Hello, my lovely readers. It's time to find out who the mystery man is. Things are about to get even more confusing. So, hold on to your hats. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
Side note: For anyone who is reading my other stories, such as HGD, HBS, The MF Dare Club, TVD Big Brother Edition, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Birds of a Feather, I am trying really hard to find time to get caught up on them. I did not abandon them I promise. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 12: Meeting Mike
It had been a week since Damon, Elena, or Caroline had seen or heard from Caroline's mystery man. The night of the Lockwood party Elena had begged Damon to stay with her. He had felt awkward climbing into bed with the teenage girl but seeing as he had only recently become a man of a hundred and he didn't want to think about the exact number. Spending time with someone his own age had been nice.
"I think the guy Caroline was dancing with was Klaus." Elena whispered into Damon's chest.
Frowning, Damon looked at the ceiling. "Why?"
"Because he was staring at me," Elena replied.
Smiling, Damon peered down at her. "So, you think that every guy who stares at you could potentially be Klaus." He teased.
Mock glaring at him, Elena sat up and grabbed a pillow to hit him with. "You are almost as big of a jerk as Damon Salvatore."
"Well, at least I don't think that perfectly innocent guys, who might want to randomly look at a pretty girl are all powerful, super villainous, ancient vampires." Damon retorted getting smacked in the face by the pillow. He pulled it out of her hands and threw it aside. Grasping Elena by the waist, he flipped her onto her back.
"Hey," Elena gasped. "That's not fair. You're using Damon's strength against me."
"It is fair because I am Damon." Damon argued, pushing her arms above her head gently. "And you're Elena. Only you don't bite people and threaten them all the time. You're warm and kind and you smell good." Inhaling deeply, Damon pressed his face to her neck.
"Um, Damon. Okay. I think we need to stop because I have a boyfriend and you have a girlfriend in your world." Elena protested, trying to push him away, gently.
Looking down at Elena, Damon's lips quirked up. "Yeah, I do. I guess. But I don't know. Do things always have to be hard? I mean I love Care but we fight a lot. And I mean we really fight. Then we break up and then get back together. I think it was because we're just used to being together so that we can't imagine what it would be like to be with anyone else. But then I met you…"
Elena was startled as she stared up at Damon. She had always thought that there was probably another side to Damon other than what she knew but she wasn't sure. She was now beginning to think that this version might not be so different from the one she knew. He was just younger. He hadn't gone through the same events that her Damon had.
On instinct, Elena leaned upward and kissed Damon on the mouth.
Damon responded immediately gathering her closer and pressing his lips against hers fervently. Laying down he allowed his hands to move through her hair and over her body as she opened her mouth.
Several minutes later Damon pulled back. "I think we should get some sleep." He moved to lay down next to Elena and she looked surprised. "Good night, Elena." He whispered closing his eyes.
"Good night, Damon." Elena whispered back.
A week later Damon walked into the Grill to meet his favorite girls. Stefan was still gone. He had said something about going out of the country on the phone. Damon was supposed to keep an eye on Elena. That was fine by him.
Looking around he saw Caroline stand up and begin to wave excitedly. Moving toward the booth that his friends were sitting in Damon saw Elena, who looked frozen to the spot. She had a wide grin on her face but there was something off about it. When Damon rounded the corner he saw why. A man was sitting next to Caroline. When he saw Damon, he smirked rather than smiled.
"Damon," Caroline squealed. "Do you remember the guy from Tyler's party? This is him." She placed a hand on the man's shoulder and smiled proudly.
The man held out a hand to Damon. "Hello, I'm Michael Nikolson. My friends call me Mike." Damon detected an accent when the man spoke.
"You're not from around here are you, Mike?" Damon asked, sitting down next to Elena.
Smiling, Mike looked down and then up again. "You're right. My family is from England. We just moved here recently and Caroline was kind enough to offer to show me around town and introduce me to her friends seeing as I would be quite lost in your little town and I've not been able to aquatint myself with many of the people of the town."
"Yeah, it would be a shame if we didn't show you some good old fashioned southern charm, wouldn't it?" Damon asked. He knew he was probably pushing the thing a bit far. It was probably not good to bait someone who might be a deranged, homicidal vampire.
"Yes, well." Mike steepled his fingers. "We should get something to eat, shall we?"
"Sure," Damon replied. He watched as Mike, if that was his real name, ordered a rare burger and a bottle of wine.
"Mike," Caroline protested. "Lena and I are underage. I don't want my Mom to find out and ground me."
Shaking his head, Mike wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You just leave all that to me, sweetheart. I will see to it that no one speaks a word of your underage drinking habits."
Caroline grinned as she turned to look at Damon and Elena. "He is awesome." She mouthed to her friends while Mike watched the waiter bring them the bottle.
"So, Mike how old are you that you can purchase wine?" Damon interrogated the other man.
"Hmm, about nine hundred this Spring." Mike replied without hesitation.
"What?" Damon and Elena exclaimed at the same time, looking from Mike to each other. "Are you saying you're a vampire?" Elena asked, quietly.
"Of course," Mike retorted, opening the wine bottle and picking up Caroline's glass to fill. "I was turned and then left by a vampire. I had to find my way through the new life I had been given." Lifting his gaze to Damon as he poured wine into Elena's glass, his blue eyes glittered. "Caroline tells me that you have recently found yourself living the life of the undead."
Sucking in a deep breath Damon turned his head to glower at Caroline. Caroline's cheeks turned pink. "What?" Wriggling in her seat she folded her arms over her chest defensively. "Mike was telling me about what happened to him and I thought it would make him feel better."
