Irisa
When I get downstairs the next morning, my father says "Your detention was canceled. The principal sees no point in you or Matt going with Mr. Tanner being dead."
"Oh." I say, and my father looks towards the living room. "What's going on?" I ask him, and strain to hear, knowing something must be going on. A familiar voice, talking extremely low, resounds off the walls in the living room, talking to my mother.
"Well, the Donovan girl took off last night, Irisa. Levi is here. Apparently Sheriff Forbes wants you in for questioning." Dad says, and I rush towards the living room. Levi smiles when he sees me, monumentally ignoring my mother to give me his full attention. My mother stops talking, and looks over at me, as if surprised to see me standing there, so silently that she hadn't heard me appear.
"Oh, Irisa, dear. You need to go get the questioning out of the way. Mr. de Grèves said he'd take you since your brother already left and your father just got back." Mom says, looking over at Levi with a smile.
"Mr. de Grèves, huh?" I smirk, and roll my eyes. "You're okay with Levi taking me?" I ask and my father clears his throat, as he'd just walked into the room.
"Only if there's no reason I shouldn't trust you," My father tells Levi, eyeing him carefully.
"No, sir. You can trust me." Levi says, and my father looks over at me.
I nod. "I'll be fine, daddy." I tell him, and he nods as well, obvious knowing that I can take care of myself.
"Alright." He says, glancing over at Levi again. "Afterwards, maybe you can make sure she eats something?" He asks Levi, obviously concerned.
"Of course, sir." Levi tells my father. "Irisa?" I nod, grabbing my jacket from the coat hook. Levi helps me put it on, says goodbye to my parents, and we walk outside. My eyes fall on a sleek black Charger, and I glance over at Levi surprise. "I went home last night and got it. Figured it would be smart to have a way to drive you around."
"It's beautiful." I lightly run my hand over the body of the car.
Levi smiles, and opens the door for me. I get in and Levi zips around to the drivers side, getting in as well.
"So, Elena, Damon and Stefan really suck, Irisa. And not in the ironic, vampire way." Levi says, starting the car.
"What did they do?" I grit my teeth and demand.
"Elena had Damon compel Jeremy to forget Vicki's death, and Stefan just let them." Levi says quietly as he drives.
"No!" I shriek and Levi nods.
"I know. I was with you, remember?" Levi says. "Or, I would have stopped them." He sighs. "I want you to tell Sheriff Forbes that Vicki left, but never told you where she was going. They can't know that Vicki became a vampire. Not now. Everyone else already lied to the sheriff."
"What about Matt?" I ask, my voice quiet.
"I'm sorry. He can't know, Irisa." Levi says, glancing over at me.
"But... That's his sister!" I exclaim. "He has to know, Levi!"
"Irisa, Damon hates Matt for three reasons already." Levi starts, and I narrow my eyes. "He'd kill Matt before letting him know the truth."
"Three reasons?" I ask, surprised. What the hell does Damon have against Matt? He doesn't even know him. But I recieve a nod, and I ask, "What three reasons?"
"He's a stereotpical, blonde jock." Levi says, holding up one finger, then holds up another as he lists the reasons for me. "Elena Gilbert dated him, and Damon already is interested in her because she looks exactly like Katherine, though the girl knows nothing about that, and..." He stos, holding up a third finger.
"And?" I prompt, my voice quiet.
"You like Matt." Levi says, his green eyes holding a hint of sadness, but not for Damon. No, It's because Levi likes me. I look away. "Damon is obsessed with you, Irisa. He percieves Matt as a threat, an obstacle, and if Matt starts asking questions, demanding answers, Damon might feel it necessary to eliminate him."
"No!" I shout, and Levi grabs my hand.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to him, nor to you, Irisa. But you need to keep the information about Vicki's death and her becoming a vampire a secret. Matt cannot know about his sister. It's best if he thinks she ran away." Levi tells me, instantly trying to calm me. I feel something strange, and glare at him.
"You are trying to compel me!" I exclaim.
"No, I'm trying to see what you're thinking." Levi whispers, and I let out a deep breath, startled. "Listen to me, Irisa. I wouldn't try to compel you anymore, not without your permission. But to make sure you're alright, yes, I'd do something like this. I didn't think you'd be upset about it though." He pulls his hand from mine, and focuses his attention on the road.
"I'm sorry." I whisper. "I thought you were trying to compel me. I felt... Power."
"Of course you did. You're psychic, Irisa. I guess I should have just asked you if you're okay." Levi admits, "I should have known you'd fight back. It's what you do."
