Salvation (TVD Fan Fiction)

Chapter 1

just to let you know this is back in season 2/3 2012. so ric is still alive n shit. hope you like it.

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Damon Salvatore had just finished his sixth bourbon of the night. He sat his empty tumbler back down on the counter loudly, and shouted at the bartender to bring him another. He inwardly cursed whoever had the idea to play the Adele song that was now blaring loudly.

"Damon, really? Pace yourself, its only 11," Alaric Saltzman, the closest thing to a friend Damon had, had accompanied him to the Mystic Grill tonight. He gave Damon a knowing look, and softened his tone. "Look man, if this is about Elena taking off with Stefan, we knew that eventually-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Damon cut Ric short, leaning over the counter to grab the bottle of bourbon, since the damn bartender wasn't moving fast enough this evening. "Eventually little bro would flip his switch, go back to slaughtering bunnies, and get his girl," he paused to take a drink and tried to ignore the pain of dubbing Elena as Stefan's. "Believe me, Ric, I know. I've lived it. This ain't the first time, remember?"

Ignoring the fact that Damon had just went from drinking from a glass to a full bottle, Alaric merely nodded. Damon was a heavy drinker, he knew that. What concerned him was that he was now upset and drinking. Anyone who knew Damon knew that was never a good thing. "Well, if you need to talk about anything, I'm here."

"Ric, what the hell's wrong with you?" Damon remarked, lowering the bottle from his lips. "Talking implies feeling. Which is something I don't do."

"You know, this whole vampy, lushy act has gotten old."

Damon silently glared at his friend, trying to decide whether he should be angered or amused by his comment. Finally, he shrugged, unabashed. "What can I say, when I think too much, I drink too much."

"So what do you intend to do about Klaus and his family? You know he's gonna be pissed when he finds out Elena's gone and he can't create any more hybrids," Ric said, changing the subject. "Why didn't you skip town with them?"

Damon rolled his eyes, as if Alaric had missed something completely obvious. "And play third wheel to the Stefan/Elena love fest? No thanks, I'll pass." He took another generous drink and then continued. "As for Klaus, hell, I don't know. My epic plans have been lacking recently. Maybe I'll just waltz into Casa de Klaus and let him stake me. Once I finish this bottle, I doubt I will give a damn about any of it anymore." His signature smirk crept onto his face. "That's what I'm banking on, anyway."

Alaric was about to tell Damon that he can't cure all his problems with booze when someone at the corner of the bar caught his attention. Ric was currently seeing Dr. Meredith Fell, but he couldn't help but take notice of the striking redhead. "Whoa!"

Damon hadn't been paying attention to Ric, suspecting he was about to launch into one of his anti-boozing tirades. Like he was anyone to talk, Damon thought. Damon was concentrating on the music playing. The lovesick Adele song had ended, to which he was thankful for beyond words, and Band of Skulls' Sweet Sour was now blaring. Finally noticing Ric wasn't talking, Damon looked at his friend and followed his gaze.

At the end of the bar was the most attractive woman he had seen lately, possibly ever seen. Her thick, straight dark red hair fell to hips. She had a truly gorgeous face: large, prominent wide set eyes, a delicate nose, and a full pouty mouth. She was visibly curvy, her tight dark wash jeans and green shirt that was partially sheer only showcased her hotness. "Hell-ooo Red!" Damon muttered as his eyes continued to survey her appreciatively. He also saw that a crowd of men had already assembled around her. Including the bartender, which was probably why he hadn't noticed his missing bottle of bourbon. Despite the attention, the girl seemed to be doing her best to ignore her suitors. Just then, she looked up straight at Damon, and his breath caught in his throat. She looked familiar. Very familiar. Unfortunately, no name or particular place to associate with her came to mind. One of the pitfalls of being around for 160 odd years.