PART 1

CHAPTER 4

For reader "Only reviewer" ,Irina Antonenko as Rosabella Gilbert

Damon smirked back at Rose as she tried to walk as silently as he did. He shook off the glare she sent him as Damon walked through the forest without crunching branches as they went. Rose was doing well enough that the couple camping didn't notice her. Rose honed her senses focusing on her hearing. She heard the couple kissing and not long after the man began unzipping the tent.

Damon was swift, using his vampire speed to grab the man covering his mouth and tearing into his throat in one clean motion. Damon impaled the man on the tree branches above the tent.

"I knew it. I told you it was going to rain!" Rose stalked the woman as she climbed out of her tent, flashlight in her hand. Confusion was clear on the woman's face, she turned around pointing the light to the tent. The scream ripped from her throat, seeming louder to Rose with her enhanced senses. The woman began running to her car, banging at the door to open.

Rose smirked as Damon opened the car, the sound clear in the empty night. They froze, looking around. Rose waited with bated breath, before rushing towards the woman grabbing her hair and exposing her neck. Rose didn't bother with being gentle as she fed on the woman.

Rose reveled in the pleasure of feeding to kill. It fulfilled a deeper baser need she had, but suddenly her meal was cut short or ripped. The woman's body lay on the ground her head detached and hanging in Rose's hands swaying. Rose's face was bloodied, shock written over her features. "Why the hell did that happen?" She asked, staring at Damon and back to the decapitated head in her hands.

Damon smirked, "You." He grinned grabbing her cheeks in his hands, pressing their foreheads together. "You're a ripper." Rose looked back at the head in her hands. "That's an on-the-nose name if I ever heard one." She dropped her head sighing at the mess she made on her clothing. "I'm full of blood! Schools in a few hours I need to get cleaned up…" She trailed off, her face contorting in confusion as she noticed Damon staring at her. "What?" She asked the older man.

"You don't feel the need to run around and kill everything you see, do you?" Damon asked her, watching her closely as he waited for her response. Rose frowned, focusing on what she was feeling. "No, I don't think so. There's the base hunger that's always there. But I'm still in control… Why?" Damon knew that Rose had surprisingly good control over her hunger, so she was curious as to why he was suddenly questioning her control over her urges.

Damon shook his head, giving Rose a small hesitant smile. "Rippers usually go off the wagon. No control. My brother, Stefan, is a ripper which is why he doesn't feed off humans anymore." Rose took the information in stride, her face pinching as she was deep in thought. Damon waited patiently for her as she put her thoughts in order.

"So how am I in control right now?" She asked eventually. Damon shrugged, just as clueless as she was. "Well, whatever it is, we're lucky. You being out of control would ruin the plan." Damon flicked Rose's forehead, the girl glared at him in response. "Right, the big plan to bring they who must not be named back." Rose bowed low to Damon a mocking tone in her voice as she spoke. "Sorry for my disobedience master! Please punish me."

Damon felt his face twitch as the girl stood up and stuck out her tongue. "You're such a dork." He mumbled. "Let's go." The two were gone in an instant leaving behind the mangled bodies of the couple they killed together.

Elena and Jenna were talking in the passage when Rose came out of her room. Jenna whipped around, glaring at her. "Where have you been?!" Anger was clear in her voice and Rose tried to hold off on rolling her eyes. She needed to play at being sorry so that she didn't have to deal with her family. Elena looked equal parts angry and worried at her disappearance. Using the acting skills she had acquired over the years, Rose had an easy time convincing both her aunt and her sister.

"When Vicki was attacked… I thought she wouldn't make it… I just couldn't be around… I couldn't lose someone else." When both Jenna and Elena hugged her, Rose knew that she had been successful in getting them off her back.

Rose left in a rush claiming to be late for school, and they released her. Instead, she made her way to the motel room Damon was staying in. The vampire was in the shower when she opened the door. Rose made a beeline to his fridge and ripped it into a blood bag. It didn't taste as good as drinking from a human but it was better than nothing.

The door to the bathroom opened and Damon came out with a towel wrapped around his waist. The steam still rose off his body and his wet hair hung over his face. The whole situation was sexual but Rose sat on his bed drinking from her blood bag watching him as if it was a movie. Damon changed freely in front of her, trying to get her to react. "I don't blush." She commented as he faced her naked. He tried to get her to break, but the staredown didn't last long before he was covering himself.

When Damon was dressed he sat down next to Rose, the girl moving over to lay her head down on his chest. "Why aren't you in school?" Damon asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "I didn't feel like it, plus I haven't been around that many people without you nearby. What if I attacked someone and I end up exposing you."