"I didn't know, I'm sorry." I tell him as he pulls up at the police station. "Levi, please don't be mad at me, I swear, I didn't kn-"
"Shh." He turns to me, lightly cupping my face between his hands. Without compulsion, I silence myself, relaxing at his gentle touch. "I'm not mad. I feel like an idiot. I upset you, and I didn't mean to, Irisa. I promise you, I will try to be more cautious next time." I shake my head.
"No, no. Levi. Don't-" I start, but he cuts me off again.
"I promise, everything I do will be to keep you safe and happy and I'll try to keep my distance as well." Levi says, but he doesn't let go of me. His hands remain on my face, and I realize I don't want him to pull away.
"Levi, I don't want you to keep your distance." I whisper. "Anyways, you told my father you'd take me to get breakfast after this." I say with a pouty face.
Levi's lips twitch, as if he's holding back a smile. "You are just too adorable for your own good, Irisa."
"If you go back on a promise to my father, he'll make sure you pay."I remind him. "He's the mayor, after all."
"You think that threat does you any good, darling?" Levi teases me, then lightly presses his lips to mine. The kiss steals my breath away, leaving me light headed, but I return the kiss with one of my own, but not one as gentle as his. This surprises him, and he gasps as the intensity and passion I put into the kiss. I smile, but I feel only tender pressure of his lips on mine, and I can hardly bear the sweet, gentleness of it. When we both pull away, he whispers, "You're better at this then you look."
"Oh, does my age make me seem inexperienced?" I tease him back, and Levi chuckles. "I only kissed Matt the first time the night you got me drunk, so you have only yourself to blame if I'm getting better at this."
"Right." Levi agrees, and trails a finger across my jaw. "But, I must stop it now. It's certainly not right for me to keep doing this. You were right about your age, Irisa. Not to mention, we're in front of the police station, so I could probably get into trouble for this. I'd hate for your father to hear of this and not trust me."
"Forget my father." I kiss his cheek, giggling.
"I honestly wish I could, Irisa. But I have to keep you safe, you know. So really, please. Stop." His hands lightly take mine, shoving me back into my own seat before getting out. I sigh, opening my door. Levi takes my hand, helping me out of the Charger.
---
20 minutes later, and several anxiety attacks after, I walk out of the police station nearly in tears, and Levi pulls me into his arms, hugging me tightly.
"I know." He says. "It doesn't get any easier."
"I don't like lying." I look up at him. He nods.
"Come on." He says. "Let's go get you something to eat, then get the paperwork signed, alright?" I nod, pulling out of his arms. But, I have the phantom itch on the back of my neck, indicating we're not alone, that we're being watched, and I rush to his car, feeling a bit sick to my stomach. Once inside, Levi starts the car, and asks me, "Is something wrong?"
"I have a weird feeling we're being watched." I turn in my seat, peering around for any watching eyes, but I don't see any.
"Don't do that here." Levi whispers. "We are at a police station. Don't act like there's anything suspicious going on, because then they'll want to keep you for more than just questioning, Irisa."
I huff, and clip my seat belt. "I can't help it. Who could be watching us? Who?"
"No one." Levi shakes his head. "You're fine, Irisa."
"Okay, first of all, you said I'm psychic. Second of all, I'm not fine. I feel sick. Someone is watching us."
Levi's eyes widen in surprise, realizing I must be right. "Let's get out of here." He says, and drives towards the Mystic Grill.
"Um, could we go somewhere else?" I ask him. "I don't really want-"
"To have a run in with Matt?" Levi smiles, and nods. "Alright. But it'll have to be somewhere that doesn't serve alcohol because you're definitely not being served this time."
"Mhmm." I roll my eyes. "You think that I couldn't have gotten that bourbon on my own if I really wanted it, Levi?"
"No, because the bartender really wanted that ID. Which you don't have." Levi reminds me teasingly.
"Screw you." I mutter, then say quickly, "No, I swear, I wasn't offering tha-"
"Gosh, Irisa. Calm down. I know you weren't." Levi says, patting my hand. "Don't confuse me with Damon." His eyes are on the road, but his hand stays on my hand as he drives. I carefully lace my fingers through his. "But... You didn't confuse me with Damon. You were just making it obvious that don't actually want that."
I thought I did. With Matt. I don't let my thoughts leave my lips though. Instead I just shrug. "I made the mistake of admitting to Damon that I'm a virgin, Levi. I've done a lot of stupid stuff in the past year, including almost having sex with Jeremy." I say quietly.
"I, um, I know about that." Levi admits, and I look at him sharply.
"What?" I demand.
"Well, Elena was discussing her brothers' drug use with Stefan, and your name came up." Levi explains. "Jeremy stopped it, Elena says?"
