1. BLACK SHEEP
The gray clouds in the sky were keeping the cemetery shaded. Under the trees, next to a tomb that probably hadn't been visited in years, it was perfect and chilly. The cold winds from winter were threatening, brushing lightly against the faces of the few people sitting around. The young woman took another drink of the cheap whiskey before handing it back to a balding man, watching as he downed it. Her long, almost white blonde hair blew into her face at the hands of the wind. She didn't bother to brush it away, too intent on studying the man in front of her. Her almost black eyes locked onto his and she softly smiled. Jared was his name. He was clad in black, pulling off the look that most of the others in the graveyard shared; all of them were skinny and fucked up. Her eyes partially closed, her naturally thick lashes shading her already dark eyes. "Yo, Vicki!" Jared spoke up, his eyes locking onto the tan teenager walking towards them. The blonde leaned against Tony and eyed her as she took a drink of the whiskey being passed around, and then a hit of the almost gone joint.
"You baby-sitting, Donavon?" Behind the tanned teenager, holding her hand, stood Jeremy Gilbert. He had big, innocent brown eyes and equally brown hair falling in them. Most people knew that he was hanging around Vicki and taking pills. They all said that he was following in the footsteps of his older sister, leading himself into a life that he was too nice for. And honestly, Jeremy Gilbert was. He cared about other people and even himself. The blonde knew that he was just getting into their lifestyle because of their parents death, but she would have preferred him to not get into that lifestyle at all. Jeremy Gilbert deserved more in life. Kadie, the blonde sitting next to Tony, never wanted him to see that kind of life. She wasn't the best big sister in the world, but she did care about her siblings. She cared about them more than they would ever know.
Kadie rolled her eyes. "My little brother, Vicki? Seriously?" Vicki introduced Jeremy and said that he was cool, throwing an apologetic glance at Kadie. The blonde sighed and watched as her brother turned down the joint Vicki tried to hand him. The girl shrugged and gave it back to Jared, laughing like she had been there with them forever. This was the place that they all hung out together before they graduated. Kadie, Jared, Tony and Melissa would all ditch school and go to the cemetery; a place they all figured no one would go looking for them. Some of them were still friends, but mostly they came out of routine and lack of wanting to do it alone. They all agreed that it would look like they had a problem if they spent their evenings drinking and smoking by themselves. None of them wanted to be an alcoholic just yet.
Jeremy let out a laugh, finally accepting the joint from Jared. Kadie wanted to glare at him, but her brother's choices- however stupid they may be- were his own. Kadie couldn't keep him from doing everything he wanted to do even if she tried. He would have just called her a hypocrite, anyway. "What?" Vicki asked him, laughing as well. They were a lot younger than the rest of them. Neither of the teenagers looked nearly as roughed up as the people surrounding them. Jeremy still looked mildly healthy, and Vicki could have passed as a cheerleader if she wanted. Kadie had black skinny jeans on with random patches of dirt from sitting on the ground. On top of that, she had a band t-shirt that she borrowed from Jared that practically engulfed her. She could have easily worn the shirt as a dress, if band shirts could pass as dresses. Her wrist was covered in random silver chains and black bracelets that people had gotten her over the years. Still, on her left wrist, she wore a charm bracelet her parents got her with a single silver cross hanging off the side and a lantern; the only two charms they were able to buy her before their death.
"I'm stoned in a cemetery." Vicki nudged him lightly with her shoulder. They both looked happy together. Kadie pushed down the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach and took another drink, trying to ignore the fact that her little brother was completely okay with letting Kadie see that side of him. She never thought that she was bad enough for Jeremy to not care what he did in front of her; not have to worry about her telling Jenna or Elena. They both knew, though. Jeremy was obvious about what he did with his personal life. Every time that she got a call from Jenna, she would beg Kadie to have a talk with him. What was she supposed to say? Her life wasn't ruined because of the drugs. They were only making it better. The painkillers that she took helped her sleep at night, and alcohol made everything easier to handle. Substance abuse is an easy way out of life, and there are little consequences for it. How could she lie to her little brother, who already had a taste of that life and was well on his way to knowing that they helped?
"They don't mind," Vicki spoke, referring to the gravestones around them. "They're dead. Let me take this up a notch. Hey, Tony!" She pulled out a pill bottle from inside of her green jacket and threw them to Tony. He caught them and laughed, handing the bottle to the girl next to him. Melissa flipped the bottle over to check the name of the pills that Vicki just gave them. No matter what they were, Kadie had a feeling that they were going to be passed around. None of the older people cared. They'd taken them all before.
"Oh! Nice! Vickies from Vicki! Ha." The man laughed at that, leaning further into Melissa, who said, "Well, thank you, Elena Gilbert, whoever you are." Kadie's eyes snapped to the pill bottle. Jeremy took pills from his own sister? Kadie couldn't say anything, yet again. She pressed her lips together and furrowed her brows, taking on the same frustrated expression as Jeremy.
