a/n: Hey readers! All right my name is Talie and this will be my first Vampire Diaries fanfic, so I'm still sort of getting used to how the site works. But I think I may be getting the hang of it, ha-ha.
So originally I came up with the idea for this story before the new season started so it's evolved quite a bit since its inception. I really want to try keeping it with the plot of the story. I was very sad when they killed off Mason…indeed, I shall miss his shirtless scenes! But also because he was my main characters father. That sort of threw a wrench in the idea. However, I did find a way to kind of tailor the story to the show as it evolves. We'll see how that goes.
Also, at the beginning, everything might seem a tad cryptic. Tell me if it gets too difficult to understand where I'm going with the story. Alright, enough of my babbling! Enjoy Don't Look Behind You. Any review is appreciated very, very much!
Chapter 1
I didn't know what I was doing here. Actually, I did. I was following Archon's annoyingly cryptic text; 'Meet me in MF at the Grille. Jack will be there. –A'
"Crazy." I whispered to myself, glaring at the speedometer while wishing I could just speed up to 100. Funny how I was so eager to get to the town that could and probably would destroy me. But I knew what I had to do.
Family was family, I told myself. Those were the words of Archon, the pack leader and my surrogate father, ringing in my head like he was in the passenger seat, reminding me of my moral duties. Be there like he never was. His voice whispered, referring to my father. The man I had never met. The man I swore to hate. The man I still had extreme distain for. But far be it for me, Jocelyn Risotto to speak ill of the dead. Especially the dead who were directly related to me.
Sighing, I made a right turn and saw a terrible cheesy sign up ahead. Speeding closer, I made out the words, "Welcome to Mystic Falls. Historical, Friendly, Prosperous." I rolled my eyes and sighed. Was I actually doing this? Yes, you are, my positive side uttered. I knew that what I was doing would widely be considered 'the right thing'. I wasn't used to the right thing. I was used to being self serving and surviving on my own. Even in the pack, it was every man (or teenage werewolf spawn, in my case) for themselves. So being there for other people was an entirely foreign concept.
This was going to end very badly, I decided. The speedometer climbed as I drew closer inside the city limits. The closer I got to my destination, the more I started to shake. Ridiculous. I thought to myself, nervously twisting the blue stone ring around my finger. Why should I be scared of one Podunk Virginia town? I had lived in the slummy side of New York City, I had slayed vampires over 500 years old without my breathing quickening even in the slightest. But that was different. Impersonal. Despite never visiting this town, it may be the town that I was presently, personally, tangled in the most. And of course, I couldn't stand it.
It wasn't hard to find the building entitled, "Mystic Grill." It may have qualified as the only bar/grille in the entire town that looked even a little busy. I recognized Archon's pathetically worn and battered beater filling one of the many empty parking spots.
I climbed out of my small compact car and shut the door, not bothering to lock it. Honestly, I wasn't really worried about anyone taking my already stolen car. And really, why the hell would car jackers be kicking it in this town?
When I walked inside the Grille, the smell of grilled burgers mixed with the light touch of alcohol hung in the air to my sensitive werewolf smell. It was especially heightened because tonight was that night that came every month, the night when I was something entirely unto myself. The night that I was strong, wild, lithe under the light of the full moon. Because of that sense, I was able to pick up on another scent; one that I found sickly sweet.
Vampires. Shit.
"Jocelyn."
A voice brought me out of my momentary shock. I looked towards a table that was on my far left, to see Jack and Archon sitting there, looking slightly rigid. Jack was twenty, or nineteen, we weren't quite sure. He was a relatively tall guy, standing a few inches taller than my five eight stature. I remembered back when we were kids and I would typically be able to wrestle him to the ground without a fight, back when we were eye level. Looking at me now, he gave me a tight smile, though I saw a heightened concern swimming in his grey eyes that resembled my own so closely. We looked so alike that he could've been my brother, perhaps even a twin. But we weren't, at least not biologically.
Archon, however, made no attempt whatsoever to hide the fact that we were in trouble. His caramel colored irises and mildly wrinkled face frowned at me disapprovingly. "You're late." He stated shortly and I sat down in the last seat at the slightly elevated round table.
"Well, I was never one for punctuality." I replied as I peeled my coat off and laid it across the back of my seat. I assessed my surroundings more thoroughly than before; I saw a cluster of high-school aged students laughing and socializing around the pool table in the corner across from where we sat. Inhaling deeply, I concluded that none of them were vampires, but some of them had definitely encountered some. Recently. "Looks like your plan is shot to hell."
"It wasn't a plan, per say. We were just going to come in, survey the situation…" Jack answered, looking around also. His eyes landed on the group of teenagers and I detected just a moment of envy in his eyes.
"…try to entice my cousin into joining our cult." I finished his sentence offhandedly, earning a glare from Archon. "Someone's cranky today." I added, giving Archon a pointed look.
Archon cast another angry look in my direction while he leaned closer to Jack and I, making certain no one would overhear our conversation. "You never take anything seriously, Jocelyn. Please, try not to permeate this issue with your dry humor. We are actually trying to accomplish something here. You should be the most serious one of all right now. After all, this does concern the Lockwoods." Now it was my turn to glare at him. "And we are not a cult."
I narrowed my eyes at him, grimacing slightly hearing the surname that should belong to me. "Just because I am Mason Lockwood's bastard child does not mean that I have any closer connection to this Tyler guy anymore than Jack. I've never met them, or claimed them. They don't even know I exist. I'll take this seriously when you do. Do you honestly believe that he'll come with us?"
Jack interjected. "It doesn't matter if he comes with us now. What matters is that he knows that he has support. Don't you remember what the first year was like?"
"Not much. Considering I was five." Jack gave my arm a smack. "What?"
"Quiet!" Archon shushed us before Jack could answer. He subtle nodded to the entrance, where two teenagers entered. One was a pale, beautiful blonde who looked quite annoyed. But my eyes merely skimmed over her before landing on her follower. His skin was tanned in the same way mine was and he was fit looking-obviously an athlete. His hair was jet black and he seemed to seep anger and angst. I knew him immediately. My cousin.
Tyler Lockwood.
"Tyler, I'm not telling you anything. Trust me, it's better for you not to know." The blonde whispered, irritated, as she bustled over to a small table not too far from ours. He followed in tow.
"Dammit, Caroline! I need something here. Anything. Answers." He roughly pulled out a chair next to her and continued to hound her.
My staring and shocked facial expression must have been blatantly obvious, because Jack kicked me from under the table. I immediately averted my gaze, flipping my long dirty blonde hair so it would hang between myself and the two teenagers I knew I wouldn't be able to peel my eyes away from otherwise. Just then, something else hit me like a load of bricks. That same sickly sweet smell that reeked of intoxicating poison, that evoked the most shivery type of nostalgia in my stomach. The vampire. It was the blonde! Or as I had heard, Caroline.
I brought my gaze to Archon's and knew he could smell it too. Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Picking it out and flipping it open, I saw a text from Archon on it. I was confused for a short couple of seconds before I realized that the vampire could probably hear anything and everything we said.
The text made an uncomfortable lump rise in my throat. He looks just like his father.
a/n: Sorry it's so short. I promise the next chapter is longer. So, like it? Hate it? Let me know!