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CHAPTER ONE
betrayal
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( the return )
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Harper's POV.
*Harper's House right after the Founders' Day Celebration*
My parents have never hurt me, and yet as I watch the front door open, I have never felt more afraid in my entire life.
"I have the whole team looking for her," says my dad's voice.
The door fully opens.
"Where could she be?" my mother asks, her voice filled with worry.
A second later both their gazes land on me, and a sense of relief washes over them.
"Harper," my mother breathes out before wrapping her arms around me in a hug.
My dad comes closer. "Where were you, young lady?" he questions seriously as my mother lets go of me.
"I was—I was . . ." There's no way in heck I'm telling them I went to go save Damon. "I was—"
"Why did you leave the police car?" he repeats firmly.
"I don't know . . ."
My dad glances over at my mother, and they share a look. His attention turns back on me. "What do you remember?" he rephrases.
My mouth prepares to open when realization dawns over me. If they know about vampires, then they know about compulsion. And based on how I've been acting, I might even be able to convince them that I've been compelled to forget.
I shrug casually. "All I remember is falling asleep, and when I woke up," I gesture to my mother, "you were gone. So I came downstairs and now here I am." I shrug again. "Did I miss anything interesting?" A casual question, to get them off my trail. "Also, what police car are you talking about?"
My parents share another look. My mother takes a step forward. "Nothing, dear," she says. "It was probably a good thing you overslept. Tonight was a mess."
"Oh." I pretend to make my face drop. "What happened?"
She rubs her own arms in a soothing manner. "Something happened to Mr. Lockwood . . . he died tonight, dear."
"What?!" I blurt out. This I did not know. "How did he die?"
"There was a fire in Uncle Grayson's old building. He went to check it out, but they couldn't save him in time," my mother explains.
"That's terrible." I frown. Is that really how he died or just a cover up story? And if it's true, was he already dead by the time I got down in the basement to save Damon?
My dad turns back to the front door. "I have to go. I told Liz I'd meet her at the hospital." He starts to open the front door.
My mother remains with me, her voice solemn. "Caroline got in a car accident. They're treating her now at the hospital," she explains.
My stomach twists in worry. "What? Is she going to be okay?"
My mother sighs. "I hope so," she says. "But, dear, I need you to stay here. I have to go as well to meet up with Carol." She starts to move towards the front door with my dad.
I follow my parents to the door. "But what about Caroline? Shouldn't I come with you?" I ask, looking towards my dad.
He sighs. "It's been a long night, honey. I'll take you to see Caroline in the morning." With that, they shut the door and leave me home alone yet again.
I immediately scramble upstairs and grab my phone. I send out a bunch of individual texts, hoping that someone will respond. I don't have to wait very long.
The first to respond is Matt.
MATT DONOVAN: She's not good. We were driving and Tyler heard this noise and he got this migraine or something and he lost control of the car. I thought Caroline was fine but she wasn't
Then Tyler responds.
TYLER LOCKWOOD: Thank you
The next to respond is Stefan.
STEFAN SALVATORE: Please be careful. Katherine is back in town, and I don't want her to hurt you
I quickly read the next text which is from Elena.
ELENA GILBERT: Katherine got into the house and attacked Uncle John. He's at the hospital. Be careful
Katherine?! What the heck?! Why is she back?!
This can't be seriously happening right now.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
*Mystic Falls Hospital*
Like my dad said, I'm getting taken to see Caroline today. Except, instead of him taking me, my mother is. He had to be on duty today at the mayor's wake over at the Lockwood Mansion. My mother will be taking me there after our visit with Caroline at the hospital.
As my mother and I are walking through the halls, I feel awkward wearing my blue church dress. She made me wear it since we won't have time to change before we head over to the mayor's wake.
I spot Bonnie and Matt up ahead. I inwardly frown at the sight of Bonnie. I haven't quite forgiven her for lying to us about Johnathan Gilbert's invention. In fact, now that I think about it, Caroline wouldn't even be here if Bonnie had just disabled the invention like she was supposed to. And that leads to a whole other can of worms of why Tyler was affected by the device in the first place—a device that was supposed to only harm vampires.
I walk up to Bonnie and Matt. "Hey," I greet. "How's Caroline doing?"
Matt's lips pull up a bit. "See for yourself."
I follow him and Bonnie to Caroline's room, my mother close behind us.
As soon as Caroline sees us, she smiles and sits up in her hospital bed. "Jersey Shore is on." She grins, glancing up at a TV in the corner of the room.
