I showered and changed into pajamas. As I walked back into my room there was a tap on my window. I looked over to see Damon sitting in the tree outside my house.
"What are you doing here?" I asked opening the window.
"Invite me in," He said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I can't come in unless you invite me," He said. I rolled my eyes at him and turned away. When I looked back at the still open window, Damon was still in the tree.
"You're being serious," I said slowly. "Come in," I said after a long pause. Damon stepped through my window and into my room. He looked large to be be in my room, and his standing there felt invasive and intrusive. I liked the feeling of him pressing into my personal space though.
"You are too perceptive for your own good," He said.
"What do you know?" I asked.
"Why are you so curious?" He asked.
"Two nights ago I found a classmate with her throat torn out and she was mumbling vampire," I said. "Who wouldn't have questions?"
"What do you want to know?" He asked.
"What were you doing in the woods?" I asked.
"Hunting," He said simply with a small smile. I bit my lip and looked up at his eyes. A strange expression flickered across his face briefly.
"I'm going to guess it wasn't just the fuzzy forest animals on your list," I said slowly. I didn't exactly know what I was getting in to. "Do you want to hear what I think?" I asked.
"Yes, Aurora, I would love to know what you think," He said a bit sarcastically, but there was real interest in his voice.
"You and Stefan are the founding brothers of the Salvatore family," I said. He looked at me expectantly.
"And?" He asked.
"And you two somehow became vampires. You followed Stefan back to Mystic Falls, and when he felt you or whatever, he found you in the woods where you were considering making me a meal. Stefan told me to leave, and you two fought, and I found your first meal, Vicky, on my way back to the party." I gave a triumphant smile when I saw the truth in his eyes.
"Aren't you scared, to be alone with a vampire that could kill you before you could utter a single sound?" He asked me.
"Would I have invited you in if I wasn't?" I asked.
"You know I'm the brother that feeds off humans, that kills for fun," He said. I shrugged.
"If you wanted me dead I would be, and I wouldn't know anything about what you really are," I said. In a flash, Damon had vanished from in front of me, and appeared behind me gripping my neck tightly and pressing his lips to my ear as he spoke.
"Never underestimate what I will and won't do," He said, his lips grazing my ear as he spoke, sending a shiver down my back. A satisfied smirk touched his lips, I could feel it form against my skin.
"Now, about that whole killing people for fun and eating people thing," I said turning out of his grasp to face him. He was looking at me with curiosity. The affect he had hoped to have on me clearly hadn't worked.
"What about it?" He asked.
"You have to stop," I said. Damon laughed at me.
"Why?" He asked still smiling cruelly.
"Because the founding families still believe in the old stories, and they will hunt you and Stefan down and kill you, if they even suspect anything," I said. "Elena really likes Stefan, and I can't see her hurt by losing another person she cares about because of the stupidity of someone else."
Damon gave a low warning growl.
"What is in it for me?" He asked.
I held my wrist out to him and traced the vein there.
"My blood," I said. This was not the response Damon had been expecting.
"You know vampires often turn on those who trust them," He said.
"I don't trust you," I said sharply. "I just want to protect the people I care about." Suddenly Damon was standing inches from me.
"Selflessness is a weakening quality," He said lifting my arm closer to his mouth. He ran his nose along the vein, inhaling my scent.
"But I'm not weak, and you know that," I said. His eyes began to change, and veins sprang out underneath them. He had red eyes, and his fangs had begun to extend.
With little care, Damon bit into my wrist. I bit my tongue to hold back the pain as Damon began to drink my blood.
A strange flood of ecstasy washed over me, and my body suddenly felt like it was on fire. I felt feverish and weak, something in me began to curl and writhe, and I felt the need for some kind of release. The intimate feeling that I was being filled with was not something I was used to, but I found myself craving more.
Finally, after I felt myself weakening, Damon released his hold on my arm. I felt slightly dizzy and found my bed to sit down on.
"You are accepting my offer then," I said more as a statement than a question.
"I could easily kill you or make you forget, and then I wouldn't have to play by your rules," He said firmly.
"Then why don't you?" I asked.
"I'm curious," He said.
"Curious?" I asked not understanding.
"Curious as to what would make someone want to protect the people she cares about so much that she would endanger her own life, risk her own life, and probably offer her own life," He said. I smiled and lay down on my bed feeling very sleepy.
"Maybe she has alternative motives," I replied before closing my eyes. I was falling asleep, and it didn't both me that Damon was still in my room. I had invited him in so he could enter whenever he wanted.
"Something is different about you," Elena said as we ate breakfast together.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You just look...different, like you lost your virginity or something," She said laughing. I cleared my throat, and she immediately got quiet. "Sorry," She mumbled.
"No, it is okay, I have to deal with that sometime," I said.
"So deal, tell me about it," Elena said.
"Lena, you don't want to know," I said softly.
"Rora, yes I do," She pushed. "I know your parents sent you here because they were worried about you and didn't know how to help you. I'm not going to give up on you like that, you are my best friend!" I sighed.
"My parents sent me here, because in small town California, rumors and shame spread like wildfire," I said.
"What rumors?" She asked.
"I was dating someone in my high school. He was older than me, so naturally rumors started of our 'intimate' relationship, the one we didn't have," I began to explain. "That didn't stop the high school rumors, which began to reach parents. It was a bit of a scandal that I was having sex with someone older than me, although I wasn't."
"People are dumb," Elena said encouraging me to continue.
"Well, we were together for two years, he had graduated and went to a nearby university and would come home to see me on weekends. I made a decision to show him how much I cared about him. Well I was stupid and consequences followed." I sighed before I looked down at the table and away from Elena. "He left me after, sweeping me away like dust under a carpet. Two years that I thought I meant something to him, and he only wanted one thing from me before he was done."
"I'm sorry, Rora," Elena said trying to see if I was going to cry.
"I should have been smarter," I said. "I thought I really loved him." I paused debating whether or not to tell her the rest. I decided against it.
"It's okay, Rora, don't beat yourself up over this. Guys are dumb," Elena said taking my hand. I nodded at her.
"You know my dad, and how he holds such an important position in the community. It was an embarrassment, a disgrace, so I was sent here where no one remembered me," I said slowly.
"Well I'm not embarrassed, and Aunt Jenna and Jeremy aren't either. We love you, we are your real family," Elena said. I nodded again. It hurt that my parents hated me. "Now, let's go get dinner at The Grill. Caroline says a live band is playing tonight."
"Thanks," I said as Elena stood up to get her jacket. Elena just nodded. She didn't need to confirm what I was thanking her for.