CHAPTER 4
That afternoon, as I walked back into the house, I felt a strange shiver ran through me. Which was rather strange cause, lately, I've been as happy as anybody could be. I tried to shake it off as I walked straight upstairs. After all, Damon said he'd be here by sundown to start planning our road trip. It'd been a week and a half since we'd started... I suppose the word is 'dating'. I giggled. Yep, my life was starting to make up for everything my life had been. Does that even make any sense?
I shook my head trying to rid myself of the weird face I was sure I was making, looking up at the clock. I had 30 minutes. He'd told me that dinner was on him. And so, after a 10-minute shower, since I'd been out for the daily workout, I started walking around, trying to decide what to wear. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. I froze, taking another peak at the clock, in case I'd mistaken the time. I hadn't. Damon was, so far, always on time, not nearly as early as this. So then, who the hell was it? The bad feeling was back. Elena was out with friends, Jeremy was at the library and Jenna was still at work. I was home alone.
I walked into Elena's bedroom, which was at the front of the house, and peered out of her window. All I could see was a sleek, black car, with tinted windows. It looked very official. I couldn't make out the driver. The knocking persisted. Whoever it was was already on the porch. But it sure as hell wasn't Damon. 'Shit!' I ran back to my room, grabbed my cell phone and started to, cautiously, make my way down stairs.
"Can't live a minute more without me, can you?" Hearing his voice made me smile.
"Actually I was wondering if it was the other way around and you were already on your way here."
"Is something wrong?" I could almost see his frown.
"Sleek, black car at my front door, with tinted windows and persistent knocking is never a good sign for me."
"I'll be there in a couple of minutes." I sighed, reaching the front door and taking a peak out of the window. My heart froze.
"Good, cause these two guys in suits are part of my mom's cult-like bodyguards. And if I don't answer this door soon, they're likely to break it down."
"Hang on. I'll be there in a few." And he hung up. It was likely to be the some of the longest minutes I'd ever lived through.
I ran back upstairs as quietly as I could, threw on a pair of jeans, a crème v-neck T, knee-high, high-thick-heeled dark brown leather boots and grabbed my matching knee-length coat. Stuffing my wallet into my jeans, as well as my cell-phone, and storing my sai into my boots, I ran back downstairs to see if the guys in suits were already trying to break down the door. They had already tired of knocking so it couldn't be too long till they started having a go at the poor door. I still don't know why these guys were so fucking loyal to my delusional mother. But they were. And at the moment, that was all that mattered. Through the curtains, I saw them retreat slightly. Uh oh.
I turned to ran out the back door. I'd probably have to pay Jenna later for the broken door, but it'd be better than getting caught. How much can a door cost when compared with the price of my freedom?
I started running out the backyard when I heard a crash and footsteps in the house. They were in. I nearly ran over the white fence that closed the backyard trying to get out.
"There she is!" I'll never understand either why I was running or why I didn't freeze up like previous times. I guess that I ran because it was a bit of a reflex. I always ran away from my mom's goons. After all, I would never forget the day they started using stun-guns. And I suppose I didn't freeze this time because this time I had all the right to keep running. But that's not the problem. The problem was I ran straight into the forest. The sun was already down and, at the back of my head, it registered that there was a serial killer on the loose. But I just kept running, I couldn't afford the doubt.
As I ran through the forest, aside from the crunching footsteps closing in behind me, I felt, rather than heard, someone or something else. I felt a chill run down my spine. Whoever or whatever it was, it was playing with me. A hunter who was toying with my sense of security, a lurking predator who had already caught me, remaining on the edges as if to make me believe it hadn't yet. It just fuelled me into running faster.
Suddenly I crashed into a hard, warm body. I panicked for a moment before recognising the strong arms coming to surround my waist. Damon. I sighed, wrapping my own arms around his neck and kissing the living daylights out of him.
"I don't think I've ever been this glad to see you!" I whispered, pulling away.
