Wayward Hearts: Book 2

Part 1

 "Damon! Run!" Emma yelled to Damon as she was running towards him and away from the specter that was chasing her.

She crossed the covered wooden bridge at full speed and ducked just as she saw ghost take a swing at her. As she reached the other side of the river and onto solid ground, Damon reached for her hand, but when she grabbed a hold of him, he came to a stop. Emma looked back in a panic, wondering what he was seeing that would have made him stop running. There was nothing.

"Where in the hell did it go?" Emma asked as she looked around, ready to defend herself.

Damon's head was still reeling from what he had just witnessed, "Was that the headless horseman?"

Emma nodded with just as much disbelief as Damon, she ran her hands through her hair and took a deep breath, trying to recenter herself so she could think, "Uh-Yep, that was...insane."

"How in the hell do we fight something like that Em?" Damon asked, his voice still raised.

"Salt?" Emma shrugged.

"Salt?" Damon asked in shock, "You want me to throw seasoning at something like that, and what? Hope for the best?"

"We have to start somewhere, and my first thought is a ghost," Emma made an educated guess.

Damon threw his hands up with frustration, "I can decapitate something, or pull its heart out; but if I can't even get my hands on it, what in the hell am I supposed to do?"

Emma walked to the back of Damon's Camaro and opened the trunk, she pulled out her father's journal and started flipping through it.

"There was a camping store in town, in the morning we can stop and get some empty shotgun shells."

"Oh, empty, plastic bullets," Damon put his hands on his hips sarcastically, "if I would have known my musket from the civil war was going to be more helpful, I would have kept the damn thing."

Emma looked up from the journal and looked at Damon, "I've kept us alive this long, right?"

"Yeah, but-" Damon started but was interrupted.

"This may be your first ghost, but it isn't mine."

"Em, the headless horseman wasn't a real thing, it can't be a ghost."

"You would be surprised by how many things people don't think are real but are, like vampires for instance, or phoenixes," she motioned between the two of them.

Damon buried his face in his hands and sighed before speaking, "Okay, so is iodized salt fine or do we need like...kosher or something?"

Emma snorted as she tried not to laugh, "Let's go get a drink."

"Oh, thank god," Damon wrapped his arms around Emma's waist and kissed her forehead before walking around to the driver's side of the car and getting in.

Emma rolled her eyes and closed the trunk before climbing into the car.

Back in town Damon parked in the motel parking lot and walked with Emma across the road to the single bar in town. They both stepped up to the bar and Damon ordered two whiskeys for the both of them, they sipped their drinks in silence for a moment while Damon still processed what he had just seen.

"You have to calm down, it could be way worse," Emma tried to reason with Damon.

Damon raised his eyebrow, "How?"

"Changelings, reapers, archness," Emma shuddered as she thought of the spider like monster.

"I kinda miss the days of Klaus and his hybrids, honestly," Damon sipped his drink.

"Okay," Emma smirked, "after this, we can head home for a while. Deal with some normal monsters."

"You sure?"

"You came on this road trip for my mental health, now it's your turn," Emma leaned in and kissed Damon, "of course I'm sure."

Damon smiled and pulled Emma closer so he could continue kissing her.

"You wanna take this back to the motel room?" Emma smiled against his lips as he began to eagerly nod.

Damon stood and began to pull Emma towards the front door, Emma let go of his hand briefly to finish her drink and then pushed through the crowd to catch up. She pushed the front door open and expected him to be waiting for her; but he was gone.

"Damon?" Emma called out as she looked around.

Emma jogged across the street to see if he had gone up to the motel room without her, he wasn't inside, and the Camaro was still in the same place he had parked an hour previously.

"What the hell?" Emma took a deep breath to steady the sudden nervous feeling that came over her.