Damon X Reader

Incentive

Waking up to a perfectly written note and a glass of water was not how I was expecting to wake up. Neither was the reality of all this being real and not a nightmare being revealed. The letter was marked with an E at the end and was just a single demand, meet me in the garden and get dressed. With clothes already laid out and chosen I presume by Elijah.

As I was getting ready I heard no movement of Damon outside my door when I opened it he wasn't there, perhaps he was with Elijah. as I walked down the hallway, I glanced in the mirror I hardly recognised myself, there was a new found dimness in my appearance despite the clothes that were delicate against my skin there was a hollowness that even the blue dress could not hide. So hot showers can't wash away everything, flashes of my blood stained clothes, and hands that scrubbed my body raw. Staring at my hands unintentionally I was pushed back into reality by klaus standing behind me.
"Did you sleep well love?" I jumped slightly by his soft voice and grin that I didn't want aimed at me.
"What do you want?" I was defensive, my natural reaction to klaus was to be guarded and I was going to follow that instinct till my heart gives out.
"Walk with me." The note in my pocket was burning I had to meet Elijah, the one brother whom seems rational. I followed Klaus back down the hall where I had just traveled down, I was silent I didn't dare talk, but instead I observed each movement klaus made, just in case he decided that it was easier to just kill me than drain me. Walking down now stairs that were hidden by a locked door, I was surprised that this house was like a maze, as if specifically designed for a predator tricking its prey. The stairs eventually led to the basement that Damon and I were trapped in last night. Bile and sickness returned to my stomach as a natural reaction. What if he changed his mind and now we have to stay here? I hesitated and saw that I could just run to the other exit but klaus could easily catch me, I'd barely make a step in the other direction before my neck would be snapped.
"Come on y/n I haven't all day." He continued to stare at me with his hand on the doors bolt lock.
"We made a deal." I was scared I would rather die before I went back in there.
"A deal I'm keeping but I have one little bit of leverage that I think would be in your interest to know about." i hadn't seen Damon all morning perhaps... just the thought made me rush threw the door and past klaus, but it wasn't Damon not tied in a chair with blood drooling from his face, arms and chest it was Stefan.
"Stefan?" Tears were sprung to my eyes the moment I saw him, the stretch of blood in the room alone was enough to make me be sick all over again. I rushed forward to him shaking him to wake up, I know he is alive, he has to be he's a vampire. A vampire who needs blood to heal. Klaus was leaning against the wall behind him.
"Put up quite a fight last night, didn't you Stefan." Klaus was laughing at him, as blood pooled from his mouth, he was in so much pain. I have to get him out of here but what could I bargain when I've given everything already?
"This wasn't our deal." I stood towards klaus, my hands once again bloodstained because of me.
"I don't recall making any regard for a deal about Stefan life." He was grinning, was this his plan to break me until I'm completely shattered by destroying everything I have left in this world.
"You bastard!" how much pain do I have to endure till my heart gives out.
"You're a monster! I agreed to your terms-" I was histerical now, last pieces of me drifting away. Klaus approached me and forced me to put my back to Stefan. I would guard him with everything I had, he doesn't deserve this neither of them do. And here they are risking their lives for me. Anger flooded everything in me, walking towards me, I don't care if klaus is a vampire Stefan in my friend and this was not apart of the deal.
"shame you were so preoccupied with Damon you forgot about the other brother... but let's call this an extra bit of incentive love..."him pinching my chin was the last straw, I'm not going to be his toy to play with or a weak obedient child to him. I will fight. I spat in his face, everything about klaus made me sick. He threw me to the stone floor with such strength my head hit the floor so hard it bled, I could feel the trickle of blood run down my face.
"you try to run I'll kill him... you even make a murmur for escape and I'll kill him, do you understand?" I was silent now, I was burning with such rage, there felt as though a volcano was going to erupt with every piece of fire and ash I had in me.
"One more thing, you feed him your blood and I will remake every fracture I caused to him."
With that he left me in the basement, he didn't bother to lock me in here or stick around because he knew, I can't do anything to save Stefan or to escape.
"Stefan I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I did this to you." I sobbed into the blue dress, now even more broken than I was momentarily ago staring into a mirror. I did this to him, I practically plunged the dagger myself, I noticed it now the way it sat plunged in his stomach, the agony to move an inch and it would cause unimaginable pain. The burning of my checks I feel though there is acid in my tears, how many more till they burn through my skin? But Im stronger than this, I repeat in my mind over and over, with a shaky breath I stood and this time my feet are planted so firm to the concrete my head no longer spins, I'm not leaving him like this.
"I'm sorry Stefan." With a deep breath I pulled the dagger swiftly from his stomach, pools of blood trickled down his shirt. He drew in a sharp breath but didn't wake up, though I could see the wound was slowly healing.
"I'll save you Stefan no matter the cost I promise." I left the room now with one thing on my mind, no longer did the letter burn in my pocket but the cold metal that I gripped so hard my knuckles were white, knowing the moment I'm upstairs I'll release the handle once the dagger is in klaus' heart.