The leaves crunched beneath my feet as I sprinted through the dark woods trying to make sense of where I was. In the darkness, the tall trees looked like giants all eyeing their prey as it ran past their feet. I gulped as I looked around before breaking off into a spring again.
Leaping over the thin winding creeks, moss-covered boulders and the rain soaked slippery rocks, I tried to make my way to the roads. Maybe someone could help me find my there. I gasped and panted as I kicked up my legs and sprinted. The dirt floor was a little more drier here than it was an hour ago.
There in the distance, I could vaguely make out a house. The closer I got to it, the more relieved I was. It was an old abandoned cottage. It looked like it was built during the civil war and hadn't been used since. I slowed my pace and almost dropped to my knees near the steps of the cottage. Maybe someone was home, I thought as I saw flickering lights inside. Campers or stoners? I thought. It didn't matter, I just needed to find them.
Carefully, I climbed up the steps. "Hello?" I called out, looking in through the barely there window panes.
The glass was broken mostly and what was left standing on the window was painted in dust. In the corners of the windows and above me, I could see cob-webs and the left-overs of its owners hung on them. I gulped and knocked on the door.
"Hello? Is anyone in—" My words died in my throat as the door opened on it's own.
On the other side, there were four bodies of a man, a woman and two children. My stomach churned in fear and disgust as I took in the image before me.
The dead man's neck was ripped out as was the woman's but the woman's clothes were missing. The children's stomachs were ripped out and I could vaguely see that their arms were covered in bite marks. I gasped loudly and slowly stepped back. I didn't get far as I collided against someone.
Thud.
I turned around and there was a woman on the floor. She was shivering and cowering.
I knew I shouldn't have called out to her or anything but her cowering made me lower my guard. "Are you okay?" Against my better judgment, I called out to her.
She cried a little silently. Her hands over her face, she cried. I tried to approach her but stopped/ The clouds parted and the moonlight flooded the woods. My eyes widened as the light hit the woman. Her pale skin was caked in blood. My breath caught in my throat as I slowly backed off.
"...I'm lost." She cried out.
"I'm lost too." I said, trying to distract her while making gestures in the air. Luckily she didn't notice.
"...And so hungry." She added, removing her hands from her face. Her face was obscured by her tangled and matted hair. Angrily, she pushed it back. "Please..." She cried out, reaching out to me. "I'm so hungry." She screamed and tried to pounce on me.
Now, I could see her face more clearly. Her eyes were completely black, including the sclera and iris. It was like darkness had swallowed everything in her eyes. There were also thick black veins protruding under her eyes as she tried to pounce me again. Her teeth were sharp and animal-like.
Smoke filled the air as it rolled out of the dark crevices of the forest. The woman fell to her knees as her skin turned red and rashes started appearing. She clutched her throat in pain. Red angry boils appeared on her hands and face as I watched her skittle out of the way of the fog.
"...Vervain...Fog?" I vaguely heard her breath out as she attempted to outrun the smoke but she didn't get that far.
"Heunk." She gasped as a spear landed on her hand, planting her to the half-dry dirt floor. She fell to her knees in pain and tried to use her other hand to pull it out.
There were no gunshots heard but there were now bullet holes in her other hand. She gasped in pain as an arrow flew through the air and landed straight at her shoulder. Her screams rang through the forest floor as another weapon flew at her. And another.
"...You did this." She gasped out between her screams as she painfully picked up her hand and glared hard at me.
I stared at her confused as I panted on the floor opposite her. Like a switch being flipped, I stopped panting and cracked my knuckles. Sighing, I pushed myself off the ground before I rolled my eyes and pulled out my dagger.
"Hello." I greeted, holding the dagger to her throat.
Behind me, the shrubs and trees rustled as shadows were drawn from them. I moved to stare at the newcomers. "Dramatic-much?" Christian called out as he twirled the stake in his hands.
"Play nice." His mother, my aunt Evelyn hissed as she walked out of the shadows.
Both their faces were hidden by a black mask and hoods covered their heads. And they weren't the only ones. Not that it mattered, it's not like the woman would live long enough.
