Like A Man Possessed

By: Tracy Cook

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creators of Vampire Diaries.

Couple: Bonnie/Damon

Rating: M

Warning : This fic will have serial killer Damon in it. And lots of murder and violence and smut!

Author's Note : Thank you all so much for the support! I really am loving writing this! Hope y'all like this chapter!

Chapter Eleven

Fly Away

'Untie My Hands So I Can Fly Away,

To Another World.'

Three Days Later...

Her visions had become little reminders that Damon was still alive.

She was thankful for them and bitter toward them, because they gave her an inside look into Damon's head at the moment. And his head was a very dark place. He hated himself. He had contemplated suicide so many times that it was unbearable. He had contemplated turning himself in to the police so that no one else would get hurt.

Ultimately, Damon had bought a bottle of whiskey off of a homeless man living beneath a bridge and he had drunk himself into an alcohol induced coma. When he woke up, the man had wrapped up his arms with dirty clothes and he had took it as a sign that he couldn't die. Not yet. But, he couldn't be around Bonnie. He was too scared that he would hurt her.

Last night, Bonnie had a vision of him drinking with the homeless man. He was smiling and laughing and ignoring his troubles and she just wanted to be near him again. She just wanted to make his troubles permanently go away.

The last three days had been a struggle for him and Bonnie was just relieved he was still alive.

She had been putting their days apart to good use.

Bonnie had barely slept a wink. Her eyes were glazed over with exhaustion and coffee had become her best friend. She had spent hours upon hours of her days looking through books and trying to find the symbols that were carved into Damon's arms. She could remember exactly what they looked like, but so far she hadn't had much luck.

She continued to flip the pages as she rested her head against her hand. She could feel the exhaustion becoming too much and her eyes started to close. Before she could drift away, her eyes snapped open and she stifled a yawn and she flipped the page in the book again.

Honestly, she was starting to lose hope.

She didn't even know what she was looking for.

Bonnie's eyes examined the page closely and her brow furrowed as she saw a list of symbols. They were an ancient language that was religious based and they looked nearly identical to the markings carved into Damon's wrists. She reached for her pen and she started to write down the specific symbols that were carved into his flesh.

'I Am.' Were the first two. She felt her heart pounding loudly in her chest and her hands were shaking as she sifted through the symbols looking for the next. After so many hours of searching she was almost worried she was hallucinating.

It seemed too good to be true. What were the odds?

'The.' Bonnie wrote it down as soon as she found it. Her intrigue was building with each word and her faith in Damon as well. She knew that there was very little chance that he was fluent in the dead language. There was something else inside of him trying to get it's message across.

'Bringer of.'

Her stomach tangled in knots as she searched the pages for the final symbol. She had a sickening feeling in her gut that she knew what it said. Finally, her eyes stopped on the symbol. It looked like a snake in a tree. Perhaps a play on the serpent in the garden. 'Death.'

"I am the bringer of death." She repeated the entire phrase aloud.

Saying the words out loud caused a chill to shoot down her spine and her entire body to shake. She was terrified. Terrified that whatever was inside of Damon was far more powerful and more evil than she had first anticipated. She licked over her lips and pulled her laptop closer to her. She had been using it to translate words and help in her search for the symbols.

The room filled with the loud clacking sounds of the keys as she typed the phrase into the search bar.

Bonnie knew that it was a long shot. But, it was worth a try.

'I am the bringer of death.' She chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for the page to load. Once it did, she realized that the words were from a popular piece of literature. 'Maybe that's how he knows about them... Maybe he saw the symbols as a child and he subconsciously buried them...' She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to doubt in Damon. She just had to keep that option in mind. There was a chance that he was subconsciously killing people and his conscious mind didn't know anything about it. Like Stefan had suggested.

She just really didn't think that was what was going on.

It was something about her visions. When she was staring through Damon's eyes, she could hear his thoughts. He was there. He was conscious in his own mind, trying to stop the things happening, but he couldn't control his body. It wasn't like he blacked out and killed someone and then he didn't remember the next day. He was present and watched it play out before him.

And then there was the darkness. The evil feeling that encompassed him in those few moments.

Bonnie had been behind his eyes on other accounts. Like in the shower, or drinking orange juice, and that ominous darkness was nowhere to be found. But, when he was about to kill, it was sickening and cold and she could feel it in her very soul.

It wasn't him.

It was the presence of someone else.

She had to trust her gut instinct on this one, just like her Grams had always told her.

Bonnie continued to scroll through the pages until her eyes landed on a strange article. It was dated 1889. The headline read 'I Am The Bringer Of Death.'

