CHAPTER TWO

Author's Note- A promise is a promise, here's chapter 2 X.

P.S Forgot to mention, all rights go to their respective owners, I own nothing.

The Heretics were a powerful group of vampires; all unique in their own way and twice as deadly. There was the mother firgure of the group, Lilian Salvatore. Julian, her lover. Valerie, (she had a past). Beau, the mute. Malcolm, Lilian's golden boy. Mary Louise, the cold and unforgiving and Nora, the youngest of the group.

Lilian made Nora see that the world was theirs for the taking and Nora revelled in her new found power. It was all too easy to take a human life and think nothing of it. After being shunned by her family, Nora had grown bitter and compassion very rarely entered her mind when she took a life.

All the other Heretics watched her grow from an unsure young vampire to a confident and ruthless killer but none was as fascinated by her as Mary Louise.

The blonde would watch Nora as she killed, how gently she held them while she fed, as though she cared about their discomfort. She was not savage, not at all and this intruged Mary Louise more than she cared to admit.

Of course, it still being the 1900's, the blonde had to keep her feelings in check but some things could not be hidden so easily.

One particular night, Nora had gone out to feed, choosing to walk through the cemetery to avoid detection.

She suddenly stopped walking and a light grin appeared on her lips.

"I know you have been following me for at least ten minutes now." She said without turning around.

Mary Louise came out of hiding, the same grin on her face, maybe a little more shy than Nora's.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. We live in dangerous times."

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"We are the danger." She argued.

Mary Louise chuckled darkly.

"That we are but we are still hunted. Never forget that."

"I won't."

There was a short silence and then the blonde cleared her throat.

"Maybe since I'm here, I should hunt with you. Safety in numbers and all that." She suggested.

Nora shrugged carelessly.

"If you must." But she said it with that same, teasing smile.

They walked side by side for a while in silence until Nora broke it.

"I have seen you...watching me."

Mary Louise nodded, pushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Yes, we all have. You have progressed beautifully. The Heretics are pleased."

"No. That is not what I meant. I have seen you watching me...more than the others do."

The blonde looked down shyly and was slightly embarrassed at having been found out.

Nora stopped walking and turned to face the other Heretic.

"It's alright...I like the attention."

Mary Louise smiled and watched as the brunette walked off, leaving Mary Louise to chase her.

And that was how it went for the rest of that year; Mary Louise, feeling like she was chasing Nora. There was something there, they both knew it but they had to be careful. Being a vamprie was not the only thing that would get them killed in this century.

It turned out that Nora liked being chased but it was driving Mary Louise to distraction.

She paced up and down outside the brunette's room, waiting for her to appear.

She was angry and she knew that Nora and herself needed to talk. It was the only way Mary Louise could deal with everything that was going on in her head.

Eventually, the brunette emerged, jumping slightly at seeing the blonde outside her room.

"Mary Lou-"

She loved that; the way she shortened her name slightly, it made it sound more affectionate.

"I think we need to talk, Nora."

Nora nodded, a slight frown on her face as she sat down on the seat on the landing.

"Of course. Is everything alright?"

Concern. How touching, Mary Louise thought bitterly.

"No. It's not alright, Nora. For almost a year now, you have been teasing me, making me chase you...You make me unsure of your intentions and feelings and I know full well that you are the same as I."

Nora blinked, that grin coming to her lips again.

"I see..."

"I would just like to know where we stand with each other. I cannot keep playing these silly little mind games with you, Nora."

Nora nodded in understanding, biting back a smile.

Mary Louise took a breath and then looked at Nora expectantly.

"I have feelings for you, Mary Lou but yes, I will not deny that I have enjoyed watching you drive yourself mad chasing me. I am sorry to have put you through that." Nora admitted.

Mary Louise broke out into a smile.

"Thank you...for telling me what I asked." She then stood and went to the stairs.

Nora frowned and stood.

"Wait!"

Mary Louise turned, glancing over her shoulder at the brunette.

"What about you? And your feelings?"

The blonde grinned.

"I thought it was blatantly obvious."

