What is humanity?

According to the internet, it is the quality of being humane; benevolence. It is a set of strengths that focuses on tending to and befriending others. These strengths are love, kindness and social intelligence.

But who is to say what humanity comprises of? Who or what gives them the right?

There is the Confucian theory where humanity is the love of people, Ren; that if you want to make a stand, you help others make a stand.

And then there is the Greek theory by Plato and Aristotle, valuing love and kindness.

And lastly, there is the Abrahamic theory, where humanity is one of Thomas Aquinas's Seven Heavenly Virtues.

In the end, all three shared similarities of love and kindness. And all these were from Wikipedia.

But really, who are these people to state what humanity is?

Should humanity not be something a person defines for themselves? Something that makes them feel what it is like to be human? Their meaning of being human?

Why should someone ever state for us what we have to display to achieve humanity?

That is not to say murder is being humane.

But perhaps it all comes down to how you look at it.

Imagine a poor kitten, diseased and starved. It rubs itself against your legs, seeking comfort from the pain and hunger. But comfort or shelter is something you cannot provide, not in the long run. You can give it food, but then it will be hungry again after time passes and you are no longer there to give it food.

So you choke it.

End its life, quickly.

Is that humane?

Some will quickly say no. Some will say it is mercy.

But who is to say what is right or wrong, really?

It all comes down to the person choking that tiny little kitten with their hands, fingers wrapped around its thin neck.

Perhaps it is wrong. Perhaps it is mercy.

There is too much to factor and too much to consider.

To Elena Gilbert, her compassion for her friends and family is her humanity. She is willing to go to any lengths if it was for them. To Stefan Salvatore, it is his ability to love with his whole heart. To Caroline Forbes, it is her open mind that allows her to see kindness in others where others might see none.

To Esther Mikaelson, it is the instinct to protect her family, and correcting the mistakes of the past.

To Finn Mikaelson, it is his honor, his abhorrence of being creatures that required the life of others to live.

To Rebekah Mikaelson, it is her need to love and feel loved, quickly giving her heart out to those who is willing to take a bit of time to peer beneath.

To Klaus Mikaelson, it is the feeling of segregation laid upon him by others; the anger, jealousy, possessiveness and loneliness.

To Elijah Mikaelson, it is his nobility, to be able to stand above the dark and dirty to uphold his definition of kindness and justice.

To Kol Mikaelson…well, who knows, really?

Jay certainly didn't. In fact, she didn't know about what humanity meant to any of the people she just thought of. Those were just her assumptions.

And who was she to assume such things? Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, as they say.

The only definition of humanity she knew was her own. The only one she was certain of and was allowed to preach to no one but herself.

To Jay, before she met The Mikaelsons and the other mystical residents of Mystic Falls, her humanity was found in her love for animals and nature; the need to do right by animals and ensuring the continuity of Mother Nature's beauty.

Volunteering at animal shelters, joining her local Earth Club, spreading awareness about animal rights and environmental protection, giving her voice to the voiceless…

What good did that humanity did for her? Nothing really. Maybe not for her, but in the long run, she was certain Mother Nature will give back; if not to her then to her children and grandchildren.

But it still poses the question what good it did for her.

It didn't really matter, because perhaps humanity also meant altruism. In fact, Jay was pretty sure it included altruism, if she went by the different theories and religious figures over history.

But that was her humanity before. Her definition of humanity is different now. Just a little bit different.

It still included love for nature and animals, of course. But there is now a place for another piece of humanitarian definition.

The ability to love another species physically, mentally and emotionally.

She loved animals; she loved her pet cats and dogs. But she will certainly not have thoughts of copulating with them for that meant bestiality. She will not have thoughts of what a future with them would be like.

It was different.

Loving animals and loving a vampire.

And it was hard, and it hardly did her much good, but that is what humanity meant…perhaps, maybe.

It meant going beyond the selfish needs of oneself for the cause one has set for oneself. It meant seeing beyond the surface, peering beneath the layers of dust, blood and dirt to find the good hidden below.

Or maybe all of this was just that part of her talking, that part of her that chose to love a vampire.

And just like protecting animal rights and the environment did not garner any immediate benefit for her, loving a vampire did no such thing either.

But did that matter in the end?

No, it didn't.

Because this is her humanity.

To love and protect animals and nature.

