( Good news everyone! Some of you maybe remember that I said that I was moving to another school and that was not really helping me work on this. But since my two mouth at the new school has finished I've finally been able to settle in just fine! I just wanna quickly ( and randomly) give a shout out to the Japanese anime series Ghost Hunt! It is an amazing show you guys and you can watch it on utube in English. Please you guys have to watch it, the first couple of episodes are a little bit scarier than the rest but please check it out. Now that's off my chest lets begin the next chapter. Xxx)
The Promise That Will Be Kept
( Bella's pov)
The ride to Damon's place from his human years was just a mere fifteen miles away from the Salvatore's home. Or at least that's what Damon told me once we'd pulled out of the drive way. Like Mr love ya then leave ya, Damon was a very fast driver but not as fast as he was. Damon stayed about the speed of sixty which wasn't that bad saying that the speed limit was forty-five.
" So what was it like?" I asked staring out of the window and looking into a huge patch of trees. Damon glanced at me and furrowed his brow before turning his attention back to the road. " What was what like?"
" You know. What was it like in 1864?" I turned myself around looking at Damon, giving him my full attention. Damon didn't respond right away he only stared at the road as if looking for the words in his head. He glanced at me studying me for a moment before beginning.
" It wasn't anything special. Just a whole load of snobs and puffy dress. There was a lot of deaths. Mostly because American was only beginning to discover the wonders of medicine and for other reasons." Damon stopped for a second to make a slurping noise making me know that the ' other reasons' were because of the vampires back then. " It was the only time really that the Salvatore brothers got along…kind of sucks don't you think? The only time that the two famous brothers got along was just before they were ripped apart by a woman."
At the mention of another female a spark of jealousy came over me but it also brought sadness at his choice of words. I wondered who this woman that had ripped Damon and Stefan apart was. But did I dare ask…
" Who was the woman?" You bet I dared. Damon tensed but somehow he knew it was coming. If he wanted me to know his past and possibly be in his future then he'd better be prepared of a lot of questions. Damon's lips pushed out slightly and he breathed in deeply. His eyes started to cloud a little which really did kinda creep me out but I decided not to show it.
" Her name was Katherine Pierce. But her real name was Katerina Petrova. She stayed in our home while she stayed in Mystic Falls since she had no where else to go. She was a vampire as you'd expect and she compelled both Stefan and me to believe that we loved her. That brought us to hate each other. We both wanted Katherine to ourselves but she wasn't ours to take. The more we fought about it the more our love grew for her. But it wouldn't work out since our father along with many other men were vampire hunters." My eyes widened at this point. " So one night the whole town started this search for the vampires and guess just who they found."
" Katherine." I answered quietly. Damon nodded refusing to look at me which I would of fixed if he wasn't driving right now. It made my heartache for him knowing that he loved this woman and though I was no physic, I had a feeling this story didn't have a happy ending for him and his brother.
" Yes. They did find Katherine along with all 27 of her vampire friends. Once they'd found them all they took them to a church not far from here, and put the church on fire. The vampires were all burned to ash's ." I was about to say that I was sorry for him but he interrupted me, knowing exactly what I was about to say. " No need to apologise Bella. The bitch didn't even go in the church. It turns out that she had planned the whole thing out just to fake her own death. She didn't even feel guilty about it. " At first I was shocked then upset and then, angry. How could she? Sending her own friends to death just to fake her own.
" As you could of imagined once both Stefan and I knew what would happen to her, we raced off to try and save her. We found her in a carriage unable to move because of the vervian. ( Bella knows what vervian is) We broke down the door and lifted her out and we'd just started to untie her when I was shot in the chest three times." I gasped at the new information. " Along with Stefan. But I had Katherine's blood in my system so I knew my fate already but I was worried because Stefan had none in his system. But lucky old Stefan got saved by Katherine once she was able to move again. So that's really all there is to it. She loved Stefan and just used me as a play toy."
I sat in the leather seat in shock. My heart felt like it had been stabbed with a needle 100 times over. Of all the vampire crossing stories I knew Damon's was definitely the one that made me feel his pain. I watched Damon for a few moments as his eyes became unclouded and clear again. I waited for his grip on the steering wheel to loosen before placing my hand gently on his, as if the gesture would make a difference.
