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❝I used to think the worst feeling in the world was losing someone you love, but I was wrong. The worst feeling in the world is the moment that you realize you've lost yourself.❞
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Elena and the others wandered into their new home later in the evening, exhausted and sullen. It was a beautiful house nestled in the outskirts of town and otherwise would have been perfect for them if the circumstances were different.
None of them even bothered to admire the magnificence of the place. All their minds were elsewhere. Elena couldn't help but question why is it they were always dealt a bad hand. They had wronged each other and done unforgivable things, but they were trying to be better. Even Klaus Mikaelson, feared by all, was making the effort to be good.
Some of them had a thousand years worth of mistakes, had they run out of chances?
She didn't know where she was going as she strolled the halls, but she could smell bourbon and knew when she found the source she would also find Damon.
"I'll give you a minute," Stefan said to her softly before parting ways knowing very well these would be her last moments with his brother while he was sane. Once he knew about what had occurred today he was bound to be livid.
The brunette stopped in front of a door and listened. She smiled as she heard humming coming from the other side. Damon was in a good mood and she hated how that was quickly going to change in the minutes to come.
Slowly she opened the door and walked in and felt the dread in her grow.
The room was larger than she expected double the size of the one they shared at the boarding house. The king size bed barely took up any space at all. Rather than walls, there were windows all around overlooking the forest around them. The long curtains were drawn all the way open allowing the light of the setting sun to stream in.
"I thought you might like this," Damon commented from his place in front of the window. The light illuminated his features in all the right ways defining his sculpted cheekbones and brightening the alluring sparkle in his eyes.
The butterflies in her stomach fluttered as she approached him. After all these years, he still managed to make her feel nervous and anxious in his presence.
"I do," his arm settled over her shoulder and pulled her close to his side, "It's amazing."
And it truly was. Before them was nature at its prime, open and calm. It was even more beautiful than Damon hoped it would be when he bought the place from its previous owners. It was a hefty bill, but one that was worth every penny.
"Well, what can I say? What my woman wants she shall get," he teased peppering kisses to her forehead and cheek.
She smiled and held him tightly relishing this time while he was content and loving. He had personally chosen this town for them to move to thinking it would be good for them, but now it was about to blow up in his face. If it was one thing Damon Salvatore did not take well it was being wrong.
"So I was thinking we could leave the rest of the day to ourselves just you and me. I cook and you relax with an expensive bottle of red wine. I want to remember our first night here, you know, celebrate a new time in our lives and what not. How does that sound?"
Her heart sank in her chest and even if he didn't know her like the back of his hand he still would have been able to tell something was wrong. "Or not," he quickly remedied and stepped away from her, "we could do it some other time if tonight isn't good. I didn't think that maybe you might have already made plans or something. I just thought..."
"Damon, Damon," she hushed his rambling and closed the space he'd created between them. "That sounds great, really, I want nothing more than to just spend time with you."
The frown that had settled on his face didn't let up, "then what's the problem?"
She hesitated, sensing the change in his demeanor, "we have to talk, all of us."
His jaw clenched as he silently nodded and moved away so that her hands that had been cupping his cheeks fell to her sides. Elena sighed as he walked out of the room tensely to where the others had already begun to gather. After a moment, she followed after him and caught up to his side.
He didn't look at her as his eyes stared coldly ahead of them. Gently she clasped his hand in hers and although he remained silent and stoic she instantly felt better as his hand squeezed hers in return.
All eyes moved to them as they entered the large living room. Elena's eyes immediately searched for her brother and she found him busying himself with starting a fireplace as the cold began to seep into the walls. Everyone else was there all except one original hybrid.
Her eyes moved to Caroline who was sitting beside Stefan. Her friend catching her gaze sent her a look that said she would explain later.
"Brother," Stefan acknowledged, probing his sibling for his mood. Elena could have easily told him it wasn't a good one but he would find that out for himself.
Damon rolled his eyes, "enough with the pleasantries."
Stefan leaned back uneasily in his chair deciding on how to word what he was about to say. He didn't have to be the one to tell Damon but it was silently agreed upon that he should be the one to do it. After all, he was his brother, if anyone had to endure his wrath it should be him.
"Rebekah was attacked today after you left the school."
Damon's expression didn't change.