To open her heart out to something, someone, without discriminating against what life has turned him into. To give chances.

The great lengths she was capable of opening her heart to for things that neither benefited her nor changed anything for her.

Kindness was her humanity.

Even here now, at the tipping point of her life and death, it did not matter that humanity did nothing for her.

This is what she has discovered and defined for herself.

And no one is going to change that for her except her.

And she briefly wondered why people even bothered with this thing called humanity, why some vampires were so keen on holding onto it when they could have just turned it off.

It brought nothing but heartbreak and pain.

And more pain.

And Jay kind of wished she could turn it off, like the vampires are able to.

But she couldn't.

And even if she could…would she really turn it off?

She didn't know.

But she certainly wished she could turn off the pain coursing through her shivering body and erratic heart.

But she couldn't.

And that's what mattered: she couldn't.

Scent of Joss Sticks, Smell of Blood

Chapter One: Mystic Falls

~The supernatural is the natural not yet understood~

-Elbert Hubbard

Closing the car door shut, Jay turned around to look at her surroundings, eyes squinting against the glaring sunlight. The sound of other car doors closing shut resonated behind and beside her, the vehicle trembling slightly beside her form from the rough treatment.

"Well, this is it."

Mystic Falls.

A town with trimmed grass and towering woods, historical buildings and modern homes, elderly people and young people alike.

It was quaint.

And nice.

Jay quite liked it.

It wasn't anything like how her friend described: boring, quiet, dull, lame.

"It's not so bad." She commented, turning to settle her eyes on the blond that stood on the driver's side. He rolled his eyes, fingers drumming against the top of the car.

"It's bad once you had lived in it for most of your life. It gets boring real quick," he said.

"Pssh, yea, you find a lot of things boring Ryan," a voice piped up from beside Jay, causing the girl to turn to its owner. Medium long blond hair tied in a braid, Cecilie stood at half a head taller than Jay, with a fit and athletic figure.

Laughter rang from the other side of the car, where a girl with strawberry blond hair was helping a Korean get his bag straight.

"We can talk about Ryan's lack of interest in things all day or get to looking around. We don't have all day," the strawberry blonde, Clementine, commented with humor. "Geez, John, did you really need all of this?"

The Korean guy, John Kim, shrugged his shoulders as he lifted his heavy bag onto his shoulder. "Don't know if we will be coming back, so I want to get as much recorded as I can," he said, patting the bag which contained his camera equipment.

"We're just here to see what Ryan's hometown is like," Jay said, not liking the heavy look of his bag. At least he carried his own items and did not ask others to do it for him, unlike Ryan who had a bad habit of asking others for help with his belongings. And for her, finding out a bit of history about this place for her Occult Studies class was also one of the reasons why she was here.

"I'm telling you guys, there really isn't much here," Ryan repeated exasperatedly, locking his car before taking several steps away from the vehicle.

"That's for us to decide," Cecilie quipped at the tall male who stood at a good 177 centimeters.

He raised his hands in defense along with a brow. "Just saying. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Their group of five had traveled all the way here from Whitmore College for the weekend, to get away from the campus life for at least a weekend. Not that there was anything wrong with campus life. But the majority of their group were not from these parts; Clementine coming in from Denver, Cecilie from Philadelphia, John Kim hailing from Korea and Jay from her queer country of Malaysia.

Ryan was the odd one out of the group. He was from Mystic Falls and after graduating high school, decided to attend Whitmore College to get away from his boring hometown but also wanting to stay close enough to his widowed mother.

The lot of them met at Whitmore College, and for whatever reasons, quickly clicked together. They would hardly call themselves a clique, but they hung out together regularly, with the odd one or fifty-three extra other friends joining in at times.

Jay shared Occult Studies class with John Kim, and it was John who introduced her to Ryan whom he shared history with. Clementine was introduced then to the two males by Jay; Jay met Clementine at their dorm where each had their own single dorm room. And then it was Clementine who had happily pulled Cecilie in, having met during Fresher's Week where they had drunkenly danced together before Clementine puked over the other girl.

It was a long winding path that traversed between how they all met, but met they did and it was an awkward start with their diverse culture, backgrounds and personality but that was what made it fun between all of them.

