Chapter One: December, 1994
Damon Salvatore walked into the large shopping center, intent on only one thing: Finding Carter and beating the crap out of him.
Like the creature of the night he was, Damon stalked through the crowds of people, not noticing for once the many heartbeats around him. After he destroyed the threat to his brother, he'd think about it. But until then...
Damon was so focused on navigating the large crowds of people, cursing Carter and his idea to use the hundreds of humans as shields, that he didn't notice the small human until he almost stepped on her.
He looked down in surprise. Children, especially young children, tended to avoid him at all costs. It was almost as if they could sense what he really was; that he was dangerous. In a century, he'd never had one approach him voluntarily before.
Which is why he was so shocked when a small, girl, with hair so dark it was almost brown, and big green eyes stood in front of him. She couldn't have been more than four, and looked up at him with a trembling lip.
The two of them stared at each other for a few moments, before Damon finally sighed and crouched down to her level. He didn't know why. He'd never had any interaction with children, in life or death, and it felt strange to suddenly shift from 'stalk and kill' to 'gentle stranger' mode.
"Hi." he said, glancing around at the large group of people. No one seemed to notice the grown man talking to the small child. Didn't that cause some kind of commotion with humans? Wasn't it in their DNA to protect their offspring?
"Hi." the little girl whispered. Without Damon's enhanced hearing, he probably wouldn't have heard her.
Damon sighed. What the hell was he doing? "What's your name?"
The little girl's green eyes blinked slowly at him. "Sophie Marie Davies." She stumbled over some of the letters, but Damon understood.
"Hi, Sophie Marie Davies." he said, earning a soft smile from her. He felt himself being drawn towards her, and he squashed down that feeling, turning off his emotions as effortlessly as flipping a switch. He didn't have the time or energy to start caring about some random kid, in some random mall, in a random town in Kansas. "I'm Damon. Where are your parents?"
Her smile fell, and Damon had the sudden urge to pick her up and hold her close, protecting her from the world. "I lost them." she said softly, looking down at her feet. When she looked back up at him, she had tears in her eyes, and the sadness in them just about cut to the bone. "Will you help me find them?"
Before Damon even thought about what he was doing, he nodded, and held out his hand, letting Sophie put her tiny, delicate hand in his large calloused one. She smiled up at him, a blindingly bright smile that Damon just wanted to melt into. Damon pulled her close and then picked her up, inhaling her scent, and then spreading out his senses, trying to match the particular fragrance. She should smell like her parents.
Now all he had to do, was return the child to her folks, destroy Carter, and then he could go back to his motel, find a nice young girl to share his bed...and to snack on, and he could call it a night.
When Damon picked her up, he was again surprised when she put her arms around his neck and laid her head down on his shoulder. Her breathing evened out, and after craning his neck, Damon saw she'd fallen asleep.
"Just freakin' great." he muttered to himself, scanning the crowds. Taking a deep breath of the air, he ignored the scent of the sleeping child in his arms, and focused on finding a close match.
Damon didn't have to look far, as a scent he knew as fear and panic met his nose, mixed with the sweet smell of the young girl in his arms. Normally he knew that scent because of humans being afraid of him. This time, he was willing to bet it was because of Sophie. He headed to the center of the shopping center, and after turning a corner, saw a young woman and a man in their early twenties, standing and talking to a security guard. Above the roar of all the other humans, he could hear them describing Sophie, completely panicked. They'd only turned around for a second...
Irrationally, Damon felt angry at these two humans. How could they just let an obviously defenseless little girl just wander off. There were things in the world that could hurt her: cars, pedophiles...vampires.
Taking an un-needed deep breath, and again stamping down on his emotions, Damon walked forward. They didn't even turn to look at him until he cleared his throat and tapped the man on the shoulder.
"Oh!" the woman said, reaching for Sophie. "Thank God!" she cried burying her face in her daughter's hair. Damon could see the resemblance, noting her dark hair. When the man turned to him, he saw Sophie had his eyes, although Sophie's were brighter.
Damon forced a smile. He wasn't used to talking to people when he wasn't trying to eat them, and the loss of Sophie's warm weight in his arms suddenly made him feel cold. He resisted the urge to reach out and take her back from her mother and disappear into the crowd."Hi. Found this little one wandering around by herself. I was bringing her to security when I noticed you two."
The man looked at his daughter's sleeping form, and then back at Damon, shock and surprise clouding his features. "She let you carry her?"
"She walked right up to me." Damon said. "I'm surprised too. Children tend to avoid me at all costs."
