Chapter 9

The moment Damon saw Charlotte's unconscious face he froze. He had had everything perfectly planned out: a couple days ago he had made an alliance with the witches to make sure he could stand up to the Paragon's, at least until he did what he needed to do, he had resolved all other issues, he had made sure Charlotte returned to her regular life, or so he thought. The one thing he had not anticipated was them recognizing Charlotte as an effective bargaining chip. How could they believe that she meant anything to him? Damon thought to himself before wondering, did she mean anything? He had saved her last time, but that was because he felt indebted to her, right? It was her own fault for getting involved in the first place. Right now he had all he needed, he was untouchable and he had the stone, he could leave right now and use the last final piece of the puzzle to open the tomb and release Katherine from her prison, the only barrier between the two of them being together. This human meant nothing to him, right? He could leave now and forget all of this ever happened. So why was he hesitating? Why hadn't he done it already why was he standing here contemplating this while looking at her helpless face. Wasn't he just making everything more difficult for himself?

For over a hundred years he had waited for Katherine, for this exact moment when he could release her and be together. He had been with a couple women here and there, sure, but they meant nothing to him. They were just good company, to distract him from the long stretch of time. He would have not hesitated to leave any of one of them because no one, not one, ever meant anything to him. Damon thought back to the first time he had met Charlotte, how she had surprised him and intrigued him nearly as much as he intrigued her. Whether she was brave or foolish, she never saw him as a monster. Not because she wanted something or because she pitied him, she genuinely thought that there was someone worth knowing in him even after everything she had seen. No one, not even his brother, had ever felt that way about him. However, Damon couldn't shake the image of Katherine from the back of his mind and the life they had.

"You have a choice" came the voice of the man who appeared to be in charge. "Give us the moonstone, or we kill your little human friend."

Damon stood frozen, safely behind the barrier contemplating his options. A soft mumble came from the direction of the henchman holding Charlotte and Damon realize that she was waking up. Slowly her eyes opened and she looked around her momentarily disoriented before realizing the situation she was in. Damon watched as she began to struggle, thrashing around in an attempt to break free from the henchman's strong grip. But he was a vampire and she was a human, she had no chance. He held her tightly and eventually put his hands in a position so he could hold her and snap her neck at the same time. When Charlotte realized what he was doing she froze too, eyes wide and looked at Damon.

"You have five seconds or she dies" the man told him.

"If you kill her you won't have any leverage" Damon reasoned.

"It's worth a try." The man replied with a malicious grin. "She means nothing to us." The henchmen's grip on her head tightened.

"Five seconds" the man reminded him.

"Five…" If possible Charlotte's eyes widened even further

"Four…" Damon stared into them and saw the fear

"Three…" Slowly he reached his hand into his jacket pocket and wrapped his fingers around the smooth surface of the stone.

"Two…" It was heavy in his palm that was now by his side.

"On-"

"Alright"

The man paused his countdown.

"You win" In one swift movement he tossed the stone, and all his hopes of freeing Katherine, goodbye. The head man caught it easily and his face broke out into a scary grin.

"Excellent" he muttered more to himself than to anyone else. "Release her, she has served her purpose"

The henchmen didn't react immediately, instead he held her for a moment longer and Damon could see as he sniffed the vein pumping against her neck. Her heartbeat was racing. Even from a couple meters away Damon could see the veins quickly appear under his eyes. For some reason Damon felt a strong need to protect Charlotte.

"Hey!" he exclaimed and pounded on the barrier but he could not pass back through. It was specifically made to keep out the supernatural. Noticing Damon's protest the henchman gave him a sly smile before he stopped himself, his face returned to normal and he released her, pushing Charlotte towards the barrier, towards Damon. As she went through the protective barrier Charlotte began to trip from the force of the push and Damon caught her before she met the floor. For a second, Damon stood embracing her and stared into her still wide bright eyes. Suddenly he realized the weight of what he had just done.

"Better be careful" the henchman finally spoke. "It would be a shame to lose such a special…" he paused. "Plaything." with that final word he turned and left after the rest of his group who took the moonstone, and Damon's last shot of saving Katherine, away. But for some reason, Damon didn't feel defeated. Then he realized that he was still holding onto Charlotte for a moment longer than needed and let her go. For the first time in his life, Damon felt awkward. It was only the two of them standing in the alley now.

"You, you ok?" Damon asked quickly flashing a sympathetic smile that only reached one corner of his mouth.

"Ok?" Charlotte asked, strangely calm. "What part of this is ok?"

"I'm sorry this happ-"
"Why did you save me?" Charlotte cut him off to Damon's surprise. As he looked at her she didn't seem like a weak human who had just had her first serious encounter with vampires. She didn't seem afraid. Charlotte was shaken up of course but she didn't behave like the victim, instead she was someone who wanted answers. As she stood in front of Damon with her arms crossed he couldn't help but notice the quiet strength behind her stature almost as if what had just happened wasn't all that bad. Then there was her question, why did he save her? and Damon realized, he wasn't entirely sure. He decided to tell the truth.

"I, I don't know" Damon replied staring into her inquisitive eyes. "But I want to find out"