The sprinkling of laughter hurt his ears and seemed to pierce his skull. The joy of the young teens was so damn smug, so snooty he wanted to reach out and rip their heads off their necks. But no; He could not. He had one goal and one goal only and that was to integrate himself into her life. Into her routine, her trust, and ultimately her heart all the more so that he could destroy her. It wouldn't be easy, but he has spent a lifetime dreaming of this moment. For his time. Learning her, getting close to her, being with her would be almost as fun as destroying her. The cackle of malevolent laughter had the striper he'd paid off looking at him suspiciously. Damn hooker, he didn't even know why he wasted his time with such trash. She would never be as beautiful, as full of life, as bold, as courageous as amazing as the beauty with which he studied. The beauty who has owned his life for months now. He would immortalize that beauty right after he's bathed in it's light. Fuck! After his hard life he more than deserved it. A crooked smile adorned his face as his calmly wrapped his hands around the hooker's neck and squeezed. The nails down his face and arms were hardly registered. Her struggles didn't commute. it was euphoric, some of the greatest pleasure of his life taking another human being's choice away. Well, she was hardly a human being, she was a hooker, but her long curling brown hair, startling green eyes, and florescent skin seeped into his soul and had him dreaming of the beauty who would soon be his. He hummed a sweet lullaby under his breath as he watch the life fade from the hooker's eyes and imagined the day when those eyes would belong to the one and only Bonnie Bennett.

Winter was drifting over Mystic Falls. The sparkling snow cast a veil of illuminating beauty and gleaming gems that seemed to capture a spirit all it's own and hold the entire town captivated. Jeremy Gilbert stared out his window at the steadily falling snow and simply rolled his eyes. It was an annoyance, is what it was. So pure and honest all that white, but all it did was mask the evil it couldn't quite contain. All that glittering goodness was an illusion. Others may buy into the cheer, but he wouldn't. He knew better. Life was a series of Fuck You's, and unless you gave it the finger right back, you could be swept away into a fairy tale and killed without mercy. He'd seen it happen with his own two eyes, and because the memories of those deaths caused a fresh wave of hurt to consume him, he took another swig from the bottle.

"Jeremy? We're all going out tonight to celebrate winter break at Tyler's. You coming?"

Jeremy didn't have to be facing his sister to know she had that same look of concern on her face. It was clearly evident in her hesitant tone, the slight trembling at the end of her speech. He told himself he didnt face her because he was so angry, angry that she could celebrate as if innocent lives weren't sacrificed everyday. As if their whole family hadn't been killed by the very monsters she was going out to party with. And she wanted him to join. Yeah he was angry all right, and that was why he couldn't face her, why he couldn't bare to look at her face, look into her eyes.

"You may be a little ditzy, Elena, but you're not blind. I'm knee deep into my own celebration here. Wouldn't want to ruin my own fun."

Elena Gilbert shut her eyes against the sarcasm in her brother's voice. He hasn't always been this way. At one time he was a carefree and happy boy, an artist. He often loved too hard, laughed too loud, joked too much, but everybody loved him. That spirit, the youth, his innocence has been stolen from him, and because Elena knew that she was partly to blame for it, she ignored his obvious alcoholism, the stench of stale must in his room, the shadows both on the walls and in his eyes. She forced a smile and talked to her brother as if he were the same kid she'd always known.

"Well, everyone is going to be there. It's been a rough year and we're thinking to show solidarity in unity, to show that we are not broken, that we can still be happy because we have each other."

Elena flinched a little at his harsh laughter, "What did you do? Steal that from a valedictorian speech?"

"Tyler will be there, and Matt. Caroline, Alaric, Damon, Stefan and some kids from school."

Elena was careful not to mention Bonnie, and Jeremy was grateful. He could pretend that the pain of their separation didn't hurt as bad as long as he avoided all mention of her at all.

"Sounds cheery. Count me out."