"Now. What do we do with you?" She asked out loud as she crouched next to the woman.
Seeing aunt Evelyn, I took a step back and retracted my hand. From where I stood, I could see the woman's self-healing kicking in. The bullets were being pushed out as her skin and flesh healed. Though the blood spilt was still there from the injuries. Noticing this, my dad came behind me and staked the woman's hands to the ground.
Her screams started to ring out again but they died in her throat as uncle Nate pounced on her and slit her throat. He stepped back and smirked with a proud look on his face. I swallowed my disgust at their actions and looked away.
The woman killed a family. She was a killer. A vampire. She deserved this, I chanted in my head.
"What?" I vaguely heard my uncle whisper out as I looked back at the scene before me. "She was attracting too much attention." He added, justifying his actions.
My dad and brother shook their heads. Dad sighed, walking over to the injured vampire who was now hunched over in pain, facing the dark dirt floor. "We need to ask her about the others." He stated, rubbing his hands together.
Suddenly, a crazed laughter filled the air. The vampire laughed maniacally in a hoarse voice as I watched her throat heal. "I'm...going...to...kill you all..." She said in-between her laughs.
"Oh yeah." Christian ran up to her and shoved a stake into her stomach.
She gasped in pain but continued to laugh anyway. "Where are the others?" Aunt Evelyn barked out, pulling the woman by her hair.
"I...I don't know." The vampire breathed out.
I rolled my eyes and looked away. This was too brutal even for me. "She's lying. She has to be." Aunt Diana came out of hiding and stood next to me with her arms around her.
"Thought so." Christian pushed the dagger deeper into her stomach. She screeched in pain.
"Farmhouse..." She gasped. "...Outskirts...of th..e town." She added in-between her screams. "Please...let me go."
I turned back to look at the vampire. Now she was staring at me. "You killed a family." I muttered.
"I was hungry." She pleaded. I stared at her in disgust and horror, shaking my head.
A hush fell over us as we contemplated what to do. The vampire tried to pull the vervain-soaked spear that Daniel threw at her, only to fail. She hissed in pain.
"Okay. We're done here." Dad mumbled out, taking out a stake. He passed it to his older sister who gleefully accepted it.
Daniel walked over to the woman and pulled out his spear from her hands. He pressed a button in the middle of the spear and it retracted into a lip-balm size stick. He threw it in the air once or twice before giving one last glance at the vampire.
Dad grabbed my arms and my brother's while gesturing Christian to follow us. Obediently he turned away and started following us.
Quietly, we started walking away from the woman. I think I heard the woman sigh in relief or say something but I don't remember.
What I do remember was hearing a quiet scream that came quickly as it went. We all snapped to stare at the woman, all but my dad who just wanted to take us home.
The woman was hunched over like last time. But this time, I could tell something was off. Her pale skin had taken on a light grayish hue as blue and dark gray veins formed on her face. Aunt Evelyn stood over her body with a stake in her hand that was shoved into the vampire's chest. With a grunt, she pulled it out and held it up.
The moment the stake was taken out, she fell onto her side like a discarded ragdoll.
Uncle Nate nodded at his oldest sister. He and aunt Diana walked over to the corpse of the vampire. Aunt Evelyn backed off, letting the youngest two have the center stage. I watched as they both joined hands and muttered something under their breaths.
There was a burnt smell coming from the corpse. Then all of sudden, it burst into flames and then it was gone. Like she never was there in the first place. In the place of the vampire's body was a pile of ashes.
─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────
"That's—what—seven or six down." Daniel panted as he staked another vampire.
This one hid at a campsite near the tomb. Kind of risky and stupid. It compelled the couple camping there to let him join them and even help him settle into the new era.
I had to admit, that was smart. Unlike the lady in the woods, he was smart and regained his sanity quick enough. That meant one thing, he most likely fed on some animals before he found this place, I thought.
The leaves and branches crunched and snapped as I walked over to the large tent where my brother stood over what looked like a boy around his age. At first glance, this would be like walking into a crime scene but on closer inspection, it was different.