Nora hesitated and then looked up at her again.

"You feel the same?"

The blonde smirked triumphantly.

"If I did not, I would have been chasing you and playing your idiotic mind games for the past year."

Nora smiled and even thought their relationship was under wraps, everyone who knew them could see something beautiful happening between the two vampires...

NOW

A table was flipped over and the vase that sat in it's centre, was smashed against the wall.

"This is madness!"

Nora went over to stand at her girlfriend's side.

Mary Louise's eyes were wide with fury as she stared at Lilian.

The dark haired vampire kept her voice calm and steady as she spoke.

"We came to Mystic Falls to live peacefully. Killing humans will only arouse people's anger and we will be hunted once again."

Mary Louise was breathing hard.

"So you expect us to live a life hidden away? Nora and I had to hide who we are in the 19th century! Have we not suffered enough?!"

Lilian bowed her head as she listened to Mary Louise.

"I understand that this will be difficult but we will not be completely without sustenace. Malcolm and I had come up with a way that we can still feed without enraging the people of Mystic falls."

"Now we are to worry over the opinions of humans?! Tell me when it was that you lost your mind!"

Nora had never seen Mary Louise this angry and it partly scared her. The only time she ever showed anger like this was when Nora herself was threatened.

Lilian nodded at Malcolm and he came over, handing a tea cup out to Mary Louise. She took it and looked inside. There was blood but no more than three sips.

Her blue-green eyes looked up at Lilian once again.

"Is this some sort of joke?" She asked slowly and Nora waited for her lover to explode.

Lilian gave the blonde a small smile.

"No. This is the way we will be living from now on."

Mary Louise put the cup down on the floor by her side and took Nora's hand.

"Come Nora, I think we should go and have some fun."

Nora was dragged along by her girlfriend as they left the house.

Once outside, Nora took Mary Louise by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"I know you're mad, I am too but the fact of the matter is...Lilian's right. If we want to survive here, we have to be smart."

Mary Louise shook her head.

"I refuse to be fearful of some pathetic humans. I'll kill every last one of them if I have to!"

Nora tried to calm her down but it wasn't working, so instead she decided to go along with it just this once. Well, at least that's what she told herself.

"Alright. One last fright fest before we are locked away again."

The blonde grinned at her lover and they both wandered off towards the camping grounds, the night swallowing them as they walked...

Teenagers, so many of them. They were sitting around camp fires, telling stupid ghost stories.

Mary Louise and Nora waited patiently in the bushes, watching them.

"This is almost too easy." Nora chuckled.

Mary Louise grinned darkly.

"It's going to be an absolute bloodbath."

The teenagers sat on logs but they were not at all aware of the danger that awaited them.

"Maybe we should toy with them for a bit." Nora suggested.

Mary Louise looked at her with a confused expression on her face.

"How so?"

Nora shrugged.

"I think we should join them, tell them our own ghost story and then make them relive it."

Mary Louise looked at Nora, her face an expression of pure seriousness.

"I have never been more proud of you."

Nora nudged her gently.

"Come on then."

The blonde held her back.

"Wait. One went off into the trees. We'll wait until he comes back, otherwise he could run for help."

Nora groaned.

"Fine but how much longer? I'm getting hungry."

"Patience, love. We'll soon be having our fill."

Nora imagined them all screaming as Mary Lou savagely bit into the one she would be sat next to and Nora would do the same.

The thing that Nora loved about Mary Lou was that she so was loving, gentle and kind to her and her only, but when it came to the kill, she was the most savage creature that Nora had ever seen. There was no mercy, no gentleness, no displeasure at seeing the pain she was causing; in short Mary Lou was pure evil and Nora loved her all the more for it.

The boy who had left his friends had now come back.

Nora shifted but Mary Louise still had hold of her arm.

Nora rolled her eyes.

"What now?" She hissed.

"Wait for them to get comfortable, then we'll go out there and act like we're campers ourselves."

Nora looked at Mary Lou's lace white dress and then gestured to her black top, leggings and boots with spiked heels.

"Looking like this?"