Their short weekend here at Mystic Falls was planned when Jay and John were handed a research assignment by their Occult Studies teacher, Atticus Shane, to research on a place with significant history and lore in the occult. And what better place to do that than Mystic Falls, a place brimming with lore of vampires, werewolves and witches? Not to mention the fact that the previous teacher of their class was Sheila Bennett, a supposed witch hailing from Mystic Falls.

Jay and John, also known as "J Squared" whenever the both of them were together as coined by Cecilie, had been quick to hunt down Ryan to ask for his assistance in their determination to ace their assignment. Things quickly escalated from simple questions about Mystic Falls to a whole weekend crashing at Ryan's home when Clementine was involved.

Ryan was hesitant at first, not wanting to disturb his mother, but he did want to see her again after a few months away and the lively atmosphere their arrival would bring would certainly help to battle away her loneliness. A quick phone call back home and their trip was planned.

Leading their group, Ryan quickly took them on a fast and general tour around the town square, pointing out areas of interest and history briefly. Being a full tour guide was not his agenda of the day, and he was just here to give advice.

"So that's the general location of everything that is important…I think," he said, looking around to see if there was anything he might have missed. "Oh, and there's the Mystic Grill." He pointed towards the establishment on the other side of the street they were on before turning to regard his small entourage. "So…anything else? If not, then I'm going to head back first to drop off our baggage and then see if I can meet some old faces."

"Yea, we'll just meet back here later in the evening and all head to your place together," Clementine said, eager to begin looking around.

Cecilie sighed against the drawl sun beating down on them. "I'm fine with anything."

"Me and Jay should be done by evening…hopefully." John looked at Jay questioningly, but the other girl just shrugged her shoulders back at him with a clueless expression.

"I really don't know how long we'll take," she said, glancing at her iPhone to check the time. "But we have quite a few hours so…"

"Right. Take your time. I'm just gonna go hang and I'll pick you all up here later then," Ryan said before starting to lightly jog away from their group and towards his car. Twisting his body around, he quickly shook a hand formed into the sign for six around his ear. "Call if you need anything!"

"Right."

"Bye-bye!"

"See ya."

"Bye."

"So what are you two gonna do?" Jay turned to Clemetine and Cecilie. "Me and John are gonna gather material for our assignments."

"We'll probably just walk around and see what this place has to offer."

"Which is probably nothing." Cecilie pinched out with a frown.

Laughing Clementine clapped Cecilie on the back. "Aww, come on Cecilie, you can't not want to be here that much?" She began dragging the shorter girl away, who dragged her feet after her reluctantly.

John watched them leave with a shake of his head. "I don't get those two. I swear they're lesbian."

"You have something against lesbians?" Jay asked with a raised brow.

"No, I don't. I was just saying." John replied defensively, readjusting the bag over his shoulder.

With a short laugh, Jay began making her way towards the general direction where Ryan said the Founder's Hall was at. Where better to start their research than the Founder's Hall where many of the town's historical paintings and objects were kept?

They found the place after several wrong turns and the kind pointers by locals. John immediately went to work setting up his camera and taking photos and videos of the place and the historical items on display.

As he did that, Jay wandered around the large building, admiring its architecture and interior design. It was grand, but still had a homey feel to it that made Jay feel like she was not in the 21st century.

She stopped at several framed black and white pictures of what seemed to be the old Founders, eyes briefly passing over each face but not committing to memory any features in particular, as if she was glossing over her textbooks.

She took several notes here and there, but honestly had trouble concentrating on collecting research and was quick to turn her attention onto pieces of art and the delicate carved wood of the furniture.

Jay majored in fine arts at Whitmore College, and had took up Occult Studies as one of her additional classes to add a bit to her repertoire of cultural knowledge which she hoped would help her in her artistic endeavors.

Her temper was mild, and the usual set of manners was drilled into her from societal expectations and pressure: greeting others properly, serving those older than her first at the dinner table, pouring tea for guests and elders before filling her own cup, called each relative by their proper title and the list went on. Of course, she was well aware that some of the manners instilled within her did not necessarily apply overseas but manners, nonetheless.

Her family is of Chinese descent, and she was the third generation to be born in Malaysia, a quirky country of multiple races and culture culminating together in a beautiful mix of tradition and intense racism between political parties. Born on Malaysian soil, she and her parents considered themselves as Malaysian rather than Chinese, though her grandmother had the occasional tendency to insist that they are from China. Jay won't deny that, her ancestors hailed from China after all, but she was born away from that country, ever only being a land of grand history and culture that she read about and having visited several times for the holidays. But she never felt a connection to that land like she did her birth country.

