Chapter 3: The Truth

{Damon's POV}

She smiled. I moved out of her way so she could leave.

She stopped and turned.

"Damon, can I ask you something?" she began.

"Wow, you asked before you asked a question." I said sarcastically, "Sure, what do you want to know?"

"You and Stefan…"she began, "What are you?"

I paused a little. "Oh, Stefan and I, we're vampires…" I replied with a smile.

At that moment, she looked a little scared.

"You're not scared…are you?"

"N-no…w-why would I be?"

"Well, I really don't know. I mean, you and I are the same in many ways, as well as different."

"Yeah, I know…It's just that, the last time I met other vampires…I was almost killed." she shuddered.

At first, I thought that she was just saying that to hide the fact that she was scared of the fact that I was a vampire.
I tried to probe her mind, to see if she was telling the truth. Nothing.

I tried again, still nothing. Why couldn't I see what was going on in her mind?

"You're hard to read," I said.

"I get that a lot." she said with a shy grin.

"You're still scared aren't you?"

She nodded.

"I give you my word, I will not harm you. Does that help?"

"Um…not really."

"Okay then, hmm….I swear on Elena's grave that I will not harm you."

"Better. Since I know how much you loved her, I believe you." she said with a bit of light in her eyes.

"Well then, I had better let you go. It's late and your family is probably wondering where you are."

"Uh…yeah, my family." she frowned.

"Is everything okay? You aren't trying to run away are you?"

"No, it's just that…never mind. I'll see you around?" she asked with a slight hopefulness in her voice.

"Definitely."

She turned and left.

There was something about her that confused me. Why would she choose animal blood over human blood? Of course, animal blood will keep us strong, but human blood makes us invincible. Didn't she know that?

I needed to talk to Stefan. His name made me shudder, a little. I hadn't seen or spoken to him since Elena's death.

As soon as Bella was out of sight, I transformed into a crow and flew to the boarding house where Stefan stayed.

When I arrived at the house, I could sense that he wasn't there. I walked up to the door. It was open, so I let myself in.

It's a good thing that I was invited in last year or I would have had to wait out here. I thought to myself as I walked down to the end of the short and narrow hallway until I found the door that led up to where he lived and opened it.

The staircase was cramped at first, but it got a little wider as I neared the top. I looked around the room, it was neat and tidy. A little too much for my liking. I walked around and examined the room.

When I arrived at the window, something caught the corner of my eye. I turned to a little corner of the room. There was a small side table with two candles lit on it.

I walked over to see what was on the table. In the middle of the table was a picture of Elena and Stefan before they had gone to the Haunted House last year.

Next to it was a small silver coffer. It was the same one he had when we lived in Florence. When we were still human. Why would he have kept this for so long?

Sure, it had meant a lot to him when Katherine had given it to him, but she was the reason that our sweet Elena was dead. As I opened it, I noticed that there was something engraved into the lid:

Elena~
To me you'll be forever sacred
I'm dying but I know
Our love will live
Your hand above
Like a dove
Over me
Remember
To me you'll be forever sacred (1)

There was a diamond ring wedged in the little slit inside, he was going to propose to her, I guess he never got the chance. For a moment I felt sorry for him. Elena's death had hurt him more than it hurt me.

As I looked at the small table, I noticed that Elena's peach ribbon was lying next to a note with her name on it. Although I knew that Stefan had probably written it for her and that I really shouldn't pry.

My curiosity got the better of me. As I picked up the note, I heard the front door close, Stefan was home. If I wanted to know what he had written to Elena, I had to read it quickly before he came up here.

I unfolded the paper to see his handwriting. As I looked it over I realized that it was a few verses of a song that he had written for her.

I don't want to cause you trouble
Don't wanna stay too long
I just came here to say to you

Turn around, I am here
If you want it's me you'll see
Doesn't count, far or near
I can hold you when you reach for me (2)

-My dearest Elena,
I will always be here for you when you need me.
But, the only way that I think that will be possible is if you married me.
I guess what I'm trying to say is…
Will you marry me?
Yours forever and always,
Stefan

As I finished reading the proposal, I could hear his footsteps getting closer. I quickly folded the paper back up and set it where I had found it.

I then walked as swiftly and as silently as I could to a small dark corner on the other side of the room. I waited as his footsteps grew nearer. Then the door flung open.

There he was. The brother that I had deserted six months ago. The brother that was hurting more that I thought he would.

As he stood in the doorway he looked around. He could tell that something had been in his room. Just as I was about to try and sneak out I felt something 'pricking' at my thoughts.

I had been discovered. Damn! So much for sneaking off I thought to myself as I walked out of my dark little corner, I had to try to act as if I had no sympathy for him.

I gave a little smirk in his general direction.

"What do you want." He asked, his voice was like venom.

"Is that any way to welcome your dear brother?" I answered sarcastically.

"It is when that brother has not been seen or heard from in six months." He answered.

"And I apologize for my 'brief' disappearance, dear brother."

"You really don't care about anyone else besides yourself, do you?" he accused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Do you remember Elena's dying wish?" he asked.

"Of course you moron! Why do you think I came back?" I shouted.

"Well, it's been hard to keep up my end of the bargain, considering I had no idea where you were."

"I just needed time to be alone, that's all. I'm here now, isn't that enough for you?"

"No…"

"What more do you want from me." I yelled.

"I want us to be brothers…I want us to be like we were back in Florence before we met Katherine." he said.

We both winced at Katherine's name. I let out a small sigh and pinched the top of my nose, thinking.

"Well," I began, "I guess we could give it a shot." I offered my hand as a sign of a truce.

He shook it and gave a small smile. I could still see how hurt he was.

"So, we have something to deal with." I told him, kind of breaking the mood.

"What do you mean?" he asked, obviously confused.

"It concerns that Bella girl you and I met earlier."

"Bella?…Well, what about her?"

"Well…she's…a…" I was having a hard time trying to tell him. But why?

"She's a what? A girl? Yeah, I sort of realized that when I met her." he said sarcastically.

"Stop screwing around! This could be a serious and/or dangerous matter." I said with a more serious tone.

"What, she's a vampire?" he said sarcastically again, clearly not getting the fact that I was serious.

I just nodded my head in agreement. All he could do was just stare out the window in disbelief. As I walked over to say something, I noticed that he wasn't just staring into space. He was staring at something. No, someone…Bella.

(1)- "Sacred" -Tokio Hotel
(2)- "By Your Side"-Tokio Hotel

Next Chapter: Bella's Story