I walk further into the room. "Caroline." I smile, feeling relieved. She seems fine. My dad made it sound last night like she was on her deathbed or something.
The blond notices my outfit. "Why are you all dressed up?" she wonders.
I never get a chance to answer because Bonnie brushes past me and hugs Caroline tightly around the neck.
"Oh!" Caroline winces. "Careful. Still a little sore."
Bonnie carefully lets her go. "Sorry," she apologizes.
"It's okay." Caroline smiles. "But they say I'm healing really quick."
Matt joins us around her bed. "My turn," he says before leaning in and giving her a kiss on the lips.
Caroline giggles after the kiss. "Oh, isn't he cute?" she gushes at her boyfriend. A bright smile remains on her face. "Why are you crying?" she asks all of a sudden.
I look over at Bonnie and tears are brimming in her eyes. She tries to speak but can't. It gives me a little bit of satisfaction to see her feeling guilty for what she did.
Matt wraps a comforting arm around Bonnie's shoulders, and she finally finds the words to speak. "I'm just happy you're okay," she manages to say.
"Well, I love you guys." Caroline beams.
"We love you," Bonnie says back.
And for the first time in a long time, the four of us embrace each other.
3rd Person POV.
*The Mayor's Wake at the Lockwood Manor*
Awkward isn't enough to describe the tension between Jack and Damon. Somehow Damon had survived the basement fire where he was supposed to have died. And now he's at the mayor's wake like nothing had happened—like he's not some sort of blood-sucking monster.
The only reason Jack is tolerating Damon's presence is because he has Liz and Carol wrapped around his finger. There's also the fact that he had helped them on several occasions to take down other vampires. Jack doesn't know what Damon's game is, but so far his only crime was attacking Harper, which, after looking at the evidence, it was discovered that the other vampire at the scene was to blame—not Damon. In fact, Jack is sure that Damon was the one who got Harper safely home and compelled her to forget what happened that night. Jack might even owe Damon a thank you for saving his daughter's life.
The four of them—Jack, Damon, Carol, and Liz—walk through the Lockwood Mansion together.
"I wanna know exactly who's responsible for killing my husband," Carol bites out coldly.
"I'm looking into it," Liz says. "But you have to be straight with me." The group halts in a large room. "Is there any reason Richard was affected by the vampire device?"
"What are you implying?" Carol fires back, offended. "That he was one of them?"
Damon tries to soothe the situation. "No, no, no. No one's implying—" he starts.
Jack throws a quick glance at Damon. He thinks to himself funny, a vampire trying to defend another as not being a vampire.
Carol ignores Damon and glares at Liz. "Your deputy screwed up, plain and simple," she accuses. "Which makes you responsible."
"Carol—" Damon tries again.
This time Liz interrupts him. "Your husband is the one who helped John Gilbert execute his idiot plan in the first place!" she hisses.
"Liz—" Damon starts.
"Someone got my husband killed," Carol says firmly, her voice trembling.
Damon finally manages to get the women's attention. "We're all on edge here. You've suffered a great loss." He looks at Carol then at the rest of the group. "The whole town has. We have to stick together, okay?" He rests his hands on Carol and Liz's shoulders. "Trust each other. We'll get through this."
Carol and Liz nod in understanding while Damon flicks his gaze up at Jack. The honest look in Damon's eyes is a clear message to Jack that he wants peace between them.
Maybe, just maybe, Jack thinks to himself, not all vampires are truly bad.
He returns the look to Damon with a nod of his head.
Harper's POV.
*The Mayor's Wake at the Lockwood Manor*
I follow my mother up the front steps of the Lockwood Manor. Tyler is at the entrance, greeting guests.
"Hello, Tyler," my mother greets sweetly. She gives him a hug before looking around the front of the building. "Do you know where your mother is?"
"I think I saw her talking to Sheriff Forbes," Tyler responds.
"Thank you." She smiles at him before heading inside.
After what happened last night, I expected my mother to not let me out of her sight for a few days. But she's already acting normally as if nothing had happened. She thinks that I'm oblivious to the events that took place yesterday, when in reality, I probably know even more than she does.
Still standing at the entrance, I offer Tyler a sympathetic smile. "Sorry about your dad—again." I inwardly cringe. That came out way more awkward than I had intended, but I did already send my condolences through text so I had to add the "again" part.
"Thank you," he says politely.
Not wanting to leave this on an awkward note, I wrap my arms around Tyler and give him a quick hug. It's funny how two people who have known each other almost their whole lives can really not know each other much at all.
