A/N: Did I mention I don't own any of the characters here or in Effervescent? I wish I did though.

Chapter Three: The Living

I reached up quickly and grabbed Damon's throat, pushing magic into his head just as his fang grazed my neck. I hadn't had to inflict pain on Damon in a long time, but it was just like riding a bike. There was a slight ringing in the air, the same one going through his head, and he fell to his knees with a soundless scream. I kept my hand on his throat and spoke in a low voice.

"Retract the fangs." I said. "Now."

He looked up at me and bared them even more.

Damon grabbed my wrist and twisted, wrenching my fingers from his throat and slamming me into the wall. I mumbled a silencing spell keeping my dad from hearing any of this and shoved Damon backwards with my magic. He fell backwards on my bed and used the momentum to spring back, heading towards me again.

I swung my arm in a wide arc and he twisted through the air and right into the wall across from me. He ripped a picture off my wall and threw it at my head and I ducked it, sending more magic at him. I tried sending more pain at him but he shook it off and kept coming. This was going to end one of two ways. Damon unconscious or Damon dead.

"I heard Stefan say you were powerful," he said. "Although honestly I'm not seeing it."

"Give me time." I replied, using the wall behind me to stand. "I'm just getting started."

"Time?" His smirk broadened to a smile, the blood gleamed on his lips. "The concept of time is pointless in my existence, wouldn't you say?"

"Not really." I said, calling my power. "It's always a factor."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, let's see how much time you have before I kill someone else."

Damon was out of my window in a second.

I rushed over and saw him in my front yard. He made like he was going to my front door, stopped, and then shook his head playfully. I went through my list of spells in my head that would make him fall dead in the grass if he tried to go to my father. Instead, he looked at me and winked.

Then he sped off.

Find him. Emily was standing beside me suddenly. Now.

I glared at her. "We are having a serious talk when I get back."

Go.

I ran downstairs and out of the door as fast as I could, shouting something about helping Elena to my dad. In my car, I backed out smoothly and waited until I got to the edge of the neighborhood before I started speeding. I'd sent out my magic as soon as I left the house. He wasn't anywhere in my neighborhood, which was a good thing.

He wasn't anywhere surrounding it either, which wasn't.

I reached for my phone and remembered what happened to it. Stefan was paying me back, I didn't care. Somehow I knew this was his fault. I'd confirm it later after I found Damon and managed to get him back to the boarding house. How I was going to do that was a mystery to me, but I was hoping a plan would come to mind before it was too late.

I needed to go south.

Everything south of Mystic Falls is woods and open road. Once the city faded away there was nothing until you hit the highway. The fact that Damon was heading there was sending of warning bells in my head. I was being led away from town, and the only people who could help me, into a place of practically isolation. This wasn't going to be good by any means.

By the time Damon stopped moving, there was nothing but darkness. I parked on the side of the road and got out of my car, closing my eyes when the door shut. I channeled my magic into my eyes, seeking vision in the dark, and when I opened them and blinked a few times, I could see clearly. I readied my magic at my fingertips, taking a deep breath. I had to go into these woods and find Damon.

I really didn't want to.

But if I didn't, Damon would kill more people. I couldn't take that chance. While I'd been thinking about it over and over again since it'd happened, I was starting to really consider that bringing Damon back from the dead was probably something I didn't need to do. Emily be damned. If they had some sort of agreement, the shit was null and void when he died. That's what death was, a nullification of life. The fact that it was now my responsibility to keep track of him was finding new and varied ways to piss me off.

As I walked I thought back to Emily and her latest reappearance into my life. I'd gone from barely hearing her name to seeing her twice in two days. What was it about Damon that made her come back and, more importantly, why was it so important that he be brought back? I understood the concept of a promise, and I even knew the depth of an oath, but what I couldn't understand was why it was so necessary. If the same thing had happened to Stefan, would she have been so quick to make me bring him back?

Was Stefan my responsibility too? I didn't think I could take that.