"You took those from the house?" He asked her, getting up to snatch the pill bottle out of Melissa's hands. The other people there raised their eyebrows, amused by the way that the fifteen year old boy was acting. Kadie was glad that her brother got some sense.
"She wasn't using it," was Vicki's reply.
"She's gonna notice if they're gone. That's not cool." Jeremy put the pill bottle back into his own pocket.
Vicki sat up, looking at him like he had lost his mind. "It's no big deal, Jer."
"Yeah, it kinda is, Vick." Vicki pushed herself off of her seat on the ground and followed after Jeremy when he started walking away. She stopped him and Kadie watched as they bickered. She could hear parts of the conversation. The only part she really cared about, though, was when her little brother asked why Vicki was hanging out with losers. Kadie had it come, she really did. It didn't make the words sting any less. If there was a better way to kill her happiness, it would be to bring her little sister to the cemetery instead. Elena was a lot more caring than her little brother would ever be, and would definitely try to drag Kadie back to the Gilbert home and force her to give up on that lifestyle. She would probably lock Kadie in a basement until everything went back to normal. Kadie wasn't normal, though, and locking her in a basement wouldn't make her any better. Jeremy, though… Jeremy was good. Her little brother left Vicki standing there, and the girl came back in a storm. She was on a mission to forget every single problem in her life, and that is exactly what she did the second she took a seat next to Kadie.
"He's a good guy, huh?" Kadie asked, looking over at the teenager. Vicki rolled her eyes and grabbed the whiskey out of Kadie's hands. Her nostrils flared when Kadie spoke. They had just gotten into a fight, and honestly Kadie didn't want her little brother into that kind of stuff. He would only break Vicki's heart in the end, when he finally puts his head on straight and decides that he might as well make something of himself. Jeremy won't always be in that dark phase. He's normal.
"He's a dick," Vicki replied. Kadie laughed and took the whiskey back from her.
.::::.
The cemetery was already dark and it was hard to see. The only things that kept them lit were the moon peeking through the trees overhead and a flame in the middle of the circle. Even then, it was dim. The twenty-two year old woman enjoyed the lack of light on her dark eyes. She had been in the darkness many times, and even though she liked the sunshine on occasion, she always preferred the darkness. Kadie shifted in the grass. Her head was on Vicki's lap and Vicki was leaning against a tree. Music was playing as loud as possible, some weird rock song that Jared was into. It was blasting from his car. Everyone was sitting around, hanging out and using up the last of their drinks. Kadie was in and out of consciousness. Every now and again she could open her eyes and the world didn't seem so black, but most of the time she was out of it. Incoherent words would escape her mouth every so often, like when she had to use the restroom or when she had to move at all. She never moved, even then.
The music was cut suddenly and the people around Kadie groaned. "Donavon?" She heard one of the boys ask. She could only make out that it was a male and he was close.
Vicki laughed, causing Kadie's head to bob up and down with her body. "No, I'm good." After that, Kadie could hear the group shouting 'not it', and then Vicki laughing again. The brunette picked up the young woman in her lap and forced her to stand, saying that she should probably walk with her. Kadie nodded and Vicki laughed again. The woman would have been self-conscious of her appearance if she had not been so out of it. There was not a single care in her body as she stumbled closer to the car, tripping over nonexistent branches. Vicki kept laughing until they reached the car.
"Hey, man, you okay?" Kadie lifted her head to look at a man on his hands and knees. She blinked a couple of times as she stared at him. She could hear him muttering something, but nothing was coherent at the moment. She could barely understand her thoughts as her mind raced to figure out what he was doing in the cemetery at night. "You don't look good," Vicki said. Kadie blacked out after that. Her vision seemed to go out and time flew past her. She sat down on the ground and held her head, trying to sober up. Nothing worked. Not even the cold hair hitting her pale cheeks.
.:::.
"Drink up," She heard someone say next to her. Kadie groaned and rolled over, landing hard on the ground. The loud thud from her body connecting with something not soft told her that she wasn't in the cemetery anymore. Her stomach turned with sickness from the previous night's events- or was the night even over it? Kadie opened her eyes and was greeted with light, causing them to snap shut immediately. Her head didn't hurt, but she didn't want to be anywhere near the sun. That would definitely give her the headache that she was trying to avoid. Her stomach twisted and she could feel her insides moving uncomfortably. "You're awake," The same someone observed.
"Where am I?" Kadie asked, finally opening her eyes to see that his wrist was pressed against Vicki's mouth. She pressed her dark eyebrows together and pursed her lips. She had witnessed a lot of fucked up things, but she'd never seen anyone drinking another person's blood. A little bit of it dripped off of the side of Vicki's mouth as she hungrily reached for him, pulling his wrist closer to her. "What happened?" Her dark eyes were locked on Vicki's mouth. She'd never seen anyone react that way to blood before. She sighed. There's a first time for everything.