Damon's eyes widened as he stared at the top of Rose's head. She was concerned about exposing him and didn't even consider what would happen to her if she were to attack someone. Damon smiled to himself wondering what he had done to deserve someone like her in his life. They hadn't known each other for more than a few days but Damon felt closer to her than anyone he had ever known. He still paused when he realized that he had someone he could rely on now, no matter what happened.

"I'm making my move tonight," Damon spoke against her head, planting a kiss on top of it before he moved away from her. Rose threw herself on the bed, burying her head in his pillow. It smelt like Damon, his scent soothed her. "Are you sniffing me?" Rose heard his question but didn't answer. "It's the Comet tomorrow, everyone's going to be out that night. I hope there's someone's tasty to eat."

Damon shook his head a fond smile on his face as she continued smelling his pillows, "Such a freak."

The pillow that hit his face was her retaliation.

Rose's disappearing act had resulted in the loss of her job at the Grill. She wasn't concerned about having a job now that she was a vampire. As her former boss shouted at her for missing days of work she fought the urge to tear into his neck out of irritation. The Comet flew over Mystic Falls as she fed on an unsuspecting townie. It wasn't long before Damon joined her, feeding on the other side of their victim's exposed neck. The man dropped dead as he was drained of his blood, leaving Rose disappointed. "Why do they die that easily?" She asked Damon. The older vampire grinned at Rose, using his hand to clean the blood around her mouth. She was a messy eater. "They're weak, and we're strong."

The rush of feeding made her heady, and she experienced a feeling similar to that of a high.

"Let's get something to drink." Damon steered them into the grill, seating themselves at the bar. He ordered them bourbons and held their drinks up clinking them together.

Rose didn't know how long they sat at the bar talking and drinking when Vicki interrupted them. "Rose, where have you been?..." Vicki trailed off as she looked at Damon. "I know you… I don't know how… but your face… Excuse me, sorry." Vicki rushed off, tears in her eyes. "She's remembering. Your brother didn't compel her completely." Rose knocked back the last of her drink before she pushed off her seat and walked towards the bathroom, Damon on her heels.

Vicki was taking pills when the two of them appeared behind her. Rose smirked at Vicki as she felt the veins crawl under her eyes and her teeth extended, Damon's face was revealed and Vicki screamed as Damon pretended to bite down on her neck.

Rose put her hand over Vicki's mouth as Damon pulled away from an evil smile on his face. Rose manhandled Vicki grabbing the back of her head and making eye contact with her friend. "Come with us." Vicki cried and screamed against Rose's hand but she couldn't physically fight off Rose under her compulsion. "Nicely done." Damon complemented.

The two used their speed to move, stopping on top of a rooftop.

Damon took Vicki from Rose, holding her on the edge of the building. Her cries were frantic as Damon threatened to push her off of the roof. "What are you doing exactly?" Rose raised her eyebrow, watching as Damon played with his food.

"Stefan bait."

True to Damon's words, Stefan suddenly appeared on the roof. The younger Salvatore brother looked from Damon and Vicki to the girl that stood off to the side. His eyes widened as he realized who she was. "You're Elena's sister…" The girl smiled and waved, before moving closer to Damon. "I'm Rosabella, It's nice to finally meet you, Stefan, I've heard a lot."

Damon looked at Rose, her tone of voice and the smile on her face were so obviously fake that it hurt Damon to see her like that. She didn't act this way when they were alone. He didn't like seeing this side of her, the person she pretended to be when she was human.

Stefan focused on his hearing, eyes widening when he heard only Vicki's heartbeat. "What did you do Damon!?" Rose rolled her eyes, looking at Damon. "What does Elena see in him?" She questioned her friend and sire. "Let both of them go, Damon," Stefan demanded, his body tense as Damon tilted Vicki over the edge. Rose laughed in Stefan's face, "Damon's not holding me against my will. Though the same cant is said about her." Rose pointed to Vicki.

Stefan reached towards her as Damon threw her into his arms. "Relax, I don't need her to be dead, but you might." The smirk on Damon's face was pure evil and Rose's expression mimicked him. "What attacked you the other night?" He asked, staring at Vicki. The girl's face was wet with tears as she stared into Damon's eyes, she crawled towards Rose. "I don't know an animal! Rose! What going on!?" The Gilbert girl glared at Vicki as she touched her feet. Kicking Vicki away from her Rose grabbed at the girl's hair. "Think hard for me Vic, what attacked you the other night?"

