Chapter Two

Frozen, I held my breath ...

Silencing students' conversations as I entered places was soon becoming an all too familiar thing which was made very clear to me as I wandered into the homeroom, trailing after Matt. As soon as I was past the doorway, conversation stopped between the students gathered there and all eyes in a variety of colours fell on me. After the darkened eyes of the strange man outside, these colours were too murky, too cloudy. My thoughts turned once more to the strange young man. Who was he? Why was he staring at me? And how did he manage to disappear so quickly as though he had simply vanished into thin air?

'All right, all right,' called the voice of a blonde girl as she barked at her classmates. 'Gawping much?'

At her words, the rest of the students settled back into their discussions, some now in whispered tones. The blond girl with light blue eyes and dressed in red and black then turned triumphantly to face Matt and I, smiling brightly at the both of us, hands firmly crossed. I returned her smile, having decided a few seconds ago, almost immediately, that I liked this girl.

'Don't mind them,' she told me. 'You're fresh meat. By tomorrow, they'll have moved on to someone else.'

'You're hoping it's you, aren't you, Care?' laughed Matt beside me.

The girl shrugged and dissolved into giggles before holding out her hand towards me in a friendly gesture. 'I'm Caroline Forbes, by the way, if Matt hasn't mentioned me already.'

'I haven't had time, Caroline. She's barely been in the school for an hour.'

I grinned at both of them and stretched out my own hand to shake Caroline's. 'Leah James. Nice to meet you, Caroline.'

Caroline motioned to Matt and I as she strutted confidently to a group of people that I could only assume were her friends. Instead of following Matt, I tagged along after Caroline, my new guide. I felt fresh smiles be projected at me as I stood in front of four new people, their eyes more welcoming than I had ever anticipated.

'Guys, this is Leah James,' she said in a assertive voice as though my name was being heralded before gesturing to each person individually with a flick of her wrist. 'Let me introduce you to my friends. Elena Gilbert, Bonnie Bennett, Tyler Lockwood and Stefan Salvatore.'

I acknowledged them all with a nod and noted them carefully. Elena was one of the most strikingly beautiful girls I had ever met; her long, straight hair swung like a curtain and her brown eyes were almost sparkling. Bonnie was grinning at me amidst her dark curls and shot Caroline a look as she chuckled under her breath at her friend. Tyler was the archetypal jock, wearing the same jersey as Matt, with black hair and a smile that I could only describe as wolfish. Finally, Stefan was a chiselled, brooding young man with his hands clasped together and a slightly less welcoming smile, not showing his teeth.

'So, where are you joining us from, Leah?' Caroline asked curiously, settling me down in an empty seat next to the group.

'Caroline,' Elena and Bonnie chastised at the same time; apparently, this was a recurring thing.

'What?' Caroline said instantly as though she had no idea what she had done wrong; she then turned to face Tyler and raised an eyebrow. 'What did I do?'

'You didn't let the girl breathe, Care,' Tyler laughed and by the way he was looking at her and the coy smiles they traded with each other, I could tell that they were an item, as were Stefan and Elena. I was acutely precise when I came to picking up on small hints of body language; Cal had often referred to it as one of my many weird talents.

'It's okay,' I assured him. 'I'm from Tennessee. My brother and I moved here about a week ago. He's the new teacher here.'

'What about your parents?' Elena asked curiously, her voice calm and collected. 'Are they here with you or back in Tennessee?'

I had braced myself for that question many times but now that it had finally been aired, I was not quite sure how to properly react. I bit my lip nervously and fixed my eyes to the floor, thinking about my deceased parents and how they were still in Tennessee, only sleeping under the earth, side by side.

'My ... My parents died,' I managed to croak in a voice rendered hoarse by even the memories of tears. 'Two months ago.'

There was silence then as eyes shifted from one another, but I could not stop looking at Elena; she stared at me with a saddened expression, but it was one that signified that she knew what I was going through, as though she had been through it herself. Without saying a word, she understood my pain, my suffering.

'I'm so sorry,' Bonnie aired what the others were thinking.

'It's okay,' I said. 'It's ... hard, not having them here, not being able to talk to them ... but I think this can be a new start for me.'

The six teenagers surrounding me all nodded and looked at me reassuringly, throwing me encouraging smiles that instantaneously told me that I was safe here. I had gained friends here and I knew deep inside me that something was waiting for me here. I did not know exactly what that thing was, but it could not come soon enough.

'You've certainly got a spring in your step, Kol,' Rebekah noted as Kol walked past her upon arriving back in the mansion. She wore a quizzical look on her beautiful face, one eyebrow raised, her lips pursed, as her eyes followed Kol from the moment he put one foot past the doorway.

Kol could do nothing but grin as he made himself comfortable on one of the long sofas. 'Nothing to concern yourself with, little sister.'

'Well, it seems at last that something has entertained you.'

'Not so much entertained me,' Kol said, unable to keep his grin from growing any more.