Like the lady in the woods, we found a few days ago, this boy too was a vampire. His eyes had fading black veins while his skin turned a cold deathly gray-like shade, I was growing too familiar with.
Next to him was my cousin Christian who crouched on the ground. "Six." Uncle Nate answered, coming out of the tent. He turned to me and gestured to the sleeping bag. "Do you mind?"
I shook my head and made my way over to the sleeping bag behind the body. There, one half of the couple lay in a weakened state. The woman moaned quietly in blissful pain, clearly compelled to be that way. Her light blonde hair was spread across the black and purple sleeping bag.
The woman's neck and arms were covered in bite marks. All angry and red. Blood was caked around her wounds and had started drying. Some of her marks had started scabbing over and healing but some like her wrist marks were clearly struggling to heal.
I flinched as I drew closer to her. Her neck was littered with deep bite marks like the vampire had tried to bite chunks of her flesh off.
"What an idiot. Hiding near the tomb? Like he couldn't find a better place?" Christian remarked, getting up and walking over to me. "By the way, is she—" His words died on his lips but I knew what he was trying to say.
Carefully, I crouched down and gingerly placed my two fingers on her wrist. It was hard, her wrist also had deep bite marks that still looked somewhat fresh.
I waited as I watched over her. Then I felt it, a faint pulse. Her veins very lightly throbbed. I breathed out in relief as I looked over to the three men near me.
"She's alive but barely." I stated. Looking around, I tried to find her partner. "Where's her partner?" I asked.
"Dead beyond recognition." Uncle Nate breathed out tiredly as he rubbed the sleep of his eyes. The sleepless nights hunting the stray tomb vampires were getting to him. I could see now why we stopped doing this but right now this was necessary. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his dark hair as he came to join me and Christian near the woman.
Gently, he grabbed her wrist away from me and mumbled a spell under his breath. "...It's too faint. She's not gonna make it."
"Then what do we do?" Christian asked, folding his arms. "We can't just let her die and go back to the tomb with the others and act like everything is fine."
"Chris—" My brother began as he came over after pulling the stake out and cleaning the remnants of vampire blood off the stake.
"Come on! Isn't this our job."
Uncle Nate stared at Christian with a hard look and then he sighed. Seeing this, I stared down at my hands. "I can try something." I called out as I pursed my lips, anxiously.
Breathing out, I inched closer to the woman's body and placed my hands over her body. I willed my hands to draw in light. Slowly, my hands lit up as specks of light floated around the woods.
"Woah." I heard Christian remark, in clear awe. "That's pretty cool." He whistled as the wisps all gathered around the woman.
I watched through the bright light as her wounds began to close up slowly. Her wrist looked much better. Her deathly pale complexion was washed away by the warm light as color returned to her cheeks.
"That's enough." Uncle Nate pulled my hands away from her.
Instantly, the light went away and I was back in the woods in the middle of a cold January day. I gave my uncle a confused look as he inspected the woman for any life-threatening injuries.
He turned his back to me and got up. "We still need to sell the animal attacks story."
"Can't do that if I heal her all the way, can we?"
"Yep." He held out his hand for me to take. I took it gratefully and dusted off my clothes. I felt bad for not healing her all the way but this was for the best.
"We should call the sheriff." Daniel said, inching closer to us.
"Later. After we're done with the tomb business." Uncle Nate retorted as he led us back to the tomb or the former prison of the twenty-seven or so vampires.
─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────
I flicked my perfectly curled hair back. It had been a while since I even bothered to put some effort into my looks but now things were quieter after the tomb had been opened.
Sure Damon would pop up every now and then, but overall it was quiet and I couldn't be picky about it. I did choose to stay this time around, again. I pursed my lips and turned back to stare at the couple in front of me.
Elena leaned against her locker while she stared at her boyfriend who was also leaning on a set of lockers. I just so happened to stand in between them like a third-wheel in the middle of the half-busy school hallways.
"Damon hasn't said a word to me." Stefan started, sounding genuinely concerned about his brother.
I nodded. "Maybe it's for the best. He's still trying to take in the whole thing." I added, clutching my books to my chest and shrugged.
