ELENA
"We digitized all our archives last year," Logan informed Elena as he led her through the news station towards the archive room. "You can pull all the remote footage right up on the screen. What is it exactly you're looking for?" As they walked into the room, she said, "An incident from 1953, if it even happened— at the old Salvatore Boarding House."
Just then, his phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket to answer it. "Sorry, one second," he apologized, answering the phone. "Yeah? Alright, be right there." Then he hung up and sighed sheepishly. "I gotta go," he sighed. "Can you believe there is actual news to cover in this town? Okay, so use keywords to search through the database. It's pretty easy to navigate, and Brady down in tech will help you out with anything you need." Elena nodded graciously. "Thank you so much."
He smiled as he headed back for the door, before asking, "Can you put in a good word for me with Jenna?" She smiled, "You got it." After he left the room, she focused back on the computer screen and began her investigation into Stefan Salvatore.
JEREMY
A while later, he was sitting against a tree staring off into space with Vicki laying against his chest dazily. He let out an airy chuckle and she smiled. "What?" she giggled. "I'm stoned in a cemetery," he huffed. "They don't mind, they're dead," she quipped. "You know what, I'm gonna take this up a notch. Hey, Tony." As one of the other guys handed him a beer, he heard Vicki fish something out of her pocket and toss it to Tony.
"Whoa, nice," Tony grinned. "Vickies from Vicki." Tony handed his girl the vial, and she smirked, "Well, thank you, Elena Gilbert, whoever you are." At hearing his sister's name, Jeremy sobered up real quick. "You took those from the house?" he balked in shock at Vicki. The drug addict snorted lazily. "She wasn't using it," Vicki slurred.
However, Jeremy was already on his feet to grab his sister's medicine. "She's gonna notice they're gone. It's not cool," he said, snatching back the vial of pills. "It's no big deal, Jer," Vicki argued. "Yeah, it kinda is, Vic," Jeremy countered. Then, he grabbed his jacket and walked from the cemetery even as the other delinquents taunted and teased him.
Vicki chastised them for their immaturity and got up to go after Jeremy. "I'm sorry, Jeremy. I didn't mean to make you mad," she apologized once she caught up to him. "Oh, yeah? Then what are we doing in a cemetery hanging around with a bunch of losers?" Jeremy fumed as he continued, never once stopping to turn around.
Vicki gave Jeremy an affronted look and came around to the front to look him in the eye, forcing him to stop. "Those are my friends," she snapped.
"They're a waste of space small-town lifers," he insulted. A flash of hurt raced across her face, before hardening into an angry expression. "Yeah? What am I?" she seethed. "You're different, Vic," Jeremy reasoned. "No, you are! You're the kid with the big house who's acting out because his parents died. Guess what?" she hissed. "You'll get over it. You'll pull yourself together, move on, and one day tell your kids stories about your dark period growing up. And I'll still be here, waiting tables at the grill, partying at the cemetery with a bunch of waste of space small-town lifers."
"Vicki, I—" Jeremy started.
"Go home, Jeremy," Vicki spat, pushing him away, as he tried to come closer. "If I want to feel like crap about myself, I'll just go back to Tyler." Then she turned and walked away back towards the cemetery, leaving Jeremy alone.
STEFAN & MATT
Meanwhile, back at the school, Logan Fell just arrived back on the scene along with the Fire Department who had arrived shortly after the incident with the car. Across the way, Matt was sweeping up the pavement when he was approached by Stefan. "Hey, have you seen Elena?" Stefan asked. Matt looked up from what he was doing and shook his head. "No, not for a while," he answered. "You think she went home early?" Stefan asked. "Not sure," Matt replied simply. Stefan let out a deep breath and nodded solemnly, turning to walk back the way he came.
"Hey, wait," Matt called out before Stefan could get too far. Stefan turned back and waited for Matt to continue. "I'm not saying this for you, I'm saying this for Elena, and Dean. But she's big on trust, they both are. So whatever you're holding back from Elena, whatever, Dean is having to lie for you and risk his entire relationship for, just come out and say it. Because the more you hide it, the more she won't stop until she finds out, and then both of you are gonna be on the chopping block," Matt advised. "Dean has already lost so much. And if he loses her because of you, then whether you're his friend or not, I'll kick your ass." Then, he went back to sweeping and shooed Stefan away.
ELENA
At the station, Elena was still searching through the archives looking for reports on the murder of June 1953 at the Salvatore mansion when she found a match. When she moved the mouse to click on the archive, a black and white video popped up and began to play.
"This is Franklin Fell, reporting to you from the Salvatore Boarding House, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy," the reporter stated. "Ok, they're bringing out the bodies. See if you can get closer." The cameraman zoomed in on the police officers, as they rolled out a gurney with the blanketed corpse of the deceased Salvatore descendant. Just then, Franklin Fell caught sight of someone interesting standing on the patio.
"Is that the nephew?" he asked, urging the cameraman to aim the camera at the person Fell was referring to. When the camera zoomed in, Elena gasped, and her heart crawled into her throat. Despite the grainy imagery, there was no doubt in her mind that that was Stefan Salvatore.
But how? How could he have been there in 1953, and then decades pass and he hasn't aged a day? Was this his secret? Was this what Stefan, Dean, and now Sam were keeping from her?
All she knew for sure was that the more answers she got, the more questions arose, and the more everything started to make less sense than it did before.
CAROLINE
After narrowly escaping the Salvatore mansion, Caroline raced back home and collapsed onto her bed, and remained there for the rest of the evening. When her mother came home, she came into Caroline's room, and said, "I didn't see you at the car wash."
