Chapter Sixty-Three: Search And Destroy - Part 2

Grab your gun, time to go to hell
I'm no hero guilty as charged
Found my faith, living in sin
I'm no Jesus but neither are you my friend
I'm a whore above the broken dreams
This simple answer is never what it seems
A million little pieces we've broken into
A million little pieces I've stolen from you
Search and destroy, search and destroy
Sold my soul, from heaven into hell
Sick as my secrets, but never gonna tell
Lock the blame, burden of my dreams
Cause of faith in a blessing I believe
~30 Seconds to Mars

Nilin became much more popular those following days at the boarding house. Someone was always visiting her. Elena, Bonnie, Magnolia and Shellie too, they all took turns entertaining Nilin. She knew what they were doing, they were trying to keep her distracted. Everyone was ready for her to snap, so they kept her mind busy and focused on something else.

She also knew who was behind this, Damon. He kept a watchful eye on her constantly now. Only leaving her alone when there were at least two other people in the room. She felt like her mind might explode from all the social stimulation she was getting. Nilin really just wanted her alone time.

That day she was experiencing some rare quiet time as she sat in the Salvatore's library. Elena had managed to snag Nilly's laptop from the house, so she was curled on the couch watching a movie. She was an hour into it, reaching her favorite part when she was interrupted by Damon barging into the room.

Nilly let out a groan and paused her movie.

"Nice to see you too," Damon grinned as he walked over to her. He leaned on the couch behind her, peering over her shoulder. "What are you watching?" he clicked close to her ear.

"Beauty and the Beast," she said annoyed and a little self-conscious as Damon's fingers brushed across the back of her neck. He hmmed at her and she felt her cheeks get red. "It was my favorite movie growing up, be nice." Nilin defended.

Damon raised his hands. "Hey, I'm not judging. It happens to be one of my favorites too," he said with a smirk. "Though it was preformed in a playhouse by French actors the last time I saw it."

Nilin rolled her eyes at him and turned back to her laptop screen. "Yeah, okay," she said, not believing him one bit.

"It's true. 'For who could ever learn to love a beast,' and all that good stuff," he quoted, still grinning. Suddenly Damon was next to her, intoxicatingly close. His breath lingered on her neck.

She cleared her throat and tried to remember how to breathe. "What are you doing?" she asked with a smile.

Damon just played with the tips of her hair. "Nothing," he purred. "Just watching a movie. Why, is there something else you like to do?" he asked her.

She was sure he could hear her heartbeat struggle to regain a normal pace. Nilly shook her head and clicked the play button again. "Nope, I just want to watch my movie in peace," she said, looking back to the screen. Damon didn't object. She was at the part where the Beast fed breadcrumbs to the birds as Belle watched him. She was beginning to see the man inside the beast.

Nilin couldn't help but compare her beast to Belle's. She knew there was good in Damon. She saw whenever he looked at her, but there's something dark in his eyes. That was what scared her. But here she was, taking refuge in his castle, watching him feed the birds— so to say— and trying everything she could not to let him weasel his way into her heart anymore than he already is.

Epically now, this was not the time for Nilin to become so love sick girl. Having feelings for someone like Damon seemed like the most idiotic idea ever. There literally could not be a dumber thing to do. This was the universe's way of showing how twisted it was. Nilin needed to keep her heart protected, she needed to go for the safer choice.

When it came down to her past history, she should settle down with plain vanilla guys. That would be the right thing to do. But how could she do that when Damon was sitting right next to her? It didn't help that one of his hands was occupied by her hair and his other was inching its way up her thigh.

"Damon," she warned, but her voice was soft and airy.

"Yes?" he asked in his cocky mannerism. She lost all hope of finishing the movie when she felt lips press to the base of her neck. If sent a cocktail of chills and electricity through her body. He kissed her again right under her earlobe and Nilin's eyes shuttered close as she tilted her head back, exposing more of her neck.

His lips traveled up and down her neck and her jaw line before they finally found her lips. Her inner turmoil and the movie was quickly forgotten as she turned her head towards Damon and wrapped an arm around his neck.

Suddenly, her laptop disappeared off of her lap and Nilly found herself pressed flat against the couch, under him. Her hands went to his hair, weaving her fingers through his raven locks and pulling him closer. She felt his hands roam her body, everywhere he touched left her skin hot and tingling. Damon continued his attack on her lips and Nilin couldn't seem to remember why she was worried about letting him in.

She was pretty sure Belle's beast couldn't kiss like this.

Just as things were reaching an explosive level, Nilly was thrown back into the real world with the sound of a phone going off. Damon didn't seem to hear it though as he kissed Nilin's neck again. "It might be important," she said her voice raspy and out of breath.

He groaned into the crook of her neck sending delicious shivers through her body. Then he sat up with a frustrated huff and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "What?" Damon barked as he answered it. Nilly untangled herself from him and sat up too. She still felt hot and tingly all over and tried to calm her body down.

"What do you mean? How could you—" Damon went silent. Nilin's eyes suddenly shot up to Damon's face. It was hard, his eyes far away. "Yeah, yeah just get her here," he said before hanging up and shoving the phone back into his pocket.

"What happened? Who was that?" Nilin asked. Damon turned towards her, the look in his eyes made her feel like she had just been doused in ice water. "Damon…"

"It's nothing, everything's fine, Nilin," he told her slowly.

"No it's not, if it was fine you would have told me who you were talking to," she shot up from the sofa.

Damon seemed to eye her, choosing his words carefully. "I was on the phone with Stefan," he said. He had told her enough to cause ice to shot through her veins.

Nilin's heart dropped. "Where's Elena?" she asked him.

"Nilin, now before you get all panicky—"

"Too late, Damon. Where is Elena?" she demanded.