" I'm sorry." I said gently gazing up into his dark, beautiful eyes. His eyes stared straight into mine almost like he was staring straight into my soul. It made me wonder if he was looking into my soul, what did he see? When you look at yourself you never do see what others see. For example, when I see myself in the mirror I just see an ordinary person. With hardly anything special about them but others, mainly my friends and family see something more. And with the way Damon was looking at me right now I'd say that he saw something much more than an ordinary girl.
I smiled up at him and leaded forward to give him a peck on the cheek but Damon wanted more than just the cheek. So he turned his head and captured my lips in a tender kiss instead. The kiss made me melt and a familiar warmth grew in my stomach. But the kiss was brief as it would have to be when the other person is driving. Smirking Damon pulled away turning his eyes back to the road. The smile didn't leave his lips the rest of the drive until he brought the car to a gentle stop on the side of the road.
Damon got out of the car swiftly while I remained in the car, staring at the woods surrounding the road. Slowly I unbuckled my seatbelt still staring outside of the car. This was very familiar to when me and you know who went to the meadow as a `romance outing`. I hope that just because the situation is similar that the ending won't be the same. I turned to open up the door only to see the door already open and Damon holding the door open for me.
" After you ma`lady." his voice was filled with sarcasm and playful teasing. I smiled up at him, slid out of the car and did a little cerise to him. He smirked and held his arm out to me and I instantly hooked my arm around his. Without turning Damon raised his arm up, his car keys in his hand and clicked the car to lock mode and then pulled me forward to start our walk.
( Jeremy's pov)
God where is Bella? Why hasn't she called me yet and why do I feel like Elena's keeping something from me? Ever since we got that call from Bella she's been acting strange. I mean first it was her reaction when I asked when Bella was coming home and now, whenever I ask her again she just giggles and says " Don't worry. She's fine." But how can I not worry and her not telling me sure doesn't help! What could be so bad that she wasn't telling me.
Stefan didn't seem as worried as I was but then again Elena did take him out of the room for a minute. And when he came back he was much more silent than before he'd left. He seemed like he was focusing on something or thinking about something important. I did try and take my mind off of things by playing on my Xbox but that only helped for a couple of minutes before I was worrying again. I hated being left in the dark for no reason at all and I also hate it when Elena thinks that I shouldn't know about stuff when I can totally handle it. I wasn't her little brother anymore I can handle whatever she'll throw at me just fine.
I had texted Matt at least twenty times to try and tell him that Bella's disappearance was nothing to do with him. He was just as worried as the rest of us and for some reason he wouldn't quit asking where she was. I felt bad for the guy. He didn't know that Bella only went out with him to be nice so of course he'd be upset. Though I was on Bella's side when it came to dating Matt, I did think that her just leaving him was a bit harsh. Hopefully they could sort things out and agree to be friends from now on. I could honestly only see Matt and Bella being friends. I don't have any reasons why that is I just…couldn't.
Elena had phoned everyone that had been looking for Bella to tell them that Bella was fine and they could stop looking. Caroline, Matt and Bonnie were coming over later just to make sure that Bella was okay. It would be nice to see them, they hadn't been over in a while so we could talk about more than just human stuff for once. It had been a few mouths since Caroline had become an official member at vamp camp. She hasn't killed anybody in a while so I think she's doing good. Bonnie is also doing good. She's learned a lot more about being a witch and how to control her powers now.
I hope Bella's okay and that she'll be home sooner or later. I do hope she'll come sooner than later, I don't think my mind can take much more of this.
" Jeremy! Could you come upstairs and help me find a movie to watch for when Bonnie, Matt and Caroline get here?" Elena shouted from the second floor of the house.
I sighed grateful to have something to do to take my mind off of things. I quickly got to my feet and went upstairs to help Elena. Please get home soon Bella I don't know how much I can take!
( Damon's pov : 3)
The path ahead of us was nothing more than grass and some very tall oak trees. Since the land hadn't been touched for many years the grass was up to our thighs and crawling with little bugs. Bella didn't seem to be aware that they were there so she wasn't freaking out or anything. My hand was intertwined with Bella's not just because I was leading but also because I didn't want to loss her in the high grass. She did have a habit of falling down a lot so it was probably better that way. We didn't have to worry about any snakes or poisonous animals up here though I was keeping an eye out just in case.
" So what did Katherine look like?" Bella asked after six minutes of working our way through the grass. I had expected her to ask this but I had hoped that she wouldn't. I didn't want to get into the whole doppelganger thing yet. It would probably take quite some time to explain everything along with answering her questions about it. It took me a while to choose my words but eventually I answered palely. " Lets just say that she looked a lot like someone you know okay."