The trees swayed out of my way as I walked. I could feel Damon's presence here, but it was subtle. It was like knowing your keys were in your purse, but not finding them immediately. I looked around me as best I could, without making too much noise. Even though I could see, he still had the advantage here. Damon was a vampire, a predator. All of his senses were heightened. I could step on a twig and he'd know where I was. I could exhale and he'd be in front of me. I tried not to think of the worst case scenarios. You know; the ones where he kills me.

The leaves rustled and I jumped.

A branch snapped and was falling towards my head.

I ran out of the way just in time and cringed when I heard the heavy thump of the branch hitting the ground. It was the big kind that'd have knocked me out or killed me if it hit me right. I shook my head and clenched my fists. I'd had enough.

"Get the hell out here, Damon!" I shouted into the woods. "I don't have time for this!"

"There is that word again!" he shouted back. "Time! What does time mean to a vampire?"

I spun around, trying to figure out where he was. His voice was coming from everywhere, bouncing off the trees and echoing in the darkness. All I could see were the trees and the leaves, how the reached towards the sky and made me feel even smaller. There was a rogue, amnesiac, vampire semi stalking me in the woods. What the hell had my life turned into?

"Did you know my father hated vampires?" Damon asked from somewhere in the woods. "Hated them so much, he killed his own sons for loving one."

My eyes darted around.

"Abominations is what he called them. The devil himself taking form of the ones closest to you. I wonder how he felt when it was Stefan who killed him."

Everything went still and I couldn't hear anything. The night had gone silent around me, not even so much as a cricket chirped. I was straining to hear something, anything, that would let me know where he was. I didn't hear anything. All I could see were the trees.

"Do you think I'm the devil, Bonnie?" He asked from behind me.

I turned and he was there, eyes blacker than ever.

His hand shot out and suddenly I was flying backwards. I hit the ground hard and rolled on my side, trying to catch my breath. I saw him walking towards me and I sat up quick, focusing my magic. If Damon wanted a fight, I'd give him one. Out here I didn't have to worry about my father. Out here I could raise as much hell as I wanted.

I flung out my hand, Damon went flying.

When I got to my feet, I rushed towards him. He had landed hard on the ground himself, but recovered quickly and was crouched on the ground. He lunged at me again and I upward swiping motion, causing him to bump into a wall before I brought my hand back down and sent him to the ground. Damon's leg kicked out and swept my feet from under me. I found myself amazed. He couldn't remember what he did three days ago, but he could somehow remember how to kick my ass.

Focus, Bonnie.

Damon tried to get on top of me, but I kicked out hard. When my foot caught him in the gut, he hunched over and when I sat up properly, I hurled him backwards with my mind. We both got to our feet slowly, looking each other over and breathing heavily. I was waiting for him to make a move towards me. it was all I needed and it was over. The decision I made was final. I'd brought him back. If I had to, I'd kill him again.

Damon took off running.

He was running at human speed, which meant I could still keep track of him, but his legs were still longer than mine. I screamed after him to stop, but he only ran faster. I pushed my legs harder, using all I'd learned from cheer camp. Wind picked up in my ears and I shouted a spell to slow him down. He tripped, but kept running. This time, he actually did use his vampire speed.

Emily stepped out of the woods as I ran. You cannot kill him.

I didn't break my stride. "If I have to, I will!"

She appeared, stepping out ahead of me again. You mustn't. He is not in his right mind.

I stopped running and stormed up to her. "Any vampire that threatens to kill for no reason is in his right mind. He's not protecting anyone, he isn't helping. He killed three people today and wants to kill more. I'm not letting that ha-"

I was knocked to the ground.

Damon was on top of me, pinning me down. "Who are you talking to?"

My eyes darted over to Emily. She shook her head.

"Get off me!" I hissed through gritted teeth.

"No." he said, cocking his head. "This is what vampires do, right?"

I struggled, but it didn't help.

His fangs lowered as he came towards my neck. "I have had three humans today. I never thought about a witch."

I grabbed fistfuls of dirt in my hands. "Per ego vos de terra mea. Malum mihi pateretur."