"I think what Caroline means to say," Mike said, picking up his glass of wine and examining the contents of the glass, "Is that she wanted me to feel included. I actually wanted to thank both of you, Elena and Damon, for allowing me to invade your night with your friend unannounced. However, I must be off so you may have Miss Forbes all to yourselves." Getting up Mike took Caroline's hand and kissed it gently. "Caroline, thank you for a lovely night. I hope to do it again soon."
Glaring at Damon and Elena, Caroline jumped to her feet. "Mike, wait." She hurried off to talk to him. Damon strained his hearing as Elena picked up her glass of wine. Placing a restraining hand down on Elena's arm he stopped her from taking a sip.
"Hey, Mike," Caroline was saying. "I'm sorry about my friends. They're just over protective sometimes. Anyway, there is going to be a Halloween party at Matt Donavon's house and I thought we could go together?"
"It would be my pleasure." Mike replied his accent deepening considerably.
Damon sighed, sitting back in his seat as Mike left. Caroline came back to the table. "Thanks, guys, for being so cool." Caroline commented sarcastically with a scowl as she sat back down.
"I think I was pretty laid back all due considering the fact that you don't know anything about this guy and you invited him to have dinner with us. Did you forget that Klaus is out there somewhere? How did you know that Mike isn't really Klaus?" Damon growled.
"Damon," Elena snapped. "Leave Caroline alone. She doesn't know anything."
"Elena, do you think that Mike is Klaus?" Caroline demanded. "Because if you do you're wrong. He is the sweetest guy, um, vampire, that I have ever met. I cannot believe that you guys would accuse him of being some crazed vampire who would want to hurt you, Lena. That is so unfair."
"We're sorry, Care, but Damon's right, how long have you known this guy?" Elena looked concerned which only added to Caroline's anger.
"This is stupid." Caroline snapped and got up. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Sighing Elena leaned back into her chair. "Well, that went well."
"Yup," Damon responded, staring at the table.
"So, party tomorrow?" Elena questioned.
"Party tomorrow." Damon nodded.
Twenty-four hours later:
"Damon, I think I'm going to be sick." Elena moaned, looking at the body of the young man who they just met an hour ago. Moving through the crowd there were more bodies. They were all drained of blood. "Oh, God." Elena said, looking down at them. "How did this happen?"
Stepping over a body, Damon scanned the crowd. They had been trying to look for Caroline for most of the night. "Caroline," He called out, no longer caring who heard him.
"Caroline!" Elena shouted. There were too many dead people at this party. Even Matt was missing and Elena couldn't bear to look down and see if one of the faces would be that of her lifelong friend.
"Caroline!" Damon shouted again beginning to feel nervous. "Damn it. Where is she?" Then he heard her scream. The sound was coming from behind him. He grabbed Elena and sped in the direction of the noise.
When they got to the backyard a tall vampire was wrestling with Caroline on the ground. He had a stake in his hand. Before Damon could move to stop the action, Mike was there. He held a sword and stepped behind the other vampire. Swinging the sword with expert precision, he beheaded the other vampire. The head dropped to the ground and Mike gathered a sobbing Caroline into his arms. "You're okay now. You're alright. You're safe, love." He whispered into her hair, lying his head on top of hers.
"What happened?" Damon demanded.
"I don't know," Caroline told him, calming down but still sniffling. "One minute I'm talking to friends and then that vampire dragged me out here. I thought he was going to kill. Like kill me kill me. Forever dead." Turning back to Mike, she flung herself back into his arms. "Oh, Mike, if you hadn't been there he would have killed me. He was so strong. He was way too strong, even for a vampire."
"I know. He was quite powerful. If I hadn't been able to sneak up on him I'm sure he really would have killed you and I don't know what I would have done." Mike stroked Caroline's hair out of her face.
"Did you know him?" Elena asked, peering at Mike suspiciously.
"Yes, Elena, yes I did." Frowning as if he were reliving a bad memory Mike looked down at the head of the vampire. "That was my sire, Nicklaus Mikaelson."
"Your sire was Klaus." Caroline gasped.
"Yes," Mike said bitterly. "I was one of the many vampires he turned over the years and then left to find their way. I always hoped I would see the bastard again so I could revenge myself." He glared down at the head of the vampire. "I'm quite lucky he wasn't paying attention otherwise we would all be dead."
Damon looked at Elena whose eyes were filling with tears. "It's over." She said beginning to smile. "It's over." The tears began to run down her cheeks.
Damon smiled, "Yeah, I guess it is." He wrapped an arm around her. "Should we go celebrate?"
"Yes!" Elena and Caroline cheered.
The girls began to walk away while Damon looked at Mike. "Well, that puts an end to one problem we've been having." He told Mike, who grinned.
"Yes, I do believe we can all think of this as new chapter in our lives now that nightmare is over." Mike said with a low chuckle. "You know, Damon, I could teach you a lot about being a vampire. I'm sure you would like to return to your world but in the meantime you might want to make the best of things. I know it must be lonely feeling like your life has been turned upside down and I know what it's like to be lonely. I've been lonely for quite some time now."
"Yeah, that would be really nice." Damon said with a wide grin. "By the way, I've never seen a guy wear so many necklaces before. If you don't mind my saying so, since we're going to be friends and all."
Mike grinned. "Oh, these." He fingered the necklaces. "I've had them for quite some time. They're for protection and I like to accessorize," he joked.
"You must be really secure." Damon said ruefully.
"Oh, I think of myself as an alpha male." Mike replied, his blue eyes glowing with glee.
Review and tell me what you think will happen next.
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