A Heart Worth Loving

Damon was gone by the time Layla woke up the following morning, but she had expected that and wasn’t too disappointed. Running a hand over her face, she got ready for school and went downstairs for breakfast.

“Morning,” she greeted with a smile, ruffling Brandon’s hair and grabbing herself a couple of slices of toast as she sat down.

“Morning sweetie... Is Damon not joining us?” her gran asked, causing Layla to choke on the food she had in her mouth and look over at her.

“How?”

“I heard someone leave through your bedroom window in the early hours of this morning, so I just assumed it was Damon,” her gran explained with amusement clear in her eyes, “He’s a nice young man, despite everyone’s judgements... just don’t go getting any ideas about immortality.”

“Okay, nope... I’m going to school,” Layla announced, hearing her gran chuckle as she swung her bag onto her back and left.

‘Layla’ a voice whispered as she made her way towards the school, causing her to flinch and stop dead in her tracks. The first image flashed in front of her eyes too fast for her to figure it out, but they gradually slowed down and Layla felt her heart sink at what she saw.

Unsure whether the images were real, Layla made the decision to check it out and made her way to the remains of an old cottage that once stood in the woods. It didn’t take her long to find Damon, bloody and being held against a makeshift stake by invisible bonds.

“I wasn’t sure that you’d come,” a female voice said as a cloaked figure stepped out from the trees to her right, stopping at a safe distance and removing her hood, “Hello Layla.”

“Mom...”

“Look at you,” her mom added with a smile, “You grew up.”

“That’s what happens when you’re not around,” Layla replied angrily, using her own magic to try to free Damon with no effect and keeping an eye on her mom as she moved to his side, “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see my daughter.”

“So you come into town and use somebody that I care about to reel me in,” Layla argued, “That’s not how it works.”

“Layla...”

“No,” Layla shouted, “You really think that you can just suddenly reappear in my life and everything will be fine, did you ever think that maybe I don’t want you around?”

“I’m your mother, of course, you want me around,” her mom replied, “I know that you’ve lost your way, but I can help you find your path again and we can be a family.”

“I already have a family, one that has been there and hasn’t abandoned me.”

“You mean this vampire and those people that you call friends?”

“Yes, I do,” Layla mumbled, noticing the faint glow of her mom’s hands and getting ready to act.

“I’ll make you see that you’re better than this,” her mom promised, raising her hands towards Damon and muttering an incantation, “Forgive me.”

Not knowing what the spell would do to Damon, Layla jumped in front of him and threw up a defensive spell to protect them both. The blast from her mom’s spell hit the magical barrier hard and passed through it, striking Layla in the chest.

“Layla,” Damon shouted as she was knocked backwards onto the floor, “What did you do?”

“I...” her mom stated, falling silent and releasing Damon from her hold as he struggled against it violently to get free, “Why would you do that?”

“I won’t let you hurt him or anyone I care about,” Layla answered as Damon helped her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her as she swayed dangerously on the spot and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

“What does the spell do?” Damon demanded.

“It... it numbs the heart,” her mom explained, “It’s meant for supernatural creatures that are in love with a human, but I don’t know what it does when cast upon a human...”

“Come on,” Damon whispered, letting Layla go and picking her up bridal style.

“Where are you taking her?”

“To someone who can help.”