❝where did she go?❞

DAMON SAT AT THE END OF HIS BED, STARING INTO THE EMPTY FIREPLACE ACROSS HIS ROOM. For weeks, now, his mind had been plagued with thoughts of Rosemary. Her laugh echoed in his mind like a siren's song, her oceanic eyes haunting the reflection of his own icy pools that displayed his misery.

That's all he felt nowadays. The numbness that accompanied the loneliness that he'd been cursed to live all of eternity with. It was like a second skin to him, a blanket that had become comforting in the last few decades of his lonely, lonely life. The blanket that was no longer a blanket, but his very DNA. It had melted into his skin and left him burned and blistered. It had left him scarred.

He was frozen from the inside out, too afraid to touch something in case it might stick to him. He couldn't get attached again, because someone was always waiting in the shadows to take it away from him just like they took her that night.

He'd been in bed, waiting for her to finish bathing across the hall and join him. They'd only been married a few days, but Damon had never been so content with himself or his life. Even with the fear of vampires in Mystic Falls creeping in on their perfect bubble, nothing seemed capable of popping it when she simply looked at him and smiled.

Damon was startled upright when his father burst into his room, furious betrayal clear on the man's aging features.

"Get up, Damon!"

Damon did, ever the doting son. He looked at his father confusedly, following him into the hallway when Giuseppe stormed out. "What's going on, Father?"

"Your wife is a charlatan, Damon! She was a treacherous liar, sent by the devil to poison our family with her sinful ways."

Damon stopped his father, laying a hand on the man's chest in a confrontational manner he'd never faced him with. "Watch how you speak about my wife, Father. She is none of those things."

"Miss Pierce has evidence otherwise."

"Katherine? She's got no idea who Rosemary is, she's barely had a conversation with her!" Damon exclaimed, following after his father with a sigh when he continued to storm towards the front door.

It was then that Damon noticed the group of men huddled outside his house, torches lit, and guns at their sides. Damon felt his heart drop to his stomach and a violent wave of nausea made him rush in front of his father again to stop him. "What have you done?"

Giuseppe shook his head at his eldest son and pushed him out of the way. "I sent my men after your precious wife because she's a vampire, son. She's a demon of the night!"

"Rosemary is not a vampire! Where is my wife?" Damon yelled, his eyes wide with fear. He shot his gaze behind his father to where Stefan stood a few feet away, watching confusedly. "Do you know what your dear Katherine has done, brother? She's convinced the people that my wife is a vampire."

Stefan's eyes widened, and Damon looked at him accusingly when he saw a lack of surprise on his brother's face. Damon stalked over to his brother and shoved his shoulder roughly. "What do you know?"

"No, I know nothing, Damon. Katherine came to my room earlier tonight to inform me that she was leaving Mystic Falls in the morning because of something." Stefan eyed his murderous father warily and leaned towards his brother. "Do you think Katherine had something to do with this?"

"Of course I do, she's a no-good whore!" Damon exclaimed, uncaring of the anger his words provoked. He turned around, his curly hair a tangled mess on his head as he stared at his father with crazed eyes. "Where is my wife, what have you done with her?"

Giuseppe gestured out the open door where his men were gathered, and Damon looked at them a bit longer than he had when he first noticed them. He noticed the laughter being traded between the men, the vaunting, and smug looks being shared knowingly.

Damon's jaw dropped, and he looked at the blood-spattered across the cheek of one of his father's closest friends. "No," He breathed out, taking a step back. "No!"

Damon lunged forward towards his father, only to be pulled back harshly by Stefan, who's eyes had filled with tears at the same realization his brother had just had. "Damon, stop!"

"He killed my wife!" Damon cried out, tears flowing freely down his face. He pushed against Stefan's hold and fell to the ground on his knees, his body caving in on itself. Damon dropped his head to the ground and let out a sound of pure anguish, the sound an audible representation of his heart breaking inside his chest.

He slammed his fist against the floor and cried out his wife's name, the sound the last bone-chilling one he'd let out as a human. The call of Rosemary's name echoed in the halls of his home, filling the halls with a pain no one would be able to soothe in his eternal years to come.

Stefan stopped in the open doorway of Damon's room, his face turned down in a frown at the sight of Damon cradling his head in his hands.

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he heard the soft sobs shaking his brother's body. Stefan's eyes widened briefly before they softened in realization and he took a quiet step backward, the haunting sound of his brother's desperate cries making him feel a nonexistent chill sweep through their home.

Stefan went to walk away, to leave his brother alone in his mourning, the shuddering plea of Rosemary's name following him as he turned away.

Stefan wiped at his face, the phantom tears haunting him. The loss of Rosemary was a hollow reminder of how blind he had been at one point. He told himself he wouldn't ever fall prey to someone like Katherine again, but the voice in the back of his head reminded him that he already had.

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Elena woke with a groan, her hand coming up to rub at the throbbing on her temple. She startled when she opened her eyes, immediately seeing a strange man towering over her and smiling almost victoriously.

"What do you want?" She asked, her eyes flicking around the battered-looking house. The man untying the ropes around her hands shushed her and she groaned as he pulled on her injured arm. "Please, I'm hurt."

"I know." He eyed the blood-stained sleeve of her shirt hungrily and Elena's eyes widened when she saw the familiar veins crawl up his eyes. She yelled out as he lunged towards her, struggling to move beneath his heavy frame.

"Trevor!" Elena's eyes widened when the man– Trevor, pulled away at the yell of his name. Her eyes darted to the woman standing behind him, standing there with a glare on her pretty features. "Control yourself."

Trevor stood, shaking his hunger off as he walked past Rose. "Buzzkill."

"What do you want with me?"

Rose smiled, somewhat awestruck. "My God, you look just like her."

Elena's heart dropped in realization. "But I'm not. Please, whatever–"

"Be quiet."

"But I'm not Katherine!" Elena forced herself to her feet, glaring slightly at the woman. "My name is Elena Gilbert. You don't have to do this."

Rose gave her a judgmental look. "I know who you are. I said be quiet."

Elena narrowed her eyes at the woman, shaking the dizziness from her head. "What do you want?"

Rose lifted her hand and backhanded Elena back onto the couch, unconscious. She smirked victoriously. "I want you to be quiet."

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author's note: this book is going to loosely follow the plot of the show, just for progress purposes, like some scenes will stay the same but I'm just gonna change things as I like to fit my plan,, so don't come for me when it's different lmao

edited and published: 8.12.21.

-Liz