━━━━━━━ ☆☆ ━ OPHELIA Sterling could feel the bark prick her back and the unfamiliar dirt underneath her toned fingers making her feel uneasy.

Ophelia scrunched her fingers inwards, towards the palm of her hand. Her finger nails filling uncomfortably with dirt.

Ophelia smiled in an attempt to ease herself into a more relaxed, mental state.

She began to mumble feigned words of comfort to herself.

Though the sweet nothings seemed to do nothing for the currently panicking dryad.

Dryad's are born when a tree sprouts and it becomes their home. They protect their home with anything and everything in them. Dryads are very well known for inhabiting oak trees specifically.

Unfortunately when the tree passes whether from lightning or deforestation, the dryad most likely will die with it.

Though when the plant dies the dryad can move to an uninhabited plant if they are strong enough to endure the pain.

It was considered impossible for a Dryad to be born male. Dryads didn't need to reproduce since they were naturally born from Mother Earth. So there was no need for males in their species.

Ophelia was inhabiting a small newborn tree at the moment. She just so happened to be born in the retched town called Mystic Falls.

So there Ophelia was sitting along the edge of the forest with no one in sight. She picked up one hand out of the dirt and began to fumble a small fallen leaf between her fingers.

The leaf crumbled slightly between her pointer and ring finger. The light brown-orange color of the leaf was very faded as it crumbled away. Falling back to the dirt.

Ophelia sighed as she felt tears prick her eyes. She had never left her trees side in the few days that she's been alive.

She couldn't exactly pick it up and walk away and Dryad's had to stay tied to their plants.

One of the things about the dryads is that for whatever reason, they can't move the plant themselves.

They couldn't wander far from them and since Ophelia was so far from civilization, she had never had much interaction with people or any one.

The sound of a crunch rang out and Ophelia fell still. Someone was in the woods.

Ophelia felt the water that had been gathering in her eyes begin to roll down her face as she looked upward to face the oncoming stranger. She didn't even know it was called crying just yet.

A dark raven haired man was standing a few feet away.

Just as Damon was about to show his vampire face and have a quick snack. He paused momentarily as he began to take in her appearance.

She tilted her head to the left like a confused child. "W-who are you?" She asked. Her voice cracking from never having being used before. She had never needed it before now.

The man hesitated slightly before speaking with a smirk falling onto his lips in a careless manner.

"Damon Salvatore and you are?" He asked with an intimidating stance as he stared her down.

Ophelia's brown eyes darted to and from his figure in fear.

She was unfamiliar with people and was not sure what to do now. But it would be unfair of her to judge Damon before she knew anything about him. At least that was her opinion. She stared up at Damon with a certain amount of suspicion in her eyes. Still not answering his question of who she was.

"What are you?" Damon questioned moments later and Ophelia fiddled with the dirt again. It made her feel calmer. Like a reminder of her home, considering it was home for the young dryad.

"I'm a dryad. A plant spirit," She explained to him, not wanting any trouble.

He nodded and he thought for a moment. Damon suddenly began to nod to himself after a minute or so of thinking, as if he was agreeing with the thought process that was ensuing inside his head.

"Do you live around here?" He questioned. He was referring to Mystic Falls but Ophelia was thinking something entirely different.

"Yes," Ophelia answered with a small smile and a nod. As she thought back to her little, newly sprouted tree.

Damon went to say something till he noticed the time on his watch. It was getting late, a bit passed midnight.

He looked up to speak to the girl only to find her gone. An outline of where she sat against the tree was still in his head though it faded quickly.

"Damn it, Cinderella disappeared," Damon uttered to himself as Ophelia returned to her little tree so she could rest.

Ophelia yawned before letting her herself rest on a branch high up in another tree. An instinct all dryads were born with that kept Humans from finding them while they slept.

As Damon made his way from the woods, his mind kept wandering back to the young-ish looking girl that he had encountered.

She looked to be no older than 13 years old.

'Why was she crying?' Damon thought to himself mostly out of curiosity.

Though that thought seemed to remind him of his humanity. The more caring side of his nature.

'No, no, doesn't matter. I do not care. I haven't cared about anything for over a hundred years, I'm not gonna start now.' Damon practically hissed to himself inside of his head.