She clicked on the link and it brought her to a website that had documented and scanned all of the big news stories throughout history. This specific article was about a man. He was in his mid-thirties and he was the suspect in a string of murder cases. His murder cases had no specific thing that tied them all together aside from the way that they were killed.

Four stab wounds to the chest.

"When asked why he killed the people, he said; "There was a darkness inside of them. I saw it seeping from their eyes. They needed to die. I was doing the Lord's work." She read the words out loud and they reminded her of her visions.

Right before Damon killed the man in the diner, there had been a darkness surrounding him. It seemed to flow from his eyes and mouth until it enveloped his entire body. Seeing the darkness had been what angered Damon. It had been what brought out this other presence inside of him.

Her heart hammered loudly in her ears as she read on.

"When questioned about the strange symbols he had carved into his forearms, he said, "It's a message to the demons. They know what it means." We later found out that the symbols mean, "I am the bringer of death." Bonnie continued to read the article, only to find out that the man responsible for the murders killed himself before he could ever be punished for his crimes. He was found laying with the symbols smeared around his body in his own blood.

She backed out of the article and she started to look up murder cases that involved the victim being stabbed four times in the chest, cutting off all of their arteries and blood supply to their hearts.

Bonnie didn't know what she was stumbling onto, but she knew it was the answer to everything.

Damon's murders were related to the man in the article.

Scrolling through the pages of murder cases she found another article. This one was dated for 1953. It was titled "Mass Murder Mayhem." She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the title. The media disgusted her. They used pain and suffering and death as a ploy to get people to listen to them and give them money. They were vultures. Living off of the decay in the world.

Still, she was grateful for the article right now because as she scanned the pages she started to realize similarities between the murders.

"Twenty year old, Marcus Tucker, was found guilty of the violent murders of thirty men and women. He turned himself in and tried to plead insanity. The courts didn't listen and he was granted the death penalty." Bonnie read bits and pieces of the article that pertained to what was going on with Damon. It only solidified her belief that he couldn't turn himself in. Even if she had these articles, it wouldn't make a dent in the court room. Murder was murder. Possession and magic were myth.

"No control over himself, he claimed." She breathed out sadly. This man had gone through the same thing. He had killed thirty people and then turned himself in when he couldn't handle the guilt any longer. "The demon told me to do it." She whispered. "He carved these symbols into my skin. I tried to deny him, but he wouldn't listen."

"He was found dead in his cell last night. It is presumed that he killed himself."

'Don't Weep For Me, It's My Fault.'

Another girl had lost her life.

She had lost her light. She had lost her future. She had lost her smile, all at the hands of a man. A psychopath.

This was not a crime of passion. This was not an affair gone wrong. This was an innocent young woman that had no relation to the suspect. He had walked into the laundromat while she was innocently folding her laundry and humming along to some of her favorite tunes. He had stared her down and for some reason, he had decided that she did not deserve to live any longer. He had covered her mouth and stared her in the eyes as the life drained from them.

Elijah had his arms behind his back as he looked over the young woman's lifeless corpse on the examining table.

Her skin was icy blue. Her eyes were vacant. She was no one anymore.

'Angela Peterson, age 21.' That was who she had been before he took her life away.

"This victim seems to have sustained the same puncture wounds as the last." The coroner explained as he pressed his gloved fingers into the cuts in her abdomen, feeling around inside for the cut off artery. As suspected, he had cut them all clean through. "Four stab wounds to the chest that managed to sever each of the most important arteries leading to the heart." He looked up at Elijah and smiled, "That's not easy to do."

"No. It's not." The British man agreed. "Do you think that it was most likely someone with a surgical background?"

"I think that's a good bet." He said. "But, you never know these days. With technology and the internet, people can pretty much find out how to do anything on their own."

"That's what I was afraid of." Elijah let out a soft sigh and took a step toward the body. He looked over her beautiful face and his heart broke for her family. Rebekah was the one who had agreed to tell them about what happened to their daughter. That was something he had always had trouble doing. He cared too much. He hated to see people in pain. If he had his way, murder would be obsolete.

"The crazy thing is, I remember a murder case like this about ten years ago." The coroner told him. It had been one of the most difficult cases for him to forget.

Curiosity filled his dark eyes as he asked, "Really? What happened?"

"Well, there were a few cases like this in a row back in 2001 I think. Victims came in with the same exact stab wounds. Four to the main arteries." He explained. "I remember because I was intrigued by the exactness of the cuts. At the time I was fresh out of school and I didn't think I could even cut the arteries with that precision." He laughed a little, "Hell, I still don't know if I could."

