A vampire? (Helen)

Shooting the moon, by Mona

"You're wide eyed looking for excuse

I got a bloodline looking for the root

Here you go now, now the choice is choose

Oh no man, you got something to lose

Acting funny like you have seen it all

You got a crown and I'm gonna knock it off

King of the castle, it's gonna fall fast though

Oh no man, I got something to prove

I am, I am, I am shooting the moon"

My heart did a somersault when he said it. At the same time, I was sad because I knew he would be gone one morning. I decided to take what I could get. Responding to his kiss with equal intensity, I wrapped my arms tightly around him as if I would never let go again. How did I get so clingy? I thought, but I felt him press against me as if he shared my craving. "Helen," he whispered breathlessly into my ear. My fingers fisted his hair when he kissed my throat and set me on fire. "Ah… Damon… I really whish … you could stay…," I whispered haltingly. His hands cupped my face and his gaze locked with mine. "… I can't." The furrowed brows and the sadness in his eyes said enough. He wanted to stay, but he was convinced that something forced him to leave. Suddenly his head came up and he perked his ears towards the forest. "What is it?" I whispered. He put a finger on my lips and pointed to his ear. Now I listened too. There was a crackling of twigs. Something or someone moved through the shrubs towards us. I looked questioningly at him. He picked up his jacket and put it on. I did the same.

Taking my hand, he carefully led me around the thick shrubs we had breached earlier and I watched out not to crack a branch. Damon's demeanor had changed completely. He crept nearly soundlessly through the undergrowth and seemed extremely alert. Suddenly, he shoved me behind one of the big trees and signaled me to stay there. Then he walked out of my sight. A moment later, I heard a voice. "Stay put, Salvatore, I've got you in sight!" That is Henson's voice! I thought. "And now? You gonna shoot me?" Henson laughed mirthlessly. "What else? Where is your vampire slut? I know she's with you." What the hell was he talking about? "Let her go. Helen doesn't know a thing," Damon replied. "Of course not! John, the old dumbass, took care that she doesn't know of vampires anymore." What did John have to do with it? This guy must be totally nuts! "One question before I kill you, Salvatore. What are you doing here in the South? Lost all your blood bags up in Mystic Falls?" While I listened to him I got the feeling that Henson was short of cracking up. Vampires didn't exist! "That's none of your fucking business, but I'll give you a chance. I count to three and if you don't shoot me then, I'll rip your head off!" Damon returned. "One, …" Before he could say two, I heard a muffled 'plop' and Damon started to scream with pain. My heart nearly skipped a beat. Henson laughed menacingly. "You really think I'd play fair with one of your kind?" Damon groaned loudly. God, what had he done to him?

I didn't dare to move, but then I remembered that I had typed John's number into my cell phone. Carefully I pulled it out and texted him quickly. *Help! Henson, forest, home!* "Corey, where are you. Get over here!" Henson yelled. The pockets of my outdoor jacket not only contained a jack knife, but also a piece of guy wire which was left over from fixing a fence in my garden. I pulled my necktie over my mouth as if I had been gagged and wrapped the wire around my wrists. I needed to stall for time. "Corey!" he yelled again. I took a deep breath and tugged as hard as possible at the wire. It hurt like hell and my eyes blurred with tears. Exactly what I needed now. I stumbled forward, out of my hiding place, and held my hands in front of me. Henson lifted his rifle when he saw me. "Help me," I sobbed and showed him my hands. "He wanted to kill me," I whimpered as heartbreakingly as possible while he unwrapped my wrists. The rifle hung over his shoulder. From the corner of my eye I saw Damon lying on the ground. He had been shot in the thigh and an arrow-like metallic object protruded from it. Blood seeped from the large wound in a steady flow and Damon cringed with pain. I felt queasy at the sight.

"Didn't your father teach you how to kill vampires?" he snarled at me. "I know nothing about vampires, they don't exist!" I replied, suddenly intimidated by his aggressiveness. "Really? Watch this!" he returned menacingly. He pulled a thin wooden stake from his pocket and walked over to Damon. Aiming the rifle at him, he rammed the stake brutally into Damon's other thigh. He screamed with pain. "If you don't want me to pierce your family jewels with this, show her your real face!" Henson demanded coldly and withdrew the stake. Damon looked past him into my eyes and I glanced pleadingly at him. This madness had to end somehow! But I didn't know what would follow and a moment later I thought somebody was pulling the rug out under my feet!

Damon took a deep breath and his face changed. His eyes turned red and got blood-shot, dark irises with red blood vessels. His teeth had elongated and he hissed at Henson like an animal. "THIS is a vampire, Helen!" Henson screamed triumphantly when he saw the horror on my probably deathly pale face. "A thing like him killed your dad before you shot it! Your daddy had taught you everything you needed to know, but John convinced one of them to make you forget!" I swayed, shocked as I was, and I felt sick. What did Henson know that I didn't? Why hadn't Damon told me? Because he knew you'd run away screaming, you fool, my mind screamed. Henson approached me and gripped my arm, pulling me closer to Damon. His face had gone back to normal by now. I was completely shattered, and he saw it. "You know what this is?" He showed me a part of the plant from his office. "Vervain! It weakens them." He touched Damon's face with it and the skin showed burn marks. Damon hissed from the pain. To my surprise his face healed almost instantly. "I prepared the arrow with it to make him bleed fast and remain weakened!" Then he held up the stake. "This can kill them: Wood, as a stake or projectile directly into the heart!" He aimed his rifle at Damon.

