Scotland 1046 BC
Alasdair awoke in a tent. He was chained to a post, other than that there was nothing in the tent. The air was still cold. He shivered, recalling the way his fellow warriors had been cut down. Behavior like this was unlike any that had been exhibited by the invaders before this. They were unexpectedly merciful when they had arrived, and had continued to be so. The only thing different this time around-
"I hope you are doing well," the witch said, entering the tent. She was still wearing the snakeskin coat.
"Why did you kill my friends?" Alasdair asked, still groggy from sleep.
"What we are doing here needed to be a secret," the witch replied. "I am Nefetari."
"And what are you doing here?" Alasdair returned, "And what does it have to do with me?"
Instead of answering his question, Nefetari tilted her head and wondered, "How much do you know about my people?"
"Not much," Alasdair admitted, "You came from the Southeast, you take prisoners, usually."
"Where I come from, there is no winter such as this," Nefetari explained, "It is hot all year round. My homeland is known as Egypt, and it is as far away from here as you can imagine."
"Then what are you doing here?" Alasdair asked.
Nefetari sighed, "We were exiled from our homeland by a tyrant. We lived for a while in Iberia, a land in between ours and yours. Eventually however, we heard rumors of a magical artifact that could provide us with unmeasurable power, enough to retake our homeland. Legend had it that it was in your land, and so we set sail to find it."
"And?" Alasdair asked, "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"We did," Nefetari informed him, taking out a pure white stone the size of his fist. "And I am going to use it to make you into the weapon that will restore Egypt to its true power."
Mystic Falls 2015
Damon and Stefan Salvatore hummed along the empty streets of the abandoned Mystic Falls, bickering as usual.
"So you are seriously telling me you just gave in to a bunch of Heretics and handed them our town?" Damon sputtered, incredulous.
"It was the only way," Stefan insisted, "we needed to protect the humans until we could figure out a different solution.
"Well you'd better hope we find that solution, brother," Damon mused, "Or else I might do something I'll regret."
Suddenly Beau stood in front of their car. Damon slammed the brakes. The mute stood in front of the car, silent and immobile. After a few seconds of waiting, Damon threw up his hands silently in confusion and disgust, and both brothers got out of the car.
"Can I help you, Helen Keller?" Damon joked.
"No no Damon," Stefan interrupted, "Helen Keller couldn't see either. Beau here can see, can't you Beau?" and Stefan waived his hand in front of Beau's face a few times. Suddenly both Salvatore brothers were incapacitated by the mute.
"Sorry, you'll have to excuse Beau," Lily rounded the car, "He's not in the mood for glib jokes. None of us are."
"Ok I'll bite," Stefan said, struggling to his feet, "What's going on. Why are you guys so upset?"
"Someone killed Malcolm last night," Lily announced, "and considering the only people here are us and your group, one of you has to be involved."
Stefan, confused, looked to Damon. Damon briefly considered telling the truth, then realized that there was an opportunity to be gained, and put on his trademark smirk, "Alright mother, you caught me. I killed your little plaything. He looked at me wrong, what was I supposed to-ahhh!" He was interrupted by the splitting headache he was receiving, courtesy of Beau.
"You think his death was a joke?" Lily spat, furious, "He was my-"
"What nonsense is this!" A stranger strode into their midst. He was tall, black haired, with an all white suit and blue eyes that were like chips of ice. "Can a man not enjoy his morning walk without a vampire fight disturbing it?"
"And who are you?" Lily wondered, outraged by the stranger's demeanor and strongly considering having him for lunch.
"Hello, my name is Alasdair," Alasdair replied, bowing, "And I, not this pathetic pretender," he gestured contemptuously at Damon, "killed your beloved Malcolm."
"You what?" Lily hissed.
"Well, he attacked me for no good reason, ruining a perfectly good suit I might add," Alasdair informed her. "I think I had good reason."
Beau snarled and turned his magic towards the mysterious murderer, extending a spell to break his arm. Nothing happened. Alasdair chuckled.
"I will never get over how weird it is to see a vampire doing magic." he commented. "How do you do it?"
"Their siphoners," Damon provided. "Apparently that ability doesn't go away when they die."
"Fascinating," Alasdair smiled. "Now I've been around a long time, but I've never seen that. It doesn't work on me of course. Your friend Malcolm learned that the hard way."
Lily's rage had been building during this entire exchange, and upon hearing her precious Malcolm discussed in such cavalier fashion she lost it, flying towards Alasdair as fast as she could. He caught her quite easily, and hoisted her in the air.
"You know," he said, smiling, "This is the exact same position I held Malcolm in as he begged for his life. Will you beg?" he wondered.
Beau tried to rush him, to save Lily. Alasdair caught him too, and had both of them dangling in air.
"I'm sorely tempted to kill you both," Alasdair admitted, "but I think I'll leave you alive with little more than a bruised ego to tell all your friends." And with that he threw them clean through a house. Nodding to Damon and Stefan, he started to walk away.
The brothers, exchanged looks, then hurried to follow the walking immortal.
"Hey so that was pretty cool," Damon remarked, "What would you say to sticking around and throwing the rest of them out of town."
"Not interested," Alasdair replied.
"Hey man look," Stefan insisted, "We really need you. Please help us get our town back. They killed an entire class of cadets."
"Sounds terrible," Alasdair deadpanned, "Still not interested."
"Name your price," Damon proclaimed, "We'll do anything."
Alasdair stopped, "Anything?"
"Anything," Stefan confirmed.
Alasdair smiled, "Well gentlemen, I might be able to help you after all."