"Was it really necessary to drive all the way here?" Ebony groaned, pulling her headphones off of her head. "A plane would've gotten us here way quicker."
"Yeah, well we're here now," Angelo said as he slowed the car to a stop in the driveway. "So you can stop complaining." He looked in the rear view mirror, seeing Antoinette fast asleep, head resting against the window. "Wake your sister up."
Angelo looked over at his sleeping wife, sunglasses over her eyes, head propped up on her hand. He smiled softly at her. It was good to see her get actual sleep. There was no whimpering, no nightmares, no tears. Just her body at rest. And as much as he hated to do it, he had to wake her up. He held her cold hand, sliding her wedding band onto her finger.
Theresa stirred in her seat, eyes fluttering open. "Hey," she smiled. She looked forward seeing her family home. Her sister walked onto the front porch, scarf tied around her head, bracelet-adorned hands in the pockets of a burgundy moomoo.
"Mr. D," Lana called from the trunk. "Are we there yet?"
"Girl, yes," Ebony said getting out of the car. She opened the trunk then walked over to the other side of the car where her sister was and quickly opened the door. If it wasn't for the fact that Twan was wearing her seatbelt, she would've fallen out of the car.
"What the hell, Ebony?!" Twan whined, adjusting herself. "Asshole."
"She's awake, Angelo," Ebony smiled, grabbing her bags out of the car. "Hey, auntie!" She giggled as she sped onto the porch.
Vera didn't move an inch as the girl appeared on the porch. Her eyes traveled up to the wind chimes hanging above Ebony's head. "Watch the chimes," she told her. She looked at her sister, getting out of the car. "Terry."
Vera outstretched her arms, letting her younger sister walk into them. Theresa's body relaxed in Vera's arms, missing how warm the woman was. "I missed you, Vee."
"It's okay," Vera told her, stroking Theresa's hair. "You're here, now." She looked at Angelo, giving him a look.
"That bad, huh?" he asked. "What are we in for?"
"Can't tell you out here," Vera said. "Come on in. We need to talk." Vera took Terry's hand and passed the threshold into the house.
"It's seems like no matter where we go, or how much we try to avoid it, trouble always follows us," Vera shook her head, handing Theresa and Ebony a cup of coffee. "Drink it."
"Got anything stronger?" Theresa asked, taking a sip. "How many are there?"
"I don't know," Vera said. "But," she sat down. "I keep having this weird feeling." She lightly shook her head. "Something's wrong."
"These damned blood suckers," Angelo sighed, walking from the table to the small bar. He poured himself a drink.
"Hurtful," Ebony scoffed. She sipped her coffee, frowning her face in disgust. "Bitter coffee, delicious."
"I didn't mean you," Angelo kissed Ebony's hair. "You're different. You don't kill people." He sat down at the table, drinking from his glass. Ebony rolled her eyes.
"You don't know what I do in my spare time," Ebony mumbled.
"Ebony," her mother called, giving her a deadpanned look. She mouthed the word "stop" before taking another sip of coffee.
"Ma," a voice called, coming down the stairs. A curly haired teen came down, dressed in a baby tee and a cheerleading skirt. "I can't find my letterman--" She took a second to assess the new faces sitting in her kitchen. Immediately, she screamed, running to Twan and jumping into her arms. "I forgot you guys were coming today!"
Twan laughed, trying to keep her balance. "You gotta warn me next time, girl." She put Chanel down. "You got shorter."
"Says the one wearing platforms," Chanel folding her arms over her chest. "Ain't those your mom's?"
Twan put her finger up to her mouth. "You know she hear damn near everything. Shh!"
"Nellie," Vera called, holding up a letterman jacket. She didn't even give her child a second glance as she sipped on her coffee. "You left it in the car last night. Hurry up, y'all will be late." Chanel smiled, grabbing the jacket and the car keys.
"I'll drive," she beamed.
