Vampire Diaries 1. Chapter 1

**~COGNIZANCE THROUGH CHIMERA~**

_**A/N: A huge **_**hello**_** to all you amazing readers! This is my first published fanfic...I'm not sure where will this go, but I sure HOPE you all love it! This goes by my theory that Elena will only realize her true feelings for Damon if she's REAL CLOSE to losing him...I guess most of the others agree with me on this fact! :D**_

_**Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own the Vampire Diaries...else Delena fans would be long extinguished from their misery -.-  
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_**PAIRINGS: Damon/Elena**_

_**Rating: T (For now)**_

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**CHAPTER 1:THE DREAM SEQUENCE_

_And I_

_I'm desperate for you_

_And I_

_I'm lost without you_

_For I am convinced that neither death nor life, _  
_ Nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come, _  
_ Nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, _  
_ Will be able to separate us from the** love**_

_**- Breathe **by David Hodges Ft. Amy Lee**  
**_

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* * *

_Darkness was reigning over her senses while the vague stench of dried blood hung in the air like an acrid pallor. She was engaging in a futile attempt to break free from the sturdy, metal bondage cuffs that rendered her hands and feet stagnant. A poignant sensation of weakness was gripping her physique and it took all her restraint to not succumb into it.

_Why am I here..? _She wondered. Waves of confusion and exhaustion were overwhelming her as she struggled with the bonds, trying to keep her psyche vigilant and alive by spinning yarns of questions within her mind framework.

A surreal image appeared in front of her in the spur of moment and she discovered herself standing face-to-face with...

...Herself?

Only this reflection had her mouth curled into a provocative smirk with malice glistening in her brown, doe-like eyes which were boring into hers sinisterly.

_Katherine…_She mouthed.

The reflection in question merely tilted her head in amusement and regarded her with mock coercion. She stepped aside, a little to the left, seemingly providing her with better access as to what lay beyond.

A horrifying sight beheld her eyes.

Two male figures were strapped to two poles, respectively, with tightly wound ropes, linking them firmly in place. They both had their heads hung low, starkly indicating their aggravated states of physicality. One of them lifted his head up to meet her gaze.

_Elena._

His voice reverberated of melancholic certainty, as if vigilant beforehand of the doom that was destined to come into their path. His dark-green eyes, as green as the leaves of an oak tree…his angelic, beautifully sculpted face –was all she needed in this terse instant to bask in warmth, however infinitesimal the moment may be.

_Stefan…_

He gave the impression to hear her whisper by a slight smile lighting up his gentle features. But the incandescent glow radiating from them instantly disappeared as he gradually turned his face towards the other captive tied in a similar way to the other pole.

A soft brush of dark hair…as he lifted his head up with a plodding pace, his strikingly captivating cerulean-blue eyes focused on her brown, dilated ones.

At once, she felt a tumultuous brandish of agony awash her. She cringed in pain at the wrought sensations. When she glanced at him again, she witnessed a feat akin to hers being experienced by him.

_It was as though his emotions were been simultaneously entrapped and synchronized with hers._

She closed her eyes and concentrated profoundly on ebbing the obnoxious sensations coursing her body. She cast her eyes towards him again.

This time, the only emotion making its way rapidly through her insides was a very simple one.

Hatred.

Simple…yet so perverse.

The reflection to which she had assigned the name Katherine slowly made its way towards the wretched object of the girl's intended hatred. The movements it made were temperamental and similar to that of a malevolent spirit –eerie, smooth and exhibiting callous grace. It allocated itself beside the figure, and a sullen whisper floated through the air, like thick mist on an astringent winter.

_Damon._

Elena flinched at the mere mention of the name, her abhorrence increasing in its pulsation till bright, red spots were appearing in the peripheries of her vision. An echoing growl emitted from her throat and her lips curled up in her disgust as she sent paralyzing glares to the male figure, while flashes of a repugnant memory filled her mind.