My heart skipped a beat. I had to stop him. "Wait!" I said and stepped forward, holding out my hands. "Let me kill him!" I said with a serious expression. "He betrayed me, he used me," I added. Please, dear God, let him believe it, I thought. He waved at me. "Alright, come here," he replied. "Have you ever used a rifle?" he asked. I nodded. It was a remodeled deer rifle, like my father had used it. I knew how to shoot and aimed at Damon. His eyes widened with surprise. "You lied to me," I whispered, and I meant it. Henson stood right behind me, slightly to my right. I pretended to release the safety catch and rammed the butt suddenly into his abdomen. He groaned and doubled over and I hit him on the head with the butt again. Without a word he collapsed to the floor next to Damon. I crouched down and checked his pulse – he was still alive. I hadn't hit him too hard. Taking a deep breath, I unloaded the weapon and turned to Damon.

Utter disbelieve was written all over his face – and insecurity. Silently I drew my jack knife and cut away the fabric around the wound. In Damon's leg gaped a large funnel-like hole with the metallic object in the middle. "Oh shit," I murmured. "Pull it out." His low voice made me jump. I looked at him. "Helen, I…," he stated, but I held my hand up. "Not now, Damon, we've got time for that later," I said quickly. "Tell me what I have to do," I asked and glanced at his wound. "Pull it out and it will heal," he replied and held my gaze. He trusted me. I took a deep breath and tried to grip it, but it was slippery from the blood. I wrapped my necktie around it and pulled as hard as I could. Damon screamed with pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I stammered. "It's alright, I think it's stuck in the bone," he groaned. "Let me try it," he said and reached for it. At the same moment, I heard another voice in the forest and a moan behind me. "Helen! Damon! Where are you?" I raised myself to my knees. "John! John, we're here…," I yelled, but I couldn't continue. "Helen, watch out!" Damon called, because Henson had also recovered and lunged at me, holding a knife to my throat. "No, don't!" Damon shouted. "Stop it, Charles!" John yelled and aimed his gun at Henson while he came out of the wood. "Put your gun down, Mayor, or I'll cut her throat!" John shook his head. "You won't, Charles, I'd rather blow your brain out!" I didn't dare to breathe. I could feel his blade scraping at my throat. If Damon moved, Henson would kill me. Would John's bullet be faster? I didn't know but I didn't have a choice.

I hadn't seen John for a long time, but suddenly a whole chandelier lit up while I pondered on how to solve the situation. All those hide-and-seek games Dad and John had played with me when I was little... they'd trained me without me knowing it! I decided to use the same gestures like the ones we had used back then to signal each other a free field of fire right now. I just hoped that John remembered it too. I looked at him and slowly tilted my head to the side, raising my eyebrows. And he remembered! He blinked and nodded slowly, but pointedly."I'll count to three and you let her go, Charles!" he called. For a moment, he splayed out two fingers from the grip of his gun. That's how I knew he would fire on two, not on three. "One, two…," I tilted my head forcefully to the right and John fired. The knife fell away from my throat and Henson collapsed. At the same time I let myself fall forward, where Damon caught me in his arms. My whole body trembled, blood splatters stuck to my skin and my hair, but I was unhurt. "Helen! Helen, are you okay?" Damon's hands caressed my face. I searched his gaze and just nodded. I couldn't speak for a moment. Relief crossed his face.

"Alright, let me take a look at this, lad," John said while he approached us and glanced at Damon's leg. "Oh shit, this will hurt," he said. "I know," Damon grumbled. I pulled myself together with a shaky breath and kneeled behind him. "Don't hold his hand, Helen, he'll break your fingers," John instructed me and fixated Damon's leg with his body. Damon was weakened by the blood-loss and leaned his back against me. "I'll do it myself," he gasped and bent forward. Grasping the projectile with both hands he took a deep breath and pulled as strongly as possible. With a painful scream he ripped it out of the bone and collapsed back into my arms. "Holy shit," he groaned pantingly. "It's over," I murmured and threaded my fingers soothingly through his hair. "What about the corpse?" John asked with a glance at Henson. "I'll take care of it later," Damon replied weakly. "Just let me recover." John scrutinized him. The wound still bled, but not as heavy as before. "When was the last time you had blood?" Damon glanced at me. "Yesterday, but not enough." So I had been right, it hadn't been just a dream. "Shit, you need at least one or two blood bags," John grumbled and scratched his chin.

It was spooky. We sat in the meanwhile darkened forest next to a corpse and discussed about supplies for a vampire. I laughed shortly and shook my head. John and Damon looked at me as if I had lost my mind. Well, maybe I was short of it because I rolled my sleeve up and held my wrist out to Damon. "Here." He glanced at me with disbelief. "Forget it, Helen!" he snorted and averted his face. He tested moving his leg and clenched his teeth. "It'll have to do," he said and tried to get up. Looking the worse for wear, he finally got back up, even though he was still in pain, but at least he was able to stand on his own feet. "I'll be fine, John. Take her home, I'll take care of the corpse," he said. "No! I'll stay here!" I didn't want to leave his side now. "Helen, I'm not in the mood for a discussion. You. Will. Leave!" I crossed my arms. Damon glared threateningly at me. "Helen, please, you don't want to see that, believe me." John took my arm and turned me to face him. He looked serious. "Okay," I turned back to Damon and took a few steps forward. "Don't you dare pull some stupid disappearing act on me!" I hissed. "I won't do you that favor," he hissed back.