Rebekah leaned forward so that she was staring Kol straight in the face, her eyes penetrating, a look that had cost many a man his life over the centuries. 'Spit it out, Kol. You're starting to frustrate me now.'

'Now, there's a change,' commented Klaus as he strolled into view, folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe, watching his younger siblings in earnest. 'What's Kol done now, Bekah?'

'Apart from smile, nothing,' Kol defended himself light-heartedly, earning him a dagger-stare from Rebekah and a chuckle from Klaus.

'Come on, Kol,' Klaus said, joining them, leaning against the sofa. 'You've garnered my interest now. Out with it.'

Kol sighed and looked at both his siblings in turn, lingering on their eager expressions, savouring every tense moment before he murmured his answer to the long-awaited question in a light voice that had been heard by his siblings at pivotal times over the years.

'She is back.'

Rebekah's mouth dropped open in surprise and Klaus' eyes narrowed as though he was trying to process what Kol had just said. Kol was slightly amused at his siblings' reactions and suppressed a laugh as it took them both a few minutes to come to their senses and fully react to Kol's announcement.

'She's back,' Klaus murmured under his breath, echoing Kol's words as though a second time would make the news clearer to him.

'How long?' Rebekah asked simply.

'How long what? How long has she been here or how long have I known?'

'Both,' she demanded impatiently.

'I went to your school today,' Kol explained. 'I wanted to get my good skills of charm and compulsion into practise. You know, you don't get much chance to when you're daggered and left in a box for a good hundred years.'

Klaus rolled his eyes in an irritated way. 'Get over it, Kol. Now, you were at the school ... '

'Right, I was there. And ... I just saw her. She was there with Rebekah's boy toy, Max or whatever his name is.'

'Matt,' Rebekah shot him the correct name.

Kol shrugged; it made no difference to him. The only name that really mattered to him now was the one she had been bestowed with in this life. He had to know it.

'Now,' he said, getting to his feet, 'if you'll excuse me, I've got better places to be.'

'And a girl to win over,' Klaus added. 'Yet again.'

Kol tutted at his older brother and left the mansion once more. He had not seen her beautiful face, her dazzling eyes in over a hundred years; the last thing he remembered before being daggered was the sight of those eyes, filled with tears, and he had lost track of her then for so many years. He had to know her.

My first day at Mystic Falls High had ended as soon as it had started and I found myself walking to my brother's car with a lithe step, smiling all the way. I had just left Elena and Caroline in my last class of the day, who had both promised to come over to my house later that night and take me to some place they liked to frequent, something called the Mystic Grill. I had laughed at this – did everything of note in this town have the word 'Mystic' in front of it? Surely they could have been a bit more inventive.

'Hey, Leah,' Cal said from his car. He had a stack of papers under his arm, indicating that his first day had been as productive as mine, maybe even more so. I joined him and helped him place his things safely in the trunk. 'Thanks, sis. So how was your first day?'

'Great,' I told him. 'I made some friends.'

'Good, that's good. What are they like?'

'They're ... friendly.'

'Really?' Cal said, raising an eyebrow. 'Due to your literature-worshipping brother, you've grown up with an extensive vocabulary and the only thing you can think of to describe your newly-met friends is friendly?'

I playfully shoved him and laughed. 'Well, I've only just got to know them, but, yeah, they're nice. They actually offered to come over tonight and we could go out.'

'Out where?' Cal enquired curiously.

'To this place called the Mystic Grill. According to one Caroline Forbes, I need to experience all that Mystic Falls has to offer, granted it's not much.'

'Forbes? Did you say Caroline Forbes?'

'Yeah, she's cool,' I shrugged. 'Why do you ask?'

'Her mom's the town sheriff,' he filled me in. 'She told me that I should come to some sort of council meeting when it comes up. Something to do with the community and founding families. We're new blood.'

'Fresh meat,' I added to his grin. 'Cal, is it okay if I meet you back at home?'

'You sure you don't want a ride?'

'Nah, it's fine. I could do with a little walk. I can better acquaint myself with my ... my new home.'

Cal's expression softened then as he took in my words. I smiled at him appreciatively. I could get used to this town, this new place. It wasn't home, but it could be. It wasn't the place where most of my memories resided like oak trees, but it could be the place where fresh ones could grow like flowers in the spring.

After Cal drove off, I sighed and started on my journey. I had not paid much attention on the ride here earlier today so I did not know the exact route to my own house, but I decided that it was best to wander and explore than busy myself finding a definite path. I wandered and ambled down many streets, spotting numerous houses that did not look familiar at all, but that was the fun of my decision: I was getting to know this new place just as I was getting its people. After a while, I was getting to grips with my new environment when I felt a presence behind me; someone was watching me. I turned and found myself staring at an empty street with not a single person in sight. Thinking that my mind must have been playing tricks on me, I turned back on my heel and ended up staring straight into the eyes of the same young man who I had spotted this morning.

'Good evening,' he greeted me in an English accent that was as pleasant as trickling water in a stream; something in that voice was comforting in a familiar sense as well as having the ability to knock me for six and make me weak at the knees.

