Hey everyone. Thanks for all the faves and follows. Glad to know so many people are reading my story. But a few comments would be really awesome. Pretty please? Constructive criticism is also welcome.
And now on to the next chapter...
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After picking up Elena, something he soon regretted when she continued yapping at him the whole time, Damon drove to the school. He spied Alaric in the hallway and quickly stepped into his way. The teacher looked at him warily. "Well, don't you look... alive?" Damon murmured, letting his eyes rake over the teacher`s body in appreciation. Ric fidgeted under his stare, but didn`t back down. "You can't hurt me." he claimed. The vampire was about to retort, when Elena showed up and interrupted them, stating that they needed Alaric`s help. The teacher hesitated, but finally motioned for them to follow him.
He led the two of them into his classroom and sat down, looking at Elena expectantly and pretending to ignore Damon. The vampire rolled his eyes, but left it to Elena to inform the teacher of what had happened. "Stefan's in the house. Damon's a vampire. He can't get in. We need you. I would go, but..."
"But I can`t get my brother out and protect Miss trouble-magnet at the same time. You on the other hand…" Damon interrupted her speech. "Stefan told me about your ring." Elena spoke up again, giving Damon a glare. Alaric stubbornly crossed his arms and shrugged. "What about it?" Great, he wasn`t really going to pretend he didn`t know what they were talking about, was he? Damon sighed in annoyance. "Let me recap...You tried to kill me. I defended myself. Those tomb vampires showed up. You died. Then according to my brother, your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving anything out?" the vampire said sarcastically.
"Yeah. The part where I try to kill you again. Only this time, I don't miss." Alaric snarked back. This was really getting old. Damon was seriously contemplating telling the teacher the whole truth about their shared past. But he`d rather do it without Elena there. Speaking of Elena, of course she couldn`t keep her mouth shut. "Mr. Saltzman. Please. It's Stefan." she pleaded. Unfortunately Ric seemed immune to her puppy dog look, because he just hold her it wasn`t his problem. Damon had to give him credit for his stubbornness. But they didn`t have time for that right now.
"That`s a shame, cause you know, the guy who kidnapped my brother is also the guy who killed you. Thought you might want to get revenge." Alaric looked like was contemplating it and Damon knew he had won, even if the teacher told them it still wasn`t his problem. Damon shrugged and turned to leave. "Okay, then I`ll just have to endanger Elena`s life. Coward. Come on, Elena." He took a few steps towards the door, not surprised when Ric called out: "All right! Wait. I'll go." The vampire turned back to him, not even trying to hide the triumphant smirk.
Alaric glared at him for a moment, but then turned to pull a duffel bag out of his locker and started unpacking weapons. Damon was quite impressed about the arsenal of vampire hunting weapons. But he`d be damned if he let the teacher know that. "Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night." he commented with a grin. Ric glanced up at him. "I've you to thank for that." Damon`s grin didn`t falter. Ric would never use those weapons against him. He would make sure of that.
Alaric explained the different weapons to Elena – a blow dart gun, modified to shoot wooden stakes, tranquilizer darts filled with vervain, a specially designed crossbow. Damon watched with interest. The teacher was really prepared. But he wouldn`t take any chances. "Just get me in. I'll get Stefan out." he decided. Of course Elena wouldn`t listen and still insisted on coming with them. Ric left it to Damon to argue with her and the damn girl proved to be very persistent. "You need me. I'll get in. You could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan out." she reasoned.
Ignoring her, Damon to turned to Alaric. "Just get me in and then get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way." The teacher frowned at him, obviously not happy with this plan, but he didn`t say anything. Elena on the other hand was still talking. "You can't stop me. It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand." The vampire rolled his eyes and wondered how his brother put up with that on a daily basis.
"I can't protect you, Elena. I don't know how many vampires are in there. You`ll only get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out. I can't be distracted with your safety. Or this will end up in a bloodbath that none of us walks away from...Including Stefan. And I do get it. I understand." he finally snapped at her. Elena still didn´t back down, just continued to stare at him. And was she seriously pouting now?
