Children Of The Damned

Eliana

“Elena? Oh, God! Elena!”

“What’s going on?” she asked, alarmed.

“Is Stefan with you?” I asked her.

“Yeah. We’re studying at my house.”

“Look. Can you go somewhere where he won’t hear you?”

“Sure, Ana. What is this all about?” I heard noises in the background, and then the sound of a door shutting.

“I need you to trust me, Elena.” This was going to be hard. I knew that what I was about to say would sound insane.

“What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Damon’s a vampire I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. And if he is, I think Stefan is one of them too.”

“I know, Ana.”

“But you….what? You know?” How could she know and still let him anywhere near her?

“Yes. I know a lot about them. More than I care to know, at times. But I have known for quite some time now.”

“Can you come over?” I asked before I had time to think about how dangerous it might be for her to be out at night.

“Sure. I’ll be there in five.”

_______________________________________________________________

When the doorbell rang, I almost jumped out of my skin. Then I stared through the peep hole and saw that it was Elena, and opened the door.

As I let her in, Stefan stepped into view, and I shrieked, trying to close the door. He was too strong, and he got inside.

“Ana! Please,” Elena said. “He’s not going to hurt you. He’s good. Please, trust me. I would never put you in danger.”

I didn’t run, but I stayed tense and ready to bolt if need be.

“You guys have a lot of explaining to do,” I told them.

“Why Don’t we go sit down and talk about this?” Elena prompted.

I nodded slowly, sitting in the recliner in the living room. They sat on the loveseat, side by side. Stefan took Elena’s hand and nodded to her. “Why don’t you tell her?”

Elena turned to me. “Why Don’t you tell me what happened first and then I can fill in any details you might want to know.”

I nodded. “I thought I was seeing things the first couple of times, but when we were kissing, he suddenly changed into…his eyes were all bloodshot, and then I saw the fangs. I-I…he said that he wasn’t going to hurt me, but how do I know that? He could kill me if he wanted to.”

“That happens to vampires,” she began, “whenever they’re hungry or very angry or…aroused. Sometimes their emotions just funnel themselves into that one category: hunger.”

“How…how can you be so close to him?” I asked her, looking at their intertwined hands.

“He’s good. He doesn’t hurt people to survive. He feeds on animals. That, and once I fell in love with him, it didn’t even matter anymore. I couldn’t stay away from him.”

“And what about Damon? Does he kill people?” I directed this question at Stefan, who I knew must know Damon a lot better than Elena did.

“He used to. But he has become more in touch with his humanity. He still can’t stomach the animal diet though. He gets blood bags from the hospital.”

“How did you become a vampires?” I asked.

“We fell in love with the same woman in 1864. She used us. She wanted the three of us to be together forever. She turned us before she was killed. Damon never got over it. I knew she never really loved us, and I moved on. I fell in love with Elena. For Damon, it wasn’t so easy. He pushes people away. He’s afraid of being hurt. But when he met you, things changed. He cares about you the way I have never seen him care about anyone before. Not even Katherine, the vampire that made us.”

“That doesn’t change anything. I trusted him, Stefan. He let me believe he was a normal human being.

“Look,” Stefan said, “I know that this must be hard for you. Believe me, everyone in this room has dealt with this knowledge. And it’s frightening, but I need for you to really give this time to set in before you pass any major judgments.”

“And in the meantime,” Elena interjected, “you should be wearing the necklace I gave you for Christmas.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Do you see this?” she said, walking over to me and lifting a pendent up that had been resting against her chest.

I nodded.

“Inside this locket is vervain. It can protect you from a vampire’s compulsion.”

“Compulsion?”

“Yes,” she said. “Vampires can control your mind, make you do things and make you forget you did them. The vervain in your necklace will protect you from that. As long as you have it in your system or you’re wearing it, you’re safe.”

I went upstairs and got it immediately, putting it around my neck. When I got back downstairs, Stefan and Elena were in the foyer.

“If you want me to stay, I will,” Elena said.

“No, it’s fine.”

“Oh, and another thing,” she said before leaving behind Stefan. “Be careful who you invite in the house. A vampire can’t come in without being invited, so make sure you know who you let in.”

“Thanks,” I said. But now I was terrified.

I realized he probably wouldn’t be stopped by locked doors and windows. But Elena and Stefan were already gone.

So I went up to my room and took two sleeping pills, more than the recommended dosage, just so I could sleep tonight.

A few minutes later, I was in bed, and my eyes slid shut as if weighed down by lead.

___________________________________________________________

Damon

I ruined everything. I knew that now. She was terrified. And much worse than that, all she saw in me was a monster. I liked it better when she was blissfully ignorant, but I knew that had all been a lie. I would rather she hated me for who I was than loved me for who I wasn’t.

But I still couldn’t be away from her.

So I went to her house, and once I was in the tree outside her room, I watched her to see if she was asleep. Her chest rose and fell in a way that suggested deep sleep. So I went to the window. It was locked, but it didn’t take me long to silently pick the lock and slide the window open. Once inside, I sat in the chair my her desk and watched her.

After a few minutes, I stood, leaning over her sleeping form. I let my fingers brush through her silken gold hair. “Ana,” I whispered. “Please forgive me.” I placed a soft kiss on her forehead and left before my presence awoke her.