Chapter 6

"Really? I just saved your life, so you pull a gun on me?" Damon says. He clenches his jaw at the blonde sheriff as he struggles to breath around the wooden bullet lodged in his left lung.

"You're a vampire," Sheriff Forbes says as though that fact gives her license to kill him. Everything she'd been taught growing up and witnessed as an adult on the council supported that reaction. She should point her gun at Damon's chest and pull the trigger. One wooden bulletin to the heart and Mystic Falls would be rid of one more vampire. She has a dozen reasons to kill him and one not to.

"I'm your friend, Liz."

She stares at Damon as he leans against the tree for support. He cringes in pain from the gunshot that was aimed at her. By one of her own deputies. Because of those girls. Witches is what Damon called them.

"Who were those girls? How could they do that to my men?" Liz asks. She keeps her gun aimed at Damon's chest.

He watches her for moment, noticing the quiver in her arms and the indecision in her eyes. She's on the verge of making a choice, and Damon has to make sure it's the right one.

"It's hard to think straight with a gun pointed at me," he says. "Why don't you put the gun down, and we'll talk about this like non-homicidal people."

"I put this down, and you kill me or the people of this town," Sheriff Forbes says. He can hear the familiar steel in her voice. "How many of my friends have you already killed, Damon?"

"Uh, oh. I'm in trouble now. You've got your Sheriff voice on." He flashes a painful smirk before coughing up a clotted glob of blood. He cringes when he feels the wooden bullet pop out of his lung and into the muscles of his back. Just a bit longer.

"Don't play games with me. Answer the question. How many people have you killed in this town?"

"Less than the two Wonder Twins down there." He motions in the direction of the B & B.

"Who are they?"

"I don't know, but the sound of a gunshot would lead them right to us," Damon lies. Then he offers a nugget of truth. "Judging by the puppet show they just put on with your deputies, they could easily kill us both."

"Then why are we still alive?"

The instant Damon feels the wooden bullet dislodge from his back and fall to the ground, he lurches toward Liz and snatches her gun away. He pins her to a nearby tree, and she yelps before his strong grip tightens around her neck.

"You're alive because I decided to hang around and dissuade those two bratty witches from killing you. And what do I get for my trouble? A gun aimed at me. That's not very polite, Liz."

Unable to answer around his tight grasp, Liz glares back at him and tries to hide her fear. Damon growls at her obstinance before stepping away to release her. Liz rubs her tender throat, confused as to why Damon hasn't killed her yet. He holds up the gun, twirling the trigger around his finger.

"I'm going to hold on to this until I can trust you not to do anything stupid." He strolls back toward the B & B. "Come on, let's go."

"What are you doing? You're just going to let me go?"

He stops, chuckling at the suggestion, and looks at her over his shoulder. "Sorry Sheriff, no can do. You're coming with me to my car and then to the boarding house."

"And why would I go anywhere with a vampire?" The venom in her tone spurs Damon to twist around and sneer at her. His playful smirk is gone, replaced by a nasty snarl and his dangerous, ice-blue gaze. Sheriff Forbes stumbles back from the vampire.

"I'm happy to drag you kicking and screaming if you prefer. Or you can come willingly and perhaps get a few answers to all the questions you have bouncing around in that pretty little head of yours. It's your choice, Liz."

She eyes him with a trembling breath as she considers her options. She could make a run for it, but judging by the speed Damon exhibited earlier, there's no way she could outrun him. She'll have to play along until she finds an opportunity to escape. Liz offers a small nod to the vampire, and he flashes a crooked smile.

"Good choice."

At first, they walk in silence, which gives Damon a chance to ponder their current situation. Within minutes of meeting them, the Wonder Twins managed to threaten one of Damon's only friends, outed him to said friend, and shot him. He really dislikes Caroline's kids. And, honestly, he blames the blonde for her children's terrible behavior. Parents are supposed to teach their kids manners and that killing people is bad. Very bad. Only bad people kill good people. Case in point: Damon. He enjoys killing people, good or bad. Thus, he's accepted his own wickedness. But Caroline knows better. Her kids should also know better, but they didn't seem to care about the dozen lives cut short. In fact, they didn't seem to care about anything, except killing Katherine. They definitely want the she-devil dead. That is the only good news so far.