"I noticed." He chuckled under his breath. "Come on, the car's this way." Vaguely, I registered that lurking-hunter-feeling was easing away. But it wasn't completely gone. I halted to a stop.
"I can't just leave like this. They've seen me. They know where I am." Damon looked at me.
"I've got an idea. Come on." We started walking back to the house.
"We're going back?"
"YOU are staying at the edge of the forest. I will bite their heads off for breaking down MY door." I nodded, liking the plan.
"How will you explain me running out of YOUR backyard?" he shrugged nonchalantly.
"An expensive pro thinking it's the cops coming after her. After all, didn't you mention you used to have long hair?"
I hid between the picket fence and the forest's edge while Damon yelled at the guys in suits for the damage caused. They surprisingly bought it. I wasn't about to complain though. Soon enough, Damon came out of the house and began to guide me towards his car. I happily let him. That feeling of being watched was creeping me out.
"Do you ever get a feeling of being watched?" he snapped his gaze to mine.
"What do you mean?" I sighed.
"It's just... while I was running through the forest, just now, I felt as if there was something out there, hunting me." He frowned in worry for a moment, then waved my fears away, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and squeezing me to him.
"It probably was the adrenaline. Besides, in some ways, you were being hunted by those guys. Forget about them. I've got you now." he has stopped walking and he pulled me close and gave me a soft kiss as if to prove his point. I let out a sigh and a small smile. A few steps further got us to his car. "Before we do anything else, there's something I want you to have."
"A gift?" he nodded and I nearly melted! He had something for me?
"Here you go." I took the velvety bag, opened it and gently shook the contents onto my hand. What fell onto my palm took my breath away. It was a locket. A beautiful silver, heart-shaped locket. It had a blood-red stone at the centre, dare I think it, a ruby. There appeared to be two different clasps on the side. The pendant was rather big. Probably a little over a quarter the size of my palm. A slightly-thicker-than-normal silver chain finished off the vintage look. The whole thing was absolutely beautiful. Suddenly, my nose got a whiff of some unknown sweet smell. I brought the pendant to my nose.
"Is that... what is that smell? I've never come across it before." Damon smiled, taking the locket in his hand.
"It's a rather rare herb called vervain. Thought the smell would be a nice touch. You can tell me when it's running out so I can refill it." He point to one of the claps. "That's the opening for the vervain. But you need a special lock-pick thingy for it." I nodded. Good to know cause I really didn't want to do anything to it. "This second clasp is for you to put a picture in or whatever." I smiled, taking it back. Surprisingly, for the whole ensemble, the locket was rather light.
"It's beautiful. Thank you so much. You really didn't have to give me anything."
"Of course I did. I have to keep making points, right?" I chuckled, turning round and silently requesting his help to get it on. His cool fingers brushed against my neck, making me shiver. When he was done, I turned around and kissed him again. This time, though, I took my time. Only when the oxygen became an issue did I pull away. "Now, how about we go to my house, were we won't be disturbed, and plan that road trip?"
"What ever happened to dinner?"
"Oh, you know, there's this little thing called take-out. You should definitely look into it." I laughed out loud, while getting into his Chevy. I'll confess, I was very giddy. I hadn't been to his house yet...
"THIS is your house?!" I looked up at the boarding house in wonder. It was HUGE! And it had that 'haunted mansion' air to it. "I love it!"
"Wait till you see my room." He whispered, leaning in as he guided me to the door, ever the gentleman. I smirked.
As he closed the door behind us, I took the time to look around. Yep, definitely cool, old, 'haunted' mansion. I officially loved this place!
"Damon?" I turned around to see Damon's brother coming down the stairs. He turned to look at me in surprise. "Damon, can we talk?"
"Sure we can, but first, let me get Sophia settled in. Want anything to drink?" I shook my head and nudged him towards his brother with a pointed look. We had been talking about this, at least once a day. He gave me a bored look and a slight groan but he started walking anyways.