Damon's hands flew to his head as he screamed in pain. He shoved himself away from me, scooting backwards and trying to put distance between us. The spell flowed smoothly from my lips, my Latin flawless. I sat up and squeezed the dirt in my hands as I got to my feet, walking towards him as he scooted away. The more I chanted, the more intense his pain became. I focused my magic into the dirt, drawing on my earth magic.

A wind picked up as I focused, bonding with the earth around me. spells like this came naturally to me, speaking in one of the oldest of languages and opening my aura to the magic nature held. I beseeched it to do my bidding, to keep the vampire away from me and it responded. Spirit magic had nothing on this. I never needed them again.

One spirit in particular didn't understand that. Emily was screaming at me.

Do not kill him, Bonnie!

The request fell on deaf ears. I was tired of playing around. Twice tonight Damon had made attempts on my neck. He'd threatened me and threatened the lives of others. His memory loss was one thing; his endangering my life was something else entirely. If he wanted to be a vampire, I'd treat him like one.

That's when I heard it.

Damon was screaming something. Blood streamed from his nose and ears, and his fangs had retracted. He was rolling around on his back with my spell, ripping and clawing at his head. He kept screaming something I could barely make out, the wind was too loud. When I pulled my magic away from the dirt in my hands and the wind calmed down, I could hear him clearly.

"Kill me!" he screamed.

I stopped chanting. Everything stopped immediately.

Damon rolled over and looked at me. "No! NO! Keep doing it!"

I dropped the dirt in my hands and gasped.

He sped towards me, going to my knees and pressing my hand against his head. "Do it again, Bonnie."

I tried to snatch my hand away, his grip was iron. "Damon let go of me."

"Kill me, Bonnie, please."

It had lost its appeal. "No, Damon let me go!"

"Do it!" he screamed at me. "Do it now!"

"I said no!" I shouted, my magic slipping from my control.

Damon fell away from me and gave me just enough time to back away. Emily backed into the trees and vanished altogether, leaving us alone out here. Damon was rocking back and forth on the ground, his knees drawn up and his hands raking through his hair.

Something clicked.

He'd killed three men today, leading Stefan away from town just enough so that he could double back in time to run back here and get to me. Stefan wasn't going to kill him, no one else would. He'd gotten into my house. He'd threatened me. He'd lured me out here and attacked me. Damon wasn't trying to keep up chaos, that would've been too easy.

Damon wanted to die. He was giving me reasons to kill him.

"Why won't you do it?" he asked me.

I shook my head and took a deep breath, trying to get myself together.

"I did everything." He said. "I killed three people. I made attempts on your life. What did I not do?"

"I'm not killing you." I said, meaning it.

"Why not?!" he screamed at me. "I'm a vampire, I'm evil!"

"Damon, I need to get you home." I said firmly.

He was in front of me, hand around my throat. "I could crush your windpipe."

I shook my head as best I could. "But you won't."

"Is that a wager?" he asked.

"Can't wage what you've already won." I replied. "I'm not killing you. That's the end of it."

Damon studied my face and his eyes hardened as he stepped away from me. "Then you're just as useless as everyone else."

He was gone.

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding and tucked my hair behind my ears. The magic in my eyes faltered with my emotions and I knew it was time for me to get out of the woods. There was no more locating Damon, not tonight. Right now, I needed to get as far away from him and the situation as possible. Even though I wanted to go home, I knew the boarding house was my best bet. If Damon wanted to die, he'd find a way to. If Stefan didn't want that to happen, he could look for him.

Emily and I were going to have a chat.

The drive to the boarding house took longer than usual, probably because it was the complete opposite of where I'd been. It gave me time to zone out and clean up my appearance before I got in front of my friends. When I pulled into the circular driveway, I saw that Caroline and Elena's cars were already outside. I didn't bother knocking on the door or looking around. Everyone was in the living room where they all were.

They all ran up to me at once.

I held up my hand. "Don't."

"Are you okay?" Elena asked. "Stefan said he was on the phone with you and then it just went dead. I went by your house to-"

"Please tell me you didn't." I cut her off.

She looked at me. "We all tried calling you."

Fuck me running. "I told him I was with you."