Elijah did not state his impatience with the man, but it was evident by the way he crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot.

"Sorry, got a little off topic." He smiled. "Anyhow, there were five murders. Nothing linked any of them aside from this strange pattern of cuts."

"Do you think it could be the same culprit?" He asked.

"Oh no, no way, that wouldn't be possible."

"Why not?"

"Because, that man killed himself." The coroner said. "He stabbed himself in the chest, the same way he stabbed his victims. I remember his body in particular, because when it came in, he had these weird symbols carved into the skin of his wrists. People just wrote him off as crazy."

"And they are certain he was the one who killed those five individuals?"

"Yep." He nodded knowingly. "He left a whole bunch of evidence at the scene of the crime. They had his fingerprints, the murder weapon, his blood. It was definitely him."

Elijah could not ignore the similarities between the murders. His victim had left his blood at the crime scene, and fingerprints. He had stabbed his victims in the exact same way as well. 'His blood could have been at the scene of the crime because he cut himself... Is this some sort of copycat killer?'

'Don't Wait For Too Long,

Dead Eyes Will Haunt You.'

"Come on, Stefan!" Matt pressured with a smile on his lips. He had been trying to get his roommate to go out and party with him all week, and he kept turning him down because he needed to study for finals. "This party is gonna be awesome!"

He was tempted to give in. He had always been tempted to give in. To say screw it to his education and have fun just like all of the other kids his age. But, he couldn't do that. He was too close to achieving his dreams. He was literally a week away from completing most of his education. Then all that was left was an internship and he would be a councilor.

'It doesn't matter how many people you save. You will never save him, Stefan.' His mind nagged.

"Maybe next time." Stefan said with a glance up from his book in his friend's direction.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you always say." He smiled at him and shook his head. He actually really admired how dedicated the other man was. He was always pushing to be a better person and to do better. That wasn't a mentality he really understood. He just wanted to survive and enjoy life. "See you later, Stef. Don't study too hard! It's not good for ya."

He laughed and returned his attention to his book as Matt closed the door to the dorm room behind him.

Concentrating on his studies the last few days had been nearly impossible. His mind was riddled with thoughts of Damon and what he had done. He felt guilty for not turning him in to the police. He felt guilty for not being able to save his brother from himself.

'Knock, knock.'

Stefan laughed a little and stood to his feet. He had a feeling that it was one of their friend's coming to try and convince him to go to the party. They always did this. Every night. He didn't even know how they managed to party every night without feeling like complete and utter shit in the morning. He reached out and opened the door, "I already told Matt I'm not going out tonight, so don't even bother..." His voice trailed off.

There was a girl standing in his doorway that he didn't recognize. He had never seen her around the campus before. Her green eyes were bloodshot like she had been up for nights in a row. She was carrying a stack of books and newspapers in her arms. 'Probably studying for finals... What is she doing here? Is she in my class?'

"Stefan?" She asked with desperation in her tone.

"Yeah. Do I know you?"

"No. But, I really need to talk to you." She pushed past him and headed into his dorm room.

"Come on in." Stefan stated sarcastically and rolled his eyes at her. He was starting to think that God was testing him. Damon was being questioned for murder, Matt was partying endlessly, and now a random stranger had shown up at his door and forced her way into his dorm room. 'I am going to fail all of my classes.'

"Who are you exactly? And what are you doing here?" He asked, walking toward her.

The girl was frantically opening her books and placing newspaper articles all over the desk in the room. Disregarding his books and notes completely. She didn't seem to care at all that he was busy. "My name is Bonnie Bennett. I'm a friend of Damon's, and I am really worried about him."

"You must be the witch?" His lips curled up into a disbelieving smile.

"Yes, I am." Bonnie said with a straight face and an even voice. She truly did believe in her powers. Stefan was sort of shocked by this. He had thought for sure that Damon had convinced her she was a witch in order to use it as an excuse for the terrible things he had done. "And I think your brother is in a lot of trouble and I really need your help."

"I don't have time for this nonsense."

"Make time." She growled out angrily, her hair flying up and her eyes darkening. The pens and pencils on the desk started to float up into the air and the young man watched them float in awe. He didn't understand how she was doing it. It had to be a trick right? It had to be. Magic didn't exist.

The pens and pencils all fell back to the desk and clattered loudly against the wood.

"How did you do that?" Stefan asked with bewilderment shimmering behind his eyes.

He swiped his hand through the air above the pens and pencils to see if there were any strings attached to them. There were none. There was no way that she had manipulated them. She had moved them with her mind. His heart started to race in his chest and he was growing frustrated with this realization. It went against everything he had always believed.

