"What the fuck Ari!" Caroline nearly screamed out. Taking two frontflips in mid-air, I landed on top of Matt. As if on instinct, he caught me 38 seconds early before my body could have collided with the ground. Opening my eyes to see who caught me, I smiled. "Hey, Matty." I teased out. "Hey Ari. You want to explain why you jumped off the balcony?" He asked me, concerned about my state of mind as usual. "Stating a point. Thanks by the way." I told him, before giving him a give peck on the cheek. After finding my balance, I stood up and turned to face an angry Caroline and a dumbfounded Brittney coming towards me. Quite faster than I had pictured.

"Have you finally lost your mind, Ariana? What even was that?!" Brittney finally erupted. "That was me showing you how much you're going to regret next year. Did you really think I'd allow you to kick me off the gymnastic team without putting up at least one last stand?" I infromed her. "By trying to kill yourself?" Brittney questioned me. "Seriously. What you did was stupid, could have gotten you killed, or it could have gotten other people hurt. This was a suicide and you know it." Caroline told me. "It's not a suicide attempt, if I'm still alive." I quipped. "Oh my god, do you have any idea how worried I was about you?" Caroline stressed out. "I have somewhat of an idea. Relax, ladies, I knew what I was doing. If Matt wasn't there, I would have landed on my feet. Sure, I would have broken a bone or two, but that's not the point." I stated. "A bone or two?! You jumped off the school's second balcony with your eyes closed. I'm sorry, but if I didn't catch you, you would have been on your way to the hospital with a fractured spine." Matt stated. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were apart of this conversation." I said without glancing over at him. "It's a shame, really. I didn't think you were that weak. You nearly killed yourself over something as dumb as being kicked off the gymnastic team." Brittney pointed out with a scoff. I narrowed my eyes at her before shining her a fake grin. "If I'm the weak, then you must be the messiah of strength." I noted. Brittney glared at me stating, "Shut it already. You're still not gonna be apart of the team."

"Fine. I hated being on your team anyway. Now I can finally move on to better things." I stated. "And what exactly would that be? Finally getting laid?" Brittney smirked smugly at me. I grinned half-heartily back at her. "Nope. But I'm sure you're just dying to know." I said, before walking away from the scene. Caroline followed close behind me. "What are you planning, Ari?" Caroline asked me, suspecting I was up to no good. "You'll see." I said with a mischief grin. "Ariana." Caroline called me out sternly. I rolled my eyes exasperated. "Don't worry. I won't hurt her." I assured her. Caroline sighed in relief and nodded with approval. Yeah, I won't hurt her. Physically, I mean...

Going the opposite direction of class, I went outside to find Tyler briefly chatting with some guy from his class. "Hey, can I borrow you for a sec?" I asked Tyler. He glanced over at me and soon told the other guy off, before turning to face me. "What's up?" He started off. "Dude, are you cutting class?" I wondered. "Speak for yourself. Besides I need the break." Tyler stated. "You don't need it, you just want it. Big difference." I informed him. "Yeah, whatever." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Moving on... who are you taking to the Founder's Ball?" I asked out of curiosity. "Ariana Lockwood, would you be my date to the Founder's Ball?" Tyler said sarcastically. I narrowed my eyes at him and faked a smile. "Ha, ha, very funny. Besides, Caroline's going to be my date." I insured him. "So you finally went lesbo, huh?" Tyler joked. "Speak for yourself. The tension between you and Jeremy Gilbert are more erotic than Eric and Sookie!" I teased him. "Shut up. That's not even funny." Tyler stated. "I see I hit a nerve. But in all honesty, who are you taking?" I said. "It doesn't really matter who I take. I guess Vicki would be an obvious choice, but...eh." Tyler said with a bored shrug. I shook my head at his behavior. "If you don't care about the her, then why are you still with her? She's trash, you're an ass, and you're both wasting each other's time." I told him. "This is none of your business, you know." Tyler stated. "Yeah, and I look like I care about rules, right?" I reminded him, "Trust me when I say this... you can do so much better. I'll see you after school." With that, I soon retreated towards the school. "Wait. I thought you were cutting class?" He asked of me, almost baffled. "Someone needs to cover up for you." I said, before going inside heading straight for Chemistry class.

