation I felt was brief as he gripped the roof, ripping it away to lean over me menacingly.
"Answer me! How dare you defy me?"
I shook my head and swallowed. "I haven't knowingly defied you. I never received any such compulsion, although I can't say I'm not grateful for the reprieve."
His eyes flared in the darkness. "That's impossible. You were subject to my compulsion even in my brief state of death. You lie."
I shook my head again, feeling trapped and helpless, only the truth to guide me. "No lie. Don't know what to tell you."
His nostrils flared as he reached forward to grab me and yank me from the wreckage that was once my nice little car when his hand froze just before reaching me. He looked surprised, staring at his hand as it pushed against an invisible barrier. He reached in again with his other hand only to be stopped once more.
"What is this witchcraft?" He bellowed before reaching to grab the steering wheel in front of me and ripping it from the car. He threw it at me and I ducked just before it hit me in the head, bouncing off the back seat and falling over my shoulder to the back of the car.
"Your little witch friend is not this empowered, so who have you found to assist you? I know Jonas and Luka are dead, so who have you found, little girl? Answer me!"
"Nobody! I thought Damon's blood was protecting me or something, since I wasn't feeling compelled anymore."
He snorted and shook his head as he paced before turning back to me, but just as he reached for me again, a tall mass tackled him in the dark. The two forms and a third that followed disappeared into the darkness of the woods, only the occasional sounds of the fight taking place informed me of their position. I was so scared as I sensed the presence of Damon who apparently had been the form that tackled Elijah.
Caroline appeared on the hood, looking worriedly in the direction of the woods before reaching down to break my seatbelt and lift me from the wreckage of my car as if I were a ragdoll. Bonnie and Elena were watching from in front of the car, their scared faces showing in the light of my still-shining headlights. Once my feet were on the ground, Caroline disappeared into the woods to help.
"Damon felt your distress. He took off before we could say much of anything, and Stefan was right behind him. What happened?"
I shook my head as my arms and legs shook like Jello. I heard Caroline cry out seconds before I turned and ran into the woods in the direction of the fray. Damon slammed into a tree to the right of me as I entered the clearing created by the battle. Stefan snarled at Elijah seconds before Elijah flicked him away like a fly.
"Stop!" I yelled. I heard Damon call my name in fear as I approached Elijah.
"Leave my family alone."
He smirked at me. "Stupid girl. I am the only family you have left. You are my blood and you will obey."
I stepped closer, the need to protect Damon and my friends stronger than any sense of self preservation. "No. I am changing, becoming more Vampire-like. Thus being so, I have mated and my mate is now my family. He trumps any blood bond you might have had over me."
"That isn't how this works, Rebekah."
"What other reason do you have for the fact that I haven't answered your compulsion, Elijah?"
He looked over at Damon who was fighting to stand up and protect me. I saw his plan before he moved, and as Elijah started toward Damon, I flashed in front of him, my anger boiling inside me.
"You WILL NOT touch him!"
Damon sounded horrified behind me, not knowing what Elijah and I had discovered just moments before he showed up to play the white knight. Well, with my newfound knowledge, it was time to let a girl take the mantle for a few moments.
Elijah reached out to strike me again, his arm bouncing off the invisible barrier as if he'd tried to hit some indestructible rubber ball.
His eyes flashed as he stared at me, but I felt nothing. Then he surprised me by looking behind me. Within a breath, I was wrapped tight in Damon's arms, his hand tightening on my throat making breathing difficult.
"Oh God, no," he breathed behind me as his hand tightened and acted as if it was going to twist, breaking my neck in an instant.
"So, not the mating bond protecting you, or else he would be immune as well. If I didn't need you, I'd have him snap your neck and be done with you. Alas, you're not dispensable…yet."
With a cry, Damon released me and fell to his knees behind me, writhing in pain. I dropped to my knees and pulled him into my arms, kissing his head as tears rolled down my cheeks. I prayed for the ability to ease his pain, only to have his convulsions stop below me. I glanced back up at Elijah to see the surprise once again on his face.
He was about to move on to torture Stefan when the woods began to groan, the trees twisting and bending around us. Bonnie stepped through the woods behind Damon and I, her arms outstretched, chanting to the wind. Elena was at her side, running to kneel beside Stefan, helping him to stand.
"This isn't over. You're still needed, Rebekah, and you will serve your purpose."
I stood up and faced him again, my eyes hard and cheeks streaked with tears. "That I will, but for my own reasons, and probably not to your satisfaction. Touch my family again and I will find a way to make sure you stay dead next time. Anomalies are quite good at that…which is why you created me."
He snarled at me as he backed into the darkness, leaving the rest of us alone.
"Bekah, would you like to explain what the hell just happened?" Damon growled behind me, his eyes still affixed to the section of woods into which Elijah had vanished.
I moved to wrap myself around the quickly recovering Damon, resting my head over the reassuring measure of his beating heart. "I would tell you if I knew."
We limped as a group back to the house after grabbing my purse and messenger bag out of the twisted steel that was once my car, all trying to sort out what had really happed that night. The only thing we could all agree on was that it was amazing and incredibly confusing.
When we reached the front porch, illuminated by the twin sconces on the side of the brick edifice, I looked at Damon, nibbling my lip at the guilt in his eyes.
"It was the compulsion of an Original. You couldn't have stopped it if you tried."
He sighed, shaking his head. "You did though, and you share his blood. I should have…I almost."
I tugged him to a stop and tipped up onto my toes to wrap my arms around his neck. "Something else…something mystical is going on here. He was convinced I had found a very powerful witch to bespell me in order to resist him. No, there's definitely something else going on with all of that."
I buried my fingers in Damon's hair before stealing some kisses for my own comfort as well as his. When I slid down to my heels again, he held onto my hands, bringing them to his lips to kiss. As he did, the diamond ring on my finger sparkled in the light, making me smile. He ran his finger over it reverently before kissing it again, then leading me through the front door and into the safety of his family's homestead.