"Well." He sucked in a breath and let it out. "Every time I try to talk to him he shuts me down."
Elena gave me a look as she fidgeted with her scarf. "Do you think he's still trying to find Katherine?" She asked with an apprehensive tone in her voice.
"I don't know. He waited a hundred and forty five years only to find out that Katherine could not care less. I mean it's gotta hurt, right?"
"And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."
A laugh escaped me as I stared at Elena with a grin. Snarky Elena was back. God I missed that. I was getting tired of the compassionate Elena. "Aw. I almost feel bad for him—Y'know if I just blatantly ignore every single thing he did." I stated with a sarcastic smile. I did not feel bad at all. I did warn him.
"You guys have every reason to be upset with him." Stefan agreed.
"Thank you for stating the obvious, Stefan."
"No problem." Stefan replied with a small grin before he turned to his girlfriend. "Have you thought any more about what you're going to do?"
"About what?" Elena asked, staring at the floor with a dark look on her face. "Isobel, my vampire birth mother, who's related to my vampire ancestor Katherine, who screwed over your vampire brother?" She bit her lips and shook her head. "Nah...I haven't thought about it at all."
"I'm sorry I brought it up." He apologized.
"It'd just be nice if we could get through one day without having to deal with any of it. No vampire mother or brother."
Oh. I saw where this was going. They both had 'that' look in their faces that most couples do. I looked around the hallway for a sign of my exit only to pause. Dana was standing at the end of the corridor staring at me. She gestured her head behind her and mouthed something, I could not make out.
Student Council meeting. I had completely forgotten about it.
I groaned as I fiddled with the strap of my bag. I quickly bid my friends goodbye before I speed walked over to Dana. She grabbed my hand and all but dragged me to the student council room. I was left to fend for myself in the incoming crowd.
Matt saw me as I walked or was dragged past him. He made a weak attempt at greeting but was scared off when Dana glared at him.
Beep.
Another message.
I groaned again and took out my phone with my free-hand while trying to keep up with Dana who did not look like she was having fun. I vaguely heard Tyler and the jocks holler at Dana and me as I fumbled around my pockets looking for my phone.
But I did catch a glimpse of a very pissed off Dana in her student VP mode flashing a middle-finger at the boys. I giggled at this before turning on my phone. It was the yearbook committee.
Another message.
This time from the photography club.
Another beep.
The art club also sent me a message. I wanted to throw my phone away as I wandered what I was thinking back then, signing up for all of this. I was just hoping there was nothing from the debate club or the photography club but I was wrong.
─────⋇⋆✦⋆⋇─────
"1862. 1857." I mumbled under my breath as I scanned the surviving journal of Lydia. Putting the journal to the side, I turned to my laptop and started typing.
I had to now copy the contents of Lydia and Edmund's journal, saving them to a digital archive. Needless to say, I was over this. I passed an entry and picked up the journal again, bringing it close to my face.
𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝟏𝟖𝟓𝟖,
𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒕𝒛𝒓𝒐𝒚 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚. 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑴𝒓𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚.
𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒖𝒌𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒛𝒆.
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕, 𝑴𝒓𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒍𝒚. 𝑰𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑨𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑫𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.
𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏.
𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚. 𝑬𝒅𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓.
𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏. 𝑴𝒓𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔.
I put down the journal again and pursed my lips. This must be the year Lillian Salvatore, Stefan and Damon's mother died. It was hard to read, Lydia had no idea she was dying and thought her mother's friend was simply visiting.
I felt bad for the Salvatore brothers but there was no point. It wasn't like I could change it. I pursed my lips and started typing again, remembering to save after every sentence or paragraph.
"This seat taken?" A loud cocky voice interrupted me mid-action as my fingers hovered over the keyboard.
I stopped and tilted my head up to look at the interrupter. It was none other than Tyler Lockwood. Of course. Who else would talk and walk like they are god's gift to earth.
"Hellooo? Ava?" He came close and snapped his fingers in front of my face.
Sighing, I quickly shut my laptop. "Tyler." I greeted him icily and put away Lydia's journal. "What do you want?"
