One Shot
The text came at 5 a.m. on the dot, the phone practically vibrating right off the edge of the nightstand, the ringtone of Five Finger Death Punch's rendition of 'Bad Company' playing throughout the otherwise quiet bedroom. Groaning under a pile of pillows and blankets, the young woman stirred and hugged the pillow closer to her ear to blot out the unwelcome noise. She had almost succeeded in going back to sleep when the damned contraption vibrated and rang again. Another bloody text message! Muttering under her breath, the woman shifted the pillows and blankets off of her and blindly reached for the cellphone. After knocking it off the nightstand, she cursed and leaned over to reach it. Sliding it open, she touched her screen when it said '2 Unread Messages.'
The message was simple and to the point, and utterly bossy. 'New developments have occurred. Meet me in Mystic Falls, Virginia 145 Noble Drive. 2 p.m. Leave immediately.-K.' Chortling to herself, she rolled her eyes mocking the message. "Leave immediately, yeah right! Not even a 'good morning' or a 'happy birthday', damned bossy Original!" She muttered to herself, getting back into bed. It was her twenty- second birthday and she knew that no one here would know about it, because she hadn't told anyone here. Ever since her ex coven leader had been killed, she had been on the run. She had refused to alter her appearance completely, just little touches here and there. Her long wavy light brown hair that used to brush her lower back now went barely past her shoulders with long layers and loose waves. She had ditched the eye glasses and opted for a spell that made her vision 20/20. She now dressed in clothes that accentuated her curvy figure. She had learned to run in any shoe, though she preferred something with a little added height to her 5'3 frame.
Briefly, she entertained the idea of going to the meeting to see what the Original wanted. He had been the reason she had lived after all, and she knew she did owe him a debt. He had not seen her since she had done her mini makeover. Would he appreciate her new look? Or would he ignore it like he ignored everything else about her? Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair, yawning. Suddenly, she sat straight up in bed, phone in hand. She had only read the first message and he had left two. "Probably more bossiness." She muttered, opening it anyway. What she read made her smile softly. 'Happy Birthday Calia, I look forward to seeing you again. –Klaus.' Blushing lightly as she imagined the way her name sounded on his lips, she sighed dreamily. Looking around the room at nothing in particular, she slid out of bed. "I could use a road trip."
The drive didn't take too long, only a couple of hours once she had showered, dressed, and packed. She had packed enough clothes, supplies, and her pet and familiar, a cat named Solstice, for a month at least. If Klaus wanted her help with something, than she knew better than to expect to be home any time soon. She would be staying with him, which was the least he could do for his random and semi-rude summons of her. She had stopped at a coffee shop on the outskirts of town to grab a quick bite to eat and then she was on her way. Thanks to a small spell she had learned, she did not have to worry about stopping at red lights or watching her speed the whole drive up to Mystic Falls. Police would not notice the dark purple Mazda RX-8 speeding past them, there was a glamour placed on the car. All they would see would be a run of the mill sedan cruising along at the proper speed. She told herself that she wasn't rushing there to please him. That she did not want to see him. That her heart was simply racing due to the speed and the caffeine buzz she had inflicted upon herself. She knew she was lying. She shouldn't have been looking forward to being in his disconcerting presence once more, but she was.
The last time she had seen him, he had snuck into her small house in the small, quiet North Carolina town she had chosen to hide herself in. He had needed her to find a rare text on some subject about ancient times and Silas for his brother Kol. She had done so quickly, afraid of what would happen if she kept in his company. Could you call feelings for a thousand year old hybrid truly a crush? She didn't know. But she knew that this time, things would be different. Being on the run had changed her for the better. She was more confident and comfortable in her own skin now. If Klaus was expecting a docile woman that would quietly do whatever he said without question, then he was going to be in for a wakeup call.
It was still early morning when she finally pulled into the town of Mystic Falls, most of the streets empty and all the houses and businesses still quiet and just opening their doors in preparation for the customers to come. Since she still had a few hours before she had to meet with Klaus, she decided to drive around and get acclimated with the area. After an hour of driving around, she had decided two things: the area was gorgeous out here and she was bored out of her mind. Parking her car in the downtown area, she decided to do a little window shopping and then get some lunch at a restaurant that looked promising. 'The Mystic Grille" it was named, and since she could feel the positive vibe of the place, she decided she would check it out. Solstice was sound asleep in his carrier that to the untrained eye looked like a rather large handbag.
After she had browsed through all the shops that the town had to offer, she decided to grab lunch and scope out the townspeople and see if she could see any of the major players Klaus had told her about. The Grille had been noisy and bustling with activity when she walked in, unaware of the pair of blue eyes watching her every move from the bar. Smiling as the waitress told her "Sit anywhere you like hun," she made her way over to the bar and sat down, gently setting her bag on the floor next to her. Aware of her unusual eye color, she opted to keep her sunglasses on, for now. Smiling when the cute blonde bartender handed her a menu, she crossed her legs and browsed through her selections.
On the end of the bar, Damon Salvatore discreetly signaled to Matt to come over to him. Since Elena was still her cold, emotionless and humanity switch turned off self and Stefan had decided to get his own life, with Rebekah, no less, he was quite bored. Occasionally, he and Klaus would meet here and drink and discuss things, but even the sometimes evil big bad hybrid had been busy today. Caroline was busy planning another formal event coming up, prom and the near massacre Elena had started had been bad enough for him, thank you very much. But no, Mystic Falls needed some formal dance for all of the townies to celebrate the coming of summer or something or other of that nature. And besides, he really doubted that spending time with him was her idea of a good idea. Yes, he felt terrible about what he had done to her when she was still human, and he was still evil, but he doubted that she would ever really forgive him, or be over it. And he really didn't blame her. Man he had been a dick back then! Well, he knew he still was at times, but he liked to think that he was getting better. Bonnie was still under the influence of Silas and damned close to giving in fully to the seductive power of Expression. So she obviously was out for drinking buddy material. Jeremy Gilbert was gone, and Alaric…well there were days that he really missed his old friend. This was one of these refilled his glass of brandy and looked up as Damon whispered to him. "Who is that? Never seen her around before." Matt smiled as the strange woman in question signaled him over. "No idea but I intend to find out." He whispered back before he made his way over to her.
Calia smiled warmly at the bartender who had given her the menu. After giving him her order of a BLT, fries, and a Coke, she had handed him a generous tip. "Hi I'm Matt." Matt introduced himself, in hopes that the woman would do the same. She smiled and took his hand shaking it. "Calia." She replied, smiling at him. She knew that he was curious about her, but she didn't mind. If some strange woman had come into the small North Carolinian town that she was living in still wearing her sunglasses in the darkened grill like she was, she knew there would be whispers about who she was, and what she was there for. "I'm in town for a while, visiting an old friend of mine." She supplied, pretending not to notice when his eyes lit up excitedly. "Oh, well I sure hope you enjoy your stay here." Matt replied, "I'll just go bring your order to the kitchen." And with that he was gone.
Damon grinned as Matt reported back to him about the woman. "Her name is Calia, don't know her last name yet, no reason to see her I.D. She only ordered a coke, not alcohol. She's here for a while visiting an old friend she says, and she is one hell of a tipper. Get a few more customers like her around here and I'll be able to afford college!"Matt grinned joking. Damon rolled his eyes at his friend. "Oh please, I tip you just fine." Matt rolled his eyes this time, walking into the kitchen. "Yeah, right!" He said quietly, even though he knew that Damon's vampire hearing would pick up on it. Deciding on a plan to get close to her, he picked his drink up and sat down next to her. He could get information out of her, he just needed her to take those damn sunglasses off!