"My house," The man easily replied. He only looked a couple of years older than Kadie. She finally observed the rest of the house. It was way too big for anyone like her usual friends to afford. He must have had some really lenient and willing parents if they bought him something as nice as the place surrounding her. The man pushed Vicki off of his wrist and walked towards Kadie. Her eyes stayed locked on Vicki. She was finally waking up all the way, looking groggy and messed up still from the night before. A small laugh escaped her lips. Kadie rolled her eyes. "You might want some of this," He said, offering up his wrist. Kadie shook her head and laughed along with Vicki.
"No thanks, man. I'm not that freaky." She paused, finally taking notice to his appearance. He was incredibly attractive, but not anything that Kadie would go for. He didn't look near as bad as her normal boy. His eyes were still beautiful and he had a lean, athletic build. His black hair was messy and familiar. He shrugged in response, appearing incredibly nonchalant. It was kind of sexy, how he did that. Kadie pursed her lips. "You got a shower? I probably smell awful."
Vicki perked up. "Yeah, me too."
.:::.
Kadie ran her fingers through her wet hair. She wore the same shirt from the night before and her underwear. She was used to other people seeing her half naked. Not because of sleeping around, but because complete lack of caring around other people. Kadie rarely ever found someone she was attracted to enough to sleep with, and when she did it was never an actual relationship. Vicki, however, was still trying to find someone to love her like she deserved to be loved and accept their lifestyle. Jeremy was going to be that someone, until he decided that she was going to turn into a loser like his big sister. "Thanks for letting us use your shower," Kadie said to the man as he poured himself a glass of scotch. He took a large drink and handed it to Kadie. She gladly accepted and gulped it down. She might as well have some fun. "What's your name?"
"Damon Salvatore," The dark-haired man easily replied. Kadie groaned and threw her arm over her eyes. She knew that he was familiar. Damon raised an eyebrow at her reaction. She peeked out from under her arm and stared into those vibrant blue eyes before groaning again.
"Please tell me I didn't sleep with you," She said.
"You didn't." The man was honest when he spoke to her. Kadie breathed out a sigh of relief. "Why? Am I not attractive enough for you?" Damon was joking when he said it. Kadie had to ignore the comment. She didn't want to admit to him that she found him attractive. It was just lame whenever she had to confess her deeper wants and emotions. She tended to just get high and live life. What in the world would she need to find another person attractive for?
"My little sister is dating your brother," Kadie explained. Damon raised his eyebrows at this and smirked, just then glad that he kept the blonde alive. He was only going to keep her for her looks, and the fact that she didn't die alongside Vicki. Now he had leverage.
"She didn't tell me she had a sister," Damon mused. Kadie scoffed and took the newly poured glass out of his hand, taking another drink of it. If she was going to drink, she was going to get drunk doing so.
"Black sheep of the family," Kadie stated as she handed him back his glass. "Do you have anything stronger? You're killing me here." Damon raised his eyebrows again at the girl. He couldn't see how she was related in any way to the other two Gilberts. Both of them were kind and caring, and even though Jeremy was well on his way to becoming bad he didn't have it in him to do anything like his sister. Damon never expected to find a Gilbert- even the ones that he had met from his past- out in a cemetery, drinking with a bunch of losers. He kept his face cool. Kadie found herself staring into his eyes as she waited for his reply, trying to figure out what the dominant color was. All that came to mind was bright. She had a lot to drink the night before.
"Oh?" He said, entertaining the idea. He imagined Stefan's face when he mentioned he was holding Elena's older sister hostage. This was good. Vicki was only something to keep him company. Now he had the threat of killing his precious girlfriend's family. He was definitely going to get his ring back, and soon.
"I'm surprised she never mentioned me, though. We're kinda close," Kadie went on, pressing her eyebrows together. Just then Vicki came out of the bathroom, vigorously rubbing her hair with a towel. She had a large smile on her face. Kadie gave her friend a lopsided smile; lazy and faked. Damon's smile grew. This was just perfect.
"Oh, man. That shower was so great. What did you give me?" Vicki was only in her tank top and underwear, taking after the girl she was with the night before. Her outfit was a lot more revealing, though. Kadie would have to return Jared's shirt whenever she got the chance. She looked at the bracelets still around her wrist, drying off from the wet shower.
Damon walked closer to her. "Some blood. You loved it." Kadie watched as he animatedly spoke to Vicki. His eyes would rise and then fall back down, and his mouth was in a constant smug smirk. He might have been a lot darker than Kadie previously thought, and that turned her on like no other. She had a thing for the fucked up kind of guys, the ones with more issues than they should come with. She would never actually be with one, but that wasn't the point. She could revel in that darkness for hours if she wanted.
