A/N: Here is the flashback chapter! It's much longer than previous chapters so I hope you enjoy.
I just have to say thank you SO much to all of the kind words you have been leaving in the reviews. It truly means so much to me that other people are finding joy in my writing. The only negative things anyone has said have been about Elena being controlling and annoying, which to be honest is just me trying to write her the same way I felt she treated people on the show at times. I have Chapter 16 written already, so I'll post it as soon as I get 7 new reviews or follows, or by friday :)
Thank you also to KimmyWSmith, who has offered to act as a beta and proofread my work. Love you all, XO, Eden.
Song: I'll Be Thinking of You
Artist: Jamie McDonald
When the sun sets on the ocean
When the yellow touches the blue
When your heart begins to open
I'll be so close to you
Damon emerged from his home, onto a beautifully landscaped lawn with intricately trimmed bushes forming a green pathway. Stefan, wearing a white flowing top and suspenders, chased after him. Their home was grand, with tall windows and grand columns. The Salvatore's were well off, even before being alive for a century and a half.
"Wait, where did you learn this game?" Stefan called after Damon.
"A camp outside Atlanta, one of the officers picked it up at Harvard." Damon replied, breathless with excitement. "Catch."
Damon tossed a football to Stefan, and quickly lunged after him, going in for a tackle. Stefan held up a hand, and turned to run when he realized there was no stopping Damon.
"Wait, wait." Stefan protested. "What are the rules?"
"Who needs rules?" A familiar voice sounded.
Damon turned his head, and Elena- no, Katherine, came into view. She stood on the front porch of the white wood house. Katherine was beautiful, physically like Elena in every way. However, Katherine carried herself with an air of grace and confidence that Elena didn't. Her dress was blue, with blue puffed sleeves that hung flirtatiously off of her shoulders in a way that framed her large necklace perfectly. As she descended the steps of the front porch, she held her long skirt out of the way of her feet.
A heat rushed to Damon's cheeks, and his heart began to pound inside his chest even faster than it had when he was running from his brother. It was his first time seeing Katherine, and she had quite literally taken his breath away.
"Mind if I join you?" Katherine asked.
"Well you could get hurt," Stefan politely tried to reject her. "My brother likes to play rough."
Katherine giggled and stepped closer to Stefan. "Somehow, I think that you play rougher."
Stefan gazed at Katherine, entranced by her beauty and her teasing charm. As she stepped even closer, it appeared as if Damon was about to witness a moment that wasn't meant for his eyes. But Katherine merely took advantage of Stefan's fixation with her, and snatched the football from his hands.
She let out an infectious laugh as she ran away from the brothers, pink sash and flowing skirt trailing behind her. Damon was just as entranced by Katherine as Stefan was. After getting a glimpse of his brother in his peripheral vision, he finally tore his eyes away from her and looked over to Stefan.
"Why are you standing there? That is a girl who clearly wants to be chased." He prodded Stefan playfully, and then shrugged. "Well if you don't do it, I will."
With that, Damon tore after her. The heavy sound of footsteps indicated that Stefan had chosen to trail him as well. Despite both brothers chasing after the beautiful girl, the air between them was light and happy. Having only just met Katherine, they hadn't yet been torn apart by her.
Floorboards creaked as Damon crept through the dark hallway of his house, trying not to disturb anyone in the quiet of the night. As he passed a cracked door, he paused to peer at the candle light illuminated scene inside. Katherine sat admiring her own reflection, wearing only a pink corset and underskirt. Her hair was in curls that spiraled down her back, much longer than Elena's straight tresses.
"Mr. Salvatore, spying on a lady is a sign of very poor manners." Katherine scolded with a smirk that let him know she was merely teasing.
"My apologies Miss Katherine." Damon stepped into the room.
In the reflection, Damon was just as undeniably handsome as in present day, but he had an air of youth to him. His jet-black hair was longer, and mussed up around his face. His only fault was that he donned the uniform of a confederate soldier.
"But since you're here," Katherine finally looked away from her own reflection and towards Damon. "My corset strings seem to be knotted, I wonder if you can undo them?"
Damon's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't falter for a moment. "Of course."
Katherine stood and walked over to a taller mirror, Damon following behind her. She met his gaze in the reflection of the mirror. Damon reached out to gently push her curls away from her bare shoulder. The contact of his gentle caress against her skin radiated energy so powerful it almost felt electric. Katherine leaned back into his touch.
