Salvation (TVD Fan Fiction)

Chapter 14

3rd POV

Alaric was stunned, not sure what surprised him more, that Damon was alive, alive as he could be, anyway, or that the redheaded vamp had risen from the dead.

Damn, its not even 9am, and I need a drink, Ric thought, shaking his head.

Over the past 24 hours or so, Damon had ignored most all of his calls and text messages. The last he had known, Rhiannon, as Damon had called her, had stabbed his friend with a toothpick and threatened him. And when the idiot had failed to return any of his calls, what conclusion was Ric supposed to draw?

Finally, Ric's irritation with Damon had grown into genuine worry, and he had loaded up his crossbow and headed over to the boarding house to investigate. There was no sign of his friend, but there was broken glass scattered across the front doorway, as well as on the floor in Damon's room. A troubling scenario, since Ric knew Damon was OCD as hell about any type of mess. He decided to check the basement for any clues, but there was nothing there.

Alaric had been climbing the stairs of the basement, back up to the main floor, when he heard feather light footsteps on the main staircase. His intuition had told him the footsteps didn't belong to Damon, and he slowly turned the corner to see her. Ric didn't hesitate to raise his already loaded crossbow and send a wooden dart straight into her heart.

But here they both were, looking very cozy together. Damon's eyes were shooting daggers at Alaric. He had placed himself in front of the girl in a defensive position. Damon had obviously formed an attachment to her, and a big one judging from the looks of it. And all in one day's time?

What the hell is going on? Ric wondered.

"Hello, Ric. Meet Rhiannon," Damon said glibly.

Ric ignored the girl for a moment. "Damon, what the fuck? You don't answer any of my calls, you disappear? You know Klaus is after your ass, right?"

"I know this might come as a shock to you, Ric, but you and I, we're not dating. I'm not into you like that," Damon quipped.

"You're an ass!" Ric shouted at him. You could always count on Damon to find humor in humorless situations. "What's all this about?" He asked, nodding to Rhiannon, who was wide eyed and had an uncomfortable expression, pinned between Damon's back and the headboard.

Damon reached his hand back to Rhiannon and squeezed hers.

Since when is this guy a hand-holder? Shit is really getting weird around here, Ric thought.

"It's a long story, but as for your Buffy stunt earlier, consider this your 'Get Outta Jail' free card. No more skewering Rhiannon, got it?" Damon said. He was making jokes, but Ric knew he was dead serious.

Suddenly the pieces came together for Rhiannon, who had been a little confused for the past few minutes. She had recognized Ric from the bar, but she had no idea what he was doing here now or more importantly why Damon was trying to defend her from Ric.

"You mean, you are the one who shot me?" she asked him, wondering why a man that was Damon's friend would try to kill her.

Damon winced a little when he noticed the incredulous high note in Rhi's voice. He thought for a moment that maybe he should be protecting Ric from Rhiannon, but shrugged the thought away.

He's brought all this on himself. Plus he has an eternity ring. He'd come back, Damon thought, and as much as he liked Alaric, he thought it would be funny as hell to watch Rhiannon take him out.