I have enjoyed ya'lls reviews so much, and I really am writing as fast as I can to keep ya'll as happy with me as I am with all your wonderful feedback!
Present chapters aren't as fun for me lol, especially knowing what's coming up in the past, but they are still crucial to the story, so as usual, I hope ya'll enjoy :)
Present Day
"I shouldn't have come with you," Elena sighed, for the fifth time in the past half hour, "Stefan will be angry when he wakes up."
"And this matters, why?" Damon asked, as his speedometer hit ninety.
"I don't know," she admitted honestly.
To be truthful, she didn't owe Stefan anything. Everything she'd known about him was a lie, and her life was turning upside down.
Or maybe inside out.
Nothing was as it was supposed to be, and she really didn't know how to wrap her mind around it.
But being around Damon made it easier.
Her heart calmed with a sense of rightness that she didn't understand, but had decided to trust.
Damon turned off the main highway, slowing down, finally.
He still hadn't told her where they were going.
"So, did you plan on letting me know where we were heading, or was that supposed to be a surprise?" She asked snarkily.
Quiet laughter filled the car, "Nice to see that the time change hasn't affected your impatience."
"It's not impatience," she defended, "It's curiosity...and survival."
The thicket of woods around them grew more dense, as Damon shot her a glance.
"You're safe with me, remember? I wouldn't lie to you about that."
"Then tell me where we're going," she pushed, and Damon sighed, pulling the car to a halt, "We're here."
Elena blinked, then turned to look out the window.
Nothing about the place seemed all that special.
"And here is where, exactly?"
Damon parked the car, and motioned over the dash.
"Just out there is a system of tunnels. They run under the entire city. If they are still intact, there is a place within them that I would like to show you."
Elena sighed, staring where he'd pointed.
She'd heard about the tunnels, but had never had the chance to explore them.
"Do you trust me?" Damon asked quietly, his eyes still on her.
She met his gaze.
"I don't know."
He nodded, "Will you come with me?"
She hesitated, "Can I trust you?"
"Of course," he told her immediately.
She took a breath, "Fine. But we come back as soon as I say so."
He smirked, "Whatever you wish, darling."
Damon watched as his doe eyed beauty jumped from her seat, and shut the car door, before crossing her arms and walking to the front of the car.
He smiled at her restlessness, before joining her.
"The entrance is in a clearing, just past this line of trees," he told her, reaching for her hand, to lead her.
She flinched as his fingers touched hers, but relaxed as they interlaced, and Damon pulled her forward.
She didn't speak as they walked, and neither did he.
Which allowed plenty of his concentration to explore other venues.
Like the way the belt of her coat hugged her tiny waist.
Or how her knee-high boots made her legs seem even longer, despite the tights that covered them.
He laughed to himself.
It was Elena. His Elena.
She could have been wearing dirty rags, and she still would have taken his breath away.
Their shoes crunched through the dry leaves as they walked.
Damon didn't miss how the sun trailed through the top of the trees, which rustled occasionally with the autumn wind, or the way it's light reflected off Elena's hair, giving the brown locks a reddish gleam.
She tucked a strand behind her ear, with the hand he wasn't holding.
She seemed to notice his eyes on her then.
"What?" She asked.
Damon just shook his head.
They'd arrived at the clearing.
"This is it?" She inquired.
Damon nodded, looking around, "If memory serves, there should a rock formation just over...ah ha. It is here."
He released her hand to remove the bramble and overgrowth.
"It looks like a lump of dirt," Elena eyed the raised ground doubtfully.
Damon chuckled, "Just wait."
Once the path was cleared, Damon straightened, and took a step back.
"Watch," he told her confidently.
Raising his hands, he summoned the magic running through him.
With precise concentration, the ground began to shake, and he felt Elena grab one of his arms for balance.
Just before them, the earth gave way, caving some, and a large opening was revealed.
He dropped his hands, and the land settled.
"All clear," he smiled down at Elena, who was still gripping his arm.