Lips forcibly moving against hers…

The coldness and ire in his icy-blue eyes at her lack of compliance…

_It's always going to be Stefan!_

His aghast, _beyond _shattered expression, devoid of hope…

The distinct _snap _of her brother's neck…

His agony, her agony…

_You've lost me forever._

The figure subjected to these glares did not attempt to dodge the girl's repugnance. His expression was of sheer resignation…and those exquisite eyes were submerged in cavernous depths of despondency. Nevertheless, he attempted to convey his contrite and embryonic love towards her by mouthing three, unadorned words.

_I am sorry._

Elena was perturbed by this apology. She struggled with the gush of sadness that surged through her, almost extinguishing the detestation she was feeling for him. She felt his agony again–the compressive pain threatening to gnaw and tear at her chest. In the deep recesses of her mind, she was vaguely aware that _hatred _wasn't the only intense emotion she felt for him.

It also involved _compassion._

On the spur of the moment, she saw her reflection grasping an object in its hands.

A jagged wooden stake protruded from its fingers.

It slowly, leisurely, placed it on Damon's chest. The very instant the stake was positioned over his chest, Stefan, who had managed to provide the momentary comfort to Elena, vanished in plain sight.

Thus, she found herself glimpsing at only one male figure now, in addition to her mirror-image which was gazing at its victim with a fervent hunger in its empty, soulless eyes, teasing his anticipations by twirling and caressing the stake lightly on his torso. A building apprehension was beginning to manifest itself in the girl's mind, as her mind-numbing emotion of hatred seemed to seep out of her body almost immediately. These emotional developments were leaving her in the truest state of befuddlement.

At precisely that moment, her confused eyes met the eccentric ones of her reflection. As though seeking consent, its eyes stared at her questioningly.

_I am going kill him, Elena…_

The ominous version of her own voice resounded in her mind and her abounding apprehension increased at overwhelming rates. As the stake was raised in the air, ready to be plunged right inside his heart, a tidal wave of shock took command of her system, a strangled wheeze escaping her throat.

_No…_

She made a forlorn attempt to wrench free from her metal bonds, frantically twisting and tugging at her hands. To her utter elation, they broke free and she practically lunged to stop the fatal blow of the imposing stake.

But she didn't reach her desired spot.

Her lunging body fell flat against an imperceptible barrier. She was so close to filching the deadly weapon away from the evil-incarnate's hands, so close to _him_, but the invisible wall prevented her from doing so. All she could do was watch as the stake made its way through his heart, and there was nothing was helplessness crushing and weighing her down as she frenetically clawed at the blasphemous barricade. Giving up, she gradually sank down to the cool, hard surface of the ground beneath her.

She couldn't lose him…not this way. She was caught by surprise as she compared her current emotions from the ones she was experiencing moments ago.

_You care for him…_a voice whispered to her from an unseen source. It was…her voice? Nevertheless, the feminine voice continued to murmur to her. _The hatred you try to induce is just a false facade you bear to shield your true feelings for him…because it is a huge profanity to feel such things for him…to even _feel _for him. But you cannot control it…so stop trying. _

_Accept it. Face it._

She was nodding unconsciously and she glanced to meet his eyes. Just the second the stake pierced through his heart, his lips formed the caressing whisper of three, exquisite words…

_I love you._

Her eyes widened, bewildered and before she could decipher the splendor of those sweet syllables, she heard the poignant _thwack _of the wooden wager as it was plunged mercilessly into his heart by the demonic form of Katherine…

His eyes closing, the softest of smiles playing on his unblemished lips…

His beautiful pale skin, turning whiter and paler as all the color drained from his visage…

The gray veins spreading throughout his face like the gruesome, rapidly-growing branches of a tree…

She let out a strident, chilling scream.

* * *

"_Damon!" _

Elena screamed and sprung up from her bad in her fright. Her forehead was covered with a thick sheen of sweat and her breaths were coming out in ragged gasps, as if she had just completed a triathlon.

