Chapter 2: Kidnapped (sort of)

"…do this? For God's sake Damon, she's not human! Bringing her here was a huge mistake. What if she doesn't agree to our rules?"

"Oh, I know she won't. I tried to trap her but she was feisty. Just like I like 'em."

A heavy sigh perpetrated the room. "You can't do this, Damon. We can't keep her here. Do you even know her?"

"No! But that's just part of the fun-not that you would know anything about it, Stephan."

A groan. "Don't make this into an argument. Did she tell you anything?"

"Of course she did. I wouldn't bring a guest into our home without a proper introduction."

"And?"

As usual, my hearing kicked in before my sight did. I chose the better option, however, and decided to listen in for a bit.

"Her name's Valerie. She said she'd lived in Mystic Falls awhile ago."

Indignation at my attacker, Damon, welled up in me-how dare he reveal these things to a stranger? No one should even know me while I was here. 'Stephan', the seemingly more responsible of the two, spoke up again.

"And you think she could have known Katherine?" Katherine? I didn't know anyone by that name… but she was well-known; they pronounced her name as if she was the president or something.

"Obviously, I wouldn't have brought…" I suppose Damon, that ass, kept on talking but I was temporarily distracted, for someone was nearing the room in which I was currently situated. The delicious scent that slammed into me jarred my empty stomach, causing my muscles to clench-the human heart was as soft as a hummingbird, increasing its impossible tempo as it crossed the entryway and came into the room. I heard the chatter stop, heard both men turn as the human entered.

"What's going on?" The human voice was that of a girl-she kept nearing where I lay unconscious as she spoke. My mouth was watering so bad I knew that without a doubt that I could leap up and tear her throat open without thinking. The thought set a bit of chill to the blistering heat of my emotions and I felt a small tidbit of relief-I wasn't all gone. There was still a chance of being ice, completely simple, again.

"Elena-" the 'Stephan' man began.

She trampled over his words, voice borderline hysteria. "Who is this, Stephan? Is she dead?"

Unable to keep this up much longer (I get bored easily) I let my eyes snap open, sitting up in one quick blurred movement.

I heard the undeniable sound of action and I let my eyes take over the scene in case I needed to protect myself. I was lying on a burgundy leather couch in a living room full of mahogany and oriental carpet. Opposite me, on a couch similar to the one on which my legs reclined, was a handsome stranger-his hair was a short, massaged tawny and his eyes were a deep green. He wore a white tank that exposed his muscular, tattooed arms and black jeans that displayed strong legs. His chiseled face was unreadable; his jaw deft with apparent stress-he gave me the impression of a frustrated lion. To my left lay an marble fireplace with a live fire-Damon leaned against the mantle, clothed in a tight black sweater and jeans that somehow vexed me; he gave off appearance of a panther in the firelight. Turning away from where he had been studying the human, he eyed me lazily, his irises sapphire in the shadows of the room. He grinned crookedly when he met my gaze: "Looks like Sleeping Beauty's pissed." I wanted to warn him, I did-I didn't have these things under control yet, and my anger roared like some hungry beast at his comment. I barely managed to stay still-I reduced to briefly shooting flames at him with my eyes.

Whipping my head around in order to get rid of him, I saw the human girl, her mouth halfway open as she stared at me with fear and curiosity. She wore a crimson T-shirt and dark skinny jeans, her breathing filling the room with white noise. My gaze slipped to her neck-at its base was an iron heart necklace, right where I had imagined ripping out her throat. Swallowing down my hunger I lifted my eyes until they met hers-for a moment, I was taken aback. Her eyes were a dark chocolate brown, her skin almost just as tan. Her hair was the same color or her eyes, straightened so that it boasted its sleekness from the crown of her head to the top of her bosom, where it ended. Her body was very slim with curves in just the right places-I wasn't a fan of stick bodies usually but she managed to pull it off with an almost willowy grace. Unbidden I answered her question, stunned by her absolute beauty.

"I'm not dead. Not now, hopefully never, though he-" I indicated Damon without looking at him, "gets points for knocking me out. Asshole."

"See Stephan, I told you-feisty." Damon's gloat caused me to seethe temporarily and I shut my eyes in exasperation. My anger was rolling waves inside me, each lapping caress a push for me to act on my fury. I would not-could not do anything rash, so I wouldn't open my eyes until I was under control. After two prolonged seconds, Stephan spoke up: "Are you alright?"

"Yeah-" I muttered, staying frozen. Don't open your eyes, don't you dare open your eyes or you will do something terrible."I'm just not used to this…" The words didn't seem, to me, anything but a small handful of pathetic ramblings-to them is was something different, worse. I could practically hear the tension thickening, smashing all of us together like some awkward sandwich.

"Wait-" Damon called from the fireplace-I heard him take a step in my direction and I refused to recoil, my eyes snapping open and catching Stephan's gaze desperately-he caught the expression on my face and gallantly interrupted Damon, leaning forward as his interest grew: "What's too much?"