Elena looked guilty. "That would explain his face…"

"Was it Damon?" Stefan asked. "Did he-"

"Hey, Hey!" Alaric said loudly. "Everyone back where you were. Let her breathe."

They all looked at Alaric, but slowly moved back into the living room. I walked inside and sat down in the closest chair I could get to. I told them all what happened, especially telling Stefan what happened to my phone, and how everything ended. I left out Emily's hand in everything.

I would handle that part myself.

"He asked you to kill him?" Stefan said after a long moment of silence.

"He thinks he's evil." I said. "He doesn't want to live like that."

"If he only knew." Caroline said, rolling her eyes.

Everyone looked at her.

"I don't pretend well, sue me." she said in a deadpan voice.

Stefan looked down. "He never did."

I sighed. "I don't know where he is now and I'm too tired to do anymore spells. I need to get home, my dad is probably worried."

"I'm sorry about that, Bonnie." Elena said. "We just couldn't find you."

I wasn't going to ask her to use common sense. She'd never done it in the past.

"It's fine." I said. "I just need to make sure Damon didn't double back or something.."

Alaric spoke up. "Stefan and I'll find Damon. Go home and get some rest."

I nodded. "Let me know what you find."

When I left, I let my mind wander. I had never seen Damon look like that, ever. He was sad and…and pitiful. What bothered me the most was how I handled the situation. I'd gone through so much to bring him back that to try to kill him seemed…wasteful. I'd completely ignored everything and almost gone in for the kill. Damon wanted me to see him as a vampire, and that's what I saw him as.

So much for objectivity.

My dad opened the door as I walked up the steps. "Alaric Saltzman called. He said you broke your phone helping him move old history textbooks from his classroom."

I didn't miss a beat. "I didn't know Elena would come over. I'm sorry."

He looked at me. "If your teenage daughter's best friend couldn't find her and her history teacher called you with an alibi, would you believe it?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I'd trust my daughter."

"I bet." He said.

Thankfully, he let me go to my room.

When I closed the door, my lamp turned on. Jeremy was on my bed.

I looked around. "You cleaned."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "Your room looked like shit."

"Not my fault."

He held his arms out to me, I dived in. "So I heard. Elena ran out of the house when Stefan called her. You wanna tell me what happened?"

"Not really." I said.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked.

"Eventually."

"Get naked and hold you while you sleep?"

"There's a reason you're my favorite."

And even with Jeremy holding me, and eventually doing other things I needed to put a silencing spell on my room for, I still couldn't stop thinking about Damon. The look in his eyes when he asked me to kill him. The desperation in his voice. He was…it was the most human I'd ever seen him be. It was the most vulnerable I'd ever seen him be.

That alone was enough to freak me out.

The next morning Jeremy was gone, but he'd left me a small piece of paper with a heart and a pentagram on it.

I showered and got dressed for school, opting for my ripped jeans and combat boots, before I remembered something I needed to do. I looked at my alarm clock. I had an hour and a half before school started and I wanted answers. I closed my eyes and pulled at the spirit world.

Emily was standing by my door. Yes?

I shook my head. "No one's here, you can talk."

"I believe you are just tired of hearing me inside your mind."

She had a point. "I need answers."

"I promised them to you, did I not?"

"You said you made a promise to Damon, what was that?"

"That so long as he protected my line, I would protect his."

"So you're saying…what? Damon's the reason we're still alive?"

"More or less." She said calmly. "After the death of Giuseppe Salvatore and the chaos that ensued, Damon Salvatore was the one who made sure we got to various parts of the country. He is the reason that your mother and grandmother were able to live the lives they lived."

"He's the reason they're dead, too." I replied.

"I do not need reminding."

"What about Lucy?" I asked. "He didn't even know about her. No one did."

"Shelia knew of the lineage, but burned the pages of the line so that no vampire could find its surviving members. Damon, over time, did the same thing."

I was shocked.

"He has protected the family as best he could, although there have been mishaps. Ones he has paid for dearly."

"He hasn't paid for Grams."

