Chapter Sixteen

The town square of Mystic Falls was a lot busier than Damon had anticipated and Ella was already beginning to feel overwhelmed. The sensation wasn't as strong as it had been when she was with her friends; the feelings of the passersby were more muted. It wasn't the feelings themselves that threatened to consume her, but the sheer magnitude of them.

"I don't know if I can do this," Ella told Damon as they sat on a bench just across from the Grill.

"Yes you can," Damon assured her, squeezing her arm gently. "You are a Fae; you have the natural ability to control your powers. You just need to focus. If you don't then you'll go mad, do you want to be the crazy cat lady who never leaves her house and scares little kids?"

"I like cats," Ella grinned.

Damon smiled. "You can do this; you just need to believe in yourself. Now close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do it," Damon instructed. Ella sighed, but did as she was told. It made her feel uncomfortable and vulnerable having her eyes closed and surrounded by people. "Now I want you to take a deep breath and focus on me, just me. Shut out everything else and tell me what I'm feeling."

Ella took a deep breath and tried to relax. She could sense Damon beside her, but there were so many others around her and she couldn't shut them out.

"I can't," she whispered, the strain evident in her voice. "There are too many, I can't turn it off."

"Yes you can, you're just not trying hard enough."

"I'm trying as hard as I can!" Ella almost shouted, causing a spike in the curiosity around her.

"Let's try this," Damon soothed, not wanting to cause a scene. "Just listen to the sound of my voice, focus on it and shut everything else out."

Taking another deep breath, Ella listened more to the hum on Damon's voice rather than the actual words. She let it wash over her, taking in every dip in his tone, every subtle shift until it hit her. Everyone else began to fade as she listened and then there was nothing. Only Damon.

"You're worried," Ella frowned. "No...not worried, you're scared. You hide behind false bravado, but there's a part of you that's scared. You're also slightly confused and proud as well. What are you afraid of Damon?"

"Well done," Damon beamed, ignoring her question. He wasn't about to tell him that she was the reason he was scared and confused. His need to protect her, to help her was confusing and he was afraid that he may not be able to save her.

Ella decided to let it go for the moment and opened her eyes, smiling. "I did it."

"You did," Damon nodded. "But it's not over yet. I want to you use me as an anchor and then branch out. Tell me what other people are feeling."

"I...I don't know if I'm ready for that," the young woman hesitated. "What if I get lost in it all? There's still so many."

"That's why you need an anchor. No matter where you are, until you learn complete control, whenever you use your empathy you need to anchor yourself to someone. It'll make it a lot more bearable."

Ella didn't like the idea, but she agreed to try. She'd never learn to control it if she didn't. Closing her eyes again, Ella focused on Damon again. It was a lot easier this time, but still took a few moments for everyone else to slip away before she was left with only him.

For a moment she lingered on him, still wondering what it was that he was afraid of, but she couldn't dwell on it for now. Instead she pushed her focus outward, envisioning a small circle, almost like a bubble around them. Ella pushed it out until she felt the first flicker of life at the edges of the circle and she froze.

Fear weighed down on her like a lead weight in her chest. She remembered how much Caroline's emotions had affected her and how angry she became. Shame quickly replaced her fear, mixed with a little regret and a lot of pain. The looks on their faces flashed through her mind, causing tears to well in her eyes.

"Focus Ella," Damon whispered in her ear. She was still anchored to him and could feel his growing concern. "Put everything else out of your mind and focus."

Ella nodded and pushed the thoughts of her friends out of her head. She gave her imaginary bubble one last push and enveloped the closest person to her, other than Damon. At first she felt like she was going to drown in it, not as much as she had felt with her friends, but enough for her to want to stop, but she didn't. Instead she breathed through it, gritting her teeth almost painfully. After a few seconds it was more manageable and Ella loosened her jaw.

"There's a woman close by, she's feeling a little harried. There's a lot of tension there and she's angry and worried about something."

"Good," Damon smiled. "You can relax now."

Ella let go of the woman and opened her eyes just in time to see her rushing past their bench. She had thought that when she'd stopped trying so hard to shut them out that all the other feelings would come crashing back, but they didn't. They were still there, Ella could sense them like little pulses in the air, but they no longer threatened to overwhelm her.

The young woman's own feelings however were still there, gnawing away at her insides. The tears that threatened to spill earlier now flowed freely down her cheeks as she thought of her friends again.

"Ella?" Damon's voice broke into her self loathing.

"I'm sorry Damon, but I just want to go home now. Can we work on this another day?" Ella pleaded her voice thick from the tears.

"This is about last night isn't it?" Damon asked. He put an arm around Ella's shoulders and pulled her against his side, so that her head rested on his shoulder.

"I was just so awful," Ella sobbed; she buried her face in the front of his jacket as she cried.

"They'll understand Ella, it wasn't your fault. Trust me; if they can put up with all my crap then forgiving you for an outburst that wasn't your own doing will be easy. If you ever tell any of them I said this I will kill you myself, but you couldn't have picked better friends. They'd do anything to protect someone they care about; anyone of them would lay down their own life to save you. Have you checked your phone today?"

"My phone?" Ella squeaked, thrown by the sudden change in topic.

"Yeah, it was going off like crazy this morning, I eventually turned it off so that it didn't wake you and because it was driving me nuts."

Ella lifted her head and looked at Damon through bleary eyes. She smiled at him softly before leaning forward and kissing his cheek.

"They're not the only ones who would do anything to protect the people they care about," she said when she pulled back. "You're not the person they all think you are Damon."

"I wish that were true," Damon whispered. "I'm not the person you think I am."

"Yes you are," Ella stated simply. She was digging around in her purse looking for her cellphone as she spoke. "You're exactly who I think you are, I just wish everyone else could see it, especially you."

Damon didn't answer; he didn't think that he could. No one had ever said anything like that to him before, not since he became a vampire at least. As he watched the pretty young Fae search for her phone he realised that she was the first real friend he'd had in nearly 150 years.

"Found it!" Ella announced triumphantly as she pulled the phone out and switched it on. As soon as she saw all the messages she had her face lit up.

"Good news?" Damon asked with a smile.

"I don't know," she whispered, suddenly apprehensive. "I'm afraid to read them, what if they're not good?"

"Do you want me to read them for you?" Damon offered.

"No thank you. I think I should read them myself."

Damon nodded but didn't say anything. Instead he leaned back against the bench, his arm draped across the back as Ella began reading silently.

From Caroline:

Ella, I'm so so so so sorry about what happened last night. I hope that you're all right, please call me as soon as you get this. Please forgive me? Xoxoxo

From Elena:

Hi Ella. Can you call when you get this? I'm sorry you got so upset last night and I know everyone else is too. It must be a lot to take in and now on top of this Vampire thing. I'm here if you need someone to talk to. X

From Bonnie:

Ella I tried calling you, you must still be asleep. Can you call me when you get this? I want to make sure you're all right. Sorry about last night, I promise I will do as much research as I can for you. Maybe I can bring some of my Grams' book by later. Call ok? Xx

From Stefan:

Elena told me what happened, are you all right? Call if you want to talk.

The last message had Ella's heart racing because she even opened it. It was from the one person she hoped and dreaded to hear from all at the same time. With a deep breath Ella opened the final message.

From Jeremy:

Ella, are you all right? I've called like a dozen time and you're not answering. Please call me as soon as you get this or I'm coming over to check on you. You shouldn't be alone, especially not right now. I hope we're still on for our non-date today. Call me ok? Love Jeremy xxx

TBC...