Elena:

Waking up safe and secure in Damon's arms feels so right. Raising my eyes, I can't help but be captivated by his beauty as it were. His long lashes fan his cheeks and the stubble he always wears is enough to make my lady parts tingle all over again. Wow, my man knows how to treat a lady right. He was passionate and driven and yet gentle too. It wasn't fucking, it was making love and it was so different from any of the other men I've been with. And there hasn't been many, but still, what happened last night between us is incomparable. It was perfect and right and... My reverie is broken when I feel his lips against the crown of my head. Looking up again, I smile when I see that he's looking at me.

"Good morning," he says softly.

"Good morning," I repeat, leaning up on one arm so I can give him a proper kiss.

"Mmm," he mumbles, waggling his brows seductively at me. And as soon as I slide another condom on him, he's on top of me, grinding the satiny steel of his erection against my core.

"Have me, Elena."

When I nod vigorously, drops a quick kiss to the tip of my nose. Without hesitation, he pushes inside at the same time he latches onto my lips, giving me an ardent, mind blowing kiss. When our lips detach with a smacking sound, he then lowers his mouth to my neck to nip and bite my delicate skin. Still he hasn't moved so I raise my hips to remind him and when I do, I can feel him smiling against my skin. His body is shaking as a laugh escapes his mouth.

Raising up, he looks me in the eyes, his face full of mirth and his eyes alight with desire. "I love you, Elena. More than I ever thought was humanly possible," he says softly, latching on for one more heady kiss. This time when he lets go, he pulls out and slams back into my warmth. When he moans aloud, I have to smile because it gives me such a sense of empowerment that I can elicit this response from him. Joining our hands, he raises them above our heads, holding tight as he continues to play my body like a maestro with his Stradivarius. My body is alive with tingles and feelings that overwhelm me. Using strength I didn't realize I had, I wrap my legs around his middle and use them for leverage to flip us over, giving me the advantage. Leaning forward, I tease his lips with one of my nipples. Taking the bait, he pulls it into the warm hot cavern of his mouth. Shivering at the sensation, I swivel my hips, causing him to let go and groan aloud. Raising his hips, he pushes his length further into me. And when his tip bumps that spot inside of me not once but several times, I'm launched into the stratosphere at warp speed. There's nothing I can do to stop it. It's like I'm splintering into a million tiny pieces, a free fall of unimaginable proportions.

Completely spent, I drop onto his chest like a lead weight. Using his hands, he cups my bottom and pulls himself in even deeper and seconds later, he comes with a glorious shout of my name on his lips, his arms holding me to him while his body shudders like a magnitude 8.8 earthquake. Several minutes or maybe tens of minutes pass before I finally feel him move his arms as he rolls out from under me.

"My God, Elena."

"I know, right?" I tease. But I know exactly what he means.

"I will say it every minute of every day for as long as you'll have me, Elena. I love you."

Rolling on to my side to snuggle into his arms again for a few minutes before we have to get out of bed, I press a kiss to his chest then raise up on my forearm so I can look into his brilliant blue eyes.

"Do you have any idea how much I didn't want to love you? But it was like... it was like I was being swept up into a current. I... I... I was consumed by it," I try to explain, closing my eyes for a second to get control of my feelings. When I open them again, he's staring at me with such love in his eyes, it's mind boggling.

"Damon..., the depth of love I feel for you is endless."

"Elena, I feel the exact same way. They say hate is the beginning of a love story and we certainly went through that stage. I thank everything that is holy, all of the deities or whomever decided that I must've done something good in my life to have you in my arms right now. I never want to let you go."

"Don't let go," I breathe. Without letting another second pass, I latch onto his lips and imagine forever in his embrace.


It's chilly outside and I guess it's fitting given that Amber's body is being exhumed today. As soon as Damon pulls over to the side of the road, he stops the vehicle. It's the TV station's van so we can film a little of the exhumation for the show on Friday evening. Damon, me and our cameraman, Scott are here to observe the event. Scanning the view, I finally see Brady. Damon nods, takes my hand in his and the two of us walk towards him.

