A/N: I apologize for the delay in updating, but the recent problems with the website delayed me being able to load this chapter. This chapter is longer than normal. I wrote it in one sitting and wasn't sure where to break it so decided to post all of it. This chapter has very dark violent themes. Just wanted to give a warning before you read any further.
Chapter 14
Crossbows, knives, arrows, dart guns. My own mini militia in my trunk. Elena has only been home a few days from the hospital and is insisting on jumping back on the horse with her training. Damn stubborn woman. Alaric and I agreed but we decided to work on arms training until she is stronger before resuming combat style training.
Swinging by the high school I see Alaric waiting out front. "Corrupt any young minds today, teach?" I ask sarcastically as he climbs into the passenger seat.
"Just go so I can be one step closer to winning the guardian of the year award by helping my eighteen year old charge improve her skills in using weapons and firearms." Alaric rests against the headrest.
"She is just following in daddy's footsteps" I look over at him and grin.
Alaric sighs. "I know she needs it. The training gives her a sense of control since, yet again, things are spinning out of control for her." Things are spinning out of control for all of us.
We pull up to a clearing near the old Lockwood estate. Stefan and Elena are already there. "Discussion over" I hear Elena say before she looks in our direction.
"What's going on there?" Alaric asks as he reaches to open his door.
"Don't know, but my Elena sense is tingling and it says she's pissed." I shrug.
"Not minding the spell's side effects so much now are you?" Alaric smirks.
"Shut up." I glare at him and he chuckles.
Elena is leaning against a tree arms crossed. I climb out of the car and Stefan turns to face me.
"What is Damon doing here?" Stefan looks at Elena.
"Damon and Alaric have been training me all along. They already know what I can do and what I need to work on." Elena says with a slightly annoyed tone.
"Oh, Stefan, you don't want me here. You're hurting my feelings." I give my best fake pout.
"Let's get this over with." Stefan shoves his hands in his pockets. I didn't think it was possible, but I think he's broodier than ever.
Alaric walks over with the duffel bag I had placed in the trunk. "Okay, we haven't done weapons since, um"
"Since before we sprung Stefan from the basement." I finish for Alaric. "So you" I point at Elena "are probably rusty."
"Let's see how rusty." Alaric grabs a crossbow and tosses it at Elena who easily catches it with two hands.
After taking a few practice shots, Elena turns back to look at the three of us. "Is anyone going to tell me what happened the other night with Bonnie?" Elena's eyes land on me.
"You know me and witchy, arguing is our thing" I say nonchalantly. She'll be pissed at Bonnie if she finds out what she did. As mad as I am at Bonnie, Elena needs her friends right now.
"Then why is Bonnie avoiding me. I haven't seen her since I got home. My only contact with her has been via text." She looks at Alaric and Stefan.
"She's been busy with research." Alaric throws out.
"Stop, protecting me. Tell me what's going on" Elena says firmly.
Some divine power intervened at that moment as my cell phone starts to ring. "Oh, look at that." I hold up my phone. "Need to take this." I walk away to answer.
"This discussion isn't over" she calls after me.
"Hello, Liz." I say looking back and see Alaric has gotten Elena started on target practice.
"Hi Damon. I'm just checking in. We still haven't seen any sign of Tyler or any more bodies since the trail went cold in Texas."
"Does the mayor know anything yet?" I ask as I see Elena hit target after target.
"No, she still thinks he is tracking the hybrids for the council." Liz sighs into the phone.
"Thanks Liz. I'll check back with you in a few days." I hang up and continue to watch Elena. Her skills with the weapons are pretty good. I'm impressed and proud of how far she has come.
We spend the next two hours at target practice using various weapons, crossbows, dart guns, knives. I occasionally chuckle to myself when Stefan tenses when I correct Elena's form. The jealously is still there but at least I haven't gotten a new lecture in a while. Stefan's head almost popped off when Elena challenged me to a shooting contest and trashed talked all the way to a victory. She had the biggest smile on her face and teased me incessantly about being beaten by a girl. I love seeing her in these light-hearted moments and couldn't help but laugh with her, but Stefan stayed his usually broody self.
