Written In Blood

Chapter Twenty Nine.

The Year: 1972
Location: New York City, NY 

Rayna roamed the Big Apple, having only just landed from some time in Norway to see how her hometown had changed over the centuries.
She'd decided to stop at the nearest bar for a drink.
"A pretty girl like you shouldn't be drinking alone." A voice sounded as she sat at the bar, sipping her Bourbon.
Rayna recognised the voice instantly.
"Damon." She sighed, looking round.
There he was; his smile as bright as the sun.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Just visiting. I've heard the scenery is the best in the States." He chuckled. "May I?"
He gestured to the stool to her right.
"If you must." Rayna sighed.
Damon sat and beckoned the bar tender over, ordering himself a Bourbon.
"So how have you been?" He asked.
Rayna let out a breathy, humourless chuckle.
"You must be joking. Over a century since we last saw each other and you choose to make small talk." Damon furrowed his eyebrows.
"What else should I do?"
"I don't know. Maybe an 'I'm sorry I chose not to care about you in my moments of weakness as I wanted to kill myself, not giving a crap about what you may think or how you felt'?" Rayna scoffed, finishing her drink.
"Well I could do that. But Since I don't currently care about apologies or what you thought or felt all those years ago, I don't think it'd be the appropriate time." Damon shrugged.
Rayna looked into Damon's eyes, trying to scope out any sense of emotion.
"You've switched your humanity off." She confirmed to herself.
"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner." He smirked, also finishing his drink before reaching over the bar for the bottle.
Rayna sighed, already impatient with the Vampire next to her.
"What possessed you to do that?" She asked.
"Oh you know. Family drama mostly." He shrugged. "But I'm not here to talk about why I flipped my switch. I wanna talk about you." He smiled, filling up her glass.
"And why would you want to do that?" Rayna sighed, making her disinterest as clear as possible.
"Why not?" Damon shrugged yet again.
"Because you don't care about anything. I'm not understanding the sudden interest in my recent and not so recent history."
"Because I'm bored and I have time to pass." He replied.
"Exactly why I'm not telling you anything." Rayna nodded, gulping down her Bourbon in one before going to get up and leave.
Just as she did, Damon grabbed her arm.
"Stop." He said.
Just as she turned around to face him again, he leaned in quickly and kissed her.
In shock, Rayna pulled away and slapped him hard, around the face, grabbing the attention of most – if not all – in the bar.
"Talk to me when you've flipped your switch again." She spat, sharply releasing her arm from Damon's grip. 

A few days later, Rayna was walking down the streets of Long Island, feeling herself being followed.
As soon as the opportunity rose, she dodged into an alley.
"Not as stealthy as you may think." She scowled, not facing her follower.
Damon waved his hand in the air, pretending to write something.
"Must try harder. Thanks teach." He smirked.
"Why are you stalking me, Damon?" Rayna asked, turning around to face him.
"I told you, I'm bored. It's either that or I go rip a few people's throats out." He tilted his head.
"Do that and I'll rip your throat out." She spat.
Damon chuckled. "You wouldn't."
Rayna raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't I?"
Damon shook his head. "Of course you wouldn't. You love me."
Rayna's blood began to boil. How dare he use her emotions against her.
She Vamp sped towards him, gripping him by the throat, lifting him off the floor.
"Looks like I've hit a nerve." He choked out, his smirk not faltering.
"Don't you dare pretend to know how I feel. A century is a long time to get over someone." Rayna snapped, lying even to herself. "But I'm guessing you wouldn't know about that considering the real reason you switched off your humanity was because of Katherine."
It was clear that she'd hit a nerve right back with Damon as his smirk faded rather rapidly.
"Thought so." She confirmed to herself, putting the Vampire down. "Have a nice life, Damon."
With that, she walked away, carrying on down the street. 

It wasn't until late 1977 that she saw him again in a bar named Billy's.
"Fancy seeing you here." Damon smiled as he sat at the bar, previously making conversation with the bartender.
Rayna sighed. "Hello Damon..."
"Drink?" He asked, waving his half empty glass to her.
Rayna just nodded, taking a seat next to him.
"Still emotionless?" She asked.
"Yep." He replied, popping the 'p'.
Rayna couldn't ignore the sly smirk on his face.
"What have you done..."
"Oh, nothing. Though Stefan's Vampy friend on the roof – who happens to be lacking a Daylight Ring, I might add - would beg to differ." He replied.
Rayna's eyes widened and she instantly got up and ran to the roof.
The door at the top of the stairs had been chained shut.
She hovered her hand over it, recited a spell in her mind and watched as the metal melted onto the floor before opening the door.
On the other side was a woman with long blonde hair looking a strong mixture of scared and pissed off.
"Hi, I'm Rayna. Here to save your ass from Damon's idiocy." The Heretic smiled.
The girl looked an almighty amount of relieved.
"Thank you... I'm Lexi." The girl replied.
"Nice to meet you, Lexi. Let's get you a drink."