My Story (Damon's POV)

Ch. 35: Bring It On

It's a beautiful day, as Stefan and I walk into the parlor.

"We're gonna lose her, Damon," Stefan tells me.

"She needs time. It's only been a couple days," I tell him.

"Her humanity's off. She's basically numb to everything that makes her who she is."

I pour myself a glass of bourbon, as I say, "She's a vampire. Off switch is one of the biggest perks. If being undead gets you down," I snap my fingers. "voila, vampire Prozac." I take a swig of bourbon.

"She burned down her family home with her brother's dead body still inside."

"Save us the trouble of having to do it ourselves. I call that a win. Worst case scenario: I'll invoke the sire bond and tell her to turn it back on."

"No, her brother just died. If you force all that grief on her at once, it's going to overwhelm her. We need to give her a reason to want to turn it on."

"Fine, we'll show her a good time."

Stefan looks skeptical about my plan.

"I know it's controversial, Stefan, but people actually like to have fun."

"You really think that's gonna work?"

"There's only one way to find out."

That night I watch Elena feed on a road from a woman that doesn't know us, but I realize she probably won't stop, so I walk up to Elena.

"That's enough," I tell her.

She ignores me and continues to feed.

I grab Elena's arm and pull her off the woman.

"I said that's enough."

I turn Elena around to face me.

"We agreed on no killing," I remind her.

"This is the first person I've seen in days whose body isn't laced with vervain and I'm hungry," she tells me.

"If you leave a trail of bodies, people are gonna start asking questions."

"I don't care."

Elena turns away and starts feeding on the woman again.

"I can't believe you're making me say this. Hey." I grab Elena's arm and pull her off her again. "Show a little restraint."

She looks annoyed at me, as she says, "I thought this was supposed to be fun."

She throws the woman's body aside and her body hits the ground.

Elena walks away with blood staining her mouth, and I watch her walk away.

The next day at the Salvatore boarding house, Stefan and I are standing in my bedroom, while Elena showers in my bathroom.

"So, that's the plan? You're gonna take her back to school?" I ask him.

"Well, the fun route didn't exactly pay off, did it?" he asks me.

"I don't know. Got a free meal out of it."

"Look, do you think I want to go to school and play chaperone? You can't go, because you're not a student. Besides, you've got to go look for Katherine. I mean, Elena needs this cure now more than ever."