Though only a few minutes later, the same thoughts invaded his mind and in a feeble attempt to take his mind off of the matter. He went to the current residency of one Stefan Salvatore.

His dear blonde brother, whom he had wished an eternity of hell to. And yet the next morning, the thoughts returned.

He began to walk around town and search for any hint of the girl. Thinking she resided in one of the many homes nearby.

Though upon finding no trace of her, he became confused and ever so slightly concerned.

"I don't care, I don't," Damon uttered to himself in a tone similar to a scolding one. Beginning to walk away, back toward the Salvatore residence.

Though his actions proved to be the opposite of his words. As he turned around and headed for the Mystic grill.

Then he carried the pre-made food from the grill into the forest as he searched for the girl in the white dress. The food resting in his left hand and a glass bottle of alcohol in his right.

He let out a sigh and a slight groan of annoyance as he then took a deep swig of his drink. It wasn't enough to get him drunk, or even give him a buzz but it was better than nothing.

"Here Cinderella, Here girl....where are ya?" Damon muttered out mockingly as he walked through the woods.

Ophelia peeked out from behind a tree. Her head just peeking around the corner comically. Damon didn't see her yet. And she carefully observed his movements as he stumbled about, tripping on tree roots.

Her eyes zoned in on the strange stuff in his hands. She cautiously moved further from behind the tree.

She gulped quietly before opening her mouth to speak up and catch his attention. "Hi?" Was all that left the blondes lips before he spun around.

Upon finally finding the brunette he gave a smug smirk. "What do you live out here in the forest?" Damon asked jokingly though Ophelia didn't understand.

"Yes?" She replied earnestly with confusion lacing her voice. Damon stilled and glanced up at the girl.

"You live out here? Don't you ever get hungry or cold?" Damon asked. The repetition of the matura of 'I don't care,' seemed to fade into the back of his mind as he asked her the question.

She nodded a bit. "What's hungry? And what exactly is the cold," She casually muttered in reply. Damon gaped at her response.

He could practically feel the phrase that he had been repeating ever since he meet the damn girl seem to leave his head completely. As if someone had snatched it and thrown it out a five story window.

"Alright, since you clearly need a shower and some food. You're coming with me," He said and she shrugged with a smile.

"Okay," She said cheerily.

"Im gonna have to teach you about stranger danger," He muttered more to himself than the girl. Tiredly combing a hand through his tussled, raven colored hair.

Damon turned and began to leave the forest and she trotted up to him and looked down at the ground. Noticing how his feet moved and then adjusted her walking so they could be perfectly in sync. Silently smiling widely to herself in success when she finally got it.

"Wait," She said as she had to stop walking. She could feel the boarders of the tree creep up on her like a deep seeded fear arising. It was like a small dome that she shouldn't leave.

"I can't," She uttered with a sad expression. Damon grew even more concerned and a bit frustrated with the girl. "Why not?" He asked impatiently and indulgently.

"Dryad's can't leave their home. I need to be by my tree' side." She explained simply.

Damon nodded in thought before turning to her. "Hold this," He said handing her the wrapped burger before speeding into the forest.

As soon as she was left alone, she peered down at the strangely shaped object that was wrapped in a foreign shined cover— tinfoil.

Only Damon ended up speeding back to her side moments later. "I have no clue what your tree looks like or how to move a whole tree," Damon told her with slight embarrassment.

She gave him a smile and walked with him back into the forest and they dug out her sprout very carefully.

Damon grumbling about the dirt on his hands as they began their trek to the Salvatore residency.

"Okay, Cinderella. Lets get you some food," He said as he noticed that she hadn't eaten anything yet.

He placed the tree into a vase with some dirt before turning back to the brunette.

"My names Ophelia. Who is Cinderella?" She questioned while walking through the threshold of the large home.

"Some stupid princess in a movie," Damon shrugged as he made his way to get another drink for himself.

"Princess?" She quietly mumbled to herself, liking how the word sounded but not quite understanding the meaning.

After he got one, he lead Ophelia to the kitchen and grabbed some stuff that Zach usually cooked with.

