My Undead Life With Damon Salvatore

I awoke the next morning to find Damon gone; I wasn’t surprised. I stood up and walked to the television where and note was placed.
‘I left you one of the credit cards. I know you’ll do it justice-D’ I found the small plastic card a moment later siting on the table next to the television.
I jumped in the shower and quickly washed my hair. I got out and walked into the room, wrapped in a towel. I jumped when I saw Ella sitting on the edge of the bed, twirling her blonde hair around her finger. She was swinging her capri-clad legs off the side of the surface.
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t know that you weren’t changing in there.” Her cheeks turned bright red and she turned away, her hair covering her face.
“It’s fine. I’m going in the closet.” I walked into the closet and shut the door behind me. “So what did you need?” I asked from inside. I scanned the row of clothing, debating what to pick while I waited for her to reply.
“I just didn’t want to be alone, I hope you don’t mind.” Her small voice came from the other side of the wall.
I nodded and then remembered that she couldn’t see me. “Okay. Are you ready to go? I’ll be out in a minute.” I grabbed a purple short sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. I threw my hair back in a headband and put on some purple makeup. I shut the door and saw Ella standing in the middle of the room, spinning in circles while staring at the ceiling.
“Ready to go?” I asked, grabbing my shoes and slipped them on. She stopped and stared for a minute, obviously trying to regain her balance.
“Yup. Let’s head out.” She lead us out of the room and I turned off the light behind us. We jumped in the car and sped down the highway, blaring music.
“So, Ella.” I started. “Are you sure that you want to go to school?” It’s only two days away and I’m sure that everyone would understand if you didn’t go for at least another week or so.” I was trying to leave her options open for her, and I wanted to be sympathetic towards her. We zoomed down the road towards the city.
I could see her shake her head from the corner of my eye. “I’ll be fine Aera. I promise.” I took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. It was an awkward drive after that.
I pulled into the mall parking lot a half hour later, and Ella was texting her friends. She jumped out of the car and stood next to it for a minute. I gather my purse and double checked for the card once again. I locked the car and walked around to the other side to see her talking with some of the girls that I had recognized from the first time we met.
“Oh. Hi girls.” I put on a fake smile. If I had realized that this was a ‘get a ride and ditch’ plan, then I wouldn’t have deemed this a good idea.
“Hey.” They all glanced up for a split second from their phones to look at me.
“Well, come on Ella.” I urged her to follow me towards the mall doors. She looked at me like I was stupid. I was suddenly glad that she would be going to a different school, and she would be making different friends. She was a bitch around these ones.
“Can’t I just be with my friends for one more day?” Her brown eyes glared at me with obvious annoyance.
I sighed in aggravation. What was the harm? “Fine.” I pulled out the hundred dollars cash that I kept in my wallet and handed it to her. “No drugs or alcohol. I’ll call you when it’s time to go.” I spun on my heel and walked away.
I walked through the mall, alone. Every time I would see Ella and her little friends, I would dodge into a store, trying to pretend like I was interested in something. I was pathetic, that much was clear. I did manage to buy a few more articles of clothing though.
I still felt like a loner, and I also wanted to slap Ella for being so- oh, what’s the word- selfish! I get it, she was moving from her childhood friends and she wouldn’t get to see them as often anymore, but that doesn’t excuse the fact for her to, clearly, already have made these plans.
I was angry. The only way I could figure out to release my anger in a way that wouldn’t cause a public scene, was to go and buy the most extravagant dress I could. Then, I would wear it around the house because I could! I was feeling like a five year old, but darn it, I wanted to be a five year old! I had spent far too long being much more mature for my age, and I deserved to have some sort of childlike action, at least once.
I stopped staring at the spatula at a cooking shop, and I dashed through the store and to the dress shop. I walked in, and scoped out the cocktail dresses. I found a beautiful yellow dress and tried it on. It fit perfectly. I never spent money, and Damon said to buy whatever I wanted. I felt like I was taking advantage of him, but I knew that he would be fairly upset when he heard about what Ella had decided to do. I didn’t bother to look at the price tag until it was wrung up by the cashier. That was three hundred dollars well spent. I almost considered buying accessories, but I was ready to go. I went to the food court to buy a milkshake. I dialed Ella.
“Hello?” She answered in a bratty tone. I could hear her friends in the background yelling things to say to me. My friends used to do it, and it generally bothered the crap out of me.
“It’s time to go. Where are you?” Where ever they were, there were care noises in the background.
“I’m just finishing up buying something. Where are you? I’ll meet you.” She said. I knew what she was doing, she didn’t want to get busted for not being in the mall.
“No. I’ll come find you. Where are you?" I questioned her in an irritated tone.
"The food court." she spat out. Oh, she was so dead.
"Hm. I'll see you in a minute." I informed her. The line went dead. She had to hurry up, and race over from where she was. And if she didn't buy anything, I swear to God...!
I sat at the table and waited. I received a text from Damon in the mean time. 'How's it going?'
'Oh just fabulous. I think she does drugs or something. We need to have a discussion with her when you get back.' I replied. I knew Damon could compel her to tell the truth.