It was like showing up at the gates of Heaven and finding out God was a lie.

"I'm a witch." Bonnie told him simply. "Now will you please sit down and look at these things. I know you think the worst of Damon, but this time it isn't his fault, Stefan. And he needs you right now more than ever before. He needs his brother." She stared over at him with pleading eyes and he saw honesty and compassion swimming in their depths. He didn't have faith in Damon any longer, but this woman did for some reason.

He turned his attention to the articles and he started to look over them. They were all about murders that had taken place over the last 100 years or so. Each case, a man had stabbed his victims four times in the chest.

"How does any of this relate to Damon?" He asked.

"Damon killed his victims in the same way." Stefan's stomach turned when he heard the word victims. He had been ignoring the news to the best of his ability, because he didn't want to see his brother's face all over it. He didn't know he killed again. "He stabbed them four times in the chest and cut off their main arteries."

"That doesn't prove anything, Bonnie."

"Does your brother have any medical knowledge?"

"No."

"This would require medical knowledge. Even then it would be difficult, Stefan. Plus." Bonnie sifted through the pages until she found the man who had carved the same symbols into his arms as Damon. She pushed the page toward him and he looked it over. "These symbols are the same symbols that Damon carved into his arms the night that he started killing people. I know you don't believe in magic, but I saw the murder through his eyes. I saw the darkness that seeped from their eyes. It's exactly the same."

"Then he knows about this murder and he is copying it." Stefan stated the obvious. It was easier to live in the logical than the illogical.

"Please, Stefan. Can't you remember when you and Damon were close? Remember when you were playing football in foster care? Remember how he said he would always stay with you? He needs you to stand by him this time." Bonnie reached out and placed a hand over his, staring deep into his eyes. She had tears rolling down her cheeks and he could tell that Damon meant the world to her. She loved him. She believed that he was innocent.

"Damon is charming. He's tricked you into thinking these things, Bonnie-"

"-No. I started having visions of him long before I ever met him. I didn't understand what they meant. Not until that night. I felt a presence in him, there was an evilness suffocating him and I could hear his thoughts. He was fighting it. He is still fighting it. He doesn't want to hurt anyone and I don't know what lengths he is willing to go to in order to make sure he doesn't."

Bonnie's eyes shut and her body shook as images flashed through her mind.

She was staring through his eyes again.

The wind was cold against his ears. His tears were frozen on his cheeks. The alcohol was coursing through his blood and causing his legs to wobble beneath the weight of his body as he walked across the edge of the bridge. Waves crashed against the pillars below and he nearly tripped over his own feet. She stared through his eyes down at the dark depths below and she knew that if he fell he would die. He would be gone forever.

He knew it too. That was what Damon wanted. He wanted to get so drunk that he wouldn't feel the pain as his bones shattered. He wanted to rid the world of the evil inside of him the only way he knew how.

"You were wrong to have faith in me, Bonnie." He spoke. It was almost like he knew she was there. Like he was speaking directly to her. "You were wrong. I'm a shitty person and I always will be. The best thing I could do for the world. The best thing I could do for everyone, is kill myself." He laughed a little and lifted the bottle of alcohol to his lips.

In that moment his foot slipped on the side of the bridge.

And he fell to the dark depths below.

Bonnie took in a sharp breath and her eyes fluttered open. She was shaking. Tears were falling uncontrollably from her eyes.

"Damon's at the George Washington Bridge." Her voice cracked with emotion and she stood to her feet. "He's going to fall to his death."

"How do you know that?"

She didn't explain again. Stefan knew how she knew it, he just didn't want to admit it to himself. He didn't want to believe it.

"Are you coming or not?" Bonnie asked.

'Running No More.

Face It Here, Now, Then, And Forever.'

Author's Note :

I had a couple comments saying that this story is too depressing and I am sorry for that. I can promise you that there will be a happy ending and there should be a few chapters of comic relief and relaxation in the next few chapters! Also, I hope that this chapter helps y'all start to piece things together and I hope that y'all haven't lost faith in Damon! :)) I really hope that y'all are still enjoying this fic! There should be some Bamon goodness coming up in the next few chapters! So, what are your theories about what is going on? Did y'all think it was interesting learning about the history and what the symbols meant? Do you think Stefan will believe Bonnie and go with her to save Damon?!

Thank you all so much for reading this fic! It really does mean so much to me that y'all are sticking with me and that y'all are interested in this story! I always loved horror movies and psychological thrillers and I just really wanted to write something a little twisted! I hope I'm doing an okay job!

Thank you for all of your support! I love you all so much!

-Tracy Cook-