[Paris' outfit for school is at the very top.]

꧁ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғᴏᴜʀ ꧂
ᴍᴏɴsᴛᴇʀs

❝Are you like him?❞

♠

     DAMON AND THE OTHERS finally arrive at the location that Klaus's compelled human told them to go to. There they found the helpless brunette that Klaus is holding captive.

Paris is overflowing with fright and panic at the moment while the man who has her hostage has his arm around her neck to prevent her from doing anything reckless.

"You bastard." Damon growled, anger clearly shown in his face as he glared at the hybrid. Klaus, on the other hand, is just wearing a smirk as he was amused by the reaction he's getting.

"That hurt my feelings. Oh, wait. That's right. I don't care." Klaus said. Damon's hands are now curled into fists and his knuckles turn white. His teeth are gritted as he tries to contain himself from doing anything that would end up in Klaus killing her.

Suddenly, Klaus's hands are positioned on Paris's head as if he's ready to snap her neck. Damon and Stefan widen their eyes and take a step forward but immediately stop when Klaus motions for them to stop.

"One more step and it's toodle-oo, Paris." Klaus threatened. Stefan looks to his brother only to see him barely keeping it together. He could sense that he cares deeply for Paris but he has no idea why. Why a normal human like Paris catches the attention of his brother.

"Let her go, Klaus. We already did what you asked us to do. Now give us Paris." Stefan said. He chose to speak up since he's sure that the next thing that'll come out of Damon's mouth is either a sarcastic remark or an insult that would definitely trigger Klaus's short-temper.

But Klaus isn't satisfied with his statement. He turns the young lady to face him and shows his hybrid face to her. His fangs pointing out, his eyes a glowing yellow, and veins bulging in and out around his eyes.

Paris's green orbs widen as she sees the man in front of her completely change his face into something that she can't even comprehend.

Her breath is hitched in her throat and she couldn't bring herself to scream or to at least do something to defend herself from the monster that's about to hurt her.

"Klaus, stop! We burned it all. You win, okay? Just... give me the girl. Then you can go back to your little hybrid bitches that are sired up your ass." Damon said, at first it sounded like he was defeated, but as his statement goes on, he starts to regain his strength, hence, the sarcastic remark.

"Every last one?" Klaus asked.

"Every last one." Damon repeated as an answer. Klaus looks to the girl he's holding and scans her features before he lets go of her and raises both his hands in the air as he backs away.

"Have fun with little miss mystery solver here." Klaus said then rushes away and disappears. The frightened Paris falls into the arms of the raven-haired vampire as her whole body is weak and shaking. The cold touch of his hands sends uncomfortable shivers throughout her body causing some goosebumps to show.

Stefan goes beside Damon who is still trying hard to help Paris stand so that he could compel her to forget everything that happened.

"W-What----why is his---he ch-changed." Paris said with panic. Damon places both his hands on her shoulders and looks straight into her glistening green eyes.

"Calm down. You will forget all that happened here. You went to the dance, you had fun... you rejected most of the guys 'cause they don't deserve you-------" Damon compels her and once it kind of got out of hand, Stefan cleared his throat, making Damon look at his brother.

Stefan motions for him to get to the point and Damon nods. "Right. You will forget all of this ever happened. You went to the dance. You had fun. And you went home. Now, wait for me in my car." Damon demanded and Paris, who is still shaken up and confused about what happened, complied.

The young brunette walks away and towards the direction Damon and Stefan went through when they were finding her.

"I'm gonna kill him." said Damon.

"Please do... Oh, wait... We can't. Because we burned all the white oak."

"Not all."

Damon pulls out a white oak stake from beneath his blazer a bit, just enough for Stefan to take a glimpse of it. Stefan stares at his brother wide-eyed before two figures approach the brothers.

"Where is she? Where's Paris?" said Meredith with a scared and panicking tone. Alaric appears behind her with the same facial expression.

"She's in the car. I compelled her to forget everything... out of the ordinary." Damon said. Meredith's body tenses and she becomes even more afraid.

"What do you mean you compelled her?"

"I mean, I looked straight into her eyes and told her to forget the fact that Klaus kidnapped her and almost became his supper. I know you don't like it when she's compelled, but she needed to forget it so she won't be dragged into all of this ever again." Damon snapped. But his annoyance was cut short when Meredith looks at him with disbelief and fear in her eyes.

Damon furrows his brows and his forehead creases as he tries to decipher what's wrong.

"That's the thing, Damon. She can't be compelled...." Meredith started. Stefan's attention is fully captivated and he starts to walk forward and stops beside his brother who looks dazed. "... She's on vervain." Meredith continued.