"Will you miss me while off defending the South?" She gazed at him, her lips so close he could feel her breath.
"I shall." Damon confirmed, smiling at the sight of Katherine in his arms in the mirror.
"Then I hope you will hurry back." Katherine spoke as Damon traced the hollows of her collarbone with his fingertips. "I fear I will be lonely with you away."
"I would think Stefan should be company enough." Damon replied. If the tone of his voice wasn't enough of a cue, the pit in his stomach indicated that he was jealous at the mention of Stefan.
Katherine snapped around to gaze directly at him. "Is it so wrong for me to want you both?"
Her brown doe eyes fell from his blue ones to gaze upon his lips, which she brought a fingertip to. She traced his lips with such tenderness that it soothed the jealousy in his heart.
"Promise me you will return quickly." She demanded.
"I promise." Damon confirmed.
When you're dreaming and I hold you
Remember that dream will come true
When you wake up and you need me
You'll know just what to do
Damon gazed upon Stefan and Katherine as the pair once again ran through the front lawn. Katherine squealed and giggled, her curls more wild than before. She let out a final laugh, as she touched a white statue at the edge of the lawn, only meters from where Damon was perched.
"I win, what's my prize?" Katherine stepped towards Stefan with a wicked grin, indicating just what she would like for her prize to be.
"What would you like it to be?" Damon interrupted the nearly intimate moment between his brother and Katherine.
Both of their heads turned towards Damon, their expressions indicating that they had no idea that he had been sitting there. Katherine's face broke into a smile, while Stefan's remained bewildered
"They extended your leave?" Stefan questioned.
"I was simply having too much fun to return to battle." Damon explained.
"Your commitment to the confederacy is inspiring." Stefan chuckled.
Damon stood up, and the brothers stepped towards each other, pulling one another into the hug. There was still warmth between them, still love.
"Well this works out wonderfully for me." Katherine stated, pulling the two brothers apart with her words.
"How is that, Miss Katherine?" Damon asked.
Katherine let out an innocent shrug. "Now I'll have both of you here to keep me entertained. First and foremost, I'll need someone to escort me to the Founder's Ball."
Katherine turned away immediately, knowing that she had just created a new battle with her words. Stefan and Damon simultaneously spoke their willingness to take Katherine to the ball, causing her to pause and look back at them with a satisfied smile. Damon glared at Stefan.
"The smart and kind Salvatore brothers both coming to my rescue," Katherine teased their eagerness. "How will I ever choose?"
A mixture of emotions battled within Damon as he watched a smartly dressed Stefan and an elegantly clothed Katherine doing some sort of waltz. She had chosen Stefan to escort her. There was a pit in his stomach, and a pull on his heart as he watched his brother dance with the girl that he was falling in love with, a betrayal from the two most important people in his life.
Later, Damon waited in Katherine's bedroom. He pressed his ear to the door as he heard two sets of footsteps approach the room.
"So I gather I'm wanted?" Katherine's muffled voice asked Stefan.
"Very much so." Stefan let out a nervous chuckle. "I know we've only known each other for a short while, and I know I'm in competition for your affections, but I've never met a woman quite like you. I look at you and I see . . . an angel. I touch your skin and my entire body ignites. I kiss you and I know that I'm falling in love."
Stefan's words were replaced with the unmistakable sound of lips locking. Damon's stomach was filled with nausea at the sound of the two of them. Katherine let out a gasp, breaking the kiss.
"I am in love with you." Stefan stated.
"There's just so much you don't know about me, Stefan." Katherine protested.
"More to learn and love." Stefan insisted.
"I must say goodnight." Katherine ignored his pleas.
"I've upset you?" Stefan inquired.
"No, you haven't upset me, you've just surprised me." Katherine's voice shook as she spoke. "Until tomorrow."
Damon caught Katherine as she retreated into her bedroom, wearing the same gown she had worn while dancing with Stefan. Damon wasted no time to hastily push her up against the door and kiss the lips that his brother had kissed just moments prior, once again marking his claim over them.
"What are you doing here?" She pushed Damon away.
"I told you I would come." Damon's voice wavered with confusion at her outburst.