"Elena hates me." I remind him. "Whatever she called me, she better hope it wasn't too bad or she's in for it."
"She didn't call you anything, Irisa. She just said that you both were messing around, and things got out of hand. I know that's how your wrist got broke. I know that's why you left town over summer, and you know I was looking out for you for a while when you were in California, but you probably don't realize that it was because of me that Jeremy stopped it." Levi says, pulling onto the highway.
I feel all of the air get knocked out of me.
"What?" I repeat, gasping.
"I didn't want that to happen, so I stopped it." Levi's hand leaves mine, and grips the steering wheel tightly. "I gave him a little nudge in the right direction, though, unfortunately, it seems he's made a lot of bad choices since then despite my influence. He wasn't meant to hurt you, though. I suppose it was because of the drugs."
"You stopped us...?" This boggles my mind.
"Yes." Levi says, heading for an exit. "Look, Irisa. I know that it was wrong of me to influence your friend, but admit it. You weren't ready for that. Just like you're not ready with Matt. You have a ways to go before that time comes. Hopefully you'll wait until you're absolutely ready to make that decision."
I'm quiet as he drives through the small town, heading for a small diner. But when he pulls into the parking lot, I whisper, "Thank you."
Levi glances over at me, his hands still gripping the steering wheel. "You don't have to thank me. That's not why I did what I did. I have always done what was necessary to protect you, from the very first moment I saw you, Irisa. I do not take your safety lightly, though that's not to say I don't trust Matt with you. He actually seems to care about you, Irisa, which is what you need in this cruel, unforgiving world. Not to mention, he's human." Levi shrugs. "Much as you might want to be a part of the supernatural world, you are still a part of the human world. You need human friends, human loves. You need a normal, human life outside of the one you're living now. Because I know you're not just going to walk away now that you've met me."
I shake my head. "You're right, Levi. I'm not going to walk away. Anyways, being human is overrated. You already told me I'm not human." I get out of the car, and Levi joins me and we walk into the diner.
-----
Levi
Interestingly enough, Irisa is still different from most girls her age. I notice this as she eats, and as she pays no attention to her surroundings, only to her food and me, and occasionally the waitress who asks her several times if she would like refills of her soda, as well as eyeing me closely, much to Irisa's irritation, it seems.
When I chuckle at Irisa's irritation at the waitress's attention of me, Irisa shoots me a glare that can only be interpreted as a death glare.
"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you." Irisa says, her voice strained. "Seems like blondie long legs likes you."
"Seems like she's not the only one." I point out, and receive another glare.
"There's no need to be so mean." Irisa tells me, scraping her fork teeth against her plate to irritate me, and I cringe at the sound. Irisa raises an eyebrow. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"
"No." I disagree.
"Liar." Irisa grins.
"Nope. I'm not uncomfortable. The sound is just a bit grating is all." I admit. "You don't realize how sensitive my hearing is."
"Oh." Irisa says, "I'm sorry. I had no idea."
"Don't worry about it. Just behave, alright?" I ask her and she laughs.
"You're asking me to behave? What am I, a child?" She asks.
"Of course not." I lightly touch her fingers, which are still wrapped around her fork. "Anyways, I know you. I know what you do, love. Just do as I say, and everything will be fine. I wouldn't ever tell you to do anything wrong, except for the whole lying about Vicki..." I trail off. "That's the only wrong thing you'll ever have to worry about me telling you to do."
"I understand." Irisa admits, "They can't know. But the whole behaving thing, you'll have to make me." She teases. "I have a habit of doing what I want."
"And don't I know it." I tease back. "You're a trouble maker, Irisa. You love getting yourself into trouble."
"Oh, nuh uh!" Irisa declares loudly, drawing eyes of other diners, and I smirk, wrapping my hand tightly around hers.
"Shh." I murmur.
"Hey, I'm serious." Irisa says. "I get in the average amount of trouble that any other girl my age does."
"Blizzard, 12 years old." I list. "Drenched in the middle of the severe thunderstorm when you were 13, which was later that spring, which you weren't even supposed to be outside in, I might add. If I remember correctly, your father had sent you to your room to do your homework."
"Hey, now. That was his fault, not mine. He shouldn't have grounded me for nothing!" Irisa exclaims.
"Oh, so smoking cigarettes with Vicki Donovan wasn't something you should have been grounded for?" I murmur, and Irisa gasps.
"You shouldn't know so much." She says.
"But I do. I was there for it all." I remind her. "I watched out for you. I protected you." Loved you...
"Loved me." Irisa states quietly, and I nod.
"Yes." I tell her, giving her a small smile. "It wasn't intentional. But, you definitely didn't make it hard to fall in love with you, Irisa." I admit to her, and her cheeks flush.