Elena's hard won optimism was slowly crumbling and it took every ounce of strength that she had to keep the pain of his continual rejection from her voice, "Ok, Jer. Well I shouldn't be out too late, but if I am I might just crash over there, will you be alright here?"

"Do I look like I will be alright?"

Because she didn't know how to answer that, Elena simply nodded as if he could see her, and left him to his drinking.

The blast of Katy Perry had Bonnie Bennett smiling. She really liked this particular song, and wiggled a little in time to the beat. Elena was right, this was what they all needed. Some fun, a little celebration, a reminder that while a lot has been stolen from them all over the last year, not everything has been taken. She knew that it was terribly corny, but they still had each other and at the end of the day that was what counted. Bonnie laughed a little at her thoughts, maybe it was the time of year that had her sounding all sentimental. She smiled in thanks at the guy who took her coat, and wandered over to the punch table for a cup of egg nog. As always, Caroline had managed to capture just the right spirit of the evening and keep everyone in a happy mood. The music was loud, the decorations celebratory, and the mood cheery. Yes, Bonnie thought again, trust Caroline.

"Trust Caroline to throw the perfect party."

Bonnie glanced over her shoulder at Matt. Tall, handsome, and blonde he had her heart fluttering in her chest a little and a bright flush spreading over her cheeks that she desperately hoped the low lighting concealed.

"Hey Matty! I was just thinking the exact same thing."

Matt smiled and hugged Bonnie close to him. She smelled of just ripe strawberries and Bonnie Bennett, "She's a whiz. I don't know how she does it and I don't think that I want to, but I'm grateful to her."

Bonnie gave him a tight squeeze before she let him go, "Magic, baby."

Matt's boom of laughter had several kids glancing over and smiling. He didn't laugh often lately, and Bonnie had almost forgotten how infectious his laugh could be. It seeped into her pores and erased the last vestige of weary from her bones.

"Well, if you don't mind, I think I'd like to spend some time with magic of a different sort tonight. If you don't mind keeping me company so that I don't look so pathetically lonely whenever I see Tyler and Caroline flirting in a corner like they are now?"

Bonnie glanced over and flushed, again, at the sight of Tyler and Caroline necking in a corner of the room. The way they were going on she had no doubt she'd be doing a lot of blushing before the night was over. Matt's soft laughter in her ear ruffled a few tendrils of her hair and had a shiver running down her spine.

"Come on, Bonnie. Let's dance."

Caroline shut her eyes as sensations seemed to bombard her body from every possible angle. She had been wondering if getting back together with Tyler had been the right thing to do, and judging from the way she felt right now, it had been more than worth it. He always knew just which buttons of hers to push.

"ummm...hmm...Baby? Tyler? Maybe we should, uh, maybe we should find a room."

Tyler never lifted his head from her neck, damn Caroline always smelled so good, he simply muttered an exclamation that could have been agreement or a command for her to hush and moved lower to her throat.

"Tyler! I will not do this with you in front of an audience. Room. Now."

Groaning at the unwelcome interruption, Tyler lifted his head from the alluring temptation of Caroline's milky white skin. And because he saw Elena approaching them from the other side of the room, he muttered a quick curse, grabbed Caroline by the hand, and made a quick beeline toward to exit of the hall.

The couple bumped him on the way out and had fresh hatred flooding in his veins. He almost followed them just to deliver the quick and temporarily satisfying death they both deserved but he made himself stay where he was. He had much bigger plans. He glanced over as Bonnie laughed at something the tall blonde whispered in her ears. The music was ridiculously loud, but he could hear her perfectly. The soothing harmony of her laughter would be the the bird song of a peaceful mama eagle. She was exquisite. The boy she was with was of no consequence, he was nowhere near good enough for her and would be dealt with soon. He gripped the coat that he held in his hands, her coat still warm from her body, and brought it to his face. A nice, long inhale had her arousing scent drifting in his nostrils and hardening his body to a painful ache. That, to, would be taken care of in its time.