"Well I'm tired. You should go." Katherine was curt with him.
Damon approached her again, bringing her hand to his lips. "Did my little brother's confession overwhelm you?'
Katherine pulled her hand away from his grasp. "You shouldn't eavesdrop."
"Is my love not enough?" Damon pried.
"I told you, I'm tired." Katherine stared into his eyes. "I wish to be alone tonight, please leave."
Despite every bone in his body craving the touch of the woman he loved, he agreed. "Goodnight, Katherine."
In the winter when it's raining
And the sun can never shine through
All those days of endless waiting
I'll be thinking of you
Damon was lying on the ground, watching Katherine run towards a carriage. It was nearly pitch black, her figure was only illuminated by the moonlight.
"Please help us." Katherine's cries were frantic. "Please, my husband, he's been hurt, please help him."
One man ran towards Damon, while another emerged from the carriage slowly, and addressed Katherine with a gruff voice. "Whadya doing out here in the middle of the night? It's not safe."
"No, no sir." Katherine agreed. "It's not safe."
The man's cries quickly tore his traveling partner's attention away from Damon. He stood up to aid his friend, but was cut off by Katherine, who had sunk her fangs into his neck as he gurgled in protest. She dropped the unconscious man to the ground, turning towards Damon with a blood-framed smile.
"And that's how it's done." She reached out to help Damon up from the ground.
"What happens to the bodies?" Damon questioned, stomach turning from the sight he had just witnessed.
"Well I'll take them into the woods and the other animals will finish them off." Katherine eyed Damon, who was shaking before her. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Damon nodded before finding his voice. "I'm ready, I want you to turn me."
"When it's time. Kiss me." Katherine stepped towards Damon, and pushed away the handkerchief that he had pulled out in response to her request. "You should get a taste."
Damon pulled away slightly as she leaned forward. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Katherine replied. "Soon you won't be able to get enough."
He eyed her for a moment, heart beating so loud that she must have been able to hear it. Then, something snapped inside of him. He grabbed the hair and the nape of her neck, and pulled her into a kiss, ravishing her blood stained lips. They tasted of warm iron, yet he no longer felt sick from the blood. Every bone in his body told him this was right. He wanted this. He wanted her. Forever.
The light of day illuminated Damon's bedroom, waking him up. Katherine had remained next to him while he slept, and he chose to wake her by wrapping his arms around her, tickling her sides. She let out one of her infectious laughs.
"What are you doing? Stop it." She demanded with a voice that let him know that she did not actually want him to stop.
"Make me." Damon teased.
Katherine grabbed him with sudden vampire strength, taking advantage of the moment where she overpowered him by straddling his chest. She pinned his arms to his side and hissed, fangs bared at him. His heart skipped a beat for a moment, and then resumed at its normal pace. He simply gazed at her vampiric face with wonder. She smiled as he traced the veins under her eyes with the pad of his thumb.
Katherine's face returned to normal as a knock sounded on the door. "Yes?"
"Excuse me, Miss Katherine." A young woman entered the room. "Miss Pearl is here to see you."
"I'll be down soon, please ask her to wait. Thank you Emily." Katherine returned her gaze to Damon, running her hands over his bare chest. She pouted as Emily shut the door. "Fun's over."
"I know." Damon said, as she lowered her face to kiss him with a shocking tenderness for the monster.
When thunder breaks the dawn
When all my strength is gone
When shadows disappear
I'll still be holding on
Once again, Damon was in the dark forest. This time, there was no moon, and a torch that he carried illuminated the scene. Katherine was a few paces ahead of him, and despite his athletic build, he was no match for her vampiric speed.
"Wait for me, I want to come with you." Damon called out. "Why must you always run for me?"
Katherine stopped, leaning against a tree. "Because I know that you will chase."
"Then let me chase you forever." Damon was breathless as he cupped Katherine's face. "Feed me your blood."
"I will not feed you, Damon." Katherine denied him, pulling a needle from her hair. "If you want it, take it. It is your choice to make."
"You will not tell my brother?" Damon hesitated.
"I promise." Katherine whispered. "It will be our little secret."