It took a moment of her silence before grabbed at Rose's hand in her hair trying to get away from her. "Vampire!" Vicki screamed. Damon smiled looking at Stefan before leaning down at Vicki's level. "Who did this to you!?" he asked again. "Rose attacked me! You attacked me! You're vampires!"

Rose laughed as she pulled Vicki on her feet, throwing her into Damon's arms. "Wrong!" The elder Salvatore said, smirking at his younger brother.

Stefan watched in horror, realizing what they planned to do. "Don't, Damon don't do this please."

"Stefan Salvatore did this to you, he's a vampire, a vicious murderous monster," Vicki repeated his words, the compulsion taking effect.

Stefan looked at Rose desperation on his face. "Please, don't let him do this. I'm begging you."

Rose's eyes were cold as she remained unmoving at Damon's side. A glare was on her face as she took Stefan in. "You made your bed, now lie in it." She didn't care if Salvatore knew what she meant, her only concern was making sure he knew of her dislike and hate towards him.

"You couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you're gonna do now." Damon moved Vicki's hair aside, pulling off her bandage revealed her neck which was bloodied from her newly torn stitches. Stefans face transformed as he held Vicki in his arms. Rose was sure that he would take a chomp out of her but Stefan surprised her when he threw Vicki to the ground. "You're choice of lifestyle had made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have. That you now need."

Rose moved closer to Stefan a condescending smirk on her face. "Maybe we'll take pity on you if you ask nicely… with a little groveling on the side." Stefan's glare hardly phased Rose, only spurring her on. "Human blood will make you stronger Stefan, just feed, rip into her. Can't you smell how good she'll taste!"

Damon leaned down next to Stefan as he physically struggled to resist the urge to feed off of Vicki. "You have two choices. You can feed and make her forget. Or you can let her run screaming vampire through the town square."

Stefan groaned, the veins slowly receding. "That's what this is about you wanna expose me?" Damon sent Rose an incredulous look before glaring at his brother. "No!" Damon contorted as he spoke. "I want you to remember who you are!"

"Why!? So I'll feed, so I'll kill, so I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again."

Stefan's words made Rose's blood boil, she knew Damon would never admit to it but he missed his brother, and his words were hurting him deep down. "You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up and drive a stake through my heart because at least I'll be free of you."

Rose moved before she could think it through, her anger taking over. Her hand wrapped around Stefan's throat squeezing with all her enhanced strength. Her vein ran black as she glared at Stefan intending to murder him. She slammed him against the wall of the entrance to the roof, raising her free hand to plunge into his heart. Just before she could, Damon grabbed her and sped her away from Stefan. The younger brother coughed and struggled as his body began healing his crushed bones.

Damon had to use his strength to hold Rose back as she tried to attack Stefan again. Damon realized that she wasn't going to listen to him, so with a wince, he snapped her neck. She slumped into his arms and gently Damon placed her on the ground. He eyed Stefan as he recovered, moving to Vicki.

The girl cried as he bent down. In whispered words, he compelled her, before standing up again. "What happened? Where am I?" Vicki asked confused, looking at the two men before her. Damon stood in front of Rose's body keeping her hidden from the girl. Vicki rushed away from them, and once she was gone, Damon leaned down and picked Rose up carefully cradling her neck.

Stefan eyed his brother as he picked up Elena's older sister. His eyes widened as Damon handled her with care, the look in his eyes filled with emotion. Stefan held his tongue and schooled his expression as Damon turned to face him. "It's good to be home, think I might stay awhile. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call don't you think."

Stefan looked at Rose in Damon's grip before looking at his brother. "What are you up to, Damon?" He didn't expect a straight answer, and he didn't get one. "That's for us to know, and for you to dot-dot-dot." Damon scoffed, "Give Elena my best." And he was gone, speeding from the roof with Rosabella Gilbert in his arms.

Rose gasped as she woke up, quickly taking note of her surroundings. Damon was seated next to her with a gentle smile on his face. "Sorry about snapping your neck, you wouldn't listen to me." Rose wasn't happy about the fact that he had done it, but she could understand. "It's fine, I let my temper get the best of me. Which is a first for me now that I think about it."

Damon reached out and grabbed her hand. Rose stared at him her eyes wide before she smiled and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek. She leaned against him and Damon wrapped his arms around her. They didn't speak. They didn't need to. Somehow she understood that Damon wanted to say Thank you, and somehow Damon understood that she would always be there.

Their bond was growing stronger as the days passed. They were something more than friends or family. The connection they shared was something unique and magical without an explanation as to why it existed.

They were two people who never knew they needed each other until they met.