World So Cold

“Juliet, you really should stay,” said Stefan looking at me pleadingly.

“I shouldn’t, Stefan. A domestic home, a human place, it does not fit me. I don’t belong there.” I placed a hand on his arm hoping he’d understand. It wasn’t him I was avoiding, it was anything human. I didn’t need any more of my humanity to seep through. I’ve about had enough.

“I’ll still be in school. I’ll be around. Just don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself,” I told him.

“You sure did a fine job of that yesterday,” he argued. I jerked my hand back like I had been burned. “And Damon’s still here,” he said more gently. “You never know what he might do. You don’t even know what he did to me.”

“What’d he do to you?” I asked my eyes narrowing. Damon better not have hurt Stefan. Going after me was one thing but Stefan was like my brother. If you hurt him, I’d hurt you. I always wanted the best for him.

“Well, we don’t know if it was exactly him or not,” said Stefan backtracking.

“We?” I asked my voice rising a pitch. I was gone two days. Two days! What the hell had Stefan done since then? Had all chaos broken out in my absence? It was like the weekend from hell.

“There’s a lot you missed. I have a lot to tell you.”

“You bet you do.”

“But there’s a lot that you need to tell me too.”

“There is nothing that I need to tell you,” I said my voice cold, unfeeling.

“There is plenty,” said Stefan. “What did those vampires want with you? Why did they bite your neck? Why did you disappear? How are you a vampire? What happened to you?” He counted them all on his fingers.

“You might learn one day, Stefan. But what I want to know is who ‘we’ is. Who else know about us? I have a right to know.”

“Elena,” said Stefan. “She knows about everything.” I was about ready to freak out when Stefan cut me off. “She’s perfectly okay with it,” said Stefan hurriedly. “She knows that we’re vampires and she knows about my past. She doesn’t know much about you other than I was your friend during the Renaissance and now you’re a vampire. Nothing else.”

“You let a human know about us? And just because you love the girl?” I asked incredulously.

“Precisely because I love her. And because after the haunted house she came here. She saw me as the monster I was. She saw my face. She was so afraid of me,” said Stefan. I could tell it still pained him to talk about it.

“She’s okay now though?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes, she’s okay with it. It was actually her who saved me from the well.” I raised an eyebrow in question. “Someone put me in a well. I almost died. It was Elena and her blood that saved me from dying.”

“Do you think Damon put you in the well?” I asked. It seemed like it had Damon written all over it.

“I don’t know,” admitted Stefan honestly. “I really don’t know. I had been talking to him before it all went blank. He-he fed on me,” said Stefan who clenched his fists. Vampires hated being fed on. It reduced them, made them feel like prey. It was a natural instinct to us.

I turned around and began walking into the woods. “Juliet, where are you going?” asked Stefan.

“To talk,” I growled. As I reached the tree line I ran through the trees at top speed. Once I was deep in the woods I stopped and surveyed my surroundings. Nothing was around. I couldn’t even hear the movement of a small animal.

Damon! I called out, projecting my thoughts. We need to talk.

About? came the reply back. Turning around I was surprised to see Damon casually standing there as if he had been the entire time.

“I haven’t come to play games,” I said. “I want answers.”

“As do I, Princess,” said Damon. “But can’t we play too?”

“I’m done playing with you. You fed on Stefan.”

“Nothing more than he deserved,” scoffed Damon. “He came to me. The brat needed to be put in his place. If I remember correctly, something you found quite irritating about him too.”

“You were watching me this whole time?” I asked Damon. I wasn’t sure what I was feeling: fear, anger, or both.

“I was doing more than that,” said Damon stepping forward. “I was in your dreams. I was letting you remember what a good time we had. I especially enjoyed the last one,” said Damon with a smirk. Damon came to stand in front of me. “What do you say we continue where it left off?” He reached a hand out to touch me.

In a blur of motion I moved away from him a few feet. I backed myself against a tree wanting something at my back. “No,” I said. Even to me my voice sounded weak, pitiful.

“Why not?” asked Damon coming towards me again. I felt like a trapped animal. He was so much older, more powerful than me. It was stupid of me to come here. “You know I can’t resist you. I wonder why that is?” As he came to stand in front of me he put both arms on either side of the tree. I was engulfed by his scent and the warmth emanating from his body.

I moved my hands up to try and push him away. Quickly he caught both of my wrists, practically effortlessly. He pinned my hands against the tree. I was stuck. “I think I have an idea,” he continued as if I had done nothing. “I think it’s in your blood.”

“That’s preposterous,” I argued.

“Is it? That vampire seemed very intent on biting your neck.”

“He was crazy,” I said. I felt so weak, so pitiful. I was becoming disgusted with myself. How I let him to get to me this way. How I was weak and useless against him.

“I don’t think so. I tasted your blood. It was delicious. It was filled with more Power, more life than a human’s ever could.”

“You tasted my blood?” I whispered. I was horrified. He can’t know. How could he know? No one could ever know. Not if I wanted to live.