Damon gazed upon her neck, before grabbing her hand and piercing her vein with the needle. She let out a small gasp at the moment of pain, and he brought his lips to the wound. Slowly, he sucked on the small hole that he had made, relishing in the taste of her blood. It had the same taste of the blood of a human, without carrying the guilt of a life lost. And then the taste was gone. He pulled away to see that the wound had closed, leaving behind smooth skin. His hand traced along her neck as he met her eyes, neither of them able to speak on the moment they had just shared.
Damon and Stefan's father, Giuseppe, had rounded the two boys up to speak with them. He said it was an urgent matter to do with the town council.
"As descendants of the founding families, they'll want to know that they can count on you." He spoke to the two boys as they strolled across their expansive property.
"Of course they can." Stefan confirmed. "Is there any doubt?"
"I'm not sure your brother Damon understands the importance of duty." Giuseppe looked at Damon with stony disappointment.
"Damon left the confederacy on principle." Stefan was quick to defend his brother. "It was his choice, and should be respected."
"You'll forgive me if I have troubled respecting a deserter." Their father replied.
Damon chose to interject. "Well I never asked for your respect."
"Good for you Damon," Giuseppe raised his voice. "Because all I have is disappointment."
Damon's eyes were locked with his father's in a stare down. Though his icy blue gaze never faltered, inside Damon had a gnawing inside of his stomach, a yearning for his father's approval.
Stefan made an effort to diffuse the tension. "You said the town is in trouble?"
"There have been too many deaths." Giuseppe confirmed. "It is time for us to fight back and stop these killers."
"Killers?" Stefan questioned. "What are you talking about?"
"We live amongst demons." Giuseppe spoke gravely.
"You're being cryptic now father." Damon's eyes narrowed. "Why don't you just say the word."
"Vampires." Giuseppe confirmed. "They exist. And they live amongst us. But we have a plan to kill them. And you're going to help us."
The boys nodded, exchanging an understanding glance with one another. Their father left them, not knowing that he had just posed a threat to their mutual lover.
Later, the two boys found Katherine playing croquet on the lawn with their father. The two looked as happy as could be, blissfully unaware that they were actually sworn enemies.
"I'm losing over here, again!" Their father playfully called out, a complete mood shift from his previous conversation with the boys.
Katherine let out a giggle and curtsied, a motion that looked so natural to her in her pink and blue dress.
"She's good." Damon noted to Stefan. "I almost believe she genuinely likes him."
"Perhaps she does." Countered Stefan.
Damon scoffed. "She knows father would have her killed if he knew the truth."
"Not if we talked to him, explain how we feel." Stefan suggested. "He could help us keep her safe."
"Have you gone mad?" Damon hissed. "No, father would drive the stake in her himself!"
"That's not true, we can trust him." Stefan tried to reason.
"No, not with this." Damon cut him off. "Please, promise me you won't tell him Stefan."
Stefan looked over at Katherine, who could no doubt hear their conversation with her vampire hearing. "I promise."
When then sun sets on the ocean
When the yellow touches the blue
When your heart begins to open
I'll be so close to you
Damon and Katherine stood in a storefront, and though Katherine's arm was looped through his, Damon was considerably tense. Before them stood the shop owner, Miss Pearl. She had an elegance about her that was even greater than Katherine's.
"The Sheriff was here again." Pearl informed the pair. "He bought large volumes of the vervain elixir."
"Did he try to put his hands on you again?" Katherine teased, making it clear that these two were friends.
Pearl smirked. "Doesn't he always?"
"She's saving herself for Jonathan Gilbert." Katherine explained to Damon.
"I am beyond saving, we know that." Pearl and Katherine both burst into giggles.
"How can you be so calm?" Damon interjected. "They're getting closer to you every day."
"We're the respectable ladies of Mystic Falls." Katherine turned to Damon. "Thanks to Emily, we walk the streets in daylight. No one will ever suspect us."
"Not unless a human tells them." Pearl eyed Damon suspiciously.
"I'd sooner die." Damon insisted.
"And soon enough, you will." Katherine planted a promising kiss upon Damon's lips, easing his tension, only tearing away when Miss Pearl's daughter, Annabelle interrupted them.
Damon was reading by candlelight when he was interrupted by Stefan's frantic footsteps entering his bedroom without knocking.
"Brother please," Stefan was out of breath. "It's Katherine. Father knows. They're taking her away."
"What did you do?" Damon stared at his brother. "Stefan, WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"I didn't mean to . . . I just thought . . . maybe he'd spare her." Stefan hung his head.
