The Daughter of Damon Salvatore
Chapter Six
Jessica woke groggily a few hours later, the events of the previous evening and the early morning washing over her. She also remembered Damon's veiled threat before she had passed out completely. She looked at the nightstand and saw the half-full glass of water still there. She grabbed the glass and drained it; her throat felt parched.
She carefully got up off the bed and grabbed a fresh change of clothes and made her way to her bathroom, combing through her toiletries until she found the paracetamol she normally took when she got stomach cramps. The pills helped with her hangover headaches as well. She took a couple and then decided to jump into the shower whilst she waited for the pills to kick in.
She took her time in the shower, making sure to thoroughly clean every inch of her body twice. She could not believe that her uncle and father could smell sex on her, that was humiliating, and she was not looking forward to having that conversation with either of them.
She sighed as she turned the shower off, she dried herself with her towel and got changed into her fresh clothes. After putting on some deodorant and running a brush through her freshly washed hair, she felt a bit more normal – and clean – and deemed herself somewhat presentable to the rest of the world.
She left her bathroom and made her way back to her bedroom. Jessica hesitated when she saw Damon standing with his back to her as he looked out of her balcony window. She gulped nervously.
"You know, I can hear your heartbeat, right? I would be nervous to if I were in your position" he said casually without turning to face her.
Damon had spent the last few hours thinking up some punishments that he could give her.
"Damon, I…." she started to speak.
Damon whirled around to face her and glared at her.
"Did I say you could speak?" he asked her.
She shut her mouth and shook her head.
"Good, I think you did enough of the talking earlier, don't you?" he asked rhetorically.
"Now, we are going to have a long conversation about everything that went wrong last night, and then we are going to discuss what punishments will fit each crime. Any questions?" he asked.
She shook her head as she sat down on the bed. Damon walked over and sat down on a vacant chair that was next to the bed.
"Let's run through this. At approximately 8pm last night, you left this house with Stefan and Lexi. The three of you headed for the party at The Grille, correct?" he stated.
Jessica nodded.
"The three of you arrived at The Grille and, then what happened?" he asked.
"Stefan and Lexi headed straight for the bar. I was left standing near the entrance, I was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the number of unfamiliar faces there were in the room" Jessica admitted.
"Fine, Stefan and Lexi shouldn't have left you alone in unfamiliar surroundings. However, it did happen. Was this when the Lockwood kid saw you?" Damon asked.
Jessica nodded.
"Tyler noticed that I was new and introduced himself as the mayor's son and that it was therefore his responsibility to make sure I felt welcomed into the town" Jessica said honestly.
"Did he then give you a drink?" Damon asked, wondering if the Tyler punk had done something stupid with Jessica's drink.
Jessica shook her head.
"He asked if I wanted a drink, and I agreed if he thought we'd get served" Jessica replied.
"So, you knowingly and willingly agreed to drinking alcohol?" Damon asked.
Jessica nodded, looking down at the bedsheets with interest.
"Look at me when I'm speaking to you Jessica" Damon demanded.
Jessica looked at him nervously.
"The alcohol was your first crime" Damon stated.
Jessica held his gaze and then nodded.
"Next, I'm guessing, you sat with that Tyler punk for the majority of the evening happily consuming alcohol to an inebriated state" Damon stated.
"Yes, then Tyler noticed the Sheriff enter The Grille and panicked that we would get caught underage drinking. So, we snuck outside onto the street before the deputies blocked us in" Jessica admitted.
"Crime number two. You left the premises with a potential stranger without informing Stefan, Lexi, or even myself that you were leaving" Damon stated.
"You were there last night?" Jessica said confused, she hadn't remembered seeing Damon there at all.
"I'm asking the questions now. Upon leaving The Grille with a stranger, you then agreed to go back to his place, just the two of you?" Damon asked.
Jessica nodded.
"Crime number three right there. What happened when you got back to his place?" Damon asked.
"More drinking and then we started umm…." She hesitated.
Damon raised an eyebrow. Of course, he knew what happened, he was deliberately trying to make her feel uncomfortable. He wanted her to understand and learn from her mistakes.
"Crimes four and five right there. More drinking and 'umm….', as you put it. What's 'umm….'? I want to give the correct punishments here" Damon probed.
Jessica looked down at the bedsheets again, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with this.
