Humanity 4 "The Rivalry"

Chapter 2

DAMON’S POV

“You’re making a big mistake.” I tell Stefan as he packs a bag of things for a camping trip in the woods with Elena.

“No, I’m not.” He argues. “If I can get Elena used to animal blood right out of the gate…”

“You’re reaching.” I cut him off.

“Maybe she’ll be able to bypass all the things that we went through.” He continues.

“Delusional.” I point out.

“Maybe she actually has a shot at this.” He ignores me again.

“Wrong. You’re just wrong, Stefan.”

“She won’t be able to handle it if she hurts someone, Damon. Her compassion is her achilles heel and everything is magnified right now.” He explains to me and I roll my eyes.

“Then you better hope she’s not a fan of Bambi.” I scoff as I walk over to him. “She needs human blood, Stefan, from the vein.”

“Oh, come on, you know what happens. You name me a vampire who didn’t kill at least one person when they were new.” He says and that’s exactly my point.

“You name me one who went on a bunny diet and didn’t kill dozens.” I say, taking a stab at him.

“If she kills someone, she will crumble. How much pain do you think she could take before she shuts off her humanity switch?”

“It happens to the best of us at least once. We get over it, Stefan. A hundred years or so.” I don’t think he’s understanding that he can’t change the basic nature of a vampire just because he is still in love with her.

“No, I think I’d like her to skip that part.” He says confidently.

I shake my head and walk over to the bags that he was packing for their trip I start to unpack them as I speak. “She can’t learn to control the bloodlust if she’s never actually experienced the bloodlust.”

“What are you doing? Knock it off.” He scolds me as I continue to unpack.

“It’s a cheat. It’s like giving a kid a calculator before they know math.” I tell him.

“I said stop it!” He yells, grabbing my arm. I shove him away from me as he glares at me.

“Woah, what’s going on?” I hear Elena ask from the doorway.

“We’re just having a little disagreement about process.” Stefan says calmly.

“You’re still not on board with the animal plan.” She says to me.

Stefan turns to repack his bag as I speak. “Nope. I say rip off the proverbial band-aid and let it bleed. You’re a vampire, Elena, be a vampire.”

“Ready to go?” Stefan asks her, picking up his bag.

She nods and they both start to walk out of the room.

“Vampires eat people!” I call to them and they both stop and turn back around. “It’s part of the natural food pyramid. Trust me, you’re going to be miserable.”

They both shake their heads at me before walking out of the room.

ASHLEY’S POV

I walk into the Grill and I see Damon sitting at the bar. I take a deep breath before walking over to him and sitting down to his right. I’m not going to sit on his left because I know that that is ‘Ric’s spot.’

I’ve seen Damon in here a few times since Ric passed away and he never lets anyone sit in that seat.

“Hey.” I say quietly as he looks over at me.