The bronze haired vampire breathed in, "by werewolves."
His hold on Elena's hand stiffened as his piercing eyes snapped in the blonde's direction. She sat casually at the other end of the room with Matt standing behind her. His hand rested reassuringly on her shoulder and occasionally her cheek would nuzzle against it.
Her steel eyes beckoned him for a confrontation but, surprisingly, he remained silent.
"She fought back. She didn't have a choice. I don't think they know what we are, but I also don't think it will be long before they find out," Stefan continued calmly.
Damon's gaze stayed locked on Rebekah. They all held their breaths as he opened his mouth to speak. It wouldn't be the first time he said something to get himself on the wrong side of the original and certainly not the last. "Are you okay?"
She gaped, taken aback by his question. "I'm fine," she finally uttered out.
He nodded stiffly and said nothing more.
"What are we going to do?" Caroline asked before silence could settle.
There really is no good answer to that, Elena thought. They could pack up and leave throwing away the future they had sought out coming to this town or they could stay and risk creating enemies and getting hurt or worse.
"We see how it plays out," Stefan answered in his soothing and collected voice that he managed to keep while in a stressful time, "chances are we keep facing these problems even if we do leave. Everywhere we go there's going to be someone who was there before us and we just have to stake our claim."
He said this against his better judgment. If it were up to him he'd have them packing, but what good would that bring them? Was the life on the run constantly moving any better than staying put?
Rebekah snorted, "that's barbaric, especially for you Salvatore."
"Have any better ideas?" he retorted and her silence was his answer.
"Stefan's right. Obviously, there was something already going on before we got here and as long as we attempt to stay out of it I think we'll be okay. If they do something to any of us then of course we intervene, but for right now we should just try and not get ahead of ourselves."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement of Elena's words. There was no reason to jump into action just yet. They would have to pick their battles wisely. It was possible Rebekah just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and it wouldn't happen again. Hopefully, Elena commented silently, otherwise, things would most likely get bloody.
Damon was the last to stand as everyone began to clear out of the room. He looked more tired than he did upset. She waved to Stefan and he gave her a soft smile as they left the room.
Elena was more than surprised that Damon had reacted in a relatively calm way. She felt guilty that she had immediately predicted the worst out of him. Although he was notorious for his outbursts, she should have been the one to give him the benefit of the doubt. Like everyone else, he was trying to be good too.
"I'm really proud of the way you acted back there," she told him as they entered their room.
He immediately went to the small bar in the corner of the room and poured himself a glass of bourbon. He lifted the cup to his lips and downed it in one slug. She could imagine the burning sensation in her throat but he was so used to it he probably didn't even feel it.
"Are you mad?"
He chuckled, "oh, I'm pissed."
The glass in his hand shattered in his grip and in one swift movement he threw the shards against the nearest window. He didn't stop there. In a rush of fury, Damon reached out for anything in arms length and began to throw them in all directions.
By the end of his tantrum, the room looked like a tornado had passed through it.
Elena sighed, I should have seen that coming.
Damon fell against the wall breathing heavily. Blood dripped from scratches on his hands and face that he had created during his tirade. She kneeled beside him and brushed away his jet black hair from his face. "Hey, it's okay,"
He pulled away, "how is any of this okay, Elena? I put us right in the middle of a werewolf war zone. I brought us here. I did this. "
"You couldn't have known they were here," she countered. "You brought us here with the best intentions. You wanted to keep us safe and give us all another chance at a better life. You did that and everyone is thankful for it."
He grumbled exasperatingly, "and to hear it from Stefan of all people? He knew from the very beginning this was a bad idea and he was right."
Elena shook her head, that's what was bothering him. It wasn't the impending danger it was his pride. "Stefan isn't out to hurt you or prove you wrong. You two have gotten long past that. He is your brother and at the end of the day, he just wants what's best for you. When you brought him here I know that's what you were thinking about, his best interest."
His lip trembled with the last remains of anger in his system. Damon grunted as he wrapped his hand around her and held her to his chest. "We are in this together, Damon. Do you hear me? Werewolves or not, all the deserving souls in hell will have gotten their ice cold drink before we roll over and give up."
Damon shifted her in his arms so that he could see her face and the grin on his would have made her knees go weak had she been standing. "Do we need to have separate bedrooms because that sounded scarily close to something I would say."
