September 8, 2009

Lizzie was too tired for this. Caroline had insisted that Stefan come to the back to school party at the falls, and he had dragged her along with him for whatever reason. She couldn't tell him that she was too tired, because that would mean telling him about the episodes she'd been having more and more frequently. So here she was, surrounded by drunk teenagers and trying to ignore Bonnie and Elena talking about how pretty Stefan was. The cheap beer wasn't doing a thing to take the edge off the unusually strong blood lust either. She had drained four whole blood bags before coming to the party, and it had only barely sated her.

"Okay, I'm gonna get a refill," Bonnie said. Lizzie turned her attention back to her friends.

"I'll go with you," she said, falling into step beside the witch. "I need to find something a little stronger than this." She drained her cup and grimaced.

She could hear Elena protest, only to be immediately distracted by Stefan. They walked off together, talking. Lizzie turned her head to look at Bonnie, who looked a little freaked out.

"Hey, Bonnie," Lizzie said. "Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost or something."

Bonnie laughed nervously. "No, no ghosts. When I touched Elena's hand just now, I swear I saw a crow, and fog, and a man... Oh God, I sound like my Grams. Drunk rambling about omens and whatever. You must think I'm nuts."

Lizzie laughed, shaking her head. "Nah, I would never think such a thing. I do think, however, that we need drinks that are not lukewarm light beer."

"Agreed. I think I see some bottles on that table over there," Bonnie stopped walking. "It's really crowded over there though. Tell you what, you wait here and I'll get our drinks."

"Okay," Lizzie replied, relieved that she didn't have to fight her way through a crowd of people who were looking more and more appetizing by the second. "Just grab me a bottle of whatever."

Bonnie nodded and squeezed her way through the crowd. All of a sudden, a scream echoed out of the woods to her left. A second later, she saw Elena's brother Jeremy burst out of the trees carrying a limp body, yelling for help. Lizzie could smell blood, a lot of it, and it took all of her self control to not vamp out right there. She watched as Jeremy laid the unconscious girl out on one of the tables. It was the waitress from the Grill, Vickie. There was a large bite wound on her neck and she was covered in blood. Definitely a vampire. She heard a loud caw and looked up to see a large crow staring at her. She sighed inwardly. Damon.

Lizzie looked across the table at Caroline. She was a wreck, having drank way too much after Stefan's rejection at the party. Bonnie thought it would be best to sober her up before bringing her home, so they had stopped at the Grill for coffee. Caroline looked past Lizzie and suddenly smiled. Lizzie turned and looked behind her and rolled her eyes when she saw who her friend was flirting with. Damon was standing a few tables away, smirking. Lizzie narrowed her eyes at him and subtly shook her head. There was no way she was letting him turn her new friend into his plaything. He seemed to get the message, but instead of leaving walked to their table.

"There you are," Damon said, feigning worry. He sat down beside Lizzie. "I heard about what happened at the party. Are you okay?"

"You know him?" Caroline asked incredulously, eyes darting between her and Damon

Lizzie sighed. "I'm fine. And yes, Caroline, this is my older brother, Damon. Damon, this is-"

"Caroline Forbes," the blonde cut her off.

"It's nice to meet you Caroline," Damon said with a flirtatious smirk. Lizzie glared at him.

"Well," Lizzie interjected, "We should get going. I'll talk to you later Caroline." She dragged Damon by the elbow out to his car. When they got there, she turned and punched him on the shoulder.

"Ow," Damon complained. "What was that for?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lizzie growled.

"Just having some fun. Has all this time with Stefan made you forget what fun is?"

"Well, have fun with someone else. Caroline is my friend, Damon. She's not some floozy for you to play with!"

"Caroline is also a founding family member. With the added bonus of being one of Elena's best friends."

"So? Why does it matter if she's a founding family member?"

"I need a way into the Founder's Ball."

"We're founding family members, idiot. You don't need to mess with a teenage girl to get invited. Please Damon," she pouted, eyes wide.

Damon narrowed his eyes at her for a second. "Fine," he sighed in defeat. "I'll leave Caroline alone."

She grinned. Damon never could say no to her when she pouted. "Can I drive?" she asked.

He sighed again before handing her the keys. "You're a brat, you know that?" he teased.

She laughed and started the car. "I know," she flashed him a smile. He glared back. "Aren't you getting in?" she asked.

"Nope," he smirked. "Can't have Stefan or Zach seeing me quite yet. I need to make and entrance." He vamp sped away.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Drama queen," she muttered, putting the car in gear and driving back to the Boarding House.

