Mind Reader | Damon Salvatore

Four

I pick my head up off the bar table while wiping away the drool that was starting to pool at the corner of my mouth. The sound of boots stepping on broken glass snaps my head straight up, making me slightly dizzy. I grab my head, applying pressure on my temples to relieve some pain.

"You've been busy, huh?" The sound of Damon's voice was enough to make me jump out of my seat. I turn to face him and his brother. Beside them stood a blonde woman I've seen in the grill before, but never spoken to. Behind them were broken tables, chairs, liquor bottles and more.

"Who's your friend there? She's cute." I nod at the blonde who was practically hiding behind the two brothers. She steps forward and Stefan places a hand on her shoulder to stop her, pleading with his eyes to be wary. She kept moving towards me until her and I were only arms length apart.

"Caroline Forbes." I suppose she was expecting me to give her my name and shake her extended hand in return, but when I crack a coy smile as my response, she furrows her eyebrows together. "Is she okay?" She whispers to Damon, while backing away safely behind the boys again.

"I don't know, Blondie. That's why we're here," Damon says, sharply, holding his hand up to stop Caroline's incoming retort. He steps in front of me and roughly grabs my shoulders. "So, you told Elena I wasn't home. Why?"

Stefan sighs and Caroline disapprovingly clicks her tongue, making me unintentionally read her thoughts.

Why would he waste his time asking her that?

I chuckle, softly. "So, this is about Elena, is it?" I shake off his hands, taking my seat back on the bar stool. "Sorry I sent your girlfriend away, Damon." I pause to take an exaggerated, long look around the room. "She's not even here." I frown. "What a pity."

Before Damon could argue his way out of the conversation, his little brother cuts in.

"Damon," Stefan warns. His thoughts were almost as open and loud as Caroline's were. He figured out what I had done. "she flipped her switch."

"No. You don't know her enough to make that assumption." Damon spoke confidently at first, but that confidence quickly fizzled out once he saw the look on my face.

"Apparently neither do you, dear." I roll my stiff neck from side to side to relieve some unwanted pressure. "You actually have Damon to thank for that, by the way." I turn away from the group. "He told me in great detail all about being a vampire and everything that entailed. Compulsion, speed, heightened emotions, humanity switch; the whole 9 yards." I said, through a sigh. "I guess my big secret is out, though." I trace my finger across the ring patterns of the wooden table. "Only that isn't my biggest secret, is it, Damon?"

"She's a vampire?" Bonnie exits from the back room and walks around from behind the bar. This makes the whole room go quiet, besides Caroline, who repeats her friend's name at the sight of her. "And you let her out of the house, why?"

"I didn't let her out, Bonnie. She escaped." Damon says.

"Yup, I actually walked right out the door, while Damon was sulking in his room." I jump off my seat again to greet the witch. "But, this is a surprise." I turn to Damon, then back to Bonnie, grinning wide. "So, are you guys ready to tell me what the hell you want from me?"

"What is she talking about?" Stefan glances around the room at his friends, then to Damon, who continued to stay silent.

"Looks like someone was left out. I know the feeling." I said, slyly, spotting an unopened liquor bottle on the floor. I pull it off it's spot on the rug, ripping the top off in one fell swoop.

"This is between Bonnie, Lauren, and I. Everyone else, out." Damon orders, his narrowed eyes never leaving mine.

"If you didn't want us involved, then maybe you shouldn't have called me in a panic wanting me to help you look for her!" Stefan, angrily, jabs a thumb at me. I raise my hands up in response, water-falling the liquor into my mouth (to avoid the broken glass). The taste of rum warms my stomach.

"Calm down, brother. I got this handled." Damon reassures.

"You sure do." I wink at the older brother, while taking a long drink from the now half empty bottle. I toss it over my shoulder, behind the bar, and it breaks into pieces on impact.

"To hell with that, I'm not staying. And we aren't done here, either." Bonnie says, speaking to Damon and I, walking straight past everyone else. She grabs Caroline's hand on the way out, dragging her along with her. Stefan follows and Damon and I are left alone in the trashed Mystic Grill.

"You know," I start, pulling at the collar of Damon's black shirt, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Bon-Bon looks like she'd be tasty, don't you agree?"

"No, I don't agree. She would kill you with one look if you even tried, you know that, right? Let's just go home." He pulls my arms off his shoulders, holding them out in from of him.

"Need I remind you, Damon," I forcefully pull my arms out of his grasp. "I don't have a home."

"Look, sweetheart," He starts, walking towards the entrance of the grill. "I'm not your enemy here. None of us are."

"How do I know that for certain? No one will tell me what they want with me or who the fuck is after me. I'm tired of running, Damon." He and I circle each other, my back now facing the entrance.

"Do I sense emotion? I think I do."

"Whatever. I'm not coming with you."

"You will if you want to ensure the safety of your family."

Our back and forth jabs at each other continues. "I thought you said you weren't my enemy. That was a threat, was it not?" I raised a brow at him. "Tell me the reason you kidnapped me, then I'll come with you."

"How about you turn your humanity back on, then I'll explain everything." His grin tells me otherwise.

Before I could get another say in, I felt a sharp pain in my neck, then everything goes black.