"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls," Mr. Tanner stated as he scanned the classroom. "How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" He questioned.
Bonnie looked up from her notebook in surprise before she mumbled, "um... a lot?" She looked at the history teacher with a small grin as she confirmed, "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."
Mr. Tanner stared hard at the young girl as he spoke, "cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." He looked around the room before stopping on another student, "Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
"It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it," Matt told the history teacher while a small grin made its way onto his face.
"Hmm," Mr. Tanner mumbled while the class laughed at the exchange. The history teacher looked around the sea of students before he found his next victim, who so happened to be 's sister. "Elena?" Mr. Tanner questioned, "surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"
Elena shook her head, "I'm sorry. I-I don't know."
"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break," Mr. Tanner told the younger Gilbert sister with an intense stare.
Emily glared at the history teacher as he continued to stare down at Elena. What kind of teacher talks to his students like that? Emily wasn't just going to sit there and watch Mr. Tanner belittle her twin sister, so she sat up in her seat as she was about to give the teacher a piece of her mind. But before she could utter a word, Stefan spoke up.
"There were 346 casualties," Stefan answered the previous question. "Unless you're counting local civilians," he added.
Mr. Tanner nodded his head, "that's correct." He looked at the young man in wonder, "mister...?"
"Salvatore," Stefan elaborated as the teacher trailed off.
"Salvatore," Mr. Tanner spoke curiously. "Any relation to the original settlers here in Mystic Falls?" He questioned.
Stefan took a long pause before he nodded his head, "distant."
"Well, very good," Mr. Tanner complimented as he turned towards his desk before adding, "except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."
"Actually, they were 27, sir," Stefan corrected the arrogant teacher. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on a church, believing it to be housing weapons," Stefan explained, "they were wrong, it was a night of great loss." He looked at the teacher with humor shining through his green eyes as he added, "the founder's archives are uh, stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."
The history teacher smiled in embarrassment before he mumbled under his breath and turned back to his desk. The whole class couldn't help but laugh at Mr. Tanner, since usually no one is able to prove him wrong and get away with it. So it was a nice change of pace to see the teacher turn red in shame.
But not even a second later, the bell rang and everyone quickly exited the classroom with joy on each of their faces. As Emily made her way through the crowded hallways, she looked for the familiar green eyed brunette. After a few short seconds, she finally spotted his tall frame. "Stefan!" Emily yelled out as she tried to her best to weave around all the students.
Stefan turned around as he heard his name being called, and saw the oldest Gilbert sister walking his way. He gave Emily a small smile as he slowed down so she could catch up with his long strides. Once Emily finally made her way to Stefan's side, the duo began to walk silently through the busy hallways of Mystic Falls High School. "I just wanted to say thank you for sticking up for Elena," Emily explained as the hallways grew quieter once students began to make their way to class.
Stefan nodded his head in understanding before he responded with a small shrug, "it was nothing."
Emily shook her head and stated, "Elena's my sister, so it's nice to have someone sticking up for her. It means a lot to me." She smirked as she added, "and I'm sure it also meant something to Elena."
Stefan chuckled lowly at the young girl before he stated, "well, then I guess you're welcome." The two teenagers continued to walk in peaceful silence before Stefan turned towards Emily in wonder. "So, are you going to the party tonight?" He questioned.
Emily's eyes brightened as she answered the question with excitement in her voice, "definitely. It's always the biggest party of the year before we have to focus on classes." She smirked as she asked, "plus, who's going to make sure my amazing sister gets to you?"
Stefan full on laughed at the brunette before he wondered, "are you trying to set me up with your sister?"
Emily looked up at Stefan in fake shock as she placed her hand over her heart playfully, "of course not."
Stefan chuckled as he looked down at Emily before he commented jokingly, "if you say so."
Emily couldn't help but laugh along with the taller boy. She felt like she could just be herself with Stefan, like she knew him all her life. As they came to a stop at the end of the hallway, Emily turned towards Stefan with a teasing smirk. "I better see you at the party, Mr. Salvatore," she told Stefan in her best posh accent.
"You certainly will, Miss Gilbert," Stefan spoke with the same accent as the brunette. Emily chuckled as she nodded her head before making her way to her next class. Emily knew right then and there, that she and Stefan would be great friends in the near future.
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Once the sun settled in the small town, all the teenagers crowded the woods by the famous Falls for the last party of the school year. Emily, Elena, and Bonnie all stood close together as they watched the flames of the fire reach up into the sky. But Bonnie suddenly turned towards the younger sister in amusement, "just admit it, Elena."
