It's Beginning to Get to Me
I tried to tell you before I left
But I was screaming under my breath
You are the only thing that makes sense
Just ignore all this present tense
It's Beginning to Get to Me by Snow Patrol
Damon was truly in no mood to play games after the horrible night he had had, but he knew that there was no way Stefan would help him on his own. So, games must be played. He let out a sigh. This town was boring him. The only thing he had been interested in was the thought of seeing Katherine again. But the little witch, Bonnie Bennett had gone and torn that dream from him. So what the hell was he supposed to amuse himself with now? The world was so bleak when time had no meaning. But tonight, some hope had been restored.
Logan Fell, of all people had been the one to restore that hope; knowing that there were others out there that wanted to get into that tomb, Damon wanted to seriously get down to business to finally be reunited with Katherine. But, of course Damon could never stop the vampires on his own. No, he would need his brother's help for that. And nothing motivated Stefan like the fear of losing the darling little brunette who lived on the other side of town. Damon had to admit that Elena had intrigued him at first; how could she not? After more than a hundred years he had not forgotten the perfect heart shaped curve of Katherine's face. Everything down to the contour of their lips and the contour of their bodies was identical. It was like fate was teasing him with Elena. Such a breakable little human girl that could never be what Katherine had been.
But somehow, Damon had found himself drawn to the tree outside Elena's window on more than one occasion over the past several months. He couldn't pin down exactly what it was that had him captivated with her. Perhaps the pursuit of something that Stefan held so dear; or perhaps the vervain, that kept him from using his Powers on her. The 'od fashioned' thrill of the chase, and getting Elena just to say that he had. Still, to say that he was devoid of emotion for Elena would be a lie; not that Damon would ever admit emotion for anyone. Scratch that, anyone other than Katherine. And Damon would have Katherine back, even if he himself had to summon her into Elena's writhing, shrieking body.
So, here he stood in Stefan's doorway. He had examined Logan Fell's body just moments ago and was trying to find a way to salvage the evening. Damon had been interested in what Fell had promised to disclose at the old church, but since that promise of that had been deduced to Fell's body in the back of an ambulance in a body bag, Damon had little to show for his evening. As he usually did, Damon resigned himself to toying around with Stefan. Besides, nothing put a smile on Damon's face like screwing around with his little brother. And after the shitty night that he had, a little pick-me-up was just what he needed.
Stefan shifted his weight uneasily on the bed, his eyes dead set on his brother. "What do you mean other vampires? I thought you took care of Logan."
Damon smirked. "I did, considering you were too weak. But that doesn't change the fact that whoever turned him is still out there. And it's only a matter of time before they strike again."
Stefan let out a sigh. "Why do you care so much, Damon? I thought you were leaving? Paris and all of that bull you were pushing on me earlier."
"You mean to tell me you actually plan on leaving Elena here to fend for herself?"
Stefan's concerned eyes lifted to meet his brother's gaze. "She has her vervain necklace. You can't do anything to her."
Damon's smirk grew wide. "Correction. I can't compel her." His eyes flickered with evil desire and craving. "I thought I had taught you by now that I can do whatever the hell I please. Didn't the coach and Vicki and your vamp girlfriend teach you that?"
Stefan's eyes burned with a vengeance.
"Right, insensitive, I forgot." Damon held up his hands in mock innocent defense and rolled his eyes, pushing off the doorframe. He flipped through a book on Stefan's desk before taking a seat in the chair sitting next to the large mahogany desk; Stefan's homework scattered across it.
"Damon, please leave. You know that you don't actually want to be in Mystic Falls. And if I hadn't been sticking around, you would have been long gone."
Half of Damon's mouth pulled up into a crooked smile. "True. But what's a small town for but to bring families together? Come on, you can't tell me that you don't like having me around."
"Despite the fact that we share a name, Damon, we aren't family." Stefan walked to the desk and pulled a journal from Damon's hand. "Don't touch that," he added.
Damon rolled his eyes. "Brooding letters for the girl? But wait, which one? Maybe I should clarify, brooding letters for Elena, or for Katherine?"
Stefan sighed. "Is this really all you are here for? To bring up any and everything you can to try to annoy or bother me?"
Damon shrugged. "It's cathartic."
He stood up and was inches from Stefan's face in the next instant. "You know that no matter where you are in the world, Stefan, your darling little Elena will never be safe. Not from me, and not from all of those other vampires out there. And especially not from the one that turned Logan."
Stefan took a step back. "What are you getting at, Damon? What is the point of all of this?"
Damon tapped the side of Stefan's head. "Think, little brother. Why would a vampire go through the trouble of turning that weasely little scum, Logan Fell?" A beat. "To get close to Jenna Sommers. Because if they're close to Jenna…"
Stefan winced. "They're close to Elena."