Bella looked a little confused but then nodded like she knew that I didn't want to get into all the details about it, which I didn't. We didn't say much to each other after that which did make me feel a little guilty about answering so bluntly, so every now and then I'd make a little comment about things like the weather etc. The only response I got from Bella was a quick hmm or a low huh. But I did mange to get her to laugh when I asked if she liked the weather though! ( How impressive ) About ten minutes pasted before the conversation started up again.
" So how much further?" Bella's voice sounded tired and by the way her knees were buckling her legs were probably starting to stiffen. I had noticed that about a few miles back that I had to slow the pace down to let Bella catch her breath. I had forgotten that humans weren't as able to walk that long a distance before needing a break. Of course I offered to let her ride on my back and I would run us the rest of the way but she said that she'd be fine and continued on quite the thing.
" It wont be long now." Walking over to Bella I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. " Listen. What do you hear?" Bella's warm, brown eyes closed for a few seconds, then opened again and she shook her head. " I don't hear anything."
Carefully, like I was handling a precious china doll, I pulled her against me and slowly leaned down and placed my head near her throat. ' Thump, thump, thump ' her heart went as I got in closer and whispered into her ear breath fully " Try harder." After a moment of inhaling her scent I stepped back from her, still closely pressed against her only not as hard. Bella stood still focusing on the things around her while looking into my eyes, like there would be a clue to what she was listening for in them. Eventually after a while of silence she answered " Water." I nodded smiling. I didn't think she would be able to hear it since it was about ten miles ahead but once again Bella proved me wrong.
After ten minutes of walking the sound of rushing water had grown from faint to very loud. Up ahead the trail of trees began to separate into a sort of door like entrance. The floor that led up to the entrance was covered in a carpet of leafs almost as if welcoming us in. I looked around to see if Bella had fallen behind again but when I turned there was no sign of her. For a spilt second I started to panic until I heard the sound of footsteps coming from in front of me. I turned around and sighed in relief when I saw Bella standing in the middle of the tree build doorway. Her head was turned to me, her face was practically glowing with happiness as she extended her hand to me.
" Come on slowpoke." Bella said with playful teasing in her voice which made me smile. Quickly after half a second I vampire ran so that I was now standing five steps behind her. Bella had obviously expected me to do that since she was already facing me when I'd stopped behind her. Then I exclaimed my voice coated with sarcasm.
" Like you would win in a race against me. Your not a vampire yet you fragile little human." Bella then smiled slyly and walked up towards me, slowly like a cat on the prowl. Once she was two inches away from my chest she stopped and looked up at me causing my heart to skip a beat, though I chose not to show it. While her fingers ran slowly up my chest while she said.
" So your planning to make me a vampire then huh?" Her voice had two edges. One was a teasing, playful, sarcasm that we usually did and the other had held hope that it was true. Yes I wanted her to be a vampire so that I wouldn't have to keep such a distance because of her blood but on the other hand, I wasn't so sure that she knew what she'd be getting herself into. Once the transformation was complete then there was no going back. She would be a vampire forever and so would I. And for an eighteen year old girl who's only had two serious relationships it was a big commitment. But despite this I kept my composure and smirked at her.
" All good things come to those who wait." Bella's smile stayed in place but somehow it seemed less happy than before. It made me feel like I wanted to kick myself for upsetting her but the feeling quickly pasted when Bella started to walk past me and looked around us in wonder. That I couldn't blame her for because even though I've been here many times before, I still am sometimes surprised of how beautiful the place can be.
( Bella's pov )
Once I'd stopped looking at Damon and actually looked at what was around us. I was shocked…
It was too beautiful for words to even describe. There was a small lake filled with purest, cleanest water I'd ever seen. Just on the edge of the lake was a mini waterfall that led off into the forest in a completely different direction from where we'd came in from. The water was so healthy looking that it looked like you could even drink from it without any problems.
The grass was the greenest colour imaginable, the colour was so intense that it almost made me feel dizzy, but in a good way. It had gotten surprisingly warmer since we'd arrived and now that I looked closer I noticed faint clouds of stream raising up from the water fall as it made contact with the lower level of water. I sighed tiredly before letting myself relax, laying my body down near the edge of the lake sitting with my legs pressed against my stomach, one arm wrapped around my legs while the other lightly moved over the surface of the water. Only the tips of my fingers went near the liquid while the rest of my finger stayed above the water. I wasn't aware that anyone was coming up behind me until two muscular arms appeared and wrapped themselves around my waist. I didn't even need to look up to know it was Damon, I could recognise his touch anywhere.
