02. "Today Will Be Different"

Damon sat on a table in a fancy bar, talking to a businessman.

"Started out in sales, moved up the ladder, next thing you know, I'm in charge of the whole darn operation, the ironic thing is, I'm a pacifist, I just happen to make steel-press machinery".

"Huh, so what are you doing at a gun convention?" Damon asked curiously, "If you don't mind me asking".

"No, some of our machines can be used to make parts for guns, if the client so chooses".

"Oh, like bullets" Damon said.

"Oh, no, nothing harmful".

"Hmm, what about triggers?" Damon asked.

"Well, a gun's not much good without a working trigger".

"And the little thingy that holds the bullets" Damon added.

"The magazine, right".

"And the business end, where the bullets come out" Damon continued.

The man infront of Damon let out a small scoff, "I'm merely an ancillary supplier following a corporate mandate".

"Me too" Damon informed, "My colleague and I are in the same boat", the man turned around and saw Enzo sitting on a chair and gazing out the window, a thoughtful expression on his face, "I guess everyone answers to someone, huh?".

"Tell me about it, ask my wife".

"Is she your plus-one in this shindig?" Damon asked.

"Why bring sand to the beach?" the man asked, glancing at his wife, "Huh? Kidding, right?", the man let out a laugh, "Kidding".

"Tell you what" Damon said, downing his drink, "I'm gonna bring you to my buyer, I think she's gonna find you irresistible".

***

"Pretty song, isn't it?" Sybil asked Damon and the businessman he brought along with him while floating in the pool, "There's been so much good music made in the last 200 years, my favorites are the love songs, when I made this playlist three days ago, I discovered something called a jazz standard, when somebody loves you".

As Sybil's singing reached his ears, the businessman lost control over his mind and gave into the siren's voice, in a daze state he walked straight into the swimming pool.

Sybil looked at Damon, "You enjoy this, don't you?" she asked.

"I don't know, you're the psychic, you tell me" Damon replied.

"I wish Enzo shared your sense of fun" Sybil said.

"Well, he's used to working solo, he'll come around" Damon assured.

"I hope you're right" Sybil said, "Because I need him to be like you, all in", Sybil then turned to the businessman who now stood right infront of her, she put her hands on the side of his head, "Total commitment, is what makes it fun", she then helped the man float on his back, "When somebody loves you, it's no good unless he loves you", slowly Sybil pushed the man's head underwater.

"Slowest murder ever" Damon commented.

"I'm telling his mind to stay calm" Sybil informed, "I read on the internet that chickens that are slaughtered in factories don't taste as good because their bodies release all this adrenaline".

"So we're worried about adrenaline now" Damon mocked.

"We're tasked with harvesting evil souls, but that is no reason that this guy has to taste like a chicken that died in a urine-soaked panic" Sybil retorted.

"Well, just so you know, every other meal we've brought you was in full freak-out mode" Damon revealed, kneeling by the pool.

"Huh" Sybil said, "Well, in that case fear is delicious, never mind, internet", Sybil tapped the business man's forehead, "Boo".

Suddenly the man started trashing in the water, trying to come up for air, but failing and eventually he drowned to his death.

***

Dear Salvatore Triplets,

Finally there is some good news, unfortunately though it's not about your guys father, but it's about your Uncle Enzo, but don't worry soon I'll be writing good news about Damon too.

Anyways, so turns out when Caroline and Kol thought Enzo had fully given himself to the vault monster, they were wrong, because Enzo contacted Rebekah, kind of, he didn't really contact her but he left behind clues for her, clues to help us realise what we are up against.

Now let's move on to you three, last week you three were attacked by Virginia St. John, Enzo's very distant relative, you three remain blissfully unaware that you were ever in danger, but me and Kol are still stressing, with Damon not here, I think I get extra freaked out when it comes to the three of you and then I make Kol panic as well.

"I think the world is ending" Kol said, entering Damon and Aria's room.

"Why do you say that?" a confused Aria asked, putting her diary on her bedside table.

"Because I told Caroline about Seline giving the triplets sugary cereal and she didn't say anything bad about her" Kol informed.

Aria chuckled, "That's because Caroline knows that Seline almost died protecting the triplets, her not commenting on the cereal is Caroline's way of thanking Seline".

"That sounds about right" Kol laughed.

