Find Me

Chapter One

Persia Gray rested her head against the window of the car as the miles blew past, her face sullen. She looked out the window, not able to see anything in the darkness beyond but the black masses of trees. This cross-country move was going to be the worst thing that had ever happened to her. She was seven states from the only home she'd ever had and miserable. Leaving her home had been bad enough, but leaving everyone she'd ever known had been the worst of it. Her mother had just packed up their house one day and announced they were moving. Persia had only had twelve hours' notice that they were leaving. A silent tear ran down her face as her mom prattled on.

"Persia, you're just going to have to get over it. We're almost there and we're not going back. You'll just have to make new friends." Persia didn't answer, but wiped the tear from her eye as more fell. They pulled up into the driveway of a small white house at the end of a long row of other homes. Her mom turned the car off and sat there for a moment, not looking at her. Persia corrected her earlier thought; that was the worst of it. Her mother never looked at her.

"You'll live, Persia. It's a nice house and a nice town. Now go in the house and go to bed; you're going to school in the morning." She went up the stairs and found that her bedroom had already been set up for her. Sinking onto the bed, she kicked off her shoes and threw off her clothes, climbing into bed in just her underwear. She was asleep almost before her head had touched the pillow and she started to dream.

She was lost somewhere in the woods, running for her life when someone stepped into her path. Where this man had come from, she had no idea, but he was beautiful. Black hair, piercing blue eyes, chiseled face. He wore a black button up shirt over finely tailored black slacks. Mist hung around the floor of the woods, curling around his feet and giving the illusion that he'd created it. His arms hung at his sides and judging by the look on his face, he wasn't in a good mood.

"Why are you here," he asked her coldly. She could feel anger and danger pouring from him. Before Persia could answer him, her alarm blared and startled her from sleep.

Damon Salvatore stared into the flames in the fireplace, eyes glistening. He took a large swallow of whiskey and set the empty glass down on the mantle, missing it, and dropping the glass onto the floor. It shattered on impact, but he didn't notice. Damon staggered his way up to his room, throwing himself onto the bed.

It had been six months since Elena Gilbert had died and come back as a vampire, finally making her choice between Damon and Stefan; she'd chosen Stefan. A part of Damon had always known she would never pick him over his brother- he was no one's first choice- but he'd loved her in a way he'd never known he was capable of. Her words from that night had been haunting him and he'd been drunk almost every day since.

"I'm sorry, Damon," she'd said, her voice whispered. "I'm so sorry, but I love Stefan. I always have. I always will."

Damon had lost it. In that one instant, he'd gone from being a redeemed man to completely twisted and deranged. His scream of pain and desperation still rang in his own ears as he remembered how he'd thrown the arm chair in the living room out the window before fleeing threw the jagged glass panes. He'd stumbled upon a group of girls camping in the woods and had just lost it. He wasn't even thirsty, but he drained all three of them violently before running through the woods until he found himself standing in the ruins of his family home. He fell to his knees, screaming his anguish into the forest until he could no longer make a sound. He'd been an absolute terror since, scaring every person who knew him with his erratic behavior and indiscriminate killing.

Collapsing onto the bed, he fell into a drunken sleep almost immediately. Out of the fog, pictures began to form in his subconscious. He was standing in the forest amongst the ruins of his former home, just like he had that night so many months ago, when he saw a light through the trees. He moved towards it, cresting a hill, and that's when he saw her.