The man raised an eyebrow, and the woman stepped forward, holding out her hand. "I'm Jennifer Davies. This is my husband Mike. And you've apparently met Sophie."
"Damon Salvatore." Damon said, taking the offered hand. He then shoved his hands in his pockets. "That's quite a sweet girl you've got there."
Jennifer smiled. "That she is. But normally she's so shy. She never speaks to strangers, and barely ever leaves our side. We've never had to worry about her wandering off alone before."
"Three year olds are extremely curious, Jen." Mike said. "She probably found something interesting and turned to follow it, not even realizing she was walking away from us."
Damon nodded his agreement. He needed to get away from these people. "Well, I'm glad I could help. You three have a nice evening."
Damon started to walk away, forcing his thoughts back to eviscerating Carter, when the woman spoke up. "Wait. Isn't there any way we can repay you for bringing Sophie back to us?"
Damon turned to look at her incredulously. Who were these people? Most parents didn't like their children fraternizing with strangers, especially male strangers, and now, these people not only were not freaking out at him bringing their child back from who knew where, but were trying to thank him?
"Nah. Just helping her find her parents." Damon said, smiling at them, letting a hint of his fangs show, hoping maybe they'd take the hint and realize he was dangerous. No, really, he was. He could snap their necks right there before they even realized it and walk off with Sophie, never to be seen again.
If the sight of his fangs bothered them, they didn't show it. Mike held out his hand, and Damon shook it. "Well, Mr. Salvatore, thank you for your help. I don't know what we would have done if we'd lost her. She's the light of our life, you know."
Damon nodded, gave Jennifer a smile, and then turned to walk away, when a soft cry met his ears. He turned around to see Sophie struggling to get down from her mother's arms. Jennifer placed her on the ground, and the three adults watched in surprise as Sophie launched herself at Damon.
Damon automatically caught her in his arms, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck again. Damon looked at her parents helplessly.
Jennifer obviously thought it was cute. Mike just looked surprised at Sophie's attachment to the strange man.
"Oh!" Jennifer cooed. "That's amazing. Honestly, Mr. Salvatore, Sophie really doesn't like anyone. She's never latched on to someone so strongly before."
Damon nodded uncomfortably, and then looked back at the girl in his arms. "Sophie, I really have to give you back to your mom now."
Sophie's only response was a muffled 'no' and a tightening of her arms around his neck. Damon looked at her parents. He was almost ready to compel them to take their daughter and walk away, but he wanted to save his strength for disemboweling Carter.
Jennifer looked from Mike to Damon, and then at Sophie, and smiled. "Mr. Salvatore, if you don't have plans on Thursday, you should join us for dinner. Sophie apparently adores you. I know she'd love it if you came."
Damon blinked at her. Seriously? She was inviting him to Christmas dinner? The strange man who showed up with their child? He could have been doing God knows what to her, and she was inviting him to her house?
"I wouldn't want to impose..." Damon started, attempting to gently de-tangle Sophie's fingers from his jacket collar.
"You wouldn't be imposing." Mike said, helping Damon remove Sophie from her death grip on him. She immediately started struggling to get away from her father, reaching for Damon. Mike thankfully held on tight to the girl. "We just moved here and would love the company."
Damon looked from Jennifer and Mike to Sophie, and sighed. What the hell had he gotten himself into?
"Sophie." Damon said, crouching down to look at Sophie. She got lose from her father, and solemnly walked up to him, looking him square in the eye. "I want you to go with your mom and dad, but I will see you Thursday night, okay?"
He didn't compel her, just stated the facts, and deep inside as he knew he was lying. Sophie looked at him with a gaze so intense, Damon felt like she was looking through him, eyes far to understanding for a three year old. Finally she nodded, and smiled at him. She reached up gave him a quick hug and then walked back to her parents, standing calmly at their side.
After exchanging information, and promising he would be there for dinner, even as he already knew he wouldn't be going, he walked away from the small family. He sighed. He knew he couldn't have friendships or relationships with humans with his life. Eventually they were going to notice he wasn't aging. Eventually one or more of his enemies would attempt to hurt them.
Damon knew he couldn't protect them. Even though, all he wanted to do was melt into Sophie's smile.
He'd heard of vampires forming attachments to humans before. It supposedly kept them connected to their humanity, and reminded them of the humans they used to be. Damon had never felt the urge to latch on to a human before. They were there for his amusement, nothing more.
Then why, he thought to himself, do I want to know more about Sophie?