As she was being stared down by her sister and best friend, Elena chuckled, "oh, okay. So he's a little pretty."
"He has that romance novel stare," Bonnie exclaimed.
Emily nodded her head in agreement before she turned towards Bonnie with a smirk. She grabbed her friend's face softly as she spoke teasingly, "Stefan looked deeply into her eyes, piercing her very soul." Elena rolled her eyes at the two girls and pushed them playfully before she joined in with the laughter that fell over them.
Once Bonnie stopped laughing along with the two Gilbert sisters, she began to look through the crowd as she questioned, "so, where is he?"
Elena looked around with furrowed brows before mumbling, "I don't know."
Emily smirked, "why don't you tell us, you're the psychic one."
Bonnie smiled brightly as she remembered, "right, I forgot." She closed her eyes before she stated, "okay, so I need a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate."
"Wait!" Emily quickly yelped. "You need a crystal ball," she exclaimed. Emily moved her eyes around the dark woods before she spotted an empty beer bottle laying on the ground. She quickly picked the bottle up and bounced her way towards Bonnie as she held it out for her. Bonnie chuckled before she wrapped her fingers around the makeshift crystal ball. But when she did, her fingers lapped over Emily's hand, which pulled her into a deep trance. It was silent as Bonnie stared at the older Gilbert with her eyes widened, before she quickly detached her hand from the bottle and from Emily.
"Bonnie?" Elena called out in worry as she watched her best friend continue to stare at her sister strangely.
Bonnie quickly shook her head as she heard the brunette calling her name, which pulled her right out of the trance she found herself in. "That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow," she explained.
"What?" Emily questioned in a small whisper before she quickly took a nervous glance towards her sister and noticed the same scared expression on Elena's face.
"A crow," Bonnie stated as she stared off into the distance, "there was fog, a man." As she noticed the worried faces of the two sisters, Bonnie quickly shook her head and tried to explain, "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it." She grabbed the bottle from Emily's hand without touching her skin and spoke quickly, "yeah? Okay, I'm gonna get a refill," before dashing away from the two sisters.
Emily watched her friend escape before she looked over at her sister, and noticed the concern shining through her brown eyes. Emily touched Elena's arm gently as she spoke, "I'll go check on her." She gave her sister a reassuring smile before she quickly walked away as she went to go find her brunette friend.
Emily made her way around the large party as she looked for Bonnie, but she couldn't find her anywhere. As she began to take another look around the woods for the brown eyed girl, she suddenly heard someone call out her name. Emily hoped that it was Bonnie, but when she turned around, she smirked as she saw it was one of her closest friends since birth, Tyler Lockwood.
Emily decided that she would leave Bonnie alone for the moment, she knew the brunette would make herself known once she was ready to talk. Instead, Emily made her way to Tyler, who was sitting on top of a wooden table. She carefully climbed onto the table with her heeled ankle boots and sat next to the mayor's son. "Thank you," Emily smirked as she grabbed the beer bottle that was in her best friend's hand.
Tyler shook his head as he stared at the young girl with humor shining through his brown eyes. "That was mine, you know?" He jested.
Emily grinned at the dark haired boy with a mischievous twinkle in her green eyes as she brought the beer bottle up to her lips and stated cheerfully, "I know." The two friends sat in peaceful silence for a moment as they enjoyed each others company and the entertainment of all the drunk teenagers that surrounded the woods. "Where's Vicki?" Emily questioned as she turned towards Tyler. Emily always loved Tyler, but she never liked how he treated the Donovan girl, like a toy he could play with whenever he wanted to.
Tyler rolled his eyes as he huffed in annoyance, "probably with your loser brother."
Emily smacked Tyler's chest lightly as she scolded him, "hey, be nice. He's my little brother." She always hated how her best friend and brother never got along. But Emily knew it had something to do with Vicki, since Jeremy was also involved with the Donovan girl.
But before Tyler could even open his mouth, Emily suddenly heard her twin sister yelling for help. She quickly sobered up as she jumped off the table and ran towards Elena's voice in worry. As Emily got closer, she noticed a large crowd starting to form as she saw her brother carrying out a limp Vicki from the shadows that surrounded the dark woods.
"Vicki?" Matt whispered in shock. "Vicki, what the hell?" He questioned out loud as he quickly made his way towards his unconscious sister.
"What happened to her?" Tyler swiftly questioned as he ran up to Matt's side with his brown eyes widened in disbelief.
"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt yelled as he ignored his friend's question and only focused his attention on his sister in worry.
As he felt someone breathing down his neck, Tyler quickly turned around and began to push people away. "Everyone back up, give her some space!" He yelled.
