The Cousin

Third Person Point of View
The car stops upside down on the road. Elena pants, her heart beating a mile a minute. She gazes over to her cousin.
“Selene?” she gasps. Selene doesn’t respond. Elena reaches over and feels for her pulse. It’s still beating.
Elena relaxes slightly and looks out her shattered window to the deformed figure of the man she hit. He was clearly dead, looking at him. But then he begins to move. Straightening out his limbs with loud defying cracks. Elena begins to whimper as the mace gets up and comes closer to her car. She lets out a loud scream when the man’s boots are inches from her face.
The man then turned and ran. Elena stares after him in shock. And then a new face appears in front of her. Elena turns, screaming in fright, as Damon peers in at her and her unconscious cousin.
“How you doing in there?” asks Damon.
“Damon,” Elena whimpers.
“You look stuck.” Damon then stands up to look at the car.
“It’s my seatbelt. I can’t get it off,” she cries.
“Shh, shh, shh,” he whispers pulling her door open. “Let me get you out of here. I want you to put your hands on the roof.” She does. “Just like that. You ready?” Elena nods. “One, two, three.” Damon then rips the seatbelt away and Elena falls onto the roof. “Gotcha,” Damon whispers as he pulls her out of the car. He then tries to help her stand. “You okay? Can you stand? Is anything broken?”
Elena shakes her head, “Selene. You have to get Selene out, please.”
“Shh, shh. I’ll get her. One person at a time. Whoa,” Damon catches Elena as she begins to fall, “you’re fading fast, Elena. Elena, look at me. Focus. Look at me.” Elena looks up at Damon. “Okay,” he whispers.
“I look like her,” she mumbles.
"What?” Elena then falls into unconsciousness, and Damon gently lowers her to the ground. He lays her down and runs over to Selene. “Selene? Can you hear me?” The girl made no noise. Damon reaches inside and touches her soft neck. Her heart was still beating proud and strong. Damon rips the door open and unbuckles Selene, catching her before she hit the roof. He slowly pulled her out and checked her over for broken bones, she had none.
Damon lets out a sigh of relief and then picks her up, throwing her over his shoulder, “Upsy-daisy.” He walks over to Elena and does the same thing but throws her on his other shoulder. “You too,” he grunts. He then carries the two girls away from the crash.
******
My head was pounding. I sat up groaning, my hand pushing me up from the leather car seat. My eyes shot open. I was in a car? I looked out the windows and saw the country side fly by.
“Good morning, sleepy head.” I jumped at the sound of Damon’s voice. “How you feeling?” he questioned, eyeing me through the rear view mirror. “You don’t have any broken bones, I checked.”
Images from last night flashed before my eyes. I flinch wrapping my arms around myself. Damon frowned. I just turned away and gazed out the window. My throat began to ache with the memories of both car crashes as the flooded into my mind.
Elena stirred from her slumber against the window. “Morning,” Damon smiled at her.
“Where are we?”
“In Georgia,” he sang.
“Georgia? No, no, no, we’re not. Seriously, Damon, where are we?” Elena asked frantically.
“Seriously, we’re in Georgia.”
“Ugh,” groaned Elena.
“How you feeling?” Elena stammers. “There’s no broken bones. I checked.”
“My car. There was a man…” I flinched remembering the night before. “I hit a man. But then he got up and-Selene! Oh, my God is-“ I tapped her shoulder, she spun and looked at me. “Thank God.” She then looked at Damon, “Who was that?”
"That’s what I would like to know,” he grumbles.
“Where’s my phone? Okay, we really need to go back. Nobody knows where Selene and I are. Pull over. I mean it, Damon. Pull over. Stop the car,” Elena shouts at him.
“Oh, you were so much more fun when you were asleep,” Damon complains pulling the car over. Damon climbs out and then helps me out of the back. I groan as I climb out, Damon places a hand on my waist and looks at me, “You okay?” I nod. He then looks over at Elena she was bending over. Damon gave me a pat as a warning and then rushed over to Elena. “Hey,” he whispers peering at her face with a hand on her back.