She studied at an American international school in her country for her middle and high school years, had an average GPA of 3.5 and above, and maintained honor student roll throughout the time she was there but so did many other students in the school.

Jay was absolutely horrible at soccer, basketball and any sports that involved a ball but played averagely well in sports involving a racket, particularly badminton. But she still wasn't good enough to maintain a position in the school's varsity team regularly, sometimes playing well and sometimes moving terribly slow. So she got officially kicked off the team after two years.

She considered English to be her first language, speaking the language uncannily well compared to many of her Malaysian friends but that was partly due to the result of her attending an American school for so many years and having been an avid reader of Enid Blyton books when she was a child. She also spoke Cantonese relatively well, as well as Mandarin, but her mastery over Mandarin was weak compared to her parents and many of her other Malaysian-Chinese friends; something which she paid for when she attended an international school rather than a local school. The Malay language is also another language she spoke, for it is the national language of her country but she rarely used it, making her Malay rusty at best.

Her friends at Whitmore found her ability to speak so many languages impressive but it was something very normal amongst Malaysian-Chinese like her, with some of her local friends able to speak an additional one or two languages.

In all, outside her ability to communicate with various different languages, she was quite normal and did not stand out much intellectually or aesthetically.

Passing by a golden framed mirror with carved leaves and vines gliding along the sides, Jay paused in front of the mirror temporarily to check her features, running fingers over her unkempt hair.

She was small in size but not thin like a lamp post. With a height of 160cm, she weighed in at 48kg, fluctuating from time to time. Little muscle lined her body, what muscles she used to have having dwindled down to nothing after getting kicked off her badminton team.

A bit of baby fat also made itself known on her face, giving her round cheeks which she quite disliked, in addition to her round nose. She was envious of Clementine's sharp and high nose and Cecilie's tapered cheeks, which Jay thought gave them an air of adult sexiness, which she wished she possessed. She was located on the childish side of the sexy meter.

Medium length black hair with faded dyed brown locks at the tips, and black eyes, she was average in beauty. Unlike her cousin who had males admiring her everywhere she went, she had only received a confession from a guy once and he had done it over the phone! She turned him down, as a result.

Smiling into the mirror, she checked her teeth, which had spent two years in braces to attain the pristine line they now form. Dimples dotted both sides of her cheek, and a tiny scar nestled at the tip of where her upper and lower lip met on the left side, leftovers from a pimple that haunted her during high school.

Jay admitted she was slightly vain when it came to her looks, but it wasn't something that appeared often and did not affect her social life in any way. Her friends didn't even know she had a vain side.

Fashion was not her forte, but she made sure to take care of her appearance, taking pains to ensure that her eyebrows did not turn too bushy and no nose hair grew too long, regularly pulling them out to the point that some no longer grew back.

Satisfied with what stared back at her in the mirror, Jay turned to look for John, hoping that he was done taking photos of place.

Where John was most likely going to focus on images for his assignment, Jay was going to focus on facts and mixing it with her own knowledge of mythical lore of other places.

When she found him snapping away at piece of painting that absorbed his attention with little complaints, she tapped him on the shoulder.

"You done?" Briefly, Jay looked over his shoulder at his latest shot.

"Yea, almost. Don't tell me you're done already?" John asked her incredulously and Jay responded by rolling her eyes.

"Not everyone spends as much time on something as you, John," she said, laughing as she made her way towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" He called after her, making a move to follow but stopped to snap more shots of a framed piece of woodwork.

Jay shook her head at him in amusement. He was so obsessed with photography that it was just cute.

"You go on with your work. I'm gonna go explore elsewhere for a bit."

"Yea, sure. I'll meet you with the rest later," he replied without looking at her, eyes still trained onto the lens.

Jay left him at the Founder's Hall, walking back towards the town square. Taking the occasional photos on her iPhone as she walked, she is quickly parched by the sun and the amount of time spent on her feet.

Spotting what Ryan introduced as the Mystic Grill on the other side of the square, Jay made her way towards the restaurant, spotting a stray cat lingering in a small alley beside the Grill, its fur dried and coming off in patches in places. It was skinny, but not skinny to the point of skin and bones.