"We started just making out at first, and then we moved up to his bedroom and..." she paused again.
Damon waited patiently for her to finish.
"…kissing turned into something more and we went all the way" Jessica whispered, face red and feeling absolutely mortified about discussing something like this with someone who wasn't a close girlfriend or her mother.
Damon remained silent for a couple of minutes for dramatic effect, and to let her mortification fester.
"Was it consensual?" Damon finally asked, his tone now less intense.
Jessica nodded, chewing her lip slightly at the awkwardness.
Damon nodded.
"Were you safe at least?" Damon asked.
Jessica nodded.
"Explain your idea of safe to me please" Damon requested.
"I take…I mean, I'm on…the pill" she whispered, still not meeting Damon's eyes.
Damon knew she was absolutely humiliated but refused to feel bad for her, she needed to learn not to put herself in such situations without being safe about it. He would be damned if she got pregnant or developed an STD on his watch.
"And Tyler…?" Damon questioned.
"He didn't use anything" Jessica said.
Damon clenched his jaw tightly as he tried not to get angry at that.
"Did he tell you he didn't want to use a condom?" Damon asked, knowing what teenage boys could be like.
Jessica shook her head.
"He offered. I told him that I didn't want him to" Jessica admitted.
"Crime number six. To be clear, I'm not punishing you for engaging in…you know…itself. Unfortunately, you will continue to have sex regardless of how much I lecture you for it. However, I do want to make sure that it is all safe and consensual. I'm guessing Tyler wasn't even your first time?" Damon queried, trying to hide the disappointment that he felt about this.
Jessica tried not to take offence to his last comment. The fact that Damon so clearly stated how obvious her non-existent virginity was because of how boldly she had thrown herself at Tyler irked her.
She begrudgingly shook her head; Tyler most definitely wasn't her first.
"Ok, fine. As I said, I'm not punishing you for having sex. But I am punishing you for agreeing to have sex with a stranger and for not using all the options of protection available to you at the time. You will not put yourself at risk like that again. Does that sound fair?" he asked.
Jessica nodded, glad to get past that awkward conversation.
Damon noticed her relax slightly and tried not to grin in satisfaction at her discomfort. At least he seemed to be getting through to her.
"Then what happened?" he asked.
"We fell asleep. I woke a few hours later and got Tyler to drop me back here. You know the rest" Jessica finished.
Damon nodded.
"Crimes seven and eight. You attitude towards me and Stefan upon your return was inexcusable and unnecessary. Crime number nine, you were disrespectful to me and used foul language when I was only trying to help you" Damon stated.
Jessica remained silent, she had no leg to stand on here and she knew it.
"Therefore, you are going to receive nine punishments in total. Eight from me and I will let Stefan delegate one for the disrespect towards him. I will be taking your phone until all punishments are complete. Before you make a smartass remark like needing your cell to let someone know where you are, you won't need to worry about that for now because, for the foreseeable future, you won't be leaving this house without me or Stefan escorting you. However, for your first punishment…come with me" Damon stated as he stood and walked out of the bedroom.
Jessica looked confused at the abrupt turn of the conversation but followed Damon, not wanting to get into any more trouble by pissing him off further. She was even more confused when she noticed Damon walking out the front door and getting into his car. She got in the passenger seat without complaint and Damon started the car.
.
.
.
Damon silently followed the streets that led to the town and finally pulled up outside The Grille. Damon led the way inside and Jessica followed. Upon entering the establishment, Jessica noticed that the place was still trashed from the night before.
"I've got some errands to run for the rest of the morning. Punishment number one, you are going to stay here and help clean up all this mess in time for the lunchtime opening" Damon instructed.
Jessica looked at the mess in astonishment and then back at Damon, who looked dead serious. How she wished she paid more attention to harnessing her magic when she had the chance.
"No magic" Damon added in a whisper as if reading her mind.
Damon shook hands with the bar manager and then told the manager to give Damon a call once he no longer needed Jessica. The bar manager agreed and started giving cleaning instructions to the now sullen teen. Damon smirked at her downcast expression and then left the building to harass another witch about a certain crystal necklace.
Jessica set to work and, before she knew it, the place was spotless, and was ready to open to customers. The bar manager agreed that she had done a good job and gave her a free lemonade and some fries in thanks whilst Jessica waited for Damon to come and pick her up.