"If we're gonna go, let's go." Alaric stepped in. Damon looked at him and nodded. Since Elena was still insisting on coming with them, he told her to drive the car, hoping this would keep her out of his way.
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The storm was raging with full force when they reached the old farmhouse, complete with pouring rain and howling wind that ripped at the branches. They parked the car a short distance away, hidden in the woods. "Stay where you are." Damon ordered upon getting out. Elena simply glared at him, but he had no time worry about her right now. Moving quickly he and Alaric crept towards the house. Damon went around to the back door, while Ric went to the front and used a trick to get inside. Damon listened to him talking, glad when their plan seemed to be working out.
Only a few minutes later the back door opened to reveal Alaric and Miss Gibbons, the middle aged woman who owned the house. Behind them Damon could see a vampire with a stake protruding from his chest. Ric was good, the vampire had to admit. The teacher asked the woman to invite Damon in, but she refused. She`d been compelled never to let him in, Damon remembered. Rolling his eyes he ordered Ric to get her out of the house, a little surprised when the teacher actually complied without question.
"Miss Gibbons, tell me the truth. Are you married? Parents, children, anyone else who lives on this property?" the dark haired vampire asked. She shook her head. "No. It's just me." That`s what Damon had been hoping for. He broke her neck without a second thought and stepped over the threshold. Alaric stared at him in shock. "You were supposed to compel her." he protested. "It doesn't work that way..." Damon shot back. "She is human." Ric snapped.
Damn, they had no time for the teacher`s attack of conscience right now. "And I'm not! So I don't care. She was as good as dead anyway, if it`s any consolation to you. Now, get out of here. And get rid of the body!" he ordered, moving past Ric without waiting for a reply.
It didn`t take long for the next vampire to come looking for Ric. Damon´s attack took him by surprise and he died without fighting back. The dark haired vampire moved on and quickly found the stairs that led down to the cellar, where he figured they kept Stefan. Sure enough he found a man standing guard by a door at the end of the hallway. Damon rushed over and killed him quickly. Looking up he cursed under his breath when he spotted Elena. He should have known the stupid girl wouldn`t stay put. "Are you insane?" he hissed, but she ignored him. Admitting defeat Damon allowed her to follow him into the cell.
Stefan was hanging from the ceiling, the rope they had used burning into his wrists. Across from him some other vampire Damon vaguely recognized was tied to a chair. "Elena...You shouldn't be here..." the younger Salvatore gasped in shock. "She was supposed to stay in the car." Damon grumbled, moving to stake the other vampire, but Stefan stopped him, claiming the guy had tried to help him. The older Salvatore shrugged and was about to free Stefan, when his brother warned him that there was vervain on the ropes. "Elena, pull that." Damon ordered. She complied quickly and Stefan was freed within minutes. Of course his stupid saint of a brother and his equally stupid girlfriend insisted on freeing the other vampire, before finally leaving the cell.
By that time another vampire had shown up. Damon killed him, but he was pretty sure the rest of them must be getting suspicious by now. He turned to Elena and told her to get Stefan to the car, knowing they would only hold him up. "What about you?" Elena protested and Damon felt ready to strangle her. He`d never take her on a rescue mission again, that was for sure. "You rescue, I'll distract. Go." he ordered harshly, moving before she could protest again. Within seconds he was upstairs. And not a second too soon, because the tomb vampires had just started searching the house.
Damon moved through the rooms quickly, killing another two vampires with relative ease. He saw Frederick entering the room and attacked him, but was quickly pulled off by two more. Frederick sped off and Damon was left fighting the other two. He was running out of weapons and he was outnumbered. His strength was waning. One of the vampires pushed him down, but crumbled to the ground himself with a stake in his chest seconds later. Damon looked up in surprise and spied Alaric standing in the hallway, crossbow in hand. The sight made his heart beat a little faster. He´d come back for him. Okay, probably more for Elena. But it was a start.
