My Love Affair With Damon - A Vampire Diaries Fan Fiction

Chapter Thirty-Five - So I'm Screwing My Birth Father's Distant Relative?

"Lizzie, wait!" Damon called after me, his footsteps in synchronization with mine. I paused slightly before continuing my journey out of the door and sprinting deep into the forest. I became engulfed with fresh air; something I'd been longing for to help clear my head of all negative thoughts. It didn't work.

So I just kept running.

The wind brushed my knotted blonde curls out behind me, and the tails of my new suede coat skimmed the tips of the overgrown weeds. I took in a deep breath through my nose, and the earthy sent reminded me of home. Once again, a tear welled up in my eye, but I stopped my lower torso from moving and brushed the tear away with my fingertips. The time for crying had passed long ago. I had to be strong, and show my Dad that I didn't care if he was dead or alive. Either way, he wasn't doing me any favours, so why not make things easier on him?

I winded up in a clearing. It was lit only my the fog lingering a foot off the ground. The place seemed dismal, and gave off an aura that made goosebumps rise on my bare skin. I shivered so much that it began to hurt after a while.

Without warning, warm arms closed around my waist and tugged me back with such force that my body went weak. I let myself be dragged along as the arms moved under my arms.

A plan of defence formed in my mind, and I kept it there until I had been dragged so far back that I could no longer see the clearing I'd been in only moments ago. My attacker was gentle with me, their grip on me no more painful than an unintentional slap.

Before my attacker could harm me any further, I twisted around in their arms and jumped up, my fangs already growing from my gums. It seemed that I'd gotten myself worked up for nothing.

"Stefan," I sighed, drawing my fangs back in and cooling down. "What do you want? You almost scared the living daylights out of me."

"Well, when I saw you leave the house with such angst I figured something was up," he shrugged. "Damon started after you, but changed his path to the one leading to the Grill. He's probably already downed a bottle of whiskey and a few shots, courtesy of Alaric. Now, tell me what's wrong. You look...sad."

"Don't sound so simple, Stefan," I sniffed. "It doesn't do you any good. You know better than to sound like a simpleton. You're intellect enough to figure out what's wrong, anyway. Guess which werewolf is being used in the ritual? My Dad."

Stefan took a few steps towards me. Instinct told me to jump back, but I knew that Stefan wouldn't even dream of hurting me. I let him continue forward until his face was inches from mine.

"I'm sorry," he nodded solemnly. "I know what you must be feeling. And, I know this isn't the time to question your, erm, relation to your father, but, if he's a werewolf, then how come your werewolf gene lays dormant?"

That was truly something that I'd never considered in my few weeks as a vampire. It was pretty much common knowledge in the supernatural world that the werewolf gene was passed on to offspring, and that one needed to take the life of another to bring the werewolf gene forth. However, I'd never taken it into consideration that, if my father had passed on the gene to me, why hadn't I triggered it yet? I had, after all, murdered a handful of humans during my short time as a bloodsucker. Unless something was stopping my werewolf side from becoming dominant, which was severely unlikely.

"I know this sounds unkind, and potentiall offensive, but have you considered that your mother might have had an affair?" Stefan inquired timidly.

"Until this moment, no," I admitted frankly. "She could have. I mean, when I was growing up, I was forced into seeing this man...Ugh. What's his name again? I think it might have been Zach... Anyway, Mum said to call him my uncle, so I did. But I barely knew him. Mum said that he died just over a year ago...maybe two years ago? Anyway, she was distraught."

I looked up at Stefan, keeping my eyes on his green ones as they winced with knowledge of something that he was hiding. I cocked an eyebrow at him, and his eyes widened as he realised that he had just given something away, even if that fact was currently identified.

"What is it, Stefan?" I prompted after an awkward silence that seemed to be paying me many visits lately. "You know something about this Zach guy, huh? Mum said he lived here. You must have known him. How long have you been here?"

 Stefan remained silent, and I that's when I clarified that he definitely knew something. If I had to interrogate him, I would. Let the fun and games begin.

"So, Stefan," I began slyly, my voice light and innocent. "Tell me about this Zach guy. How did you know him? Good friend? Just a friend? Gay lover? Friend of a friend? Distant relative? Did he do repairs on your house? Did he knock up your ex-girlfriend? Please. I'm open to all information."

Stefan didn't say a word, so I continued my rather pointless string of questions.

"Did he used to work at the Grill? Was he a teacher? Did he do your cleaning? Was he a taxi driver? Did Damon munch on him a few times? Was he one of Elena's relatives? Was he part of the Council? Best friends with old Richard Lockwood? My ears are open, Stefan. Give me a clue. I'm eager to learn about this dude."

I hoped Stefan would give in. Even if this guy wasn't my father, he was a friend of my Mother, and I deserved to know something about him.

At last, after many more useless questions, Stefan gave in. Letting out a long breath, he started his explanation.

"I was a distant uncle of a man named Zach Salvatore. I'm not sure if he's the man that you're referring to, but he did die around eighteen months ago - like the Zach your mother knew. He visited England a lot ten years ago, but stopped after a while. He told me of a daughter he'd accidentally conceived while on a bachelor party in England. He'd met a woman in a bar. They were both drunk. Though she claimed to be married, she didn't hesitate when he foolishly tried to get her into bed. Then, five months later, Zach got a call from this woman, saying that she was carrying his child. I was around here during the time that he went back to England for a few months to check that all of this information was true.

"He came back and told me that the child was his. The mother of the child had had DNA test carried out behind her husband's back that proved Zach was the father. He would visit the mother and the child every few months and come back rather distraught. He didn't know what to do. He chose to confide in me, explaining that he'd discovered that the woman's husband was a werewolf. He hadn't triggered the curse yet, but put a lot of research into discovering the werewolf reputation of the Jameson bloodline.

"And then, many years later, Zach told me that his daughter and her mother had moved to town. The mother had divorced from her husband, and was encouraging Zach to tell his daughter the truth. But he didn't. He said that it was best kept hidden. And so it was. The moment I saw you, I knew who you were. Zach's daughter. You don't find green-grey eyes like his on just anyone.

"That's all I know."

I was speechless. What was there that I could say? Well, there wasn't anything. I didn't know if the Zach Stefan just told me about was the man mother potentially had an affair with, but it sounded a lot like him. A few years back, I suspected that Mum had only moved to Virginia because of this Zach dude she was "good friends" with.

It seemed like I had a lot to find out. Much research was required, and I needed to do it soon if I was to let the man I thought was my father know the truth before he died. He did, after all, deserve to know the truth.

"Where can I find out about this Zach Salvatore?" I asked bluntly.

"You can try back at the house," he suggested. "I've never been in his room before, but he was a busy man. Maybe he kept a picture of you or something. I've seen birth fathers do that on reality TV before. You might not find much, but it's always worth a try."

I brushed past Stefan and began my walk back to the Salvatore house. I was going to get answers. Even if it involved a witch or two...