Damon smirked again, moving at impossible speeds to Stefan's window and looking out into the starless night. "Bingo."
"But why would they want to…" Stefan turned to the window where Damon had been standing just a split second ago. But his brother was gone.
Caroline rolled her eyes as Bonnie let go of her hands. "That's it?" she chided coolly, obviously not impressed with the spell that Bonnie had just preformed.
Bonnie nodded, looking shy and slightly unsure of herself. "It will take some time though. It's not going to happen all at once. The spell should be in full swing by the time you wake up in the morning. Its magic will be at its height in 24 hours. And then you're free and clear from all of the men holding you back."
A smile crossed Bonnie's features and she blew out the candles in the room, drawing the girls into a chilling darkness. The room was dimly lit by the blue-white streams that the moon cast through the window.
Caroline, on the other hand, still seemed skeptical. It wasn't like her to believe in all of this witchy stuff. Caroline was a firm believer in knowing only what was seen. Religion had never been something she had been interested in, and her superficial lifestyle stemmed from the fact that appearances were everything. But if Bonnie could truly pull this off somehow, Caroline would have little choice but to believe. All at once, exhaustion from the day crashed down on her and Caroline sat on the edge of Bonnie's bed, rubbing gently at her eyes.
When her eyes opened and readjusted in the dim light, she noticed that Bonnie was holding out something for her.
"Come on, you can sleep here tonight," Bonnie said, handing the pajamas to Caroline. "There's no way my dad would let me drive you home right now, and you're way too out of it to drive yourself anywhere."
Caroline nodded and quietly padded to the bathroom, to change into the borrowed clothing. Bonnie had turned the bed down by the time she had returned to the bedroom, and she crawled in bed next to her friend, who had a book open on her lap.
"Bonnie, you really believe in all this… stuff, don't you?"
Bonnie took a moment to reply. She let out a long breath and then said, "Care- I have seen too much to not believe."
Caroline nodded, laying her head down on the pillow and closing her eyes.
Elena's sleep was anything but dreamless that night. She woke up several times in the middle of the night with cold sweats, and at one point, at 4:19 she got out of bed and went to the bathroom, filling her glass with water and taking a sip as she looked at herself in the mirror. The dreams did not bode well on the conversation she would be having with Stefan in just a few short hours. In most of her dreams, he left regardless of what she said. But the last dream had been the most unsettling of them all.
She had finished telling Stefan that she loved him, that she couldn't be without him and that she needed him to stay with her. And then suddenly, he transformed, short spiked hair growing longer, face thinning the tiniest bit and last but not least he grew a good two inches. Until the man standing before her was Damon.
That had been the last straw for Elena. She knew that there had to be some way to get him off of her mind. She couldn't believe that she was actually allowing him to interrupt her sleep like this. She scoffed at the pleasure he would have taken in knowing what he was doing to her. Damon was never one to keep his mouth shut about what gave him 'pleasure'. Elena scoffed again, quickly turning her mind to more sane, rational things.
Pulling out an old photo album, Elena gingerly ran her fingers along the cover. The word Family scrawled neatly across the top made her smile sadly before opening the first page. Thinking of her mother and father often helped calm Elena's nerves and quiet her fears. Flipping open to the first page, Elena could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Recalling a time when things were easy, a time when her family was happy. Recalling a time when she could actually call where she lived a home, when she could call the people she lived with her family. It was hard to believe that she had been happy a few months ago; it was hard to believe that there was a time when things were easy.
Elena shook her head, pushing the thoughts from her mind. She would be happy again; she could, if Stefan would let her close to him. She wanted to be blissful again and she wanted to do that with…
Elena shut the book and crawled into bed. Her mind was running on overdrive and all she really wanted to do was get some sleep and forget about everything. Turning the lights off again and falling into the comfort and warmth of her bed, Elena closed her eyes. One thought kept running rampant through her mind and despite her every effort to squelch the thought, it remained constant. Why, when she thought about the one she wanted to be happy with, did her mind turn to Damon?
Outside Elena's window, glossy black wings spread on a tree branch. The quiet cawing was faintly heard by the girl, half-asleep in her bed. But as the bird ascended into the air and dissolved into the inky black of the night, so did her thoughts of the creature disappear.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed this story so far. I really appreciate your feedback. I know this was more of a filler chapter, but I wanted to have that last conversation with Damon and Stefan before the craziness of the next morning, so I thought I would move some things along with the girls as well. As I am hoping you could notice, things for Elena are already starting to get a little hazy. But tomorrow is a new day, and with it, come some very serious changes. For everyone involved.
Again, thank you. If you read it, please hit the little button below and let me know what you thought. As always, reviews are the love that keeps the chapters coming.
