Third Person POV
Elena wakes up from a noise coming from downstairs. She gets out of bed and heads down the stairs towards the noise
"Hello? Jeremy? Melody? Hello" Elena calls out.
Elena tries to turn on the light, but the power is out.
"This is Logan Fell coming to you live from the streets of Mystic Falls with breaking news of another deadly animal attack. The wild animal terrorizing the citizens of Mystic Falls has claimed another victim, local high school student Elena Gilbert. Police are certain that forensic evidence will confirm that this is the same animal responsible for recent attack" Logan Fell's voice comes from the TV
"You know what's coming next" Damons eery voice sounds from somewhere.
Elena runs and opens the front door, but as soon as she sees Damon standing behind it, she slams it shut. She slowly walks towards the stairs, but Damon grabs her and bites her neck.
At that Stefan wakes up in his bedroom panting trying to make sense of the dream he just saw. Looking around the room he jumps at the sight of a figure standing in the room
"Ahh!" he shouts before realizing that the intruder is no other than his brother
"Bad dream? Do you know how easy it was to get into your head just now? You really need some blood. It might even the playing field. Football reference. Too soon" Damon taunts him
Stefan throws a knife at Damon, hitting him in the stomach.
"All right, I deserved that. But I just wanted to let you know, they caught the culprit. The animal responsible for killing coach Tanner and all those people" Damon pulls out the knife like it's nothing
«What are you talking about? » Stefan asks confuses at what his brother was planning again.
"It was a mountain lion. Really big one. It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news. 'Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Falls'" Damon says very proud of himself for his accomplishment to cover his tracts. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't care much but now that he met his precious soulmate, he didn't want to risk anything.
"Why would you cover your tracks?" Stefan asks curiously. His brother's behaviour was getting weirder by the day.
"I've decided to stay a while. And I'm just having way too much fun here with you and Elena. Obviously mainly I'm staying here for my little read but messing with you and your amore is also fun" Damon says smirking. He didn't want his brother to know just how much Melody has changed him
"Can't touch her now" Stefan answers. He still couldn't wrap his head around this soulmate situation, so he didn't comment on what Damon said about Melody.
" Well, the vervain keeps me out of her head. Maybe that's not my target. Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and my charm and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift. » Damon says smirking.
Using his vampire speed, he stabs Stefan in the stomach which clearly hurts Stefan more than it did Damon and Stefan falls to the ground groaning in pain.
"This is John Varvatos, dude. Dick move" Damon says complaining about his shirts and leaves.
Stefan removes the knife and starts writing in his diary.
"The real animal is still out there, waiting for me, challenging me to fight back, to stop him. But how do I stop a monster without becoming one myself?"
Gilbert Residence
"To repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught" Logan Fell announces from the TV
"Scum ball. Scum bucket" Jenna curses at the TV, as Elena makes coffee and Melody lunch.
"Who are you talking to?" Elena asks her aunt.
"Him" Jenna answers nodding at the TV
"The news's guy?" Melody asks this time taking for a moment her eyes off the pod in front of her
"Also known as Logan "Scum" Fell. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna answers annoyance clear in her face.
"Oh, no way. You and him? He's cute" Elena says and sits at the kitchen table looking through a box
"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him. What are you doing with that?" Jenna says and quickly changes the subject
"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display" Elena says polishing an old pocket watch she found in the box
"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Jenna asks and examining a ring from the box
"Originally it was great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring" Melody says and walks over to them after switching off the stove.
"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" Jeremy walks in the room and takes the watch from Elena's hands
"You're not gonna find out" Elena says strictly and takes back the watch.
"That stuff is mom and dads. You can't just give it away" Melody butts in clearly not happy with Elena's decision.
"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Mel" Elena explains
At that moment the doorbell rings and Elena walks over to open the door. The unexpected guest turns out to be Stefan Salvatore.
"Hi" he says with a smile when he sees Elena.
Elena quickly drags him in the house and kisses him passionately, not giving any mind to the trio that was in the kitchen
"Get a room, lovebirds" they hear Melody's voice and they both turn around to see the young witch smirking at them. She picked up this habit from Damon.
"Hi" Elena says back to Stefan, paying no mind to her older sister, and drags him up the stairs to her room.