"I need you two to promise you'll stay back."

"We will. Scott can you the telephoto lens. The casket won't be opened till it gets to Richmond, right?"

"Yeah, the hearse is over there. It'll have a police escort when it leaves with her remains," he informs us, pointing to the awaiting vehicle. "

"You hired Tyler to dig her up?"

"Yeah, Elena, he knows how to operate heavy equipment. He's the one Lockwood that I trust."

"Me too," Damon adds, squeezing my hand. As soon as the gravedigger roars to life, we turn our attention to it.

"Scott, get some pictures of this," I tell him. When I look around, my eyes widen when I see Mikael and Esther. Letting go of Damon's hand, I point them out and tell him that I'm going to go over and talk to them a few minutes. Knowing that I need to do this alone, he gives me a nod and quick peck before continuing his conversation with Brady.

Taking a deep breath, I stick my cold hands in my pockets to warm them up as I make my way over to them.

"Elena, it's so good to see you," Mikael says, pulling me in for a hug. As soon as he lets go, Esther does the same.

"How are you?"

"We're taking one day at a time, that's all we can do, Elena."

"I know, me too," I add, reaching up to wipe the corners of my eyes when I feel them getting moist.

"I saw you standing over there rather cozily with Damon. Is he the one?"

"I think he just might be, Mikael. I just wanted to say hi and tell you that I think about him everyday. I miss him so much."

"I know, sweetheart, we do too," Esther says, giving me a sad smile.

Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I drop my eyes for a moment to gather my composure. Taking a breath, I look up again and say to them, "I'd love to stay and talk a little more but I need to get back. We're filming some of Amber's exhumation for Friday's show."

"When things settle down a little bit, I'll gladly come on again."

"Thank you, Esther. Damon will be thrilled to hear that."

"Look what time it is, Mikael. As much as we don't want to leave, Elena, we have something to attend to. We need to get a move on...," she starts to say, her eyes darting from mine to his.

"I'll call you okay?" I add, reaching over to clasp her hands with mine.

Nodding, she continues, "Yes.. and again when things normalize a bit, we'll have you and Damon over for supper. Is that okay with you?"

"Absolutely, Esther," I concur, giving her a big hug.

"Esther, we need to go. Goodbye Elena," Mikael adds, dropping a kiss to my cheek. After looping an arm around Esther's shoulder, the two of them walk out of the cemetary. I watch till they get in their car and disappear when they turn the corner. Sighing, I look over to where Tyler is digging up the earth to free Amber's casket. I feel so badly for their family having lost not one but two children to the nefarious Mason Lockwood. I never liked the man but I never would've believed him capable of murder either. But I guess sometimes power and unbridled greed plant the seeds of corruption. Scanning the horizon a little more, I lock eyes with Damon. He's still standing beside Brady but directing Scott too. Feeling an almost overpowering need to link my fingers with his, I walk back and do just that as soon as I reach his side. Pausing a moment, he lays a kiss on my forehead before mentioning something to Scott about not missing a shot of something that Tyler is doing.

It's then that her coffin is raised from the ground. An unexpected gasp leaves my lips.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes.. I have just never witnessed an exhumation before."

"Me neither," he starts to say, pausing for a moment of silence when her casket is solemnly carried to the awaiting hearse. Brady stoops in to say something to the driver. There are police cars in front and behind it to escort it to the crime lab in Richmond where authorities there will take possession of her remains.

"Are you hungry?" he asks.

"Not really, not after witnessing that."

"Let's go back to the studio then so we can plan our show for this week."

"Okay," I tell him. Before we walk off, I turn so I'm standing toe to toe with him. Standing up on my tip toes, I steal a heady kiss from his lips.

"What was that for?" he pants, his chest heaving slightly.

"I've had a bad day and I needed it."