"What did you just do?"
He turned, so his entire front was facing her, their chests nearly touching, "I removed the earth that had grown over the entry. It should be safe to descend."
Her eyes were still cautious, but he couldn't change that.
The decision to trust him would have to be hers.
"You first," she commanded, looking down at the entry.
He nodded, "Stay close."
Stefan awoke with a groan to an empty house.
Dammit.
Damon had killed him, and taken Elena.
He was pretty sure that Damon wouldn't hurt her, at least...not fatally anyway.
But her being alone with his brother...it wasn't right.
Damon had made his intentions perfectly clear, and Stefan could not let his brother corrupt Elena a second time.
He couldn't let them both become the monsters they had been.
But Damon had a point.
How would he be able to stop it?
A sharp pain in his lip reminded him that his fangs were still elongated.
He tried to relax, to force himself to return to a normal appearance, but it was hard to do with Elena's blood still trailed down his face.
God, the smell of her.
He'd fought it so hard, for so long.
The desire to drink human blood, especially hers, was a constant thorn in his side.
He'd learned to curb the urge by drinking from animals he could hunt down in the forest, but the hunger for more was always there, burning in the back of his throat.
And Damon had noticed.
Had discovered his weakness quicker than Stefan had himself.
The one downside to becoming immortal, to becoming a vampire, was the control the blood had over you.
If you ever gave into it, it would take over, more important than anything else.
Oh how Damon would just love that.
He'd watch as the blood consumed every thought that Stefan had, just to prove himself the lesser evil.
That's the only reason Damon had taunted him.
Had made Elena bleed in front of him.
He wanted Stefan to lose control.
He wanted Stefan to be a monster.
To be like him.
But he refused to give Damon that satisfaction.
He'd find another way.
He'd stop him.
Somehow.
Dragging himself into the kitchen, Stefan turned on the sink and let the water run for a moment, before splashing some on his face.
With each wash, he felt the blood lust disappear, until finally, he could breathe normally again.
The aching subsided and his fangs fell back into their regular place.
He wiped his face with his shirt, and shook off the rest of the droplets.
Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
He dialed Elena's number quickly, and tensed as it went straight to voicemail.
He tried again.
Voicemail.
So her phone was either off, or she was in a place where she didn't get reception.
Both were plausible, but a flashing image of Damon destroying the device pulled at him.
After all, when it came to Elena, there was nothing his brother wouldn't do.
He'd already proved that.
Stefan sighed.
He had to find them.
And there were only about a million places Damon could have taken her.
He cursed to himself, then walked out of the witch's house, toward his car.
Damon's camaro was gone, as he'd expected, but a car like that was bound to be noticed.
He'd ask around, and hopefully, someone would know something useful.
"Wow," Elena breathed.
Damon's hands held her waist as he came up behind her.
"I thought you'd enjoy this."
They'd walked aimlessly, or so it had seemed, through the tunnels, for a long while.
It had been mostly dark, her phone flashlight as their only source of illumination.
But Damon had seemed to know where he was going, and with her hand secured in his, they'd arrived.
The last tunnel they'd turned down had slanted, leading them further under the ground, where the darkness grew incredibly dense, but as they rounded the final corner, it opened into an oval room, where a blueish light shone from all directions, like a tiny galaxy.
It was considerably warmer in this area, and the air felt moist.
"What is this?" She asked incredulously.
Damon's voice was steady in her ear, "Technically, it's a cavern. It runs under the river, just south of the falls. The lights are glow worms. Though I have to admit, the colony seems to have grown exponentially since my last visit."
Elena shook her head, "This has been under us the entire time?"
Damon nodded, "Easy to miss if you don't know where to look. These creatures were used in a handful of potions, back in our true time, and some local witches had put up protection spells, to preserve the colony. It's probably the reason they are still flourishing now."
"Witches protected the worms so they could use them in their potions?" Elena mused, "Kinda like breeding pigs for slaughter, isn't it?"