"Elena, you've been at this enough today. You've only been home a few days. You need to rest." Stefan reaches for the crossbow in her hands. This must be the fiftieth time he has said this to her.
"I'm fine Stefan." She says gently to him as she sighs. Stefan has been pacing around a bit behind us for a while and his pacing has become more frantic the longer we are out here. I sense Elena's agitation. "Maybe, we should call it a day."
As we pack up the weapons, my chest grows hot. I pull out the talisman Bonnie had given us and see Alaric, Elena, and Stefan doing the same thing. We all stare at each for a minute.
"Alaric, take Elena back to the house. Stefan and I are going bad-guy hunting." I throw the duffel bag of weapons in the backseat of the camaro.
"Ric and I can help. We're coming." Elena stands hands on her hips. That is her stubborn stance.
"You, Miss Gilbert, are going home. I did not spend weeks fishing around in that head of yours to have something happen to you now." It's a low blow to try and remind her what I did, but time is of the essence and we need to keep her out of the fray.
"Damon" she says firmly. We really don't have time for us to argue and for her to get pissed at me for trying to keep her safe. She's not my girlfriend so I will bow out now.
"Stefan, you can deal with her." I walk past her and climb into the driver's seat.
"Damon's right, Elena. We can focus better if we know you're safe at home. Ric, please just take her." Stefan runs to the passenger seat. I gun the engine drowning out Elena's response and peel away.
Stefan and I cruise the neighborhoods around the Gilbert house. "Stop!" Stefan yells. I follow Stefan's gaze and see Griffin, the punkass hybrid, cutting across the backyard of a house about a block from Elena's. I pull the camaro over. Stefan and I arm ourselves with stakes and vervain darts. We agreed we had to take him alive to get some answers around what they want with Elena. We head off in separate directions to try and trap him. As I try and circle around behind him I hear shouts. Shit, that's Stefan. Racing to the noise I see Stefan pinned to the ground, the hybrid's fangs inches from Stefan's shoulder.
I tackle the hybrid off of Stefan and land on top pressing my forearm to his throat. Stefan blurs next to us and plunges a syringe into his neck. Griffin's eyes drift close and his struggling stops. I stand up towering over the hybrid. I look over and Stefan is sitting his head in his hands.
"You okay?" I ask.
"Yeah, let's get him back to the Boarding House." Stefan quickly jumps to his feet and picks up the unconscious Griffin.
Stefan carries the hybrid into the basement of the Boarding House and chains him to a chair in the cell. I drop a bag of weapons on the floor by the door and pull out a couple of stakes. The memory of what Elena experienced that day in the cemetery floods through me and I have to take a few deep breathes to prevent me from killing him before we can get any information.
"Wakey, wakey." I slap his cheeks and his head lolls side to side as he starts to regain consciousness. His eyes flutter open and he looks around frantically struggling against the chains.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere Griffy-boy." I sneer as I slam a stake through his thigh eliciting a howl of pain.
"You picked the wrong girl to mess with." I jam a stake into his other thigh. Griffin is panting and blood starts to drip onto the floor from each leg.
I back away to lean against the doorframe picking up a large hunting knife as I step past the weapons cache. Stefan leans against the wall arms crossed watching the hybrid. I twirl the knife through my fingers forcing myself to remain calm and fight the enraged animal within me.
"Who are you working for?" Stefan asks calmly.
"No one." Griffin's eyes dart from me to my brother. Stefan pushes himself away from the wall and walks over to the weapons bag and rummages through pulling out a mini crossbow. I walk over to Griffin and place long shallow cuts the length of his chest and he hisses with each stroke. I put my hand in the air and without missing a beat Stefan tosses me a bottle that was near the top of the bag. Opening it, I pour its contents on the wounds before they have a chance to heal causing the skin to sizzle and blister.
"Fuuuuuuuuck!" Griffin screams.
"A little concoction of vervaine and wolfsbane. Bet that stings. It's certainly making those cuts look nasty. Might want to get those looked at." I start to twirl the knife again. "Now, I don't think you adequately answered my brother's question. Who are you working for?" I growl lowering my face so we are nose to nose.
"No one." Griffin hisses through the pain.