"Left early."
The sheriff frowned in concern. "Honey, are you okay?" she asked. "Anything you want to talk about? Is it a boy thing?"
Caroline sighed sharply, "Mom, if I want to talk boys, I'll call Dad. At least he's successfully dating one."
Caroline ignored the muffled sound of hurt that escaped her mother's mouth, even as the sheriff turned and walked out of her room dejectedly. She didn't want to talk about anything. All she wanted was to be left alone.
STEFAN & DEAN
When he got home and saw Zach's body crumpled on the floor, Stefan was horrified and winced regretfully as he saw a small dribble of blood ooze out of Zach's slackened jaw. Steadying his trembling hand, and holding back tears, Stefan pulled out his phone and dialed Dean's number. On the third ring, his friend answered, and Stefan said, "Dean, you need to get over here right now."
"Why, what's wrong?" Dean asked through the phone.
"It's Damon. While we were out, he killed Zach," Stefan cried softly.
"HE WHAT?!"
"Dean, when you come... make sure you bring your stake," Stefan finished. Then he hung up the phone and went upstairs to grab his own wooden stake that he keep just in case.
SAM & DEAN
After he got off the phone with Stefan, Dean started explaining to Sam what he had just been told, as he rushed down the hall to his room, and pulled out the duffel bag of their old hunting gear. Exhaling deeply, he and his brother stared for a moment at all of their arsenals before grabbing their pistols and loading them up with a cartridge of wooden bullets.
Sam grabbed his sheathed machete while Dean grabbed his stake. Then the oldest brother zipped up the bag again and shoved it back under the bed. Once he and his brother were strapped up and ready to go they left Dean's bedroom, and headed for the door, just as they saw Sheila open it up to reveal, a crying Bonnie Bennett.
Bonnie sniffled and sobbed, as she stared at the three of them, a visible terror in her eyes. "Bon, what happened?" Dean asked, going up to her immediately, his pulse already heightened by the intense paranoia flowing through his mind. "I don't know what's happening to me," she cried burying her face in Dean's jacket. Dean cooed softly and let her into the house, and she immediately rushed to her grandmother.
"Boys, shut the door," Sheila ordered.
"Sheila, we have to go," Sam insisted.
"Damon will still be out there when we're all done talking," Sheila griped, making the boys wince. "She needs to know the truth, boys. And you need to be here to tell her." Realizing that there was no way for them to get out of this, Sam and Dean sighed, as the eldest Winchester closed the door to Sheila's house and locked it.
LOGAN FELL
Once Jenna had disappeared into the kitchen, Logan snuck upstairs to go look in Jeremy's room for the pocket watch, taking extra care to place everything back where it originally was. When he found it, he smiled smugly and stuffed it into his pocket before sneaking back out of the room only to be caught by Jeremy. "What are you doing here?" the teenager questioned.
"Oh, hey, man. I was just looking for the bathroom," he lied.
CAROLINE
Once she got out of the showered, Caroline quickly dressed for bed. But before she went to sleep, she turned and gazed longingly at the pendant hanging on the hook by her window. Shaking herself out of it, she sighed, as she got into bed, turned out the lamp, and went to sleep.
But through the uncovered window, the moonlight seeped into her bedroom, hitting the pendant at the perfect angle, reflecting a big gold pendant onto her bed covers.
ELENA
"Dear Diary, I'm not a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. There is nothing that defies rational thought. People are supposed to be who they say they are, and not lie or hide their true selves. It's not possible. I'm not a believer, I can't be. But how can I deny what's right in front of me? Someone who never grows old... never gets hurt... someone who changes in ways that can't be explained. The girls that were bitten... bodies drained of blood..."
Suddenly, Elena remembered her last conversation with Matt: "Hey, did she say what kind of animal it was?" she asked. Matt snorted, and said, "She said it was a vampire."
And that's when all the pieces clicked into place, as she realized who, or specifically what she was dealing with. Then she grabbed her keys and bolted out of the house, getting into her car to drive to the Salvatore house.
VICKI
She sat glumly against a headstone as her friend handed her a bottle of whiskey. "No thanks," she grumbled. Just then, the music stopped playing from where their truck was parked and they all called out not it, leaving Vicki to go turn it back on. Vicki muttered in annoyance, as she got up and stormed over to the truck to turn the radio on again.
Once she did, she heard someone cough raggedly behind her. Turning around, she saw none other than Damon Salvatore leaning against the tail of the truck. "Hey, man, are you okay?" she inquired.
"Come 'ere," he coughed. "Hey, dude, you don't look so good," she replied. "Come here," he urged. "I have something to tell you." Curiosity spiked in her, as she inches closer to the sickly vampire. Once she was within arms reach, Damon let his grip on the tail of the truck slacken and Vicki lurched forward to catch him before he collapsed.
Damon steadied himself and put a hand over her mouth before sinking his fangs into her throat. She fought back as she screamed into his hand, but every once of blood he drank made him stronger, and eventually, his gaunt skin returned to its rosy pale shade.
Vicki's screams slowly died out, and her arms went limp. Within moments, her vision blurred together, and everything faded to black.
STEFAN
Once he found the stake that he had hidden away, Stefan prepared himself to go out to hunt down his brother, but when he opened the door, he was shocked to find Elena waiting.
"Elena?" Stefan balked. "What are you doing here?"
"WHAT ARE YOU?!" Elena demanded.
TO BE CONTINUED...