#theniceoneshere

  Elena wanted to scream and shout at him that of course it was just stories, that no one in their right mind would ever believe that they weren’t just stories but as she listened to him, and looked at him and her situation she knew that they weren’t. She knew that her entire world had been the truth and she had stupidly, oh so stupidly discounted it. She was just a kid, a teenager, a dumb one at that. She had always thought she was smart but a smart person wouldn’t have not believed would they? No they would have heeded their parents warnings and believed more strongly. She had of course always thought that there was bad peple out there, people that would love to hurt her if they could get their hands on her, but she had never believed that she wasn’t at the top of the food chain. As she stared across at him though she knew she wasn’t. "Maybe they should have been." She murmured the words but there was no heat, no feeling behind them, not really. They had been candid, she had seen the stories they put in front of her, things she had glanced at then forgotten not really paying at attention to them, She had just blocked it out. She hadn’t wanted to deal with her overbearing parents.  Just the thought of her stupidity was enough to make her stomach want to revolt and try and scurry up her esophagus but she didn’t, although hearing his words it made her wish it had. Glaring at him she just rolled her eyes before she stared back out the window. The man was impossible, as if she would ever in a million years care about his suffering. She was suffering, her wrists were rubbed raw and she was scared out of her mind, she was honestly shocked that she wasn’t a gibbering mess in the seat and he was worried about smelling a little vomit? If she had ever been able to puke on command she would have just then and she would have made sure to aim for his lap. Imagining his reaction was a bright though for her dark mind and as she played it over and over again in her head, his gasp of revulsion her laugh of triumph she couldn’t help let a small smile curl over her lips. It would be nice to knock that ever present smirk off of his face, unfortunately her stomach had calmed and now the opportunity was lost. Still as she was dragged down the stairs of the building she couldn’t help tugging at him. “Don’t call me princess,” she snarled trying to jerk away from him. “If I was a princess I’d hope you’d show a little more respect, for instance you might even let me go.” She knew it was useless but she couldn’t just accept her fate, she had never been the type of girl that accepted anything without trying, she had always fought for what she wanted and although this situation was something way outside the realm of reality for her she wasn’t going to just stop being herself now. And even though her fear was almost completely blocking all rational thought from her mind she couldn’t help but hear the smugness in his tone, the satisfaction of his ability to over-power her and make her do what he wanted. He had every reason to be smug she knew, after all he had managed to haul her here and she hadn’t been able to stop him but it still infuriated her, and anger was something she welcomed right now as she stood staring at the door he’d brought them to.  "It’s a door, obviously." Her lips felt numb so great was her terror and it felt as if it was another person talking. Moving forward as he tugged at her she could feel her legs turning wooden, almost as if her entire body was going numb. Was this shock? Was this what happened when someone was in shock? She wasn’t sure, she’d never had the experience to find out, and now she was grateful for that. Tugging against him with all her body behind it she resisted going nay closer, her eyes squeezing shut as she lifted her bound hands in an effort to help her somehow, any way that she could. It wasn’t doing much, his hand around her waist felt like an iron band, digging cruelly into her soft flesh as she resisted, and she knew that she was the one that was making this painful for herself but she couldn’t help it. That door meant nothing good was coming her way, it meant she was going somewhere. She didn’t want to find out where.  Watching as he raised his wrist to her lips she pulled roughly against his hold, her body twisting in her need to escape, to get away, because she absolutely knew she didn’t want to see whatever was on the other side, and yet she could do nothing as she held her so easily. Tears sparked at the corners of her eyes as she watched him rub his wrist against the stone of the door, her heart hammering in her chest as she saw him turn back to her she shook her head and then she couldn’t stop. “No, no, no.” She muttered the word increasing in volume with each repetition. Seeing the knife appear almost like magic, but it couldn’t be magic because he was a vampire and vampires couldn’t do magic could they? she shook her head harder. As the knife cut into her flesh she screamed, her fear scaring her more than the actual wound hurt and as he raised it to touch it to the stone she screamed again flinging herself away from the door and everything that it brought with it. She hated that she was screaming it was disgusting, it was pathetic and useless and no matter how loud she yelled she knew that there was no one around. She had watched as he’d driven them here and there was nothing around for miles, and as she watched the door she felt the tears overflow from the corners of her eyes.  "I don’t want too," she cried, "please, just… please don’t do this." And that was when Elena was more disgusted by herself than she was him because now she was begging and she couldn’t stop the tears as the coursed down her face. "I just want to go home." It was a small whisper, private and for herself only, but as she stared at the door unable to look away she wanted to once again be sick, and yet her stomach wouldn’t grant her that small desire, it felt almost as if the entire world was against her.  