She laughed into the crook of his neck and felt relieved that at least his humor had returned. Because if Damon Salvatore isn't making jokes then you're really in trouble. "Well, what can I say? When my man speaks I listen."
He was about to say something in response but there was a knock at their door that had him biting his tongue. He stared up at the ceiling in annoyance, "Better be good barbie,"
Slowly the door opened and Elena smiled as Caroline's head peeked in. "How'd you know it was me?"
Damon smiled tauntingly, "I could hear you skipping down the hallway singing Pocket Full of Sunshine,"
She frowned and placed a hand on her hip. "I was not singing Pocketful of Sunshine."
He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly. "I was singing Walking on Sunshine," she sneered, "and anyways I did not come here to argue with you. I came here to ask Elena if she wanted to go out for a walk with me."
"We just found out that werewolves are infesting this town and you want to go wandering into the woods?" he deadpanned and she made a face.
"Not that I need to justify myself to you but Stefan's going to be with us. Elena if you decide to come we'll meet you out front in five minutes."
A wicked grin spread across her face as she finally glanced around the room. Furniture was destroyed, glass was sprinkled on the floor, the curtains were torn, and clothes littered the floor. "We've been here less than a day and you two have wrecked the place with your kinky activities. Good thing these walls are pretty thick, right?"
The door shut closed just as Elena, blushing madly, launching a stray pillow at her friend. She could hear Caroline's snickers as she retreated down the hallway. Damon was smirking as she turned back to him and she smacked his chest before standing and surveying his mess.
"We should probably get this cleaned up. We'll need new bed sheets, pillows, and blankets for now. We can get everything else fixed tomorrow."
He shook his head and shooed her away. "No, this is my mess and I'll clean it up. You go with Caroline and girl talk."
She laughed, "With Stefan there with us?"
The smirk on his face deepened amusedly, "I'm sure Stefan will be happy to be considered one of the girls."
"It's okay. I'll stay here and help, really, it's no problem."
He began to push her towards the door, "I appreciate it but you don't need to. I'm a big boy who can clean up after one of his big hissy fits."
"Hissy fit is an understatement," she teased and he gently nipped her neck as he continued to push her out the door. "I say hissy fit and you say psychotic break."
"Okay, okay, I'm going. At least give me a kiss before you throw me out the door,"
He leaned forward and smiled as he brushed his lips against hers, "Hurry back."
"Or I could just stay," she tried reasoning and he placed a quick kiss to the side of her mouth before shutting the door in her face.
Elena breathed out a laugh as she backed away from the door. She didn't know the house well enough to find her away around and took a few wrong turns into bedrooms and closets. She was probably going to go blind after what she witnessed taking place in Rebekah and Matt's room.
"Took you long enough," Caroline grumbled as she appeared into the main hallway. Stefan walked out of the shadows and she immediately knew the reason for this late night stroll. His eyes were dark and the light seemed to avoid him. He was hungry.
"Well, let's not wait anymore on my account,"
Stefan held the door open for them and each girl hurried to get out the door. Despite his craving for blood, his gentlemen ways still overruled him. He was a catch and any girl would be lucky to have him. At one time, that girl had been Elena herself.
She didn't regret her choices, but she did regret breaking his heart. A man as undyingly loyal and compassionate as him didn't deserve the pain she had caused them. She would never forgive herself for that but he had. Selfish, yes, but he had moved on and it eased her guilt.
"I'm going to hike about a mile in to find something bigger than a rabbit. Will you two be okay?"
Caroline waved her hand effectively dismissing him. "Do your thing. We'll meet back here in half an hour. We'll be fine and if you hear us screaming bloody murder then not so much."
He rolled his eyes and disappeared into the treeline. The darkness masked his departing figure into the shadows.
Elena and Caroline ambled down the trail leading away from their new home. Their shoulders brushed one another as they strolled at a relaxed pace with their senses on high alert. The air around them was brisk and piercing yet fresh. It helped cleanse their mind of worries and fears for at least a while. Soon they would return and be thrust into their complicated lives.
Today was supposed to have been a turning point in their lives. It was supposed to be the start of a new chapter for them all but in less than eight hours of stepping foot in Beacon Hills, they had walked right into another trap.
"So where's Klaus?" Elena inquired and Caroline perked up at the mention of her beau's name.