“I’m fine,” she whispered to him. I walk around the car and stand next to Damon. “We have to go back.”
“Oh, come on. Look, we’ve already come this far.”
“Why are you doing this? Selene and I can’t be in Georgia. I-I wreaked my car. We have to go home. This is kidnapping,” she snapped at him.
“That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?” smirked Damon.
"You're not funny," she hissed. "You can' do this. We're not going to Georgia."
"Well, you're in Georgia. Without your magic little necklace, I might add." I watch Elena touch her neck. "I could very easily make you agreeable." I smack Damons arm.
"What are you trying to prove?" Someones phone began to ring. "That's my phone," growls Elena.
Damon reaches into his pocket and pulls it out. "Mmm. It's your boyfriend," he teases holding the phone out to her. She turns away. "I'll take it. Elena's phone." Stefan speaks indistinctly on the other end. "Elena? No, she's right here. And, yes, she's fine. Selene is too if you were worried about her at all." Damon hold the phone out to Elena a moment later. "He wants to talk to you."
Elena shakes her head, "Mm-mm."
Damon puts the phone back to his ear. "Yeah, I--you know, I don't think she really wants to talk to you right now. You have a good day. Mm-hm. Bye, now." Damon smirks putting the phone away.
"Look, no one knows where Selene and I are. Can we please, just go back," begs Elena.
"We're almost there," smiled Damon.
"Where is 'there'?"
"A little place right outside of Atlanta. Oh, come on, Elena, you don't wanna go back right now, do you? What's the rush? Time out. Trust me, your problems are still gonna be there when you get home. Look, step away from your life for five minutes." Elena looks up at him. "Five minutes," he smiles.
Elena groans and then sighs, "Are we gonna be safe with you?" She asks holding my hand.
"Yes."
"Will you promise not to do that mind-control thing with me?"
"Yes."
"Can we trust you?"
Damon looked between the two of us. "Get in the car. Come on." Damon takes my arm and helps me into the back seat. He then climbs into the drivers side as Elena shuts her door.
Damon takes off and we laps into an uncomfortable silence.
"So, where's my car?" Elena finally asked.
"Uh, I pulled it off to the side of the road. I don't think anyone will bother it."
"What about that man in the road? Was he a--?"
"From what I could tell, yeah."
"You didn't know him?"
"If I've never met him, I wouldn't know him. I mean, it's not like we all hang out together at the Vamp Bar and Grill."
"Where are we? You brought us to a bar?" Elena complained as Damon got out and then started to help me out. "Damon, we're not old enough. They're not gonna let us in," spoke Elena as she shook her head.
Damon thew an arm over my shoulders, "Sure they will." I look up at the sign that read 'Bree's Bar'.
Elena slams the car door shut and stalks after us. She rolls her eyes at Damon as he smiles like an idiot. We walk into the bar and he claps his hands, pulling his arm off my shoulders. I frown feeling unprotected.
"No," smiles the bar tender, who I would assume to be Bree. "No, it can't be. Damon? Aw..." she swings herself over the bar and then saunters up to Damon. "My honey pie." She then grabs Damon and begins to kiss him. I frown turning away from their mini-makeout session. "Come, drinks on the house," she climbs back over the bar and lays out a row of shot glasses. Damon swings his arm around me again and climbs up on the bar stool. Elena sat on one side of him while I sat on the other. "Listen up, everybody," Bree calls picking up a bottle of liquor. "Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness." She said pouring the shots. She then placed one in front of Elena, Damon, and I. "Drink up." I stared at the shot glass. Damon drank his reached over and grabbed mine. Drank mine. Then grabbed Elena's and drank hers. "Whoo. So, how'd he rope you in?" Bree smiled to Elena.
"I'm not roped in. Actually, I'm dating his--"
Bree turned to me, "So you?"
"I'm not roped--" I whispered.
"Oh, honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped." She smiled, "Either, way, just enjoy the ride."