-x-

"So what happens with the season? One big forfeit? Are they looking for a new coach?" He asks Tyler. "I don't know, dad. I doubt anybody's thinking about that right now." Tyler told him. "Charles, founders party, focus." Carol reminds him.

I sighed as I twisted my mash potatoes with my fork. "Is there something you want to say?" She soon asked me. I shook my head in reply.

All I could think about was running off to see my friends. But that obviously wasn't going to happen. No, I just had to be dragged into this whole Founder's Ball ceremony and be in co-charge of decorating.

Oh, well...at least this type of thing only comes once every 5 years.

As everyone around the table continued to chat, I had already spaced out into my own little world. Blinking my wild imaginations away, I notice we had already paid for our so called 'dinner'. Grabbing my jacket, while the others placed on their coats, we all left the Grill, getting into our family car and drove off. Tyler and my Mom sat in the back, while my Dad and I sat in front with him driving. I pressed my elbow against the window-sill and looked out to scan the view. It was dark out and misty with a light fog. I could barely make out a few things, aside from a few trees and our headlights beaming against the fog. I didn't know why, but I felt a chill go down my spine as I had a sense of Deja vu. This all felt unusually familiar. It felt so... dreamlike.

I sighed and almost thought about pushing the idea away, that perhaps I was over-analyzing things. Until suddenly, it hit me. No wonder this scenery looked so dreamlike, it's because I've dreamt it over the summer. I relaxed a little seeing it was just pure coincidence. However, I couldn't get rid of the itch that oddly enough the scenery looked very detailed like in my dream. The only difference was I was riding in the car, safe with my family, whereas in the dream I walked on a narrow road in my nightgown with a crow watching down at me.

Family Ties

"What do you mean change of plans?" I said, annoyed. I had just arrived to home and went upstairs to my room. Turning on my computer, I got an email from Caroline requesting to face chat. I did and all of a sudden she started to apologize saying she had other plans for tomorrow.

"Look, Bonnie doesn't have a date. Maybe you two could... I don't know, hit it off?" Caroline suggested.

"You and I made a plan last week. Why are you changing it now?" I asked her, getting really irritated with her. If there's one thing I can't stand is when people make last second changes to plans and go back on their word.

"Look, I'm sorry about this. But look on the bright side, I'm still coming to the ball ether way." Caroline reminded me. I stared at her, trying to read her mind, until I noticed something.

"You're changing plans because of a boy, aren't you?" I didn't ask but stated.

"Yeah, look I'm really sorry about..." Caroline started off, but I cut her off by saying, "That's fine."

"Really?" She asked in disbelief. "Yeah, I mean, I can relate if the roles were reversed. I'd still have stuck by our plan, but whatever. Moving on. Who's the guy?" I asked her.

"I'm not telling you a thing about him. It'll make him even more fun and mysterious when meeting him." Caroline stated. "You want me to meet him?" I asked of her. "Of course, I mean, you guys would totally hit it off." She stated.

"Okay. Well, can you at least give me somewhat of an idea of him?" I simply requested. "Well, for starters, he's hot. I met him at the Grill, we may have hooked up right off the back. But you know what, aside from that one night stand, he's actually pretty sweet at times. He totally gets me and I'm certain you two will get along with each other just fine. It's just..." Caroline soon trailed off, her smile almost faltering.

"What is it?" I asked her, almost concerned. "Nothing. It's just.. he can kind of be mean at times. But he always jokes around so, maybe that's just him teasing me. Trying to push my buttons, you know? And he's kind of old." Caroline informed me.

"How old?" I asked her. "Like, just graduated out of college, old. He's not 40 or anything, he's around his mid 20's I think." Caroline told me. I made a tight grin as I pictured the type guy he was. Him being older than Caroline didn't really help much.