An arrow whizzes by my arm lodging in Griffin's shoulder. I look back at Stefan with a slight scowl.
"Can't let you have all the fun." Stefan grins as he rests the crossbow against his shoulder and moves towards Griffin.
I back away and Stefan kneels before the hybrid. "I suggest you start talking especially about why you want Elena, why you stole her blood. My brother over there" he motions his head in my direction his eyes never leaving Griffin, "has some anger management issues and wants to make you suffer. You talk to me and I'll kill you quickly." Stefan stands up and steps back to lean against the wall again.
Good cop, bad cop. An oldy, but a goody little brother.
"Now let's start with something simple. Why did you steal Elena's blood?" Stefan looks at him expectantly.
"I don't know" Griffin groans. The pool of blood below the chair is growing and he is struggling less against the chains.
"Wrong answer." I blur in front of him plunging the knife into his stomach slowly dragging it vertically up to his sternum. Blood pours from the wound soaking his shirt and increasing the pool of blood that was already forming on the floor below his chair as he begs and pleads for me to stop. His cries fall on deaf ears as I can only hear Elena's pleas from that night in the cemetery. I grab another bottle and shake it in front of him. Sweat is pouring down his face and he is panting.
"Care to try again?" Stefan offers without moving. I forgot how we can cooperate and tag team when necessary.
"A witch, a witch wanted it." He sputters coughing up blood which dribbles down his chin.
"Why?" I growl.
"I don't know." Griffin whimpers.
"Wrong, fucking answer." I pour the contents of the bottle inside the wound. He starts writhing in pain trying to break free of the chains. I grab another stake from the bag. "Try again" I roar.
"She needed it for a spell" he wheezes.
"What spell?" Stefan asks.
"I don't know. I really don't know. She just needed…. blood…. from the doppelganger…. to do it." He manages to get out.
"Why did you go after her in the cemetery?" I place the stake over his groin and he tries to kick his legs to get away from the stake. His injured legs prevent him from having any real strength to move.
"What? I didn't go anywhere near the cemetery." Griffin says quickly his face full confusion.
"We know you attacked her in the cemetery. You fucking fed off of her" I scream at him. Images of him touching her flash through my mind and I remember Elena's fear and the nightmares she has had since she woke up from the coma.
"We were ordered to never feed off of her. I never touched her!" He yells between gasps. "I swear I never fed from her. That's why we used the fucking nurse to get her blood in the first place" he whimpers closing his eyes.
"WRONG. FUCKING. ANSWER." My chest is heaving in rage and the animal I have fought to hold back breaks free and I ram the stake through his dick as I grab him by the throat slowly starting to squeeze. He is writhing so much I can hardly keep a hold of him and as I clench his throat tighter the screams I barely hear through my fog of rage are cut off.
"Damon!" Stefan grabs my arm pulling me back to the door placing himself between me and the hybrid. "We still need answers."
There is a loud popping sound. I look over Stefan's shoulder and see both of the hybrid's shoulders pop out of their sockets as he continues to scream in agony and his eyes turn amber.
"What the hell?" Stefan looks back over this shoulder in response to the sounds. Griffin's arms dislocate at the elbows and his screams turn to roars.
I blur around Stefan to stand in front of Griffin and plunge my hand into his chest and rip out his heart causing his body to go still. I turn and Stefan just stares at me.
"He was trying to shift into his wolf form to break free." I turn back to the body breathing heavy.
"Go be with Elena. I'll clean this up." My body is suddenly exhausted. The hate and anger since seeing what happened to her at the hands of Griffin and Tyler has been weighing on me.
"I'll just go get cleaned up and then head over there." Stefan blurs from the basement.
After rummaging around the basement for a bit, I find a tarp and get the hybrid's body wrapped up and move him to the trunk of my car. Just as I close the trunk lid my phone rings.
"Hello E-LE-NA" I purr.
"Are you, are you and Stefan okay?" Elena asks urgently.
"Just peachy. Take it baby bro told you the world is short one hybrid." I head back in the house.
"I haven't seen Stefan yet. Are you both okay?" Elena asks. How long of a shower is Stefan taking? I thought he would be at Elena's as quick as he could.