"Phew. Can't even say hello to a pretty girl without wanting something." He replied as he took a seat without even waiting for me to invite him to sit down. Rude much.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Sure, take a seat." I mumbled sarcastically.
He grinned as he folded his arms on the table and leaned over me. "Thanks."
"Ugh. That was sarcasm, you doughnut."
"I see you still use food names as insults."
"I see someone who still acts like a ten year old." I bit back, taking a sip of my drink.
Tyler chuckled and ran his finger through his hair. "Wow. Are we gonna act like this after—"
"Yes." I cut him off with a smile. I had no patience for his bullshit.
"Well, I guess I deserved that."
"Hmm. Nice to see you acknowledge your flaws." I added, picking up my discarded sketchbook.
Tyler recognized the sketchbook in an instant and his eyes wandered towards it with curiosity. Carefully, I watched him from the corner of my eyes as I lazily flicked through the pages. He might have been a jerk but right now I felt bad for him.
After a moment of observation, I breathed out and passed the sketchbook to him. "Here." I grunted out without looking at his face. "You've been eying this for a while."
He looked at me gratefully before picking up the book with a small child-like smile. I watched with a hand under my chin as he scanned over the contents of my rough sketches, plans for my next piece or just color swatch tests. There was no order for my sketchbook but it was mine.
"This is really good." He mumbled.
"It's just rough sketches or paintings." I replied absentmindedly as I swirled my drink with the paper straw. "Y'know I don't know why you don't just join the art club, Ty. You clearly have the talent and drive for it." I tucked my hair behind my ears and stared at my childhood friend.
His face hardened and an unknown but complicated emotion flashed in his eyes before he laughed. He shook his head and ruffled his hair, almost nervously before looking around.
"Not a art hippy, Ava but thanks."
I rolled my eyes again and snatched my sketchbook from me. "God. You suck at lying." He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. I groaned, seeing this. "Seriously. Come on. You might have everyone fooled but not me. You're not just this cocky muscle-brained football player—"
"Look that's not gonna work on me, just cause it worked of Mat—"
"Stop being a dick because of your dad. You're more than that. You have a talent—other than pissing people off—stop letting your dad dictate your life."
For a moment Tyler didn't say anything. "...Y'know it's not gonna help—"
"College applications look favorably for this kinda bs. Ask my brother."
"Ugh. Fine, I'll consider it." I grinned at his response and finished my drink. "But. But only if you go on a date with me."
I snorted. "Not. A. Chance."
"Come on."
"No." I stared at him incredulously. "Like why would I date someone like you."
"Cause I'm hot and you're hot." He replied with a cocky grin.
"And that means I should like you based on appearances?"
I folded my arms on the table and leaned. I kind of enjoyed teasing Tyler. I had to admit I missed this and he was right, he was kind of hot. But the whole douche thing was not my type. Maybe if he fixed his attitude.
"Well—" Tyler began only to get cut off.
"Am I interrupting?" Another voice asked behind me. I turned around to check and instantly I regretted it.
"Salvatore?" Tyler growled.
"Woah easy. Just came to say 'Hi'." Damon walked over to Tyler's seat and smiled non-threateningly threateningly. If that made sense. It was very passive aggressive. Very Stefan. Could totally see the resemblance. "Can I talk to you?" He asked, turning to me and ignoring Tyler completely.
"Right this second?" I questioned, leaning back in my seat.
"Yes."
"Hey. We're kinda busy—" Tyler started barking out before I could stop him. Damon smirked and leaned over him, ready to make Tyler regret his life choices.
Panicked. I hurried to stop Damon before he got the whole grill's attention. "Um. Tyler, why don't we call it a day." Tyler started to protest. "We'll talk later. Why don't you go check on your other friends."
His eyes turned a pale gold with a hint of lavender as he nodded numbly. That was different. The amber color had changed. Without another thought to that, I turned to see if Damon had noticed that but thankfully he didn't.
In silence, Tyler got up and left. Instantly, I felt a little tired but it didn't take long for me to bounce back. Damon replaced Tyler and sat down.