In an instant, Damon was on his feet and running downstairs to his father's study. The adrenaline coursing through his still human veins made his fingertips go numb. Katherine was unconscious, some sort of muzzle covered her face, and two men from the Founder's Council were picking up her delicate body.
"NO! DON'T TAKE HER!" Damon shouted at the men.
Giuseppe pushed Damon against the wall as he bellowed at him. "Do you know what they'll do to you if you are branded a sympathizer? You'll be killed along with them."
"Then let me be killed, father." Damon snarled.
"You fool." His father spat at him. "You disgrace me, you and your brother."
His father tightened his grasp on Damon's throat until it was so firm that Damon could hardly breathe. With one last sneer, he threw Damon onto the floor, not even sparing him a glance as he exited the room. Within moments, Stefan emerged from the hallway, offering Damon a hand. Damon pushed Stefan's hand away, getting up and running out of the house. Stefan followed him out of the house, where the men were putting Katherine into a carriage.
"Damon. Damon. Stop. STOP." Stefan restrained his brother. "I'll help you. We'll get her back."
"Help me? Don't you think that you've done enough?" Damon sneered. "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone."
"I didn't think this would happen." Stefan loosened his grip on Damon's shoulders.
Both heads turned as the men shut the carriage door and locked Katherine inside. The horses pulled the carriage away, carrying Katherine away from the brothers.
"You did this." Damon told Stefan. "This is your fault."
"We will get her back." Stefan repeated.
Damon caught sight of Emily Bennett, standing behind a tree so that she would be obscured from the councilmen. Knowing her powers, he bolted over to her.
"Emily please." He cried. "I'll do anything. Name your price. Just protect her."
Stefan ran up behind Damon, grabbing his arm. "Damon, we have to go. Now."
With one last glance into Emily's vacant eyes, Damon turned to follow his brother after the carriage. As the carriage stopped, Stefan pulled Damon into the tree line, where they crouched, observing the councilmen shove a muzzle onto another person- a vampire- and lock them in the carriage.
"We have to get to the church, they're waiting." John Gilbert instructed the group.
"Circle around that way, I'll distract them." Stefan instructed Damon, who was so dizzy with fear that he couldn't form a coherent thought. "GO."
Stefan ran a few paces in front of the carriage. "OVER HERE. There's another one, quick! Help me!"
The men followed Stefan into the trees, leaving just one man to guard the carriage. Damon stealthily approached him, and punched him as hard as he could, knocking the man unconscious. As Damon fumbled for the keys in the man's pocket, Stefan ran back out of the forest.
"We don't have long." Stefan gasped.
Damon opened the carriage. "Katherine. KATHERINE."
Katherine's eyes lolled at the sound of his voice. She let out a small whimper, unable to keep her eyes open. Stefan and Damon pulled her out of the carriage, laying her on the ground as gently as they could. Damon pulled the muzzle off of her face as Stefan tried to undo the ropes that bound her wrists.
"We're going to get you out of here." Damon promised her.
"Damon hurry." Stefan urged, as the voices of the men became clear from the trees. "HURRY."
A gunshot fired just as they pulled the ropes. The pain was immediate, and white-hot. Damon collapsed on the ground next to his barely conscious lover as his stomach bled.
"NO." Stefan called out as Damon fell. "No."
The last thing Damon saw before his vision went black was Stefan leaning over him, tears of desperation forming in his eyes.
When you're dreaming and I hold you
Remember that dream will come true
When you wake up and you need me
You'll know just what to do
When Damon woke, Stefan's lifeless body was laid next to him, blood pooled on his shirt. The carriage was gone. Damon's entire body ached, but the pain was overpowered by one thought: Katherine. She was gone. The church- they took her to the church. He had to find her.
Damon struggled to pull himself to his feet. He spared one last glance to his brother, still lying in the road. Despite Stefan admitting that he had betrayed Katherine and thus Damon to their father, Damon's heart broke at the sight of his little brother's lifeless body.
"I'll save her, brother. You won't have died for nothing." Damon whispered.
Damon struggled to make it down the road. With each step, his muscles protested, begging him to lie down. The night sounds of the forest overwhelmed him. Every rustle of a tree branch echoed like thunder in his mind. He could barely maintain his focus, but he had to. Had to focus on Katherine.
