The sun was long gone in Mystic Falls and there was a bonfire party occurring in this not so normal town.
All the adults knew that their teenage children would be there.
For the most part they were right, except for a hooded figure who stumbled upon a vaguely familiar street.
The lone figure could only vaguely remember the street, because she was drunk.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid..."
Muttering the same word over and over again, she finally stopped in front of a closed barber shop.
The mantra she had been mumbling stopped as an idea occupied her hazy mind.
Sobering up just a little bit, she dropped her bag pack down. She grabbed a red colored spray can from her bag.
When life gives you spray cans, what do you do?
You make art.
And Mia Lockwood?
Her passion was and always will be art, the only acceptable outlet for her random bouts of anger.
She shook the can in her hand, relaxing at the familiar sound before bringing up her hand to just release her current state of emotion.
As the girl quietly worked on her art, a nearby lamppost accompanied her with just enough light for her to see what she was doing.
Mia wasn't stupid, she knew what she was doing was called vandalism. She knew that vandalism wasn't okay.
But did she care?
Nope.
She had gotten into trouble for vandalism since she got her first spray can from her uncle, Mason Lockwood.
That was when she was like eleven or something. She was hooked ever since.
Mia tiredly grinned to herself as she was done, satisfied at her new piece of art.
She took out her phone, ignoring various messages from her older brother Tyler and the various missed calls from one of her best friends, Vicki. Instead she went to her camera app and took two photos of her art.
One with her in it, flashing the camera her middle finger.
The other with just her art.
Though her signature was a bit blurry, Mia knew that when the sun rises, it'll be clear to see the tell tale 'Little Red' which was her pen-name.
Her phone began vibrating in her hand causing her to startle out of her thoughts slightly.
Vicki Donnovan was written as the caller.
Her mood now better despite still being drunk, Mia picked up the phone knowing she won't lose her temper and turn aggressive towards her best friend.
"Hey, what's up?" Mia casually answered her phone while packing away her supplies.
She could hear loud noises in the background, which wasn't really surprising considering she knew Vicki was still at the bonfire party.
"Where the hell are you?"
"I left."
"Why?"
"Got friend-zoned," Mia shrugged, not making a big deal out of it.
She could see Vicki rolling her eyes at her already.
"I don't even know what you see in that bitch."
"Vivi, don't start.." Mia gave a warning hiss.
"I'll pick you up. Where are you?"
"Dunno, barber place?"
Suddenly a pair of headlights blinded Mia causing her to curse.
"What happened?" Vicki asked in concern.
Mia sighed. "Looks like I won't be needing a ride home," she informed her friend.
"Why not?"
"Sheriff Forbes just arrived," Mia stated just as Liz stepped out of the car.
Vicki laughed before hanging up.
"Why couldn't you just go to the bonfire like a normal teenager?" Liz asked with an almost resigned tone.
"Well, I'm not exactly normal," Mia cheekily pointed out.
"Mia, just get in."
Mia sighed at the disappointed tone the older woman had and obeyed.
::
"This is very embarrassing for your parents, you know?"
Mia scowled at the mention of her parents.
Mia didn't care if she was their daughter, she just didn't get along with them, and she didn't ignore their flaws at all.
Her father was an abusive dick.
Her mother was a superficial bitch.
She couldn't give a fuck about what her parents thought about her.
"Why should they be?" Mia grumbled.
Her parents didn't care about her, they cared about their crappy image.
"Because you keep getting busted by me over and over."
"Well, maybe if you would stop busting me over and over..." Mia mocked.
"We are not doing this."
"Doing what?" Mia innocently asked.
Liz suddenly stopped the car, causing Mia to bump her head a bit.
"Fuck," Mia softly cursed, rubbing her aching head.
Liz whirled around to look at her. "We are talking about you Mia. You think it'll be easy for you to get a job with all these acts of vandalism on your track record?"
"Right. I'll just turn into a good girl and get a job. Then I'll just spend the rest of my life paying bills."
Sarcasm was also an art in which Mia was passionate about.
"Mia..." Liz began, only for Mia to shake her head.
"But really, I don't want to talk about me being artistic."
Liz frowned, going into the 'I shall scold you' mood that Mia was so used to.
It was times like these that Mia was glad that Carol wasn't around enough to scold her.
However, the sheriff's scolding never came.
Their conversation was interrupted by a phone call.
Mia rolled her eyes in relief as Liz picked up the phone.
She patiently waited for Liz to finish the conversation.
"Mia," Liz began once she hung up.
"It's cool. I can call Ty to pick me up if you have somewhere to be."
"No, it's not that. It's Jeremy..."
Mia paled at the mention of her other best friend, "What? What happened to him Liz?!" she yelled.
"Nothing!" Liz snapped back. "Nothing is wrong with Jeremy..." she gently assured the girl.
Mia relaxed.
"It's his parents and sister, they got into a car accident."
::
Mia busted into the waiting room, immediately looking around for Jeremy.
"Mia?" Jenna asked, sitting next to the boy.
Jeremy looked up at the mention of his best friend, his eyes swollen red from crying.
Mia's heart ached at the sight before running up to the boy.
Jeremy stood up to meet her half way, but before he could even take a step he had already been wrapped into a tight hug by his best friend.
"They're dead..." Jeremy muttered, "My parents...they died in the accident.." he finished.
Mia hugged him tighter. "And Elena?"
"She's going to be okay." Jenna answered for Jeremy.
Mia glanced at the woman. "What happened? Wasn't today your family day?"
Jenna nodded, "Elena was at the bonfire party and called Miranda and .. to pick her up." she explained.
'So this is all Elena's fault,' Mia couldn't help but think.
No, she wasn't going to pin the blame on anyone. It was just an unfortunate misfortune.
Jeremy gripped her tighter causing her to focus back on him.
"Jer..." Mia trailed off, not knowing what to say.
She didn't want to lie and say everything is going to be okay.
Because everything wasn't going to be okay. He just lost his parents after all.
She wasn't going to lie to her best friend.
"I'm here."
That was all she could tell him, after all.
Little did she know, that night was the start of everything.