I whistled taking in his appearances. "What's up with the glasses?" I placed a hand under my chin and leaned over.
Damon adjusted his sunglasses and grumbled lowly under his breath. "Don't ask." He turned to observe Tyler from a distance where he had gone. He clicked his tongue. "So Lockwood. Thought your family had a feud with them?"
"And yours. But here we are."
"Here we are." He repeated.
"What do you want this time?"
"I have to want something—" He cut himself off when he saw me giving him a look. He looked around before gesturing to me to come closer.
Annoyed, I leaned towards him. He leaned in close to my ear. He picked up a loose strand of my hair and tucked it behind my ear. I shivered because of the closeness. This better not be another attempt to flirt with me. I had enough for one day.
"Tomb vampires came to visit me."
I leaned back, opening and closing my mouth while wrapping my arms around me. Damon stared at me with a slight guilt on his face. There was no smirk or arrogance found.
"Ah. The sunglasses. They wouldn't have an—"
"Yeah. Um. It's taking a while to heal."
I nodded, slightly shocked even though I spent the weekend hunting strays. "They're strong."
"Very." He agreed.
"What do they want?" I asked apprehensively.
He scowled and ran his fingers through his hair. "They want to make this their home. Live among humans. Yada. Yada. Y'know the drill."
"Somehow I don't believe that."
"I figured you—"
Damon's voice got more distant as the voices around me felt louder. The rustling and bustling of people. The clangs and scrapes of cutlery of dishes. The chatter. My senses went into an overdrive.
The colors around me swirled and shifted. Then I was plunged into semi-darkness. It took me a while to get adjusted to the dimly lit place from the light showered grill. I found myself in a hallway.
A long and straight hallway that looked like it was the basement or an abandoned house. Above me, I could hear the wood, creaking rhythmically. Loud music blasted throughout the place.
Carefully, I started walking down the hallway. The old wooden floor creaked and moaned underneath my light feet. There was no audible sound of my footsteps. There shouldn't be. I swallowed and shrunk back when I heard it.
A scream of pain followed by painful groans, grunts and a guttural sound of someone holding back their suffering echoed through the dimly lit hallways. I covered my mouth in fear and tiptoed towards the source of the sounds.
The sounds were coming from the only lit room. Anxiously, I walked towards the light. I blinked as I tried to adjust to the new environment. Gasp.
I stumbled back and caught myself from falling. In the middle of the room, a man was hung from the ceiling. His wrists were tied with a rope that looked like it was dripping in a weird liquid. I could smell a familiar citrus like-scent.
Vervain.
I thought. Upon closer look, I tried to look at the face of the vampire but it was all blurred. But he looked familiar. He looked kind of like—
"Ava?" I woke up to meet Damon's startling blue eyes that shone with genuine concern. There was a sense of déjà vu here somewhere. "You okay?"
Pushing him away, I got up from my seat and threw some notes onto the table next to the bill. "I'm fine. Just tired." I said, turning away from him.
"You sure do that a lot." He remarked, getting up and holding me steady. "You blanked out and looked like you're about to faint."
"I'm fine." I repeated, putting my sketchbook and other stuff away.
"No you're not." He tried.
I shook his hands off me and flashed at him. "Appreciate your concern but don't act like that." I said as I started walking away.
"Act like what?" He called out, grabbing my wrist.
"Like you care." I retorted, taking my wrist back but I paused as my eyes wandered over to the other entrance.
Two couples walked in.
Elena and Stefan blissfully walked over to a seat while Caroline and Matt looked anything but. My eyes lingered on Stefan for some reason as the screams of pain from that vision echoed in the back of my mind.
Shaking my head, I threw a fleeting glance at Damon and ran out. I sprinted towards my car and got in. Locking my car from the inside, I stopped in my motions. A man stared at me like a hawk. A cold shiver went down my spine when we made eye contact.
Vampire.
Shit, I needed to leave. That man standing in the vale of darkness waved as I started my car and sped out of the grill. He kept waving. I took another glimpse from the rear-view mirror. There he was again. Still waving.