"This body is perfectly intact. Stefan is fine as well. Griffin on the other hand….I'm currently on body disposal detail. Are you okay?" Knowing the hybrids are still coming for her has to be messing her head a bit.
"Where are you dumping the body?" She asks quickly.
"Nice deflection. Answer the question. Are you okay?" I ask quietly as I descend the stairs to the basement. I stop dead in my tracks at the bottom of the basement stairs as I see Stefan staring at a blood bag.
"I will be. I don't want to have the same fight we've had in the past. You can't keep me out of things any more, understand?" She sighs at my non-response as I choose to ignore her comment. I will always make sure she is safe first, even if she hates me for it.
"Stefan offered to make dinner tonight. Stop by when you're done."
"Thanks, ELENA" I emphasize her name as I stare at Stefan. "I still have some loose ends to tie up here before I dump the body. STEFAN, should be there shortly to keep you company. I'll stop by tomorrow." I hang up the phone and slide it into my pocket. Now I know why Stefan's not there yet. The ripper is itching to come out to play. Let's just add this to the growing list of things I need to take care of.
"What are you up to there brother?" I ask cautiously.
"I'm too weak to protect her Damon. The animal blood just isn't enough against the hybrids. You saw what happened today. If it wasn't for you, he would have bitten me and it would just be another grave for Elena to mourn. I was able to kill so many hybrids before because of the people blood." Stefan says quietly still just staring at the blood bag in his hand.
"Don't do this to me now, Stefan. Don't do this to Elena." She spent so many days in front of that cell in this basement. She can't waste her life doing that again.
"I have to be strong for her. She saved me Damon; I have to save her from whatever is coming." Stefan looks up at me his eyes full of despair.
"And who is going to save her from you when you go for her jugular? You've only been back on animal blood a short time Stefan. If you start on the people stuff now, can you guarantee the ripper stays at bay?" I continue to glare at Stefan. He drops his head avoiding my gaze. "Yeah, I didn't think so. If you so much as touch a drop of that blood I will lock you in this basement and not let you out until Elena is old and gray." I watch as Stefan slowly puts the blood back in the freezer.
"Damon…." He shoves his hands in his pockets.
"Just go see Elena and remind yourself what she went through to get you back and what you have to lose if you screw up." He nods and walks upstairs. I stand in the basement for a bit, before I head upstairs to my room to shower and change. When this is all done, and this new evil is put to bed, we are going to have to teach Stefan to be on human blood and still remain in control. The ripper needs to be gone forever; otherwise Elena's life will constantly be at risk with him.
The next few days pass in blur of Elena's training, looking for leads on Tyler's whereabouts, and protection detail. In my spare time, I trail after my brother for fear of him being tempted to fall off the wagon. Ugh, I need copious amounts of alcohol as my existence consists of babysitting a bloodaholic brother and the teenage girl that I love more than my own existence but will never have.
Desperate for rest, I follow Stefan into the woods and once assured he is actually hunting woodland creatures, I head back to the Boarding House. Crawling into bed I close my eyes hoping sleep will take over quickly, but of course no such luck as thoughts of Elena run through my head. My eyes fly open as I feel like someone has thrown a bucket of ice water on me. I sit up my body shivering when my heart is suddenly clenched in fear. I reach out with my senses expecting an attack and hear nothing. The house is eerily quiet. The fear feels like it is radiating from the outside in. Elena. I jump out of bed and head downstairs pulling on my jacket. Yanking my phone from my pocket I speed dial Alaric. Shit, straight to voicemail. Next I try Elena. Voicemail as well. Getting desperate I try Jeremy.
"Hello."
"Where are you?" I attempt to keep the panic from my voice.
"At Bonnie's." Jeremy answers.
"Where's Elena?"
"She's home with Alaric. She was asleep when I left. Why?" His tone grows more urgent.
"I'm on my way to the house. You need to go home. NOW, and bring Bonnie with you." I hang up before he can question me any further.
The sense of fear intensifies as I arrive at the house. Jumping out of the car I race inside finding Alaric on the floor in the foyer. I can hear his heartbeat so I jump over this body and race up the stairs to Elena's room. Her bed is empty but it looks slept in. There is no sign of a struggle anywhere upstairs. A groan comes from the first floor and I head back down to find Alaric struggling to sit up rubbing his head.