Melody rolls her eyes at the couple. At that moment her phone rings and she smile widely at the name flashing on the screen.
"Hello" she says sweetly, earning a strange look from Jenna and Jeremy.
"Hello, my little red, how are you?" Damon says from the other side of the line
"I'm doing good. Your brother just came by" she says.
"That's why I'm calling you. Since my dear brother is doing your sister right now, how about you came by the boarding House to pick matching outfits for the Founder's party" Damon says with a smile, not that Melody could see that.
"That's a great idea. Let me grab my things and I'll be there in 20 minutes" Melody says happily and quickly hangs up with a short goodbye.
She rans to her room and puts a few of her choices in a bag and makes her way again downstairs.
"The food is ready if you are hungry. I won't be back till tomorrow. Bye" she says in a hurry and rushes to her car.
In a few minutes she pulls in in front of the Boarding House and walks to the door and knocks. At that Damon rans to the door and pulls the redhead to a tight hug.
"Hi, baby" she whispers to his ear.
"Hello, my love" he whispers back and pulls back a bit, still not letting her out of his arms.
"Let's get ready, shall we?" Melody says and smiles brightly at him. He nods, smiling back at her and runs them to his bedroom
SLIGHT TIME SKIP
"No yellow... Go for the blue" Damon suggests looking at the two dresses Melody was holding.
"I don't know I like them both" Melody whines placing both dresses on the bed and looks at them.
"Come on, baby. It will match with my tie" Damons says, wrapping his hands around her waist from behind and kisses her cheek making her smile sweetly at him.
"I can't say no to you, can't I?" She turns to face him and gives him a tender kiss on the lips
"Who can resist my good looks?" He says teasing her and she playfully slaps his arm.
"I'm hungry can we go to the grill" Melody asks and gives Damon her puppy eyes. Damon can never say no to her.
"Let's go, little red" he says caving in.
Salvatore Boarding House
When they come back Melody goes to get ready, and Damon relaxes on the couch reading a book. After a while Zack walks in.
"I didn't know you were here" he says clearly annoyed by his presence
"Just going through Stefan's homework. Boy, this country sure has dumbed down in the last hundred years. Why he wants to go to high school is beyond me. I mean, in the seventies, he went Ivy League. Harvard, I understood. Actually, no. I didn't get that either. Go ahead, purge. Get it out. What's on your mind?" Damon rants not giving him much attention
"Why are you here, Damon?" Zack asks trying to be brave, even though he knew that every moment he was around Damon could be his last
"To spend time with you, Zach. Families important" Damon answers putting Stefan's textbook down.
"I know you. You always have a motive. So, tell me, what is it this time?" Zach asks pushing to get answers. Damon gets up and grabs Zach by the throat.
"You are in no position to question me" Damon says in a dangerous tone.
"I didn't mean to upset you" finally backing down from his questioning.
"This is not upset, Zach" Damon gives him his killing smirk. The only thing that saves Zack at that moment is Stefan arrival at the Boarding House
"What's going on?" Stefan asks
Damon drops Zach, giving him back his access to air supply.
"Having a family moment, Stefan. Spending some quality time" Damon says casually turning to face his brother, before leaving to get back to his girl who just got out of the shower. No conversation with Stefan was more important than that.
He walks into the bedroom just to see his girlfriend in a towel drying her hair. As soon as she heard him come in, she turned around to face him with a smile.
"What happened downstairs? I heard a bit of commotion" she asks
"Just me spending quality time with my nephew" he says smirking
"Come on, Damon, stop antagonizing the poor guy he is already terrified of you" she says and gives him a look
"Fine, I'll tone it down, but only for you" He caves once again to her demands and gives her a kiss on her cheek. "So, when I'm I going to see you in that dress?" he asks wiggling his eyebrows.
"Don't you know Damon? Never rush a lady. It takes time to be this fabulous" Melody looks at him pretending to be offended and flips her hair, making her soulmate chuckle at her behaviour.
"of course, my lady. Forgive me for my careless thoughts, my love" Damon plays along.
They both look into each other's eyes for a second before busting out laughing at heir silliness. At that moment they didn't need anything else.
As soon as Stefan hears Melody go to the bathroom he goes into the room.
"Why are you even going?" Stefan asks his brother
"It's only fitting. We were at the very first one, remember? Also, I need to escort Miss Gilbert in there" Damon answers pointing at the bedroom door smirking.