He had to admit though, he liked her spirit. The way she fought even though he could practically smell the fear rolling off her in waves. So many girls her age did nothing but cry and sob and beg until they were blue in the face trying to get him to release them. But this girl just didn't back down so easily. He chuckled as he drug her down the steps, clearly careless of her refusal. Who hadn't refused when he'd brought them down here? Though in all fairness, plenty of them had been unconscious by the time he reached the steps. "Royalty wouldn't save you; it would just make this all that much more entertaining." Damon corrected pleasantly, miraculously good humored in the face of her defiance. Though if she continued to make demands of him he may just decide to give her cause to shut that lovely little mouth of hers. 

She did seem to be catching on though that he had every reason to be confident in his actions, and in his treatment of her. No one was coming to save her, and even if they were, he'd drain them before a rescue was even a remote possibility. He'd done this hundreds of times, and he'd never faced a single consequence. This was his livelihood, what earned him his feared, respected, and highly profitable name. No mere human girl was going to get in the way of that. 

Rolling his eyes at her continued resistance he tightened his hold, ensuring her efforts wouldn't pay off. As it stood now there'd probably be a bruised imprint of his fingers against her hip. Sadly though, fear was almost always a stronger pull than pain. Perhaps he should just save himself the hassle and knock her out now...? It would be a hell of a lot easier than fighting with her. Not that he really acknowledged her fighting. He just held her tightly, refusing to let her disturb his work for the time being. They needed to get through. Staying in the human world too long made him edgy. His eyes narrowed in a wince as her screams echoed off the walls around them, only increasing his desire to smack her head against the stone door. "Don't give me an excuse to be unfriendly." he half snarled, shooting her a warning look. He could deal with her hysteria once he was sure they were set. 

Once he heard a loud crack from the stone wall he nodded to himself, content now that the witch was at work. Turning his attention to the girl he shifted his hold on her waist and grabbed on to her shoulders, jerking her around to face him as she pleaded for her freedom. Her tears, her grief, it meant nothing to him. He'd seen this too many times to feel remorseful about it now. But that didn't mean he was incapable of placating her into cooperation.  Capturing her cheeks between his palms, he tilted her head up, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Ssshhh," he shushed, tenderly wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. It would be so much easier if he could just compel her. But thanks to her overly prepared parents, he'd have to do this the old fashioned way. "Fighting isn't going to do you any good, sweetheart. This will all be so much easier if you just cooperate. I don't want to hurt you, so don't force my hand. I'm not dragging you off into hell. This doesn't even have to be a bad thing. It is what you make it." Well...that was somewhat true. It was pretty dependent on who bought her. But he would explain that later. For now, he just didn't want to deal with a sobbing girl flailing all over the place. Giving her one last meaningful look, he reached down and swiftly untied her hands. Perhaps that would make her feel a little better. And it wasn't as if he had anything to fear of the added freedom. 

Another crack sounded from the door and Damon turned back to it, simply moving his hand to her wrist. His grip was light, his thumb tracing across her skin, but the implication in his hold was clear; he could go back to his bruising grip at a moment's notice. Hopefully she'd actually listen to him this time. 

In front of them a final crack sounded and suddenly the stone door split straight down the middle, the heavy pieces falling away as if they were mere flecks of dust in the breeze. For a moment a brilliant white light shone through the gap that appeared between the stones, making Damon squint against the brightness until it faded to a shadowy path. Just a short walk through and they'd cross over to the supernatural world. "Come," tugging her forward Damon headed in without breaking stride in the low lighting.