PART 1

CHAPTER 15

The Kills/ Siberian Nights
Lana Del Rey/ Ride (Barretso Remix)
Lana Del Rey/ Gods And Monsters

Rose sat on the edge of the cliff, watching as the water fell and crashed white against itself. Her mind was awake, too awake for her to even think of sleep. She had toyed with the idea of finding someone to chase down and hunt, but she wasn't in the mood to be around anyone right now. Not with the state her mind was in, the flood of emotions she had been experiencing lately, and the confusion she felt surrounding it all.

Rose had long since accepted she wasn't like other people, being born unable to feel anything emotionally. But the changes she had been going through as a vampire had caused her mind to conjure up a crazy and impossible explanation. If, as Rose suspected, she was indeed made emotionally absent through magic, it meant that her parents were the responsible parties. Which meant that were aware of the supernatural. Even coming up with this insane possibility left more questions than answers. How did her parents know about the supernatural? Were they supernatural? Vampires… or witches… or something else entirely.

There was a rush of wind, and the familiar scent of Damon filled all her senses, an immediate calm washing over her, filling an absence Rose didn't know she was feeling. The raven-haired man approached her, stopping to stand behind her.

He didn't sit, and he didn't speak.

Damon simply pressed his legs against her back, allowing her to lean on them as they watched the sunrise together.

A new day… Another day they had to survive in the world that hated them.

The party was in full swing, set up by Caroline with a little suggestion and compulsion from Rose on Damon's behest. For the first time since she had come to know Damon, he hadn't told her all of his plans beyond asking her to persuade Caroline. Rose assumed she would find out in due time, and didn't dwell on his secrecy. She knew she didn't have anything to fear with Damon. He trusted her most in this world, as she did him.

So, thoughts of Damon's plans pushed aside, Rose ordered another drink. She hadn't even needed to compel the bartender for free drinks, there were some perks to having worked at the Grill. Rose breathed in deeply, the familiar smell of Stefan's forest-like scent clued her into his arrival.

And he wasn't alone.

The blonde vampire who had been running around the house she now called home, was glued to his side. The blonde dragged Stefan to the dance floor and got the vampire to let loose. Rose had never seen Stefan like this before and she wondered just who the woman was. Rose hadn't bothered to introduce herself to their guest. Rose needed to distance herself from Stefan, things were becoming complicated and real… two things she really couldn't handle right now.

Forest green eyes met her own, holding contact despite the bodies that filled the distance between them. Rose and Stefan stared at each other, both frozen. What felt like an eternity was only a few seconds, the moment broken by the blonde vampire in Stefan's arms as she turned him around.

Rose sneered at the woman as she pointedly made eye contact with her. The raven-haired vampire exposed her fangs a silent threat to the mysterious vampire. The woman responded similarly, before turning her attention to Stefan once more.

Rose felt the need to roll her eyes, but kept the desire at bay, simply turning in the direction of Damon's voice.

Damon stood with Caroline, his face pinched in anger. The feeling of concern swelled, and Rose stared stunned as she listened and watched as Damon tore into Caroline, attacking the blonde's insecurities she had about herself. Rose was stunned because the concern she felt hadn't been for Damon. It had been for Caroline.

Rose couldn't help the frown that pulled at her mouth as Damon stormed away from Caroline leaving behind a hurt and broken teenage girl.

Rose pushed off the stool she sat on, slipping between the crowds as she followed Damon out of the Grill. The cold air of the night brushed over all her exposed skin, which was most of her stomach and back as she only wore a bralette, leather jacket still inside.

Damon smiled at her as he turned to face her, extending his arms as she approached. He kissed her on the top of her head, opening his mouth to speak but Rose stopped him. "What was that back there? With Caroline?" Rose had never really seen Damon shocked before, but there was no other word to describe the expression on his face. Damon recovered, rolling his eyes. "Since when do you care about her? You said it yourself. She's food, nothing more." Damon eyed her warily, awaiting a response.

Rose pushed away from him, running her hands through her wild curls. "That just seemed unnecessarily harsh." The words were spoken softly as if Rose didn't dare to speak them. Damon heard it though, and he eyed Rose uncertainly. "Are you okay? This isn't like you."

Rose thought about it then, venting to her best friend and companion. About all the things she found herself dealing with recently. The emotions she kept experiencing, for people other than Damon. Her relationship with Stefan, Jeremy… and Elena. And this sympathy she now experienced for Caroline.

Before she could steel her resolve to speak up, laughter caught both her and Damon's attention.

The vampires watched the couple as they made out against the wall, Damon walking closer to her, the familiar grin of a predator on his face.

Pushing everything else out of her mind, Rose mimicked his expression, her face changing as black veins spread and her teeth shaped into fangs. This she could handle, this she was good at… this she could control.

Rose and Damon were a well-oiled machine, moving together as one body. Damon knew Rose had a preference for guys, so he slowed down long enough for Rose to rip into the boy's throat pulling him back with her inhuman strength. Damon followed closely behind attacking the girl. Rose paid him no mind focusing on her meal.

All of her anger, confusion, and conflicted emotions fueled her as she fed on the boy. Rose hadn't noticed that she was on the ground, kneeling over the body as if she were an animal. Rose supposed that wasn't far off, not with the outright animalistic and feral growl she let out when someone ripped her away from her meal.

Rose was blinded by her need to feed. No… not her need to feed. Rose had outstanding and freakishly good control of her feeding impulses for a new vampire. No, it wasn't hunger that made her lunge at Damon and sink her teeth into the arm he held up to stop her from biting into his neck. No, it was all the new emotions she was feeling. Emotions she didn't know how to process. Emotions that made her kiss Stefan, that made her reconcile with not only her brother but her sister as well. Emotions that made her feel sympathy and concern for a girl she considered a plaything and had up until recently wanted to kill.

Rose knew the taste of Damon's blood just as she knew everything else about him.

The moment his blood hit her tongue Rose pulled away, her eyes wide and tears flooding them. She had attacked Damon… Damon of all people. The person she owed everything to… the person she loved most in the world.

Rose knew that an onslaught of emotions were waiting to wreck her. She could tell they were waiting, like gates straining to hold back a disastrous flood.

It was there suddenly. This gnawing feeling in her mind to do something. Something that would make it all better.

An instinct of self-preservation and the need to survive.

Rose breathed in deep, following her instincts… and suddenly the noise that had been so loud in her mind calmed down. Everything was silent.

The sight of Damon's blue eyes gave Rose a rush of belonging and home, of love. Or at least it should have.

She felt nothing for him.

Rose felt nothing at all.