The Devil's Angel

The vibration and irritating voice that accompanies it felt like scratching voice to Damon’s ears. He had finally gone to sleep after a real weird night where he tried to drown his feelings, pushing them, stuffing them back inside with a bottle of whiskey and continuous tossing and turning for an hour.

He had finally felt sleep coming peacefully and some freak was calling at such an appropriate time of damned night. He searched for his cell phone, squatting on the side table with his eyes closed and rejected the call.

He buried his face in the pillow and sighed hoping for a goodnight….Damn, it just wasn’t his night as it started to vibrate again. He picked it, cursing out loud, “It better be pretty damn important or God help me, I’m so gonna rip your throat out and suck you dry.”

“Damon?” the voice was tensed, strained, worry and tension etched in the voice. Damon sat up quickly in his bed. Taking the phone away from his ear, he quickly checked the Caller ID and cursed again.

“Claire. Is everything ok?” he asked.

“No, Damon. I mean, I don’t know. It’s Mia,” she replied, unsure and utterly confused.

“What happened?” he asked as he dressed himself up and took his leather jacket in his hand, stepping out of the room.

“I don’t know. I can’t help her. She’s not listening…just crying and she’s screaming and thrashing and throwing stuff and...”

“Hey. It’s ok, Claire. I’m on the way.”

“Please, Damon. Hurry. I think she’ll hurt herself and only you can help her. She wouldn’t listen to anyone else.” She pleaded.

He would have been happy at the statement that she would listen to him only. Only he could calm her down, provide her the comfort she sought but the screaming and thrashing part…she never did that before. It just wasn’t Mia. It had to be her dreams. Nothing else shook her as much as her dreams or…memories.

“Where are you going?” Stefan asked worried that he was getting out for a midnight snack but the pain and confusion in Damon’s eyes had him tensed. He took a step towards Damon, “Hey, what happened?”

“It’s Mia. I’ll talk later,” Damon said hastily as he slipped through the front door.

He rushed upstairs, finding the front door open. He came to an abrupt halt at seeing Mia. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, her hair in a mess, sticking on her damp cheeks. Claire sat beside Mia and tried to touch her to comfort her but Mia clutched her knees tighter, hugging them to her chest. “No. No, stay away from me,” she cried but Claire kept reaching forward to soothe her.

Mia pushed her away, “Leave me alone!” she screamed and then sobbed, sniffling.

Damon slowly made his way to the bed. Taking Claire by the shoulder, he pulled her away from Mia. “She’ll be ok,” he gave her a sad smile. “Mia?” Damon called her but kept his hands suspended in the air.

“No, no,” she said, her breathing hitched as she continuously shook her head. Damon on seeing no other response from her sat beside her and gently reached her with his hands. “It’s ok. It’ll be ok,” he assured her softly, “it was just a dream.”

He gently took her by the shoulder but this time, she reacted; she reacted violently. “No. no, it’s not ok. I deserve this,” she screamed at him and pulled from his embrace but he tightened his arms around her.

Not being able to escape it, she started to pound her fists on his chests but he never flinched as he kept her from hurting herself.

“Damon. It’s ok. Leave her be. She’s hurting you,” Claire said form the farther edge of the bed but Damon silenced her with his finger on his lips and shook his head, “It’s ok, Mia. I’m here,” he assured her.

After several quiet moments in the room except for Mia’s hitched breathing and sobbing, she started to relax against him. “Do you want water?” he asked and she slowly shook her head.

“It’s all my fault,” she said, her voice still rough from crying. He ran his fingers through her hair, his other arm securely keeping her with him. He looked at Claire pleadingly, “She’s fine, now. Go get some rest. I’ll be here,” he said.

“Are you sure?” Claire asked.

“Yes,” he whispered as he turned his eyes on Mia’s head.

Claire nodded him thanks and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Damon kissed the top of her head and spoke against it, “It’s not your fault, whatever it is. I’m sure of it.”

Mia stayed quiet and breathed deeply, taking in his scent which calmed her and brought her peace she was looking for, “It is. I hurt everyone around me. All those who care about me. I’m a bad person, Damon,” she raised her head to gaze into his deep eyes, “I’ll hurt you too,” she whispered, her lips slightly brushing against his jaws.

He scoffed, “You and I both know, the only person in this room who’s capable of hurting is me.”

Mia shook her head, “You don’t know me,” she said simply.

He gave her a soft smile, “Oh, but I do and I know that you are a wonderfully, sweet little angel,” he tucked her hair behind her and dabbed her wet cheeks.

“Angels don’t hurt people,” she argued.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” he argued back.

“Angels don’t,” she stated matter of factly.

“They do,” he paused and bored into shimmering chocolate of her eyes. Mia opened her mouth to say something but he silenced her by placing his fingers on her lips. A jolt of electricity shook her and his eyes fell on his fingers which could feel the soft and smooth texture of her lips.
He forced his eyes to look back at Mia’s awaiting eyes, “If they didn’t, they would never have fell from the heavens,” he whispered, his voice husky from the raging feelings her proximity induced.

All he had to do was lean in just two inches and he could take it, taste what he wanted to for such a long time. He wanted to rein in everything he was feeling but her parting lips against his fingers didn’t help the matter much. He pulled away his hand suddenly as if the touch electrocuted him.

Even in the brown of her eyes, he could see the pupils dilating and joy surged through him with a wave of excitement and anticipation. He was not alone in this mess, she felt that way too.

Mia could see the joy dancing in his eyes before they were clouded with confusion again, the storm that raged inside him, which tore him apart was apparent in his eyes and she knew she was the reason. She had to give him a sign, a single sign that she was just as messed up, that she wanted it as much as he did but her heart squeezed painfully.

She was also the reason, everybody’s life was like that, a dark and cold place. She couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t hurt him. She would be a good friend to him and take care of him and let him take care of her but she wouldn’t start something which would never go anywhere.

She had hurt enough people already. Mia turned her face away the moment he leaned in, not even noticing that he had taken the step which would have brought down all the barriers between them. He didn’t want to but the way she was staring at him broke his restraint.

Damon quickly pulled back, feeling a pang of disappointment, hurt and then relief. He cleared his throat and she turned to look at him, “I’m tired, Damon,” she said, unsure of herself.

He nodded as he laid back on the bed, pulling her down with him, keeping his arm around her waist. As much as she wanted to distance herself from him. She couldn’t. She couldn’t leave the safety, warmth and comfort of his embrace. She snuggled close to him and rested her head on his shoulder, her forehead touching his jaw.

As much as the contact made her shiver, she didn’t pull away. She just wasn’t strong enough. “Do you want to talk about the dream?” he asked.

“It was the worst one.”

“I can tell,” he chuckled as Mia spat his chest playfully. “What was it about?” he asked, serious again.

“I saw Maya,” she said and Damon tilted his head to look at her. “What?” he exclaimed.

“She’s the one who killed me, a…year ago,” she said and Damon shifted. “What?” he exclaimed in a higher octave. “I hate her, Damon.”

“Yeah, figures.” Mia chuckled at him and took a deep breath. “What else?” he asked.

“Do you really wanna know?”

“No. I just want my daily dose of drama and unpredictable entertainment,” he replied, rolling his eyes. Mia looked at him wide eyed. “Just tell me,” he said amused causing her to soften her expression.

And she did told him, everything and with every single word she spoke, she felt the burden lifting off her heart and by the end of it, she felt lighter. He listened carefully like he always did as if their lives depended on it and it endeared him even more in her eyes though she didn’t know how that was possible. She was already head over heels in love with him.