And now we come to the conclusion. Just the epilogue left after this.
But first a GINORMOUS thanks to all of you wonderful, wonderful people who reviewed: Roza-Belikov12, darkfae184, morphine cowboy, Bynamearose, Death'sAngel18, Maryam25, Ramon-Tiva-TenRiv, Jasper VS Damon, and anonymous "c." Without your guys' kind and thoughtful words, this story wouldn't have been half what it is. You did wonders to cheer me up on my down days, and you kept my muse alive and always waiting and willing to make improvements. Thanks guys. :)
And that other thing I have to do: I own nothing.
Her sounds are louder now, more violent, invoking a fear like the depths of the sea. She tosses and turns in his bed, writhing in circumstances so different than he'd have planned. The weight of his step on the wood of his floor shifts the balance in the room and her movements settle into coiled readiness, but she does not open her eyes.
Damon moves with pre-thought purpose, his body settled into itself.
But his deliberateness is lost to haste when Rose sits up. Her open, feral, blood-gorged eyes prompt him to action and he leaps towards the bed, landing atop her and shifting to pin her with his hips. He straddles her ribs as she bucks and claws at him, holding the bowl over his head and riding her like the bronc from a rodeo he entered for laughs in late '73. Her similarity to the mindless beast makes him urgent.
Before Stefan has climbed the last stair, Damon is holding her still rearing body down with his own, her wrists clamped in his hand above her head as he pours the liquid he hopes will save her life down her throat when he can, on her face, chest, and the bed when he can't.
~V~
The night proves long.
~V~
Damon is dancing out of the grasp of Rose's fingers and teeth, watching the skin drip from her back unceasingly as she lunges and snarls. She has marked him already, nails ripping away at the skin of his face, teeth tearing the flesh of his chest leaving his shirt in tatters and he never has the time to just rip the remains off. But she is getting slower at the same rate she becomes more animal and at the same rate that Damon realizes all his promises were fruitless as they always are.
"Damon…" Stefan pleads from the other side of the barricaded door.
"Stay. Out." Damon growls at him, leaping at Rose as she runs again for the window behind the drapes, seeking freedom he will not let her have. The sky is still dark.
"Damon!"
"Stay. Out!"
"Damon, please," Elena begs, but this is his and she cannot change his mind.
He hears Bonnie refuse her plea to blast the door open as Rose rakes her fangs across his neck and he throws her, again, to the bed. She's growling and diving back at him faster than he thought she had the strength to and he barely has his arms up in time. He falls under her onto the hardwood floor, straining his head away from her bite. Her hands scrape his sides, his moan short and harsh.
He comes to his feet with what's left of his vampire speed and slams her into the side of his dresser. With a quick and bloodied hand ("I'm so sorry, Damon," Bonnie whispers outside), he reaches for the edge of the curtain, pulling it back when she recovers and is springing at him again.
The hint of sun downs her and she is not snarling but screaming.
He watches her burn until the only recognizable feature of her face is her pleading eyes. Then, he breaks the leg off an antique chair and rams it into her heart.