"I think it's better if we don't draw attention to ourselves" Stefan tries to persuade him
"So, you should stay here. I'll see to it Elena has a good time. My goodness, I've driven you to drink" Damon says finally noticing the drink in Stefan's hand
"Can't seem to rid myself of you. What else am I supposed to do, besides go about living my life?"
"Go about living my life. See, therein lies your eternal struggle. You're dead, dude. Get over it. What do you think?"
Melody POV
I walk out the bathroom to see both Salvatore brothers there. They both turn to look at me, Damon with a look of adoration and Stefan like he wanted to disappear.
"Stefan, do you need something" I ask turning my gaze to the younger Salvatore brother.
"I was just...hum. I'm leaving" he says awkwardly and leaves in a hurry.
"Making my brother leave with just one look is one of my favourite things about you" Damon walks closer to me and gives me a kisses me.
"And now we need to leave too" I say, take my pure and walk with Damon to his car.
Lockwood Residence
"Melody! You look smashing" Mrs Lockwood says when she sees us approaching the entrance.
"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood. This is my boyfriend, Damon" I say and smile politely
"Oh, well, come on in" Mrs. Lockwood says
"Lovely to meet you. I've been looking forward to this party for quite a while" Damon says with his usual charming smirk
"Well, enjoy" Mrs. Lockwood says, and we walk into the mansion
"Let's get a drink" Damon whispers in my ear
"You just read my mind, baby" I say and drag him to the bar.
After a while we got tired of socialising and looked for somewhere quieter. At a back room we saw Elena and Stefan and walked over to them without them realising our presence. As we got closer, we could hear Elena reading the first registry.
"The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration." Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names—Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And Stefan Salvatore?
"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually" Damon speaks up making the couple turn to look at us
"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past" Stefan hurriedly says. He is clearly scared of his brother.
"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family" Elena says, once again clueless about the subtext of the conversation. My poor sister always thinking she know everything.
"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And I don't want to slow dance with Bonnie. Elena, can I borrow your date?" Caroline walks in unexpectedly into the room. Damn, that girl has zero tactic.
"Oh, uh..." Elena awkwardly looks at Stefan for help.
"I don't really dance" Stefan finally says.
"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all" Damon cuts in, not missing the opportunity to make his brother feel worse than he already does. I couldn't help but chuckle at Steffy's horrified face at his comment.
"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Carolina asks but it was obvious she wouldn't take no for an answer
"It's up to Stefan" Elena finally says knowing there was no way out of this. No one can refuse Caroline Forbes.
"Well, sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer" Caroline grabs Stefan by the arm and pulls him to the dance floor.
"I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night talking, I didn't want to be indiscreet. There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm...Acting out, trying to punish Stefan" Damon says breaking the silence.
"For what?" Elena asks. She has no real information about the Salvatore brother's relationship since Stefan continues to keep her in the dark.
"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers" Damon answers "The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here—"
"The Battle of Willow Creek" I cut in.
"Right" Damon gives me a smile and kiss on the head.
"I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside" Elena says. My sister is the master of ruining cute moments with my soulmate.
"What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So, some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood" Damon explains to Elena. I can see it in his eyes that the past still haunts him. Both Katherine and his relationship with his brother
"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" Elena asks getting more invested in the story
"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" Damon says winking at me, making me roll my eyes playfully at him. He always tries makes sure I'm not uncomfortable with the whole Kathrine history, so far, it's working.
"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but I can't get in the middle of it, Damon. I just...I hope you two can work it out" Elena says. Not everything is about you little sister.
"I hope so, too" Damon answers, and I could see that it was the only thing truly honest in this whole conversation. Damon still cares about his brother, but he is too stubborn to admit it.
We leave to go find Caroline and Stefan. They just had finished their dance and Stefan was eager to go back to Elena.
"What'd we miss?" I ask as we approach them.
"We were just chatting. Drink, Damon?" Stefan says offering a glass of champagne to him
"No, thanks, I'll pass" Damon says with a smirk. Nice try Stefan, like we don't know he wants Damon gone. Over my dead body.
"Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena says sweetly at Stefan
"Absolutely" Stefan answers more than happy and they make their way to the dance floor.