Jay's brow furrowed at the sight, making a mental note to get something for the cat to eat. Pushing open the doors of the Mystic Grill, she stepped inside.

The place was bustling with people and the lively atmosphere was a sudden change from the quiet breeze of winds outside the Grill. Groups of teenagers were gathered together at various tables and at the pool table, their voices filling the place with raucous laughter. There was also the occasional early drinkers already drinking their way to a hangover by the bar, and a few couples whispered quietly to each other intimately at their booths.

Shaking off the apprehension of being in a crowded place in a place she knew nothing of with no one she knew, Jay made her way towards the bar, throat craving for a glass of shake to cool the scratchy feeling gathering there.

As she made a straight line towards the bar, a girl with dark hair and eyes bumped into her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She uttered after a short pause during which she stared at Jay with what seemed to be suspicion and surprise. But Jay failed to read into her stare, thinking that it was nothing but surprise at having bumped into someone randomly.

"Oh, it's alright," Jay waved a hand in front of her carelessly, laughing. "I wasn't really looking at where I was going either."

The girl smiled at her hesitantly. "I've never seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"Technically. I'm just visiting for the weekend." At her reply, the girl squinted her eye at her with confusion and amusement and Jay realized that Mystic Falls isn't really a tourist destination spot. "Oh, I'm from Whitmore College," she added quickly. "Just here for an assignment~" her arms fluffed upwards beside her lightly in what she hoped was a funny gesture.

"Ahh, getting down on the grades, huh?" The girl replied good-naturedly before putting a hand lightly on her arm. "Well, I hope you enjoy your weekend here."

"Thanks, I will."

And with that, the girl turned away to return to her table where a long-haired brunette and a blonde sat waiting for her.

"Who was that?" The blonde quickly asked her friend when she sat down, clearly eager for some gossip on the new face.

A short pause where she seemed to mull over something. "I don't know, Caroline, but…"

"But?" The brunette pressed, eyes urging her to go on.

"But, Elena…" she trailed off, eyes following the figure of the Asian girl as she made her way towards the bar where Matt went to take her order. "I just felt something…weird, when I bumped into her."

"Weird? Bonnie, what do you mean by weird?" Elena asked, eyes glancing towards the bar where the girl just ordered a drink from Matt.

"I don't know." Bonnie looked back at her friends, a strange and nostalgic look passing over her features. "It was kind of like…bumping into an old acquaintance."

"Acquaintance? Did you know her?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie shot her a look that said 'I don't, duh,' and Caroline replied with a look of her own, saying 'What? Just asking.'

"Look, I don't really know, okay," Bonnie said finally, taking a sip from her glass.

"Why can't this town just have normal people for once?" Caroline sighed, eyeing the Asian girl who chatted with Matt after he arrived with her glass of juice. A small frown marred her fair features at the sight.

"Well, rather than worry about this "weird" feeling Bonnie had about her, we have bigger problems." Elena sighed, eyes settling onto her two friends as her expression turned serious. "What are we going to do about the Mikaelsons?"

"So you're just here for the weekend?" The waiter, whose name she learned was Matt, asked as he cleaned the bar counter next to her.

"Yea. Partly to research some stuffs for my class at Whitmore and to see what my friend's hometown is like."

Matt's brow rose in surprise, blue eyes bright as the sky. "What sort of research?"

"About the occult and supernatural," she replied, drinking from her glass before noticing the short pause and the tense way in which Matt looked at her. She swallowed quickly, one hand coming up to wipe the drop of juice that ran down her chin. The other waved frantically about her.

"It's for my occult studies class. According to our professor, Mystic Falls has a long history with witches and whatnot here." She laughed, thinking her research topic must have surprised the male. She supposed not many people actively researched or even studied such topics now…well, at least, not where she is from anyways.

"Huh…" With a tense quietness, he rolled the rag he had been cleaning with into his hand before giving her a quick smile. "Well, I hope your research goes well."

"Oh, wait!" Jay called out to him just as he was about to walk off and he turned around once more to regard her, the initial cheery attitude he greeted her with now diminished.

Jay wondered if she did something that insulted him. She did not recall doing anything of that manner, merely having been herself.

"Can I get a fish and chips as well? But with the fish packed away separately…" she trailed off as he gave her another raise of his brow.

