Vampire Diary Ch 5: Prince of Darkness

"I don't know, and I'm worried." Adrian said, shifting the book between his hands.

Further up the river, Bella was sitting on the banks trying to re-wrap her leg as it bled, tears in her eyes, muttering something under her breath.

Jason came up to her slowly. "here let me help you with that" he said softly. he tossed the slightly wet bandages aside and rewraped it with a fresh set. "there now" he said smiling softly at her. "no need to cry" he said gently brushing the tears from her eyes. "want to tell me what made you run like that?" he asked softly as he sat next to her, ready to chase her should she run again.

"Y-you got hurt a-and it was my fault..." She said, hiccuping, "I-it was be-because of me..."

Jason smiled softly at her. "there there don't think that way" he said moving closer to her and hugging her gently. "yes i got hurt, but if you haven't caught on yet that sort of thing happens a lot to me. besides the point, i'm fine, i'm not dying after all" he said smiling at her. he wiped her tears away again. "now you don't worry about me. i won't die anytime soon. i'll keep you and everyone else safe" he said kindly to her. "now can i have a hug?" he asked smiling softly at her.

Bella hugged him tightly, not taking off this time.

Jason smiled softly and hugged her. 'is your leg alright now?' he asked glancing down at it. he Had warned her to stay off of it.

"No... It still hurts." she sighed, still sniffling a bit.

"well to be fair i did warn you to stay off of it" he said softly. he pulled some small berries from his pocket. "here, chew a few of these. they are a pain killer" he said still keeping one arm gently around her.

Bella just did as she was told, "Swallow or just chew?" she asked.

"just chew it. when the juice is gone spit out what's left" he said smiling softly at her. he popped a couple in his mouth and started to chew them as well for the pain in his arms right now.

Bella chewed on it for a while, then spit out the rest.

Jason smiled at her after spitting out his remains as well. "now doesn't that feel better?" he asked hugging her gently since his arms were so stiff.

Bella nodded a bit, her clothes and hair dripping wet from the water.

Jason noticed how all wet she was. he took off his coat and put it around her shoulders. "do you have a change of clothes?" he asked hugging her again to keep her warm.

She shook her head, "No. When we left Dianne's, this was all I had."

Jason sighed a bit. "there's only one way to dry your clothes out and i'm sure you wouldn't be too happy about it" he said breaking a few sticks and starting a small fire in the miniature clearing they were in since darkness was starting to fall.

Bella's teeth chattered in the night, sounds like idle footsteps drawing near.

Jason kicked out the fire and pulled bella close to him. he heard the footsteps drawing near. "stay quiet" he said hiding them in a bush, his eyes quickly adapting to the dim light. his body was incredibly warm, so it might keep her teeth from chattering.

Zane walked into the clearing with a make-shift torch. He bent down to where the fire was and inspected it, calling out Jason's name.

Jason let out a breath. "Zane I swear I told you before to call first, walk second when it comes to me" he said from th bush. he held bella close in his arms and stood up, walking to wear zane could see them.

Zane shrugged a bit, "Sorry. Memory isn't my best thing."

"I know i know. is the way back safe? i was just going to wait out here until morning since i didn't know if it was" he said keeping bella close so she could stay warm.

"It was from what I saw." Zane said simply, looking over at Bella, "She's tired though. We'll head back in the morning." He took off his shirt, "Here. Put this on while you're clothes dry."
Zane sat Bella down behind a tree and turned away so they wouldn't see her as she switched clothes into his shirt, which fit her like a nightgown.

Meanwhile jasno rekindled the fire, just large enough to keep them warm. He sat waiting for them to come back out. in the firelight many of his scars were visible, something he wished wouldn't happen.