Children Of The Damned

Damon

Ana must have rolled over in the middle of the night, because in the dim light of early morning, I could see her form under the covers, her back to me. My hand still lay palm up when I awoke.

I couldn’t bring myself to get up, wanting to listen to the sound of her heavy breathing. I wanted to see how she got ready in the morning for the coming day, something that had always fascinated me about women.

But she slept on through the sunrise, and when the light hit her through the blinds, she stirred, rolling over onto her back. It resulted in the light hitting on her face, making her eyelids flutter.

Her eyes opened into thin, sleepy slits, and she stretched, yawning, before freezing midst retch, her mouth closing with an almost audible snap.

“Shit. What time is it?” she asked.

“7:30,” I told her.

“Well, I didn’t want to go to school today anyways.” She rubbed her eyes. “It’s not too surprising that I forgot to set my alarm.”

“You deserve a break,” I told her.

“I had a Biology test today….oh well.” She got up from bed, stretching again and walking over to her dresser where a hairbrush sat. She started running it through her blonde hair, and I was mesmerized, watching her as she brushed from the tips of her hair to the roots, then setting the brush down again and walking over to the closet, disappearing inside and returning with a plain purple long sleeved shirt and a matching hoodie.

“I’m just going to go change. You can use the shower in the big bathroom if you want,” she said, already walking into her own bathroom connected to her bedroom.

“Thank you,” I told her.

“There are clean towels in the cupboard by the sink,” she said before closing the door to her bathroom to change.

I walked into the large bathroom where we had been the night before, and stripped off my clothing, retrieving one of the towels from the cupboard. I started the shower, letting the hot water pound on my back as I closed my eyes.

Why was I getting myself involved again? She obviously didn’t want me. She didn’t look at me the way she used to. Things were never going to be the way they were before, and it was time that I accepted that for what it was.

It didn’t change the truth, though. I still wanted her, still felt for her, the way that I always had. Or at least the way I had since I got to know her as a person.

I stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out, before getting out and drying myself off, putting on the clothes I had been wearing the night before. I knew I should go home, knew what Stefan might think when he saw mw after a long night dressed in the same clothes I had been wearing when I left the night before. Of course, he would be wrong.

“I should probably get going,” I told her when I went downstairs to find her brewing coffee and making two omelets.

“Eat first?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“I know this isn’t your ‘normal diet’, but I thought you might like it just the same. After all, I have seen you eat human food before.”

“I love omelets, I said, as if proving a point. “And yes, I can eat normal human food as long as I have a steady diet of blood, whether it be human or animal. Stefan prefers animal blood, but he isn’t as strong as I am because of it. In have always drank human blood. It’s better for vampires. Last night, when you cut yourself, that was a normal reaction for me. I sometimes change in the presence of blood, like I do when I feed. But, had I been a vampire that only feeds on animal blood, I may not have been able to resist the temptation of human blood if it was right in front of my like it was last night.”

“So you drinking human blood is a good thing?” She sounded dubious.

“Yes. I am stronger for it. I can protect you more effectively. And when I do drink human blood, it’s only from blood bags that were about to expire at the hospitals. It’s still good, but not really suitable for transfusions anymore. So I get to feed and not have to worry about the nurses and doctors missing any blood they might need for patients.”

“Seems like a good system for a vampire to live by if you ask me.”

“Yes, but I will admit to you right now that blood is always better from the source, when it’s still 98.6.”

She nodded, her pulse quickening slightly. But other than that, she showed no fear. I should have known after all she had been through in the past year or so of her life that she wouldn’t scare easily.

She gave me a steaming plate, and the smells of eggs, ham, and cheese wafted up to my nostrils. She put a cup of coffee in front of me and then sat across the table from me, sipping on her coffee before seeming to remember something and getting up from the table. She went to the foyer and opened the front door. I tensed, ready to follow, but she came back holding the newspaper in her hands.

She unfolded it and examine the front page. Her eyes widened.

“What is it?” I asked, even though I had a feeling already of what it was.

“It killed someone else. This…thing is running around killing anyone he can get his hands on.”

“I’m through waiting, Ana. Next time he comes here, you call me. If you need me at all, call me. Do you understand?”

She nodded slowly. “Be careful.”

“I could say the same for you,” I said, kissing her forehead before she got a chance to protest. “I have to go. I’ll see you soon.”

And then I was out the door.

________________________________________________________________

Stefan

“Where were you?” I asked him as he came through the door, dressed in the same clothing he had been wearing the night before. An unreadable expression played across his face.

“Making sure Ana didn’t get killed last night.”

“What?”

“That vampire was watching her house, circling it. Luckily, I followed her home, or else she might not be here right now.”

I recognized the tone in his voice. It worried me, to say the least.

“Damon, don’t do anything rash.”

“Rash? Stefan, we’ve been sitting here twiddling our thumbs for weeks. I’m done waiting for him to kill anymore people, especially not the one girl I care about more than anything else.”

“You really love her that much?”

“Yes, Stefan,” he said, suddenly calm. “And now you know why we have to find that vampire and kill him.”

“Do you know how long he has been watching her?”

“As far as I know, only since last night. But we can’t really know for sure.”

“We need a plan, Damon. We can’t just run into this blind.”

“You think I don’t know that? But if he’s there again, watching her, I will kill him. That’s a promise, Stefan. No more waiting.”

________________________________________________________________

Unknown

The smell is almost too much to bear. I want to sink my teeth into that tender flesh.

She doesn’t know how long I have waited for her.

All her blinds are closed, but I can still hear her moving about in the kitchen, chopping vegetables, humming to the music playing in her ear buds.

A car pulls into the drive, but I’m safely hidden from view.

It would be so easy to attack them as they get out of their car and head for the front door, keys jangling. But this would upset my plans. I want them alive and willing later on.

“honey, we’re home,” the mother says as they open the door, entering the house. I hear the click of the locks as they close the door behind them.

She greets them, and they eat dinner together in silence before going their separate ways for the night.

I listen to her undress in her room, getting ready for bed.

She had no idea how long I have been watching, just waiting for the right time to act.

And soon, she would be mine.