"I did? Wait. I'm confused. How did we get here?" She motioned towards the room they were standing in. Kadie finally travelled her eyes around. It was simple, and all of the curtains were closed, She was thankful for the blocked sunlight. Damon's eyes dilated as he looked into hers and Kadie pressed her eyebrows together. That was weird.
"We met in the woods. You were drunk, I attacked you. Then I killed all of your friends and I brought you here. Gave you some blood, you loved it. And now we're gonna party till the sun goes down." It took a moment for Kadie to process what he was saying. She was trapped inside of a house with a freak. He must have been on more drugs than Kadie had ever been on, because there was no way any of that could have happened. She'd have to get out of there. Her eyes widened. It's always the cute ones that end up insane.
"Ok. Um, but first, can I have another hit? That blood was so good," Vicki drawled.
Damon smirked. "Only if I can." He bit into his wrist and ripped it open, revealing a bleeding wound. Vicki pressed her mouth to it as she offered Damon her wrist. He bit down into hers. Kadie had seen some freaky shit before. She'd seen plenty of movies where the vampires drained a person dry and plenty more where the humans wanted to be intimate with one. It was pretty much a blood fest. This, though… Two humans drinking from each other were weird to watch. She couldn't say anything, though. She'd try anything once, and knew that Vicki would as well.
Seconds later, Vicki was jumping up and down on the bed in the room. Damon turned up the music as loud as possible and dancing. Vicki was jumping and running and dancing around, doing whatever she could to get her heart beat up. Kadie could only sit there and drink, waiting for everything to chill out. She hated having people around her that were too jumpy. She could laugh and have a good time, sure, but she wasn't the kind of person that could get hyper from anything. She'd seen people drink their own blood before, and it never did anything to them like what it was doing to Vicki. She was all over the place. Kadie took a drink out of the bottle she didn't ask for, watching with bored eyes. "I am so over Tyler," Vicki started, spinning around. "I knew from the beginning that I was only a piece of ass to him, but I thought maybe if he got to know me better he might see something more. But no." She was talking so fast. "Now, Jeremy-" Kadie perked up at the sound of her little brother's name. "-on the other hand, that's all he's ever seen in me is something more, and I like that."
Kadie took another drink, letting the burning liquid harshly slide down her throat. It never was easy drinking at first. The drunker she got, though, the easier the alcohol went down. She liked that. "Jeremy, huh? Elena's brother?"
Vicki nodded her head. "Yeah. Yeah, so, Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together, so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me and-" Vicki cut herself off, looking the older Salvatore over. He was still smirking. "Hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're, like, totally cool and so hot."
"I know," Damon replied.
"Could you be any more arrogant?" Kadie muttered, letting her eyes travel over everything but the two in the room with her.
"Don't you wanna be in love?" Vicki asked him, like an innocent child asking an adult. That was what she was, though. She didn't need to be dancing around an older man's living room. He was insane, anyway. They were all insane.
"I've been in love. It's painful and pointless and overrated."
"Except when it isn't," Vicki added. Kadie rolled her eyes. Damon's words were true, to the blonde at least. All that ever comes from love is pain. Even when happily in love, it's painful. Either people break up because one falls out of love or finds another they love more, or the person dies in the end. No matter what love becomes painful and it's pointless to even fall. It's painful, and pointless, and overrated.
"No more talking. Let's dance," Damon ordered. He pulled Vicki close to him and she raised her arms, swaying her hips back and forth against him. Vicki didn't last long, though. She opened her mouth and began to tell Damon her life story yet again. Kadie knew that Vicki was talkative and that she shared, but nothing had ever gotten her to open up that much.
"My mom spends most of her time in Virginia Beach with Pete. He drives trucks. I don't remember my dad, but from what I gather he's not worth remembering." Kadie bit the inside of her lip before taking another drink. It mixed with the blood from her bite and somehow soothed her throat when the alcohol went down.
"Your life is so pathetic," Damon replied with false sympathy. Vicki didn't seem to notice.
"Yeah. I mean, I'm the screwed-up one. Matt's got it so easy. He's the golden boy. I mean, he's gonna get a football scholarship and marry Elena and have a lawn mower and some babies, and when I think of my future, I just come up blank." Damon pressed up against her and buried his face in her neck, his lips lingering just centimeters away from her artery.
"You are so damaged," Damon said in the same voice he had taken on before Vicki started talking again. He obviously didn't want to talk about her life, but she went on anyway. Her only reply this time, however, was a simple yep. Kadie was glad. "I mean, you don't have one hint of self-esteem." Vicki's smile faded a little, but she kept her face happy.
"Nope, none."
"I think I know what can help you," Damon said. Kadie looked away again. If they were going to start having sex in there, she was going to have to be a lot drunker. She didn't want to have to wait for her friend to finish with a cute guy. She'd done it so many times before.
"What's that?" Vicki innocently asked. Kadie sighed.