"Aww." the slick, nasally voice of Carter James rolled over him, shocking him out of his thoughts. He hadn't even heard him walk up, another reason he couldn't let himself care. I could get him killed, and then no one would be around to protect Stefan's pansy ass. "She's cute. Wonder if she tastes as good as she looks."
Damon didn't even think twice, just turned and plowed his fist into Carter's face. A few people stopped to look as Carter staggered backwards, blood gushing from his nose. He grinned sadistically at him.
"Wow. Did I hit a nerve?" He wiped the blood away and then melted into the crowd, disappearing from sight.
Damon followed swiftly, not wanting to lose him. He wasn't just threatening Stefan now. He was threatening Sophie. And with God as his witness, Carter wasn't going to lay a finger on that little girl.
Carter darted out one of the side doors, and Damon followed him, turning into a small alleyway just behind the shopping center. Damon threw himself at Carter, throwing him into the brick wall.
Carter just laughed, even as Damon wrapped a hand around his throat. "All worked up over one little human." he mocked. "Maybe I'll turn her. Feed her my blood and snap that tiny little neck of hers like a twig."
Damon growled and pushed Carter so hard into the wall that it started to creak in protest, some of the brick crumbling into powder with the force of Damon's anger.
"Then you could have her forever." Carter laughed, obviously enjoying Damon's distress. He stopped to choke however, when Damon tightened his grip.
"You leave the human out of this." Damon snarled, baring his teeth show. "Now, who put the contract out on my brother?"
"Santa Clause." Carter grit out. "Little Stefan made the naughty list this year."
Damon punched him again, hard enough that Carter's eye started swelling immediately and then knocked him into the wall, deepening the dent. "Try again."
Carter spit blood into Damon's face, and as Damon flinched away from it, pushed him away. The two vampires glared at each other, bodies tight with tension. "You know just as well as I do, I tell you who's got the contract, I'm dead."
"You don't tell me who's got the contract, I'll kill you." Damon spat out.
"You don't scare me." Carter smirked.
Before Carter could even blink, Damon had slipped out a wooden stake from his jacket sleeve, and had pushed it up between his ribs, into his heart. "I should scare you." He whispered to the dying vampire. He let Carter sink to the ground, and then turned and walked away.
His buddies would find him. And word would be out. In Damon's experience, killing the messenger generally sent a very clear message.
No one messed with Damon's little brother.
And no one threatened Damon's human.
O~O~O
Thursday night found Damon standing in the snow, outside a small house with all the lights on, Christmas music playing softly inside. He could hear a little girl's giggling from inside, and against his better judgment, was actually going to have dinner with this family.
It was Sophie.
He couldn't get her out of his head. Her blinding smile, soft hair and sparkling eyes were etched into his brain, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get her scent off his clothes. It was maddening.
Damon hadn't let himself care about anyone or anything, aside from Stefan, in years. Since the love of his life...and un-dead life, had been killed almost a century ago. Caring only led to being hurt.
Damon had never good with pain.
Running his fingers agitatedly through his hair, he stomped up to the front porch, muttering to himself how this was a bad idea, and he should turn away.
All thoughts of leaving left his head, when the door opened immediately after his first knock, and Sophie was on the other side of the door.
"Hi!" She beamed at him.
Damon could help smiling at her, her obvious glee infectious. He knelt down to her level. "Hello, Sophie. How are you?"
"Good." She chirped, just as Jennifer walked around the corner.
"Sophie, did you invite our guest inside?" she asked, hands on her hips, a mock frown on her face.
Sophie nodded seriously, and then looked at Damon. "Please come inside." she said, focusing on enunciating each word, making sure she got them right.
Damon felt the barrier holding him from the happy little household dissolve, as if it had never been there. He smiled and stepped inside.
The inside of the house was something out of a Christmas special on TV. Colorful stockings hung in front of a fire place next to a large decorated tree, completely decked out in Christmas cheer. Even Sophie and Jennifer looked like people out a Christmas catalog, hair pinned back, wearing red and green dresses to mark the occasion.
"Welcome, Mr. Salvatore." Jennifer said, reaching for his jacket.
"Damon, please." he said, handing her his jacket and the bottle of wine he'd picked up on the way there.
"Damon." Jennifer repeated, taking the wine from him as Mike came down the stairs. Damon resisted the urge to laugh at his dorky sweater, and instead focussed on Sophie, who had stepped so close to Damon she was touching his leg.
"Hey, Damon. Glad you could make it." Mike said, shaking Damon's hand. He looked down at Sophie and rolled his eyes. "She's been asking about you all week. Wondering if you were coming over or not."