"Uhh, sure." Matt shrugged, finding that it was not his business to ask why she wanted to separate her fish and chips. He quickly walked off with her order, wondering if he had been too quick to assume.

She did say she was here for her Occult Studies class and seemed completely clueless as to what really went on in Mystic Falls.

But for her sake, Matt hoped that she will not dig too deep into things here. It was a bad time for such things.

He passed by Elena, Caroline and Bonnie's table as he worked, giving them a quick greeting as he did so.

"Hey Matt!" Caroline called out to him.

"Yea, what's up?" The rag in his hands was swung over his right shoulder, arms crossing as he stood by their table, glancing down at the three girls.

Caroline spoke up, whilst Elena and Bonnie casted curious looks at her.

"Who is that girl you've been talking with at the counter?" She asked without hesitation.

Matt was hardly surprised. "Ever the gossip girl, aren't you?" he teased.

Caroline merely tilted her head at him, face innocent but serious with her need to know.

Matt sighed, looking around the table before speaking. "Her name's Jay. She's from Whitmore College."

"Whitmore? What is she doing here?" Elena asked. Most people who came to Mystic Falls from Whitmore were previous residents of the town who had family here. And for her entire life, Elena has never seen Jay around before. There were only a few Chinese-Americans living in Mystic Falls, and Jay was certainly not one of them.

"Apparently, she's here doing research for her Occult Studies class." Here, Matt looked at Bonnie, aware that her grandmother used to teach that class.

Bonnie straightened up at the news. "Really?" With a curious gaze, she looked over to the counter, where Jay now sat playing with her iPhone.

Caroline and Elena exchanged looks which did not go unnoticed by Matt.

"I know. I was suspicious at first but honestly, she seems pretty cool."

"Oh, so just when the Mikaelsons make their grand appearance a new girl which Bonnie is getting a weird feeling from just appears in Mystic Falls, of all places, to do her Occult Studies research?" Sarcasm dripped from Caroline's voice, her wide eyes looking around at her friends. She can't be the only one that thought this is more than coincidence.

"Well, we can't just go suspecting a person just because of things outside their control." Elena said rationally. "She may really just be here for her research." She shrugged her shoulders lightly, brown eyes attempting to convince Bonnie and Matt to join her side of the debate.

Matt nodded in agreement at her, but Bonnie had doubts. "I don't know. That feeling was so weird though."

"We heard it the first time." Caroline said in exasperation, determined to win this battle about the intentions and origins of this so-called Jay.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a waitress bringing Jay her order of chips and packed fish. Jay slowly began eating her chips whilst peeling away the fried layering off the fish.

Caroline's sharp eyes took all this in minute detail. "Why is she separating the skin off the fish?" She whispered quietly, despite knowing that the current topic of their conversation could not possibly hear over the noise resonating around the restaurant.

"Why don't you go ask her?" Matt suggested in a joking manner, clearly amused by her unforgivable suspicions of the girl. He had been suspicious too at first, but it lasted for less than a minute before it was dispelled by the way the girl talked and acted. There was no way she had evil intentions like most of the other people coming into Mystic Falls.

Both Elena and Bonnie raised the universal sign of saying one had no information or knowledge before Elena tried to pull their attention back to their previous topic.

"I think we have bigger problems to handle…like the Mikaelsons?"

Jay left the Mystic Grill half an hour later, the fish meat with its outer layering meticulously removed packed in a box.

She peeked into the alleyway, pleased to see that the stray cat from before was still there, resting beside a pile of unwanted boxes. Its ears perked and head raised when Jay approached slowly. The telltale signs of caution and alert entered its form before it quickly got onto its feet and moved several paces away from her.

Jay stopped and slowly crouched down, opening the box in her hand and revealing its contents. The cat still made no move to approach her and neither did its tense form relax.

Jay clucked her tongue at the cat quietly in encouragement, placing the box nearby where the cat was resting before her arrival. She backed up again, leaving a good distance between her and the cat.

It was a while, longer than what most people would wait, before the cat finally but tentatively approached the box, sniffing at its contents before it began eating.

Jay smiled, enjoying the way the cat gulfed down the white meat, clearly indicating at its hunger. A part of her was happy that she was able to ease some of its hunger, but another part of her felt sad that she will not be here long enough to feed it back to a healthy weight.