"Death." The blonde jumped up in her seat when she heard the snap of a neck and a body hitting the ground. Her eyes went wide when they landed on Vicki. She kept herself from screaming. Instead, she scrambled away from the body with wide eyes.
"What the fuck!?" She finally pushed out. "Holy fucking shit, you really did kill fucking… Oh, god. Oh no." As much as she hated to admit, she did enjoy hanging around her old friends. Instead of scrambling away anymore, Kadie kept her wide eyes on the body and took another, large drink of the psycho's alcohol. Her heart was beating against her rib cage and adrenaline pumped through her veins, begging her to move or run or do anything, but she just stood there, drinking freely with her eyes stuck on the dead body of her friend. Her little brother was going to die when he knew that his sister had to watch his girlfriend die. He was going to- Damon gripped Kadie's face in his hands and looked into her eyes.
His pupils dilated just like they had with Vicki. This man was insane. "Calm down," He ordered. The tone in his voice didn't make her feel any less threatened by him. Kadie's heart still beat against her chest and blood still ran through her veins, pumping as fast as it could. She didn't do anything further to give away that she was freaking out, though. Maybe if she could outsmart him and make a run for it, call the cops…
Movement out of the corner of her eye forced Kadie to look away from the psycho that still had her face in his hands. Vicki was waking up, like she had just woken up from a bad hangover and not death. "What happened?" She groaned out, grabbing her head. "We were dancing and then-" Damon looked away from Kadie.
"And then I killed you." His voice was calm. How in the hell was Vicki alive? Kadie's nerves died down as soon as she saw that the girl she came here with was okay. She was drunk. She could have been seeing things, but she'd never hallucinated under the influence before. Maybe she had taken too many pills the night before and the mixture did something to her head. She reassured herself, repeating the sentence over and over again in her mind. Vicki was alive, and she was just insane.
"What?" Vicki asked, pressing her eyebrows together. Her thick lips were cracked and pale. She really did look dead to Kadie. Her body was so limp on the ground.
"You're dead," Damon replied, as if death was no big deal.
"I'm dead?" Vicki was obviously confused. She pushed herself up off of the floor and rubbed her head some more. Her eyes found Kadie's and she smiled. Vicki was alive. The man they were with had lost it and Vicki was alive. Kadie let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"Yeah, well, let's not make a big deal out of it. You drank my blood, I killed you, and now you have to feed in order to complete the process," Damon easily explained. Feed? Kadie examined Vicki closely. She was alive. She wasn't dead. Kadie was losing her mind alongside this man and her friend was very much so alive. She never cared for Vicki, but she never wished death on the girl. Sometimes she could have a heart.
"You're wasted," Vicki laughed out. She went over to sit on the couch by Kadie. When Vicki's skin connected with hers, Kadie let out another breath. She was cold, but still there. Kadie wasn't insane. Or maybe she was. Her mind wasn't working right at all. Everything was out of place and everywhere and all of her thoughts were so jumbled that she found things hard to comprehend. She knew that she just saw a person die. She knew that she just heard and saw Vicki on the floor. Her eyes flickered to Damon as he took a drink. She did the same. "Come on," Vicki pulled on Kadie's arms and took her towards the door.
"You don't wanna be out there all alone. You're about to get really freaky." Damon tried to reason with Vicki, but she kept pulling Kadie towards the exit. The blonde was already feeling incredibly drunk, but she took another drink just to attempt to calm her nerves. Nothing felt right.
"Okay, I had a really good time. I just wanna go home." Vicki sighed, giving Damon a weird look. How did they end up at his house?
Damon blocked the door. "You're gonna start craving blood, and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful." Damon's eyes were serious when he looked down at Vicki. She snorted and shook her head, pushing past him. "See? You're already starting to fall apart."
"And I'm going home now," Vicki deadpanned. Kadie pulled herself out of her grip and rubbed her head. Her world was blinking in and out of place, over and over again. She needed some sleep, or a shower or something. She'd had so many bad times after taking pills that she was used to this feeling, but it never got old. Every time it unsettled her like she was going to die.
"Ok, fine. I'm just warning you. Actually, you know what? You should go. In fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house." Damon shrugged, his smug grin coming back. Kadie pursed her lips. Her body went forward on its own, causing her to stumble a bit. Damon caught her. She didn't want to be in the arms of a psycho, but maybe she was the psychotic one. Was it safe for him to be around her? Kadie didn't know. She was having a hard time telling reality apart from what went on in her head.
"Yeah, whatever," Vicki replied. She didn't look back as she walked away.
"Bye," Damon called, happily. "Tell Elena I said hi. And if you see Stefan, tell him to call me!" Kadie covered her eyes when she heard the door slam. Damon set her up against the wall, where she easily slid down into a sitting position. Her knees were curled against her chest, and her elbow was rested on top of one of them to support the hand covering her eyes. Her head pounded with all of the thoughts running through it, but every now and again it would go back to a lightheaded sort of feeling. "Now what do I do with you?"
