It is always quite interesting straining to figure out what the author was trying to say in the books. It had made me look into corners and dim alleys， searching from word to word， sentence to sentence.

When I encountered the series The Vampire Diaries， I didnt really know how to make sense of it. The series was about magic， royalty， romance and just a touch of thrillers， in which the main character Elena Gilbert fell in love with a vampire named Stefan Salvatore， and then she met his handsome， humorous and powerful brother， Damon， only to find herself helplessly drawn to him as well. During these times， Elena had traveled through dimensions， met gods and goddesses， used skills and magic and discovered who she really was and where her duties lay. It had focused on how Elena solves the situation， how she managed to destroy the evil forces and finally had a peaceful life of her own， she and Stefan， forever and after. The only real description of Elenas thoughts was about Damon. How she struggled to get along with him， and how she thought that she might be in love with him as well. The truth is， she had. But then she realized that it was Stefan that she wanted to spend the eternity with and then she made her decision.

If the description of Elena sounded weak， Stefans was just pale. He didnt have much of a personality except for loving Elena and being jealous of his big brother.

The supposed main characters were not enough to support such a huge epic series， so the question came with the answer， who is it？ Who is the one person that was essential to the story， who would sacrifice himself when it came down to thousands of lives and his own， who came back from the dead because clearly， the story couldnt really go on without him？ The answer was as simple as any answer could be----Damon Salvatore.

He was Stefans older brothers， with undeniably good looks， pale skin and eyes like a starry night， with five hundred years of living and powers that Stefan could never absorb.

Five centuries ago， the Salvatore brothers met Katherine Pierce. When Stefan first met her， he was no more than a young boy of seventeen and found himself in love with her. Stefan was imagining his bright future with this young， beautiful girl when his brother Damon was back at home. He quit college and loved Katherine as well. What the Salvatore brothers didnt know was that Katherine was a vampire. Despite her cute timid appearance， she was craving for blood and love. She loved them both and gave them her blood and faked her own death when she saw that jealousy had come between the two brothers and thought it was all her fault. The Salvatore brothers， seeing the pile of ashes which was once Katherines bright， laughing self， went mad and killed each other in a sword fight. When they woke again， they had settled in a new identity， vampires.

Stefan chose to live on animal blood， which had made him weak and vulnerable whereas Damon embraced his new life and became as strong as any vampire with five hundred years of practicing could ever be. The Salvatore brothers， who could never forget the girl who died for them， Katherine Pierce， lived with guilt through all these years. Stefan came to Fells Church trying to start a new life acting as human where he met Elena Gilbert， the girl who looked exactly the same as Katherine. Guilt and grief forced him to get to know her. Soon， Stefan found out that， even though they resemble each other， the bright， energy-filled girl was nothing like weak timid Katherine. He stopped comparing them and let go of Katherine to love Elena whole heartedly， so did his brother Damon， who had been lurking in the shadows longer than Stefan and was making occasional visits to Elena. It seemed that the Salvatore brothers were finally going to start a new life again when they found out that Katherine was not dead. Instead， she had been tracking them while working for the evil original vampire Klaus. She later tried to kill both of them for neglecting her and falling in love with Elena and was killed.

They say that Stefans love was always pure， while Damons was tainted with his countless love affairs through the years. However， Damon was the most capable of distinguishing “Love” from “Like”. He wanted to protect Bonnie， and might even die for her， but when it came down to Elena and Bonnie， he would chose Elena， with no doubt. Stefan would try to save both of them but risk losing both of them； Damon would make the decision between life and death in a heartbeat because he was sure that Elena was the love in his life， and Stefan was still hesitating. While Stefan was worrying about collateral damage， Damon was the one who can keep Elena alive even if she might hate him for that. But in the end， she would still be alive.

When Damon and Elena with her trio of friends arrived at the entrance of the dark dimension， Damon said to the Guardian that he had won these three humans in a gamble. He did， but he lost.

He gambled everything to win Elena， even his life， but in the end， he got nothing.

Damon was the one who was always true to Elena. He had made no effort to conceal his identity. On their first meeting， when Elena turned up in the empty school gym， there he was， breathtakingly handsome and mysterious in the shadows. He even made Elena forget Stefan during their meeting， he was the one who entered the house when Elena had called on her supposed future husband. Maybe it was fated， when Elena stood in the dark room， her hand just above the candle light， calling her future husband， hoping to get a glimpse of him， and there was Damon， eyes as dark as midnight， hair as sleek as silk， gesture as graceful as a gentle man but with just a touch of danger in them that had made him as intimating and provoking as a beautiful black panther， flashing his dazzling smile at her. He was the one who took ten lashes in the back for Elena， he was the one to yield to her with his own body from those razor-sharp claws of the demon bird， he was the one who helped Elena to rescue Stefan even though he knew that once Elena saw Stefan， his chance would be slim. He was the one who was always there when Elena needed him.

Damon was the traveler. He traveled through dimensions after dimensions， getting drunk in the rich Black Magic Wine， dancing in the luxurious ball room in the Silver Nightingales ballroom. He traveled through centuries and centuries， viewing tragedies as well as happy endings， ruling a group of vampires， to whom he was their king. He was unyielding， a panther that could never be tamed， yet his love could be so tender and gentle.

Damon was always standing up for his little brother even at the times when Stefan loathed him. He locked his heart in cold layers of stone until he couldnt be hurt easily anymore. He killed people， he drank human blood， he despised them， yet he still cared. Those layers of stone was hardships that Stefan could never understand or manage， but under those layers， there lied a heart as soft as it could be. He locked his secrets， never revealing them to anyone. Those burdens he carried around could weight over a thousand ton， but he stayed on and managed to become someone Stefan could never dream to be.

He was special to Elena. When Damon died， a part of Elena died with him. Dimensions after dimensions， crystal skies or starry night， it wont be the same without a Damon in it. He was the one who could dry the tears of Elenas face with a black handkerchief. He always said that he was a gentleman， and he truly was. He was loyal， graceful， and all the things that a gentlemen should be.

He chose to leave when Elena chose Stefan. He said that he would travel around the world， maybe China or Tokyo. He flashed her dazzling smile at her， which was as beautiful as ever. It was the perfect mask to conceal his true thoughts. Somehow， I read sadness out of it， which had followed him through all five centuries， from the moment that he had turned into a vampire， and he was fated to be alone. Alone and alone， through all eternity.

They say he was a devil， maybe he was——he murdered people， he never stopped to look back， but he still loved and cared. If Damons a devil， I have no problem to say that Im totally， completely in love with the thing most feared by people. I love Damon Salvatore！

【作者簡介】王怡菲，郑州中学九（1）班。