"Aria, Kol?" Seline called out, entering the room.

"Hey Seline" Aria greeted.

"Sorry to bother you two, permission slips" Seline informed, handing Kol the papers, "It's a history field trip".

"You got it?" Aria asked Kol.

"I got it" Kol assured, "But I do need a pen".

"Here" Aria said, grabbing her pen from the bedside table and handing it over to Kol.

"Why is there so many papers for just a walk to the town square?" an annoyed Kol asked.

"Safety reasons, Kol" Aria replied.

"Things were much simpler when I was a kid" Seline said, "Also, I wanted to tell you two, I noticed something weird", Kol and Aria immediately looked at each other in worry, wondering what Seline noticed, "I think you guys overpaid me this week, it might have been a mix-up".

Aria let out a relieved laugh, "Actually, I forgot to tell you that we decided to give you a raise".

"Wow, thank you" Seline said, "Any particular reason?".

"We felt generous" Kol replied, signing the triplets field trip permission slips and handing them over to Seline.

***

Damon laid on a lounge chair, his eyes closed shut, dreaming about his last thread of humanity, his soulmate, his Aria.

In his head, Damon once again walked towards the road he and Aria had first met at.

"Natalie" Damon heard his past self call Aria.

"Uh, I think you've mistaken me for someone else, my name is Aria" Past Aria told past Damon.

"I'm Damon" Damon introduced.

"I'm in love with someone, who will never love me back and I didn't want to see him make out with other girls, so I left the party" Aria informed.

"That guy is an idiot then" Damon said, "Only an idiot wouldn't love you".

Aria could feel her cheeks heating up hearing Damon's words, "How many girls have you tried that pick up line on?".

"You're the first" Damon replied, "Tell me, have you told the guy you love him?".

"No" Aria replied, "I'm scared if I tell him, I lose him".

"Or maybe, deep down you know you and him aren't meant to be" Damon said.

Aria sighed, "I honestly don't even know anymore, I don't know who I love, who I want, or even what I want".

"That's not true" Damon said.

"You want what everybody wants" Present day Damon remembered.

"You want what everybody wants" Past Damon told past Aria.

"Okay Damon, please enlighten this stranger as to what she wants" Aria said.

Before Damon could go more into the memory, Sybil's yell broke his dream, "Get up, sleepyhead!" she yelled, "It's time for some fun".

***

Aria and Rebekah met up with Caroline at her office.

"Surely your boss is starting to question your daily hobby of tracking random crime reports" Aria told Caroline.

"I told her it's like a really dark version of Pinterest" Caroline said, she then looked between Aria and Rebekah, "Did you two see the cranberry muffins in the breakroom? I got them at Hope, Mia and Nova's bake sale".

"I'm not hungry" Rebekah said.

"Me neither" Aria said, looking at Caroline's computer screen.

"You two need to eat something" Caroline said.

"We can survive without food" Aria reminded.

"Exactly, right now we have other issues to deal with" Rebekah said, "Such as looking for crimes happening farther away from Tennessee, after yours and Kol's little visit, my guess is that they're probably on the move now".

"Okay, I'll widen the search radius" Caroline said, "Especially now that we know Enzo's leaving clues".

"Then why hasn't he left anymore clues?" a worried Rebekah asked.

"Because it isn't easy being a double agent" Aria replied, "Enzo can't leave us clues left right and center, he has to pick the right moments".

"There, North Caroline" Rebekah pointed to a news article, "Two murders in two different towns just this morning".

"Yeah, and both women died of neck wounds" Caroline read.

"Did the cops find anything weird on the crime scene?" Rebekah asked.

"All the information they have so far are the victims names" Caroline informed, "There's Sarah Nelson McGowan".

"Sarah Nelson" Aria whispered, realising she had heard that name before.

"And the second name is Sarah Jane Nelson" Caroline continued.

"Enzo picked his moment" Aria said, suddenly remembering where she had heard the same Sarah Nelson before.

"What?" a confused Rebekah asked.

"When we were in college, when Damon and Kol were in the prison world, Enzo had an altercation with Stefan, where he found out about Sarah Nelson, or should I say Sarah Salvatore" Aria revealed, "Enzo told me that Sarah Nelson is Zach's daughter, and Stefan hid her from Damon not wanting him to hurt her, but seems like Damon has found her".