As he approached the church, he ducked into the trees so that no one would see him. He squinted, trying to gain his bearings. Two men carried a Katherine's body into the church. They slid a tree branch into the door handles as soon as they emerged. One of the men carrying torches touched the torch to the door, and immediately the church went ablaze. They must have doused it in gasoline.
Damon tried to cry out, but his voice failed him. His throat was too dry to form a single sound. In that moment, the aching in his body won, and he collapsed to the ground. The only thing that had kept him going was Katherine, and she was gone. Though she could have lived forever, she would not survive the flames that were devouring the church.
"You must come with me." Damon's head turned to follow the voice in his ear, and he saw that Emily Bennett was standing behind him. "They saw you die. You can't be seen here."
Damon looked up at her, confusion etched on his face. "Saw me die? But I'm not . . ."
His hands traveled to his stomach, as the memory of the gunshot resurfaced in his jumbled mind. There was blood crusted on his shirt, and a tear where the bullet had gone through, but the skin was smooth. There was no wound.
"I'm not dead." Damon echoed as the realization dawned on him. "Katherine's blood. I'm . . . No. NO. Stefan?"
"Will wake soon," Emily confirmed. "In transition, like you."
"I don't want this." Damon shook his head. "I only wanted this because of her. I only wanted forever with her."
"It won't matter what you want if the council finds you here, breathing." Emily stated. "Come. Now."
In a trance, Damon took Emily's outstretched hand, and followed her through the woods and out of town. She stopped by the quarry, where by the water already laid Stefan, still unconscious. Reaching into her pocket, she handed Damon a ring.
"Katherine had me make this for you. For both of you." She explained.
Damon nodded, wordlessly sliding the ring onto his finger. His heart was broken, it made his stomach churn with such ferocity that he could barely stand. Not wanting to converse with the witch, he stumbled towards the edge of the water, where he finally collapsed. He stayed fixating on the small ripples at the surface well past the sunrise. Eventually, Stefan woke, and came to join his brother by the water.
"I woke up last night, I didn't know where I was." Damon spoke without looking at Stefan. "I went to the church. And I watched them drag her inside. Then they set fire to it. And the whole church went up into flames. They killed her, Stefan. She's gone."
Stefan pressed his lips together; there was nothing the boy could say to ease his brother's pain, a pain that he also shared. Looking down, Stefan noted the bloodstain on his shirt. The stained and tattered clothes were the only things the boys had, and they needed to clean up so as not to draw attention to them. Rather than stay and face the shame of what he had done, Stefan went to find things to clean their shirts with.
"I bet Jonathan Gilbert has told father by now." Stefan tried to distract his brother as he re-approached him. "I wonder how he took the news that we're dead."
"As if he cares. He betrayed us." Damon replied.
"He thought he was protecting us, Damon." Stefan defended their father. "He thought he was protecting this town."
"God, this sun hurts my eyes." Damon changed the topic.
"It's part of it." Stefan explained. "The muscle aches, the sick feeling, Emily says it's our bodies pushing us to feed, to complete the transition."
Damon turned away. "That's not gonna happen."
"Is that your choice then? To die instead?" Stefan asked.
"Isn't it yours?" Damon countered. "This was all to be with Katherine. But she's gone. I want it over."
In the winter when it's raining
And the sun can never shine through
When your heart begins to open
When your heart begins to open
When your heart begins to open
Stefan had left Damon, who was unable to be moved, by the quarry. When Stefan returned at nightfall, Damon was still sitting in the same position as when he had left hours prior. Damon's vacant stare was haunting. Without Katherine, he truly wanted to die.
Damon's head turned as he heard his brother's footsteps. It was the greatest motion he had made in the past few hours, and it was excruciating. His body didn't agree with his choice to die; it wanted him to feed and it was punishing him for not doing so. Damon's eyes narrowed when he saw that his brother was pushing a young brunette woman towards him.
"What are you doing? Who is that?" Damon demanded to know.
"I brought her for you. She's a gift. Have a seat please." Stefan instructed.
Damon's eyes widened. "What have you done Stefan?"
"Damon, I've been to see father. He came at me. I didn't know my own strength. There was blood everywhere. He was dying, and the blood was too strong. I needed it. I had to have it." Stefan rambled.
