Underhand Attacks

Chapter 5

Possible trigger warning: implied self-harm

It was fully into winter now, and Damon sat by the roaring fire with is customary glass of bourbon. Sipping thoughtfully, he stared into the flames. He prided himself on being carefree, hard to rattle. But he had to admit, the rate at which these 'incidents', as he'd come to call them, were occurring to you, he was unnerved. Thinking back over the last 4 months since September, you'd needed rescuing three times, and had been verbally threatened at least once, that he knew of. Elena had certainly seemed to promise your downfall when he'd heard her snapping at you outside the mansion. He shook his head, chiding himself for even thinking of it. Surely Elena would not, could not be capable of causing you harm. She was once so sweet and gentle. But then again, that was before she'd had to share him and Stefan. He stood up, stretching his legs, as if that would shake away the niggling doubt in his mind that a girl he'd once loved could hurt the girl he now loved more than anything in the world.

You were sitting at home, enjoying the warmth after a long walk in the snow. You'd needed some fresh air after sorting out your home so that your friends could come over that evening. With your parents away for the weekend, they'd agreed you could have a small gathering to keep you company. You didn't have much planned – just some films and food.

The afternoon passed and it got dark early. Matt and Tyler arrived, clutching boxes of pizza. You let them in quickly as you noticed the snow falling even heavier than earlier. Bonnie and Caroline arrived next and joined the boys in your living room. Finally, Stefan and Damon knocked on the door and were welcomed in too. The evening progressed and you were all in enjoying a funny film and the pizza that Matt and Tyler had brought. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and you got up to answer. You weren't expecting anyone and wondered if it was someone needing help in the snow. Opening the door, you were greeted by Elena. She smiled at you and said, 'hi', breezily, as if there wasn't any animosity between you. You took a step back to welcome her in. You didn't want to give her any reason to hurt you, and she walked through the open door. Before she followed you into the living room to join the others, she grabbed your hand and pulled you back towards her. Fearing the worst, you flinched. 'I'm sorry' she said, taking you by surprise. 'I haven't been a good friend and I'm sorry.' You smiled generously, believing her with the sincerity of her words. Leading her through to the living room, she took a seat amongst the others and the evening continued.

It was getting late now, and you needed more snacks. Getting up you announced that you were going to prepare some food in the kitchen for everyone. Matt got up to help but Elena stopped him. 'Don't worry,' she said. 'I'll help Y/N'. You smiled at her and you both made your way to the kitchen. You got some carrots and cucumber out of the fridge and started cutting them to use in dips. You had your back to Elena, whilst she chatted away, preparing the dips. You suddenly felt a body stand behind you, taking the knife you were holding in your hands. The knife was turned and in an instance, was embedded into your stomach, your own hands still clutching the handle. You stared down in shock, and was only brought back to the present by someone screaming. It was Elena, who was stood by the sink, washing her hands. 'Oh my God, Y/N!' she screamed before running over to you. The rest of the group arrived in the kitchen searching for the reason for the screaming. Your knees started to give and you felt yourself falling. It wasn't Elena who caught you but Damon, who'd sped over to you, and was now lowering your weight gently to the ground. 'What did you do, Y/N?' he whispered, as he saw your hands on the knife. You couldn't answer, the blinding pain in your stomach making it impossible for you to focus on any words. 'Don't pull it out' someone said and Damon looked up at them. 'Well what do you suggest we do? Take her to the hospital?' You shook your head weakly, managing a faint, 'no...' Damon looked back down at you, his eyebrows knitted together in worry. Resigned to the fact that you needed help now, he focused and starting giving orders. 'Stefan, go get me some towels. Caroline, some warm water and a cloth. Everyone else, get out.' They followed his commands immediately and Damon held your face gently in his hands. 'I swear to God, Y/N, if you die because you refused to go to a hospital, I'll kill you myself.' You smiled weakly and closed your eyes. 'Oh no you don't!' he tapped your face lightly. 'You don't get to zone out while we are doing all the hard work. Stay awake.' You open your eyes groggily. The blood loss was getting to you and you could feel it on the floor around you. Stefan arrived back with the towels just as Caroline got back with water and a cloth. Damon looked up at Stefan and saw him forcing himself to look away from you. 'Get him out of here, Caroline.' He muttered under his breath. Caroline looked at the blood seeping out from your body to Stefan, whose eyes were starting to change colour. 'Now!' barked Damon. She grabbed Stefan and sped out of the room with him. 'Right then sweetheart. You ready?' he asked you gently. You nodded, biting your lip and waiting for even more pain to come. He held the knife handle and easily pulled it from your stomach. He immediately pressed down on the stab wound with one of the towels, trying to stop the bleeding. Looking at your face, he saw your eyes closed and sighed, knowing that you had probably fainted dead away the moment he'd pulled the knife out. Keeping the pressure on your stomach, he tore his wrist and held it to your lips, hoping that even unconscious, you'd be able to consume enough of his blood to start healing. His prayers were answered as some of his blood dripped into your mouth, he saw you inadvertently swallow it. The large wound under his hand was started to knit together. He could feel it. Letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, he removed his hand and surveyed the knife wound. It was already healing and so he moved to get the water and cloths, and started gently cleaning the blood away from your skin. He called to Bonnie to grab you a fresh t shirt and started work on the floor, waiting for you to wake up.