Damon managed a smile for Mike. He still wasn't comfortable around the family, and there was something off about Jennifer and Mike's eyes he couldn't place. Something familiar he felt he should know... "I couldn't refuse a dinner invite from such a pretty little girl." he said, looking down at Sophie, who smiled again, clinging to his pants leg.
Mike smiled and led the way to the dining room, where Jennifer was finishing setting out food.
"I hope you don't mind." She said, as she set out another plate. "I invited our new neighbor as well."
Damon shrugged. "It's your dinner party." He found a chair to sit on, and Sophie immediately climbed into his lap. Damon closed his eyes and inhaled her scent like a drowning man allowed up for air. He could have sworn that it almost made his long dead heart stop beating again.
He was brought out of his contemplations of why she was affecting him so much, when a familiar scent hit his nose, mixing with the smell of Sophie. It was a scent Damon knew all too well.
Vampire.
Damon looked up as Jennifer walked in, a smile plastered to her face, and Damon cursed inwardly at his stupidity. He tightened his grip on Sophie as a young woman followed Jennifer into the room.
"Damon this is Jasmine." Jennifer said, gesturing to the woman dressed in a black dress with black shoes, long dark hair and brown eyes shining in the dim lighting. "She just moved in next door. And Jasmine, that is my daughter, Sophie."
Jasmine smiled, baring her teeth at Damon. "Hello Damon. Hello Sophie. It's so nice to finally meet you."
Damon nodded stiffly. Looking quickly at Jennifer and Mike, he noticed the glazed look to their eyes, and with the vampire standing in their dining room, noted the effects of compulsion.
When Jasmine turned her attention to Sophie, she flinched back into Damon.
"Hi Sophie," Jasmine said, holding out her hand. When Sophie started to tremble slightly in fear, Damon just glared, and growled softly at Jasmine in turn.
"Sophie doesn't like strangers." Damon said, defending his young friend, as her parents were too far gone in the compulsion to do anything to defend her.
"And yet she's quite taken with you." Jasmine said knowingly.
Damon just glared. He didn't have a response to that. He didn't know why Sophie was so interested in him, and he still couldn't explain his interest in her.
Jasmine turned to Jennifer and Mike. "Why don't we eat?" she said, obviously using her compulsion on them. The young couple scrambled to comply, going to the kitchen to bring in the plates of food, leaving Sophie with the two vampires staring each other down.
While everyone passed food around, Damon kept Sophie on his lap. Not that she had made a move to go around the table and sit at the only empty seat anyway. It was right next to Jasmine, and every time Jasmine directed her attention at the small girl, she started shaking in fear and would cuddle closer to Damon.
Damon was more concerned as to what Jasmine wanted, and what she was doing with this small family. According to Jennifer, she'd just moved in the day before, and Jennifer had decided to invite her to dinner, as a welcome to the neighborhood.
Welcome to the neighborhood my ass, Damon thought handing another roll to Sophie.
As they were all eating dessert, Sophie carefully watching Jasmine as she ate her ice cream, Jasmine said, "Damon, Mike said your last name was Salvatore."
"Yes ma'am." he said, keeping a good grip on Sophie, still watching Jasmine suspiciously.
"I knew a young man named Salvatore once. He used to live in Virginia." At Damon's raised eyebrow, she smiled, and said, "His name is Stefan Salvatore."
Damon stood up then, placing Sophie in the chair. "Outside. Now." His tone offered no room for argument.
Damon followed Jasmine outside, while Jennifer and Mike began to clean up the mess from dinner. Sophie looked after Damon in fear. He nodded to her, and then shut the door, planting himself in front of it.
One more barrier between the small family and Jasmine.
"You're the one with the contract out on my brother." he said, jumping right into the matter at hand.
Jasmine shrugged and smiled at him, an arrogant smile that Damon longed to rip from her face. "I heard you were looking for me. And of course when Carter didn't return home..." She let that sentence drift off.
"Yeah. And now I've found you. So here's the terms. You take the contract off my brother's head, leave the Davies family alone, and I won't kill you."
Before Damon could even begin to think about defending himself, he was pushed up against the door, a manicured hand around his throat.
Jasmine had let her true face come through, and was snarling at him. "Listen here, little boy. I am older than you, and stronger than you. It wouldn't take much to march right in and destroy your little pets right now, you powerless to do anything. You are in no position to be demanding anything. The only reason you are still alive right now, is I think you and I can come to some sort of mutual agreement, without any more needless deaths."