"Hasn't he?" Emily asked. "A state of emotional unrest and a mockery of an existence isn't punishment enough?"

"I've seen moments, but other than that I wouldn't agree."

"Coping is not the same as living." Emily said. "Remember that."

I asked the question I'd been dreading. "I'm responsible for Damon and Stefan?"

"You're responsible for yourself." She said. "Protecting the line, for them, has come to an end. Damon killed their last living relative. There is no more line for you to protect."

"Then what am I doing?"

"The Salvatores are allies." She said. "Regardless of Damon's actions and Stefan's poor choices, a blood oath is a blood oath. My children have lived to see lifetimes and right now, I am looking at Damon's end of the bargain."

I looked away.

"You will help Damon Salvatore in his time of need and you will keep them alive to the best of your ability. That is all any witch can do. That is all I am asking for."

"Have you met them?" I asked her. "That's not an easy task."

"But I know you." She said. "And I know your heart. You can do this, Bonnie. You are powerful."

"Why me?" I asked. "Why not Lucy or my other relatives?"

"You are the last real Bennett most powerful."

"The last one?" I asked. "You just said-"

"Our line is matriarchal." She said. "There will never be a male witch in our line. Lucy's father is of our blood. Lucy's mother is of the craft."

Logical.

"You're the last of us." She said. "And you are quite gifted."

It meant a lot coming from her. My questions dimmed any pride I could have felt, though.

"Damon got into my house." I said. "I never gave him an invitation."

"Bringing an immortal back from the dead has complications." She said. "When a human becomes a vampire, certain things are stripped from its being. Because the dead are not alive, they cannot plant the roots that a home requires. Therefore they cannot enter them."

"Makes sense." I said.

"A vampire that comes back as a vampire is tethered to the magic that brought him back. The crystal is still active with your magic and it is also an earthly bound thing. So long as it remains, Damon is not limited to the rule of invitation. He is of the earth."

"Does that mean sunlight doesn't work either?"

"Sunlight still extinguishes the dark." Emily said. "Damon is a vampire, the sun can kill him."

I nodded. "Do you know where he is?"

Emily looked away. "No, I do not."

"I thought the spirit world could see everything."

"I am…nature is not pleased with what I've had you do."

I stood up. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and smiled. "I am fine. Just do the best you can, we will worry about me another day."

I didn't like the sound of that, but she was gone before I could say anything.

When I got to school, Elena and Caroline were waiting for me. I would never say it to them, but I kind of liked it when it was just me and Matt in the mornings. Elena's like diving head first into vampire drama. Caroline was her own…she was Caroline. Both of them were kind of strong for eight o clock in the morning, but I loved them, so I dealed.

"Any news?" I asked.

"Alaric said they couldn't find any traces of him." Elena said. "It rained a little last night. The scent was gone."

"Luckily for us, the resident sociopath decided to kill a five more people along the state line." Caroline said.

"Do you have to be so insensitive?" Elena asked. "He's not the Damon you're used to."

"He'll always be the Damon I'm used to." Caroline shrugged. "A prolonged memory lapse isn't changing that. He attacked Bonnie and you're looking for sympathy. Maybe you could stand a little more insensitivity."

Elena opened her mouth, I killed the argument.

"Look," I said. "The point is that we don't know where he is. Tell Alaric I'll do a locator spell after school if he wants."

Elena nodded. "Thanks Bonnie, I know Stefan will appreciate that."

"I'm starting to wonder if he's the only one." Caroline said.

Elena glared. "I'm going to class."

When Elena walked off, Caroline rolled her eyes. "She acts like we don't have the same class. I sit right beside her."

I agreed. "Call me crazy, but you don't seem too upset that Damon's out there."

Caroline shook her head. "My boyfriend worships thy enemy, one of my best friends was attacked last night, and Miss Mystic Falls is rapidly approaching. The Damon thing will work itself out, it always does. Besides, what nobody seems to realize is that Damon doesn't know anything. Sooner or later he's bound to come back because Stefan has answers. All the rest of us are doing is looking for a vampire who doesn't want to be found. I can't stop living life because Damon's gone off the deep end."

