I spent the rest of the day sleeping, for some reason my body seemed exhausted after our escaped in the shower. I was standing at the window watching the sun set behind the trees. I could hear Damon talking with Anna and Jeremy in the other room.
"This is Katherine that we're talking about Damon, even with you and me I don't think that we'll be enough to take her down. We both know how she is and we both know that she is a lot stronger than us. You'll get all of us killed if you do this recklessly." I can hear the strain in Anna's voice.
"I'm thinking about going to the council, I'm sure John will run to them anyways if he hasn't already. At least having them protect their families will give us a better chance. I'll still have quite a bit of vervain left. Katherine wont be able to feed here or at least making it difficult for her. I want to keep Elena and Jeremy out of this as much as possible."
"Hey I'm right here and I want to help." Jeremy sounded offended but I know Damon's intentions behind it.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm kid but I'm not going to throw either of you directly in her path, besides what would Anna do if something happened to you?" Damon's question gets Jeremy to keep quiet, I hear the silence fall between all of them.
The sun is already behind the trees, a small light of orange and pink still trying to break through the sky. I close the curtain leaving it behind me as I go to join their conversation. "And what would we do if something happened to either of you?" I say as I stand next to Damon who is across from Jeremy and Anna who are sitting on the couch. On the table between us I see Damon's scotch glass, a few traces of the amber liquid sitting at the bottom of the glass. I try to not let it get to me but its hard knowing that he has to try to drown everything out still.
"Nothing will happen to us." His voice is even, I can't detect any lies behind his words.
"You're confident, maybe a little too confident." I'm beyond worried but I'm trying not to show it as much. I don't want Damon to have to worry about anything else.
"I need to be. You can't show her any fear, she'll thrive off of that." I don't want to admit it but he is right. I just can't keep myself from being worried about it. Every move that Katherine makes is a catalyst. "I'll need the teachers help, I'm thinking that I will also need the witch's. I know you can get her to help us Elena. Besides with the way she has been so self righteous lately I'm sure she would love to protect the citizens of Mystic Fall's."
"I can talk to her but I can't promise that she will want to be on our team."
"Of course she will be, the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Damon flashes a grin at me, I try hard to hold a smile back. The way that he carries himself along with his confidence I realize is a big turn on for me. The mixture between him and my hunger starts swimming around in me. I can still taste him on my tongue. A sweet taste of him. I can feel a growl wanting to escape me but I try hard to bring myself back to reality.
Why don't we go outside?
"What?" I answer the question out loud completely bringing me back to reality. I bite my bottom lip as I look down towards the ground in embarrassment. I seem to keep forgetting that we can hear each other.
"Why don't we go outside, just the perimeter of the house. I wont take you that far." I nod my head in agreement as I tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear.
It will be a good distraction for the moment.
I'm getting a little frustrated. In the moment that it comes, the want and the need for him, I can just relish in the feeling. Its moments like this afterwards though that I feel out of control and ashamed. I want to be able to keep myself in control, I know that it takes a long time but I'm not too sure how much patience I have.
It proves how human you still are, that's why I know I can trust you to come outside with me right now. I think that if it comes down to it you wont slip up. The sound of his voice ringing through my head is welcoming, bringing a small smile to my face.
You seem to be confident about a lot of things these days. I say back to him, my eyes glancing toward him as we head toward the back door that is in the kitchen.
I have a reason to be. Damon keeps his eyes ahead of him as he opens the kitchen door, the curtains over the glass shake lightly with the movement.
What would that be?
I have you. His eyes lock with mine and I let out a small laugh.
"You're too charming sometimes. Its good to see that you have faith in us though." We both fall silent after my words. I can feel the cool night air run across my bare arms with the door still wide open welcoming us to come outside. I break my eyes away from him, making my way out into the night. The full effect of the air is calming. Something that I would have shivered at before is now something that I can embrace. I close my eyes letting the air roll over my skin.
"The night is made for us, it calls to us, that's why you'll feel the sense of comfort out here." Damon is standing right behind me, I can feel him not too far from me. "The forest starts right over there, lets go." I hear his footsteps lightly touching the pavement. I snap my eyes open, following his figure. Its easy to see him in the darkness, another attribute of being a vampire. The word still makes me falter. I can't seem to get used to it, that this is what I am now.
I can hear my shoes softly hit the earth, the sign that the pavement is far behind us. I quickly take my shoes off letting my bare skin touch the ground. I can feel the wet earth in between my toes, the softness of the dirt pressing against the soles of my feet. I keep walking, following Damon's every movement in this night. The darkness that should envelope me doesn't. Instead I can see everything almost as if there are lights every where. I look up through the barren trees to see the moon breaking the night. It is the light that seems so bright to me.
Damon stops ahead of me and I stop not that far behind him. My feet crunching against a dead leaf that was in my path. The sound of it breaking away into little pieces under my touch. "Are you ready to run?" Before I can even respond Damon is running ahead of me. I see him blur, just a flash of dark colors in front of my eyes. I grin as a I sprint after him.
His movement seems to slow down, I can feel myself catching up to him. I can't tell how fast I am going, it seems as if both of us have fallen into a normal run. I can hear movement in the trees next to us. I look over to see a bird flying, very slowly, its dark wings flapping in movement that is just like when a film goes into slow motion. I realize now that I am moving just like the blur that I saw Damon run as, but now that I am actually running it doesn't seem that way. I run past the bird, still flying slowly behind us as it fades into the darkness of the forest. A smile breaks on my face as the exhilaration of the air pushes against my skin.
There is something that is in the forest that makes me stop. I notice now that Damon is right next to me, his body in a stance making to attack. There is something here that is causing the monster in me howling in my veins. I pull my lips back, I can feel my face changing. My eyes turning dark as my fangs extend, feeling the cold of them touch my lips. A growl escapes me as my fingers clench at my sides.
I can hear it in the forest, my ears were listening for it. The very light footsteps of an animal pressing against the soft earth. The smell is strong, nothing that I have ever smelled before, but the smell burns my nose as it feels like an acidic taste is in my mouth. Its rising an anger in me that I have never felt before. I hear it let out a deep breath, I can see the warmth of its breath break in a small white cloud in the night just a few small feet ahead of us. I keep the stance, my back arching with my knuckles turning white.
I look over at Damon to see that he hasn't changed like I have but that his body is in the same position. Beyond the few broken branches on the ground I can see its yellowish almost orange eyes looking at us. An extreme contrast in this setting, I've never seen a creature with such eyes. A few steps forward and I can see the dark grey fur that belongs to the beast in front of us. Its bigger than anything I have even seen a picture of. It looks just like a wolf but a lot larger in stature. I see its dark grey hair standing up straight on its spine, his teeth showing just as mine are. I can hear the low growl in the beasts throat, I can tell that it is ready to attack.
Werewolf. Is the only thing that I hear come from Damon as the wolf lunges for him.