hereforsumbucky - Tumblr blog

hereforsumbucky · 3 years

Text

Haunted- 7

Summary: He knew, from the moment he found her there, bathed in the glow of fire, that she would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Damon x Reader

Masterlist

Taglist Open

Word Count: 2344

Violin music wafted softly through the air, weaving between Caroline’s voice, booming from the microphone, as she introduced the pageant contestants, and the polite applause that followed each. Elena squinted against the sun, frowning as she scanned the crowd.

“Have you seen Jeremy?”

She turned, finding Matt at her elbow, looking defeated. “He's probably up there with the escorts,” she said. “Have you seen Stefan?”

“No,” Matt said, resting his hands at his hips, dejected. “Caroline told me to find the escorts but he isn’t here.”

Elena frowned and dug her phone out of her purse. Matt licked his lips and scanned the crowd. “I take it he hasn’t told you about his nightmares? Where he, uh, kills you?”

“What?” Elena nearly dropped her phone as she tapped out Jeremy’s phone number. Matt turned his back, hustling to the stage to take Jeremy’s place as Caroline descended the steps.

“What the hell? Where are Jeremy and Stefan?”

Elena shook her head, the phone pressed against her ear.

Caroline closed her eyes, taking a breath, and when she opened them, was startled to see Damon marching his way toward them. “Uh-oh,” she said, tapping Elena on the shoulder. “Trouble at ten o’clock.”

He was breathing, hard, through his nose, his tie disheveled. One hand pushed through his hair, and he kept looking around the expanse of guests around them.

“What happened to you?” Caroline crossed her arms, peering at him with suspicion. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

“I did,” he bit back, not bothering to look at her.

“Jeremy isn’t answering. Matt said Jeremy’s been having nightmares about killing vampires, and he’s been hiding it from me.” Elena sighed, dropping the phone from her ear. “I should call Stefan-“

“Don’t bother,” Damon was already pulling out his phone, taking steps back from the girls. “I’m on it.”

“I have a bad feeling,” Elena said.

“I said I’m on it.”

Elena and Caroline exchanged glances as Damon wove back through the crowd, towards the lower landing.

“Please don't tell me that you've roped Jeremy into a world of crazy.”

He could hear noise on the other end of the line. “Like I had a choice?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, switching the phone to his other ear. “Curing your girlfriend so she can have babies and grow old and die. By the way, I was just wondering, you haven’t happened to see Y/N lately, have you?”

Stefan sighed. “You saw her.”

“No,” Damon snapped, his free hand pressing against a tree, holding him up. “I ran into her. Yes, I saw her! She’s here, and you didn’t tell me?”

“I thought it was better if you found out on your own.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted. Finding out Y/N is alive wasn’t good enough, finding out she’s here, in Mystic Falls, where- in case you forgot- Jeremy Gilbert is actively slaughtering vampires and you’re helping him-”

Stefan paused. “He won’t hurt her.”

“You’re damn right he won’t.” The wood groaned under the weight of Damon’s grip. “If he goes anywhere near Y/N-“

“Relax, Damon. The girls are keeping an eye on her, too.”

“Why would they do that?”

“They don’t trust her. I don’t know if I do either.”

“Really?” Damon snorted, rolling his eyes. “She’s not a threat-“

“We don’t know that,” Stefan said. “Why do you think she’s here, Damon? A happy reunion? Who do you think told her about the cure?”

Damon swallowed, not answering.

“I’m almost done here. I gotta go.”

***

The mansion windows muffled the sound of celebration outside. The music, the cheerful voices, the happy laughter, was all lost to this side of the glass panes.

It was a beautiful house. Whoever lived here did so well- everything was pristine and white, not a speck of dust to be found, so immaculate that it could very well be the case that no one lived there at all. From the top of the stairs, you could see the foyer, with its tiles shining in the sun; that is, you could have seen it, if your face weren’t buried in your palms.

The red silk of your dress trailed over the top step like blood, pooling at your bare feet. Your shoulders shook, and it was a feat to remain sitting at all.

“Seems Cinderella has lost both her shoes.”