"Where's Elena?" I yell at him.
"Please don't yell asshole. My head is killing me." Alaric manages to get himself into a sitting position as I pace around waiting for him to continue. "Elena came downstairs. I asked her where she was going. I should never have taught her to throw a punch. She cold cocked me knocking me out." Alaric rubs his head.
"What? She knocked you out?" I stop pacing and stare at Alaric. Why would she attack Alaric?
"I tried to stop her from leaving the house. She, uh, said one thing before she knocked me out." Alaric pushes himself to his feet and looks me dead in the eye.
"Well…" I ask impatiently.
Alaric sighs. "Klaus." We just stare at each as the gravity of the situation weighs on us.
"Fuck!" I slam my fist into the wall leaving a hole in the drywall. Alaric stumbles into the kitchen and returns a few moments later with an ice pack.
I pull my phone out dialing Stefan. "Fuck!" I yell again as Stefan picks up.
"Hello to you to Damon" Stefan chuckles slightly.
"Elena is missing, get to her house now." I growl and hang up.
Stefan, Bonnie, Jeremy and Caroline arrive a few minutes later. "Where is she?" Stefan demands as he charges into the house.
"I already tried a locater spell and nothing." Bonnie says as she moves into the living room.
"She just tried to leave. I don't know why or where she was going?" Alaric holds the ice pack to his head.
"Somehow Klaus is involved in this." That bastard original made Elena's life a living hell for almost two years. I should have known that we would never be free until he was truly dead.
"Elijah said we never had to worry about Klaus again. He said he was basically spelled into oblivion, right?" Jeremy asks looking around the room for confirmation.
"Obviously not. Bonnie, Jeremy keep doing the voodoo thing to try and find Elena. Alaric get a hold of Elijah and get his ass to Mystic Falls to figure out how the hell Klaus is involved. Caroline, Stefan and I will fan out and start searching for her."
The three us all leave in separate directions. I jump into the camaro and start driving. If she knew Klaus was involved then she may be on some kamikaze mission to save the rest of us which means she would be meeting up with someone. The talisman remains cold against my skin meaning the barrier hasn't been breached so it's best to start outside our radius.
After driving around for over a couple of hours a man suddenly appears before me in the road. Before I can react, two stakes are careening through my windshield imbedding in my chest. The abrupt attack causes me to lose my grip on the steering wheel and instinctually I hit the brakes. Freezing rain had been falling most of the night, only having stopped a short time before, making the roads slick. Even having over one hundred years of driving experience could not keep the car on the road. The camaro slides across the icy road. I see the man blur away just as car starts flipping over and over tossing me around like a rag doll. The car finally stops upside down with me crumpled on the roof. I pull the stakes from my chest and can feel my left arm is broken along with a few ribs and a dislocated hip. I snap my hip back into place and set the bone in my arm. My chest heaves as I lay there waiting for the injuries to heal. Damnit, I need blood and there is none in the car.
Reaching for my phone I find it only in pieces. Great, no cavalry will be coming anytime soon. I maneuver over glass and twisted metal into the back and pull out the bag full of weapons and crawl out of the wreckage that was once my beloved camaro. That was my favorite car. Fucking hybrid bastard. I blur in the direction I saw him go stopping short of a clearing in the woods. I silently creep forward hiding myself in some tall grass and I see three people standing in the clearing. I can see the auburn haired hybrid that destroyed my car walk across the clearing to join two other hybrids, one of which worked with Griffin to bloodjack Elena. The hybrids are circling around a woman with long black hair that is chanting. Can I never escape witches?
"The vampire is dead." The hybrid says to the other two hybrids. Wrong you dumb ass. This vampire is very much undead and very pissed off.
"Good, the doppelganger should be here soon. She has a witch that prevents us from getting close. Morina put a spell on her using some of her blood to draw her here. She's seems to be fighting the spell but she'll be here nonetheless." The blonde hybrid says nodding his head to the witch. So she is the witch Griffin talked about.