With no hesitation I let myself melt into his arms lost in his tender embrace. Absentmindedly my eyes closed and my head fell back against his chest, the sound of his heart beating was soothing to a point were I'd almost fallen to sleep. But the brightness of the sunlight made it almost impossible to completely drift off. So after a few minutes of keeping my eyes shut, I slowly opened up my eyes again and stared down at the water that sparkled almost magically under the sun. I then looked down at the arms still wrapped around my waist and I only now did I notice that Damon's skin wasn't sparkling like the Cullen's did. I was confused. Were there different types of vampires? And if so is the transformation into a vampire different or is it the same? Eventually my curiosity got too much for me so I had to ask.
" Damon?" I asked, my voice was proof of the relaxation I felt. His response was a low hmm noise that sent a slight shiver running down my spine. But despite this I tried not to show it as it would show a weakness and I was not weak.
" Why don't you sparkle in the sunlight?" I knew it was a stupid question so when Damon gave out a low chuckle that echoed through out the woods, I wasn't surprised.
" I don't sparkle in the sunlight because my kind of vampires don't. Instead we burn in the light." I turned my head around to look at him suspiciously. We when in sunlight right now and he wasn't burning…at least I think he isn't. Damon looked down at me and flashed his famous crooked smile before continuing.
" Me and Stefan don't burn in the sun because we have a ring." He lifted his finger, showing off the hugest ring I'd ever seen. " You need a witch like Bonnie to make you one of these. If a human wears it then the ring will protect them from a supernatural death cased by someone not human. But their mainly used for protecting vampires from the sun. The rings are kinda big so you don't have to worry about getting one for a while, since your not going to be a vampire for a while." My heart dropped just a little when I heard his words. It made me sad because by the way he said it, it sounded like he didn't want me to become a vampire.
" So does Caroline have one?" I asked quickly to change the subject. Damon looked at me a little surprised by my question. I hadn't actually been told that Caroline was a vampire or not but I'd had this strange feeling when we met each other. It was a feeling that something was different about her. It wasn't the feeling that you get when you walk pass a group of drunk teenagers in the late evening. It was just a suspicion.
" Yes she did. But how did you know that she was a vampire?" Damon questioned curiously. I didn't really want to explain it so I just shrugged and quickly answered with, " Just guessed." Thankfully Damon decided to leave it there and not ask any more questions about my reasons. The rest of the day was spent in silence, laying in the same position in each others arms and after a while of laying still I'd eventually fallen asleep, safety in Damon's arms.
( Damon's pov )
As time passed I began to notice how Bella's heart rate had slowed down telling me that she had drifted off into sleep. I laughed as I slowly stood up, bringing Bella up with me and swooped her up bridal style. I walked back to the car slowly, carefully so not to wake Bella from her sleep. My heart was beating more than normal now that I had Bella sleeping in my arms. I held into her protectively and after almost an hour of walking we'd finally made it back to the car. It was good timing since there were some grey clouds starting to form in the sky.
I managed to slide Bella into the passenger seat, put her into a sitting position and fastened her seat belt for her. Once I was sure that she was comfortable I went round to my own seat and started the car up again. While driving back to Elena's, Bella steered around a few times while mumbling things that even my vampire ears couldn't make out. But I did hear her mumble out " Damon" which did make me smile. The car ride was quicker than before. There was less people driving now so I was able to drive at whatever speed I wanted which was definitely above the speed limit. I kept my eyes on the road while glancing over at Bella to see if she was still sleeping. But she slept for the entire ride and continued on dreaming until I'd stopped at the front yard of the Gilbert's house.
As before I picked Bella up gently and held her close to me while walking to the front door. I could hear the voices of Elena, Jeremy, Caroline, Bonnie, Stefan and Matt from outside. Their continuous loud chatting made me worry that they could wake up Bella but despite my worry I neared closer to the door. I had decided not to knock before I entered because I didn't feel like it was necessary and that it wouldn't make my entrance anymore exciting for them. The door was unlocked so I lightly tapped my foot against the door and just like turning the knob it opened up smoothly for me. But I couldn't have stopped the doors gears making a click sound once it had opened, so my presents was made aware of before I'd even stepped inside.