"Whatever you want?" Kadie suggested, smilingly lightly while keeping her eyes covered. She could hear Damon laugh as he stood over her. She felt arms scoop up under her and lift her with ease, like she weighed nothing at all. She didn't expect Damon to be as strong as he was. "So what's with you and my sister's boyfriend? He's not very fond of you, from what she tells me. 'Raging family issues', I believe was the term used." Damon chuckled and set her down on the couch.
She uncovered her eyes. "He took something from me," Damon said. She figured that he was going to leave it at that. She didn't really want to talk about their problems, not right then. "So when did you start hanging out in cemeteries?" He changed the subject. Kadie breathed a sigh of relief.
"When I was 14, maybe. I'm pretty sure it was the summer before high school started," Kadie explained, shrugging. "Diagnosed with any mental illnesses recently?" Damon raised his eyebrows at that. "I mean, you believed that you killed Vicki. Did you?"
"I'm a vampire," Damon stated. Kadie laughed.
"So you're a schizo. Got it." Damon rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else on the subject. She had to be wearing vervain, if he wasn't able to compel her earlier. Her mind was still going back and forth and she wasn't sure which part was the sane and which wasn't. She couldn't even tell if this was real. "So, how'd you get to be a vampire?" Damon took a drink and looked at Kadie with bored eyes. His expression showed his distaste in the conversation, but he didn't look angry.
"I was shot."
"When?"
"1864." Kadie didn't expect that answer. She was planning on him saying that he was shot just the year before, and when he woke up he suddenly craved blood and knew that his calling was to be a vampire. But it did make sense, even if the thought was absurd. His house was way too nice for someone his age to afford, and there weren't any parents around for him or Stefan. If there were, they most likely would have freaked the second that they noticed two girls running wild in their home. Then there was the whole drinking blood thing, and the fact that Vicki was… So maybe Kadie was insane, too.
"Wow," Kadie breathed. "200 years, right?" Damon nodded. "How do you live like that? The years go by so fast and then we all die. The knowledge of that death makes us live it up. We do whatever we please and try to squeeze as much in before death. Do you just sit there under the impression that you'll have time to do it later?" Kadie took the glass from his hand and took a drink. She had no idea where the bottle from earlier that day went. Her mind was shot.
"Never thought about it like that," Damon stated. The corners of Kadie's mouth tugged down. "But I plan on living it up soon." His eyes went somewhere else.
"So, is Stefan a vampire too?" Kadie took another drink, her eyes closing tight when she did so. The harsh drink rubbed against her throat and wanted to make her cough. She refused to do so. She was having a pretty rough day. Damon nodded. "Since 1864, right? How do you guys walk in the sun?" Kadie tore her eyes away from his for a moment to grab the pants lying on the couch next to her. She easily slid them on.
"Magic." Kadie laughed and shook her head, looking elsewhere. She didn't feel safe with him, no, but there was nothing else for her to do. She would have to call Jared later and return his shirt and maybe hang out at the cemetery again. It was kind of what they did every night after they all got off of work. Kadie worked at the Mystic Grill with Vicki, so sometimes they would end up going there together. A tiny piece of her was glad that she was just hallucinating when she saw the man snap Vicki's neck. As much as she hated her personality, she was getting used to having her around. The others liked her, too.
"Man, Elena is probably so worried."
"Let's go see her," Damon said, looking outside. She asked how he could walk in the sun, but didn't think that she had yet to see him out there. The entire time that they were hanging out, even though it was during the day, Damon didn't set foot in the sunlight. He kept all of the blinds closed, and the only time he suggested leaving was the second that the sun went down. Maybe he couldn't walk in the sun. Or he could. Kadie's head spun again and she nodded.
"My breath smells awful. Do you think she'll notice?" They all knew that Kadie spent her time drinking from sunrise to sunset, but she didn't want them to be around her while she did it. Maybe that was the real reason that Kadie was so uncomfortable with having her little brother around. She didn't want him to see her in her normal state of mind. She would have said something about him doing that if she truly cared about him doing those things, wouldn't she? Why didn't he feel uncomfortable doing them around her?
"Nah," Damon replied. He slipped his arm around the girl's shoulder, and without warning moved as fast as he could to Elena's house. He was at her doorstep in barely two seconds. The blonde didn't think anything of it. She blinked a few times and hit her forehead, convinced that she was too drunk to understand what was happening. He was glad that she kept telling herself that. He wouldn't have to worry about not being able to compel her as long as she thought he was insane.
Damon knocked on the door and Elena answered. Her eyes went wide when they landed on her sister. "Damon, what are you doing?" She turned around. "Jeremy, go upstairs." Kadie could see her little brother, the one that she spent the day with, walking upstairs. "We thought you were dead." Elena sniffled as she pulled her sister inside, wrapping her arms around her.
