Chapter 1:
When the Past Smacks You Upside Your Head
The bar was crowded. Hannah liked that. It made her less conspicuous. In her line of work it paid to be off the radar.
She surveyed the crowd casually but her ears were tuned into every conversation intently. There were vampires in this town, bad ones, and she was there to deal with them. She was disappointed after a few minutes, however. No one was talking about anything that clued her in on the identities or whereabouts of the vampires she was searching for. Two hours of wasted time in this bar.
Hannah took a long, last drag of her straw, finishing off the rum and coke. Maybe she would have better luck with a quick patrol around the town and neighborhoods. It never hurt to look. Throwing some cash on the table she made to leave but stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of who walked in and sat at the bar.
Well I'll be damned, she thought with a wry smile. Someone from her past she never thought she'd see again. Of all the small towns in all the states, here he was. It was a small, small world after all.
There was no debate; she knew she was going to talk to him. How could she not? The chances of them seeing each other again were less than slim. This opportunity was not to be squandered. Plus, he was looking super cute and she wasn't about to pass up the chance of gazing into those baby blues.
He was nursing a drink at the bar, oblivious to the rest of the patrons. He seemed lost in his own little world. That's how she remembered him mostly; lost. She had been a comfort to him for a time, a refuge for his pain, until… Until he rejected her for who she was.
She should probably be bitter but it wasn't in her nature to care that much. He had been a distraction, something fun. His rejection hurt more than she cared to admit at the time but presently she was over it. Now she just wanted to see the look on his face when he saw her. This would be priceless.
Hannah leaned backward, resting both elbows on the bar, inches away from where he was sitting. She lightly perched on the stool for support and didn't look at him right away. She was waiting for him to notice her.
The payoff was delayed in coming but so worth the wait. He ignored her for a few moments, probably because he didn't want to seem over eager that a girl was obviously hitting on him. He finally turned to look at her; she could feel the exact moment his eyes hit her face. With impeccable timing she met his sea blue eyes with her emerald ones. "Hello, Ric." She grinned.
Alaric did an excellent job of not dropping his chin on the bar. Hannah knew him well enough to see the shock and surprise in his face at seeing her despite how hard he tried to hide it. His barely concealed astonishment made her giggle with glee.
"Hannah," He managed to get out. "What are you doing here?"
Hannah shrugged and looked away. "Mystic Falls has such a tourist-y feel, don't you think? People come for miles around just to pass through, right?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. She tilted her head over her shoulder and gave Alaric a look through her lashes. "Come on, Ric, why do you think I'm here?"
He managed to tear his baby blues away from her and stare at his drink. He finished it off with one more toss back and ordered another. Hannah added a second drink for herself. She turned so she faced Alaric on the stool, straddling it, leaning on the bar with one elbow now. She rested her head on her fist, her dark blonde hair falling over her shoulder.
"Vampires." He said it in a weird way. Hannah couldn't tell if he was answering her rhetorical question or cursing the word. In either case, he didn't sound happy.
"Vampires." Hannah agreed, her own voice chipper. The bartender set down their drinks and Alaric downed most of his in a single gulp. Hannah chose to go slow with hers, taking a girly sip. "You know of any?" Hannah realized that he could cut her time down significantly in this town if Ric would help her. He probably already knew names and addresses.
He didn't answer right away. He finished off his glass but didn't order another. Hannah watched his light brown locks fall in his eyes. Instinctively she reached up to brush them away, as she had every day for a year in their past. However this time, he grabbed her hand and glared at her. "Don't." Was all he said.
Hannah didn't take offense. She smiled and took her hand back. "Sorry. You know what they say about old habits." She wished Alaric didn't remember only the bad ending of their relationship. They had had a really good year previous to the break up but he didn't seem to be thinking of that. Only the painful end.
"There aren't any vampires here for you." Alaric finally said softly. He seemed to gather the courage to look at her.
Hannah tsked, shaking her head. "That's not for you to judge, Ric. You know better."
"I do know better." He cut her off, his words seething. "I know better than I did before. I've learned a lot in the past year and a half, Hannah. Trust me on this one; there are no vampires here for you."
Hannah was taken aback by the sudden anger and forceful change in personality but she was much better at hiding her surprise than Ric had been. She pouted, tilting her head sadly, setting her drink in front of him so he could finish it off. He did without question.
"Ric, I do my research. I know what's been going on here. I know that things aren't going to get better because they've been steadily getting worse. I've been busy before but now this is a top priority. I can't let the slaughter of innocents go on like this. It has to be stopped."
"It's been handled." Ric gave her an intense stare.
Hannah kept a straight face for about ten seconds before a very un-ladylike snort erupted from her. She raised a well manicured eyebrow at him, her green eyes twinkling with amusement. "It's been handled? By you? Sweetie, you know how I feel about you but I don't trust you when you say you've handled it-"
"It's not just me, okay." Ric couldn't stand to be talked down to, she could see that. He cut her off before her rant could go any farther. "I had help. There's a lot going on in this town that your research won't show you. Just know it's being taken care of and we don't need your help. Go off on your next 'priority mission' or whatever you call them."
Hannah squinted at him, trying to figure out his hidden meanings. She didn't like riddles or puzzles or even innuendo. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Why was that so hard? "Are you being vague on purpose or just to be an ass?"
Alaric sighed, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "Hannah," he said, not trying to disguise his irritation. "There's a lot of complicated things going on in Mystic Falls. You being here just complicates things more. You would do more good by leaving than staying. Trust me."
"Complicated things! You know you're just tempting me to stay and figure out what's going on. If you would just tell me, maybe I would go. I can't trust you when you're being purposely evasive." Hannah pointed out with a smile.
Alaric stood from the bar. He threw some money next to his empty glasses. "Fine, be childish." He leaned down close to her, making sure she knew how serious he was by the look in his eye. "But I will not be your puppet. I will not help you in any way, shape, or form. You are on your own with this one."
Hannah had plenty to say to that but she bit her tongue. Ric needed the last word for some reason and she supposed she owed him at least that. Because there was no way she was leaving town now. Alaric had just told her all she needed to know to stay. Something was going on in this town with the vampires and she was here to stop it.