Lana groaned. "Lord, help us," she rolled her eyes, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "We're gonna die."
"Do you wanna drive?" Chanel asked, holding the door open. She knew full well that Svetlana couldn't drive to save her life. Lana threw her hands up in surrender. "What I thought."
Ebony shook her head. She chugged the last of the coffee before kissing her mother goodbye.
Ebony sat in the front seat of her aunt's car, laughing with her sisters and cousin. "Girl, I ain't been here in years." She sighed. "This place ain't change at all."
"'Cause Mystic Falls is ancient," Chanel said, turning left. A blue Toyota was in front of them. "And it's boring. Ain't nothing new here."
"Is it really that bad?" Lana asked, though she new the answer. She'd lived in Mystic Falls at the start of the DuBois bloodline, she just didn't know it. The town was pretty dull. Not much ever really happened. Well, not much she could remember. Her memory was fuzzy if she tried to remember anything past fourteen years ago.
"Total snoozefest," Chanel told her. "We get no fun, no thrill, no-whoa!" She slammed on the brakes as the car in front of her swerved to the right, nearly hitting a parking meter.
"What the hell, Chanel?" Twan whined, grabbing her phone off of the phone of the car. "You should've let Ebony drive."
"Y'all okay?" Chanel asked, looking at the two in the backseat. "It wasn't my fault. The car in front of me almost crashed." Twan rolled her eyes, fixing her hair.
"That was probably the most thrill this town has had in...forever," Ebony commented. Chanel laughed.
"Should we see if they're okay?" Lana asked.
Ebony looked out of the window. "No blood, no damage. They look fine." She eyed the side of the driver's face. It was a brown-skinned girl with straight dark brown hair. That was the most Ebony could see, but just off of those minor details, she could tell the driver was cute. "Real fine."
"Girl, just drive," Twan scoffed.
"Mystic Falls High," Ebony said as Chanel pulled into the student parking lot. "Not a black person in sight." She watched the bustling students, in search of someone, anyone, with the same skin tone as her that wasn't in the car with her already. "Wait, no, there goes one," she spotted a football player, leaning against the building, entertaining a couple cheerleaders.
"Girl, get out the car," Twan chuckled.
The four girls headed into the main office to get checked in.
"That's where you went," a voice said as a pair of arms wrapped around Chanel. Ebony looked over, preparing to tell him off, until she saw that Chanel was fine. He rested his chin on Chanel's head, slowly rocking side-to-side. "Was starting to think you ditched."
"I'd never," Chanel sighed. She looked over, seeing her cousin's standing there, watching the whole interaction. Ebony looked disgusted, Twan had a sly smirk on her face, and Lana just stood there, awkwardly standing on the sides of her feet. "Those are my cousins. That's Ebony, that's Twan, that's Lana."
Twan wiggled her fingers, waving.
"Girls, this is my Tanner," Chanel introduced. "Ebony, don't bite his head off, please."
Ebony tilted her head, looking Tanner up and down. She grumbled something under her breath, earning a kick to the ankle from Twan. "Bitch."
The five walked out of the office into the hall full of students.
"Ugh. Find a man and coin a phrase," a voice said at the lockers next to them. "It's a busy year." Ebony looked over, seeing the girl from the car. The girl looked over as Chanel led them to her and another girl next to her. "Look at you, Junior."
Chanel held her hands out, doing a spin. "Please, ladies, hold your applause," Chanel took a bow. "By the way, are y'all okay? I saw you swerve."
"Oh, yeah," the girl answered. "A bird had the audacity to hit my car."
"Of all the places to fly, why choose a busy street?' Chanel rolled her eyes, looking at the brunette leaning against the lockers. "Long time, no see, Elena." She gave her a pat on the arm. "How you holdin' up?"
The girl, Elena, gave a small smile. "I'm fine," she answered. Chanel didn't exactly believe her, but didn't want to press her, either. Elena looked at the girls behind Chanel, giving them a small wave. "Hi."