Once inside I walked calmly, without rush up to Bella's bedroom. But when I was able to be seen by the others everyone was panicked by what looked like an unconscious Bella laying in my arms. I'd heard Elena's angry voice shout as I walked pass, " What the hell Damon! Have you ever heard of knocking?" I only glanced at her and decided to leave her question unanswered and instead continued walking up the stairs without interruption. I had noticed the faces of Jeremy and Matt before I'd finished climbing the stairs and headed to the guest room that was now Bella's bedroom.
Jeremy looked like he was about to kill me while also wanting to somehow take Bella away from my grasp. But he and I both knew that was not going to be an easy thing to accomplish. While Matt on the other hand looked concerned for Bella's sake and a bit confused over why I was the one who was with her. But his confusion slowly turned to realisation and then he unexpectedly smiled at me as I looked at him. That confused me but I chose to question it later when Bella was safe in bed.
The door was luckily unlocked so it was just a matter for nudging it open upon entry as was done before only more gentle this time. I'd been in the Gilbert's guest room before and I found that nothing had really changed about it since Bella's arrival. The only real difference was the amount of books stacked up in a neat pile sitting next to the bed. When I saw I bed I sighed in frustration. The bed sheets were all tangled together in one big lump and pair of light blue pyjamas were hanging off of the bed. So there was no way Bella could sleep comfortably in that mess. I set Bella down on the computer chair and quickly tidied up the mess. Once it looked more presentable I picked up Bella again and laid her down on the bed sheets with her head laying on the pillow.
I smiled warmly at her sleeping form. Her mouth was open a little and small whistle noises were heard from her mouth. I slid off her shoes and her button up t-shirt that left her in a laced white vest top and her borrowed jeans. I tried to resist running my fingers through her brown long hair that was spread out over the pillow but found it hard not to. So instead I leant downwards and gave her a gentle kiss on the edge of her jaw line. I stayed there for a moment enjoying the smell of her when suddenly my throat went up in flames, screaming for Bella's blood.
My eyes widened at the dry ache that began to burn my throat. I could feel my fangs start to pierce through my teeth and my eyes focused on Bella's neck. Instead of seeing skin I now saw the veins through the skin, flowing with the blood I desired. My mouth opened and my tongue slipped slowly out from the gap between my lips, desperate for a taste of her. I felt the tip of my tongue make contact with her skin and slowly it began to trail up her neck. I was not aware of my actions until I heard Bella moan underneath me and she stretched her neck forward giving me more access to her neck. Once I knew what I was doing I pulled back slowly and waited for my bloodlust to pass and after counting to ten the hunger had passed.
I shook my head slowly at myself. When was I going to be able to control this craving? It was then that I knew it was time to leave before I began to want her blood again even though I not want to leave her, I knew I had to. I turned away from Bella and went back to the door and before I left I looked back at her and smiled warmly. This girl was becoming trouble. Wasn't she?
" Sleep well Bella." I spoke gently before I turned to leave again. But my happy moment was ruined once I was downstairs again by Elena's demanding voice.
" Damon! What the hell is up with Bella? Is she sick or something? Or did you do something to her and if you did then I'l-"
" She's fine Elena." I coldly cut her off. "She's just sleeping so don't worry about her. And I would never, NEVER hurt Bella in anyway you understand?" I yelled in anger. But after a deep breath I lowered my voice back to normal but my voice still was hard from the anger I still felt. " That girl means more to me than everyone so don't even dare think that I would even think about hurting her." Elena looked up at me in shock from the words and fell silent as the others had. I let the silence go on for a minute or two, to see if everyone else had anything to say but no one even dared to say a word. I turned around silently and exited the house swiftly waiting to leave as soon as possible. Once cool air hit my skin I felt my anger and frustration leave my body and I sighed from the calmness that over took me.
I paused for a second and realised that the words that I had said to Elena were true. Bella did mean more to me than everything and I was willing to do anything for her. Even sacrifice my own life for her. I had lived for along time and I had never felt this for anyone…not even Katherine. I looked back at the house and smiled. Yes she was safe and she would stay that way forever. That is my promise to you…Bella.
( Hmmm. Is it just me or does this chapter seem a little bit weird or what? Oh well at least I've updated. I'm soooo sorry for now updating but I was just having so much trouble writing this chapter. At first I thought the bedroom scene should have been at the lake part but then the chapter would have ended quicker than I wanted. And now I feel like I'm completely messing up Damon's character. Wahhh! I don't want Damon to turn into Edward but he's turning out to be really hard to write. Grr you Damon being hard to write. Well anyway thanks for reading and I'll try and write faster but please bear with me kay? See ya! Xxxx )