Damon came and collected her a short while later and drove her home. Upon arriving home, Damon told her that punishment number two was to clean the house from top to bottom. Damon actually didn't care about the cleanliness of the house as he compelled a small team of housekeepers to come and clean the place once a week, he wanted to make the young teen know how unpleasant he could make her life if she pushed too far.
Damon pointed out the cleaning materials to Jessica and retreated to the study where he listened to her pottering about the house as she cursed lightly under her breath at the dirtier jobs that came with cleaning this place. He was not going to reprimand her for her curses this time. Whilst thinking about the house rules and punishments for the teen earlier, Damon decided that there should be a distinction between direct disrespect and freedom of expression. Fact of the matter, if she was living in a normal house with normal humans, they would not have heard these particular curses and therefore, in the name of fairness, he would let this circumstance slide.
She came down to clean the study a short while later, Damon did not acknowledge her presence as she cleaned out the ash from the small fireplace and shuffled a few of the papers which were out of place. Jessica knew better than to start up a conversation, Damon had been a little tense ever since he'd come back from running his earlier errands. She wanted to ask but knew that questioning Damon would likely set him off.
Damon was busy plotting. His talk with the little Bennett witch earlier that day had not gone the way he wanted, and he had threatened the young witch. No doubt Stefan will give him shit for that later when he finds out.
Damon sighed as his attention focused back on the teenager who was currently adding to his stress. Damon had to give credit where credit was due, the girl had completed all tasks put to her without argument or complaint. He refused to admit that he was a little impressed by the way she had composed herself as she accepted her punishments, it was mature of her to take responsibility for her actions.
Jessica soon finished tidying the study and silently left, not wishing to disturb Damon more than she already had.
Jessica heard the front door open knowing that Stefan must be home from school. Her thoughts were confirmed when Stefan entered the house, he noticed Jessica standing awkwardly in the corner of the room.
"How was school?" she asked.
Stefan shrugged. To be honest, he didn't want to discuss his day at school. Stefan had told Elena that he planned to back off from the whole school thing in the hopes of giving Elena her life back, without any vampires in it.
"I have a new history teacher" Stefan decided to state.
Alaric Saltzman actually seemed like he was going to be a decent teacher.
"Oh, cool" Jessica replied awkwardly.
"How are you feeling?" Stefan asked her.
"Exhausted" Jessica admitted.
"Was Damon harsh on you?" Stefan asked knowingly.
Jessica nodded.
"Nothing I didn't deserve" Jessica said.
Stefan grinned.
"Did he sit down with you and go through everything you did wrong labelling them as 'crimes'" Stefan asked.
Jessica nodded.
Stefan chuckled.
"That's what he used to do with me when I was kid and had been bad" Stefan remarked.
That made Jessica grin slightly.
"How many 'crimes' did you make?" Stefan asked.
"Nine" Jessica said as she sat next to him on the couch.
"Ouch" Stefan winced in sympathy.
"Yep, I spent the morning at The Grille cleaning up last night's mess. I have also spent all afternoon cleaning this place from top to bottom" Jessica informed her uncle.
Stefan started outright laughing at her.
"What?" Jessica wondered.
Stefan shook her head.
"Damon has a team of cleaners who come and clean this place top to bottom every week" Stefan stated.
"He what?!" Jessica exclaimed in disbelief.
Stefan laughed harder.
"Tell me you're joking!" Jessica gasped.
"I promise that I'm not" Stefan confirmed.
Jessica silently seethed, she had been terrified all afternoon that if she missed a speck of dust, Damon would kill her or make her start again.
Stefan eventually stopped laughing at her misfortune and turned serious again.
"Are you sure that you're alright?" he asked her.
"Yeah. Like I said, I deserve it. The way I behaved was extremely poor, that was a side of me that hasn't been unleashed in a really long time. She was released for just a second and after that, she was impossible to reign back in" Jessica tried to explain.
Stefan wondered if that was the result of her being a teenager or a witch.
"Did that often happen before?" Stefan asked genuinely curious.
Jessica nodded.
"My old life in England was not always the best. Whilst I hate to admit it, Damon is right. My mother was hardly ever around. She would disappear for weeks at a time and when she returned home, she would be so focused on the books and research papers she'd collected that she was never really involved with my private life. As much as I love and miss her, she was just never there. Things happened, I got hurt, and then I just stopped caring about anything and acted however I wanted, whenever it suited me" Jessica admitted.