"Klaus's link with the boy remains. He sent word that he wants the doppelganger hidden until the ritual, but no harm is to come to her. Understand." Blondie hybrid says to the other two hybrids who nod their head in understanding. Reaching for weapons, I slip two knives into my belt and pull out a few wolfsbane grenades and load a couple of the crossbows when the sound of footsteps across the clearing draws my attention.
Elena emerges from the woods and slowly walks towards the witch. Acting quickly, I throw a grenade and launch two arrows at the witch, but one of the hybrids blurs in between batting the arrows out of the air. The grenade stuns two of the hybrids and along with the arrows it was enough of a distraction that the witch stops the spell. Reloading the crossbow, I sense Elena's confusion and see her turn and start to run, but before I can cross the clearing to reach her, blondie hybrid grabs her by her wrist.
"Elena, down" I yell. Elena drops to her knees and I raise one of crossbows and sink two arrows in his back. I drop the empty crossbow while keeping the second loaded one securely in my hand. I blur next to them and thrust my hand into his back and rip out his heart.
"Damon?" Elena looks at me wide-eyed.
"The one and only." I smirk.
I grab Elena around the waist and start to make for the tree line when we are tackled from behind. Elena, the hybrid, and I all hit the ground hard in a tangle and the crossbow is knocked from my hand. I feel a stake pierce my shoulder as the hybrid reaches out to grab Elena.
"Elena, run." I manage to wrap my legs around the hybrid keeping him from getting to his feet. Moving on top of him I grab a knife from my belt and cut off his head. Just as I prepare to stand shots ring out through the air and I feel a burning in my chest. Looking down I see four holes and a mess of blood. Fuck, wooden bullets! The hybrid blurs in front of me grabbing me by the throat. Figures it's the hybrid that attacked Elena with Griffin at the Grille.
"Thought you were dead." The hybrid laughs.
"The news of my demise was greatly exaggerated" I wheeze trying to break his grip on my throat.
Elena makes it to her feet.
"Elena, run" I call behind me.
"I'm not leaving you Damon." She yells back.
"Damnit, run" I growl as I try to kick the hybrid to get him to let go.
"Oh, don't run little doppelganger. You can watch your little boy toy here meet his maker." The hybrid pulls out a stake and jams it in my chest forcing a grown out of me.
"Please, Elena, run" I wheeze as I struggle to no avail.
"Oops missed the heart." He wiggles the stake around and I feel it scrape against my heart. Suddenly two stakes are protruding from the hybrid's chest and he drops his hand from the stake, but leaves it in my chest while still gripping me by the throat. He rips the stakes from his shoulder with a grimace and glares at Elena.
"Let him go" Elena orders.
"Elena, get…..out ….of here." Why won't she get her ass away from here?
"Let him go and back away from him." Elena orders. Damn stubborn woman. She won't do what is safest for herself. If I live through this, I may have to resort to locking her in the basement after this stunt.
"Or what, you'll yell at me some more. You can't over power me." He growls gripping the stake in my chest again. Fuck, this hurts.
"You're right, I can't, but how would you like to explain to Klaus and his witchy that the doppelganger is dead." Elena flashes the knife that I had used to cut off the head of the previous hybrid and places the point at her throat.
"You let him go and report back that the doppelganger is alive but if one person I care about is harmed in any way I will not hesitate to end my life." Fucking, hell. That is the worst thing I have heard come out of her mouth yet. I can hear Elena's heart pounding and sense her fear but also a strong sense of determination. She's serious about her threat.
The hybrid takes a step forward carrying me with him. "Let's not do anything stupid."
Elena presses the knife to her throat and a thin trail of blood starts to flow. What is she doing?
"I don't bluff." She stands firm staring down the hybrid.
The hybrid pulls the stake out of my chest and tosses me at Elena's feet. "This isn't over. Klaus will have you." He speeds away. I managed to get my head up and the witch and hybrid are nowhere to be seen.
Elena bends down and pulls my arm over her shoulder and wraps an arm around my waist pulling me to my feet. We start stumbling for the tree line and once a few yards in we stop and I slump against a tree.
"Oh, god, Damon, you're a mess." She drops to her knees next to me.
