𝕍𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕊𝕦𝕔𝕜 ⦉ᴛᴠᴅ⦊

Ch 25. Vampire Disneyland

Samantha's tinny laughter broke through the tension. "You sure do seem to have a lot of issues with bugs lately. Maybe you need an exterminator?"

Holding Damon's pale gaze, the corner of Caroline's mouth ticked up in a hint of a challenge. "Maybe I do."

♤♤♤♤♤

The heavy morning air seemed to vibrate with an unseen force, ripples of energy pulsing outward from where Caroline and Damon stood locked in an intense tableau. Shadows slanted long and stark across the driveway, dark and light intertwining like the complicated threads of fate binding the vampire and his blonde friend.

Caroline's eyes narrowed as Damon's lips curved into that insufferably smug smirk she knew so well. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, fighting to keep her voice steady and unbothered.

Damon leaned back against the powder blue door of her car, the very picture of casual nonchalance. "What, I can't stop by to see my favorite little blonde?" His glacial eyes danced with wicked amusement. "Miss me?"

Anger and something more complicated flashed hot through Caroline's veins. "After that stunt, you pulled yesterday? Not a chance."

The memory was still vivid - Alaric waking up human, despite his neck being snapped. If it wasn't for that magical ring...she shuddered to think what might have happened.

Damon made a whimsical tsking sound, clearly not picking up on Caroline's consternation. "Oh that little thing? Just adding some dramatic flair." His cavalier tone was like scratching a chalkboard.

"You tried to kill my teacher, Damon! That's not 'dramatic flair', that's just reckless."

His expression shifted subtly, sliding from playful smirk into a cool mask of contemplation. "If the teacher hadn't decided to play the vengeful hunter for once, it wouldn't have even been an issue."

Caroline crossed her arms, refusing to be baited so easily into defending Alaric actions. "H resurrecting from the dead doesn't really give you a free pass," she pointed out. "What's your real agenda here?"

For half a second, Damon's nonchalant demeanor faltered under her scrutinizing gaze. "He pissed me off, so I killed him," he stated with a blunt simplicity that made her breath catch. "Simple as that."

Of course, it was. Caroline sighed, frustration roiling in her chest. "What is it with you always gunning for my history teachers? First Tanner, now Saltzman..."

A peculiar look flashed across those glacial eyes, there and gone before she could interpret it. Damon shrugged, deflecting. "What can I say? History teachers just seem to attract trouble. Nothing personal, Blondie."

"Ugh, don't give me that line," Caroline scoffed, meeting his gaze steadily. "You can't keep killing people just to forget about Katherine. It's not a solution, Damon."

There it is was again - that infinitesimal flinch, the way his shields slipped for just an instant at the mention of the woman he still clearly obsessed over after nearly two centuries. But just as quick, he masked the reaction with bravado.

"You wouldn't understand, Caroline," he said, a hard edge slipping into his voice. "Katherine was supposed to be my forever. She was my past, my present and future. I can't just let her memory haunt me."