"The witches of old knew how to preserve their resources," Damon noted, "A handy tip. But unfortunately, did nothing to preserve their own lives."
Elena looked at him curiously, "Why? What happened to them?"
A smirk crossed Damon's lips, "We did."
Right.
They'd killed witches for the magic.
Elena swallowed, "Try not to seem so pleased with yourself."
Her gaze turned back to the glowing ceiling, but she had a feeling Damon had just rolled his eyes at her.
"Do you get off on such morality?" He teased.
She ignored him.
"I suppose it's to be expected," he allowed, "Being raised in this time...and succumbing to Stefan's influence."
Now it was her eyes that rolled.
"Stefan has nothing to do with my choices," she told him, "It's being a normal human, to not want to kill."
Damon laughed darkly, the sound echoing off the cavern walls, "Oh, my sweet, that's where you are wrong. The nature of humanity is cruel. It is our instinct to kill. Just watch your news occasionally. It happens every day."
"That doesn't make it right," she argued, facing him.
"The idea of right and wrong is so limiting," Damon told her, "It's all a matter of perception, my love."
Elena crossed her arms, "You're going to kill again, aren't you?"
Damon eyed her, "If I need to."
She believed him.
Everything in his face, so dimly reflected in the blue light, told her that he was being truthful.
He wouldn't lie to her.
"Why would you?"
He cocked his head, "I would think it obvious."
She bit her lip.
He was talking about her, of course, about whatever this whole deal with the comet was. "How long will the magic you have last?"
Damon stepped forward, "It depends on how often I find the need to use it."
Elena felt her heart jump as his body came within a painful proximity of her own.
But true to his word, he didn't reach for her.
"So don't use."
He chuckled, "You speak as if that were possible. With everything that is about to happen, I need to be strong. I need to be ready."
Slow enough for her to pull away if she wanted, he reached for her hand.
As their fingers laced together, he swallowed, "I can't lose you, Elena. I won't take the risk. No matter how many witches I have to drain, I will make you safe. And I will have you back."
She shuddered at his words, but couldn't help leaning into his chest.
"I wish you wouldn't."
His arms wrapped around her, "I know."
Once again, she felt the necklace at her throat heat up, but ignored it.
Who cares where her feelings were coming from.
Present day or five hundred years ago, they are still her emotions.
Her head rose a little with each breath Damon took, and the glowing around them reminded her of stars in some sort of dream world, shining just for them.
"What was I like?" She asked, breaking the silence that had fallen around them.
Damon smiled against the top of her head, where his lips were pressed.
"You were...opinionated," he started, "Passionate, and loyal to a fault. You were stubborn, and even mean at times. You would mull over things for days, but once your mind came to a conclusion, that was that. You knew what you wanted, and let nothing stand in your way of getting it."
His eyes had glazed over in memory, "You were warm," he squeezed her waist, "I could talk to you, or not talk at all, and you would hold me for hours. You loved me. Above all else. And never doubted that my love for you ran just as deep. You were my everything."
Elena took a breath, trying to paint the image that he'd just described into her mind.
And oddly, she could see it.
Could imagine their life, their love, and understood why he would want her back so desperately.
"What would this blood sacrifice require?" She asked.
Damon pulled away some, meeting her gaze, "You'll do it then?"
She swallowed, but nodded, "I want to remember."
Damon's eyes lit, and his lips were against her before she could protest.
The kiss was hard, but short, Damon's excitement winning out.
"The sooner we do this, the better," he told her.
She looked around, "So let's do it."
He shook his head, "Not here, darling. The cabin. I have everything that I need there."
Elena looked down, and grabbed his hand.
"Then let's go there."
Another smile crossed his face, and she couldn't help but return it.
"I love you, Elainiana," he kissed her forehead, "Truly I do."
Woot Woot.
Sooo will Elena ever remember?
And how far is Stefan willing to go to stop Damon?
All reviews are appreciated! ;)