"What do you mean by that?" Irisa asks.
"Come on, like you don't know." I say, stroking her fingers. "You are smart, you tell people off without any regard for what could happen to you. Which, by the way, your father mentioned what you did in class. Excellent job, sassing the teacher. I see why you got detention." Irisa scoffs, and I continue. "Not to mention, you just emit this energy that is overall overwhelming. It's very powerful, not like the magic you've been exhibiting, but you're definitely entrancing to say the least."
"Entrancing, huh? I think I can work with that." Irisa says, but her cheeks are still flushed, and her eyes are bright, shining, and happy.
"Good." I say. "Why don't you get cleaned up and I'll pay the check?" I tell her, noticing she'd finished eating.
"I can pay my ha-"
I cut her off. "No, no." I tell her. "I promised I'd make sure you ate, so go clean up, and I'll take care of this." I assure her.
"Fine." Irisa says, rolling her eyes. "But next time, I'm paying." She gives me a pointed look before standing, and I feel a tug in my heartstrings. She walks towards the women's restroom, disappearing inside, and I stand to go to the desk to pay, but am confronted by something I never thought I would have seen again.
Someone.
"Leviticus!" The voice calls, and I still my movements, not at all surprised that she'd be here in town, but very surprised that I'd run into her at this diner, a place she so clearly hated before. "Hey, that is you! I knew it! I mean, how could it not be? You look no different!" She exclaims, and I huff, turning to meet her gaze.
Izolda Volkov. Russian descent. Blonde, blue eyed, and typically a talker. And... A werewolf, just like Irisa is. Her last name, Volkov, literally means wolf. Though, only her mother was a werewolf. Her father was a witch. A very powerful one at that. Izolda had been a powerful young witch until she'd activated her curse, making her powers null. She'd been a good friend of mine, until I'd started watching over Irisa nearly 4 years ago.
"Izolda. You, of course, have changed much." I admit, silently wishing that her talkativeness had changed as well. Her blonde hair, which had once been short, is now long, her teeth are straight now, I see, when she smiles at me, she'd grown about 4 inches, bringing her to nearly my height, which is 6 ft 1 inches. I'd say she's about 5 ft 9 inches now. Not to mention, she's also 20 years old now.
"Haven't I?" She grins. "What are you doing here? Didn't you, like, leave?"
"I did. I actually brought a friend here for lunch." I admit, and her smile fades.
"As in a girlfriend?" Izolda asks.
"No, Iz. It's Irisa." I say, shaking my head. "Gosh, you honestly think I'd be able to date her? That would be mistake 1 million and 1, Izolda."
"Irisa... But she's a little kid..."
"No. She's 15." I say, just as Irisa steps out of the bathroom, looking pissed.
"The sink sprayed my shirt!" Irisa exclaims, her hazel eyes so green they look as if their glowing again. "I swear, they need to get it...fixed." Her eyes fall on Izolda, and her cheeks flush. "I interrupted something." She realizes, and looks over at me, startled.
"No, no. It's not like that, Irisa." I reassure her. "This is Izolda Volkov."
"Wolf?" Irisa murmurs, her eyes falling closed. "There's a man hunting you." Her eyes open, and they look very vacant, suddenly. "He wanted you dead. Now he just wants you."
"Irisa." I grab her wrist, and she jolts.
"What did you say?" Izolda asks, her accent getting thick.
"What?" Irisa asks, as if she has no idea what we're talking about.
"What did you say?" Izolda repeats. "How do you know about him? You shouldn't know! No one is supposed to know! Leviticus!" She glares at me, and I shake my head.
"She's psychic, Izolda. She's part witch."
"Part?" Izolda sniffs the air. "But you're mostly... Oh my goodness. You're a Crescent wolf and Apisi wolf." Izolda shakes her head. "No... You're pure." She backs away from Irisa, and Irisa's eyes widen.
"What?" Irisa demands, and Izolda looks back at me.
"You knew!" She exclaims, and shoves my back against the wall. Eyes fall on us from the other diners, and Irisa suddenly is between us, a hand shoving Izolda back.
"He's mine." Irisa says lowly. "Do not touch him. You better tell me what the hell you mean now, or I'm going to kick your ass."
Izolda looks between Irisa and me, and says "You honestly think you can claim him, pup? You haven't even activated your curse yet. He knows what it means about you being pure. Why not ask him." Then she leaves, running quickly out of the restaurant.
I sigh, realizing I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do now. Irisa turns towards me. "I believe I deserve an explanation."