"Can't wait to meet him. I have to go though. Homework assignment's due in a week. Study this time." I informed her. She waved me goodbye before signing off and logging out of her face chat and her computer. I then turned my computer off, motioned toward my desk and sat down on my armchair. Instead of doing my homework, I decided to draw for a while.

There were 3 numbers in my head. 4, 8, 10.

What they meant? I had no clue. Underneath the numbers, I drew a small black crow. I didn't know why for 2 months straight I would see this crow and those numbers. But I knew I would always see them both nearing the end of those dreams. And yet, every dream was different. It would start and end the same, but the middle would always change somehow.

At first, I ended up walking down the street into the cemetery.

Then in another dream, I end up getting chased out of the cemetery.

Then in another dream, I end up falling into a lake.

And so on and so on... I sighed as I finished the crow drawing. My obsession with this crow is getting ridiculous. What's funny enough is that this isn't the first time I've seen a crow in town. I've seen plenty growing up. Yet there was something about the one I kept dreaming of the entire summer that sets it apart from the others. Pushing that thought at the back of my mind, I decided to do my homework as promised.

"Ugh, do I have to?" I started to whine. "Ariana Charlotte Lockwood, you look beyond stunning in that dress." Mom told me. It was basically a pale green dress with a brown saddle belt and matching brown heeled boots. I wore a chestnut brown headband in my hair. "I look like a troll threw up on me." I stated. "The party is going to start in less than 3 minutes. Deal with it." She told me. "Can I at least change my hair? This whole librarian bun look is really killing it for me." I asked her. "Fine, but I expect to see you downstairs in 5 minutes." She informed me, before leaving my bedroom to go check on our early-bird guests.

Stripping the scrunchies out of my hair, I picked up a brush and processed to brush my hair. I then attempted to comb it straight. It was hard, but it was the best I could straighten it. Checking the mirror one last time, I left my room and went downstairs to find the whole front entrance bombarded with guests.

Rolling my eyes at the sight of my mother bossing the party planners around, I decided to hide around the staircase from her, hoping she didn't see me come down. Walking down the hallway, I looked around to try and spot Caroline. I eventually found her on the dance floor with some blonde guy.

"Thank you." He said to a passing servant as he took two champagne filled glasses. "Okay, just tell me if you see my mom." Caroline told him, taking a sip. They both grinned at each other.

"Hey, you made it." I announced as I waked up to them. Caroline nearly choked on her drink, before turning to look at me. "Ari. Hi. I'd like you to meet..." Caroline started off, but I interrupted her. "Hey, I know you. Yeah. We have History and French together. You're Salvatore, right?" I stated. "Stefan Salvatore." He introduced himself. "Ariana Lockwood. So, you're the mystery guy who stole my date?" I claimed. "Excuse me?" He asked for some clarification. "He doesn't look that old, Care." I whispered over to her. "What? Oh. This isn't my date. He's Elena's date and boyfriend." Caroline informed me. "Oh. You poor soul." I said, causing Caroline nudge me to the side with her elbow. "Ignore her." Caroline stated, making me roll my eyes at her. "What'd we miss?" Another guy asked walking up to us with Elena. "We were just chatting. Drink, Damon?" Stefan asked me. "No, thanks, I'll pass." He told him. "Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena asked him. "Absolutely." He replied, as he took her hand leading her towards the dance floor. I started walking off to the other direction, until Caroline grabbed hold of my shoulder.

"Hey, don't go yet. I want you to meet him." Caroline said to me. "Where is he then?" I asked, turning to look at her. She pointed near and in between the snack table and the dance floor. There I saw the dark haired guy from earlier.

"Wow." I said, finally acknowledging him. "Didn't I say he was hot?" Caroline stated with a smirk. I grinned with her as we both started to chuckle. "Go talk to him." She told me. "I thought you wanted to introduce us?" I stated. "As if you need an introduction. Come on. I'll get us a drink in the kitchen." Caroline told me, pushing me subtly away.

