Children Of The Damned

Eliana

I awoke the next morning knowing that I was going to have to go on with my life as if I didn’t know what I knew. After all, who would believe me?

And even though I hated Damon now and all that he was, I couldn’t bring myself to expose him. I wasn’t sure why this was, but I wanted to believe what Stefan said; that Damon didn’t kill people. At least not anymore.

I found myself thinking about the recent attacks by animals. Like Matt. Something had tried to rip out his neck. And that other victim they were still trying to identify. I knew now what they really must have been. But if Damon and Stefan weren’t the culprits, then that meant that there was another vampire out there, masquerading as a human.

That possibility terrified me.

It thought about all the myths that went along with vampires, and how some of them were untrue.

For instance, Damon and Stefan could go out in the sun. They could eat human food. They had no issues with garlic, and I was assuming that holy water was out as well.

But they did have to be invited in. And vervain could stop them from controlling me.

Knowing I would have to go to school and be a normal human being, I took a shower and threw on some makeup. I dressed without thinking too much about whether or not my clothing matched, but when I looked in the mirror, I found I was just wearing all black so it didn’t matter much anyway.

I touched the locket that hung around my neck, warm from the heat of my body, and closed my eyes, taking deep breaths, gathering my courage for the day.

I was so tired of being afraid.

__________________________________________________________________

Stefan

“You need to stay away from Ana right now. Elena and I told her about us, and I assured her that you don’t kill people anymore, but she still thinks we’re dangerous. She’s a smart girl.”

“You think I don’t know that, Stefan,” he retorted, and his eyebrows seemed to be permanently burrowed down just over his eyes. That used to be my signature look, and now apparently I had passed it on to him.

I slipped into my jacket and laced up my boots, watching Damon as I did so.

“How much did you tell her?” he asked, watching me.

“I told her the basics. She knows roughly how old you are now, and the reason why you were turned. Normally I would have let you be the one to tell her about Katherine and your past with her, but I thought this was an exception to the rule.”

“I guess I didn’t get quite as lucky as you did,” Damon said, smiling wistfully.

__________________________________________________________________

Eliana

I felt the weight of this new knowledge bearing down on me as I walked through the hallways of the school.

People seemed to have forgotten all about my issues with Matt. Now their eyes slid over mine as they scanned the hallways and classrooms. No one whispered things behind my back. No one asked me questions.

It was as if I were invisible. Which was what I had wanted after Matt and I broke up. But now my fading into the background seemed strange.

I felt like I should have been sticking out like a sore thumb. I couldn’t stop thinking about Damon, about the way he looked at me when I was in his room, like I was his prey. He was something entirely Other, entirely horrifying.

There was only one question that desperately needed answering right now: Where did I go from here?

___________________________________________________________________

Stefan

At lunch, Ana sat with the group: Elena and me, Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline, and Tyler. But she didn’t speak, and instead picked at her food with a disinterest that bordered on disgust.

Every once in a while her hand went up to the locket around her neck, fingers caressing the smooth silver.

She was so unfocused that it was easy to watch her without her knowing. I studied her analytically. Her perfectly arched eyebrows were drawn together over distant gray-blue eyes. Her usually perfectly arranged dark golden hair was now tied up in a half-hearted bun that was already coming undone. Her full, pink lips were slightly pursed, and all the color had gone from her high cheek-boned face. Her usual creamy complexion had an almost gray tinge to it, and there were purple bags under her eyes.

Even wearing a mask of barely concealed terror, it was easy to see how Damon would find her attractive. She was the perfect example of a fair-haired classic beauty, with enough curves to set her apart from the more commonly waifish figures in Mystic Falls.

Other males noticed her as well, and when she first arrived there was a lot of talk in the locker rooms at football games and during P.E. or just whenever she passed by in the hallway. She seemed oblivious to it all, and not long after she came here she started seeing Matt, so she was off-limits.

She was obviously a very rare, beautiful, caring person, a diamond in the rough, so to speak. I just hoped for my brother’s sake that she would be able to forgive him.

____________________________________________________________

Damon

“Police are redoubling their efforts now that another body has been discovered under the Wickery Bridge. We believe this is the same animal responsible for the last two animal attacks in Mystic Falls.”

I turned off the television.

This new vampire in town was obviously trying to be sneaky, because usually the vampire that passed through town eventually came n contact with Stefan or myself.

What I wanted was confrontation. Stefan would probably think it unwise, but that was classic Stefan. Always cautious. Always avoiding conflict.

I was tired of biding my time, waiting for whatever stupid vampire that had been lurking around town for the past two months to come out of hiding. What I wanted more than anything was to hunt him down and rip him apart.

Even if Ana didn’t want me anymore, I wasn’t about to let a rogue vampire run around chewing on people until he got to her or someone she cared about.