Holding on (Vampire Diaries~Enzo)

Chapter 20: Surprises

~ Surprises ~

27 September 1950 ~ Enzo

 

Let’s just say that the moment Whitmore was out of the room I started insulting him in every way I could think of – I really couldn’t give a damn whether he was still in hearing range or not. It may have been a good thing Ruby calmed me down by grabbing my arm and yanking me towards her. That girl can be quite strong when she wants to be.

She slapped my chest, not playfully, but hard.

‘Ouch.’ I grunt, slapping her hand away with the back of mine.

‘That’s for not thinking straight.’ She says with a stern expression, but then she hooks her finger around collar of my shirt and pulls me in for a quick peck. ‘That’s for defending me.’

I smirk at first but then I get down to business.

‘How can you be joking right now? He basically told you he is going back to torturing you.’

‘Well, we knew that was coming. I just have to accept it.’ She glances at Damon. ‘For all our sakes.’ She adds.

‘Speaking of Damon. What the hell should we do with him?’ Okay, that sounded harsher then it was meant to be, but when I look at Ruby she seems to get it.

‘I hope we can trust Mathew to help us out on that one. Maybe I can persuade him to give Damon more blood until it fades away…’ she trails at the end and then shakes her head.

We both know what she should be really saying.

If it fades away.

I wish I could tell her not to worry that it will all be okay, but I can’t. All I would do is lie and they would all be empty words; she would know the truth.

‘You can say it. I know what you think. I know that it might be inevitable that we lose him.’ Ruby says as she crosses her arms as if she is cold. I sense that it has nothing to do with the chill that is always around this basement, but due the fact that she is desperately trying to keep herself together.

‘Yes, we may lose him.’ I start; knowing lying to make her feel better would actually make it worse. ‘Maybe we will, maybe not.’ Ruby shoots me a glare. 

‘Not helping.’

‘I’m not trying to. I’d just be lying to you by saying we most definitely won’t lose him. Though I know that is not what you want me to say.’ Somewhere half way through the second sentence a weird edge crept into my voice. It sounded strained – and very much unlike my normal voice – something like regret and hurt made it come out totally wrong.

Of course, the change didn’t go unnoticed.

Ruby sighs and reaches out for me. Her fingers lightly brush my jaw line.

‘It’s fine. This is all just part of life as it is now.’

‘It shouldn’t be.’ I respond as if I’m talking on autopilot, but I know how meaningless these words are.

Before I can talk more nonsense to the woman I love, Damon finds the perfect timing to make a sound. It is really faint, just a small change in his breathing, but for vampires who have been focusing on his every change – or more like the no change – it is enough to draw us attention immediately. Damon’s breathing is now a little bit faster and then he grunts softly.

I step towards him and crouch down to inspect him. Whitmore must have carefully calculated the amount of Vervain he’d used to make sure Damon would be out until after he’d done his little test. How long has past since the doctor left? Five minutes? Ten at most.