I screamed. Damon turned to me.
"Shut up!" he growled. "It's only a dead person."
"It's my mother!" I snapped, tears running down my cheeks.
He looked back at the corpse and shrugged his shoulders. "Damn it. I never got to introduce myself. I mean, she sure looks tasty. And, what's worse, I never got to charm her into becoming my human slave. What a bummer."
My jaw dropped open. That. Fucking. Bastard. How, at a time like this, could he say something as insensitive as that right at this moment? What a jackass. If I could kill him right now, I would. But, as he said, he always has the upper hand.
I crouched down by my mother, shoving Damon out of the way. Her skin was ghostly pale, and her hazel eyes were wide and glassy. Her blonde hair - usually not unlike my own - was clotted with thick, dark blood. Her fists were clenched by her side, and one of her legs was twisted, obviously broken. The body was surrounded by broken glass. I looked to my right. The window was completely smashed.
"Who did this?" I sobbed, burying my face between my knees.
"A big, bad vampire is what did this, honey," Damon drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"And how do you know that?" I challenged, looking up. He gestured to a large, gaping wound on the left side of her neck. I gasped, covering my hand over my mouth.
"I don't think any human would rip out her throat."
"And why the fuck was she thrown through a window?" Of course, there was the possibility that she was thrown through the window because I was in the room, but who would kill her in the first place?
Damon thought about it - and not mockingly. It seemed like I had actually gotten one over on him. Victory to me. Wait. Why am I thinking about something as stupid as this? Why am I letting myself be pleased over making Damon Salvatore think? My mother is dead, and I seemingly couldn't care less. What a crappy daughter.
And then, making all matters worse, Stefan walked in.
"Damon, what have you done?" he asked immediately.
"Hey," Damon frowned, his voice thick with some kind of denial mixed with annoyance. "Why do you always jump to conclusions and presume I'm the culprit?"
"Because you generally are," Stefan replied craftily.
"Fair enough. Now, could you please tell me what's going on here? My girlfriend's mother's dead body just smashed through my window."
Elena walked in then. God, why was she always around when nobody wanted her there? I became desperate to scream at her, to tell her to fuck off and go get a life, but I sadly couldn't find my voice. Every time I tried to say something, I just choked. So, I just had to put up with the little bitch.
She came over and crouched by my side, putting a comforting arm around my shoulder. I felt the urge to slap it off, but, despite my hate for her, I couldn't. She was only trying to be nice to me, which is more than I would ever do to her. I had to give her some credit; she wasn't such a waste of space.
"Well, Damon. I can't tell you what's going on. I wasn't here. Please, enlighten me as to what you were doing before Lizzie's mother ended up with her throat ripped out and her corpse launched through your window."
"We were just about to have sex, brother," Damon said bluntly. Oh, well, he holds nothing back, then. I would have to reconsider hanging around with him, whether my being with him was by choice or force.
"Yes, Damon," Stefan sighed. "We don't need to know all of the details." Stefan looked over at me, and I became self-consciously aware that I was only wearing my underwear. Standing up, I pulled one of the sheets from my bed and wrapped it around my barely clothed torso. Then I resumed my place beside my mother.
I looked down at her fragile neck. It was torn maliciously. "Who on the mother fucking Earth would do this?" I mumbled. Nobody heard me, so I bowed my head and whispered to myself. Okay, so now I sound like a psycho, but why should I care?
"So, what are we going to do about this big, bad vampire?" Damon questioned.
Stefan glared at him. "How do we know it was a vampire?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Damon grimaced. "Her head is almost detached from the rest of her body. What kind of psychopath human would do that?"
"You know what I'm on about."
Damon paused, considering what Stefan had said. "So, instead of the big, bad vampire, it could be the big, bad wolf?"
Elena glanced at Damon coldly. Damon's eyes widened as he stared at her. My eyes moved between the two of them; Elena looking at Damon with disgust while Damon was probably imagining what Elena looked like naked. That brought on some very disturbing mental images. I shook it out of my head, risking a look at Stefan.
His eyes, like mine had been, were on Damon and Elena. Their stare was intense, and kind of disturbing. I shivered, pulling the sheet tighter around myself. Damon and Stefan seemed oblivious to the heavy draft coming through the smashed window, and Elena must be used to it by now - what with the fact that she hangs around with vamps.
"Excuse me," I breathed. "It's freezing in here."
Damon looked down at my mother. "There's nothing we can do about that right now."
Stefan eyes his brother with disgust and slight disbelief. Then he smiled sympathetically at me. "Elena?" he asked. "Take Lizzie upstairs and get her something to wear. There should be some of my old stuff folded up at the bottom of the closet. Get her something to drink, and something to eat."
Elena nodded, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. I didn't want to leave my mother with two vampires, but she was already gone, and there was nothing I could do to save her. At least the two brothers could come up with some suitable idea to get us all out of this mess.
I followed Elena down the staircase, where she lead me to the living room. I sat down by the fire while she headed back upstairs, presumably to Stefan's bedroom.
And that got me thinking. I wonder what Stefan's bedroom looks like.
Damon's bedroom was spacious and simple, with a large bed and a small collection of books beside it. But, then again, Damon didn't seem one to be too extravagant. And, although Stefan seemed similar, he was different from his brother. I just couldn't lay my finger on it, but there was something in Stefan which wasn't in Damon. A large difference between the two boys which was somehow keeping them apart.
Elena walked in and set a cup of coffee on the floor in front of me. I picked it up and sipped it gratefully. The warmth extended through my veins, making me tingle on the inside. It felt good. Relaxing.
Once I'd downed all of it, I let out a long sigh, resting my head against the sofa behind me and slowly closing my eyes.
*****
Someone was shaking me gently.
"Lizzie," a voice whispered in my ear.
"Huh?" I stirred.
"Lizzie, it's Stefan," the voice mumbled.
God, this guy has a thing for waking me up.
"What do you want?" I complained.
"We need you to wake up. The Sheriff's here."
"Sheriff Forbes?"
"That would be the one."
"What? This was a fucking vampire attack, not just a regular murder."
"Damon's got it all under control."
Oh, great. Damon's in charge of this train wreck. Isn't that brilliant? With him in the lead, it's definitely not going to fail. Har har.
"You've got to be joking," I snarled. "Damon? Damon couldn't even arrange a funeral, let alone covering up my mother's murder."
Stefan sighed, agreeing with me. "Yes, but Damon's part of the Council. They know about the existence of vampires, and Damon has somehow managed to convince them he's not one."
Is there anything that vamp can't do?
"The Council? And, how did a bastard like Damon convince every single member of that Council that he's not a vamp?"
"John Gilbert knows."
"That bastard seems to know everything. It's so bloody annoying. He's such a creep. I don't think anybody's fooled by his masquerade."
Stefan nodded. "Yes, well, there's sadly nothing we can do about him. Believe me, Damon has tried eliminating him. Anyway, he's going to have a word with Sheriff Forbes and sort the whole thing out."
"Thank you, Stefan. You've been unnecessarily kind to me, when I've only been a bitch towards you and Elena."
"It's fine. You've been roped into Damon's web, and we're just happy to help out," Stefan said, pressing his lips together.
"Well, thanks again," I smiled. Stefan returned my smile, then stood up. "I'd better check in with Damon."
Stefan walked away, and I was left alone, staring at the bright flames dancing within the walls of the old fireplace.