"In the car." I tell her, and pay the check. Irisa follows me outside, and I look around, making sure no one is watching us. Then I get into the car, locking the doors. As I pull out of the parking lot, Irisa fidgets in her seat, until I start talking. "She is right. You are pure. You come from two of the original royal werewolf packs, Irisa."
"What?" She demands, shaking her head. "No, that's-" She stops, looking over at me. "What are you saying?"
"You're stronger than the average werewolf, smarter, quicker, your sense of smell is stronger, your hearing is better, your sense of taste is better. Everything about you is stronger. But, obviously that's not all. Your soul... It's very pure, Irisa. Not just because of the two bloodlines you come from. It's just a part of who you are. I know it probably makes no sense to you, but to people like Izolda, or Damon, Stefan, me, it's something we recognize immediately. We know the pure souls from the tainted souls. Yours, unfortunately, can't be tainted. It's much too pure." I explain, and drive my car towards the interstate.
Irisa bites her lip. "She knew who I was." She says.
"I've known her a long time, Irisa." I tell her.
"How long?" Irisa asks, not meeting my gaze.
"Since she was a baby." I admit.
"Oh god." Irisa says, and I laugh.
"Come on, Irisa. It's not like that. She's my friend." I tell her.
"Where did you meet her then?"
"With her parents at their house in Russia, nearly 18 years ago. She left there when she was 9, Irisa." I explain. "After she activated her curse."
"With who?" Irisa muses, and I shake my head.
"She ran away, Irisa. On her own. She came to America, and she found me when she was 14. The last time I seen her was 4 years ago, when she was 16."
"4 years ago. When I wandered out of Mystic Falls to..."
"Here." I tell her. "You came there."
"Why in the world did I come to that town?" Irisa demands. "That town is even smaller than Mystic Falls!"
I laugh again. "Either way, after that, I left there except for the rare few occasions when I go back to get a few things. Other than that, I spend most of my time in Mystic Falls, Irisa."
"Protecting me." Irisa says. "Why? I mean, why not have her come with you? If she was your friend."
"Is my friend." I say gently. "Because, she made a life for herself there. Anyways, I think that it only would have made things difficult. She... isn't exactly happy about me being around you. She knows all about Rhiannon, and she knows you look exactly like her, though this was the first time she'd ever seen you for herself. Before, it was just a picture, as she'd only ever seen pictures of Rhiannon."
"Izolda likes you." Irisa says, picking the skin away from her nails.
"Don't be jealous, Irisa. She knows I am not interested in her." I tell her, and Irisa shoots me a glare. "Stop it." I glare back.
"Make me." Irisa mutters, shaking her head and looking away. Thankfully, no one else is driving towards Mystic Falls, so I pull over on the side of the road, and do just that. I make her stop. I unclip her seat belt, pulling mine off just as quickly, and I lean towards her, kissing her lightly on the lips. Irisa's lips part in a gasp, and feel my heart skip a beat. I pull her into my lap, kissing her longingly then, loving it when she wraps her arms around my neck, her mouth pressed hard to mine. Irisa's legs straddle my hips, and her back is pressed against the steering wheel, so I pull her even closer, my arms wrapped around her back. Each kiss is like wildfire spreading through my body and when she pulls her face back to take a breath, I realize I, too, am out of breath. I lean my forehead against hers, and suck in a deep breath, lightly trailing my fingertips down to her hips, lightly stroking her waist through her shirt. "I didn't actually think you would make me, Levi." Irisa gasps out.
"If you don't want me to, don't tell me to do that, Irisa." I whisper, and she shakes her head.
"I want you to." She says quietly, and I hear her heart beating faster as blood rushes up to her face, leaving her blushing. "I want you."
"Don't say that. Please, don't say that." I tell her, pulling my face away from hers.
"Levi-"
"Please, don't say it." I repeat, and Irisa cups my cheeks.
"Shh." She says. "Levi, shh. Vampire or not, I want you. I know I might not be Rhiannon, and I might not be an adult, but I feel like you and I are meant to be together, Levi." Irisa's fingers lightly trail over my lips, my jaw, my cheeks as she gazes into my eyes. "Nothing you can do or say will change that. I can wait, and I will do just that. Just don't forget that no one else is allowed to touch you. You are mine." Irisa says, and I could swear her eyes glow again in that moment, a holographic, shimmering in her eyes. "Mine." She repeats, seeing the look on my face.
I nod, and lightly kiss her forehead. "Mine." I repeat, calling her mine. Because she is. Mine. She's been mine since the moment I first laid eyes on her. With that, I help her back into her seat, and clip her seat belt for her, then clip my own, and drive us to my house, where the lawyer is waiting for us to sign her as owner of the house..
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