"Why are we going back? You said the witches can kill you," Liz asks.

"Because they are long gone. Attempting to kill you was a ploy to keep me distracted so they could leave without me following them," Damon says as he shuffles around a large bush.

"Why did you save me? You know my deputies carry wooden bullets. That bullet could've easily ended up in your heart." She watches him out of the corner of her eye as he shrugs.

"I don't always think things through. Maybe if I had, I would have let the witches kill you, or better yet, never interfered to begin with. I could have stayed in my car while they interrogated you. Probably would have gotten better intel."

Damon waggles his eyebrows at the sheriff, and she can't help the small smile on her lips. Typical Damon, pretending not to care, but she's seen him do more for this town than anyone else on the council. And there lies the problem. He's a vampire on the council. How did that happen?

"You're on the council."

Damon flashes a smug smile. "Actually, I'm leading the council."

"Why? I've seen you kill other vampires."

"Because they got in my way. And their deaths served to garner trust from you and the rest of the council. Let's face it. You guys suck at vampire hunting."

"Obviously, since we've had one living amongst us for months now." Liz throws her hands up into the air with a huff. It made sense, if only she'd paid attention. Stefan and Damon Salvatore had arrived at the same time as when all the killings started, causing the council to reform and eventually leading to Logan Fell's death. Twice.

"That reminds me. Why did you turn Logan Fell just to kill him later?" Liz asks.

"I only killed him once. When he shot Stefan," he says. "I certainly didn't turn that douche-nozzle. And I didn't kill him the second time either. Although, I was planning to take his head off when he kidnapped Caroline. Picked out the perfect tire iron and everything."

"You said he overpowered you. That's how he escaped you that night," she says. "That was a lie, wasn't it?"

"Yep, he suddenly proved useful alive, so I opted to postpone his execution. But of course, someone else had to spoil my plans and kill Logan. I'm pretty sure it was Ric. I'll have to remember to ask next time I see him."

"Ric?"

"The teacher, Alaric Sultzman."

"He's a vampire too?"

Damon laughs at the absurd image of vampire Ric. Never in a million years would Alaric Sultzman turn vampire. "No, not Ric. He hates vampires. He's Mystic Falls' very own Van Helsing. And lucky for us, not the Hugh Jackman version that runs around in a loincloth."

"But he's your friend. I've seen you two hanging out at the grill."

"I don't have any friends, Liz. You know that."

She frowns at him. Didn't he just claim to be her friend? Or was that a lie to convince her to drop the gun? If so, why is he going out of his way to save her from the witches and actively not killing her now.

"If you didn't turn Logan, who did?" Liz asks, getting back on track.

"Another vampire. Don't worry she's dead now." Damon flashes a crooked smile as they finally break through the tree line. The B & B is just across a short open field.

"How many vampires are in town?"

"Right, now? I'd say…around five, that I know of," he says. "But there's only one vampire you have to worry about, and it seems the Wonder Twins are determined to solve that little problem for us."

"Katherine Pierce?"

"Yep, the wicked bitch of the South."

"What does she look like? I can send out a BOLO for her." Sheriff Forbes pulls out her notepad and pen, and Damon glances at her as they walk side-by-side through the field.

"She looks like Elena Gilbert," he says.

"Like the same coloring, height, what?"

"Like from head to toe, she's Elena's exact duplicate. Her doppelgänger. Or maybe it's the other way around since Katherine came first. Either way, don't bother with the BOLO. You don't want to get caught between those two powerful witches and a 500-year-old vampire. That'd be like trying to stop Godzilla from fighting Mothra. Just let them at it and run for the hills."

"Yeah, and what about all the innocent people caught in the crossfire?"

"They yell 'Godzilla!' and run." He waves his hands in air and chuckles.

She huffs at him. "It's not funny, Damon. I'm supposed to protect the people of this town, and instead, I've been palling around with one of its terrorizers. I'm the worst sheriff this town has ever seen."

"You're not that bad. I personally think you're doing a bang-up job given the circumstances."

"Says the vampire. It sounds like this town is overrun with vampires, doppelgängers , and now witches. Yeah, I'm doing just great."

"Don't forget about the werewolf," he says. Damon glances around when they step into the backyard of the B & B.

Liz slaps her hand against her forehead and sighs. "Werewolf? Please tell me you're joking."