'Can I help you?' I asked in rather a guarded voice.

He took a step back and almost grinned, holding his hands in mock surrender. 'I'm sorry, I must have startled me.'

I snorted at him. 'You didn't startle me, but now, I can see that the size of your ego is truly frightening.'

He raised one eyebrow and looked me up and down as though he was assessing me, before he spoke again. 'Well, you certainly are feisty.'

'It's one of my more redeeming qualities. Now, if you'll excuse me – '

'Forgive me, but if I may be so bold – '

' – and I assume you're bold anyways, but continue,' I said as I started to walk again with this guy keeping up with me persistently.

'I was going to ask for your name.'

I stopped in my tracks and glanced at him; his face was honest enough in all its boyish charm and perfection, but there was something well-hidden behind those eyes that made me think twice about him.

'Are you on the Mystic Falls welcoming committee?' I asked in a snarky voice that sounded a little teasing.

He grinned and shook his head. 'Not quite, but for you, I'm as good as.'

I tried not to smile too much at that. 'So, what about your name? Do I get to know that?'

'My name is Kol,' he said finally.

'Kol,' I ran his name over my lips, liking the feel of it. 'That's a cool name.'

'Sounds even better when you say it,' he murmured under his breath so quietly that I had to strain to hear it; thankfully, he brought his voice back up to its regular volume. 'So, I've told you my name. And you can tell me yours.'

'Like a trade?' I offered.

'Yes, like a trade,' he played along. 'Now, what's your name?'

I waited for a few moments before I stared him straight in the eyes, rendering myself lost in their deep, dark colour. There was something strange about the effect those eyes were having on me; they held within them a strange familiarity and I felt safe, comforted by them as if I had known those eyes – and the man they belonged to – for a very long time. It was strange and completely unheard of, but I could not fully explain it.

'Leah,' I whispered. 'My name's Leah.'

Kol seemed thrilled by this, his grin breaking into a smile that showcased his perfect teeth. 'Leah ... ' he mused softly. 'Wonderful, wonderful ... So tell me, Leah, how long have you been in Mystic Falls?'

I started my walk again and this time, Kol did not interrupt me; he kept with my pace alongside me, his eyes never leaving my face. 'I've already given you my name. I'm gonna be breaking every rule my parents ever instilled in me about talking to strangers.'

'I'm not a stranger,' he said as though he truly meant it. 'I'm Kol, we met about five minutes ago. We're officially acquainted.'

'Fine,' I gave in. 'My brother and I moved here about a week ago.'

'You have a brother?' Kol enquired, seeming genuinely curious.

'Yeah, his name's Cal. Do you have any brothers, Kol?'

'Three, actually, and a sister. I live with two of my brothers and my sister.'

'That sounds like a well-organised little family unit,' I noted.

Kol laughed and shook his head as something I had said had obviously greatly amused him. 'Honestly, you have no idea. Elijah's the oldest, he's about as boring and righteous as they come. Niklaus is someone I can get along with perfectly well and then want to kill ten minutes later. And Rebekah's a handful, always has been.'

'Such old-sounding names. Elijah, Niklaus ... '

'And Finn too, but he doesn't live here. He skipped town with our dear mother a while back. Can't forget about old mummy's boy Finn.'

I smirked at him and he returned it with a short laugh. From my observations, Kol had a certain way of talking about his family that was clear as day to me; there was a lucid underlying resentment towards them, but he cared about them. They were his siblings, his family.

'Listen to me,' he said. 'Rattling off about the dysfunctions of the Mikaelson family. Maybe I should change the subject ... What would you like to talk about?' I shrugged, not having a particular point of conversation in mind, and he smiled again. 'No matter, we'll have plenty to talk about later.'

'Later?' I echoed. 'What happens later?'

'I pick you up at around eight, we go for drinks and we talk about whatever crazy stuff is on our minds. It's what people call a date.'

I froze, trying to catch my breath back. A date? With Kol? I barely knew him, but then again, a date would be a perfect opportunity to get to know this over-confident yet extremely handsome guy. I did say that Mystic Falls was a fresh start.

'You seem very confident that I'll accept.'

'You're not going to?' he asked, feigning shock, as he knew full well that I would not do that. 'Come on, Leah. What's the worst that could happen?'

'I don't know. Maybe you could be some raging psychopath.'

'I could be, but you won't find that out for yourself if you don't come. I know that your curiosity knows no bounds.'

I could not help but grin at him as I found myself nodding. 'Okay, I accept. But I'm meeting some friends in the Mystic Grill first, so you can meet me there.'

'Sounds good to me,' Kol said. 'I'll see you there then, Leah.'

'I'll be the one who looks totally lost,' I said as he stopped walking and I started a few paces forward, walking backwards so that I could be facing him.

Kol stepped forward and took my hand in his, bringing to his lips and leaving a lingering kiss there. 'And I'll be the one waiting to find you.'