"It's her neck!" Elena suddenly exclaimed as she looked down at the girl in concern. "Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood," she cried out.
As Emily noticed the large amount of blood that was dripping down Vicki's neck, she quickly looked up from her place next to her sister, and spotted a light blue scarf lying carelessly on one of the wooden tables. She quickly jogged towards the table and grabbed the scarf tightly in her hand, before she made her way towards Vicki and placed the cloth onto her bleeding neck. She wasn't Vicki's biggest fan, but a lot of people Emily loved, really cared about the older girl, so she would do whatever she could to help.
"Vicki. Vicki, come on," Matt pleaded desperately as he looked down at his sister, "open your eyes. Look at me."
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As Stefan quickly rushed into the large house, he spotted Zach sitting in his small office. The older man jumped in fright as he looked towards Stefan alarmed. "What's going on?" He asked swiftly as he saw the disturbed look on the brunette's face.
"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me," Stefan quickly explained. But before Zach could even comprehend what was happening, Stefan was already gone as he dashed up the stairs.
Once Stefan made his way into his bedroom and slammed the door shut, he walked halfway across the room before he felt something was wrong. As soon as he glanced towards his right, where he noticed his balcony door was wide open, a large crow suddenly flew across the room. He followed the crow with his eyes before he tensed as he felt someone standing right behind him. Stefan slowly turned around and spoke with a hard voice, "Damon."
The dark haired man smirked from the doorway of the balcony as he uttered smoothly, "hello, brother."
"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan questioned as he heard the black bird continue to squawk from the wooden rafters of his bedroom.
Damon shrugged his shoulders lightly before he mentioned, "wait till you see what I can do with the fog."
"When did you get here?" Stefan interrogated tensely.
"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school," Damon smirked as he slowly walked around the room. He glanced over at his brother teasingly and commented, "your hair's different. I like it."
Stefan shook his head and stated, "it's been fifteen years, Damon."
Damon rolled his blue eyes in annoyance, "thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look?" Damon chuckled lightly, "did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads."
Stefan ignored his brother's playful banter as he questioned, "why are you here?"
"I miss my little brother," Damon responded simply.
Stefan shook his head and stated, "you hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."
Damon shrugged lightly, "I've managed to keep myself busy."
"You know, you left that girl alive tonight," Stefan stated. "That's very clumsy of you," he proclaimed as he looked at Damon curiously.
Damon screwed up his face in fake worry as he spoke, "ah. That could be a problem." He remarked proudly after a moment of intense silence, "for you."
Stefan shook his head at his brother as he questioned strongly, "why are you here now?"
Damon stared deeply into Stefan's eyes as he uttered, "I could ask you the same question." He slowly made his way in front of his brother as he concluded, "however, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into three little words... the Gilbert sisters."
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Emily sighed quietly as she stood next to her sister while they watched the paramedics load Vicki into the back of an ambulance with Matt quickly following behind. She couldn't believe that such a small town could have so many bad things happen to their residents.
Emily suddenly turned her head to the side when she heard fast footsteps heading straight towards them. "Hey," Bonnie called out softly. "We're gonna go mainline coffee," she explained, "wait for news."
Emily nodded her head in understanding before she glanced over at Elena and stated, "we gotta take Jeremy home."
Bonnie nodded her head before she sighed heavily. She looked between the two Gilbert sisters with her eyes widened as she began to explain, "Emily, Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that." She shook her head and stated, "but whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..."
"Bonnie, what?" Elena questioned as she stared directly at her best friend.
Bonnie moved her eyes between the two sisters before she declared, "that it's just the beginning."
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Damon moved around the room slowly before he stated, "she took my breath away, Elena. She's a dead ringer for Katherine." He shook his head with a smirk, "but Emily, wow, she is a beauty." He looked at his brother in wonder, "is it working, Stefan? Being around them, being in their world? Does it make you feel alive?"
"She's not Katherine," Stefan growled before he commanded sternly, "don't go near them."
"Well, let's hope not," Damon commented as he decided to ignore Stefan's warning, "we both know how that ended." Damon slowly began to move closer towards his brother as he questioned curiously, "tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"
Stefan scoffed, "I know what you're doing, Damon." He shook his head, "it's not gonna work."
"Yeah?" Damon questioned as he slammed his hand against Stefan's chest. "Come on. Don't you crave a little?" He growled as he stared menacingly at his brother.
"Stop it," Stefan commanded.