Too late to turn back now. "The…feelings." I explained reluctantly, my eyes tracing rug patterns on the floor between the two couches. Growing irrationally panicked, I allowed myself to look up once more, needing to see their reactions-was this strange to them as well? Stephan's eyebrows rose and Damon didn't make a move from behind me. Elena, the human girl, took this as her chance to step in. "Valerie?" My head followed her inquiry, my green orbs greeting her dark ones. "Are you a new vampire?"

The question sent me reeling for a mere second before a sideways grin alighted my face. "No, dear. Though I wish you were one-" I made my point clearer by raking my eyes up and down her frame: "You'd be ravishing." I admonished, resisting the urge to lick my lips like a villain.

No, I was not bisexual. Technically. I just enjoyed eyeing, flirting, and occasionally making out with people of my sex. Just messing around-nothing serious; I enjoyed men much more than I ever did women. My ears picked up the stiffening of Damon's muscles, as if he'd just been electrocuted. My assessment left Elena frightened-her eyes practically turned to saucers as she wordlessly threw a glance to Stephan. Stephan gritted his teeth, moving his lips numbly: "Elena, you should go home." Elena nodded silently, shaken up as if I'd just tossed her into a hurricane. "Yeah, I need to go pick up Jeremy anyway…call you later?"

"I'll call you." Stephan glanced up at her, his eyes and voice velvety.

Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, she picked up a tan leather jacket that lay behind Stephan before smiling at him radiantly. "Goodnight Stephan. Love you."

"Love you." He replied, his voice low, before leaning up to meet her lips in a chaste kiss. Ohh. They're . I'd slipped up-flirting with kidnapper's girlfriends probably wouldn't ring me up any brownie points. Damon and I didn't get a goodbye, Elena merely running her gaze over us as if we were invisible before exiting. The whole room stayed silent as a tomb until the slam of the front door laid us at ease.

"Well…that was interesting."

I ignored Damon's comment and instead swung my feet to the floor, sitting up from where I'd been laying down mostly. I turned to Stephan, interrupting whatever he was about to say: "Sorry, man-I didn't know she was your chick-hands and eyes off, promise." I said it with the utmost sincerity, my face straight and solemn-I could practically sense the snickers Damon was dying to release from behind my back. Wasn't my fault I wasn't used to this century's dumb vocabulary-I'd been a recluse too long. For years I'd stuck to the few woods in Maryland, the ocean only a few miles away, keeping my sanity anchored. Now that I was away, I regretted it-but I'd had to come-there was no other option. Stephan shut his mouth, nodding bravely. "I appreciate that Valerie." Wow-what a nice guy.

"You're welcome." I smiled gently, a little shy now at their reaction to my statement. "I'm a flirt…and gender doesn't really trip me up, sorry." I brushed a piece of hair behind my ear-what the hell was this? I felt ashamed-embarrassed of myself. This was a first.

"It's fine." Stephan reassured. "Now-I was told you didn't want to answer Damon's questions-" my eyes hardened, my anger flaring with a vengeance. "but I accept that. We don't have to know anything until the time is right." His eyes were so damn reassuring I found my feeling diminishing into an enveloping sense of calm. "What we do need to know is where you'll be staying in Mystic Falls while you're here."

My stomach dropped-I hadn't really planned this all out. I'd traveled all the way here, leaving the ocean so far behind it physically made me ache…but it had to be done.

"I hadn't planned that far ahead." I answered honestly. Stephan exchanged glances with Damon before turning back to me. "You can stay here, for now, if you want. Damon will show you how we live while I'm away-"

I opened my mouth to protest but Stephan continued, raising a hand in a sign of surrender. "Or, you can go to school with me." At this suggestion my mouth continued to stay open-was he joking? School? I hadn't been there in so long…

Stephan seemed to sense my discomfort at the subject and he leapt at the chance to ease my worries. "You appear to be Elena's age, but if we really need to we can compel the administrators to accept you." There was a long pause while I pondered, my thoughts bordering on a mix between disbelief and amazement.

School. School. High School.

Stephan held my gaze, his hands clasped on his knees, his light green eyes a touch gold in the dull lighting."You drink human blood?"

I nodded, he continued. "It won't be easy to resist killing students in broad daylight, especially with so many people. But you seem to have not eaten Elena-with traveling here you must be hungry and you didn't attack her."

Damon, silent for too long, raised his voice: "Stephan, I don't think-"

I wouldn't have done it, I don't think, had Damon not doubted me. That asshole thought I couldn't go through with it? That I couldn't handle high school for the second time in fifty-so years?

To hell with him.

"When do we start?"

My smile was quite dazzling, if I do say so myself-the light of it repelled Damon's inevitable cracks about which sex I preferred most.

~ What do you think of Valerie? Is she really strange or someone you could see yourself having a good time with? Do you think Damon's real reason for kidnapping her is because of Katherine or something else? Any opinions are welcome... I love reviews, please and thank you.-MsArtemis~