Mary Lou shrugged.

"It won't matter when we're tearing their throats out."

Nora grinned.

The campers looked up as the two girls approached them.

"Telling scary stories?" Mary Louise asked them.

The majority were boys but there were also a few girls.

One of the boys, a dark haired jock, looked up at the pretty blonde.

"Yeah, wanna listen?"

"We'd be delighted but only if you let us tell one too."

The boy shrugged.

"Sure. That'd be cool."

Nora sat down next to the jock and Mary Louise sat opposite her, next to the three girls who looked a little annoyed by their presence.

The jock began telling his story.

Nora rolled her eyes when Mary Lou looked her way and the blonde hid a grin.

It was nothing they hadn't heard before; abandoned hospital, group of kids go in, swinging doors and noises that no one can explain, one goes missing, ones dies, another gets his hand cut off by some invisible source. blah blah blah...

The jock finished his story and then looked at Mary Louise.

"Cool story, huh?"

She nodded politely and put a hand to her heart for effect.

"I was terrified! How did you come to hear such a story?"

The jock smiled, pleased to have the blonde's attention.

"It happened for real in some other town. My cousin used to live there. He actually went into the hosptial once."

"Really? Fascinating." Nora chimed in with another eye roll.

The jock frowned.

"Ok then, let's hear one of yours'."

Nora smiled and nodded.

"Alright then." And she proceeded to tell them the story of how her and Mary Lou killed a group of youths just like them a few years ago at a fun fair, of course she used different names but the story of them being vampires was just the same.

The jock scoffed when Nora finished.

"Vampires? Come on, no one thinks they're scary anymore."

"Oh really? Would you not be scared if one was sitting right next to you?" Nora questioned.

"We all know vampires don't exist and even if they did, stake to heart. Done! They're too easy."

Nora felt her anger rise.

"They are not that unkillable." She muttered.

The jock grinned at her.

"So what? You like vampires?"

Nora perked up a little.

"I think they're fascinating, sensual creatures who are capable of great love." She told him, glancing at her girlfriend.

Mary Lou's heart always skipped a little when she gave her looks like that.

The jock missed it, obviously, and moved in close to Nora.

"It's the neck biting thing, right? That always turns girls like you on."

Nora felt his breath on her neck when Mary Lou spoke up.

"I would move away from her before you get seriously hurt." Her voice was low and threatening.

The jock ignored her.

Nora sat completely still as Mary Lou came over and grabbed him by his hair, pulling him upwards sharply.

"Ow! Alright, alright! I went too far, sorry! Jeez!"

Mary Louise glared at him and Nora knew what would come next.

"Yes. You did and if you ever touch my girlfriend again, I'll make you regret it."

The jock looked from Mary Louise to Nora and grinned despite the pain he was in.

"Oh, you two are together? Oh man that's hot!"

Those were his last words as Mary Louise bit savagely into his neck.

The jock screamed as the blonde drank deeply and the teens around them started screaming.

Nora grabbed one that tried to run and bit into him as he screamed and thrashed.

Both vampires watched each other and grinned. Blood lined their lips and Mary Louise pushed the dead jock away from her as she watched the others take off running into the trees, all in different directions.

Nora was also finished and took Mary Lou's hand as she reached her lover.

"Well I didn't expect this to turn into a hunting party but it's still going to be a lot of fun."

Nora nodded in agreement.

"Shall we give them a head start, my love?"

Nora pretended to think.

"Yes. Make them think they have a chance against us."

Mary Louise chuckled.

"You can be so sadistic sometimes."

Nora laughed.

"It makes this existence all the more fun and worth while."

Mary lou turned to her, giving her a light kiss.

"That's where you're wrong. My life as a vampire never started until you walked into my life. You, Nora...you make this existence worth while."

Nora blushed a little and linked their hands.

"You're so sweet, Mary Lou. Now, I believe we have some humans to kill."

Mary Lou nodded and then they both counted to three and then went after the terrified humans who were now probably lost in the forest still running for lives, as short as they may be when the vampires caught up to them.