"Em, okay," I mumbled.
"So, how did you two meet?" questioned Elena.
Bree giggled, "College."
Elena and I turned to Damon. "You went to college?" Elena smiled in disbelief.
"I've been on a college campus, yes," he smiled downing another shot Bree poured.
"About 20 years ago, when I was a sweet young freshman, I met this beautiful man and I fell in love. And then he told me about his little secret, made me love him even more. Cause, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody."
"She's a witch," Damon whispered to us.
"You changed my world, you know," she smiled.
"I rocked your world," snorted Damon.
"He is good in the sack, isn't he?" she smiled at me. "But mostly he's just, uh...a walk-away Joe." She drank another shot and slammed it down onto the table. "So...what is it that you want?"
"Hmm," sighed Damon. "Here. Your Aunt was calling. Maybe you should go outside and give her a call." Damon said handing Elena her phone.
Elena got up and pulled me out of the Bar with here. "Hi, Jenna, I'm so sorry." She said after she had dialed the number.
"Where are you? Why didn't you call?"
"Selene and I were so tired last night we fell asleep at Bonnie's. And then this morning we just wanted to get to school."
"Are you okay?"
"You know, Stefan and stuff."
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
"No. Look, Jenna, I have to go. I'll call you later."
"You'd better. Bye."
"Bye." Elena then hung up the phone and frowned.
"What happened last night," I whispered. "What did Stefan do?"
"I look like Katherine. The vampire Damon's trying to get out of the tomb. She dated both Stefan and Damon."
"Oh," I whispered as her phone rang.
"Speaking of Stefan," she grumbles answering it.
"Elena, is that you?"
"I'm here," she huffs.
"Where are you?"
"You lied," she snapped.
"Not until I explain, please." He begged.
"So, you didn't lie?"
"Tell me where you are so I can come get you," he reasoned.
"How am I connected to Katherine, Stefan?" she snapped.
"I honestly don't know."
"Heh. And I'm suppose to believe that?"
"It's the truth, I...Listen."
Elena hung up the phone and turned around. Behind us stood Damon. "You okay?" he asked Elena.
"Don't pretend to care. I know you're gloating inside." Elena pushed passed Damon and headed back to the bar. Damon turned to me.
"Are you okay? You've said less than usual..." Damon whispered touching my cheek. I frown looking down. "The crash scared you didn't it?" I nod. "Don't worry," he whispered lifting my chin up. "As long as you're with me, you're safe," he smirked.
"Full of ourselves aren't we?" I smile.
"There's my Princess," he smiles back. "Come on. Let's go get some food." Damon swung his arm over my shoulders and we headed back inside. We saw Elena seated at the bar and we seat ourselves next to her. Damon orders the three of us hamburgers.
"Let's just say that I'm descended from Katherine," Elena says as she and Damon continue their conversation, munching on fries. "Does that make me part-vampire?"
"Vampires can't procreate. But we love to try," smirks Damon. "No. If you were related it would mean that Katherine had a child before she was turned."
"Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?"
"It's kind of creepy if you ask me." Elena shakes her head removing the pickles from her sandwich. I stare at the food in front of me and frown. I wasn't hungry. "Come on, you don't like pickles? What's wrong with you?"
"How can you even eat, if technically your supposed to be...?"
"Dead?" Damon whispered. "It's not such a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system...my body functions pretty normally," he shrugs.
Elena chuckles, "This nice act, is any of it real?"
Damon eyes her, "Mm-hm."
"Here you go, honey," Bree says handing Damon a new beer.
"Thank you."
"I'll have one too," says Elena.
I lean over the counter and look down at her with wide eyes. "Hmm?" Damon questions surprised as well.
"Time out, remember? For five minutes. Yeah, well, that five minutes is gonna need a beer."
"There you go," smiles Bree as she hands Elena the beer.
I frown as Elena takes a drink. I bit my lip and sit back in my chair.