***

Kol had met up with the girls and now all four of them were driving to rescue Sarah.

"According to what Enzo told me, Sarah's mother was Zach Salvatore's girlfriend in 1994" Aria remembered, sitting in the passenger seat while Rebekah and Caroline sat in the back.

"I think Damon told me and Kai about Zach's girlfriend, the fact that he killed her when she was pregnant, according to him it was the worst thing he ever did" Kol remembered.

"Yeah" Aria whispered, "But what Damon doesn't know, what Stefan never told Damon was that the baby had actually survived and she grew up as Sarah Nelson in North Carolina".

"If Damon doesn't know about Sarah, then why is he targeting her?" a confused Caroline asked.

"Well, Damon doesn't know about Sarah, he doesn't even know she exists, but Enzo does" Kol reminded.

"Right, because of the frenemy thing they had" Caroline recalled.

"So you guys thing it was Enzo's idea to go after Sarah" Rebekah realised.

"Or this siren went into Enzo's head and got it out of him" Aria said, "Either way, in her own twisted way, Sarah is Damon's family, she's the triplets family, we can't let her die, we have to save her".

Caroline placed her hand on her sister's shoulder, "And we will" she assured.

***

Damon and Enzo sat on a bench together.

"20 questions" Damon said.

"Go" Enzo said.

"So, I'm thinking of a person" Damon said, "He's reasonably good-looking, charming accent, and he'd be the most amazing wingman if he just got rid of his martyr complex".

"That's not how you play 20 questions" Enzo pointed out, "Regardless, your answer is either Jesus Christ or me".

"Got it on the second try" Damon teased, "Why are you resisting instruction?".

"I'm not resisting anything" Enzo defended, "I'm here, stalking Sarah Nelson, with out, as instructed, what in this tableau reads as me resisting?".

"Oh, yeah, you're here, but you're distracted" Damon observed, "You're not having any fun Enzo".

Enzo let out a frustrated sigh, "You are impossibly needy".

"No, I'm highly engaged, and I want you to be like me" Damon retorted, "Come on, man, we finally got a cushy assignment for once, I mean, chasing unsuspecting women that just happen to share the same name? Why can't you enjoy the change of pace?".

"Because I'm wondering what the boss lady's up to" Enzo replied, "Why is she suddenly pushing the pause button on her mysterious master plan?".

"Easy, she has a new priority, giving you a spanking" Damon replied, "You put her in a mood, now she wants you to flip your switch, why'd you have to go and piss her off?".

"How are you so afraid of her, without your emotions?" a curious Enzo asked.

"It's not so much that I'm afraid of her" Damon clarified, "I'm afraid of that eternal damnation preview she gave me when she got in my head".

"That's mind games" Enzo argued, "None of it's real".

"I disagree with all of your opinions" Damon stated, just as his eyes landed on a girl, "Ah, there she is", both Enzo and Damon stood up and blocked the girl's way, "Sarah Nelson, thought that yoga class would never end".

"A gentleman introduces himself first, Damon Salvatore" Enzo reprimanded, "May we talk somewhere privately, Ms. Nelson?".

***

"Why so formal, Mr. St. John?" Damon taunted, as the trio walked towards Sarah's apartment.

"We've fallen into a lack of civility" Enzo said, "Thought I'd switch it up".

Sarah suddenly pulled a vervain syringe from her back and stabbed Damon with it, causing him to fall to the floor unconscious.

"I'm glad our time together taught you to defend yourself" Enzo said.

"You're lucky I only had one dose of vervain on me or you'd be on the ground with him" Sarah snapped, "And I take it every day, so don't even try to compel me".

"No, you'll have to leave town of your own accord, then" Enzo said, "Have you got a passport?".

***

"Still a renter, I see" Enzo said, as Sarah led him to her apartment.

"Can't afford to buy, after you told me my trust fund came from the Salvatores I stopped cashing my checks" Sarah informed, using her keys to unlock her door, "Didn't want to take money from serial killers".

As soon as Sarah and Enzo entered her apartment, they were met with Caroline, Aria and Kol sitting in the living room.

"What are you lot doing here?" Enzo asked the trio.

Enzo's eyes then landed on the bedroom door, where Rebekah was standing.