Stefan frowned; he hadn't known that. He wanted to ask what had happened but could tell that she would not open up that much to him just yet. They had plenty of time to work through any issues that she had.
"There was no control, no discipline, and no punishment for any of my actions. She never knew about any of it. I've made loads of mistakes in my short life, most of them have been extremely dangerous. I've been involved with things that I never should have been, done things that are guaranteeing me a one-way-ticket to hell, and I've never had to atone for any of those things. My schooling suffered and I was expelled shortly before my mother got sick, she never even knew about that either" Jessica said.
"That's got to be tough" Stefan said.
Jessica shrugged.
"It is what it is. However, I AM sorry for upsetting you, Stefan. I couldn't care less about what Damon thinks or feels but, I do regret causing you stress and concern. You have welcomed me into your home with open arms and done everything you can to make me feel as comfortable as possible and I kinda threw it all back in your face" Jessica apologised.
Stefan just smiled at her in forgiveness and pulled her into a massive hug.
"I'm meant to be looking after you and when I lost you last night, I automatically thought the worst. Just a message to say that you were safe would have sufficed…not that I'm agreeing that sleeping with the town's biggest playboy is safe" Stefan said.
Jessica laughed.
"Yeah, that Tyler guy is…interesting" Jessica struggled for the right word to describe Tyler.
"Interesting doesn't cover it! The first day of school, the guy tried to launch a football at the back of my head with impressive force. He also purposefully tackled me aggressively on the football field and broke my finger" Stefan told her.
"Oh my god! He did not?!" Jessica exclaimed.
"He did" Stefan answered.
"That little sh…" Jessica was cut off.
"Don't finish that word Jessica" Damon stated harshly as he entered the room.
Damon had heard Stefan come in and had listened to Stefan and Jessica's conversation. He was glad to hear Jessica apologise to Stefan without being prompted to do so, and he was interested in hearing about Jessica's life in England. He wondered exactly what she had gotten herself into back home and was determined to find out. He also knew now that, without a doubt, she would mess up again and he would have to be ready for that.
"Sorry" Jessica said quietly.
She had momentarily forgotten that Stefan was not just someone she could be open and honest around but was also now an authoritative figure in her life. She was going to have to get used to having authority figures in her life now.
"Jessica was just telling me all about her punishments she has due to her 'crimes'" Stefan said, slightly mocking his older brother's older methods.
"Careful Stefan, you are not too old to be bent over my knee as well you know" Damon threatened.
Stefan looked stunned. He remembered that Damon favoured that kind of punishment back in the day but surely that was seriously outdated at this point, right? Stefan resisted the urge to shudder but that didn't stop his ass clenching at the thought of just how brutal Damon could be at delivering well deserved blows of humiliation to his backside.
Jessica watched Stefan's expression change and decided that she was not going to question that any further.
Damon's attention turned to Jessica once again.
"Have you finished cleaning the house from top to bottom?" Damon asked.
Jessica nodded.
"Good! That's two punishments down and six more to go. I already have two more in mind, one of which you will be doing tomorrow. However, for today, punishment number three: you will be in bed by 6pm and you will be going to bed without dinner" Damon stated.
Jessica tried not to huff. She had worked up a small appetite and was actually looking forward to dinner. However, she wouldn't complain, and she was actually ok about going to bed early. She was exhausted and still hadn't caught up on the lack of sleep from the night before.
Stefan looked like he was going to protest on her behalf, but he instantly backed down when Damon glared at him, daring Stefan to question him.
Damon also had plans tonight and knowing that the teenager was safely tucked away in bed for the evening would actually help him focus on his evening plans.
"Wait…only six more punishments? I thought you said you had been given nine in total?" Stefan asked, catching up to the previous conversation.
"One punishment is for you to dish out Stefan, she was disrespectful to you as well last night. Do not disappoint me on that decision" Damon stated.
Stefan's eyes widened. He didn't know how best to punish someone; it just wasn't in his nature to do so.
Damon guessed his train of thought.
"This is why you need me around Stefan" Damon remarked.
Stefan nodded.
Before Damon exited the room to get ready to go out for the evening, he turned back to Jessica.
"You'd best start getting ready for bed young lady" he stated, leaving no room for argument.