"Your mother's name was Isobel," the lady told me. "Isobel Saltzman."

I already knew this, and I already knew my supposed father's name, Alaric, but what I didn't know was where either of them went. Isobel may or may not be dead, and then I had absolutely no idea where Alaric had headed.

"Alaric Saltzman...do you have an address for him?" I asked her pleadingly.

"No, honey, I really don't," she was lying. I could always tell when people are lying. Always.

"Look," the nice, sweet girl that I had been with her previously was gone. Now shit was about to get real. "I know that you have some fancy schmancy program on your computer that will list all the Alaric Saltzman's in the country. All you have to do is type in the name and then show it to me on accident."

She shook her head at my idea. "It's against policy, I probably shouldn't have even told you your mother's name."

I slammed my fist on the counter, making her flinch. "I have been through nineteen foster homes in sixteen years. Two physically abused me, one sexually, three were drug dealers, four were using me for the money from the government, three barely had enough food for me. Now tell me that isn't against policy."

Her eyes widened in sympathy and shock. She looked like one of those women than used to be sheltered as a child and still wasn't aware of what went on in the real world even into her late twenties because of her mindset. She must have felt really sorry for me because she typed in the name into her computer. Looking around for anyone that was listening, she realized that everyone was half asleep or delving deep into their work to distract themselves from how miserable they really were.

"It's a town called Mystic Falls, it's a town in Virginia. It doesn't give me a certain address, but it tells me that he is the history teacher at the local high school," she informed me, giving me a pitiful smile. I hated pity, but if it got me what I needed, I was more than willing to deal with it.

"Thank you," I told her, picking up my bag and slinging it over my shoulder again. "No one hears about this conversation, you got that?"

She nodded. "Please, I don't want to get fired."

That was the last thing that I'd be worried about in her position.

I had read their journals over and over again. At first when I had just read Isobel's diary, I just thought that she was psycho, but after reading Alaric's journal about his theories of a vampire killing his wife, my mother, I realized that it was true. That wasn't the only factor influencing me to believe in their existence. There have been strange things that have happened to me in my lifetime. I remember seeing glimpses of the a teenage girl throughout my life. She stayed the same, never aged, even as I grew up into my teenage years.

There was a time that I went into a very brutal, abusive home. One day after a man hit me so hard that I passed out, he was dead when I woke up. The authorities said that it was alcohol poisoning, but alcohol doesn't make you bleed from the neck. I still had trouble believing it, but who was I to say whether these things did or did not exist?

Mystical Falls was over a thousand miles away from Denver," I sighed, thinking about how the hell I was going to get there? Well there was that expensive ring that I had stolen from my last foster mom after she 'forgot' to feed me again. Looks like that was going to be my ticket to Mystic Falls.

The bus arrived in Richmond around seven in the evening. For once, I didn't get stuck next to the perv who 'accidentally' falls asleep in your lap. No, instead, it was an elderly lady that shared her cookies with me, really really dry cookies.

Through three different rides and a couple miles of walking, I finally arrived in Mystic Falls by ten. For some reason, the police department was still open, but with very few people working in it. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to go inside and talk to someone that could hopefully help me. I swallowed the giddy feeling that I might get to meet my biological father tonight.

"Doctor Fell, I'm sorry, but I've told you that I have no idea what happened with the explosion."

This was a very interesting conversation to walk in on. Explosion?

"And you really think that Damon didn't do it?" The woman, (Dr. Fell?) sounded much younger than the other woman, who must have been at least in her mid forties.

"Damon is an arrogant person. If he did it, he would be bragging about it right now," she explained. "I just honestly don't know what happened, but I can tell you that it was probably supernatural."

"We need to find out soon, for the sake of everyone in this town," Dr. Fell forewarned. A period of time passed where she must have been checking the time. "Crap, I'm late for my shift, I better get going. Please, be careful, Liz."

The woman passed me in a whirl, almost knocking into me before I stepped out of the way. The other woman, Liz, stepped out of the office as well, almost jumping when she saw me in front of her.

"Can I help you?" She asked me. "It's a bit late."

I nodded. "Sorry, I'm trying to find someone."

"At eleven at night?" She glanced at the clock on the wall.

"It's a really long story," I brushed off her question. "Do you know a man by the name of Alaric Saltzman?"

Her eyes looked away from mine, avoiding eye contact. "Yes, I did."

"Did? As in past tense?" I asked breathlessly.

She nodded. "He passed away a month ago...from an animal attack?"

It was obvious that she was lying when she said that the cause of death was animal attack. Looked like I had come to the right town after all.

"Animal attack?" I asked again, raising an eyebrow up.

My muscles had gone lax, my legs were struggling to keep me up. I guess I should have been prepared for this moment. I had been foolish to think that for once in my life something would actually work out for the better. How could I be so stupid?

"Were you related to him?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "My dad was an old college friend of his. When I called my dad tonight and found out my mom and I were in Mystic Falls, he wanted to see if Ric still lived here."

Just like her lie had been obvious, so was mine.

"Do you need a ride back to your hotel?" She offered. "There's some crazy things that happen in this town at night."

I shook my head, even though I knew that it would be safer if I did go with her. Thing was, I didn't have a hotel room, or anywhere to stay. "No, I need to get something to eat, do you know of a place?"

"There's a place down the street that's open all Saturday night, it's just down the street. Please, let me give you a ride," her eyes were pleading with me. Her eyes conveyed death...lots and lots of death. She'd seen lots of it recently and she didn't want anymore anytime soon.

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that," I mustered up the biggest smile that I could and gave it to her.

So that was it...my dad's dead.