"Let's try something simple like..... scrambled eggs," He said and she nodded mindlessly as she sat down at the countertop.

She yelped suddenly causing Damon to turn away from his cooking and he noticed her spinning on the stool.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she continued to spin around.

"I have no idea." She muttered out quickly, still spinning.

"How....do....I....stop ?" She asked word by word each time she faced Damon for a few moments before it continued its spin.

Damon sighed like a distressed parent before moving the pan off the hot stove and moved around the counter to grab the stool. Effectively stopping the girl from spinning.

Ophelia jerked forward slightly at the sudden movement and then blinked a few times before facing Damon.

"Thanksy. That was fun," She told him and he rolled his eyes at her.

"It's thanks, not thanksy." Damon reprimanded grumpily.

"That's what I said?" Ophelia retorted, paying his grumpy, scrunched up face no mind.

"How are you so old and not know anything?" He asked exaggerating a bit. As he glanced at what appeared to be a thirteen year old girl. As he took the eggs off the pan and placed them on a random plate. Throwing a few strawberries beside the eggs.

"That's not true! I know something. I know my name," Ophelia said proudly with a bright grin. Damon felt his lips twitch up slightly before he rolled his eyes again.

"Good job princess, you have the same IQ as a Nine month newborn," He scoffed and laughter left his lips.

Ophelia frowned at his words and only stuck her tongue out mockingly.

"Can I have food now?" She asked him with a pout. Though she still wasn't quite sure what food was exactly, she was using it as an excuse to change the topic.

"Here kiddo," Damon says while scuffing up her hair with his free hand. Placing the plate on the counter with the other. She stretched her arms out and reached for the plate that he set down before her.

She let out a simple hum of acknowledgment and took a moment as Damon's mind began to wander as he thought about how such a young girl was left to live in the wood's for probably years.

'Why had she been there for so long? How much did she know?' Damon wondered.

"What's this?" She asked and Damon turned to her.

"It's a fork....." He said with a look of confusion.

"A fork?" She asked slowly before shrugging.

"What do I use it for?" She asked as she picked up the egg with her hand and put it in her mouth. Damon opened his mouth to respond but it was silent.

"They- I-" He stuttered out before shaking his head as she stared up at him.

"This is food?" She exclaimed inquisitively with wide eyes. As her taste buds exploded with flavor.

"I wish I could always eat foood," She muttered, adding an extra syllable and Damon furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Wait- how long have you gone without food? how old are you exactly?" He asked her.

"I look thirteen but technically I'm..." Ophelia trailed off as she picked up her hand and began to count.

Damon gave her a slight smile as he watched her count to herself. Raising his eyebrow when she held up her right hand in his face.

"This many," She informed him with a satisfactory nod.

Damon decided not to question it as it seemed like she wouldn't know and he decided that he'd do some research later that night on Dryads.

"What's a fork?" She repeated her earlier question, breaking him from his daze.

"It's something people use to eat. Like this," He told her before taking the fork and displaying how to use it.

"Why? Grabby things are much faster," She mumbled, clearly referring to her hands.

"Wait so how do you look thirteen?" He asked her as she tossed the fork to the side and began to shovel the food into her mouth. After failing to use it with a shaker hand.

"I don't know. All I did was wake up one day," She told him truthfully with a shrug.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Ophelia let out a choking sound. Then she swallowed the previously stuck piece and continued to shovel food into her mouth and Damon frowned slightly. Concern on his face.

"Don't choke," He scolded.

She nodded at his words but continued to chew her eggs.

"More food please," Ophelia murmured out as she held out the plate expectantly at Damon. Both hands on the porcelain.

The eggs were slightly smeared on her lips. He smiled at her and took the plate.

He began to unwrap the covered burger to heat it up. But Zach suddenly walked in demanding to talk to him.

So Damon told Ophelia he'd be right back before walking out.

When Damon returned, he was forced to watch her and winced as she shoved her fork into the burgers bun.

"No-" He started looking at her.
But he interrupted himself and just let her use the fork however she wanted.

She looked up to see what he wanted and he only shook his head muttering a small 'never mind.'