******
Hours later, the sun had set and I sat alone in the back of the bar. Elena and Damon were participating in a drinking game. I frowned as I watched them.
"Ready?" asks Bree.
"Uh, uh-huh," smiles Elena.
"Go."
Elena and the others quickly down their shots as fast as they could but Elena places her glass back on the table first and begins to dance. "That's three," she smiles. She then looks over at Damon who had liquor on his chin. "You need a bib?" she mocked him.
"Sorry, I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol." He said wiping his chin.
"Hmm. Whatever. All right, who's next?" she pats the table. "Another round, Bree?"
"Honey, you should be on the floor," smiles the drunk woman next to Elena.
"I am not even drunk. My tolerance is, like, way up here." She jumps to exaggerate her point.
"All right, here you go." Bree says giving them the next round. I watch as Bree nods to Damon and Elena. I look at the man who turns to them. Bree then nods to me. I got up to talk to Damon but I felt someone grab me and pull me outside at vampire speed. I gasp when I see its the man.
"Stay here," he growls to me and then disappears again. When he returns with Elena. "Stay," he growls again and then goes to hide in the shadows.
"Selene? Are you okay," she gasps. I nod, tears in my eyes.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know," she whisperes looking around. Damon then comes walking around the corner. "Damon, no."
The man came running out of the shadows and hit Damon in the leg with a bat. Damon fell back against the ground and Elena and I go running towards them, as the man continues to beat Damon with the bat.
"Ow! What the hell," shouts Damon.
The man grabs a gas can and pours gasoline over Damon. "No! Please stop!" I cried as loud as my voice would let me as I ran. I ran up to the man and tired to get him to stop but he shoved back. I flew backwards and it the gate before falling to the ground.
"No," cries Elena as I sit up in pain.
The man turns back to us and snarls His eyes were blood red. He then turned back to drenching Damon in gasoline.
"Who are you?" Damon grunts.
"Please stop!" I cry.
"That's perfect," growls the man. "You have no idea."
"What are you talking about? What did he do?" shouted Elena.
"He killed my girlfriend." He growls. "What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?!" He yelled at Damon.
"Stop it!" I yell.
"Nothing," grunts Damon.
"I don't understand," frowns Elena.
"My girlfriend when to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her. Got it?" snapped the man.
"Lexi? Lexi was your girlfriend? She told me about you. She said that you were human."
"I was," he whispered pulling out some matches.
"Lexi turned you?"
"If you wanna be with someone forever, you have to liver forever," he said kicking Damon in the face.
"She loved you. She said that when it's real, you can't walk away."
"Well, that's a choice neither of you will have to make," he snapped.
"Please! Don't hurt him!" I cry getting up.
"Don't!" cries Elena.
He lights a match, "I'm doing you both a favor."
"Lexi loved you and she was good, and that means you're good too," I say to him.
"Be better than him," agrees Elena.
"Don't do this, I'm begging you," I whisper.
"Please," whispers Elena.
He picks Damon up by his shirt and then throws him back into a building. Damon lands groaning but okay. The man turned back to Elena and I.
"Thank you," whispers Elena.
"It wasn't for you," he whispers back before disappearing.
Elena takes my hand and we both run over to Damon. I stumble and fall next to him and Elena kneels down on the other side.
"Are you okay?" she whispered to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he grunts sitting up.
I sigh and rest my forehead against his arm. An uneasy sick feeling came over me and I groaned. "Selene?" asked Elena.
"Elena, go get the car," Damon ordered giving her the keys. He lifted me up on his lap as Elena jogs away. "Selene," he murmurs. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" I shake my head. "Okay, look at me," he says grabbing my head, making me look at him. "Thank you," he whispers. I smile slightly. "You need sleep," he said and I shake my head. "You're not well. You haven't eaten or drank anything all day either," he frowns and undoes my necklace.
"Damon," I frown.
"You wont listen to me otherwise." His pupils dilate as he spoke. "Sleep, Selene. Until I wake you up you are to sleep. Got it?" I nod and then drift off to sleep.