Bonnie handed Damon the clean shirt, noticing how he was cleaning gently around you, not wanting you to be scared by the sheer volume of blood you'd lost when you woke up. She left him to it to tell the others that you were okay. Sitting you up gently against him, he pulled your ruined t shirt over your head and put the new one on you. You started to stir and he leant you back against his chest, stroking you hair. 'That's it Y/N, open your eyes for me.' You did so and he kissed your face gently. 'What happened, Y/N? You didn't...' he swallowed, '... do this to yourself, did you?' You turned to face him, the movement making you dizzy. Leaning back on his shoulder you whispered, 'of course I didn't, Damon!' He sighed, momentarily relieved. 'Then what happened?' You told him that you had no idea. One minute you were chopping vegetables, the next minute you were on the floor with the knife in your stomach. Damon stared at you, confused.

At that moment, Elena ran into the kitchen. 'Is she okay? Y/N are you okay? Oh thank God you're awake!' you looked at her, still somewhat dazed.

'Did you see what happened Elena? Did she slip?' Damon asked her, desperate to find out what had happened to you. She shook her head. 'Damon, I don't know. One minute we were chatting, the next minute, I looked at her and she had a knife sticking out of her. I don't know if she slipped or...' she lowered her voice, looking away from me, '...or did it on purpose or something.' You looked at Damon, protesting as much as your weak body would allow. 'I didn't, Damon, I promise!'. He didn't say anything but gently pulled you both up to standing. 'Let's go and sit you down with the others. I need to go and check on Stefan.' Leading you to the sofa and gently placing you on it, you were surrounded by your friends, all wanting reassurance that you were alright, and Damon slipped out of the room, followed by Elena.

'Damon, wait,' she said, quietly enough that only he would hear. He shook her off, protesting that he needed to find Stefan. He didn't have to look hard as he rounded the corner of the house and saw him standing with Caroline, his face returned from its vampire state to one of anxiety. Noticing Damon, Stefan started forwards. 'Where is she? Is she okay?' Damon held up his hands.

'She's fine, brother. I healed her. Are you okay?' Stefan looked ashamedly at his feet.

'I'm fine, I'm just hate that I can't control myself like you can.' Damon placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, knowing that he couldn't say anything to really help. 'What happened? Did you see it, Elena?' Stefan asked. She nodded and Damon looked at her confused. 'I didn't want to say in there in front of Y/N' she admitted. 'but I'm pretty sure she didn't slip with the knife.' Damon studied her face, a mixture of hurt and anguish on his own as he decided she. was telling the truth. Pressing his fingers over the bridge of his nose, he took a shaky inbreath. 'You think she did this to herself? Why would she do that?' Elena looked away and said, 'she didn't look too pleased when I arrived at the party. I know she didn't invite me and doesn't much like me, but that if everyone else was here, then it'd be kind of diluted down, you know? I hate to say it, but maybe Y/N just can't stand it when she's not got 100% of your attention.' Damon suddenly looked angry confronted Elena.

'That's not Y/N, that's you!' Elena shrugged.

'I'm just telling you what I saw. What you do with the information is up to you.' Stefan, silent until this point absorbing everything said, 'Elena. Promise me that you're telling the truth.' She squared up to him and looked straight into his eyes.

'I promise.' She said. 'She didn't slip.'