However, Damon decided to ignore his brother once again as he continued to push and shove Stefan around. "Let's do it," Damon instructed, "together. I saw a couple of girls out there." He slapped the side of Stefan's head as he exclaimed, "or let's just cut to the chase, let's go straight for the Gilbert sisters. Better yet, you can have Elena, I want sweet Emily to myself."
Stefan finally reached his breaking point as he suddenly pushed Damon harshly and yelled, "stop it!"
"Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Damon yelled, causing Stefan's face to transform to the monster that was hidden inside. "I can," Damon stated hungrily.
"I said stop!" Stefan growled before he ran towards Damon at full speed, which caused the two brothers to go flying through a window. Once they landed, Stefan slowly and painfully got up from the glass covered ground. But his brows furrowed when he couldn't find Damon anywhere.
"I was impressed," Damon stated casually as he leaned against a small bush. "I give it a six," he shrugged lightly, "missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face thing..." Damon trailed off as he imitated Stefan's growling before he continued with a small nod, "it was good."
"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh?" Stefan grunted as he walked closer towards his brother. "But wherever you go, people die," he stated angrily.
"That's a given," Damon said as it was obvious.
Stefan shook his head, "not here. I won't allow it."
"I take that as an invitation," Damon challenged.
"Damon, please," Stefan cried out, "after all these years, can't we just give it a rest?"
"I promised you an eternity of misery," Damon mentioned. "So, I'm just keeping my word," he vowed with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
"Just stay away from Elena and Emily," Stefan commanded as he glared into Damon's vengeful blue eyes.
Damon stared at his brother before he glanced down at Stefan's hand in fake worry, "where's your ring?" Stefan quickly looked down when he suddenly couldn't feel the heavy ring weighing down his hand. "Oh, yeah," Damon spoke with fake concern, "sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof. Ashes to ashes." As Damon watched his brother squirm, he finally chuckled and exclaimed, "relax. It's right here."
Damon moved closer towards Stefan until he was only a few inches away before he held the brunette's ring out to him. But once Stefan placed the ring on his finger, Damon quickly grabbed Stefan by his throat before tossing him against the garage. As soon as Stefan's limp body touched the ground, Damon stood directly over him and growled, "you should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again." After a few seconds passed by, Damon suddenly glanced up when he heard a sound in the distance. He smirked, "I think we woke up Zach." Damon started to walk towards the Salvatore boarding house as he apologized lightly, "sorry, Zach," before he began to whistle a small tune as he left his brother, who was in disbelief, out on the pavement in the dark with only the full moon shining in the sky.
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Emily stood to the side in silence with her sister as they watched the flashing lights of the police that littered the Falls. But as Emily looked around the woods, she finally spotted the one person she hadn't seen since the accident occurred. Emily linked her arm with Elena's and pulled her sister with her as she made her way towards Jeremy, who was leaning casually against a large tree while drinking from a beer bottle.
"You okay?" Elena asked softly once they were only a few feet away from their brother.
Emily sighed quietly once a few seconds passed and Jeremy didn't respond to Elena's question, instead, he only kept his eyes forward. "Jenna should be here soon," Emily mentioned as the tension grew between her two siblings.
The three teenagers stood in silence, before Elena decided to interrupt the calmness that surrounded the Falls as she turned towards Jeremy. "Those people in uniforms, last time I checked, they're the police," she exclaimed. But when Jeremy continued to ignore her, Elena tried again, "people are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too."
"I've seen you two in the cemetery," Jeremy mentioned as he glanced between his two sisters. "Is that - is that supposed to be you guys moving on?" He questioned.
Emily sighed as she noticed her sister went silent and quickly looked towards the ground as she avoided eye contact. She knew that Jeremy was right, none of the Gilbert siblings have moved on from the passing of their parents. So she gave each of her sibling's arm a light squeeze, which of course caused the two brown eyed Gilberts to look up at her. Emily gave both of them a small smile as she spoke, "mom and dad wouldn't have wanted this for any of us. We just have to continue to move forward. Everything will be okay. It has to be."
As Emily stood in the middle of the woods by the Falls with her two siblings, she couldn't help but think back to the night that took their parents away. With all the flashing lights from the police and ambulance vehicles, it reminded Emily of when she had to sit in the back of an ambulance with a passed out Elena as they pulled the family's green SUV from the water that surrounded Wickery Bridge. Emily just hoped that Vicki wouldn't have the same outcome as their parents did. For Matt's sake, she hoped that Vicki would be okay. Matt didn't deserve to go through all that alone when he had no family by his side. As the memories began to come back to her, Emily leaned her head on Elena's shoulder and subconsciously held her sister's hand tightly. She just wished the whole night would be over so she could forget everything and start fresh tomorrow.