"I love you, Elena Gilbert." he whispers, dropping a peck to the tip of my nose. Smiling widely, we join hands again and walk out of the cemetery feeling both melancholy and empowered because we're bound and determined to give the Bradley family the justice that they deserve.


Damon:

"Well, dad. You're home. I can't believe it. You only had surgery two weeks ago and here you are. Although I feel for that family, I'm so glad that they gave the gift of life to you."

"Me too, son. Me too. I don't know if Lifesource allows it but I would like to thank them if they would agree to meeting us.

"I'd like that a lot too," I tell him, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

"Grandpa, you're home," Winter Grace and Autumn yell almost simultaneously as they run towards him. Stooping down, he wraps an arm gingerly around each of them. I know his chest incision is still painful for him. Shaking her head, Katherine gets out of her rental car and walks over to join all of us.

"Girls, be careful. Grandpa just got out of the hospital."

"I'm sorry grandpa," Autumn says, stepping back, pulling Winter Grace along with her.

"It's okay, girls. Grandpa is made of strong stock," he counters. Offering each of them a hand, they latch on and start walking up the sidewalk towards our front door. Katherine and I fall behind, following them inside. As soon as the door opens, all our surprise guests yell surprise. Dad is clearly stunned. Jenna is the first to embrace him before taking him by the hand and leading him into the living room where everyone has congregated. As soon as they're in the living room, Katherine takes his other arm. Jenna and Katherine are acquaintances more than anything else since Kat is a few years older than Jenna. They're friendly and both myself and Katherine are grateful for her presence when neither of us were living here.

"Thank you, thank you so much," dad says, patting Jenna's hand that's wrapped around his arm.

"I love you, Joe," she says softly, laying her head on his arm.

"And I love you too, daddy," Katherine says, giving Jenna a playful wink.

When I hear her voice, "We have cake and ice cream," I smile. I could watch her forever like this, visiting with everyone, all the while keeping a smile on her face despite her melancholy.

"You okay?" I ask, tilting my head slightly in concern.

"Yeah, I'm good. Grandma asked me and Jenna to be co-maids of honor. But since she hasn't mentioned a date yet, I don't know the when and where. It's hard to believe that my grandma is beating me to the aisle."

"Same for me with papa. Truth be told, Miss Gilbert, I'm pretty happy that you haven't walked that aisle. Otherwise there would be no us," I say, using my index finger to gesture from her to me.

"It's true."

Shaking my head, I laugh, link my fingers with hers and together the two of us join the others to celebrate my dad's homecoming.


"Hello everyone. The management at our station has generously given us an extra half hour tonight. First off, we've invited Dr. Isobel Fleming back to our show to tell us another tale of mythical creatures that were said to roam Mystic Falls at one point in time. After our segment with Isobel, Elena and I will be bringing you all up to speed on the Bradley case. A lot has happened since last week. All of us who work on and contribute to this show want to keep you abreast of the new developments. But first, welcome back to our show, Dr. Fleming," I say, shaking her hand after Elena does the same.

"So Dr. Fleming, what can you tell us about werewolves?" Elena queries, turning slightly to point to our big screen where movie werewolves and old drawings of them are being shown.

"The legend says that there are several ways that a person could become a werewolf. For example, it was believed that a person could be transformed by eating the meat of a wolf that had been mixed with that of a human and that the condition was irreversible. Centuries later other methods were said to create werewolves, including being cursed, or by being conceived under a new moon, or by having eaten certain herbs, or by sleeping under the full moon on Friday, or by drinking water that has been touched by a wolf. It was also widely believed that werewolves could dress in a special, protective wolf skin, though they had to remove it at daybreak and hide it. If their magical pelt was found and taken from the werewolf-in-human-form, he or she could be killed."

"That's really fascinating, Isobel. I had no idea," I mention, completely captivated by the subject.

"It is. And it's another reason that I love my job so much."

"Please continue, Isobel," Elena prods, smiling at the camera.