"Nope. That's a new one for me too. I spent all day yesterday trying to figure out how to kill him." He strolls over to a nearby dead woman and examines the vampire bites on her shoulder.

"Did you figure it out?" Liz frowns at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm almost certain he'll die if I rip out his heart, most everything will. And I'm checking out these bite marks. One, two, three people have them, but they are all partially healed." He motions to three of the dozen victims lying around the backyard.

"Those three died of broken necks, not vampire bites," she says.

"Right, so I'm betting Katherine was staying here and compelled these three to let her feed."

"What about these two?" Sheriff Forbes points to two victims with their throats ripped out. "They didn't die of broken necks."

"Nope, a vampire got them. But that doesn't really make any sense."

"What do you mean?"

"The witches said that all these people attacked them when Katherine recognized them as dangerous. They were obviously compelled to kamikaze any threats so that Katherine could escape. As powerful as Jo and Lizzie are, they could've easily broken the necks of everyone here. But those two were killed by a vampire. Katherine wouldn't have wasted time on them, and she would've been fully feed by her donors. So who killed these two?"

"You know, you would make a great detective," Liz says as she checks on her unconscious deputies.

"Are you offering me a job, Sheriff Forbes?"

"No," she says. "No vampires on the police force. That's a pretty hard rule."

"That's discrimination, you know."

"So, sue me." She rolls her eyes at Damon's half-smile. Shaking her head, Liz almost forgets that he's the enemy. Almost. Whether she likes it or not, Damon is a monster. A vampire. She can't help but wonder how long he's been one. Did he turn before joining the council or, like Logan Fell, was he a casualty in this supernatural war?

"How long have you been a vampire, Damon?"

"That's a rude question. I would never ask your age." He has no desire to relive his past with Liz Forbes, but her next question throws him for a loop.

"Why are you here in Mystic Falls?"

Damon turns toward his car as he searches for an answer. Why is he here? Why does he deal with all this chaotic trouble? He could leave, right now, and never look back. Yet the thought never occurred to him when Katherine emerged from her hidey-hole, wolf man Lockwood arrived, Caroline's look-a-like showed up, nor when the witchy twins from the Shinning pointed their evil fingers at Liz. So the answer is simple.

"Because I want to be here." He motions for her to follow him to the car. "Besides, all my friends are here."

"You don't have any friends, Damon." Liz flashes a teasing smile before radioing in a couple ambulances for her fallen comrades.

"Exactly."

"So it has nothing to do with Elena Gilbert and the fact that she's dating your little brother?" Liz climbs into the car with Damon. "Why am I coming with you instead of staying to clean up this mess?"

"Because I need more information. And I think you are the key to getting a certain blonde time traveler to talk." He offers Liz her gun. "You only get this back if you promise not to shoot me with it."

"Fine," she says and reaches for the weapon. He pulls is back before she can touch it.

"Should we pinky swear on it?"

"I'm starting to reconsider."

He smirks before handing the gun back, and Sheriff Forbes re-holsters it. Damon speeds around the bed and breakfast and pulls out onto the small town road. Liz wastes no time in returning to the conversation at hand.

"Did you say time traveler?"

Before Damon can answer, his phone rings and Stefan's name scrolls across the screen. Casting Liz an annoyed expression, he flips the phone open and greets his little brother with all the enthusiasm he can muster.

"What do you want? I'm busy."

"I want to know about the Caroline-look-alike in our house," Stefan says.

"What about her?" Damon shrugs even though Stefan can't see him, then he grins at Stefan's exasperated tone.

"I want to know who she is and why she looks like Caroline."

"Ask her. I've got my own thing going on right now, Stefan."

"She just keeps reciting this ridiculous lie about being from the future. No matter what I do, she won't tell the truth."

"What do you mean? What've you been doing to her?" An odd concern for the blonde creeps into Damon's chest, and he frowns at the alien sensation.

"She's trapped in my room by sunlight. I've been using that to my advantage," Stefan says. Damon pushes the gas pedal to the floor.

"Did you ever think she might be telling the truth?"

"Damon, watch out," Liz says as she cringes in the passenger seat.

Stefan hears her voice through the phone."Is Sheriff Forbes with you?"

"Yep, and we're on our way to the boarding house, so you might want to put a hold on torturing her daughter until we get there."

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