"You should have run…not supposed to save me" I manage to get out.
"Sshh, we need to get the bullets out." Elena works in silence as she is forced to dig into my chest to pull out the four bullets lodged deep in my flesh. I can feel each bullet as she tears it out and I fight to stay conscious.
"I think I have them all out. Where's your phone?" She asks looking around shaking slightly.
Movement can be heard in the distance. "Broken in car when flipped." I push myself to stand. "Let's go." I stagger a few steps before falling to my knees.
"Damon!" Elena helps me back into a sitting position against the tree.
"They may come back. You need to run. Leave and I will keep them busy. Get yourself inside the barrier. Once you get home you can send Stefan or Ric back for me." I try to shove her away.
"I am not leaving you. We're getting out of this together. You need blood." Elena holds out her wrist to me.
"Hell, no Elena. Just leave me and get your ass out of here." I start to push myself up again.
"Stop arguing, Damon. I can't carry you out of here and I am not leaving you behind." She shoves her wrist at me again and I manage to push it away. Between the accident and all the staking and bullet holes I have lost a lot of blood and I'm not healing fully. The bloodlust is too strong to trust myself drinking from her.
"I could hurt you, NO!" I continue to try and push her away, but I am getting weaker and my attempts more feeble.
"Stop fighting me Damon" Elena growls suddenly straddling me pinning my body in place. I don't have the strength to pull her off. My eyes are automatically drawn to the thin line of blood on her neck from the slight cut she made to prove her point to the hybrid and the monster inside of me is clawing to get out.
"Get off Elena. I could hurt you, please" I plead. I can feel my fangs break through my gums.
Elena cups my face with her hands and her beautiful doe eyes stare into mine as she rubs her thumbs over the veins in my face. "I trust you Damon. You'll stop. Take what you need for us to get out of here."
I know the hybrids could be trying to track her even as we speak especially since they know I'm hurt. I can't protect her like this. My strength is gone. I can't even fight off Elena at the moment. But this is Elena. I have dreamed about what it would be like to taste her. These are not the circumstances of my fantasies and I'm scared I could kill her. I wanted the experience of feeding from Elena to be because it was what she wanted, because she was mine, I wanted us to share blood as it is the most intimate act a vampire can offer to make us one. I don't want to feed from her because she is on some crazy mission to save my ass. But all I can smell is her blood and my resolve is weakening.
"It's okay, Damon. You need to drink" Elena says quietly resting her forehead against mine and I can feel her body shaking but no fear seems to be within her at the moment. I can hear voices in the distance and I know I don't have a choice as it's the only way I can protect her. Please let me be able to stop. If I kill her, my ring comes off with the next sunrise.
I nod my head. "Just relax, okay." I push her hair, that is still wet from the freezing rain earlier, off of her shoulder and tangle my hand in the hair at the base of her neck gently angling her head to the side. I wrap my other hand around her waist drawing her closer to me.
Elena's heart is thundering in her chest and she is trembling. Her blood is rushing so loudly that I think I may go deaf from the noise. I draw in a ragged breathe.
Elena deserves better than this. "I'm sorry" I whisper against her cheek as I gently kiss her pulse point before piecing her skin. I gently start to drink and I feel like I have died and gone to heaven. Her blood is like nothing I have ever experienced before. No blood will ever compare to her's. I pull Elena closer to me and I hear her moan. Elena just fucking moaned and she starts grinding her hips against me slightly as her hand moves into my hair pulling me closer while her other snakes under my jacket fisting in my shirt. If I died right now, I would die the happiest vampire on the face of the planet. I have never been as turned as I am right now. She feels so unbelievable against me and we still have clothes on. I feel and smell her arousal which makes this situation all the more confusing and unbelievably cruel to know this is as close as I will ever be to her.
Once I feel my wounds start to heal I fight the urge to keep drinking and pull back. I grasp Elena's face and force her to look at me. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"
Elena opens her eyes and shakes her head, but she her trembling is getting more severe. I look closely at her to make she is okay and notice her lips have a blue tinge and her teeth are chattering. I look her up and down and realize she is only wearing sleep shorts and tank top. The temperature is barely above freezing and she has been outside now for hours. The spell the witch performed literally pulled her out of bed. The adrenaline must be wearing off as she is trembling uncontrollably.