"Right, these are--" Chanel started, getting cut off by a blonde teen, rushing up to hug Elena.
"Elena. Oh, my God," the blonde sighed, pulling Elena into an embrace. "How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you." Elena, clearly thrown off by the action, patted the blonde's arm as she released her. She looked at the black girl. "How is she? Is she good?" She also looked at Chanel.
"Caroline, I'm right here," Elena told her. Caroline looked at Elena with a smile. "And I'm fine, thank you."
"Really?" Carloine asked, not fully believing her.
"Yes, much better," Elena answered.
"Oh, you poor thing," Caroline pulled Elena into a hug again. Ebony and Twan both looked at each other, then back to Elena and Caroline. Caroline released her again, clasping her hands together. "Okay, see you guys later?"
Both Elena and the girl next to her had smiles on their faces. "Okay, yeah," Elena smiled. Caroline smiled and walked away from the group.
Twan gave a fake smile as Caroline walked past them. She looked back to Chanel. "You were saying?"
Chanel raised her eyebrows, pursing her lips. "Again, before we were rudely interrupted." She gestured to the three behind her. "These are my cousins. Twan, Lana, and--"
"Ebony," Ebony introduced herself, looking at Elena and her friend. Well, she glanced at Elena, and kept her eyes on the friend.
"Lana, you good?" Twan whispered, looking at Lana. The little color she had was completely gone and she stood there, eyes wide, and locked on Elena. "You look like you saw a ghost."
Lana finally blinked. "I-Yeah," she stammered. "She just--you ever get like, really strong deja vu?"
"That's Elena," Chanel introduced the brunette, who gave a wave. "And that is Bonnie."
"Bonnie," Ebony repeated. Bonnie gave a smile to Ebony, closing her locker.
"Alright, I gotta go talk to coach," Tanner announced. "I'm in trouble...again."
"I swear, that guy has it out for you," Chanel commented.
Tanner shrugged. "Yeah, well can't do too much about it." He started to move away from the group. "I have to go home with him."
"Call me later," Chanel called after him. "I mean it."
The six girls made their way down the hall, making small talk, when they passed the office again.
"Hold up," Bonnie stopped the group, noticing a new person standing in the office. His back was to them, so they couldn't see his face. He wore a black leather jacket and dark jeans. "Who's this?"
"All I see is back," Elena said.
"It's a hot back," Bonnie clarified. Elena laughed.
Ebony turned her nose up at the strong, but oddly familiar scent coming from the boy in the office. She didn't know the scent exactly, but there was a particular underlying fragrance she was very familiar with. Lana's.
Lana swallowed, her heart dropping to her stomach. She knew that scent, and she knew it well. Too well, in fact. Why was he back? He swore not to come back after... "Um, where's the bathroom?"
"Down the hall, to your left," Chanel said, not really paying attention to her. She was trying to see who was in the office.
"Thanks," Lana told her. She walked away from the group, grabbing Ebony's hand, making her walk to the bathroom with her.
When they got to the bathroom, Lana scurried around to make sure no one else was in the bathroom, ignoring Ebony's various questions. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she sighed and leaned against the sink, shaking her head.
"I'm assuming you know him?" Ebony asked. "He smelled kinda like you."
"He's the reason I'm like this," Lana told her. She scoffed, a stray tear running down her cheek. "He wasn't supposed to come back." She turned around, looking herself in the mirror. Her foot tapped against the floor. She pulled her lip into her mouth, biting hard enough to draw blood.
Wordlessly, Ebony stood behind Lana, staring at her in the mirror. "How bad was it?"
The veins around Lana's face became visible under her pale skin. She couldn't stop it. Every time she thought about it, it made her rage.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Well, the official first chapter is here! Originally, I was gonna make the whole pilot episode one chapter, but these episodes are LONG ASF. So, I'm breaking it up. I have no idea if I'm doing this for every episode, but we'll see! (We probably won't) Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed!!