Daddio: I hope you had a good night at Elena's, honey. Come straight home after school, there's been another animal attack.
Riley was already on her way to school when the text came through. The last thing she expected to hear about was another animal attack. If the Salvatores were trying to keep a low profile, they were doing an awful job.
So instead of going to school, she decided to take a small detour.
She knocked repeatedly on the door of the boarding house.
"One of you better answer!" she shouted through the door. "What the hell are you playing at?!"
The door opened suddenly, almost making her fall through it. Stefan was on the other side.
"Should we give you a key?" Stefan asked, crossing his arms with a slightly amused smile on his face. "That way you wouldn't have to knock like that all the time."
"If you guys keep doing stupid stuff, then I'll take that key. Can you please get your brother in line?"
"What did he do now?" Stefan sighed, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"Animal attack," she informed him. "I get that he's upset about that Katherine person, but he can't do this. Sheriff Forbes saw him stake Lexi, she already knows about vampires. A few more attacks, and she'll be led straight to you."
Stefan pointed to the house behind him. "Damon's out back talking to the Sheriff now," he told her. "It wasn't him, it wouldn't make sense. He's trying to keep a low profile."
"Well, did he turn anyone?" she asked, determined to believe that it had to be Damon.
"Riley, I don't know who's doing this, but it isn't us," Stefan confirmed sharply. "Maybe it's an actual animal attack for a change?"
Riley raised her eyebrows. "Are you playing dumb or are you actually as naïve as your boyish good-looks would suggest?"
The back door opened and Damon walked into the house with the Sheriff.
"Riley, what are you doing here?" Sheriff Forbes asked, frowning at her. After what Riley had told her about Damon, it worried her that she had turned up at his home. "Shouldn't you be at school?"
Riley glanced at Stefan in a panic. "I-I am, I'm going. I just needed to see Stefan. I have his... history notes," she fumbled, flustered. "Please don't tell my dad you saw me here."
She looked at them both for a second, then held her hands up. "I saw nothing."
She smiled as she left, but Riley's anxiety didn't let up. If Stefan and Damon weren't responsible for the new attack...
"There's another vampire in town," Damon said, finishing her thought. "But it doesn't matter to us. We're leaving anyway, right?"
"Wait, you're leaving?" Riley asked incredulously, looking back and forth between the brothers. "No, you can't leave. Especially if there's a vampire in town!"
Stefan nodded in agreement. "We can't leave. So how do we find this person?"
Damon smirked. "Fletch, how do you feel about skipping school?"
***
Riley stood in front of a warehouse, holding the compass that Damon had given her. Within seconds, Damon was beside her.
"Why did you need me to do this?" she asked him, snapping it closed and giving it back to him.
"It's a vampire thing," he told her. "I interfere with the signal."
"You mean, that thing tracks vampires?" she asked, her eyes widening as she looked at it. He nodded, examining it by turning it over in his hands. "Can I keep it?"
Damon frowned. "Sure, why don't you just take my car while you're at it?"
"No thanks, it's ugly," she responded with a smile.
"You can leave now, I've got this," Damon told her. "By the way, thanks for talking me down to the sheriff. Do you know how long it took to convince Liz that I'm not messing with her daughter?"
"You deserve everything you get," she told him, a wry smile on her face. "But I've already missed my morning classes, so I'm coming with you."
"Or, I could compel you and force you to leave?" he suggested.
"I wear vervain."
"Right."
He walked into the warehouse, knowing that he couldn't stop her from following him. Or, he could, but it would take too much effort.
As he walked further in, multiple shots rang out. Riley shrieked as Damon groaned and fell to the floor. A man that she didn't recognize approached them, pointing the gun at her.
"Please don't," she said, holding her hands up. "I'm human."
He pointed at Damon. "Do you know what he is?" She nodded frantically. The man looked at her in disbelief. "Then you really shouldn't be here."
"I tried to tell her," Damon groaned, in obvious pain.
"Shut up," the man said to Damon. "You made me like this."
"I killed you," Damon admitted blatantly. "I didn't turn you."
Riley's eyes widened in recognition. "You're the news guy?"
"Logan Fell," he introduced himself, crouching down in front of Damon. "You bit me, it had to be you."
"You have to have vampire blood in your system when you die," Damon told him, his voice low and raspy. "I didn't do that."
"Then who did?" Riley asked.
"That's what I'd like to know," Damon answered.