"A similar theme appears in the Scottish and Irish folklore of the selkies — creatures who spend their lives in the cold ocean as seals, but can change into human form by shedding their pelts. If they do so, they must hide their pelts for if they are found they can't change back into seals and must live on land with the fishermen who possess their skins. Though the full moon was originally only one of many possible causes of lycanthropy, it was the one that stuck in the public's mind. Today, many people still associate the moon with werewolves and madness. Some who work in police and emergency medical services have anecdotally claimed that full moon nights are busier, crazier, and more dangerous than other nights. This perception may be rooted more in psychology and imagination than in reality however. Carefully controlled studies have not found good evidence supporting this idea. Furthermore, there is no known mechanism by which the moon would somehow influence a person's mind to make him or her more dangerous except of course for their own imaginations and expectations."

"Well, I know some nurses who claim that some of their patients are always a little batty on full moon nights," I chuckle, looking at Isobel.

"That's where the name lunatic came from or so I've read," Elena adds, chuckling slightly.

"Well, Damon, there are several medical conditions that can mimic the appearance of a werewolf and may have contributed to early belief in the literal existence of the creatures. One being hypertrichosis, which creates unusually long hair on the face and body; a second condition, porphyria, is characterized by extreme sensitivity to light, thus encouraging its victims to only go out at night, seizures, anxiety, and other symptoms. Neither of these rare conditions turns anyone into a werewolf, of course, but centuries ago when belief in witches, vampires, and magic was common it didn't take much to spawn werewolf stories. Clinical lycanthropy is a recognized medical condition in which a person believes himself or herself to be an animal, and indeed there are rare cases where people have claimed to be werewolves. Today werewolves are known to be mythical creatures found in fiction instead of lurking in the dark woods, but that was not always the case. Not so long ago, belief in werewolves was common. Overall, there was little difference between the killings and activities of wolves and werewolves. Both would hunt at night, attacking sheep or livestock, and sometimes humans. The main difference was, of course, that the werewolf changed into human form at some point."

"Just wow," I blurt out, my eyes focused on the screen behind us.

"What else can you tell us, Isobel," Elena asks, taken in by the subject just as much as I am.

"Because lycanthropy was seen as a curse, werewolves were often thought of as victims as much as villains. The transformation from man to wolf was said to be tortuous so many sought cures for real and imagined symptoms. Traditionally, there are three principal ways in which a werewolf can be scourged of his demons. He may be cured medicinally and surgically, he may be exorcised and lastly he may be shot with a special bullet, typically a silver bullet. When the medicinal and surgical cures were attempted, they involved lots of bloodletting, vomiting, and vinegar drinking. Brutal methods really," Isobel adds before continuing.

"While werewolves are the best-known shape-shifters they are not the only were-animals said to exist around the world. Others include were-foxes, were-dogs, were-tigers, were-snakes, were-hares, were-bears and even were-crocodiles. Of course, wolves are more threatening than dogs and foxes. Like vampires, werewolves have been around for millennia, and nothing short of a silver bullet is likely to stop it from being around millennia more," she concludes.

"Thank you so much, Isobel. Elena and I cannot thank you enough for joining us again tonight."

"My pleasure," she says, shaking both of our hands before walking off of the set.

"We'll be back right after this message from our sponsor," Elena says, facing the camera. Quickly our set designers cue up Amber and Ben's photos on our large screen TV behind us. Right after I give Elena a quick kiss, the camera comes back live.

"For the rest of tonight's show, we're going to talk about Ben and Amber Bradley. Last week, Mason Lockwood was arrested for the murders of Ben and Amber. The police now believe Amber's suicide was in fact murder made to look like a suicide. Mr. Lockwood's arraignment is scheduled for Monday. At this time, he's being held without bail in the police station in Richmond. He will be brought back to Mystic Falls for the arraignment at the county courthouse. Judge Beale will preside over the proceedings," I explain, pausing to take a quick drink of water before continuing.