After letting him go, I say a quick "see you later" and then head on inside. Almost the whole town is here, meaning that Damon will probably show up. The thought of seeing Damon sends a thrill through me.
I look around for an anchor-person. I know Matt and Bonnie said they were coming over later, and, of course, Elena and Jeremy should be coming which means Stefan'll probably show up too. I wonder if any of them are already here.
I wander around for a bit, and when I don't find anyone, I decide to just wait for everyone in the spare room I usually like to hang out in during social gatherings. When I get there, I'm surprised to see Elena inside just idly standing by herself, her back to me.
I raise my voice a little to get her attention. "Hey, I didn't know you were here."
Elena turns around, and our eyes meet. This is not Elena. I should have noticed sooner. This girl has curly hair and is in heels—two things Elena rarely goes out in public in. Oh God, Stefan and Elena warned me about Katherine and what is the first thing I do? Find myself alone in a room with her.
I can make it. I can make it through this. All I have to do is convince her to believe that I think she's Elena. Easy enough, right? Oh God, oh God, oh God . . .
"Harper, hey." She smiles at me, but I can see right through her friendly smile. I try not to show it on my face though.
My mind suddenly goes blank. I don't know what to say. What would I say if she were actually Elena? Think, Harper! Think!
Katherine's smile widens into a smirk.
Oh shoot, the gig is up.
She saunters up to me. "Oh please, you really are out of the social element." Her cat-like eyes keep me in place. "Isobel told me how pathetic and shy you are."
And just like with Isobel, I remain frozen and speechless. I don't want to say anything that will set her off.
Katherine stalks around me, like a predator circling its prey. "But she also told me that you're quite the good little student. So, Harper . . ." She stops behind me.
I turn around to face her.
". . . test me. I wanna see if I got this right." She continues circling me. "Jenna is Elena's aunt, and Jeremy is her little brother. I've met that delicious ex-boyfriend Matt, who's sweet on Caroline, and then there's Bonnie, the vampire-hating Bennett witch. Did I do good?" She beams at me like she deserves a prize or something.
It's not like I'm going to tell her the truth. That would be helping her and betraying my friends. So I keep my lips sealed and stand in front of her like an idiot. I debate making a run for it, but she's a vampire and could easily catch up to me. If I'm going to get out of this, she's going to have to let me go willingly.
Katherine rolls her eyes and groans. "Ugh, your silence is killing me. What does Damon even see in you?" In a split second, she speeds towards me and and slams my body against the wall by my neck.
The wind is knocked out of me, and I struggle in her grip. She simply increases the pressure around my neck to get me to stop struggling. She opens her mouth, bearing her fangs, and she hisses.
I shut my eyes tightly, preparing for the worst. Suddenly, she lets me go, and I fall to the floor. Confused, I look up and see Stefan in the doorway. He must have heard all the commotion with his vampire hearing.
"Katherine," he addresses.
"Stefan," she replies coolly.
"Leave her alone."
"Okay." She steps over my body like I'm a log in her way. As she walks past Stefan her fingers trace over the top of his chest.
Still lying on the floor, I meet Stefan's eyes.
Go find Damon he mouths to me before following after Katherine.
Once I'm sure their gone, I stand to my feet. I don't waste any time and start looking for Damon. I finally find him out on the front porch of the mansion, sipping champagne. "Damon," I get his attention, distress clear in my voice.
His eyes look me over for a moment. "Don't you own any other dresses?" he quips.
I know he's referring to the blue church dress that he's probably seen me wear a million times.
My neck starts to hurt where Katherine strangled me. I soothe the sore spot with my hand.
Damon's expression become serious when he notices my behavior. "Are you okay?"
I shake my head. "Katherine attacked me. Stefan saved me, but now he's alone with her."
"She hurt you?" Damon snarls.
I nod pitifully.
"Let me see." He gently brushes my hand out of the way to examine the bruises. "That bitch. I'm gonna get her back for this," he swears.
I take a step back from Damon. "She's with Stefan. He could be in trouble. You have to help him," I urge.
"I will," Damon says. He glances around at our surroundings. "You stay where there's a lot of people, okay?" His eyes fall to my neck again. "And try to cover that up." He leans in close to my ear and whispers, "It looks like someone got a little too handsy with you."
My cheeks flush red as he backs away and heads off to find his brother and Katherine.