Damon inhales in frustration and the one thing he hates the most. Fear. "Son of a bitch." he muttered before he speeds away from the woods.

Meanwhile, Paris is running non-stop with bare feet and messy hair. Her breathing becomes audible as she starts to pant due to exhaustion. She's confused because of what Damon told her to do. She doesn't know why Damon would think that Paris would oblige but it doesn't matter.

She keeps on running while her feet ache on every contact she gets with the cold and rough ground. She looms behind her to check if anyone is following her before she turns back. The second she faces her front, she meets a very familiar raven-haired vampire that made Paris stop abruptly from running.

Her hair is all over the place, her dress is ruined, her feet are dirty, and her mascara is smudged due to her light crying while she ran.

Damon's jaw clenches as he saw the brunette look broken and scared. The last that he wanted her to be is to be both. Paris starts to release sobs uncontrollably while she backs away step by step from him.

This was the one thing that Damon doesn't want Paris to feel about him. Scared. He doesn't want Paris to fear him. That's why he wants to hide the supernatural world from her. That's why he wants to keep from her the fact that he's a vampire.

"Paris." Damon softly said and tries to reach for her but Paris holds up both her hands as a form of defense from the eldest Salvatore.

"A-Are you like him?" Paris asked. He was taken aback by her question since he didn't know that she would actually ask that. Damon doesn't respond and just looks at her before Paris spoke once again.

"Are you like him?" Paris said again but this time, with much more force, implying that he should answer.

Damon sighs and nods lightly without breaking eye contact with the young Fell.

Paris lets out a shaky sigh before she turns around to make a run for it but not before Damon could use his vampire speed to stop in front of her.

The fear clearly seen in her eyes was enough to make Damon feel what he hasn't felt since Katherine. Hurt.

Damon snatches the necklace from Paris's neck before he proceeds to what he needs to do. Compel her.

"Calm down." he said first. And she finally did. He looked into her eyes multiple times but this time, something sparks inside of him that makes him decide probably the most stupid decision he has ever made.

"You will go to the Wickery Bridge every after class and meet me there. You won't remember anything and you won't know that vampires exist unless you're with me." Damon said as he stares right into her green eyes that somehow made him do this.

The young brunette blinks a few times to regain from the compulsion and Damon leaves before she could see him again.

Paris looks around to find herself standing in the middle of the road bare-footed. Her hair's a mess. Her dress is ruined. Paris furrows her brows in confusion then she went home.

♠

The weekend has passed and it's Monday again. Meaning, school. Paris groans in frustration as she realizes that she needs to get up or else she would be late.

Paris climbs out of her bed and takes a shower. While warm droplets of water rinse her whole body, she closes her eyes and tries to recall the night of the dance.

Meredith helped her get ready. Dana picked her up. They danced a little. Then... Blank. She can't remember anything before the moment she found herself standing on the road, alone.

She doesn't know if it's even impossible to forget very important details. It's the dance. How could she not remember?

A loud knock on the bathroom door snaps her away from her thoughts. Realizing it's her sister.

"You've been there for an hour now. You're going to be late." Meredith yelled then walks away.

Paris curses herself for not even realizing how long it has been since she entered. She walks out of the bathroom and gets ready for school.

She chooses a white shirt with The Beatles on it and pairs it with high waisted jeans and white sneakers. She decides to tie her hair up high and wears her black backpack.

Now it's time to go to school.

♠

School's over and the whole day, Paris has this feeling that she can't shake off. She needs to go to the Wickery Bridge but she doesn't know why. All she could do is just go. But not before Dana could stop her.

"Hey, Paris! I'm having a sleepover. You need to come!" Dana said. Paris wanted to say yes. She definitely wants to go. But something deep inside her made her say otherwise. "I can't. I have to go somewhere." Paris answered.

Before Dana could even question her about it, Paris turns around and makes her way out of the campus, leaving Dana completely dumbfounded.

She walks for a few minutes then finally arrives at the Wickery Bridge. And the first one she notices is a familiar figure sitting at the edge of the bridge.

The figure seems to notice her presence that he turns instantly and she's met by a pair of sparkling blue eyes.

For a split second, Paris smiles that Damon is here. But then everything came rushing back. The night of the dance. The parts of her memories that were formerly blank are now filled in new ones and everything that she felt during that moment came back as well. And by the time she remembers everything, she immediately recognizes what is in front of her.

"You..."

♠

Heys guys! I know I haven't updated for a while. It was an examination week so I was REALLY busy. But hey, I'm still alive, aren't I?

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!