As soon as he had disappeared with his brother into one of the many rooms I suspected the house had, I took to wandering around. There was a rather huge living room, complete with the old family portraits and the scotch table. I saw a door to the left and headed towards it. It was a library. A HUGE library. I walked around as if I were dreaming. I walked around, brushing my fingers over the aged volumes. It looked as if there were books from over a century ago. I loved the smell of ancient pages that permeated the air. I sighed in content.
Walking down the aisles, I found a rather dusty section. Upon grabbing a book and opening it, I came to the conclusion that, apparently, this section was made up entirely of old journals. If the first date was anything to go by, these were from the 1800s. Wow. Walking further down, I saw that the section got progressively cleaner. Or, at least, the dust had been disturbed. I grabbed one of the "cleaner" ones and opened it on the first page. The date read 'Christmas Day, 1863'. Again, wow. I wasn't reading anything, I just took a superficial look at the curvy penmanship of those days, loving the style, the old pages, the worn, leather bounding. When suddenly, a name jumped at me:
'Damon and I both got our new journals today. Father had them be custom-made. He even engraved our names on the leather bounding. '
Huh. Cool. I turned the journal around in my hand, looking for a name. I found it at the back of the book: Stefan Salvatore. I frowned. I kept reading:
'My brother wasn't particularly excited about this, he says it just means more responsibilities. He says that Father only gave this to him so that he can keep up with Damon's whereabouts and doings while in the Army. I just smiled at him, telling him that, maybe, now I can know what happens to him. He smirked at me, saying he wasn't about to allow anyone anywhere near this journal."
I found it a bit odd that Damon and Stefan had been named after... well, Damon and Stefan.
"Knew I'd find you here." I heard his voice just a few steps behind and I turned to see him leaning against a book case. I had a brief déjà vu to our encounter in the forest but shook my head and smiled. "What was that?" he said, giving me a weird look.
"Nothing." I said, still smiling. Not that I can stop myself when he's around. "It just reminded me of when we met at the forest." He nodded, then saw the journal I had in my hands. A strange look passed his face, but as swiftly as it had come, it was gone.
"See you found the old Salvatore journals." I nodded.
"Is it ok? I wasn't really reading, I was merely looking over the book itself." He chuckled.
"Don't worry about it."
"But, I couldn't help seeing the 'Stefan Salvatore' inscription at the back of the book. Was Stefan named after this Stefan?" the fleeting strange look was back. But I managed to recognise it. Worry.
"Yep. And I was named after that Stefan's brother, Damon. They were the first generation of Salvatores to be born in Mystic Falls, after the Founding families arrived." He walked up to me, pulling me in and surrounding my waist with his strong arms. "But, as interesting as my ancestors may seem to you, I think we have a more important task to plan..." he said slyly, tapping the tip of my nose lightly. I giggled, nodding. 'The effect this man has on me...'
It was half-past 11, by the time we decided to call it a night. We had been searching the internet for places to see along the road and we'd come up with a week-long road-trip. It was going to be exhausting... but SO much fun!
"Now, how about some dinner?" I promptly nodded as he rose from the couch we had been cuddling on.
"You do that, while I take a breather. I'm gonna be in the backyard." Damon nodded over his shoulder as he walked confidently to what I supposed was the kitchen. I hadn't had time to explore the entire house yet.
"What would you like for dinner?" I shrugged.
"Mac & Cheese? I don't know. The simplest thing to make, don't go out of your way." He pouted cutely at me. Who would've known Damon Salvatore could pout like that?
"You don't want to test my culinary skills?"
"Not tonight. I think we're both too tired to fully appreciate food." He chuckled, nodding.
"Mac & Cheese it is then."
As he disappeared into the depths of the house, I started walking outside. The backyard was huge. Only stopped by the forest itself. I stretched a little. Don't get me wrong, I love being cuddled up to Damon, but I already forgot the point when my legs went to sleep.