He nodded his thanks and went after Frederick, but the other vampire had disappeared. Returning to the hallway Damon found Ric taking down another vampire. "Frederick's gone." The teacher nodded grimly. He was bleeding from a shallow wound on his neck, but seemed otherwise unharmed. "Let's get out of here." They moved to the door, but stopped on the porch when they saw more vampires approaching the house. Fuck, how many of them were there? "How many of those vervain darts do you have left?" Damon asked. Ric looked at him with a frown. "One." Just great. "Not gonna be enough." the dark haired vampire commented, motioning for the teacher to follow him back into the house. They were in serious trouble.
They locked the door, knowing it wouldn`t do much good, but trying anyway. It didn`t take the vampires long to reach the house. Already they were banging on the door, trying to bring it down. Not long and it would give way. Damon took on a fighting stance, noticed Ric next to him doing the same and had to smile despite their fucked up situation.
The door gave way with a splintering sound, but suddenly a female voice outside shouted: "Stop. What's going on here?" Pearl entered the room, glared at Damon. "What did you do?" The dark haired vampire glared right back. "Me? Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother." She had the decency to look shocked and promised to 'deal with the parties responsible for this', as she put it. Damon snorted. Yeah, right. "This wasn't supposed to happen." Pearl assured him. "Well, it did. If I had a good side...Not a way to get on it." he spat, turning to leave.
Alaric followed him quietly. They found Stefan and Elena by the car. Next to it Frederick was pinned to a tree, messily staked with a branch. Damon looked at his brother with raised eyebrows. "Care to explain?" Stefan still seemed weak, though not as weak as before. Elena`s bleeding wrist and the fact that his brother wouldn`t look him in the eye told Damon the rest of the story. "Let`s just go home." Elena pleaded. Damon exchanged a quick glance with Alaric, who seemed to have put two and two together as well and nodded.
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After making sure that Elena and Stefan were both safely home, Damon decided he really needed a drink. Upon entering the Mystic Grill he was pleasantly surprised to discover that Alaric had the same idea. Grinning he joined the teacher at the bar. "That was fun." Alaric gave him a disgusted look and Damon rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't look at me like that. You can't deny it. We were bad ass."
Ric shook his head and got up. He frowned down on the vampire, seemed to be debating with himself for a second. Then he punched Damon in the face – hard – and left. The vampire touched his chin, noting Ric`s considerable strength. Not exactly like he`d pictured this meeting to go down. He looked at the teacher`s retreating figure and decided it was time for some truth.
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Alaric walked towards his car, feeling pretty pleased with himself for punching Damon. Who the hell did the vampire think he was? Just because Ric had helped him didn`t mean they were suddenly friends. And he still couldn`t believe he had actually helped the obnoxious vampire, had saved his ass and fought side by side with him. What the hell had he been thinking? He should have left Damon alone to fend for himself. Or maybe used the chance to kill him. But instead he had saved him. Without thinking twice about it.
He just couldn`t deny that the vampire had gotten under his skin. His thoughts revolved around Damon constantly. He tried to tell himself that he was only trying to figure out the best way to kill him. Because even if Damon hadn`t killed his wife, he had still turned her. Taken her away from Ric. But the more he thought about it, the more his anger deflated and he wondered what he was even doing here. Isobel had chosen to leave him. He had lost her long before that night, now that he thought about it.
She had become distant, had engrossed herself in work more and more. She hadn´t been home for days and when she finally returned she hadn´t offered an explanation. They had fought a lot in those last weeks. Ric had always put up with her weirdness, her strange obsession for vampires and other supernatural things, but it had finally gotten too much. Now that he knew what had happened to her, her weird behaviour was starting to make sense. When she had given him that ring, made him promise to always wear it… It had been a way of saying goodbye, he realized.
The teacher stopped abruptly, startled out of his musings, when he rounded the corner and nearly collided with Damon. He had thought the vampire would still be sitting at the bar, but obviously Damon had used his supernatural speed to intercept him before he could reach his car. Alaric looked at him warily, noting with growing unease that they were completely alone in the dark alley. Why hadn`t he parked closer to the Grill? And more importantly, why hadn`t he packed any weapons? If Damon attacked him now he would be defenceless.
