PART 1

CHAPTER 2

Rosabella gave a long exhale as she exited the club. Nothing had changed since visiting her relatives in Denver. She still felt nothing when she thought about her parent's deaths, and just like at home she needed to keep up the façade of a teen struggling with loss. She hated doing it at home, here it felt even worse. Rose supposed it wasn't anything new. She had been pretending her entire if she was honest.

Rose was always told that she wasn't an expressive child. She nor anyone else never really gave her any grief chalking it up to her being mature. But she noticed that something was wrong with her when she experienced death for the first time. Jeremy had just turned three and her parents had brought home a puppy for Rose and her siblings. Quickly Jeremy and Elena grew attached. Rose wasn't as attached as her younger siblings, but she was somewhat fond of the animal. It wasn't a month later when she saw the dog being run over by a speeding car.

Both Jeremy and Elena had cried when they were told that the dog had died, and Miranda and Grayson were concerned for their daughter who had seen it all happen. Rose didn't cry nor did she feel remotely sad, but the sudden attention of her parents made her wary. She realized that Elena and Jeremy's reactions were what was considered normal. So, before her parent's concern grew to alarming levels, she suddenly burst out crying a few days later. Her mother immediately consoled her while her father tended to Jeremy and Elena who reacted similarly.

The tears were utterly fake, there was not a smidge of grief in them.

Rose realized after the incident with her dog that she was not normal, and since then she took her cues from Elena and Jeremy. Cried when they cried, laughed when they laughed, got angry when they did too. Eventually, it became second nature to her to play a role other than who she was.

Behind the mask of emotions, she played she truly had a heart of stone.

It wasn't until she was much older that she found out she had a personality disorder that caused her to not perceive emotions as everyone else did. Which was why she constantly tried to find a cure for what she considered a curse. So, when a drunk man came stumbling in her direction, mumbling about 'having a good time' she agreed to go with him and directed him towards the dark alleys where no one would see them. The music of the club was loud even through the walls, and she slowed down her stride.

The man grinned, teeth yellowed, reaching for her. Rose had smiled moving back motioning him to follow, playing at being coy. No one would miss him; he was a bum. Pulling out her gloves she placed them on her hands and then picked up a pipe that had been on the ground.

The next moments were a blur to her. She had raised the pipe above her head and swung it down. She made direct contact with the man's head. He went down but was still alive. Being careful not to get anywhere near him, she bashed his head in. Rose had hoped that she would be distraught with emotions, but the only change in her mind and body was her racing heart. Even after taking someone's life, she still felt nothing.

Rose walked away, finding the nearest homeless person. He was passed out drunk, a few ways off from the dead body. Convincing enough she supposed. Rose smeared the man in the weapon's blood and then threw the weapon next to his body. She then phoned the police from the entrance of the alley and fabricated a lie once they arrived.

She had become a good actor over the years, no one questioned her when she pointed to the passed-out man and exclaimed in a hysterical fit that they had an argument and the man beat the other to death.

Aunt Jenna was called, and she was rushed home.

Rose desperately wanted to feel something...anything.

Rose shot up from the bed gasping for air. Her hand shot to her neck as her memory came rushing back. Entering the bathroom with a stranger was the last thing she remembered. "Look who's awake, feeling hungry yet." A male voice spoke. Rose whipped around recognizing the man as the stranger… who was a vampire. "You're a vampire… what the hell is going on?" Rose remembered the pain she felt when he had bit into her neck. She realized that she no longer had a wound, she wondered how that was possible. The man must have read her mind because he answered her silent question. "Vampire blood has healing properties. I fed you some and your wound closed. It can also turn you, which I did." Rose stared into blank space her mind trying to process his words. "You turned me… Into a vampire…?"

Damon was once again shocked and curious about the girl. So far, she hadn't reacted in the normal way to anything he had done to her so far. "So what? I'm gonna grow fangs and turn into a bat now. Or sparkle in the sun." Damon winced at her Twilight reference. He sat down next to her on the bed, glaring in her direction. "No! God your generation messed up what being a vampire's really about." Damon felt his fangs extend and the veins move under his eyes. Rose's eyes widened as his face changed. Before she realized what she was doing she reached out with her hands cradling his face in her palms.