Suddenly, I got that bad feeling back. You know, the one that tells me I'm being watched? Hunted? Yeah, that one. I started looking around. I couldn't really see anyone, it was, after all, close to midnight. All of a sudden, there was movement among the front line of trees. And a man walked out. A ragged-looking, messy-haired and wild-eyed man. Adrenaline shot through me at the thought that this might just be the famous serial killer that was rumoured to be loose in town. His wild-looking eyes were on me, as if I wasn't a person, but a prey. He was staring at me with blatant hunger written across his face and I couldn't help the shiver that ran through me. It takes a lot to scare me. And this man could. Slowly, I started walking back into the house, backwards, so as to never let the mystery man out of my sight. Then I blinked, and he was gone. 'Ok, I'm officially freaked out.'
I turned to ran back inside and warn Damon when I crashed into a foul-smelling something. It was the same man that had been over 300 feet away from me only seconds ago. His grip on my arm and neck felt as if he could easily break them. And it hurt like hell. I don't consider myself a screamer. In fact, my therapist once told me that I tend to keep too much quiet. Back then, I thought that my therapist was the one who needed the therapy. But being held down by that man, I realised I had never screamed. Not really. And considering the guy was choking me, I still don't know how I managed.
"DAMON!" the freak holding me zeroed in on my neck. My mind flew back to what Jeremy had said about how he tears his victims' throats out. Suddenly, the thing, man, whatever it was, lunged at me. As if to bite me.
The next second, the freak got thrown against the back wall. I sank to the ground, gasping for breath. I looked up to see Damon pinning the bastard to the wall, single-handedly. Apparently waiting for something. I looked at the bastard. His face was all wrong. There were dark, nearly black, veins beneath his eyes, fangs were protruding from his mouth and his eyes were all red.
"Damon." I hoped it would come out firmly, but after the chokehold I'd been held in, it was more of a wheeze. Regardless, as if he'd heard me clearly, he turned to look at me, and I saw that his face was contorted in much the same way. The dark veins, the red eyes, the fangs. Wow. "Is this what everybody has been keeping from me?" he turned away from me and back to the asshole he was holding against the wall. In a blink, Stefan was standing beside his brother.
"Call the Sheriff. Tell her we've caught him. She's gonna want to see this." Stefan nodded, handing Damon a wooden stake and pulling out his phone.
"Damon!" oh, he was NOT going to ignore me! But I guess that was the wrong time to yell at him 'cause his hold on this guy loosened and he was thrown an unthinkable amount of feet away from me. Without thinking I pulled out my sai. What they could do against vampires, I didn't know, but I fully intended to find out. I thrust my arms in front of me, as the sucker lunged at me yet again. The knifes buried deep into his shoulders and he growled in pain. I kicked him off, holding tight to my bloody knifes, turned on my heel and ran towards Damon as fast as I could. I heard/ felt a rush of air behind me. Without stopping I turned my head around to see Stefan grabbing onto the intruder.
"Get in the house."
"What good is that?!" 'You gonna tell me vampires can't break down doors?'
"He can't go in unless he's invited. Now get inside." Damon was suddenly standing by my side and pulling me towards the door. Once I'd stepped over the threshold, he walked back towards Stefan and my attacker. "Did you reach the Sheriff?"
"She'll be here in 10 minutes." He nodded.
"Then let's leave him here while we wait." And without further ado, he raised the stake.
"WAIT!" both brothers turned to me as I rushed out of the house. "Can I?" Stefan's eyes widened amusingly.
"That's my girl." I looked at Damon. A few minutes ago, when he first turned to look at me with his vampire face, he looked as if he'd lost everything he held dear. Now, he had the most relieved look on his face. "Drive it into his stomach, we don't want to kill him just yet." He handed me the stake and, holding it with both hands, I impaled it as instructed. Which got me thinking.
"Does the Sheriff know you two are vamps?" Stefan finally recovered.
"Doesn't this upset you?" I shrugged.
