Bloody Rhapsody (Damon Salvatore Love)

31. Vampires and Hocus Pocus

-------------Damon's POV-------------

  "Leo isn't here either," Elena announces as I storm back into the room.

  Everyone is up, any notion of sleep long forgotten. The air is thick with tension, nobody knowing how to proceed. The uncertainty only adding to my growing frustration. I hear her words, but I have a hard time focusing on them. My mind buzzing with the need to go, to find her.

  "What does that mean?" Zeke asks breathlessly as he leans back against a wall, his nerves getting the better of him.

  Mean? What does any of this mean? Is there a meaning at all?

  Adrenaline courses through my being, pushing me to act. No more sitting and talking, I need to go. Doesn't matter if that means running down every street in this cursed town until I find her.

  "They wouldn't have," Elena hesitates, glancing at me tentatively, "like, ran away together or anything. Right?"

  "No," I growl, my fangs growing with the rage that courses through me at even the thought.

  She wouldn't leave with him, I know it! The way she looked at me, the way she blushes and her heart quickens while I am near, I know that there is something there. She wouldn't just run off with that little prick.

  "I agree," Zeke adds, eyeing me carefully as he takes in my changing appearance, "she doesn't like him like that."

  Zeke's words do little to soothe my anger. The desire for blood growing just at the idea of his hands on her.

  "You're right," Elena nods, taking a deep breath to try to calm herself, "she would never agree to leave everyone."

  "Besides," Stefan interjects, his lips tight as he mulls over the situation, "it's not like they were on the best of terms last night."

  "Right! I mean, he kinda freaked out after the whole scratch thing," Zeke agrees, his voice dwindling away as he considers this.

  Everyone stills, afraid to be the one to suggest what we are all worrying over. My heart sinks in my chest, and I feel like I just took a heavy blow as the thought grips at me. Leo's words from the night before echo in my mind, haunting me with a terrifying possibility.

  "He did kinda hint at killing her," Elena breathes out, her voice trembling with emotion.

  Stefan wraps an arm around her waist in an act to comfort her, pulling her into his side. I glare at the two of them, the affectionate gesture like a taunt to my aching heart. I know it's irrational, but I have an overwhelming urge to lash out at the two of them. How dare they find comfort in one another as the woman I love is missing!

  Love... yes, I admit it. She is all I think about, all I crave. My blood boils with the need to have her with me. I need to find her. She needs to be all right. I don't know what I would do if I never got the chance to tell her how I feel, to embrace her and to finally feel her lips against mine.

  "He couldn't have," Zeke insists, but his eyes are unfocused with his doubts.

  "She has to be alive," I state, not willing to accept any other reality.

  "Yes," Stefan agrees, his eyes softening as he considers me, "we will find her."

  I resist the urge to snap at him, to wipe the pity right off his face. Now is not the time however, and I need their help, no matter how much I hate it.

  "How?" Zeke demands, his voice firm as if ready to do whatever is needed.

  "Are we under the assumption that she left on her own, or that Leo took her?" Elena asks, not meeting anyone's eye.