"On her way here with Stefan," he told her, placing his hands on her shoulders. Nilin slipped out of his hold. "Is she hurt?" her voice was beginning to get that high alarmed pitch to it. "Was she attacked? Did Christian hurt her, Damon? Did he hurt her?"

He was quiet, watching her intently. Then he looked down, which was a very bad bad sign— Damon Salvatore never broke eye contact. "From what I got from Stefan was that she's okay, but yes, Christian got to her," he finally answered.

Her eyes widen as she sunk back down into the couch. For a moment everything felt disconnected. Her entire body felt numb and there a space in her brain, making it hard to think. Nilin was in shock.

She tried to focus on her breathing; inhale, exhale, inhale. Damon was still taking to her, but there was no way his words were reaching Nilin. She stared at the wood floor and started to count the knots in it. It was a final attempt to keep a hold on everything. That's how she sat, but it didn't last long.

She lost it. Her head dropped into her hands and she starting crying. Nilin was faintly aware of Damon's presence next to her. A hand laid protectively on her knee, he squeezed it trying to soothe her. It was no use. They both knew that.

Nilin grabbed his hand at one point, needing to hold on to it as everything inside of her crumbled down. She must have been hurting him— she was squeezing his fingers so hard— but Damon never said a word. If anything, he just squeezed her hand back harder.

After some time, he nearly whispered, "They're here."

Nilin's head shot up at the sound of the front door opening and closing. She got up off the couch and nearly sprinted downstairs. "Elena?" she called. "Elena!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the house.

"Nilly? I'm here." A voice came from behind her.

Nilin spun around to find her sister standing in the hallway. She ran towards her, hugging her tightly. "Are you okay?" Nilin asked. She pulled back to look at Elena. "Are you?" she asked again, shaking her slightly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Elena swore, but that's when Nilin noticed the split lip and the white bandage on her neck.

Nilly backed up, holding her out at arm's length. "He bit you," she said in disgust. Red flashed in Nilin's vision and her body grew warm as he blood began to boil.

"Nil—" Elena went to say, but Nilly was already stalking off in the direction of the living room. Elena was on her heels, trying to calm her down. "Nilin, hold on. Wait."

"How could you let this happen? I thought you were watching her!" Nilly shouted as she rounded the corner to find Stefan and Damon in the room. Stefan held up his hands, looking like he had just been stabbed by her. "Why weren't you watching? You promised." Nilly pushed.

"It wasn't his fault," Elena said, putting her hand on Nilly's shoulder. "If anything, it was mine."

"If anything it was mine, Elena!" Nilly shouted. "How did this happen?" she demanded, looking at the three of them.

Elena let out a long exasperated sigh. It sounded almost like a groan, which made Nilin eye her. "We were at the Grill; me, Stefan, Caroline and Matt." Elena began to explain. "I went to the bathroom in the back and he was already there waiting for me. He slammed the door closed, pinned me to the wall and, well you know," she motioned to the bandage. "But Stefan pulled him off me before he could do any real damage. Then he vanished."

"Any real damage? He bit you!" Nilly said in disbelief.

"He's done much worse to you. So yeah, any real damage." Elena shouted back. Nilly didn't have anything to say back, she just shook her head. "Why aren't any of you taking this serious?" she looked around at them. "We have to do something!"

Damon had been standing off to the side, watching her rant. Now he spoke up. "What do you suppose we do at this very moment, Nilin?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Nilin dragged her hands down her face, "I- I don't know! Something though, this can't… this can't keep happening," she breathed.

"It won't, not for much longer." Stefan said. "He's getting desperate and sloppy. It's just a matter of time before he runs out of moves."

Nilin turned to look at Stefan. "Christian doesn't run out of moves," she warned.

"Well, he doesn't have the weapons on his side like we do, we'll get him Nil," Elena tried to smile and reassure her.

"At what cost though, Elena?" she asked.

"Nilin—"

"Stefan, take Elena home and make sure she stays there. Please?" Nilly asked, massaging her temples. Elena went to protest, but Nilin stopped her. "Please, Elena. Just please do this for me."

"Fine," Elena said, giving up the fight. Her arms wrapped around Nilin quickly. "Goodnight Nilly," she said before she followed Stefan out of the room.

Then Nilin was left standing there. Her heart was still struggling to get a set tempo. She felt sick to her stomach. The start of a headache was coming on and her hands had an involuntary shake to them. "This has to stop." Nilin stated.

Damon pushed off the wall he was leaning on and walked over to her. He tried to grab her hand but Nilin pulled away from him. In her head she repeated four words—

Process, Accept, Move on.

She was closing in on herself. Nilin feared that if she even looked up at Damon, she would crumble into nothing. So, she pushed him away from her. "Talk to me, Nilin," he said quietly.

Nilin shook her head, looking down at the ground. She repeated the words again, but it felt like she was lying to herself. "I can't," she managed to choke out. Again Damon attempted to get closer to her. She took a step back and bit her bottom lip. "Don't," she whispered. "I'll be in my room." Nilin mumbled before turning on her heel and fleeing.

She didn't know if Damon followed after her or not. Nilin never looked back. Once in her guestroom, she slammed the door and locked it. She slid down the door, and pulled her knees to her chest before she started crying again.

She could feel herself slipping. How could she be so stupid to think that she could hide from Christian? Nilin knew him better than anyone. There was no running. There was no hiding. There was no winning. He had been playing his games for a very long time and he always wins, always. Now Nilin's loved ones were getting hurt and there was nothing she could do about it.

But she new that was a lie, a false statement everyone had been telling her. There was something she could do about it.

Author's Notes:

Things are starting to heat up, what do you think Nilin's going to do about this? Let me know, guys! And have a fabulous week.

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RLS