'Of course. If anything else could go wrong it has. I'm on my way back. I'll be home late tonight/early tomorrow' I sighed after reading his text.
How did my dad do it? Was this why Jen was so stressed? It was because she had a drug addict daughter that she was trying to keep under control. I was 19. I didn't need to be a parent; I didn't want to be. I never wanted children. I never wanted to be a stepsister to anyone, much less their legal guardian!
I saw Ella rush in the doors of the mall that were near the food court. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me. I marched up to her, my bags and purse in hand. "Time to go." I informed her sternly. "Say goodbye to your friends."
"But-" she started. I cut her off.
"Now." I gave her an evil eye.
She waved to her friends. I grabbed her arm and tugged her behind me out the doors. I threw my milkshake out on the way.
We got to the door, I threw my things in the back seat, and Ella was hanging onto her Aeropostale bag.
We sat in silence for a minute. "Where the Hell were you?" I glared at her.
"I was with my friends." I gave her the eye. "We were hanging out outside with Jasmine's brother."
"Doing what?" I could feel the anger bubble inside of me. I never felt so angry before.
"Nothing." she said innocently.
"Ella, you forget that I'm a teenager to. I've never done drugs, but I'm not an idiot." I sighed and leaned forward on the steering wheel. "Thank God you're going to school. You're having a meeting with your counselor." I pulled out of the parking lot and drove away. I felt like a mom. I now knew what my mom felt when she thought I was doing drugs. I never did, and she made me take a drug test on top of that. I was grounded for two months still.
When we arrived home, I went immediately upstairs and unloaded my clothes. I bought Damon a watch though, and found a gift box to put it in. I was checking the house phone for messages. The first and only one was from Ella's social worker.
"Hello Aera and Damon. This is Jacqueline, Ella's social worker. I was calling to check up and see how things were going today. I hope she's not to much trouble. Give me a call back at..." I wrote down the number.
It was barely two in the afternoon on a Friday. I stepped out of the room. I went to Ella's a knocked on her door. She was sitting on her laptop, chatting with a friend.
I spoke to her in a cold tone. "I'm going to the school; I'll be back in an hour." I shut her door and exited the room.

Ella's POV:
Yeah I knew I was caught. I didn't think that Aera would get so mad though, I mean, everyone tries it at least once in their lives. Except Aera apparently; she was miss 'I'm too good and self-righteous.' She told me she was going to the school, which meant that I had the perfect opportunity to go snooping in her room.
Despite what she said, I still knew that there was something off about Damon. No one who was that hot could love someone that plain. I snuck into their room. It was perfect. There was no shoe out of place, no corner filled with dust. There was nothing under the beds, the drawers, and nothing out of the ordinary in the bathroom. That's how it was in the whole house. They had regular food, no trapdoors that lead to any creepy basement or attic.
There was one place left in the house that I hadn't looked, and that was the garage. I knew there was basically nothing in it. They kept both of the cars there and there was no room for any dead bodies or anything, but it didn't hurt to look.
It was empty. I stood in the middle of the room and sighed. Maybe he was just an ass and Aera was he only one who could deal with him and that's why they were together. I was starting to leave the room when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a whit freezer. 'What the heck,' I thought. 'Aera won't be back for at least another twenty minutes, there's no harm in looking.'
I walked up to it and lifted the top. Inside were blood bags. Tons of them! I knew there was a reason that Damon kept Aera around! When he was tired of this blood, he would take it from a real source! He didn't love her; she was just his personal blood bank. I shut the lid and waited in the living room for her to come back.
Aera's POV:
I was leaving the school with Ella signed up for school, all she needed to do was sign the paper.
I did some grocery shopping and went back home. I was still debating what to do with her. She was certainly a handful.
I parked the car in the garage and went inside to put up the multiple things that I had bought.
"We have to talk." Ella said when I walked through the living room to the kitchen. I didn't want to talk to her, but maybe she wanted to tell me about how she was going to change her ways.
I came back into the room and sat in the chair opposite from her. "I know." she started out. A puzzled look appeared on my face.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied in an equally bratty tone.
"Oh come on Aera! Don't play stupid with me." her voice rose in anger and frustration. "I know that Damon's a vampire. I also know that you're his human blood bank." she laughed to herself, but I kept my composure still twisted in confusion. "That's the only reason he's keeping you around you know."
"Look, Ella. I know that you've been through a lot these last few days, but you don't have to make up lies about Damon and I." I tried covering it up.
An evil smirk grew upon her face. "Let's go out to the garage then." that's it. She would be able to call my bluff with proof.
We both stood up and started to walk towards the door when we heard it open. Damon stood before us. "And what are we up to?" he said, blocking the way between us and the garage.
"I'm about to show Aera the proof that you're a vampire." Ella flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder.
"And that proof is in the garage?" Damon looked down at her and took a step forward. She simply nodded. He stared into her eyes. "There are no such things as vampires and I am not one." he smiled after a second.
"I'm sorry Aera. Vampires aren't real." she turned around and walked away.
"Nicely done darling." I smirked.
"My pleasure." he wrapped his arms around me. "How have you been my dear?" he kissed me on the lips.