When she got home, she noticed Stefan wasn't back yet. She walked silently up the stairs and went straight to his room. She saw his journal laying on his bed. Picking it up, she flopped down on the bed and opened to the latest entry. She giggled as she read. Stefan may be as exciting as lukewarm oatmeal but at least his vocabulary was creative. She was so busy laughing at her brother's angst, she didn't hear him come in the room. .

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked, looking irritated.

"Reading your journal. You know, it's not bad. I really like your use of-" he snatched the journal out of her hands. "-Adjectives." She grinned at him.

"What are you even doing in here?"

"Waiting for you of course. Can't I come hang out with my big brother?"

"Lizzie-" he was interrupted by a loud cawing from the windowsill. He looked over at the large crow. "Damon."

"Hello, brother." Damon's voice came from the balcony.

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan's voice was tense.

"Wait until you see what he can do with the fog," Lizzie piped up from her spot on the bed.

"When'd you get here?" Stefan asked.

"Well I couldn't miss your guys' first day at school. Your hair's different. I like it."

Stefan turned his head to look at Lizzie. "Did you know he was here?"

She scoffed. "Of course I did, dummy."

"It's been fifteen years, Damon." Stefan frowned and turned back to their brother.

"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties," Damon replied.

"Yeah, that awful grunge look? Did not suit you," Lizzie got up and stood next to Damon. "Remember Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads." She smirked at him.

Stefan continued to glare at Damon. "Why are you here? Both of you?"

"We missed our brother," Damon replied.

"You guys hate small towns. It's boring, there's nothing for you to do."

"We've managed to keep ourselves busy," Lizzie said.

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight," Stefan's gaze darted to Lizzie.

She pointed to Damon. "That was all him," she said defensively.

He glared back at Damon who just shrugged. "Ah. That could be a problem... for you."

"Why are you here now?" Stefan was getting angrier by the second.

Stefan looked at Lizzie. She shrugged. "I'm mostly here for the drama," she grinned. "Besides, I couldn't let Damon have all the fun, could I?"

"You know, Elena... she took my breath away," Damon smirked. "She's a dead ringer for Katherine."

"She's not Katherine, Damon." Stefan growled.

"Thank God," Lizzie interjected. "We all know how that ended." She shuddered. "Tell me Stef, when was the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"

"No, I know what you're doing. It won't work." He was visibly struggling to keep his cool.

"No? Come on, we'll all go together. I saw some girls outside..." Damon started shoving Stefan lightly.

"Stop it," his jaw was clenched so tightly Lizzie thought his teeth were going to break.

"Or, why don't we just go straight for Elena," Lizzie prodded. "You thought about it, I know you have."

"Stop!"

"Imagine what her blood tastes like!" Dark veins erupted blow Stefan's eyes as his fangs elongated. "I can."

Stefan growled and launched himself at Damon. They crashed through the window. She laughed in delight before jumping out behind them. She landed gracefully on the pavement and clapped slowly.

"Not bad, I'll give you a six out of ten. The whole... face thing was a nice touch, but you didn't quite stick the landing." Stefan just glared up at her.

Damon appeared beside her. "I was definitely surprised. It was very good."

"This is all just fun and games to you two, isn't it?" Stefan staggered to his feet. "But everywhere you go, people die."

"Well, duh," Lizzie rolled her eyes. "That's a given, Stef."

"Not here, I won't allow it."

She just looked at him, brows raised. "Oh? And who's going to stop us, huh? You?" She laughed. "I'd like to see you try."

"Please Damon, after all these years can't we just give it a rest?"

"I promised you an eternity of misery, and I'm going to make good on that," Damon replied darkly.

"Just please, stay away from Elena," Stefan looked desperate.

"Where's your ring Stef?" Lizzie asked, "You know, the sun will be up in a couple hours and... poof." Stefan looked at his hand, panicked.

"Relax, it's right here." Damon held out Stefan's daylight ring.

As soon as Stefan grabbed his ring, Damon took him by the throat and threw him against the garage. Lizzie sped over to stand over him and roughly placed her foot on his neck, pinning him to the ground.

"You should know better than to think you're stronger than either of us, Stef. You gave that up when you stopped drinking human blood," she said.

A rustling sound came from the house and a light turned on. "I think we woke Zach up," Damon said.

"Sorry Zach," Damon called out as he strode back toward the front door. Lizzie lifted her foot from Stefan's neck and followed.

Author's notes:

Lizzie and Damon are ganging up on poor Stefan :( And I saved Caroline from Damon's evil clutches! I was really disappointed with what went down between them in the show, and I wanted Damon to be a little more human in this than he is at the beginning of the show.

There was some insight into Lizzie's "gift" in the last chapter. She doesn't know much about her own abilities still, and discovering the extent of those abilities and how she got them will be a big part of the story.