"He was leaving when I got there after school. Said that he wanted to pick up a few things at an arts and crafts store he'd passed by earlier."
Elena hummed her amusement, "that's very mundane of him."
"I know," Caroline agreed with wide eyes, "I'm so used to the brooding, sexy, and diabolical version. I don't really know the stay at home, sweet, artistic version of him. Is it bad I actually like the bad guy and not the good guy?"
Elena scoffed. She found herself asking the same question all the time. "I think it's his bad side that draws you to him, but his good side that will make you stay with him."
"That's not even the worst part," she huffed, "when he was leaving he kissed me on the forehead- on the forehead, Elena! Like we were some old married couple!"
The brunettes single eyebrow rose not understanding the problem, "you didn't like it?"
"I loved it," she nearly shrieked. If she didn't quiet down Stefan would come barreling through the trees expecting to find them head on with beasts foaming at the mouths. "It was so normal and nice. I haven't had normal and nice in such a long time and I just- I never expected it to be with him."
Elena chuckled, if these were the biggest difficulties Caroline faced then maybe things weren't as bad as they had made them out to be. "It's the unexpected that really make things interesting."
Caroline snorted, "tell me about it. If this is blowing my mind then imagine him at Christmas dinner with my mom."
"Can't even fathom it," she teased in response.
"I guess I'm still getting used to it. A few weeks ago I almost freaked out when I woke up one morning and saw him sleeping beside me, which is actually really cute by the way," Elena giggled at the commentary, "I still surprise myself when I say the word boyfriend because that's what he is. He's my boyfriend."
Caroline repeated the words to herself with a content look on her face. She was happy and, of all people, it was with Klaus Mikaelson by her side.
"Are you going to tell him about what happened today?" Elena started hesitantly.
The blonde kicked at a few pebbles in her path and the pleased look on her face dimmed. "No, Damon and Rebekah said I needed to keep this locked up tight. If it were anything else I might be more inclined to just tell him, but I honestly don't know how he'll react. I want to have faith in him, but I..."
"I understand," Elena interrupted before her friend could start feeling guilty for holding back on her boyfriend. "His past makes things difficult and if anything he should understand that it's going to take some time for you to be able to defend his honor without it backfiring on you."
"You too, huh?" She smiled sheepishly.
"I have 200 years of Damon's mistakes to get over you have a thousand of Klaus's. Good Luck."
Caroline laughed nudging her best friends shoulder. They continued down the trail until it began to become wider and less clear to them. Elena glanced over her shoulder as she and Caroline stepped into a small clearing. The moon was the only lighting they had in the eery darkness.
"Maybe we should go back?" Caroline offered just as uneasy as Elena suddenly felt.
"Yeah," she trailed off as a woman stepped into the clearing on the opposite side.
Elena grabbed Caroline by the arm and pulled her into the brush before they could be seen if they hadn't already been. They kneeled and stayed close to the ground as they watched the dark-skinned woman roam about.
There was something in the way she moved that struck them as animalistic. Each step the woman took was carefully placed and calculated. It was then that Elena noticed the lack of footwear on her slim feet.
"The girl is in desperate need of a pedicure," Caroline commented in a harsh whisper, horrified at the sight of the talon-like nails that brushed the floor each step the woman took. Caroline's eyes widened as she slapped a hand to her mouth.
The woman approached them quicker now and the two debated on making a run for it.
"Kali!" another voice called halting the shoeless stranger mid-step. "What are you doing out here?"
A man emerged from the trees, tall and scarily built with muscles that could be seen all the way from where Elena and Caroline were hiding. A scowl was permanently scrawled into his face as he strode to the woman's side.
She glared into the trees and the girls ducked chins touching the ground.
"Didn't you hear Deucalion? He said they were here, an entire coven of them. There hasn't been that many in Beacon Hills for decades, Ennis"
He nodded his head solemnly, "I know, they last time there was we tore them apart."
Kali's face morphed with disgust, "filth. What do we do about them?"
Elena yearned to know who 'them' was but she had a pretty good idea.
"Nothing," he seemed disappointed with his own answer, "yet."
"Don't tell me again," she dismissed, "I know what Deucalion said. We don't go near them until he says so. Not until he gets what we came here for then we can rip into those leeches. When we do, I'm going to enjoy it."
