Chapter 1: Welcome to Mystic Falls
I heard the stream before I saw it.
Not big feat, for a vampire, mind you, but when I reached the muddy banks and actually beheld the translucent ripples, I shot so far back into the past I became frozen among the pine trees that surrounded me.
I went to a time when injustice always seemed to be on hand. When segregation ran deep, and young, hot blood ran deeper…
Smokey images of a boy welled up in my mind-emerald eyes glinting in moonlight, silvery blonde hair cropped too short, the echo of: "Everything's fine, Val…" over my scream. I shook my head, hard-the action made me look insane; and hell, maybe I was. Because I was positive I had heard movement from behind me, in the ebony shadows that this evening's sunset bore. For a millisecond I concentrated-I heard no heartbeat. Whoever it was, they were not human. And as long as I'd been a vampire, my senses had never been wrong.
Giving no indication that I knew I was being watched I knelt in the mud-(nature doesn't bother me) and scooped up some river water into cupped palms. If my predator wanted me to put a face to the eyes that were burning holes into my back, they would have made themselves known. Restraining the urge to turn around and confront the stalker I peered at my reflection intently, as if I had never seen myself before.
I'd been told I was beautiful by a stranger before; in fact, it had happened at least a hundred or so times in the past 50 years, but who was counting? I doubted them- for who were they to determine beauty? And, as far as today's standard goes, I was far cry from the tan bimbos that America stood by in this century.
The eyes that lay inside my palms were a dewy green surrounded by dark lashes. My nose was somewhat large but could be considered small by many. My lips were a pale pink monstrosity that could harm my appearance as well as help it. My skin, all over, was a flawless white the color of lily petals or snow-not pink or tan in any area. Finally, my hair-I smiled at the look of it, my pearly whites flashing across the water's surface-was a fiery red. Curls that color of blood lay limply upon my exposed shoulders, the warm evening breeze causing them to lean over and tickle my prominent collarbone. The breeze continued to the west, sliding over my dark skinny jeans and ivory lace top, which was barely holding onto my thin frame as it was. As if sensing my clothing dilemma the hunter behind me moved-the only warning was a thin sliver of air being cut in half as they closed in on me. Thank God, I was me-because that was warning enough.
In a millisecond I had leapt to my feet, hands out so that the water flew at my attacker-I had somehow hoped this would disable them. It was my unpredictable luck that the water hit them and then their hands hit me. I went off my feet at the shove, flying over the stream and to the opposite side, where a pine tree ended my journey. Ah-so he was another vampire; no one human could have had that much strength.
The jarring sensation of my spine meeting bark was wasted on my supernatural body-I had never been hurt as a vampire, not once. But that's only because I had been careful-avoided hunters, cops and other vampires-it seemed my luck had worn off-oh, well. I still had my charm.
My attacker had followed me across-currently his hands pinned my shoulders to the tree, discouraging any escape plans. As it was, the danger of the situation hadn't sunk in yet, and I laughed aloud-it was quite a rarity to be surprise attacked, and I found it invigorating. My attacker didn't appear to join me in my laughter, his fingers curling tighter around my shoulder blades.
"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you." He growled.
I really was not scared, but peering down into his serious face had some doubts churning up. Just a few you see, for I had luck and charm. And I wasn't good at taking orders anyway-always been a rebel. My giggles subsided softly into gentle chuckles: I grinned in his face, chuckling out: "You don't scare me."
Truth be told, my captor wasn't lacking in the looks department. His tanned face gave way to high cheekbones and a regal, slim nose. His lips were inviting despite the snarl they bore (Who pissed in his cereal?) and his eyes were an intense shade of summer sky. His slim, black eyebrows arched under his mussed raven black hair and his slim, toned body wafted heat onto mine. Despite his Adonis bod, his anger was palpable-and it twisted all his features in such a way that I wanted to punch him.
