The Beginning | Damon Salvatore #1

Chapter 4

Damon peeked over at Alex as he got into his car. She had put mascara on and nothing else. It somehow seemed to brighten her brown eyes. He smirked to himself as he turned the key.

"Where are we going exactly?" She asked, looking over at him.

"Going to pick up Elena and her friend Bonnie, and then we're going to find you something else to wear besides jeans and a shirt that don't belong to you," Damon said, smiling and gripping the steering wheel, making a vein pop up on his arm that caught Alex's attention, regardless if she desired it.

She just nodded and looked down at her phone when a text from Dean came through.

Let me know when you find out where you are.

How comforting, she thought. For someone that claimed to love her, he wasn't being very loving. Damon didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but glance over at her and try and see the text from who she assumed was the man she talked to the night before.

The car came to a stop on the side of the road in front of a nice house, nicer than anything Alex had lived in. Her current life had consisted of motels and bars and abandoned houses with Sam and Dean; before that, her life was somewhat mediocre in aesthetic, but she'd give anything to have that life with her family again.

Damon opened the door as Alex stared at the steps. He inched around the car, waiting for her to open the door, but when he saw her frozen face, he knew she was reminded of something painful and wouldn't get out unless coerced. Damon didn't want to be nice to her since she was so thirsty to kill him and any vampire in sight, but he couldn't help but at least pity her because of the pain in her eyes. He finally decided to open the door for her.

"Come on," he simply said, waiting for her to get out, which she did slowly and eventually.

Damon led her up the steps and to the door. He didn't even knock. "I'm here, Elena."

In an instant, Elena had opened the door with a small smile, unsure of how to feel about Alex, especially when she was dressed in her clothes.

"Hi. Please come in," she said, only looking at Alex, trying to read her. Alex simply walked through the door with no emotion and no words. She found herself in the kitchen with Elena and Damon.

"Bonnie will be down in a second," Elena said. She eyed Alex again who had tears in her eyes. "Are you hungry or thirsty? I can get you anything you'd like before we go."

Alex turned to her and forced a smile, pushing the tears back into her skull, "Just water will be fine for now." Elena nodded and turned toward the cabinets to get a glass. Alex's body jolted at the sound of another voice coming through the house.

"Elena, I'm ready," Bonnie, Alex guessed, said as she rounded the corner.

"Oh! Hi! I'm Bonnie. Elena told me about what's happened. I'm so sorry," Bonnie said nearing Alex, holding out her hand for her to shake.

Alex tensed as soon as she locked eyes with the girl. She studied her intently and held out her hand in return.

"Hi. I'm Alex," she said coldly.

Bonnie tensed as soon as she touched Alex and her eyes went black in an instant. Alex breathed in deeply as she let her go and muttered under her breath: "Cristo."

Bonnie lashed at the word from Alex's mouth and lunged at her, but Damon caught her before she could get to Alex. Damon's wide eyes matched Elena's as they watched her thrash and tug on Damon to let her go.

Alex breathed deeply and spoke in a calm voice, "It's a demon. Damon, don't let her go. I know what to do." Damon held Bonnie but his gaze was fixed on Alex. He had no idea what was happening and he always knew what was going on. Always.

"A demon? What are you talking about?" Elena yelled, already freaking out. Alex ignored her and began to recite what her and Dean and Sam had practiced in order to cast out demons. She'd never done it on her own before, but she always knew when there was a demon around either way.

Bonnie continued to whip her head around as Damon held her. With every word, her whole body was jolting. Damon was struggling only a little, but his eyes held Alex's, who was looking at Bonnie the entire time. Who was this girl? How can a human have such control over something that seemed so powerful?

Alex finished and black smoke came barreling out of Bonnie's mouth, making Damon push away from her in horror. When the black smoke had found it's way through the back door, Bonnie's body went limp and began to fall before Damon caught her.

"What the hell just happened?" Elena asked, tears rolling down her face. Damon stared at Alex, bewildered and almost scared. Alex began to cry too; her heart ached for Bonnie and for herself. She felt more drained than she ever had.

As she heard the gasp of Bonnie waking up, her knees collapsed and her face hit the floor.

——————

"Bonnie!" Elena yelled as the limp girl regained consciousness. Damon immediately knelt beside Alex, turning her over to see her face—still and almost peaceful.

"Bonnie, are you okay? What happened?" Elena questioned Bonnie with her hands on her shoulders, holding her attention as best she could.

"Alex," Damon whispered. No response. His dead heart was beating out of his chest as he lifted her up and took her over to the couch where he laid her.

"I'm okay," Bonnie weeped. Her sobs were filled with relief as she clung to Elena.

Damon sat on the couch at Alex's feet, waiting and hoping for her to wake up so he could get an explanation to what just happened.

Bonnie quieted and Elena led her over to a chair beside the couch as Damon watched Alex intently, waiting for an ounce of conscious activity to present itself.

"She saved me," Bonnie whimpered as she looked back and forth from Damon and Elena. Damon never looked at them and Elena noticed.

"That thing was inside me for two weeks. I couldn't control myself at times, but I was watching everything. Sometimes it would hide and I could control myself like today, but I don't know how she knew it was there," Bonnie explained weakly. She held herself as Elena rubbed her arm.

"Bonnie, why didn't you tell us?" Elena interrogated softly.

"What could you have done, Elena? I didn't even know what to do or who to talk to. I just hoped it would go away and leave me alone, but Alex got it out somehow," she said, studying Alex's limp body, but not as closely as Damon was.

"Who is she?" Bonnie changed the subject. Her heart was beating hard and fast, needing an answer too badly to wait much longer.

"I have no idea," Damon said.

Alex sat straight up with a gasp, making Damon, Elena, and Bonnie jump. Damon grabbed Alex's wrist, "Hey, hey, hey. You're safe."

Alex's breathing slowed as her eyes flickered from Damon's to the other girls'. Once she was calm, she studied Bonnie, "Are you okay?"

Bonnie nodded as another tear ran down her cheek; she smiled, "Thank you."

Alex nodded once and rubbed her temple with her hand as a large headache ensued. Damon let go of Alex's wrist and shifted on the couch.

"Okay, I think we need to talk about what just happened."