You looked up, feebly trying to wipe the tears from your cheeks. Your shoes dangled in front of your face, and the smiling man at the other end of them stepped carefully around the pool of your dress to sit beside you on the steps.

He sat the shoes down somewhere behind you, resting his elbows on his knees. “Never took you for much of a cryer, love.”

“Typically not,” you said, leaning back to get a better look at him. “Nice suit. You clean up well.”

“We both know I always look this good,” he said. “I take it you saw Damon.”

“I did.”

“And it didn’t go well?”

“It didn’t go at all, really.” He hummed low in his throat, and rested a hand on your knee. “I- ran away.”

“And Elena?”

“She’s here. With Caroline. I take it Stefan and Jeremy didn’t show?”

“They’re otherwise occupied,” he said.

“Why aren’t you with Caroline?”

“Thought I’d check in first,” he said. “Make sure my favorite undead drama queen was doing her job.”

A dry laugh filled your chest. “Klaus, you flatter me. I’m your ‘favorite undead drama queen?’ I should tell Rebekah on you.”

Klaus grinned, standing up and extending his hand to you. “Don’t waste your whole day, love. Plenty of dances to be had, and vampires to be… protecting.”

You nodded as Klaus pulled you to your feet. “Thinly veiled threat noted.”

“See, that right there,” Klaus pointed his finger in your face, still smiling. “Is why you’re my favorite.”

***

It only took a few minutes to find them once you’d collected yourself. The crowd was spread out, thinner, most of them on the dance floor, others in little groups at tables or lingering on the grass. They occupied the stairs, the lower landing by the pond- Caroline was walking with Klaus, and you tore your eyes away from them to look for Elena.

Damon stood up from his chair, frowning, as Tyler approached. He was watching Shane, as the professor sat beside the werewolf- Hayley? Tyler fixed his jacket, following Damon’s eye.

“How do those two know each other?”

“They don’t. Paranoid much?”

Damon frowned. “The Council just got burnt to a crisp. Some mysterious Hunter just blew through town and this guy just happens to know everything about everything. Yes, paranoid.”

Elena was standing near the dance floor, talking to a guest. You wove through the crowd toward her, gently side-stepping any and all moving figures, not touching a soul as you passed, as though you weren’t there at all.

“Hey,” Elena turned toward you as you approached, seemingly thankful for your presence. “I thought you left, is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” you breathed, smiling, but Elena’s expression of concern remained. “I’m great. Needed to, uh, use the girl’s room. That house is huge-”

“You saw Damon,” she said. Your smile vanished.

“That obvious?”

“I saw him, too. You haven’t seen Stefan, have you? I’m getting worried.”

“What? Oh, no, sorry. I take it you called?”

“Damon did,” she said, crossing her arms. “Jeremy isn’t here or answering either. You think maybe something happened?”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” you said, shrugging. “Sometimes we have to remember that not everything is a crisis, you know?”

“Yeah,” A nervous chuckle passed through her, and she scratched idly where her braid met the back of her head. “You’re probably right.”

“Elena?”

“Yeah?”

You paused, looking toward the pond where you had seen Caroline and Klaus. “I like you. You’re really nice.”

“Oh,” she said. “Thanks.”

“I’d like us to be friends. Maybe once we find the guys and everything sort of settles down, we can, I dunno. Hang out?”

She nodded, her smile turning genuine. “I’ll take you up on that.”

Damon strode out of the mansion, determination in his step. He’d found out what he needed to know, had gotten his hand on Professor Shane just enough to squeeze a drop of information out of him.

It came down to Bonnie. They needed a spell to get the cure, once they found it, one that only a Bennet witch could perform, and only Professor Shane could help Bonnie get her magic juiced up.

Go figures.

Damon scowled as he descended the stairs toward the stage. He spotted Caroline, walking back toward the stage to announce the winner of the pageant- and you and Elena, exchanging enthusiastic words. He faltered, only for a second, and started pushing his way through the crowd.

“And then, get this, he jumped in the lake, with all his clothes on and everything-” Elena stopped mid-sentence as a hand rested gently between your shoulder blades, causing you to jump.

