I sighed as I tugged on the hem of my dress. I really don't want to be going to this founder's event, but at least I'll look pretty doing it. Besides, my mom loved this stuff, it was important to her. I'll be damned if I let my dislike of social events stop me from going.
"Will you stop fussing already?" Amy asked from behind me, she was sitting on my bed pulling her heels on.
"I'm not." I stated
"You are. You look great, stop worrying." Amy stated firmly
"You look great, too." I said after a moment, not knowing how to respond to her compliment without giving one in return.
"Okay, are we ready to go?" Amy asked as she stood from my bed and picked up her purse.
"Yes." I stated, heading towards my door.
"Wait, you're forgetting something." Amy said
"What?" I asked, not remembering what it was I could have been forgetting. When I turned around, I saw her holding my keys up with her hand.
"Oh, right. Thanks." I said with a laugh as I took my keys from her and headed towards my bedroom door.
"What would you do without me?" Amy asked jokingly as we headed down the stairs.
"Crash and burn, my love. And I would forget so many things." I said with a laugh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun was slowly going down over the horizon as Amy and I pulled up to the Lockwood estate. No matter how many times I came here, I was always surprised by the size of the place. I couldn't imagine living in a house so big. There was a queue of people waiting to get in.
"That is a long line." Amy huffed as she put the car in park.
"Yeah, this is going to be a fun night." I said sarcastically, causing her to laugh in agreement. The two of us then got out of the car.
"Let's go, shall we." Amy said dramatically as she held her arm out to me.
"We shall." I said in the same tone of voice and slipped my arm through her own. The two of us giggled as we headed up the path towards the back of the painfully long queue.
A few paces in front of us, I could see the back of Elena and Stefan's head. But worse of all, at the front of the queue, currently entering the building, was Caroline and Damon. I should have known he would be here, but it still didn't make me feel any less nervous.
The queue moved surprisingly quickly, and before we knew it we were inside the fancy Lockwood estate. It would be a couple of hours before the actual event started, so we had a lot of time to kill.
It didn't take long to notice Amy had become distracted, I followed her gaze across the room to notice she was staring longingly at Sophie Grant. I smiled at my friend's obvious gaze and in love expression, deciding to give her a slight nudge.
"Amelia. Go over there and talk to her." I said with a teasing smile
"What? No, absolutely not." She argued with a firm shake of her head, nervousness swimming in her eyes.
"Why not?" I asked her
"Because she's so...pretty. I know I'll mess it up." She flailed her hands as she spoke nervously.
"You are the biggest flirt I know. Please go over there, for your happiness, and for my sanity." I said with a laugh, knowing that she had been crushing on Sophie all year.
"Okay, okay. Fine. But if this goes wrong, It's your fault." She stated as she took in a deep breath to prepare herself. She then shot me a nervous smile before she made her way across the room towards the blonde girl.
I smiled as I watched them for a moment, before I turned around and began to wander around the house. Dodging past groups of people who were mingling together.
I somehow managed to find a room that was a little quieter, now unsure what to do with myself. I went to take a seat when I heard a low whistle from behind me.
"Well, don't you look....stunning." Damon stated from behind me. I didn't need to see his face to know the smirk he was giving me.
I turned around and glanced up at him. I was right about the smirk he had painted on his face, but his eyes held something unreadable as he looked me up and down. He was also wearing a suit like every other guy here. But, I hated to admit that he pulled it off well. It's not something that I would ever say out loud though.
"Thanks." I stated
"What? Don't you think I look good?" He gestured to himself. He had noticed me giving him a once over, and he wanted to try and tease me for it.
"Yes. You look great, Damon." I said with a subtle amount of snarkiness in my voice
"Thank you." He said with a coy smile.
"Hey, there you are." Caroline suddenly appeared from behind him, tightly grabbing onto his arm.
"Yes. Here I am." He said with a smile that I could tell was fake.
Caroline gave me a look that told me that she wanted me to go. She was too far under whatever spell Damon had her in.
"Well, I'll see you later." I stated before I walked around the two and headed for the door. I could feel a pair of eyes burning into my back as I exited the room, and I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Night has finally fallen over Mystic Falls, meaning that the party was finally underway. Amy was still attached to Sophie's side, it seemed to be going well between them which made me happy.
I had decided to make my way over to the part of the house where the items that the founding families had given were on display. There sure were some strange things, a few pots and mugs, some plates and cutlery. I'm not sure why all these family heirlooms need to be put on a display like this, it's quite elitist if you ask me.