Damon paused as she touched him, a strange feeling circulating in his chest. The air was tense as she examined his face, he realized he wasn't breathing staying still under her scrutinizing gaze. "What's it like, being a vampire?" Her question was spoken in barely a whisper as if she was afraid to break the atmosphere surrounding them. Damon reached up, covering her hands with his own letting them rest there. He felt a strange connection with this unknown girl. "It's the best. You live forever, you feel everything more intensely, you can make humans do whatever you want… you have super strength and speed…" He trailed off, watching as her chest began to rise and fall. Slowly he moved away from her, leaving the room. He returned a moment later with a silent human.

Rose frowned at the man in his grip. Terror was clear on the man's face, but he was silent. "I compelled him; he can't run away. You need to feed on him, or you'll die." Rose stared at the man again focusing her senses. She heard his heart pounding in his chest and the blood rushing through his body. She stood up walking closer to him, with each step pain erupted from her gums, but she ignored it in favor of grabbing the man and examining his neck. Rose felt her moth water, a strange and strong hunger taking over her. It was the first time she felt an emotion that strongly. The new feeling gave her a rush like nothing she had ever taken before. Rose finally gave in and sank her new fangs into the man's neck. The blood hit her tongue and she moaned. Pleasure. She barely recognized the emotion having felt a dialed-down version of it from sex. But this new experience was strong, and she craved it. Rose felt another knew emotion, disappointment. The man dropped to the floor dead, and all she wanted was more of that feeling.

Damon stared at the girl he had turned. The strange connection he felt intensified the longer he kept his gaze on her. When the man dropped to the ground and she faced him with her mouth covered in blood and a smile spread across her face, Damon moved towards her a matching grin on her face. He cupped her face in his hands. "I'm gonna show you what it's like to be a vampire, what it's like to be me."

Rose followed Damon into the forest. She remembered that it was the back-to-school party and wondered if Vicki would've called her by now. She hadn't checked her phone at all since she had been with Damon the past day learning about what she could do now. The constant hunger she felt was a welcomed change from the emotionless freak she was before. Damon and Rose had fed on a few more people along the way, giving Rose a rush. "What are we doing at the party?" She asked, pushing leaves away as they walked. Damon smirked back at her, "Finding prey, to make my brother's life hell." Rose had been told about Stefan, Damon's brother, and about their current hate/love relationship. Rose sighed, blowing out air. "You're being petty you realize that right." It was more of a statement than a question. Rose ignored Damon as he glared back at her. "Just saying."

The crunch of leaves made her pause, the sound of a heart beating reaching her ears. Suddenly fog rolled in, Rose looked around her confused when the mist curled around the area of the forest they stood in and no further. Vicki came into view and Damon rushed to her, but Rose sped in front of him. Vicki screamed falling back on the ground. "Rose! What the hell is going on!?" Rose sighed turning around and grabbing Vicki's throat and lifting her off the ground. "Be quiet and standstill." Rose had figured out compulsion easy enough. "What are you doing?" Damon asked. Rose sighed again, throwing up her arms. "I don't know. She's my best friend." Her voice was even and didn't portray any emotions. "So," Damon shrugged. "She's also food. Can't you smell the blood? Hear how it's moving under her skin…"

Rose felt her face change, the hunger taking her over. She lunged at Vicki tearing into her neck. Damon joined her on the other side. She pulled away watching Vicki fall to the ground unconscious. She went to attack her again, but Damon pulled her back. "No, we're leaving her alive. There's a plan remember." Calming down, Rose glanced at Vicki once more before she sped away, Damon following her.

When they made it back to the motel Rose suddenly burst out laughing. Damon frowned at her, hitting her lightly on her head. "You're not a supervillain." Rose glared at him, before smiling. "That's the first time I've laughed, genuinely laughed."

Rose felt happy for the first time in her life.

She also felt hungry.

"The sun's gonna be up in a few, I'll try to get you a daylight ring soon. For now, you'll have to stay here." The girl nodded and made her way to the shower.

Damon smiled as the door closed. Rose was different than anyone else, and on top of everything else, she was Elena's older sister. She was as messed up as he was. He finally had someone that could understand him and the choices he made.

Damon frowned suddenly, the strange connection he felt with her was still there, almost as if she was a part of him. He had feared that she was sired to him, but when he had ordered her to do something she refused and never did it. He wondered if there was something more to it, but pushed it to the back of his mind focusing on visiting his brother.