Children Of The Damned

Eliana

Morning light hit my face, and I opened my eyes for the first time in what felt like an eternity. My head was pounding, and for a moment I felt fear, wondering if I was still there in the warehouse or if I was dead.

But I was surrounded by familiar, welcome smells, and I was in a warm bed. A warm hand was wrapped around mine, and something soft and silky brushed against my arm.

I turned my head to see Damon, sitting in a chair with the upper half of his torso resting on the bed, his head against my arm, hair tickling my skin, his fingers intertwined with mine. He was sleeping.

I released my hand from his so I could run my fingers through his silky dark hair. He stirred and lifted his head, his eyes meeting mine.

He was completely silent, and in seconds I was hit with the full weight of what I had done. I had lied to him, kept things from him, gone behind his back and made plans that could have damaged both of us. Maybe they had destroyed us.

I was a terrible person, and all I wanted was for him to forgive me for all of the horrible things I had done. But I didn’t really expect him to ever forgive me. In a way, I actually wanted him to be furious, wanted him to hate me so I got what I deserved.

“You hate me, don’t you?” I asked.

He just stared.

“I lied to you. You trusted me, and I kept things from you. I put you and Stefan and Matt and everyone in this town in danger all because I was stupid and I thought I could handle this on my own. I hate myself, too, you know. You could have just let him kill me-”

“Will you shut up?” he said impatiently.

Tears pricked my eyes.

Oh , stop it! You have no right to be upset right now.

I bit my lip to fight back any tears that threatened to surface.

“I can’t believe you thought your plan was a good idea. If I hadn’t found out about it when I did, you would be dead now. Are you listening to me? Dead!” He sounded furious.

The tears flowed freely, and I couldn’t stop them, even if I had wanted to, which I did.

But then suddenly Damon was cradling me against his chest, and he was crying too. “I almost lost you, Ana. I don’t think I could have survived that.”

Unlike my tears, his were silent, a soft surrender. His voice only shook slightly.

“I love you so much.” He spoke into my hair, and the words were enough to make a sob choke its way out of my throat, and I clung to him even though the exertion hurt my tired muscles.

He took my face carefully in his hands, kissing me with a gentleness that was almost painfully sweet.

“I’m so sorry, Damon. Please, forgive me. I-”

“Shhh. You’re alive, and that’s all that matters.”

Alive. That word sparked my interest.

“How did I survive that?”

“I gave you my blood.”

“But then how am I not like you now?” I couldn’t understand why my voice sounded disappointed. I didn’t want that life, did I?

“You were extremely lucky. You consumed enough of my blood that it healed the major wounds. Otherwise, you would have bled out, and it wouldn’t have mattered how much blood I would have given you. You wouldn’t have even come back and transitioned. You would have just been-”

“-dead,” I said, finishing the sentence he would not. He winced.

“Let’s not talk about that right now. I’m just so happy that you’re here with me, alive and well. Human.”

“Shit!” I shrieked.

“What? What is it?” Damon sounded panicked.

“My parents are going to kill me!”