Jasmine took her hand off his throat and took one step back. Damon snarled at her refraining from rubbing his neck and showing any kind of weakness or discomfort. "What kind of agreement?" he asked.
"I believe when you were human, you knew a young woman. Her name was Katherine Pierce."
Damon flinched. "And if I did?"
"Then if you did, then you know that she was killed in 1864."
"Yeah. And?"
Jasmine smiled, "And then you might be interested in bringing her back."
Damon started laughing at that. "Were you feeding off drug addicts recently? You can't bring someone back from the dead. That's way too supernatural, even for us."
"Katherine isn't dead." Jasmine said, ignoring Damon's outburst. "Her little witch friend, Elena or Elizabeth..."
"Emily." Damon muttered.
"...cast a spell." Jasmine continued, as if Damon hadn't spoken a word. "She imprisoned all the vampires of Mystic Falls in a tomb underneath the church. Keeping them all safe, until someone can open that tomb."
Damon was interested now. "Okay. Say I believe you. How do we get this tomb open?"
Jasmine started to pace the front porch. Damon watched her intently. "Fifteen years from now, a comet will pass over Mystic Falls. That comet will create enough magical energy to open that tomb. If someone can find a witch to call on that energy, the spell on the tomb can be broken, the door can be opened, and vampires can rise and take over Mystic Falls once again."
Damon leaned against the door. Bringing Katherine back was something he'd only ever dreamed of. "Why are you telling me this?" he finally asked.
Jasmine shrugged. "You were in love with Katherine once. And her and I had plans for Mystic Falls and the surrounding towns. I think you might be the only other vampire with the motivation to actually succeed."
Damon looked at her suspiciously. "What kind of plans?"
"Now that is none of your business." Jasmine said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Damon sighed, and looked around. "Okay. Name your terms."
Jasmine hitched a shoulder. "It's simple. In fifteen years, you find a way to pull Katherine, and all the other vampires from that tomb, and stop killing my...employees. In exchange, your brother, and your little human pets in there are off limits to all vampires."
"You can guarantee their safety?" Damon asked skeptically. "And why should I believe you?"
Jasmine bared her teeth. "As I said, I am much older than you Damon. I do whatever I want. And those who serve me know better than to cross my wrath. You're pets and family will remain safe as long as you full fill your end of the bargain."
Damon glanced at her, and then let his gaze shift to the door at his back. After a moment, her turned to her, and held out his hand.
"We have a deal."
Jasmine shook, obviously delighted by the turn of events. "Now, allow me to erase their memories, and we can be on our way."
Damon led the way inside, keeping a close eye on Jasmine, and immediately picked up Sophie. He held her close as Jasmine proceeded to erase all memories of both vampires from the Jennifer and Mike's mind, and then sent them to bed. He actually agreed with erasing the Davies' memories. They didn't need to remember their 'neighbor', and they certainly didn't need to remember him.
And then she turned to Sophie.
"Now, child. Look at me." she said, eyes sparkling with malice.
"No." Damon said, covering her eyes and turning her head into his shoulder. "You will not compel her."
Jasmine only raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. "Suit yourself."
Jasmine walked to the front door, and just before she stepped out onto the porch, turned to face Damon. "I hope you understand, that if you fail to hold up your end of the bargain, I will personally destroy everyone that you care about. Starting with her."
Damon nodded, clutching Sophie tightly, and watched Jasmine walk out the door and into the night.
As soon as Damon was sure Jasmine was gone, Damon took the yawning child in his arms, upstairs to her room and tucked her into bed. He smiled at the typical little girl's room, decked out in shades of pink, butterfly stencils adorning the walls.
When she was settled, Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny, gold locket, filled with vervain.
"Pretty." Sophie said, reaching for it. Damon smiled and latched it around her neck.
"Promise me you won't take it off, Soph." he said, ruffling her hair. "Not ever."
Sophie nodded. "Promise." Her eyes showed an intelligence far beyond her years.
Damon nodded, kissed her on the top of the head, and then laid her down, tucking the covers in around her tiny, fragile body. Almost immediately her breathes evened out into sleep, a tiny hand clutching the necklace tight.
Damon watched her for one more moment, letting himself memorize the young girl he was determined never to see again, and then quickly left the room, climbing out the window and dropping softly to his feet in the fresh snow. He stalked off into the night, melting almost effortlessly into the darkness.
He had work to do.
Author's Note: Drop me a line and let me know what you think. I'll have the next chapter up soon...assuming it cooperates with me and comes out of my head in a timely manner. :)