And the pain, oh, the gut-wrenching _pain…_

She reflexively wrapped her arms around her trembling torso, and rocked her body back and forth; mimicking the movements of an old, scruffy rocking chair, as she silently beseeched the pain to ebb. Her insides were incinerating and she felt as if a large chunk of her chest was being filched away from her body, leaving her hollow, so despicably _hollow_…

"God, _no_…" She choked out.

She couldn't bring herself to believe that losing him would be so _intricate_ to deal with…after all the despicable things he had done, it just wasn't sane on her part to feel _any_ sort of emotion other than pure _revulsion_ towards him.

_But then again, _she thought. _He's been very…obliging, these days. He isn't so defiant like he always seemed to be. _

How much ever she tried to deny it, Elena knew that somewhere along the deep, profound recesses of her mind, she_ felt _for him.

A fleeting glance at those exotic piercing blue, cerulean depths of his eyes would always cause her heartbeat to falter a little…

His proximity heightened her self-consciousness and stirred things that seemed almost _primal_ to her…

The boyish charm of his smirks and chatty banters constantly managed to warm her insides and feel light-headed…

Nevertheless, she always dismissed these as trivial not-to-be-taken-into-consideration sensations. She loved Stefan, was _in love _with him and forever would be. He was the better, _worthier_ brother –nothing would ever change that.

Once thing was certain, however: She had lied to him that fateful night.

There was _definitely _something going on between the two of them.

And she knew it wasn't in her control to put a stop to that irrefutable _something._

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**_

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_**Cha-Chao till then =)**_

_***blows kiss*  
**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Thank you SO MUCH for the delightful reviews you guys sent in! Muah ^^**_

_**Really gave me OODLES of inspiration to get this chappie out…hope you like this update =)**_

_**I'd love to give a shout-out to Michelle! Your review got me squealing, really xD**_

_**Disclaimer**__**: I ain't ownin' nothin' mate…dontcha remind me of that!**_

_**(P.S. I changed the summary for this story, in case you noticed xD)  
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**_CHAPTER 2_**_: MIND GAMES_

Elena lay wide awake on her bed, her ears picking the subtle sounds of the night –crickets chirping, faint rustlings of trees, a hooting owl…

Her eyes were cast upwards, as she imagined distinct patterns on the ceiling cast by the shadows of the night. The windows rattled gently as a consequence of the howling winds knocking against them, as if demanding invitation into the manor.

Heaving a sigh, Elena pulled herself from under the covers and walked towards her wardrobe, quickly donning a pair of track pants and loose-fitting sweater. She hastily grabbed a pair of casual sandals and slid her cold feet into them.

She had a particular vampire she needed to visit.

* * *

The Salvatore Boarding House was silent, with the exception of the sounds induced by a slight sloshing of liquid being poured into vials from the drinking parlor and the faint, but distinct cackling of the fireplace.

Damon strode over to the velvety couch, adorning a lazy stance and finally plopped into the soft comfort of the cushions, drink in hand. Just as he was basking in the slow, pleasurable burn of the Bourbon pouring down his throat, the door of the manor was suddenly reverberating with the sounds of approaching human footsteps.

His enhanced senses of smell kicked in as he detected the waft of a fruity and feminine scent that could only uniquely be Elena's.

The vampire frowned, pausing in the action of sipping his drink. He couldn't even _imagine _the reason Elena would venture into the mansion at _this_ dead of the night.

Nevertheless, heaving a long sigh, he sped towards the drinking parlor for another refill, somehow garnering the knowledge that a strong drink would come very much in handy for him if he was going to get by this late-night visit.

* * *

Elena slowly turned the handle of the door and stepped in, not bothering to knock, and descended into the mansion. As she approached the living room parlor, her eyes trained over to a disconcerting sight before her.

She froze in her tracks.

A figure, clad in black, lay huddled a few feet beside the red couch, the burning flames from the nearby fireplace casting an eerie yellowish-orange incandescence on its cadaver. As she approached nearer, the face of the sprawled body came into view.

"_Damon..?"_ She choked out. Breathing was suddenly an issue, as she could now observe in sheer horror, the gray veins stretched across his abnormally pale face.

A wooden fragment jutted out from the center of his chest.

