Heliophobia (Teen Wolf/Vampire Diaries) [2]

12-From Meltdowns To Makeovers

I hate Mondays.

I especially hate Mondays after witnessing a murder and almost being killed by said murderers' brother.

I slam my locker shut and internally groan as I head towards Mr. Tanner's classes. Then I stop, causing some poor kid to run into me and head off down the hall cursing me for stopping in his path.

Mr. Tanner is dead.

School has been closed for a week since his death. His funeral was three days ago, and though a part of me felt obligated to go, it didn't feel right. I saw the man die, and lied to the cops about how. I had no business showing up at the man's funeral.

The warning bell rings as I walk through the doorway of Mr. Tanner's old classroom. My eyes immediately stray to Mr. Tanner's desk, where a strange man sits. He's young, definitely early twenties, with light brown hair and a built figure. I can tell that immediately by his posture. He doesn't strike me as a teacher, but by the words ALARIC SALTZMAN written on the board, I can only assume that's him, and he is.

I head towards my usual seat, glad to see that Stefan isn't here yet. Hopefully he won't be coming. I give Matt a small smile, asking how he's been.

He shrugs. "I'm okay. It's been...hard."

I smile knowingly. "If you ever need to talk, I've been told I'm pretty good listener."

He smiles. "Thanks. I'll take you up on that sometime."

Isaac takes his seat next to me, and I turn away from Matt to give him a glare before turning my attention to the front. Isaac leans over.

"Have you cracked it yet?"

I roll my eyes. "First off, it's not a code, it's a foreign language, there's nothing to crack." I huff. "Second, no. We haven't. The Internet isn't any help either."

We're talking about the Bestiary.

A whole encyclopedia on the supernatural that we finally have in our possession...but it's written in Archaic Latin.

Allison discovered that the book isn't actually in book form, it's on a USB Storage Device that was hooked onto her grandfather's keyring. Once again I internally applaud her for her ingenuity. She can be pretty smart, except when deciding who gets to be forgiven and who doesn't.

The final bell rings and I lean away from Isaac. My eyes flicker over to the door of the classroom where Stefan just walked in. I shift in my seat, glaring at him as he makes his way over to his seat in front of me. But he's not looking at me. No, his eyes are planted firmly on Elena, who is seated a few desks away, staring intently at the front of the room and obviously trying her hardest not to look at Stefan.

Glee erupts inside me at the obvious problem in their relationship, though a part of me does feel guilty. While Stefan is a monster, and his brother one as well, he did seem pretty good to her, and I don't want my friend to be in any more pain.

Stefan takes his seat without looking at me, and I narrow my eyes at the back of his head, feeling angry. Even though he almost-and certainly could have-killed me, he didn't, and I knew he wouldn't. It was just a show to make Scott back off. But I'm still angry. Nobody uses and manipulates me like that.

The sound of a throat being cleared gets my attention, I look up to the see the strange man who was sitting at Mr. Tanner's desk now standing at the front of the class.

"Good morning everyone. Alright. I'm Alaric Saltzman." His voice is firm and somewhat course, yet almost smooth, and I look around the room to see some of the girls staring at him. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue." He smiles, and the girls swoon. This time, I actually roll my eyes a bit.