Caroline was pulling at Elena's arm insistently but she wanted to hear more. Leeches thrive on blood and now it wasn't difficult to assume who they so badly wanted to tear into.
Ennis smirked and she repelled at the sight of his fangs that pierced his lip when he smiled. "There's nothing like seeing a vampire squirm when you sink your teeth into them. It's unnatural for them as much as it is poetic justice," he mused.
Kali cackled merrily as if talking about something pleasant rather than brutally murdering someone. "Do you promise to save one for me?" He drawled.
"I promise nothing." Her eyes illuminated in the dim moonlight a vibrant red that could be seen for miles. Combined with her wicked smile it startled Elena to the bones. Now Caroline was pulling her away and in her struggle to get away Elena fell backward into an awkward position. A snap resonated through the quiet place followed by a string of curses.
The two wolves snapped their eyes in the direction of the noises and with glowing irises scanned the treeline. "My ankle," Elena seethed in pain trying to pop it back into place while Caroline frantically tried to carry her away.
"They're going to rip it off if we don't get out of here!"
Elena conceded and hobbled to her feet. Caroline easily balanced most of her weight with heightened strength as footsteps began to close in on them. The brunette twisted her leg out and with a muffled scream she felt the pain begin to lessen.
They ran quicker than the eye could follow and stopped a half a mile away to catch their breath. "You okay?" Caroline said between breaths.
"Fine," Elena panted, "We need to keep moving. I think they're still following us."
Neither girl stopped again to look back as they zigzagged in an out of the forest to attempt to mix up their scents. When they finally reached the spot they had started Stefan was already there waiting. He immediately ran up and took the girls into his arms while they panted heavily.
"We need to get back home now," Elena ordered into his shoulder and Caroline nodded her agreement.
He didn't question what had happened as he held on to them tightly and blurred to the front steps of their home. Caroline was the first to push the large door open and run in with the other two closely behind her.
"Caroline, dirty girl," Damon grinned as he entered and saw her dirt covered jeans and hands. Elena looked no better with her knees black from being on the ground.
Elena fell away from Stefan's arms as she moved into the older Salvatore's embrace. The words she had heard spoken still reverberated in her mind causing her to imagine the horrible things the man and woman had described. "Hey," he cooed seeing the frightened look on her face, "what's wrong?"
"They were out there, Damon. They had glowing red eyes and they said they were going to kill us. They said as soon as they got what they came here for they would-"
"No one is going to kill us." He cut in and calmed her worries. He looked over to Caroline and offered her the same assurance, "I won't let them touch either of you, got that?"
The girls nodded their heads and moved slowly into the house with the two men at their side. Stefan murmured a good night to his brother and Elena as he escorted Caroline to her room to wait with her until Klaus returned.
Damon whispered soothing words into his girl's hair as he led her to their room. It was cleaned and fixed up just as he'd said it be. The new lapis colored curtains were drawn shut to her relief. She allowed him to pull her into the adjoined bathroom that was so big it could have been another bedroom on its own.
Her mind was elsewhere as he helped her undress from the dirty clothes and settle into the tub of water he'd begun to fill. "I'm not handicap," she remarked as he poured in a bottle of lavender bath incense.
He settled down beside the tub and rested his head beside her. "I don't want you to leave me because I brought you here."
"I could never do that."
"Couldn't you, though? You saw and heard something you never should have out there. What kind of home is this for you if you can't even walk out the front door and feel safe?"
"It doesn't matter. You want to know why?"
He nodded contently upon seeing the forming of a smile on her beautiful face. After all these years she still held him in complete awe.
"Because home to me is wherever you are. In the middle of a war zone or supernatural hell hole, I don't care. When you are beside me I know that I am protected and loved."
His sapphire eyes enveloped her with intense sincerity, "hell will have frozen over when they touch a single hair on your head, baby."
Damon leaned in and captured her lips in his own. The butterflies erupted in her belly as his skin pressed against hers in a heated kiss.
He pulled away lips wet and swollen. The malignant spark in his eyes burned bright as anger consumed him at the thought of what those imbeciles had said. They truly did not know who they were messing with and if he had anything to do with it, he'd have them all groveling at her feet.
"They should be afraid of us. They don't know that yet, but they will."