"I know, right." I said. "Who has forever to kill?"

"Watch it, bitch." We smiled at each other. "I'm just saying, they do this every month. They alternate really. Damon does something crazy. Stefan hates himself in some form of fashion. Blah, blah, snore. Elena acts like it's something new every time. It's like wake up, your life's dramatic. Your boyfriend and his brother are vampires. What the hell did she think it was going to be?"

"Now Caroline," I said. "You know the truth only counts after ten o clock."

She shrugged. "I didn't get the memo."

Elena can never stay mad at Caroline for long, especially when Caroline just talked to her like she regularly does. While I agreed with everything Caroline said on more than one level, I hated to say that I also knew where Elena was coming from. She didn't see what I did, none of them had. It was a glimpse into who Damon really was. Something that he barely showed even now. The only person to really ever get anything out of him was Elena.

I wondered what that was like.

Damon, for what I understood about him, was the bad boy to Stefan's good. That was a very surface analysis of their characters, especially given Stefan's ripper phases and the fact that he'd forced his brother into vampirism, but it was still true. Stefan had emotional walls while Damon had the whole nine. Getting through the asshole exterior was one thing. Getting to know it in congruence with the good that was really in him was something different altogether.

It made me wonder who he really was.

Without his memories he'd still done a very Damon, as I knew him, thing. He'd gone to the most extreme option possible to get the attention he wanted, only for there to be some kind of psychological issue going on. Before he died, I could say it was petty Elena feelings that he didn't bother hiding. Post resurrection, it bordered on being the same self loathing Stefan had.

If not worst.

God, I hope not worst.

By the time lunch rolled around, Elena and Caroline were cool again and Matt was eating two sloppy joes. When Elena asked him what he thought about Damon going missing, Matt paused mid bite and shrugged.

"Is it Damon's month already?" he asked.

"You're not helping." Elena shook her head.

"Why did we break up again?" Caroline asked, genuinely confused.

"Because he found something better." Tyler sat down and kissed Matt on the cheek.

"He's just so fucking sexy." Matt said in a guilty voice. "He even growls sometimes."

"Really?" Caroline asked. "I've only heard him whimper."

"And see this," I pointed at the three of them. "Is why I don't eat with you guys."

"That and you hate Sloppy Joes."

"They're all over the place." I said.

"Like Jeremy isn't?" Caroline winked.

"Keep it cute, Blondie." I said.

Damon was staring in the window on the other side of the cafeteria. What made me notice him, I don't know.

I got up. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Is that slang for doing Jeremy in the locker room?"

"He's still my brother." Elena said. "And they aren't even dating."

"Exactly." I said walking off.

I went in the direction of the bathroom and then jogged towards the double doors at the end of the hall. Once outside, I looked around and saw Damon turn a corner by the gym. I followed him around behind the school towards the bleachers. When I got there, he was sitting at the top.

"A church used to be here." He said.

I remembered hearing something like that awhile back, but I never cared enough to look into it.

I stood two bleachers down. "Where have you been?"

He noted my distance. "I haven't come to harm you."

"You can understand the precaution."

He nodded.

I asked him again. "Where have you been?"

He shrugged. "Here and there."

I nodded. "Did you kill anyone?"

"Would you kill me if I said yes?"

"No."

"Then answering that question is pointless isn't it?"

"Useless and pointless." I said dryly. "Way to make a girl feel special."

He looked shocked for a second and apologized. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You didn't."

"You just said-"

"It's an expression, Damon."

"I know that." He said. "I still know lots of things."

"How so?"

"I mean, I have an idea of things. I know this is a football field, though I can't remember having ever been to a game."

"So it's kind of touch and go?" I asked.

"More go than touch, but yes."

"Do you remember anything after 1864?" I asked.

"No." he said. "It's like after drinking the blood that completed the transition, everything is white. I know words and phrases, though I don't feel the need to use them. My hunger is outrageous."

"So that's why you killed those people on the border."

"You asked a question you already knew."

"You avoided it all the same."

He shrugged. "Tell me something. You know this will get worse before it gets better. Why won't you do it?"