“Excuse me, ladies,” the voice in your ear made your blood run cold, and your back stiffened, despite the gentle, calming fingertips laid carefully on your spine. “May I borrow her for a moment?”

You spun, intending to push him away once more, but Damon caught your hand and held it, tightly, a serious expression on his face. Something dropped the wicked words in your throat, as Damon guided you carefully toward the dance floor.

“Damon-”

“Shh,” he said, pressing a finger to his lips. “We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“You made that pretty clear,” he said, wrapping your hand in his. The other pressed lightly against the small of your back as he started swaying. “It’s more of an ‘I talk, you listen’ situation, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“And you made that clear, more than once.” There was nothing to rescue you from this. If you hit him, pushed him, called him names or slapped him across the face, it would make a scene, and then there would be a messy clean-up afterward. “What do you want?”

“Stefan said you’re looking for the cure.”

His words startled you. You had been expecting some sort of heart-filled apology, some sort of silver tongued attempt to gain your forgiveness, but he had jumped right over the huge elephant in the room and gone straight for your gills. “What if I am?”

“How did you hear about it? ‘Cause, see, the only person I know who also knows about it, who isn’t myself or my brother, is a little hybrid named Klaus. Sound familiar? About ye’ tall, British accent, huge tool?” his eyes flickered sideways and you followed his gaze to where Klaus was standing near the tables, idly sipping at a glass. “And, sweetheart, that is not the safe way to go.”

“And you are? You’re safe?”

Damon was quiet for a moment, his lips pressed in a thin line. “I know you don’t trust me,” he said, his eyes dropping to the space between your feet. He turned you in a circle, pulling you closer to him. “And you have every right not to.”

“You’re damn right I do,” you said, pushing against him just enough to put space between your bodies. “I don’t trust Klaus, either.”

“So why are you helping him?”

You stopped dancing, stepping out of Damon’s arms. He didn’t try reaching for you. Didn’t try to stop you from moving away. “Because I can’t help you.”

You turned your back on him, moving toward where Elena-

Was gone. She had vanished from the spot. You cursed under your breath, looking through the crowd for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Where’d she go?”

Damon was beside you, hands in his pockets. Truth be told, he didn’t trust himself not to reach for you when you were this close- but other things were more pressing, more important, more urgent.

“We need to find her,” Damon said, glancing sideways at you. “Quickly.”

You wasted no time with words, scouring the crowd as it began to thin out, nearly tripping on your heels. You tore them off- for the second time that day- and shoved them at Damon, moving as quickly as you could without moving at an unnatural speed.

You found her, beyond the house, standing with Stefan. They were facing each other, his hands roaming over her face and shoulders as though searching for injury. The smell of blood grew stronger as you made your way down toward them, and when Elena turned toward you, you could see the gauze patch on her neck.

“What the hell happened?”

You slowed to a stop as she peeled the gauze away. “Jeremy happened,” she said. “He attacked me.”

“He’s getting stronger,” Stefan said. “Killing vampires, it makes the compulsion to kill them even stronger.”

“Tell me Jeremy hasn’t been with you this entire time,” Elena whipped her head toward him. Damon had made his way down the hill after you, watching from a distance, still holding your shoes, and exchanged a look with his brother. “Tell me that you haven't been making him kill vampires, Stefan.”

“We need the map to get the cure.”

A wounded expression slammed onto Elena’s face, and she took a step away from Stefan. “If getting my humanity back means stripping Jeremy of his, then I don't want the cure.”

You looked away, your eyes inadvertently landing on Damon. He was watching the ground, giving them a moment of peace, but he felt your eyes on him.

“Elena can stay with me,” you offered, once more trying to keep Damon out of your eyesight. “Until we get this under control. She’ll be safe, you guys can, uh, can come and go, you know, whenever. Keep tabs.”

Stefan raised his chin, considering it, and Elena looked to him as though she were going to ask permission, but didn’t. She simply nodded, picking at the bloody gauze in her hands. “I’ll pack my things.”

@navs-bhat @allinhishands @suspiciousmuffin @lordofthunderthr

96 notes · View notes