"Shit, Elena" I pull off my coat and wrap it around her rubbing up and down her arms as I pull her tight against my chest. How did I not notice she was fucking freezing to death and I just drank from her making it worse. I rip off a piece of my shirt and place it against the bite marks zipping my jacket up around using the collar to hold the makeshift bandage in place.
"Cold, Damon, so cold." She drops her head against my shoulder.
"My car is wrecked and we have no phone, but we need to get you warm. Wrap your arms and legs around me and hold on tight, okay?" I hold her against me as I stand.
"Are you about to Edward Cullen me home?" She tries to laugh.
"At least I don't sparkle" I smirk at her. "Close your eyes and hold on." I feel her tighten her grip on me and she buries her head in the crook of my neck. I use my vampire speed to get us to her house stopping on the front walk. I shift her around to carry her bridal style.
"Still with me?" I ask as I run up the steps to the front door.
"Cold, Damon. So tired." Her head rolls against my shoulder as she fights to stay conscious.
As I open the door all eyes turn towards me.
"Thank God" Caroline exclaims.
"Is she okay?" Jeremy asks.
I ignore everyone focusing on what needs to be done to get her warm. "Caroline, get a bath running, make sure it's warm not hot." I place Elena in Caroline's arms and she runs up the stairs to Elena and Jeremy's shared bathroom. Bonnie runs up after. Stefan starts to follow, but I grab his arm and shake my head. She is still bleeding and I don't want Elena to see Stefan struggle around her blood.
"Let the girls take care of her." Stefan eyes me suspiciously and I head into the kitchen to grab a drink.
"Is she okay?" Alaric follows me grabbing the bottle and pouring himself a drink.
"She has mild hypothermia, but she should be fine once they get her warmed up." I run my hands through my hair.
"Where did you find her?" Alaric asks nursing his own drink.
"She was led to clearing a couple of miles outside witchy's barrier so the alarm wouldn't be sounded. Klaus, yet again, has witches on his side and used her blood to cast some kind of spell. How the fuck is that bastard back?"
"Elijah should be here in a day or two. Surprise, surprise he was exactly forthcoming with any details." Alaric shakes his head.
Reaching out with my senses I hear Elena's voice. "I-I'm o-o-k-ay." I can still hear her teeth chattering. Alaric and I head down the hallway heading for the living room.
"Elena" I hear Bonnie gasp. I hear running footsteps. "DAMON! You bit her?"
Before I can take a step my head feels like it's going to explode and I feel a hand grip me by the throat pinning me to the wall. The witchy migraine ends as my head slams into the wall.
"Let me the fuck go, Stefan." I try to push him, but I only took enough blood from Elena to ensure we could get back here safe. It wasn't enough to being me back to full strength.
Stefan takes a hand and wipes it across the corner of my mouth and holds up his finger which now has blood on it. "You fed off of her. I thought I smelt her blood on you." Stefan slams me in the wall again.
"You fed off my sister? We trusted you to keep her safe." Jeremy yells before landing a right hook across my jar. Not a bunch for the kid.
Alaric grabs Jeremy and pulls back. "Jeremy, enough. Stefan let your brother go and let's give Damon a chance to explain. Look at his shirt, he was obviously hurt."
"Doesn't matter if he was hurt. He should never have fed off of her. He brought her in here barely conscious. He could have killed her." Stefan growls.
I'm fucking pissed. As usual everyone jumps to the conclusion that I am out to cause carnage. I never wanted to feed from her, but I didn't know how else to protect her. They want the evil brother than fine they can have him. "No need for explanations Ric. Yeah, I fed off of her. I've dreamed about having her as a happy meal for almost two years. Saw the opportunity and took my chance." I brush Stefan's hands off of me.
"Damon" I hear and turn to see Elena at the top of the stairs leaning heavily against Caroline wrapped in a blanket. I lock eyes with her for a brief second relieved she is okay. All eyes turn to look at Elena on the landing and I take advantage of the distraction speeding off into the night.
A/N: Please review!