Because I'd only seen another man that hell-bent; Levi. Emerald eyes, silvery blonde hair, "Everything's fine, Val…"
I wanted to punch this stranger in the face. Damn him for making me think of Levi.
My smile fell.
Eyes widening slightly with insane anger, the man's grip on my shoulder increased, his fingers clawing into my flesh: "You should be." He hissed.
"Sorry to disappoint."
His expression didn't falter: "Who are you?"
My eyes narrowed-no way in hell. I hadn't come back to Mystic Falls to chat it up-I was coming than going. And I'd do it with style, fuck him. My pause allowed him crawling space to hope-I leaned in closer, as much as I could with being pinned, and whispered: "None of your damn business."
This generally made him insanely furious-his eyes glittered maniacally and he gave a wry smile. "Let's not make this difficult, shall we?"
"Wouldn't dream of it." I replied-before my knee met his stomach. Given, he was strong-but I packed a good hit, so he at least loosened his hold, which gave me time to wiggle out. Victorious, I ran around him, coming to a stop behind his back. I wanted to talk this out, believe me-I didn't like fighting, but I sure wasn't running away like a coward-but he flipped around, his legs coming out so that I lost my footing and fell flat on my back. This all happened in less than a second-gotta love vampires.
My chest heaved at the unexpected move, threatening the sanctity of my lacy top. He stood over me in his leather jacket and black jeans, his eyes roving over my body twice before meeting my gaze cheekily. Well, he was certainly no gentleman.
"Are you gonna have sex with me or kill me? Cause I have things to do."
His eyes lit up with some crazy emotion-God, was this guy stable? "I'll kill you right now, if you want."
I raised my eyebrows at this, but he continued. "We don't need any more vampires here. "
My heart leapt in my throat-there were more vampires here than him? I was on my feet in a flash-he didn't stop me but opted instead to place himself before me, making sure I knew I wasn't allowed to escape. "If you're leaving-" he spoke, his tone low and threatening, "then good. If you're not, I'll dispose of you right now." I studied him with scathing eyes-he peered into my face with a straight, defiant mouth, ready to kill me-and then I met his gaze. His eyes were a deep sapphire that reminded me of a midnight sky, something mysterious that few held the key to appreciate. Not only that, but lying within the midnight blue orbs, instead of fury, was hurt. Deep, deep, hurt-this wasn't because of me…this was something else. I'm sure my mouth dropped open in shock-for the agony in his eyes caused something inside me to break, to snap right in half. For as a vampire I'd felt nothing but empty-this little breaking away was more than I'd felt in years. My face softened unconsciously.
"No you won't." My assurance shone out and into his eyes-he peered back doubtfully, his nose scrunched as if he couldn't believe what'd I'd just said. The pain in his eyes was fading a fraction, I could see, and to make it vanish altogether (not my style…what the hell was wrong with me?) I threw him a bone.
"My name is Valerie. I grew up here-" I paused, my gaze flashing to the mud beneath my heels before my attention flew back to him-"a long time ago."
"Long time ago, hm?" The light bulb that went off behind his irises threw away all the pain from before and I froze, astounded. Something was happening.
What had I just done? I stood, still as a statue, as that thing that had snapped grew-and then exploded. I gasped aloud, air whistling sharply inward as my stare became glassy. That piece that had broken-it had unlocked the warmth in me-I did not feel cold any longer. In a matter of seconds I was assaulted with emotion-fear, hate, violence, anger-the force of my fury was so strong I was almost overtaken. And I knew why. I knew whom it was for.
I wasn't prepared when my attacker flew around me, hitting me in the back of the head so hard I blacked out. I collapsed limply, all my senses dulled as the floodgates inside me continued to open.
As my vision was reduced to shadow, I heard one thing:
"My name's Damon. Lovely meeting you, Val."
~How was that? Review please, if you read! Reviews make my day3 Valerie is played by Susan Coffey. Google her if you must, she's very pretty. Hope you liked it.-MsArtemis~