"I've been dying a little every minute you've been gone." I looked off wistfully into the distance.
"I knew it." he pulled away and led me to the couch. "What's this about her doing drugs?"
I sighed. I quickly explained to him about how she was gone, and wasn't where she said she would be and the mysterious background noise.
"That doesn't mean she does drugs." he looked at me.
"Well then what does she do?" I shrieked. "It's not a legal thing."
Damon gave me an odd look. "Well let's go find out." Ella wasn't doing drugs at the time, but has occasionally done them with her friends. Her only explanation for being gone this time was because she wanted to look at the town. That was exactly what she said, even under compulsion; she wasn't that bright.
When Monday rolled around and it was Ella's first day of school, she was grounded from everything but books basically. That was only because she still left without me.
My alarm to drive Ella went off. I lay in bed for a moment more, and Damon rolled over to face me, draping his arm across me in the process.
"I have to get up." I groaned. She would be taking the bus from Tuesday on. I wasn't soon this every day.
"She can live with the bus." Damon mumbled against my shoulder.
I sighed. "I don't know how you managed to do this for me." I said as I wiggled out of his grip. "I appreciate this now more than ever." I sat at the edge of the bed, staring at the ground.
"It was easy to do because I love you." He said into the pillow. I turned around and gave him a funny look. The moved his head slightly to look at me and shrugged. "That, and I went back to sleep when I got home."
I stood up and walked to the closet and got dressed in some blue sweat pants and a matching shirt. I brushed my hair and put it into a low ponytail and went into Ella’s room. I gently knocked, and when I heard no reply, I went in.
She was still asleep, curled on the edge. I quietly walked over to the large windows and opened the curtains. “Rise and shine sweetheart.” I sang cheerfully. From behind me I heard her groan and the movement of the bed as she rolled over.
I sat down next to her. “This was your idea, not mine. So it’s time to get up.” I clapped my hands down on the bed and stood up. “If you’re not up by the time I get back, I’ll make you get up.” I happily said and walked out of the room. I skipped down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed the cereal and milk, and put it on the island for Ella.
Finally, after quite a bit of antagonizing to get Ella up, a half hour later we were on our way to the school. We pulled into the parking lot, and I watched as all of the other students left their cars or got off of their buses.
“Alright kid. Let’s do this.” I said, and got out of the car. I grabbed her school packet and we walked inside. Kids were standing around in the halls, looking for where they were supposed to go. I brushed past them, Ella close behind me. I pushed my way to the front of the office and smiled at the familiar secretaries.
“Aera, I thought we had gotten rid of you last year.” The middle aged woman teased. I smiled and handed her the manila envelope that contained Ella’s information.
“It’s not that easy to get rid of me, you should know that Mel.” I shot back at her. I glanced behind me to see my stepsister looking awkward behind me. She stared at everything like it was going to eat her if she moved. I turned around and nudged her. “It’ll be fine. Sophomore year isn’t that bad, trust me. Anything is better than freshman year.” She only replied with a weak smile.
The secretary returned with another packet and handed it to me. “She’ll need to sign this. Inside is her locker number, I would show her but we’re busy, and I trust that you can find it.” She smiled. I put my hand on Ella’s back and pushed her towards the academic wing of the school. We located the locker in a few minutes, and I helped her unpack her book bag.
“You’ll make friends, don’t worry.” There was a girl that I had recognized as a freshman from the year before. She seemed nice, and I hadn’t heard anything bad about her. I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around to face me.
“Aera, what are you doing back?” she looked at me strangely. I suddenly felt terrible for not knowing her name.
“My stepsister starts today, and she doesn’t have anyone to show her around, do you mind?” I asked, and she quickly shook her head. I wished Ella luck and left.
~*~
Damon greeted me at the door when I arrived home. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house.
“What’s going on?” I asked skeptically.
“We got a call from Jacqueline.” He said. “Ella’s grandparents have asked to take her. Since her parent’s specifically asked for you to take care of her incase this happened, then it’s our choice.”
I didn’t say anything, but instead walked into the living room and plopped myself down onto the couch and thought. Did I really want Ella gone? No. But she was a pain in the butt, and clearly didn’t like me. Does it matter? She’s still your stepsister. That still leaves the fact about Damon and me, right now just him, never getting old. Better to not get super attached. I’m sure her grandparents can give everything she needs, mentally, that we couldn’t provide for her. She would be better off.
“What do you want to do?” He asked. “It doesn’t matter to me.” I couldn’t tell if he was trying to be nice, or if that was another one of his smart-ass things.
“They are her own flesh and blood, they probably want her more.” I felt like I was abandoning her. It’s what’s best for her, right? “She should go with them.” I nodded to myself.
“Alright. I’ll call her back.” Damon put his hand on my knee. “On the bright side, they live nearby so we can still go and see her if you want.” I nodded, feeling better about the situation.
~*~
Ella screamed when she heard about it. She packed her things in tears, and I suddenly wondered if we had done the wrong thing, and that I was being selfish. I thought this all the way up until her grandparents came, and she ran into their arms. She cried, and her grandmother seemed very happy. That’s when I knew that I did the right thing.