"You fed." Damon stated.
"Yes. And it's incredible. My body is exploding with power Damon." Stefan admitted.
Damon shook his head. "No."
"I can hear things from far away. I can see through the darkness. I can move like it's magic. And the guilt? The pain? Damon, I can turn it off like a switch. Katherine was right, there's a whole other world out there Damon." Stefan's euphoria was apparent in his crazed voice.
"Katherine is dead, Stefan. There is no world without her." Damon spat out grimly as he walked away from Stefan.
"No, you can turn that off too, you don't have to feel that pain anymore." Stefan insisted.
"I don't want it." Damon refused.
Stefan clutched at Damon's throat, desperate for his attention. "You're weak, you'll be dead soon. You need this."
"No." Damon choked.
"You'll die." Stefan pleaded.
"No, I can't." Damon protested as Stefan beckoned the girl forward. "Please."
Stefan's fangs jutted out, and he bit into the girl's neck, leaving two bloody holes that beckoned to Damon's senses. "I won't let you die."
"No, I can't." Damon tried to resist, but the smell of the blood was already overwhelming his senses.
Stefan grasped Damon's face. "Don't fight it. We can do this. Together.
Stefan pushed the girl closer to Damon. Try as he might, Damon could not tear his eyes from the two red beads running down the girl's neck. He had to have a taste. Just one taste.
Damon was so transfixed, he hardly noticed Stefan's hand guiding him towards the girl's neck. Before he knew it, his mouth was on her puncture wound, relishing in the taste of her blood. The taste was unlike anything he had ever experienced while human. There was no guilt, no disgust, just pure satisfaction.
As soon as he drank, the physical pain disappeared. His muscles were soothed, the pounding in his head was gone. Best of all, his senses were so heightened he could make out every tree branch despite it being pitch black. Upon realizing how good drinking blood felt, Damon grabbed the girl and ran a few yards away behind the dilapidated shelter by the quarry, his own speed shocking him. He drank until he felt the life drain from the girl, and dropped her on the ground.
Stepping back, he realized what he had done. The emotions hit him. He had just been damned to an eternity of life without Katherine. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. He couldn't live without her. But now he had no choice. Thanks to his brother, he couldn't resist transitioning. At the thought of Stefan, Damon emerged from behind the shelter, locking eyes with his brother.
"How do you feel?" Stefan inquired.
"You were right, it is a whole new world." Damon replied with a chipper tone in his voice.
Stefan's face broke into a relaxed grin. "We can explore it together."
"You got what you wanted, you and me, for all eternity." Damon's face shifted to a deadpan as he spat out the last sentence. "But here it is, brother; I will make it an eternity of misery for you."
"Damon!"
Damon ignored his brother calling after him. There was no sight he would rather see less than Stefan's face right now. Katherine had turned them both. It wasn't just him. She didn't love just him. Lost in thought, Damon ran directly into Emily.
"Hello Emily." Damon's face formed a sardonic smile.
"You transitioned." Emily noted, the judgment slipping through her voice.
"You're observant." Damon replied.
"I did what you asked." Emily revealed. "I saved Katherine. She's in the tomb under the church, I sealed it to protect her from the fire."
Damon felt as if the air had been restored to his lungs. "Katherine's okay?"
"Not just Katherine." Emily said. "To save one, I had to save them all."
"Well why are we standing here? Let's go get her." Damon turned to run back to town.
Emily grabbed his arm to harness his attention. "You must understand, a spell that powerful requires great energy. I was able to protect her because of the comet. But I won't be able to break the seal until there is another mystical event that I can channel."
Damon let out an unnerving chuckle. "Who cares? What are a few years when I have eternity? Emily Bennett, you have just made all of this okay."
"Listen to me, Damon." Tears were forming in Emily's eyes. "They know what I am. They'll be coming for me next. I won't be here much longer. But I will help you from the other side, if you promise me one thing."
"Anything." Damon said.
"Leave Mystic Falls. They saw you killed; you can't be seen here. Don't try to save me, you'll only reveal yourself. When the men who know your face have died, return to Mystic Falls. Ensure that no harm ever comes to a Bennett witch. Promise me, Damon." Though Emily cried, her voice showed no fear.
"I promise."
I'll be thinking of you