Shaking my head in her direction, I walked towards the guy, noticing he was watching Stefan and Elena.

"Hi." I started off. He didn't seem to notice me and didn't respond. "I said "hi"." I repeated more raspier. He turned his head to glance in my direction. "Hi. Do you need something?" He asked me, a little annoyed. "Nothing. I'm Ariana Lockwood. Caroline's friend." I said, holding my hand out. "Damon Salvatore." He introduced himself, shaking my hand. I felt a slight chill go down my back. "Wait. Salvatore. As in...?" I started out. "Stefan's my little bother." He told me, "So you're a friend of Caroline? She never mentioned you." I raised my eyebrow at him. "That's odd. She didn't mention you either until last night." I stated. "Caroline can be pretty forgetful at times, I assume." Damon joked.

"So, tell me about yourself?" I changed the subject. "What is there to tell? I travel a lot, Stefan and I lost our parents when we were younger and we now live with our uncle Zach. Oh, and I love whatever these things are." Damon said holding up a cut sandwich. "They're called finger sandwiches." I told him. "I keep forgetting that. Enough about me, what's your story." He said. "Well, I'm a Lockwood and I was born and raised in Mystic Falls. That about sums up my life in general." I stated. "Come on. There has to be more to you than that. Name one interesting thing about yourself." Damon told me. "I will if you do." I negotiated. "Deal." He agreed.

"Aside from being a good drawer, I'm very good at gymnastics. Unfortunately, my teammates didn't think so." I told him. "What happened?" He asked me. "It's a long story. Just know that in 5 minutes, do not use the upstairs bathroom." I warned him. "Okay, between you and me, I'd pick Bourbon over champagne any day." Damon almost whispered to me. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Really? That's all you got?" I asked him. "Well, what did you expect me to tell you?" He questioned me. "Where did you go to college?" I asked him. "I went to school here. I took college in Atlanta, if my memory's correct." He answered. "Cool, yeah, I better get going. If you see my Mom, I was never here." I said, before walking away. I went over to the front entrance to find a book stand, holding the guest list. I read though it until I finally found the name I was looking for.

Brittney Whitmore.

Smirking slyly, I snuck my way upstairs and went through the corridor to open the bathroom door. It was occupied as expected. I then started to bang against the door. "Quite it! There's like a million bathrooms choose from." She yelled. I still kept on banging. "Enough! I'm coming, you impatient prick." She said. I took a step back as she flushed and then turned on the sink to wash her hands. "What the-?" Brittney started out, which was followed by a mild explosion.

"Awhh!" She screamed out and started to bang against the door. I held onto the doorknob with one hand, while covering my mouth with the other. "Oh, god. What is that smell?" She whined out, as she tried to open the door. "Open the door, right this instant!" She demanded, steamed as predicted. I considered the thought for a second, still holding on for a while. When I was certain she was nearly to the point of tears, I let go and allowed her to breakout. She gasped out for clear air and coughed as she was on her hands and knees to the floor. She then brought her eyes up towards me with a deadly glare. "You little bitch." She then muttered out. "Brit, what happened in there? What happened to your dress?" I asked her, noticing the ketchup stains around the front of her dress. She soon found inner strength and balance to stand up. "Don't pretend you're innocent. This prank has your name written all over it." Brittney accused me. I shrugged my shoulders lightly. "Even if I did this, you have no valid proof." I stated. "Oh, but I have a motive. You did this to get back at me for kicking you off the team. Am I right, or am I right?" Brittney affirmed. "You wanted to know what I was going to do on my free time. Here it is. I'm taking everything I've learned in Chemistry glass to the next level." I informed her.