The vampire however seemed strangely calm. He took a step towards Alaric, who in turn took a step back. Damon smiled at this and took another step forward, still without saying a word. They continued this game until Ric suddenly found himself with his back to a wall. No more chance of escape. "We were good today, Ric. And you had fun. Admit it." Damon murmured. The teacher frowned. "I don´t know what you consider fun, but my idea of fun is certainly different." he shot back, wondering what kind of game the vampire was playing now.
"You can deny it all you want. I know you enjoyed it. The exhilaration of the fight, the rush of killing those vampires…" Damon droned on. Once again he was watching Ric with this spooky intense look, like he could see right through him. The teacher was glad for the vervain-bracelet he had taken to wearing. The vampire´s closeness was distracting enough, but he`d be damned if he let Damon know that. "Don`t act like you know me." the teacher spat, trying to put as much venom into the words as possible.
Damon´s smile grew wider. "But I do know you, Ric. And you knew me. Once." he murmured. The man looked at him in confusion. What was that supposed to mean. "I`ve got no idea what you`re talking about." he admitted. "I`m talking about the fact that we`ve known each other. Long before you came to Mystic Falls. Before I turned Isobel." Damon explained. Ric snorted. "I think I`d remember that." The vampire blinked, shook his head. "You would. Only, you can`t. See, the things is … I compelled you. Made you forget." he admitted.
Ric couldn`t believe what he was hearing. It simply couldn`t be true. The vampire was only toying with him. He was lying. He had to be. Still the teacher felt at a loss for words. Damon used his momentary inaction to take another step forward, now fully invading his personal space. Alaric`s heart was racing, the breath caught in his throat. Damon seemed unaware. "When you came up to me at the party, started chatting me up… For a second there I thought you remembered." he went on.
He raised his hand, let one finger trace down Alaric`s chest. His voice dropped even further, was barely above a whisper now. "But maybe you do. On some level." Ric pressed himself to the wall behind him, his hands balled to fists at his sides. His treacherous body was betraying him, responding to the vampire`s closeness, his feather light touch in an embarrassing way. The urge to kiss Damon was warring with the urge to punch him again.
Finally shaking himself out of his trance, Ric brought both hands up and pushed Damon away. The vampire actually stumbled backwards, either caught by surprise or to humour the teacher, Ric couldn`t tell. He knew that he usually would be no match for Damon´s strength. "Stop messing with my head. You`re lying!" he accused, angry at himself that the vampire could get to him like that. "But I`m not. I`m completely honest here." Damon claimed. "I could prove it to you. Take the compulsion off." he offered.
"No way. You`re not actually expecting me to be that stupid? I`m not allowing you to play with my mind." the teacher stated, now pretty sure that Damon was really just trying to mess with him. The vampire stepped closer again. "You know, I was debating with myself, whether I should tell you or not, wondering if it would be a good idea to make you remember. I hadn`t really expected to ever see you again. But now I want you to remember." he whispered. Ric tried to push him off, but this time Damon wouldn`t budge and the teacher found himself pinned to the wall instead. Damon´s body was pressed against his, his face mere inches from Alaric`s. It was so tempting, but the teacher was determined not to give in.
"I`m telling the truth, Ric." Damon stated again. "Want me to prove it? How about that scar on your left knee? You fell off the swing and injured yourself on a broken bottle while your mother wasn`t paying attention. How old were you again, four?" The teacher blinked in surprise. "How…?" Damon grinned and took a step back. "Told you. I know a lot about you. If you`re ready to get your memories back, you know where to find me." he turned and walked away, left the teacher staring after him open mouthed. It simply couldn`t be true. Isobel must`ve told him. Yes, that was the only logic explanation.
But then he realized with a start that he`d never told Isobel how and when he`d gotten that scar. She hadn`t known. Closing his eyes in defeat Ric slumped back against the wall. What the hell?