"The only one I'm upset with is with the bastard wearing a stake. And that's because he tried to turn me into a midnight snack." Another blink and Damon was standing in front of me, pulling me close and kissing me as if there was no tomorrow. He only pulled back when he felt me gasping for breath. And the only reason why I didn't fall to the ground was because he was holding me up. "I take it that had you a bit worried." I breathed out.
"Like you have no idea. But tell that to anyone and I will deny it." he added with a small smirk. I giggled and kissed him again, my arms wrapping around his neck. When I pulled back, he just held me despairingly close. I sighed in contentment, resting my head on his shoulder. From there, I saw Stefan smiling softly. I smiled back. Then, he frowned.
"What is that?" he was staring at my neck. Or rather, he was staring at what was hanging of my neck.
"Oh, Damon gave it to me. Don't know why he bothered, by I ain't complaining." I said with a smirk. Stefan was nodding to himself with a small smirk of his own.
"What does it smell like?" he asked. I heard Damon groan.
"He said the name was vervain. Why?" Stefan was wearing a very smug look on his face.
"No reason."
"Does it have anything to do with you two being vampires?" Damon pulled back slightly.
"YOU, missy, are too smart for your own good. And yes it does. Vampires have what we call 'compulsion', which means we can force you to do our bidding. Wearing vervain negates our powers to control your mind." I opened my mouth. Then closed it. Probably looked like a fish doing that. Not only was he giving me a very pretty necklace. He was also protecting me.
"Which means that I can feel a little more comfortable with this relationship. He seems to be taking it very seriously." Stefan added in a conspiratorial tone. I giggled. I seemed to be doing that a lot.
"Oh so he really is the bad brother?" I felt Damon tense. Stefan grimaced. "What? Alright, what's the worst that you've done?" I said, looking up at Damon.
"Can we talk about this some other time?"
"Nope. We are talking about this now. So, worst deed for the past... How old are you?" they both chuckled.
"How old do you think we are?" Stefan asked.
"I don't know. Damon doesn't look over 25, and you don't look over 18? Maybe 20, but factoring in the vampire part... how could I ever know?" I felt Damon's chest shake with laughter.
"You already know. Think back."
"To when?"
I started thinking back from that moment to earlier in the day: The vampire brothers, the vampire asshole currently bleeding on the floor beside us, me getting scared out of my wits by the aforementioned asshole, me stepping out of the house, Damon getting dinner ready, us researching for the road-trip. As I looked back, questions popped at me about certain things that didn't quite go with my idea of vampire. Suddenly, I arrived back at the moment when Damon had found me nosing around in the library. The journals.
"1863?!" I turned to look at them. "Those journals were actually yours?!" Stefan lifted his eyebrows.
"She found the journals?"
"She's a bit of a bookworm."
"That would make you... 145 years old!" they nodded.
"Technically, he's still the eldest, because you also count the years you spent alive, which means Damon's 170 and I'm 162."
"Technicalities." I muttered, dismissing them with a waved of my hand. "Wow. And there you were complaining of feeling old when I called you Mr. Salvatore!" I grumbled into Damon's chest. They both laughed. "Well it looks like you're pals once again."
"We actually can stand each other when he's not getting me into trouble." Stefan smirked. I jumped when we heard the door bell. "That must be the Sheriff."
"Stef, take her home. I don't need the Sheriff questioning her." Damon said.
"What about dinner? I still have tons of questions!" Stefan laughed as Damon huffed.
"Fine. Take her up to my room. Don't make a sound. And you're lucky I didn't even start dinner. Or it would've burned already. I'll go get you when the Sheriff leaves." And with a short kiss, I left with Stefan up the stairs, while Damon went to open the door.
A/N: I'm SO SORRY!!!!! I don't remember the last time I update but please, do forgive the delay. I hope the slightly longer-than-usual chappie makes up for it also... *insert sing-song voice* she found out! Anyways, read, enjoy, hate, etc, and most importantly: REVIEW!!!!!!!!
Toodles!