"If I kill you, it'll be the Damon I know." I said. "Killing you now just seems wrong. You haven't done anything the usual you wouldn't do…"

The look on his face made me regret saying it.

"Is that who I am?" he asked me, clear blue eyes focusing on mine. "I just kill people?"

"You've gotten better." I said. "Now you only kill people who get in your way."

"That's not better." He said.

Emily told me I had to help him to the best of my ability. The fact that her words just rang through my head told me this was one of those moments. I could shrug and walk away, or I could do what I said I would and try.

"Damon," I said. "I can sit here and tell you all the bad things about yourself, but I'm a little biased. You have to talk to the people who know you and who have seen the good."

"Like Stefan?" he shook his head.

"I was thinking Alaric." I said. "Maybe Elena?"

"No." he said quickly. "Not her."

"Is it because she looks like Katherine?" I asked.

"Any girl who chases death as much as she does can't give me the answers I'm looking for. From what I gather, me and you didn't get along and you can barely give me one."

He had a point.

"This Alaric," Damon said. "Are we friends?"

"To my understanding."

"Have I done anything to him?"

"You might want to get off that kick now." I warned. "You've done something to everyone."

Damon looked away.

"You're a part of the living, Damon." I said. "None of us are particularly nice to each other. You don't know half the things you've done. Are you really going to be upset about it?"

"That's just it. I'm not upset about it at all." He said. "I go from wanting to know things to not caring if I ever do. Killing those people last night was fun. I'd love to do it again. I probably will."

"That's not comforting."

He gave a slight tilt to his head. "It's the truth. I won't apologize for killing, I can only hope for death."

It was…weird.

He stood up. I braced myself. "Thank you, for the honesty I mean."

"No problem." I said.

He started to walk away. I stopped him. "You should really go back to the boarding house."

Damon turned. "And why is that?"

"It's your home too." I said, trying to do my best. "You have as much right to it as anyone else. There's enough space for you to have your privacy and-"

"Be close enough so that everyone can keep watch over me."

That too.

Damon walked back to me. "You know what I like about you?"

"What?"

"You're so honest." He said. "And not the obnoxious kind like the blonde one you were with this morning, but the rare kind that's both blunt and innocent at the same time."

I blinked. "Thank you, I guess."

"You're welcome." He continued. "So I have terms for you."

"Terms?" I asked.

"Yes. You want me back at the boarding house. Everyone does, if I'm not mistaken."

"You aren't."

"And I bet my brother wants you to do something regarding why I can't remember anything."

He was good. "Go on."

"I'll do those things, and even cooperate to the best of my ability, if you do something for me."

"I'm not killing you." I shook my head. "The answer's no."

"It is now," he said. "I wonder what it'll be when you're with me."

"What?"

"I want you to be with me every time I kill." Damon smirked. "Just you and me."

A/N: Lol, hi.

First things first. If you aren't following me on tumblr, it's RoseGoldExiletumblrcom (insert dots accordingly) I've gotten a few followers and I do follow back, and I think it's a great way for all of us to communicate with each other. I can answer questions, join in on Bamon discussions, you name it, I'm there for it.

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So how did you guys like the Chapter? I'll be honest, I was iffy about it until the end. You guys know, if you're reading Effervescent, that I like to do the thing least expected or most expected but in a new way, so I thought this would be a completely different experience for Bonnie. She does want Damon closer to Mystic falls because of course it makes things easier, but also so that she can help him like Emily wants her to.

I'll be letting you guys know the titles of this next chapter AND chapter 37 of Effervescent on tumblr. You guys literally have no idea how much I love it. I type in something and it's there, and it's pretty. Especially Kellan Lutz. I'm ashamed of how much I like him.

He's just so gorgeous.

If you haven't already guessed, Caroline and Matt are my two other faves. For some reason, I don't feel like there was enough "ex" tension between them and I don't know, I just think that since they had that and they are friends, they should interact more with each other.

I think I'll put quotes from upcoming chapters on tumblr as well.

Also, I'm considering a name change. Possibly.

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