She stared at him for two more seconds before going back to shoveling the burger into her mouth using the fork.

"Is there more of this....foood?" She asked, forgetting the word momentarily.

Damon nodded. "Yeah kiddo, there's tons of food you can try. All kinds actually," He told her and she smiled brightly at this.

"Really?" She asked. "Yeah, I'll take you to get some more later. But you need to digest that first," Damon declared and she brightly smiled and cheered, clapping her hands happily.

"What do we do now? Usually I just walk around the forest," She asked him curiously. Damon was surprised by this.

"That's a mundane existence, my dear child," Damon muses as he is astounded by how boring that must have been.

"I'll teach you everything you need to know about this stupid century," He says ruffling her hair and she swat's his hand away, not liking when people touch her hair.

"Come on, let's start with the shower. Then the television and junk food," He says and she nodded, following after him.

"Ok, Ophelia. I'll just lend you Stefan's cloths. He won't care....much," Damon said as he tossed a pile of cloths at Ophelia.

She gave him a look and his only response was "He won't care if we don't tell him,"

She a steady nod and Damon ran the water to the bath tub and began explaining it to her.

Ophelia just kept nodding as he spoke. 'I have no idea what he's saying,' She thought to herself. 'Does he ever stop talking?' She wondered silently.

Damon thought she understood until she hopped in the bathtub with her cloths still on.

"No— Ophelia.... Usually you take your cloths off first then get in," He explained feeling incredibly tired already.

"Oh, ok!" She exclaimed and went to take off her shirt.

Damon spun around, so that he was facing away from her.

"—Without anyone in the room!" He said quickly while screwing his eyes closed.

He heard a soft "oh," leave Ophelia's lips once again and he merely sighed.

"It's alright, just- don't take your cloths off in front of people. Ever- well unless— No. never mind. Never take your cloths off in front of other people," He sternly advised. Deciding to steer clear from the mere thought of intimacy.

He heard her mumble a soft "ok," in reply. His back still turned to her and eyes still screwed as tightly as he could manage.

"When you're done, just dry yourself off with the towel and then put on the cloths that I got you," Damon explained bluntly, his eyes still closed. Before leaving the room.

He was forced to pause momentarily as he left the room when his head smacked into the doorframe.

Ophelia hummed softly to herself as she layed in the tub. The warm water felt perfect against her dirty and dry skin.

She slipped the cloths off. Which was a bit difficult now that they were soaking wet.

Ophelia messed with the bubbles that Damon had put in the tub for her.

She remembered how he explicitly told her not to eat the bubbles but at the moment, she really wanted to know what they tasted like.

"I could eat them. Or I can listen to Damon and not eat them," She mutters quietly to herself.

"Don't eat the bubbles Ophelia!" Damon shouts from downstairs as he pours himself a glass of bourbon.

She huffed to herself, causing the bubbles to blow out of her hand and back into the tub.

Ophelia smiled to herself as she then continued to hum and just enjoy messing with the water and bubbles.

• • •
A hiccup rang out from the Salvatore home's staircase.

Damon turned around from his spot on the couch to see Ophelia walking down the old mahogany wood steps.

Ophelia's wet hair sloshed around until she finally reached the final step. Standing there awkwardly, ringing her fingers. Shirt on backwards and inside out, which was clear from how the tag stuck out.

She hiccuped again and bubbles flew from her mouth. Floating in the air for a moment before popping.

"Did you just... hiccup bubbles?" Damon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No...." Ophelia denied instantly with the shake of her head, her voice trailing off. Her wet hair moving with her head and getting Stefan's shirt damp.

It was silent for a moment or so. "...yes," She muttered a bit shamefully as she hiccuped again.

Damon sighed and said "I guess.... you'll just have to hiccup them out over time,"

"I ate the bubbles," She muttered and Damon nodded slowly, taking a long sip from his alcoholic beverage.

"I got that," He said before turning back towards the television and downing another full glass of bourbon.

She continued to wring her fingers before moving towards Damon and sitting on the couch beside him slowly like a frightened dog.

Damon picked up the remote and sighed quietly.

"This is a remote. We use it to turn on the tv. The tv gives us little stories to watch. You know what a story is right?" Damon told her.