"Nice to see you too" Rebekah said.

"Hello, luv" Enzo greeted.

***

"Look I get it, you're my long lost whatever's girl" Sarah said, shoving her things in her bag while Aria sat on top of her dresser, "You're trying to protect me because you don't want the love of your life to have my blood on his hands, right?".

"Right" Aria confirmed, "So are you going to let me help you or not?".

Sarah grabbed her passport which was placed by Aria, "This might shock you but I have trust issues, I'm not leaving here with anyone but Enzo".

Aria sighed, "Fine, go with Enzo, as long as you're leaving, it's all I care about" she said, following Sarah out to the living room.

"I still need to pack my camera gear" Sarah informed, handing her bags over to Enzo and Kol.

"I'll stay with her, you guys go get the car, Caroline is outside talking to Nik, take her with you" Aria told Enzo, Rebekah and Kol.

"Alright, I'll text you when we're out front" Rebekah said.

"Hurry" Enzo told Sarah, before walking out the apartment with Rebekah.

***

"The longer we are in this apartment, the more likely it is that Damon's going to find you, so please move faster Sarah" Aria snapped, who was still packing her camera equipment.

Just as Aria said that, the glass window next to Sarah shattered and Damon speeded behind her, just as he was about to bite into her neck, Aria used her super speed to rush over to him, but he shoved her away.

"Damon, don't!" Aria yelled, seeing Damon's hands on Sarah's neck, "Please don't do this!".

"Didn't Kol tell you that I want to be left alone?" Damon asked, glaring at Aria.

"I can't do that, you know I can never leave you!" Aria replied, "The same way you can't kill Sarah, she's your family Damon".

"I don't have a family, not anymore" Damon stated.

"Yes you do!" Aria yelled, "You have me and your children, we're your family, and this girl you're about to kill, she's Zach's daughter, her real name is Sarah Salvatore".

"That's impossible" Damon said, refusing to believe Aria.

"Damon just listen to me, okay?" Aria said, taking small steps towards her soulmate, "Kol told me that you think you are destined to go to hell, but that's not true, hell isn't waiting for you, but I'm waiting for you, come back Damon, please come home to me".

For a moment Damon stared at Aria, "I can't" he said after a moment of silence.

"Yes you can!" Aria yelled, "I can't stay away from you any longer Damon, please come back to me, come back to our kids who are dying to see you, they want to get to know their dad, yeah they have Kol but they want you as well, you promised to make it up to them for the five years they spent without you, and they are waiting for you to keep your promise, just let go of Sarah, for our family, for your kids, for your Ria".

Damon looked at Aria then at Sarah, after some debate, he took his hands off of Sarah's neck, "Go, run" he said, making a smile form on Aria's face, "Get out of here".

As soon as Damon let go of Sarah, she ran towards the door and just as she opened the door, Sybil stabbed her in the stomach.

"No!" Aria yelled, speeding over to Sybil, without wasting a second she snapped her neck and then bit into her wrist and looked at Sarah, just as she bend down to heal, she failed to see Sybil stand back up again, but Damon had, who quickly speeded over and pushed Sybil away from Aria before she could hurt her.

"Don't touch her" Damon warned, glaring at Sybil.

"Why?!" Sybil asked, glaring at Damon, as Aria fed Sarah her blood, "Who is she to you?".

"Run" Aria whispered to Sarah, after her wound had healed.

Sarah looked at Aria, then at Damon and Sybil, and without wasting a second she ran out the door, Sybil tried to follow but Aria grabbed her and threw her onto the wooden coffee table, shattering it into pieces.

Sybil stood up and glared at Aria, who was now standing next to Damon.

Aria laced her fingers with Damon, "I'm Aria, the love of Damon's life, and I'm here to take him back home with me".

"I don't think so" Sybil stated.

"Try and stop me" Aria challenged.

Sybil suddenly smirked, she grabbed four pieces of wood and threw it at Aria all at once, who tried to dodge them but two pieces ended up piercing her though her stomach, Damon went to help her but Sybil pushed him away from Aria and stood between them.

"What part of kill Sarah was too hard for you to understand?" Sybil asked Damon, "This shouldn't be a tough call, how are you disobeying me? That takes a lot of willpower, a real sense of self, a connection to some shred of humanity that you have been hiding from me, so many months into this, and I never realised you had a loyalty leak, which is very irritating, I have a feeling this girl is the reason to your disobedience but I need to be sure", Sybil put both her hands on Damon's face.

