Chapter 8
Damon woke up in the dark. Nothing new there, he was used to sleeping all day and partying all night. For a second though he couldn't figure out why he was awake or where he was. He sensed that it was still daylight because his body hadn't healed itself yet.
His burns were mostly healed, but his hands still tingled with the reminder of the close call he'd had. Hell. He hadn't been caught in daylight since a year and a half ago when he had been bitten by a werewolf and instead of withering away and losing his mind like Rose, he'd chosen to take off his ring and stand under the direct sunlight.
Stefan had stopped him then. Bella had stopped him now. A small part of him, that sounded pathetically like Giuseppe wondered if he'd be successful the third time.
When the cell phone in his pocket rang again, he realized what had pulled him out of sleep. Grabbing the damn thing, he checked caller ID, groaned loudly and coughed to get his poker voice on.
"What is it, Elena?"
"Damon where are you?"
The pouty voice reached him. Elena Gilbert, Petrova doppelganger number 3 as far as they knew had a bumpy ride recently. After she'd been turned against her will (although a persistent little voice inside him told him that was a lie) she had become sired to him for some weird reason that made little sense if you thought about it. She had finally chosen him over her previous boyfriend, her own brother no less, but when he broke the sire bond she chose Stefan.
Like Katherine and earlier Tatia had done once upon a time, Elena was a master player of the game called 'screw two brothers and let them fight it out'. It was strange but his close call with his maker, Damon Salvatore had woken up from a deep mental sleep. He could now see clearly just how alike Elena and Katherine were and for once he chose to listen to one of his inside voices that told him to stay away from any doppelgangers.
At least for a week.
"None of your business, how is my brother treating you?"
Elena was quiet. Damon knew the trick because he had used it many a times. If you were quiet enough then the caller could pick sounds in the line and track you down. Kind of a vampire GPS. So he began tapping his feet as if he was tap dancing. He danced his way to a dark burgundy wall that had photos of a man in a baseball jersey in a field with other men. Next to the pictures was a white, brand new baseball with signatures from players. A note was propped next to it.
'Bella, give it to Charlie. Maybe it will soften him a bit. Love , Phil'
To add to the noise, Damon picked the ball and began tossing it hand to hand in a different rhythm of the one he tapped. The combo worked because soon enough Elena groaned
"I need you back here Damon. I miss you"
She trailed. Tightening a fist around the signed baseball Damon grounded his teeth.
"You've got plenty of people there Elena. You get to be friends with your ancestor"
Damon said in what once would be a sing song voice but now came harsher.
"My ancestor is missing you too"
Elena said tightly. Damon threw the ball to the wall biting back a groan when the signed baseball bounced back and landed in his forehead. So that's why Elena was truly calling. She was jealous over Katherine who had been tricked by her into turning back to human.
"I'm kind of busy here. Is that all you wanted?
Damon asked dismissively knowing fully well he hadn't reacted to Katherine missing him and that it'd burn inside Elena. The thought of her being in Stefan's bed but thinking about him was entirely pleasing.
Without waiting for a reply Damon hung up the phone and put the baseball back where he found it dismissing Elena and the phone call completely. Who was this Phil guy? A boyfriend? Is that why he wanted to get in her father's good graces?
Then again that didn't add up. Not with what she'd told him and what he'd observed even in his half dead haze.
Walking to the pale yellow door that contracted harmonically from the rest of the room Damon opened it slightly and peeped out. He could barely see the large living room separated by the kitchen by a long bar and there was Bella with the long hair pinned up messily, scrubbing down the counters. There was a frown set in her eyebrows and her lips would move slightly as she sang to the radio while she cleaned. The bright yellow gloves on her hands gave her a homely look.
She'd surprised him. She wasn't on vervain but couldn't be compelled and that was a challenge in itself. She intrigued him. And he wanted her. Wanted the taste of her in his mouth and the feel of his body inside hers. Everything in him itched to step through the sunlight if he had to, toss her onto that damned leather sofa and have her. Instincts he'd pushed aside ever since he agreed to feed from bags when mystic falls became too suspicious and then held onto to please Elena rose to the surface and shook him to the bone. Bella Swan had thrown him. Hard.
The pain in her eyes as she scolded him about his suicide told him that either someone she loved that done this same act or that she'd thought about it herself.
The sparkling scar in her wrist told him she had actually met a breed of his kind before and lived to tell the tale.
The lack of self preservation told him that she had spent too much time near some kind of supernatural before. Long enough that she took the danger of it for granted.
The airport tags on her bags told him she'd been in Italy right before coming here. That coincided with the mark she had and last but not least
The ring on her right thumb told him she had found his ring outside. Maybe she didn't put it together or maybe he freaked her out too much earlier but she held his 'get out to sun free' card.
All that should have him killing her and stealing his ring back before he tossed her body to a bad part of town. Why did that thought hurt him harder than a stake in the heart then?