Logan looked at him, wondering if he was telling the truth or not. It had to be Damon, right? "All I can think about is blood," he continued. "And killing people. Speaking of which, the walking-in-the-sun thing is genius, the council would never suspect you. How do you do it?"
"Who turned you?" Damon asked.
"How do you walk in the sun?" Logan asked again, more forcefully.
"Who turned you?" Damon asked again, equally as forceful.
Logan turned to Riley, pointing the gun in her direction. "How does he walk in the sun?"
"She doesn't know," Damon groaned, gritting his teeth together. "She shouldn't even be here."
"If you're still offering me the chance to leave, I'll take it," she tried her luck, keeping an eye on his gun.
"No one's going anywhere," Logan threatened, waving the gun around as if he hadn't a care in the world.
"You're not answering my question," Damon reminded him.
"You first," Logan demanded. When Damon didn't respond, he turned the gun back on him. "I have things to do, people to kill. Guess I'll be needing a little head start."
He shot Damon twice, leaving the room in an invisible whirlwind. Riley ran over to Damon.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
"Yeah, you know, a couple of bullets to the chest just makes me feel great!" Damon said, reaching into his chest and pulling some of the bullets out. She sat next to him.
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" she asked curiously. If he really didn't know who turned him, then there was another mystery vampire in town.
"It doesn't matter," Damon said. "Because I'm gonna find whoever turned him, and I'm gonna rip their heart out."
"Because that's your answer for everything," Riley murmured, shrugging as if she expected nothing more from him.
"You don't like my methods? Go home," Damon scowled.
"You don't like my disapproval? Don't bring me."
Damon's phone began to ring. He took it out with his non-bloody hand, glanced at it, and passed it to Riley. "My brother. Please inform him that unless he has Logan Fell's current whereabouts, I really don't care why he's calling."
Riley answered the phone. "It's not a great time, Stefan."
"Logan Fell turned up at the school," he said, not even questioning why Riley was answering his brother's phone. "He's a vampire, and he's got Caroline."
"What?!" Riley asked. "We'll be right there."
"Why don't we just do the world a favor and let blondie die?" Damon asked, only half-joking. Riley pretended to smile at his joke.
"Damon, I live with a cop, I have access to a gun. And now..." she paused, picking up the dislodged bullets. "I have wooden bullets. So get in the damn car, and let's go rescue my best friend."
Damon wanted to protest, but after seeing the look in her eyes, he couldn't. For a human, she was tough as hell.
***
Driving through Elm Street, she followed Stefan's directions and cut off Logan's car at the intersection. Damon was out of the car in a second.
"Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" he asked Logan.
Suddenly, Stefan had joined them. He took Caroline's unconscious body out of the passenger seat and put her in Riley's dad's car.
"Get her home," he instructed.
She didn't need to be told twice, driving out of the area as fast as she could. Caroline groaned, and her hand went to her head.
"You OK there?" Riley asked softly.
"What happened?" Caroline asked, looking around.
"Logan Fell is an ass," she said. "He attacked you. But don't worry, you'll be completely fine."
"You rescued me?" Caroline asked, her tone impressed. Riley laughed.
"Yeah right! I have the upper body strength of a napkin." They laughed together as they pulled up outside Caroline's house. "Want me to come in?"
"Yes please."
***
It was evening when Riley left the Forbes residence. It was nice to have a girly day without worrying about ghosts or vampires .
On her drive home, Riley noticed two familiar figures. One was Logan Fell. The other was the new history teacher, Alaric 'call me Ric' Saltzman. They squared up to each other, like dogs, getting ready for a fight. Unfortunately, Riley knew that there could only be one winner.
She called Stefan, who didn't answer.
"Stefan, call me back. For some reason, Logan Fell is still alive, and he's about to kill our history teacher."
As she hung up, she turned the car lights off so that she wouldn't be spotted and watched as Logan lunged at Alaric. However, weirdly, it seemed like the history teacher was expecting it. Logan's body froze, and when Alaric moved, the vampire dropped to the ground, a stake sticking out of his chest. Riley's eyes widened as Alaric walked away from the scene as quickly as possible. How the hell had he just done that?
"You know what, forget it," Riley said into Stefan's voicemail, leaving him another message. "I get the feeling Logan Fell isn't gonna be a problem anymore."
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Whether she likes it or not, Riley is firmly involved in the supernatural world - and apparently, so is her history teacher...
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