Eventually, Elena shows up to the wake, and I borrow some of her makeup to cover up my bruises. When I tell her about what happened with Katherine, she immediately rushes off to find Stefan before I can stop her. Classic Elena, thinking that she can do anything against a 500 year old vampire, even if that said vampire is a mirror-image of her. I just hope Stefan and Damon have Katherine under control so Elena doesn't actually run right into any danger.
*Later That Night at Harper's House*
As I brush my teeth and stare at myself in the mirror, I can't help but think about what it would be like if my look-alike was still alive. Would Mary pretend to be me like Katherine has been pretending to be Elena? Also, would she try to mess with my life and hurt my friends? I don't even want to think about it. I'm just glad I don't have to worry about it. She's been gone for a very long time.
I grab my spitting-cup, take a sip of water, and spit it back out. After drying my mouth, I walk out into the hallway and into my room.
I almost have a heart attack when I see Damon sitting at the edge of my bed.
"Woah! What are you doing here?" I sputter before quickly composing myself. "I mean . . . when I invited you into my house I didn't exactly mean you can come in whenever you want." I laugh lightheartedly to show him I'm not really mad, just—surprised.
He doesn't turn to face me. "Just doing my part in the neighborhood watch," he says simply.
"Oh, uh, thanks." I build up the nerve to walk closer to him. "So, uh, are you going to be staying for much longer? Cause . . . I kinda sorta have to go to bed. Ya know, school night and all." I'm trying to play it cool. While I'm flattered that he's here—in my bedroom, I'm tired as heck and need to go to bed for school tomorrow.
For the first time since I entered the room, he turns his head to face me. "What would happen if I kissed you?" he asks suddenly.
I'm taken aback. "Uh . . . well—uh—" Shoot, is he being serious right now?
"Are you telling me that you can't even imagine doing such a thing?" he asks. The question feels like a jab. Why is he being like this?
"Well, I—"
He doesn't let me finish. "You know what we've been doing here means something to me? There is something going on between the two of us and you know it." He rises to his feet, reminding me just how tall he is compared to me. He slowly comes forward.
I take a step back out of reflex as he continues, "And you're lying to me, and you're lying to yourself . . . I can prove it."
He grabs my face and forces his lips onto mine. Hot adrenaline burns in my face as I come to my senses and push him away. "Damon! No! What are you doing?! My parents are home!"
He doesn't back away, his hands cup my cheeks and gently caress my face. "I don't care. Just one kiss . . . just one little kiss," he begs.
He leans down, and this time I have to push his face away even harder. "Damon! Stop! I'm not her!" The words come tumbling out of my mouth before I can stop them.
He freezes, eyes darkening. I take the opportunity to back away, thinking that I finally got through to him. "Thank you," I breathe with relief.
Suddenly, my bedroom door opens, and my dad barges in.
Oh God.
"What are you doing with my daughter?!" he growls.
I quickly try to come up with an explanation. "Dad, I—"
"Look at you," Damon interrupts, cold eyes directed at my dad. "You're always here to save the day, to keep your daughter safe—and yet you're suffocating all the joy out of her life." In the blink of an eye, Damon vampire speeds my dad into a wall, his hand clasped around his neck. "You're the one she should really be protected from."
"Damon! Stop!" I yell. "What are you doing?! Let him go!"
"I'm doing you a favor."
I hear the snap before I realize what's happening. My dad falls limp to the floor—lifeless.
My eyes widen in horror as I fall to my knees and scramble towards my dad's body. I look up at Damon and start yelling over and over again at the top of my lungs. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
At some point, he leaves. I don't even care. Knowing that it would be useless to call an ambulance, I call the one person who I can depend on right now—Elena.
She picks up and tells me she and Stefan will be right over. The entire time while I wait for them, I clutch my dad's body and scream over and over again into the empty abyss of my room. "I made a mistake! I made a mistakkkeeee!"
I f***ing should have never let Damon Salvatore into my house.
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a/n:
I am a Christian and serving the Lord means a lot to me. In fact, I consider it my purpose in life. So before I post new chapters, I'm going to ask a question (or something like that) at the end of each chapter and will require a certain amount of responses in the comments before I post a new chapter.
If you are a not Christian, I completely understand, and you don't have to take part. Just know that I will still require a certain amount of responses in the comments from other people regardless. So if you do choose to take part, it will just make updates happen that much faster.
So my question is: Do you have any prayer requests that I can pray for you for?
Please comment responses here in the inline comment section >>>>>>
(if I get at least 7 responses, I'll post the next chapter of this book)
-- roxy
( word count: 3.8k )