Ruins || The Vampire Diaries [2]

37: I'd Leave My Happy Home For You

   From the moment it began, I knew it was a nightmare. The sound of something dripping would echo all around, slowly combining itself with the sound of my harsh breathing. A wet, sticky feeling would start at my mouth and neck, chest and hands. When I moved my fingers against my palm, it felt fresh. Lastly, the taste. Oh, it was sweeter than any confection and salivating to the point where my fangs would appear.

   The nightmare and the feeling were familiar, as if they were both essential parts of me. I was covered in blood, the very thing that was the bane of my existence. From the inside of my mouth to my hands, I was the personification of a brutal death. I squeezed my hands into fists and stared at nothing, the darkness in front of me shifting and morphing into piles of bodies. They were the bodies of the people I had killed, corpses of those I thought of as food. From my very first kill to the most recent one, they all stared at me with wide eyes and wide opened mouths. There were maggots crawling from their eyes and mouths, the little worms gnawing at rotten skin or crawling through the open crevice of the eye sockets.

   I had killed them all.

   The sound of music and conversation was loud as I sat up on the bed. My hands went to my face, rubbing my cheeks in order to calm my ragged breathing and the unsteady beating of my heart. It had been a nightmare. A reoccurring nightmare that happened at least twice a night, but just a nightmare. I breathed in deeply and glanced around the darkened room. 

  In the week I had been gone with Stefan to Cape May, my room had been redecorated. The bed was no longer in the centre, but to the corner in a diamond form where the sunlight from the window only hit at the foot. My dresser was moved a few feet away from the bathroom door, all of the items on top dusted and in an orderly form. There were brand new flowers on top, vivid colours that seemed to shine with the small bit of light that came in through the window. In front of them was a small black box, the same one I had held Damon's ring before he destroyed it when he tried to get my humanity back. A small white note rested underneath, taunting for me to read it.

   I ignored it and stood from the bed, ambling towards the bathroom to take a hot shower. As soon as the burning water touched my skin, a sigh of relied left my lips. At the beach house, my showers had been constantly shared with Stefan. Kisses were exchanged, his fingers trailing across my skin and leaving behind a scorched trail. They all appeared to have happened a lifetime ago. I washed away his scent, the scent of the beach, and the small shadow of touch of the comfort of Cape May.

   I wrapped a towel around myself and walked out of the bathroom, crossing the dark bedroom towards the dresser. The scent of the flowers hit me as I got closer, dahlias and carnations—my favourites. I stared at them for several moments, taking in the colours of each petal, then swiftly moved to get dressed. With each movement that I made, the music and conversation from downstairs tuned out into background noise. For a moment, I didn't hear anything except the beating of my heart and my breathing.

   As I pulled on a shirt, I glanced into the mirror and gasped. "Enzo!" I turned to glare at him, taking a step back and hitting the dresser. The things shook, the mirror hitting the wall several times until it quieted into Enzo's chuckle. He stood across the room, sitting in the chair that used to be by the window with one of my books in his hands. 

   "Surprised to see me, sweetheart?" He put the book down and stood, waving a hand. "Oh please, you don't need to be apprehensive. It's not like I haven't seen any of it. A few months ago, you were practically begging for me to take you in the hood of my car."

   I rolled my eyes and pulled away from the dresser, moving back to the bed. "I didn't have my humanity," I said, my voice low. "I flirted, stole your phone, and almost killed Sarah Salvatore with Caroline."