[𝐈] 𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 | 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊: 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗔𝗻 𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲

Chapter Three
-- -------- --
Friendship Adorns An Old Face

My eyes open to the incessant squawking of the morning melodies due to the family of blackbirds that had taken up residence by my bedroom window. There was no urge for me to struggle out of bed this morning nor attend the school Stefan had roped me into joining. I heard him up obnoxiously early this morning, his general ambience and tranquillity contrasting the darkness held within. My grimoire laid open on the desk not far from my bed, botanicals laid out on the worktop as different liquids brewed in murky jars. Stefan had requested that I brought my supplies with me for me to further study when I wanted to be alone, sometimes I felt like Stefan knew me far too well and then other days not at all. I did however bring vervain. If this Elena was to discover Stefan's secret and determine that she wanted to stay with him, she at least needed vervain to keep her safe from the other brother, the obnoxious Damon.

Stefan calls only just a few moments after I make it into the bathroom, getting ready to start the shower before grilling me on my whereabouts.
  "What about you? You didn't call just because I skipped class." I retorted, pulling my hair out of it's tied up confines, it was greasy and unattractive to the eyes.
  "Vicki Donovan recollected that she was attacked by a vampire. It was Damon." Stefan responds, sounding in a rush as he clatters about on the other end of the line.
  "How do you know it's Damon? This town never had a shortage of Vampires, we could have company!" I defend. Although Damon was most likely the perpetrators of the crimes against the young individuals going missing, I would say otherwise until his accuser had solid proof of these supposed crimes.
  "Just meet me at the hospital, I need your help." he finalizes before hanging up, leaving me to dash into the shower before racing to meet him.

-- -------- --

  "What exactly is your plan here Stefan?" I ask following him into the hospital.
  "I have to compel her to forget what she saw. And if I can't do it successfully I'm going to need your help." he answers truthfully, making me halt in my tracks behind him as he continues at a desperate brisk pace.
  "No. I'm not getting myself involved with vampire business. Trust me the last time I did that I died." I conclude, staring him down as guilt shines over his eyes. He didn't know about that, or I had assumed that he hadn't. It was on the stage at an opera house in the early 1900s, a memory I certainly didn't favour returning to.
  "I'm sorry. You're here now. You don't have to do any magic but I want you here to see it through." Stefan hesitated before reaching his arm out to me, silently begging me to accompany him on his next doltish adventure.

As we see Matt approach his sister Victoria's room, we duck into the darkness of a different room on the other side of the hall, making sure we aren't seen by his human eyes. Quickly after Matt enters, Vicki began screaming - a sign of her nightmares coming back to haunt her, she would most likely have remembered Damon's face if she were ever to glance upon it again. Stefan soon vanished from my side to enter Vicki's room, an action I soon followed just in time to witness him compelling Victoria with all of the strength he had. His lack of human appetite took detrimental side-effects on his abilities to manipulate and heal, many moons ago I had attempted to alleviate this contradiction by summoning my powers to relieve him of his dependency on blood, turning his current marsupial diet into something salvageable for him. I had dreamt of finding this substitute for both of my brothers and any other vampire I had met struggling with the lust for human blood.