I noticed Elena and Stefan standing looking at some older items so I headed over to them, wanting someone to talk to.
"The founding families of Mystic Falls welcome you to the inaugural founders council celebration." Elena read as I came to stand beside her.
"Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names: Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore?" Elena said in confusion. Now that caught my attention. I moved closer to get a look at the registry, and sure enough, there were two very familiar names written on the old paper. Damon and Stefan Salvatore.
"And Stefan Salvatore?" Elena questioned, she held a hint of worry in her voice and I wondered if she was suspicious as well.
"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon said from behind us. I turned around to see he was still with a happy looking Caroline. I almost scoffed at his explanation. The original Salvatore brothers.
"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan said, clearly trying to get his brother to shut up.
"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family." Elena said with a smile.
"Well, I'm bored. I wanna dance. And Damon won't dance with me." Caroline stated
"Mm-mm." Damon hummed sharply
"Could I just borrow your date?" Caroline asked Elena.
"Oh, uh...." Elena trailed off awkwardly, clearly not wanting to do that.
"I don't really dance." Stefan said
"Oh sure he does. You should see him. The waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." Damon stated.
"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline prompted
"It's up to Stefan." Elena shrugged, evidently still not on board with the idea.
"Well, sorry, but I'm not gonna take no for an answer." Caroline stated. She reached out and grabbed onto Stefan's arm, pulling him towards the dance floor and leaving Damon, Elena and I alone.
I took one last glance at the registry, taking notice of another familiar name. Katherine. When Stefan said that happened a long time ago, he really wasn't lying.
I glanced at the date at the top of the page to see it was 1864. That would make both brothers over a hundred years old. That is if they weren't all ready Vampires at the time, if they were, who knows how old they could be. I never thought that this year's founders party would lead to me trying to carbon date my sister's boyfriend.
Damon opened his mouth to say something, but I quickly brushed past him, wanting to put some space between us for a while. "Excuse me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After spending about half an hour outside due to needing some fresh air and some time away from everyone else. I decided to head inside to use the bathroom before taking myself home.
I walked through the large house, dodging groups of people and waiters with trails of drinks. When I stepped into the bathroom, Elena and Caroline were standing at the mirror together touching up their makeup.
"So how are things with Stefan?" Caroline asked
"Great, just great." Elena said. I could tell by her tone and expression that something had happened.
"Really? Well, my radar must be off because I was getting all sorts of other vibes." Caroline said as she lent towards the mirror to check her lipstick.
"What is that?" Elena suddenly asked with a concerned tone of voice. Her concern caused me to walk closer to try and see what she was talking about. Elena raised her hand towards Carlonies scarf, to which the blonde girl jolted away from her.
"Don't." Caroline said defensively.
Elena quickly moved forward again and raised Caroline's scarf. What I saw made my heart drop, there was a large mark on her neck that looked like teeth marks. Exactly like what I had seen when she grabbed my arm. I had honestly been hoping that that part wasn't true. There was nothing I wanted to do more than confront her about it when I first saw it, but if what I saw was true. It might only make things worse. I'm no match for someone like Damon.
"Caroline, what happened?" Elena exclaimed.
"Nothing, okay?" Caroline said defensively
"That is not nothing. Did somebody hurt you?" Elena argued
"No, okay, it-nothing, it just..." Caroline flailed her hands as she tried to explain herself. "My mom would kill me."
Elena then reached out and pulled down Caroline's shawl, revealing another prominent bite mark on her shoulder. I placed my hand over my mouth as I stared at the wound.
"Did Damon hurt you?" Elena asked worriedly
"No. Of course not." Caroline tried to deny it, but I could tell she was lying. Elena went to grab at her clothes again but Caroline snapped at her. "Just leave me alone, okay, Elena? God."
Caroline stormed out of the bathroom. Elena clenched her jaw and looked at me, I could see rage in her eyes. "Elena. Don't do anything stupid." I cautioned her as she spun on her heels and stormed out of the bathroom.
Once I was alone, I let out a shaky breath and lent back against the bathroom sink. My hand came up to cover my mouth as tears brimmed in my eyes. My hands were shaking and my nerves were on fire. My breaths started to come out in shallow, sharp gasps as anxiety and fear coursed through me.
I knew what they were, I was so sure. I had my suspicions and I had my evidence. But seeing those bite marks on Caroline, made it all feel too real. There were Vampires in Mystic Falls. A few tears slipped from my eyes as the reality of the situation finally hit me full force. I've never felt so alone and afraid in my life.