"Don't touch him!" Aria snapped taking out the pieces of wood from her stomach but she still couldn't move due to the splinters wedged inside her stomach.

Sybil ignored Aria and started going into Damon's head, "Where does your subconscious go when you try to resist me?" she asked.

Suddenly Sybil was in Damon's head and she was watching Aria and Damon's first meet, the moment Damon had seen Aria, neither one of them realised that this one meeting will tie their fates together for eternity.

"I know Care, you're right, like always" Past Aria said, "You and supermom both are, I'm just too scared to tell Jeremy about my love for him, I'm scared he will hate me, anyways, I'll call you later, I need to see where Elena is".

Present Damon walked closer to Aria, completely missing Sybil standing behind her.

"Natalie".

Aria looked up and saw two bright blue eyes staring back at her.

"Uh, I think you've mistaken me for someone else" Aria said, "My name is Aria".

"I'm Damon" present Damon greeted past Aria, who gave him a small smile.

Suddenly Sybil appeared behind Damon, she put her hands on Damon's head and started going through his and Aria's memories.

She saw Damon and Aria at the motel room in Denver.

"I can't get rid of the love, no matter how much I try".

Sybil saw Aria and Damon kissing each other in the rain on this very road.

"Forever?" Aria asked, "Forever and ever" Damon replied.

Sybil then saw Aria and Damon's dance on this road when she had gone into the magical coma.

"I love you, Damon".

"Yeah" Sybil said, after seeing all of Damon and Aria's memories, "I can fix this, thanks for letting me take a peek".

Damon opened his eyes again, but this time instead of seeing Aria, he saw Sybil.

"Hi" Sybil greeted, "We haven't met, what's your name?".

"I'm Damon".

"I'm Sybil"

In the present time, Aria stood up just as Sybil was done replacing all of Aria's memories with hers and making Damon completely forget the triplets.

"Damon?" Aria called out.

Damon looked at Aria, a blank expression on his face, "Who are you?" he asked.

Aria looked Damon in shock, she then glared at Sybil, "What did you do?!" she yelled, tears welling in her eyes, the thought of Damon forgetting her made Aria literally want to die, now she knows what Damon felt like when Aria had erased him from her mind.

"I'll admit Aria, what you and Damon have, sorry had, it was magical, so I decided to make it mine, now all of your memories are mine" Sybil said, looking at Damon, who looked at her with a smile on his face, "Shall we?" she asked, forwarding her hand towards him.

"We shall" Damon said, placing his hand into Sybil.

Damon and Sybil went to walk away, but Aria grabbed Damon's other hand, stopping him.

"I love you Damon" Aria cried, "Right now, things might not look good for us, but I know you and I will make our way back to each other, you will come back home, because I know deep down, even you know those memories are ours not hers, they are ours and they will always be ours".

Aria stepped forward and pressed her lips on to Damon's for a deep and emotional kiss, after breaking the kiss, Aria stepped back and looked at Damon, who was staring at her with a conflicted look on his face.

In his mind, Sybil was his soulmate, they were meant to be together, but then why did Aria's kiss feel so right?

Aria looked at Sybil who was glaring at her, she could hear Damon's conflicted thoughts, she didn't think after replacing his memories of Aria with hers, Damon will be able to fight her, but she clearly underestimated the power of Damon and Aria's love.

Aria chuckled seeing Sybil's anger, she knew her kiss had confused Damon, "You can replace my memories with Damon but you can never replace me in his heart Sybil, this is very temporary, soon I'll be back to kill you and reunite with my soulmate, who was, is and will always be mine, only mine".

After giving Damon one last look, Aria walked out the apartment, knowing till Sybil was alive, she couldn't bring Damon home, before trying to free Damon she needed to figure out a way to kill Sybil, that's the only way Damon will come back to her.

***

Presenting 8x02 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Damon finding victims for Sybil to eat?

Thoughts on Aria wanting to save Sarah Salvatore from Damon?

Thoughts on Aria managing to get through to Damon?

Thoughts on after realising that Aria was Damon's humanity, Sybil replacing the memories of Aria with memories of her in Damon's mind?