Title: Shadow Dance
Rating: M (language, violence, incest, sexual situations)
Pairings: Basically any combination you can make from Damon, Stefan, Elena, and Katherine. Mostly Damon x Stefan x Elena. You've been warned.
Other warnings: Dark themes & spoilers up to and including season 2, which also means that after a new episode has aired, anything is fair game.

A/N: Hello, everyone! This is just a short, multi-chaptered fiction that I've been working on. I thought that I would post it and see how it does. I'll update weekly; maybe more often if I'm not too busy. For those of you reading Push, yes, I intend to finish it, but when I have more time!

In the meanwhile, please enjoy this and let me know what you think! :)

Shadow Dance
Chapter I: Denial

I tried to kill the pain
But only brought more
I lay dying
And I'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal
I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming
Am I too lost to be saved?
Am I too lost?
- Evanescence, "Tourniquet"

"Do you know how long I've waited to see you on your knees at my mercy, Damon Salvatore?"

I weakly lifted my head, blood steadily dripping from my mouth onto my tattered clothing. "Hmm," I began sarcastically, "perhaps from the moment you first laid eyes on me. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist my charms for long." I smirked, even though that particular facial expression aggravated the cuts on my face.

He kicked me in the ribs, causing me to gasp in pain. "You're a bit too much of a smart ass for my own personal liking," he snarled, eyes flashing at me.

Despite the throbbing from the kick, I found myself grinning. "Then maybe you should let me go, if you aren't as smitten with me as you thought you were."

Mason grinned back – but cruelly. "I know that if I have at least one of you, they'll all come flocking to your God damn rescue, and set my plan into motion to destroy all of you little blood-sucking mother-fuckers. Then the Lockwood family can once again run this town in peace and quiet without chaos and havoc at every turn."

"Is the Lockwood family capable of running anything? 'Cause let me tell you – the mayor, your fool of a brother – certainly didn't bring anything to Mystic Falls that it didn't already have. Except for maybe that smart-mouth douche-bag son of his." I smirked again, seeing his eyes light up with fury.

Mason bent down and pulled me straight up by the hair, gripping tightly, and then slammed my body into the cold stone wall. My chained hands scraped against the stone and I could feel the little cuts in my skin sting.

"You really don't have any self-control, do you, Salvatore?" he snarled, his face so close to mine that I could count the whiskers on his chin.

"Nope," I agreed. "If you wanted a quiet, complacent captive, you probably should have taken Stefan." I felt my eyes flash and my jaw clench. "But if you would have done that, I would have ripped you limb from limb in seconds, and you'd be lying in pieces in a werewolf graveyard right now."

Mason moved his head back and studied me, still keeping me pinned there. He yanked at my hair again, forcing me to look at him. "Sensitive about your brother, Damon?"

I didn't answer, but I didn't avert my gaze, either.

"Well, that's surprising. Considering from what I understand, he's the one who gets everything – praise, trust, understanding, and hmm...oh, yes. Love." Mason smirked at me and I felt my heart twist painfully for a moment.

I refused to give him any kind of satisfaction, so I just met his stare head-on, and said, "Those traits you just listed? They're seen as weaknesses in my world, so I'm quite happy without them. Thanks for coming out, though."

"I think I've touched a nerve." The bastard laughed and then grabbed me tightly under the arm and led me to a set of chains. He lifted my hands up from behind my back and over my head in the most painful way possible, and shackled me up. He adjusted the cuffs so that they were tighter than before. I could feel them cutting into my wrist, rubbing the skin raw.

"Now we wait," Mason said, leaning in close, lips nearly touching my ear. "In the meanwhile, we can play some games to pass the time."

He produced, from his belt loop, a long, thin knife. And then he smiled and drove it straight into my abdomen.