She sighed, watching the cat eat as she contemplated what she should do next. John still had yet to call her, and there was still a little while till they had to meet up with Ryan.

"That's awfully nice of you."

Jay shrieked.

The cat abandoned the food and fled at the sound.

Heart pounding from the shock and fright, Jay whirled around to a stand to find a tall male standing several paces behind her. He had short brown hair that tussled among themselves and deep brown eyes. His clothing was casual, but had a touch of wealth to it that Jay imagined what modern aristocrats would wear. It made her slightly self-conscious of her cheap black open shoulder top and denim shorts.

The stranger was significantly taller than her small stature. He had his hands in his coat pocket, and a wince of sorts pulled at his features. Her scream must have been the cause.

Placing a hand over her heart, Jay's shoulders sagged as the initial fright and shock slowly left her system. "Sorry. You scared me."

"Sorry about that." He spoke, an accent lacing his voice which Jay pinpointed to be British. Or what she thought is British. She wasn't one of the best people to ask about accents.

"No, it's alright." She gave a small smile, turning around to look back at the abandoned box.

"Too bad it ran away." He smiled apologetically at her, and Jay listed him in her head as one of the good-looking guys.

"It'll probably come back later. Cats usually do that." She turned back around to face him, not failing to notice that he had taken a few steps closer to her.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Jay asked the stranger uncertainly, wondering why he was talking to her.

He laughed a laugh that was easy to the ears with just a hint of mischief. "I just saw you crouching about an alleyway, of all places, and was wondering what you were doing."

Jay felt a touch of heat to her cheeks, knowing the image she must have displayed crouching around like that. It was hardly ladylike, and where she was from, it was usually considered bad manners for a person to crouch on the ground, more so when a girl was doing it.

"I'm Kol." He introduced himself, sticking a hand out for her to take.

"Oh, I'm Jay," she said as she took his hand, shaking it.

"Jay, huh?" He repeated her name and Jay thought she quite liked the way it sounded with his voice, despite being a stranger and all. She can't deny that he was handsome.

A nervous laugh escaped her. "Yea." A silence she found awkward quickly fell around them, although the male before her did not seem effected by it, merely looking at her with a mischievous smile on his lips and dark eyes. Jay despaired at her incompetence at making good conversation with people.

"So…nothing I can help you with?" she asked stupidly, swinging back and forth on the balls of her feet.

Kol laughed heartily, ambling towards her as he spoke. "No, actually. There is something you can help me with."

Jay's brow shot up in surprise and curiosity, wondering what she can possibly help this stranger with. But before she could ask, she was captured by his gaze, instantly enamored by the deep color of his eyes, the ringlet of golden strips transfixing her, hypnotizing her into a state of relaxation that bordered on detachment.

"You will not scream. You will obey my orders."

"Yes."

Somewhere in a part of Jay, she was aware of answering the man's commands and yet, she did not feel the need to protest against such violating words. In fact, her whole body felt compelled to listen to his commands.

Kol smirked at her, before telling her to walk into the alleyway. She did as she was told, trampling over the abandoned box of fish as she made her way further into the alley. She stopped behind a large green dumpster that hid her and Kol from peering eyes that might look into the alley.

Trickles of apprehension and fear started seeping into her heart, and yet Jay could not voice all of these into a scream that would attract attention to aid her. She had no control over what her body was doing despite knowing that something is really wrong and the fear was starting to get to her.

Who the hell is he? And why does he have such powers over her?

Jay felt a drop of something warm sliding down her cheek, and realized she was crying. A quiet sob left her, but no scream escaped her, despite the attempts of her mind and heart.

"Shh~" He hushed her, one large hand coming up to wipe the lone tear that tracked slowly down her cheek. "You don't have to cry."

His voice only served to bring more tears from her, hardly comforting with its mock sympathy.

"What do you want with me?" Jay choked out, the scream she had been desperately trying to push out never making its way pass her throat. The handsome male she first saw is now replaced with someone of danger.

None of this was natural.

And then it dawned on her enslaved body and mind that he was not of the natural…was he?

But before the revelation could prompt more questions and doubts within her, Kol spoke.

"You will not resist." He said simply. "And as for your question…" Kol's eyes travelled upwards as if he was thinking hard about his answer, but that was hardly the case. His posture, voice and lips expressed nothing more than tease and mock.