Damon then grabs my hand and leads me upstairs
"If in you wanted to be alone with me all you have to do is ask, Salvatore" I say and wink at him with a smirk.
"As lovely as then sound, red, we are on a mission" Damon smirks back and leads me to a room.
"What the hell are you looking for" I say crossing my arms, as I look at Damon searching through the collection. Finally, he pulls out a crystal.
"A very important crystal" Damon says please with himself
"Well, how did you know that it was there?"
"Because I put it there"
"When?"
"A long time ago. Tonight, I'm taking it back"
"Well, what's it for?" I ask the burning question
"It's to open the tomb that Kathrine is in" He explains carefully waiting for my reaction, knowing I wouldn't take his answer well... he was right.
"What?!" I exclaim, slightly raising my voice. He was lucky we were in a public place.
"Baby- "he says but I cut him off
"Please Damon, explain to me why we did something this risky to get a crystal that can help set free into our lives you psychotic, vampire ex" I say trying very hard to keep my magic under control. It would be a shame to lose the control I took years to maintain.
"My love, calm down. I'm not looking for her because I want her back. I need to ger revenge" Damon says calmly and slowly walks closer to me like I was going to explode any second.
"Really? Because I need to know Damon, right now so I can walkway before I get to attach. If there is just one in a million chance, you'll go back to her this is your chance to confess" I say as confidently as I can, but my words were tearing me apart. Losing Damon was the last thing that I wanted to happen, but I can't live every day fearing that he will leave me for her, wondering if his love for her was or is stronger than our bond.
Damon quickly pulls me into a tight hug.
"You listen to me, and you listen to me carefully. No other woman can match you in any way and certainly not Kathrine. She turned me into a monster made me her puppet for months and ruin my relationship with my brother, the only good thing she did for me is giving me immortal so I can meet you and finally know what love truly feels. You are my soulmate. We were made for each other, and I wouldn't change this for anything" Damon holds my face between his hands and after his little speech he give me a passionate kiss. Damon is not good with expressing his emotion, even to me, so this means everything to me. "Are we okay?"
"Yes, we are" I say and give him a smile.
"And we are back. Let's get back to the boring party before we go home for the real one" he says with his sexy smirk making me laugh.
I was in the bathroom refreshing my make-up, when Elena walks in
"Hey" she says in a weird tone. Teenage drama at its best
"Hey. So how are things with Stefan?" Rule number one always check status with boy toy
"Great. Just great" she answers but I'm now sure I hit gold
"Really? Well, my radar must be off, because I was getting all sorts of other vibes..."
"Is Damon hurting you?" she asks me taking me back a bit. Where the fuck did that come from. If it's Stefan, I'm burring him six feet under, right after I give him a vervain shower.
"Why would you possibly ask such a thing?" trying to keep as much self-control as I can.
"No, it's just...Stefan told me that his brother is dangerous, and I just thought" She stars stumbling over her words before I cut her off.
"Stefan can mind his own business. If has any problem with Damon and I, he should come and say it to my face» I snap at her and storm out of the bathroom.
I look around the hall for Damon and I finally spot him by the bar. No surprise there. I walk over to him and immediately hug him around his torso. He immediately wrapped his arms around me with a concerned look on his face.
"Hey, little red, who do I need to eat for making you upset" Tying to make me feel better. I adore this man so much.
"Somehow Stefan got into Elena's head that you are abusing me" I say softly, and I could see the fury in his eyes.
"He is a fucking idiot. He knows we are soulmates. How could he possibly think that I could eve hurt you?" He wanted to lash out, but we were in the middle of the main hall. "I'll go clear up some thing with my brother. I'll be right back." H says and gives me a kiss on the forehead, before disappearing into the crowd.
After a while Damon still hasn't got back, that's when I spot a drunk Caroline stumbling. If her mum sees her like that she will freak out. I got over to her and help her stand straight. While walking her to her car to drive her home I send a quick message to Damon that I have something to do, and I'll see him tomorrow.
Third Person's POV
What Melody didn't know was that Damon never saw the message. He was vervained and locked up in the cellar of the Salvatore boarding house.
"I did what I had to do...To protect Elena, to protect everyone. Yes, Damon, the headline reads "Deadly beast captured. All is well in Mystic Falls."