She sank down to her knees, her eyes bulged out, and breaths coming out in short, raspy gasps. Her cheeks were damp almost immediately as she felt her insides converting into iron, weighing her down and tearing her apart gradually, painfully, tortuously…

Her trembling hands reached out to caress this lifeless face. Sobs were freely wrecking through her chest till they finally turned into moans and strangled cries. Her vision blurred with the induction of salty tears.

_No, no...please...it can't be true..._

Time stood still…

The moment seemed to last for an excruciating eternity…

At that instant, Elena could have sworn she could _see _her entire world crumbling beneath her feet, her entire _soul _cracking into two…

And then, on the spur of the moment, she felt long, sturdy arms wrap across her fragile, blubbering frame. Her head lolled weakly as she attempted to raise her head to glance at her comforter.

Her brown, doe-like eyes met the most captivatingly cerulean-blue ones, and immediately…her agonies were metamorphosed into pure and utter shock.

"Elena?" Damon's voice beckoned to her, his tones laced with deep concern. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Even though his dark brows were furrowed in perplexity, his eyes were questioning the very status of her sanity.

She blinked several times, thoroughly confused by the drastic change in this particular situation.

One moment he was _dead_ and the in the next, he was staring at her as though she had grown another head, his eyes sparkling with a myriad of emotions.

"I…y-you…you were…d-d-dead…" She spluttered, completely incapable of forming a coherent sentence as her mind was struggling to make sense of these crazed circumstances. She was about to point towards the corpse, but to her utter bewilderment, all she found herself signaling at was the vacant, ostentatious Asian carpet casing the floorboards of the manor. She snapped her head back towards Damon's now-very-amused glance.

"Did you by any chance hit your head against something very _hard_? 'Coz I can say for certain that you aren't _drunk_ enough to be hallucinating such things…" He concluded mockingly, his trademark smirk fixated on his flawless face.

The cynical assessment got him a smack on the arm. "Shut _up_, Damon! I swear…I really saw you huddled _right over here _in this spot!" She drove her pointer finger repeatedly into the velvet of the carpet to emphasize her point. "There was a stake in your chest! You were…_dead…"_ She trailed off brokenly, the ghastly vision taking form once again in her mind.

Damon sensed her consternation and immediately cupped her cheek gently with his hand, his thumb trailing delicately across her pliable skin. "Calm down, 'Lena…I'm fine…everything's all hunky-dory. Don't stir up yourself like this." His convincing and placating tones, supplemented by his gentle touch on her face, seemed to work their magic on the agitated girl.

Elena took in deep breaths and leaned forward to bury her head into his chest, her arms encasing him in a desperate hug. "Am sorry…I dunno what's happening to me." She mumbled into his chest. Her speedy heart-rate gradually slowed down with Damon's hands sliding up and down her chestnut-colored hair in a soothing and affectionate gesture.

After a few peaceful moments, cuddled in each other's arms, Damon chose to drive away the already receding tension by breaking the silence. "You know how much I _love _this particularly _intimate_ position we're in…but I kinda have a drink that's calling out to me." Earning an eye-roll from the girl, he let out a chuckle and further added, "You're in need of one too, you know…will help to calm those jittery nerves of yours."

To his surprise, Elena curtly nodded, conceding to his suggestion. He rose, holding out his hand to her for helping her on her feet. Due to her overwhelmed state, her wobbly legs betrayed her and she clumsily collided with Damon's torso. Had his arms not reached out to steady her, she would have earned herself a flat nose slamming against the ground.

"Whoa…steady there." Damon muttered.

It suddenly came to her notice how _close_ he was to her. She could catch the tantalizing scent of his cologne, a combination of spices and something very masculine, dowsed with the heady odor of Bourbon. His face was merely inches away from hers, and her slowed heart beat quickened in pace again.

God, those eyes…she could drown into those aquamarine depths –

Damon's lips twitched into a smirk and waved a hand across her face. "Hellooo…earth to Elena!" He sing-songed. She snapped out of her trance immediately and huffed in annoyance.