"Why?"
"Jeremy said he saw you at the cemetery earlier with those people that were murdered," Elena went on. Kadie blinked a few times, knowing that she heard wrong. Her eyes flew to Damon and she stepped further inside, suddenly completely aware of how insane he was. She was out of her mind, but so was he.
"You're afraid of me," Damon laughed out. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up." Kadie's mind couldn't properly wrap around the idea of him being a vampire. Her entire life, she went around telling herself that there was no such thing as monsters. Even though this guy looked human, he'd been dead. She rubbed her temples. Damon put his hand on her shoulder and Elena ripped Kadie away.
"Stay away from her," Elena barked. She had some guts, talking to a psycho like that.
"Hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in? Oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited. We can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not gonna kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So... Where's Stefan?" Kadie had spent the entire day with a psycho. What was he talking about? Why did he want to see his little brother so bad? Nothing made sense. Nothing mattered. Kade repeated to herself over and over again that nothing mattered and suddenly, it didn't. She could handle him being a psycho and she could get her and her sister out of the mess if he was. He was strong, sure, but Kadie was smart… or at least she used to be.
"He's out looking for Vicki," Elena replied, cautiously eyeing her older sister. She was rubbing her temples and acting strange, but that might just be her normal behavior. Elena wouldn't be able to deal with Damon turning her sister into a vampire as well. As far apart as they've all drifted over the years, Elena still cared about her sister and would stake Damon in a heartbeat if he did anything like that to her; if he put that curse on her. "Are you okay?" Elena mumbled, trying to be quiet. Kadie looked up at her sister, confused at the question. She nodded slowly. Was everyone out of their minds, or was she just seeing them all out of their minds?
"Don't look at me with those judgey little eyes. She's going to thank me for what I did to her." So Elena thought he was a vampire as well. It appeared that everyone in Mystic Falls needed to be put away somehow. Kadie was still having a hard time believing that all of the people she'd been hanging out with for years were gone. They were the only people she really ever had in life. She still had Jared's shirt.
"Did you thank Katherine?" Elena snapped back.
Damon's eyebrows pressed together at the mention of Katherine. "Mm." His tone and eyes were dark. Even if he is a psychopath, Kadie kind of wanted to be around him. That darkness surrounding him was hard for her to not want to pull into. Kadie had a hard time admitting it, but she was most likely masochistic with her complete lack of regard for her mental and physical health. She loved the thought of it all. "Got the whole life story, huh?"
"I got enough," Elena said, sure of herself. She stood tall with straight shoulders, barely an inch over the blonde's head. Her little sister was the strong one in the family. Neither Kadie nor Jeremy would be able to live properly if they lived like Elena did.
"Oh, I doubt that. Tell my brother I'm looking for him." Damon's eyes fell on Kadie and softened for a millisecond. No one noticed. Not even the vampire himself. "Oh, tip for later, be careful who you invite in the house." With that, Damon sped off into the night. He slammed the door behind him, leaving Kadie and Elena in the hall by themselves.
Elena was the first to speak up, looking at Kadie with worried eyes. "Are you drunk?" Elena asked, hoping that her sister's answer would be yes. She was silently praying that Damon didn't turn her. She wouldn't care whether or not Stefan killed him at that point. She didn't like the thought of killing other people, but if Damon really didn't have that much regard for human life he deserved to be stopped. Stefan didn't need to rehabilitate him, no. Damon needed a stake through his heart.
"He told me you wouldn't notice," Kadie slurred. Elena grinned at her reply and took her sister up in the strongest hold she could muster. Her sister slowly wrapped her arms around Elena, a lot weaker than the young cheerleader. "That… was not the response I was expecting," Kadie said slowly, her eyes travelling up and down the brunette's face. There was something definitely off in the world. Elena would never hug someone for being drunk.
Elena pulled her sister on the front porch and they both sat on the bench. Kadie didn't understand why her sister kept cupping her face and checking her eyes. "You're a wreck," Elena finally spit out. "I'm so glad you're okay that I can't even be mad at you." Kadie smiled weakly.
"Feelings," Was all that she could say. It was weird, being so close to another person. It wasn't the touching or the contact that made her uncomfortable, no. It was the fact that she could feel the love radiating off of Elena, and she wanted nothing more than to push her sister away and go back to the cemetery, with the friends that aren't dead. They can't be dead. Her stomach turned and she felt like she was sick; uncomfortable. Kadie would never be able to handle feelings, not even from her own family. She hated them more than anything else. Life was supposed to be fun and in order to do that, she had to ignore every single thought in her mind and that included the good ones. When she was able to think, Kadie was filled with… Emptiness. The kind of emptiness that angers her and makes her long for any sort of emotion, but it never comes. It's not because she's not loved and not because she doesn't love. It's just there, and she has to try her hardest to feel anything. She put guards up way too early on in life and has subconsciously kept them up since. They're so strong it's hard for even her to break down.