"I'm fairly certain they don't teach how to use a stink bomb in class." She proclaimed. "Next level." I reminded her. "We'll see how long this hobby will last when I tell your mother. I wonder which one she favors? It's a Whitmore's word against yours." Brittney said smugly. "You and your family aren't even apart of the Founding families. As far as I'm aware, it's my word against yours. I also recommend using vinegar and detergent to take the stain out." I told her, before walking out the corridor downstairs. I went to go check on Caroline, and remembered she went to the kitchen to get us a drink. I paused in my place, seeing my Mom enter the kitchen after lecturing Bonnie. After she flat out called my Mom a bitch once she left the room, she turned to look at a candle and focused on it. Disappointed for some reason, she turned around and out of nowhere all the candles and lights in the room ignited. Well, that's unusual.

Walking away from the scenery, I decided to head towards the nearest bathroom to freshen up after the prank. Entering the room, I overhead Elena an Caroline chatting.

"...'Cause I was getting all sorts of vibes... " Caroline said, washing her hands.

"What's that?" Elena asked her.

"Hey, Caroline where'd you go? I thought you were getting us a drink?" I soon announced. "Sorry, your Mom was nearby and I didn't want to get caught." She admitted.

"Don't!" She soon let out. Elena removed her shawl and I looked at her confused. My eyes widened at the marks.

"Oh my god, Caroline, what happened?" Elena asked her in shock. "Nothing, okay?!" She yelled. "That's not nothing. What happened?" I stated with concern. "Did somebody hurt you?" Elena asked. It soon hit me hard like a train crash.

"No, okay, nothing. It's just... My mom would kill me." Caroline said. "Did that piece of shit do this? Did Damon hurt you?" I asked her, steamed already. "Did Damon hurt you?" Elena stressed out.

"No! Of course not..." Caroline started out, but I wasn't hearing any of it. "I'm not doing this with you Caroline. If you're not going to report him, I will." I simply said before exiting the bathroom. Elena followed behind me. Not even a second later, I had spotted Damon across the room outside. Elena went straight towards him and I walked close by curious to hear how this conversation would go. Elena ended up pushing Damon and warned, "There is something seriously wrong with you. You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the sheriff. You got it? Stay away from her." then left.

Damon started waking towards the house, but paused when he noticed me. He smirked and said, "So what's your threat speech?" I glared at him and took a short deep breath before saying, "I don't need to make a threat speech. You already know what I'm going to say. The question is, will you stay away from Caroline? For now I'll warn her mother, but if I see you with her again I will tell her everything. Say goodbye to Caroline, you two are officially broken off."

Damon shrugged slightly, before walking off. I glanced at him nearly disgusted as he passed by. I turned around to catch Stefan and Elena in an argument. I turned back to walk back into the house, but paused when I heard Caroline's voice.

She seemed to be in distress.

Walking across the lawn near the side of the house, I leaned against a tree to catch a glimpse of Damon cuddling alongside Caroline. It didn't seem natural to me. Suddenly, her body went limp as his face was buried in her neck. Out of nowhere, Damon choked and fell to the ground as Caroline fell to her knees.

"What the hell?" He choked out.

"You know I couldn't spike your drink... So, I spiked hers." Stefan said to him. He had casually walked up to them after they fell. Caroline appeared to be conscious, but I wasn't sure what had happened. Stefan soon bent down and placed Damon over his shoulder. He then got up and carried him across the lawn before disappearing. I ran over towards Caroline to check on her.

"Caroline? Caroline? Hey, Care. Are you okay? What happened?" I asked her. "I'm fine." She muttered out. She was shaking with fear. "No, you're shaking. Caroline, what ha-?" I started out, until Caroline broke into tears. "I'm fine!" She insisted through her tears. I brought her head towards my shoulder to cry on and patted her head. "Shh. Shh. It's okay now. I'm here for you. I'm here." I said to soothe her. It was in that moment I realized something was strange with those Salvatore's. When they first moved to town, weird things had happened. I didn't think much of it, assuming it was all a coincidence. But now I saw for myself something wasn't right about them. About Damon. And I needed to figure out what as soon as possible before anyone else got hurt. Before the people I cared about got hurt.