Ophelia nodded in understanding. "I know what a story is," She smiled and Damon sighed again in relief.

"Good. I didn't want to have to explain that," He muttered.

She only gave him, her usual smile and rested her head on his shoulder as he started the movie up.

Ophelia watched in silent awe as the word 'twilight,' appeared in cursive like writing on the tv.

"It's a show about vampires," He muttered to her and she nodded, her full attention on the television.

"Why do they sparkle like the shiny stuff I put on your bed?" Ophelia asked.

"You put glitter in my bed? Why?" Damon asked and Ophelia picked her head off his shoulder so she could look at him in the eye before quickly looking away.

She shrugged, "why not?" She countered and Damon sighed.

"I need to be more drunk to raise this kid," He muttered as he patted her head, standing to get another drink while Ophelia watched the glistening vampires on the tv intensely.

He then paused. "How'd you know which was my room?"

"I didn't. I just guessed. The third door to the left of the room of baths," Ophelia said, still staring at the television.

"That's Stefan's room! Ha! Nice one," He praised while raising his hand for a high five.

Ophelia glanced towards him before turning back to the tv.

Damon sighed and gently grabbed her hand before high fiv-ing himself.

"Ooo. That was fun! What's it called?" Ophelia asked with a bright smile. Her attention now back on Damon.

"It's a High five. When you want one you just raise your hand up. Usually people give them as a way of saying 'good job,'" Damon explained.

Ophelia nodded silently before speaking.

"Do you get a lot of high fives?" She questioned innocently with a tilt of her head.

Damon scowled and just muttered a soft. "Go watch the stupid sponge!"

He was referring to the Sponge Bob cartoon that was playing on the television for Ophelia.

Then he notices the tag of her shirt. "Are you wearing that inside out and backwards?"

"I tried the other ways and they didn't feel right, all itchy or too tight," Ophelia explained her reasoning for assuming that this was the right way to wear a t-shirt.

Damon sighed. "Okay well we gotta fix it," he told her.

She shrugs in return. "Okay!" she said before slipping the shirt off as Damon turned away.

She tried to put it on correctly a few times before tossing it at Damon.

It landed on his head, and smacked his face, effectively covering his eyes and huffed slightly in disbelief at what his life had become.

He pulls it off his head and fixes it before tossing it over his head back at her without glancing. She slipped it on and exclaimed "done!"

She frowned and began itching her back. Damon sighed and moved to the kitchen to grab some scissors.

He came back and made a come here motion with his hand. She got off the couch and stood just before him, he took the tag as he moved her hair out of the way. Snipping it off for her.

"How's that?" He asked.

"Better," She smiled brightly, spinning around and hugging him. Making him let out a small 'oof' from the impact. He let her embrace him, his arms awkwardly hanging in the air.

"Thanks," Ophelia mumbled before pulling away from the still stunned Damon. She skipped away to watch cartoons while Damon stood there with furrowed eyebrows.

• • •

Ophelia's eyes carefully adjusted as they focused on the surrounding of the room Damon had shown her too.

"It's dark," she mumbled.

"Well yeah, it's nighttime and there's no light on right now," Damon retorted easily.

Ophelia smiled. "It's all dark! Like outside used to be!" She said excitedly looking around the very dark room that was barely illuminated by the hallways lamp light.

She stepped further into the room, looking around as she slowly spun in a circle.

"What do you mean by how the 'outside used to be?'" He asked curiously, leaning against the door frame, watching as she marveled at the simple room.

Damon figured she had a better imagination than him because he truly didn't see anything special about the room.

"It used to be dark out until lights began to shine all day and all night, taking the darkness from the world," She frowned.

"Well isn't that a good thing? No one wants to be in complete darkness?" Damon asked in turn.

"Yes but I wanna see the soft glow of the stars again..." she mumbled softly looking out the window longingly as the street lights kept the stars away.

"Yeah well sorry kid. Those lights are for the cars," Damon said, still nursing a drink.

Ophelia frowned unfamiliar with the word 'cars' but deciding to ignore it for now.

"It's late. Why don't you hop in bed?" Damon asked.

4336 words • • •