"You _so _need a drink." Damon continued sarcastically, shaking his head and making his way to the drinking parlor to attend to his forgotten drink.

* * *

In a dimly lit room, Greta Martin stood hunched over dozens of candles placed in a circular manner around her dark, lean stature. She held a worn and ancient book with yellowed pages in one hand, while the other was engaged in constructing subtle patterns in the air, all the while her brows furrowed in cavernous depths of concentration. Her mouth was moving, mumbling a language that could be discerned as Ancient Latin. The room held the musty tang of decay and rotting away paint, accompanied by the faint burning smell of the candle-wicks.

"I hope you're not being _too_ harsh on the poor child." A rich, velvety voice, akin to honey slithering on silk, disrupted and swerved her attention towards the tall, lean male sauntering into the room. Her momentary lapse broken, Greta whirled around and fixated a death glare on her interceptor, fleetingly forgetting the being's omnipotence.

"I do _not_ like to be interrupted when I'm in the midst of casting a spell, _sir._" She replied, icily. "You're well aware of that."

The tall, lean male merely raised an eyebrow, as if questioning the sanity of the witch and ran his pale, slender fingers through his glossy, blonde locks. In the blink of an eye, he had the girl pinned against the rough, granite floor, the slender fingers now transferred in a vice-like death grip around her neck.

"Now, now…Greta, darling. Is that the way to talk to your elders, hm?" He said, in the softest and sugary-coated of tones imaginable, which was in stark contrast to the fingers constricting around the girl's throat.

Greta choked and murmured some unintelligible words in the process. "I…am…so –"

"Pardon? What is it that you say, _princess?" _He released his hold on her neck slightly, his icy-gray eyes boring into her brown, fearful ones.

"I'm sorry, Master!" She gasped out, inhaling the little of oxygen been made available to her. The man's rosy lips curved into a pleasant smile, but she could see the tightness beneath it.

On the spur of the moment, Greta found herself admiring the distinct dimples forming in his cheeks and it struck her just how _impeccably _gorgeous this man looked. Pale skin like alabaster, perfectly sculpted cheekbones, wavy blonde locks for hair and those full, pink lips…just an inch closer and–

"Unh…no! Stop…" She pleaded, as she fought against these strange and foreign, _purely_ sexual impulses, knowing it was his way of tormenting the deep recesses of her mind and making her prey to his swoon-worthy charm–by indulging his potent compulsion powers on her. Although she was pumped with vervain, the man…no _creature _that had her pinned to the ground superseded all such restrictions and surpassed every weakness that was supposed to maim his kind.

It was the reason he was rendered as the most powerful being to ever walk on this Earth.

_Klaus…the one and only._

He released his hold on her, chuckling at her fear mixed with her inner battle against the infatuation his powers were coaxing her to succumb to. He let her win, ultimately.

Greta heaved a soft sigh of relief at his departure. Pausing at the door, Klaus said in an off-hand manner over his shoulder, "Remember your manners Greta, dear…and go ahead and continue with your mumbo-jumbo. You know what you have to do…and _why._"

As he exited the dimly luminescent room, Greta pulled herself back on her feet, groaning at the slight discomfiture from the newly attained scratches and bruises.

_I have to continue in my task, _she thought, nodding dumbly to herself.

_I must maneuver Elena to the thin line bordering between sanity and madness. After all, she's partially the reason why my family…_

She cringed at the spasm of pain creeping through her senses.

_It's because of her I'm being held captive and being drawn to this moonstone-curse mess._

Thus, summoning her angered emotions and garnering power from her agony, she closed her eyes and continued with her incessant chanting.

* * *

**Muahahaaa! Behold the entrance of the much awaited KLAUS!**

**And Elena's being haunted by a new witch...haaawww :O**

**Will she surrviiivvee?**

**(Like, duh she will...that's what the story's about :P)**

**Till then, R&R, you wonderful people!  
**

**R & R, you lovely readers!  
**


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Vampire Diaries, Hurt-Comfort, Romance