"Don't care," Elena replied, taking her sister in for another hug. Both of their eyes locked on the person walking up the steps. Kadie swore that she saw blood on his shirt. "You're bleeding," was said before Kadie could convince herself that she was just seeing things again. Elena had to ruin whatever false hopes that she had in keeping herself from believing anything that happened that day. Stefan's eyes landed on the blonde.
Elena stood up and took Stefan in her arms. "No, it's okay. I'm okay." He paused, a frown forming on his naturally upset face. "I couldn't stop her. I tried." He was uncomfortable talking about this in front of Elena's sister, but she didn't care. Damon must have told Kadie when he was holding her hostage. The raven-haired brother was making Stefan's life in Mystic Falls so much harder than it needed to be.
"What does that mean?" Elena asked, pushing her dark brows together.
"She fed, and then I lost her." Elena went into shock.
"Oh, my God." Stefan then walked over to Elena's sister. "She's okay. Damon didn't do anything to her, I checked."
"Does she know?" Stefan asked. If she did know, he could compel her to forget. Her calm eyes told him that she couldn't possibly know. Most humans freaked out after their first encounter with a vampire, especially one as violent as Damon. "What am I?" Stefan asked Kadie.
"You're not serious, are you?" Kadie laughed out, her eyebrows raising in disbelief. Her mouth was open in a partial smile and her eyes were wide. To anyone else, it would look like she was mocking Stefan and his brother for believing themselves to be vampires. "You're a freaking vampire?" Kadie laughed again. "Wow, you've got to be kidding me." Elena looked worried and Stefan looked pained. Neither of them said anything as Kadie pushed past them and went back inside. "I'm going to go to sleep. You guys kept all of my things, right?" Elena nodded, her face frozen with worry. She looked like she was about to break down. Kadie ignored that, though, and went straight for the stairs to sleep off all of the thoughts of vampires and insane people.
.:::.
Elena was close to breaking down. She didn't want her family involved with her messy life, and Kadie went and got herself mixed up with an insane vampire. She wanted nothing more than to protect the remaining members, but she didn't know how. She was weak standing against the vampires, and she was mentally weak standing against the world. There was nothing that she could do other than cry and hope that they'll listen to her, but neither of them ever does. She's trying to put all of their lives back together, but can't, and she knows that it's because their parents aren't there to talk to them. Jenna doesn't know how to handle them. Elena isn't a parent. She doesn't need this. Elena choked on a sob. "I gave you today, just like you asked. And I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me. And I promise I will keep your secret, but… I can't be with you, Stefan. I'm sorry, I…. I just can't."
Stefan nodded. He didn't fight for her. She wished with every fiber of her being that he would talk her out of it. Instead, he accepted that she didn't want to be around him anymore. It had been such a short time that they were together, but he pulled her out of the dark. He showed her what it was like to be happy again and they were working on it together. He was keeping her head together while she dealt with everything going on in her life. He was the only light in the dark that had been around for so long. Elena is strong and caring, but she can't handle what life is throwing at her. Elena walked inside and closed the door behind her, letting the tears freely slide down her face as she slid down the wall. She couldn't do anything.
Instead of walking upstairs into her room, she knocked lightly on the door to a room that had been unoccupied for nearly four years. Her twenty-two year old sister had moved out the first chance she got at the age of eighteen and into a cheap apartment in the bigger part of Mystic Falls. She could hear a faint "come in", signaling that it was okay to walk into the room. Elena walked inside with tears rolling down her face. Kadie wasn't the person that people normally went to whenever they had problems. She was uncaring and blunt. But she didn't say anything when her sister crawled into bed with her and wrapped her arms around her waist. Kadie accepted the hug as reality finally hit her. She wasn't as drunk as she thought she was, and she wasn't insane from taking all of those pills. Elena thought her boyfriend was a vampire- was convinced. She was the only reasonable person that Kadie had ever known. If they convinced Elena, then they could convince Kadie to. Her friends were dead. All of them. Kadie tightened the hold on her crying sister. She'd known them for years. They all grew up together and helped each other. They fell out over the years, but they were still around for each other. Dead.
Kadie couldn't let herself cry. Especially not in front of her little sister. Instead, she snuggled deeper in the pillow and fell asleep to the soundtrack of Elena crying.
.:::.
AUTHOR'S NOTES!
So, this is my first story! I know that she seems a bit rough on the edges, so sorry to anyone that might offend. She'll most likely be getting better as the story progresses. I don't own The Vampire Diaries. I do, however, own Kadie Gilbert. I might throw in some more original characters, but I highly doubt it. Anyway, tell me what you think and how I'm doing? I don't want to get anything wrong, so if I am pretty please let me know. I'll post the second chapter as soon as I get two reviews. Same with every other chapter.