When Cora arrives home with no recollection of the previous week and two bite marks on her neck, she begins to retrace her steps straight back to notorious vampire Damon Harrison-Altera. He claims to have loved her - but so does his best friend, Nat...
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THE PHONE FELL through my fingers as though they were composed of rippling water. The ebony device clattered against the wooden floorboards, veins emerging through the glass of the screen from the impact. Even though Elijah had hung up, I could still his ominous words haunting my mind every time I tried to think.
I fell back into Damon's body, suddenly unable to stand upright – my limbs had turned to jelly, and I was slowly melting away into nothing. His chest was hard under my touch, and my cheeks flushed as his arms wrapped around my body to steady me. He pushed the hair from my eyes, foot falls thudding over as Nathan was beside us in seconds. They both stared at me with wide eyes – they had heard Elijah's words too.
"They're going to kill her," I began to panic, forgetting the pain pulsating through every limb in my body. Hannah was the person who kept me sane; she didn't deserve any of this. And yet, I had drawn her into this world without giving her an opt out. "Damon."
I don't know what else to say, or how to react. My heart shuddered against my eardrum like a battle cry looped on repeat. Sweat soaked my body, causing my hoodie to stick to my arms like a second skin. And although the material was thick, I was shivering. It was so cold. All I could feel was cold.
Damon gripped my good shoulder and spun me around so that I was facing him. He stroked the red-gold strands of hair infiltrating my vision away from my eyes, and tucked them behind my ears. "Ginger, we're not going to let that happen," Damon stated, before shooting Nathan a dissatisfied glance. "Are we, Nathan?"
"I'm not giving him the blade, Damon," Nathan retorted.
"So then we kill Elijah," I muttered under my breath, surprised by my own words. Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them away before Damon would notice. "W- We lure him in. Give him what he wants, and then kill him."
Nathan nodded stiffly, whereas Damon's hands lingered on my frame for a moment longer. I wanted to tell him to not let go – never let go – but my words were not strong enough.
"Better get out of here, then," Nathan finally stated, startling the silence away with his powerful voice. I nodded my head, unable to agree more. A pile of ash laid barren at my feet, and the stench of blood and death was pungent in the room. The walls closed in with each breath I drew, and I closed my eyes to inhale sharply to replenish my oxygen supply. If I didn't get out of here soon, I would suffocate.
After we both agreed with Damon, we exited the house and made our way onto the road bridging the housing and apartment developments. Nathan quickly shouted out Harry's name, and the man appeared a minute later with a quizzical look on his face. He looked from Nathan to Damon, whose arms were wrapped tightly around my frame, and shook his head. We exited the premises hastily, and hailed the first taxi we saw, taking us straight to my halls and the horror that would pursue.