"On the screen behind are pictures of the exhumation of Amber Bradley's body. The state crime lab in Richmond will be doing a repeat autopsy on her remains. We'll keep you up to date about the outcome. My hope is that the pathologists and toxicologists at the state crime lab will find something with which can be used to convict the alleged killer, Mr. Lockwood. Please look at the footage of Amber's eternal slumber being disrupted. I hate the thought that we had to disturb her as it were but the police need to know how she died so hopefully that evidence can be admitted into trial when we reach that point. And please know that this show will be following the trial when it commences." Taking a breath, I pull the item out of my pocket.

"One last thing before we close tonight. See this key I'm holding," I mention, stepping close to the camera so it can zoom in on it. "This key was sent to me anonymously. The person who sent it claimed that it belonged to Ben. My hope is that whatever lock this key fits into, hopefully that box holds some evidence regarding Amber's death. Ben never believed that Amber killed herself. He was determined to prove just that when he was brutally murdered in cold blood himself. Please, if you know anything or can help us find the answer to this, call the number that's flashing on the chyron at the bottom of the screen. Thank you all for joining us again tonight. And more importantly, please, help us find the lock that fits this key." I add, stressing it's importance as I let the camera zoom in on it for a few more seconds as the show comes to a close. As soon as our studio camera turns off, I loosen my tie and step off of stage.

"It was a big show tonight. I really hope someone will know what box that key fits into."

"Me too, Elena, me too. Especially now that Mason has suddenly gotten tight-lipped about everything. He does have the right against self incrimination and to be represented by counsel. And lord knows he can hire the best attorneys in the country but Brady says he's now saying he confessed under duress. You know Brady as well as I do, he'd never do anything to jeopardize a conviction."

"We may be holding part of huge piece of evidence or we may be holding nothing significant at all. I just have to believe that key was sent to you for a reason. If it's something incidental and insignificant, why bother?"

"I agree but until we get a break, there's really nothing the police or us for that matter can do."

"God, Damon, it's so frustrating," she says, shaking head in dismay.

"Hey, I know this is really personal for you." Pulling her into my arms, I give her a hug, holding her close for a few moments. Once I let go, I spin her around. Placing a hand on each of her shoulders, I start to massage them gently. "You have knots all over back here. I think we both could use some R and R when this is all over, don't you?"

"That feels good," she purrs, dropping her head back onto one of my shoulders. "And yes, Damon, I would love some R & R when this is all over."

As soon as I finish kneading her tense muscles, I steal a kiss from her lips. When a yawn threatens to escape, I have to pull away.

"You look tired, Damon. Are you ready to go home?"

"I am tired tonight. Home, home, or home with you?" I ask, immediately feeling a chill knowing that I almost died there. Even though I was home for dad's welcome home party, I still feel uneasy about it.

"Home with me of course," she says softly. I can tell by the way she's eyeing me that she knows exactly why I'm hesitant to go back there right now.

"Let's go then." Offering her my hand, we walk into the main slew of offices. Separating for a few minutes, we each walk into our own to turn out lights and power down our computers. As soon as I finish, I walk towards her office. Sitting behind her desk, she looks up when I rap on her door frame. Just as she starts to stand up, her cellphone rights. Raising her index finger, she signals me to wait a moment while she answers it.

"Are you kidding me?" she gasps, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. "Oh my God, yes, we'll be there as soon as we can. Bye now." Clicking off the phone, she looks at me with tears in her eyes. Flying out of her chair, she grabs my hand, tugging me along with her.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see. it's the best news ever," she squeals excitedly. As soon as we get to her car, she tosses me the keys. "You're driving."


'Even a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers at night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright'

I've always loved that line. It's from the 1941 movie, 'The Wolfman' starring Lon Chaney Jr. And it's those old black and white horror movies that I love.

Thank you, Eva. I love and appreciate you more than you know. I can't imagine being here without you.

And a big thanks to all of you who are still with me. It means a lot to me, it really, really does.

Chapter title: 'Light a Fire' by Rachel Taylor.

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Be safe and have a wonderful weekend. Thanks you all again.