"I just need a little bit of blood. Just a little bit." He smiled, but there was no mirth or joy in his smile. There was only horror with the red that spread across his eyes, fear with the tracks of black that engraved themselves around what used to be fair cheeks and terror with the white fangs that protruded from what used to be a handsome mouth.

Despite the absolute horror, fear and terror that assaulted Jay at the sight that only doubled when she felt the sinking of something sharp and painful in her neck, she did not scream. She did not resist.

She couldn't.

She could feel the blood in her body leaving her, quickly being drained from her by this hungry predator.

Only one word kept repeating in her hazed and dulled mind: vampire.

The strength in her knees gave way, but she did not fall to the ground. Iron-like arms wound around her waist and shoulders, keeping her up.

She lamented at the terrifying and lackluster way she was going to die. Far away from home in a foreign land in the arms of not family and friends, but a vampire.

Terrifying, but perhaps not so lackluster after all. How many people can say they died at the hands of a vampire?

But then again, dead men told no tales.

Just as dark spots began to enter her vision, Jay felt herself crumpling to the ground.

She heard a snarl not far from where she lay on the hard ground.

"Bloody hell, Elijah!"

Arms cradled her, and something pressed against her lips. A metallic taste entered her mouth and Jay choked at the unwanted taste and substance. But the substance continued flowing into her, its source pressed firm against her mouth.

"I'm hardly surprised. Just out of the coffin and already causing trouble."

A chiding voice resounded above her. The substance stopped invading her.

Slowly, her vision returned to her as the pain by her neck subsided to nothing.

She found herself cradled in the arms of a man in a suit. Kol stood not far away, face returned to its fair state. The image of nightmares was no longer there.

Just the image of an angry person: not a vampire.

The man holding her turned to look down at her, a calloused hand coming up to her cheeks, firmly but gently holding her face in place and eyes towards him.

"You will not remember any of this. You will go back to what you were doing before."

A feeling of relaxation and detachment entered Jay, washing away the fear and dulled lingering of shock away from her weakened body. She was placed upright against the wall, and the sensation of crisp suit material against her skin left her.

Her eyes closed in rest.

When Jay came to, she looked around her blearily, eyes furrowing and wondering why she was sitting in an alleyway, behind a dumpster.

Her nose scrunched up at the faint scent of raw rotting food that came from the dumpster.

She stood up and dusted herself off, spotting the box of fish she had packed for the stray cat laying opened and tipped, its contents falling out.

She frowned.

Where did the cat go?

I'm a review whore. I tend to drop or continue stories or update chapters depending on the amount of reviews received haha

So if you enjoyed this story, please do drop a line or two with the review box below :)

I'm completely revising the idea I had for Eastern Sun In The Western Sky, and did the idea of songsters and songstresses away for I felt that that particular bit might have resulted in that story's unpopularity :S I don't know the real cause, to be honest, but this is the last chance I am giving to writing a Kol Mikaelson story and if this one flops in popularity too…well, guess I should just stick to my DRR and Prince of Tennis stories OTL

And Jay is Asian. South East Asian from Malaysia to be exact. That might be another reason why people might not have liked ESITWS (lol so long) since the TVD community is mostly dominated by people from the West I think…I don't know, really haha But I always figured if Asians can enjoy Caucasian characters, why not the other way around too? (*w*)

But I really do want to explore Asian culture and myths in a TVD story, something not done or seen yet in any of the fanfics I have seen, and I really do hope people want to give that a chance too. I can't say I'm a fantastic writer, but I am always looking to improve and appreciate each and every review and tips I receive.

And if Jay as an Asian really does bother some people, you're free to imagine her as a Caucasian born Malaysian, really hahaha all stories are up to the reader's imagination when all is said and done :)

As I might also be treading a fine line when writing about the cultures, traditions and religious beliefs of others, I hope I will not offend anyone. If I write anything that is wrong or contrary, please do let me know and I will correct it. I do not mean to offend anyone when writing my stories, and only wish to explore more about different cultures and integrate what is happening in the real world into my stories. Doing this also helps expand my own knowledge of cultures around the world, as I tend to research a bit before writing; but the internet is hardly accurate, so please do correct me if I ever wrote anything different.

So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and if you wish to see more, please do review, favorite, follow and alert! :3 And review!