Chapter 3: Pilot: Heat It Up...

Brooke Daniels and Darren Bair were found dead and drained of blood on a deserted road this morning. One of THEM is back.

-Deputy Carla James, to Sheriff Elizabeth "Liz" Forbes

"How is Elena doing?"

Bonnie sighed slightly as she looked across the table at Matt Donovan. "Her mom and dad died. How do you think? She putting on a good face, but it's only been four months." Healing, Bonnie knew, could take a long time. Her mother had up and left her when she was a baby, and at seventeen Bonnie was still hurt that her mother hadn't cared enough to be in her life. Crap, she didn't even know where her mother lived; she never called, not even on Christmas or Bonnie's birthday, nor did she send money the way some absentee parents had the decency to do.

Matt bit his lip and ran one hand through his blonde hair before blurting, "Has Elena said anything about me?"

Now we're getting to the point. "Oh, no," Bonnie shook her head. She had no desire whatsoever to meddle in Matt and Elena's affairs, even though she was Elena's best friend. Experience had taught her that a friend interfering in a friend's romance (or lack thereof) with a mutual friend usually only created problems, and sometimes disaster. "So not getting in the middle of this," she declared. "You pick up the phone and call her."

"I feel weird calling her," Matt protested. "She broke up with me."

Bonnie sighed, and said the only thing she could think of that wouldn't sound like she was giving him false hope or being trite. "Give it more time, Matt." Time heals all wounds, right? Sort of, anyway. Dulls the pain would probably be more accurate.

Just then, the door to the Grill swung open and the Gilbert sisters entered with…Stefan Salvatore. Elena and Stefan were walking side by side, with Maddie a little in front. "More time, huh?" Matt said, a little dejectedly, staring at his ex-girlfriend.

Bonnie just shook her head, and waved to Elena. The trio began making their way over to Bonnie and Matt's table, and Caroline appeared out of nowhere and hurried towards the gathering group.

Matt stood as the Gilbert sisters and Stefan approached, and Bonnie followed suit.

Matt smiled at Stefan as he came up, though Bonnie, who had known Matt for all of her conscious life, saw immediately that it was a forced smile. "Hey," he said politely, sticking out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Matt. Nice to meet you."

Stefan nodded, shaking Matt's hand. "Hi. I'm Stefan."

"Hey," Elena said to Matt, a little lamely, and Bonnie saw Maddie look between the two and then shake her head.

"Hey," Matt replied, and the gathering tension grew thick.

"Hey, Matt," Maddie said, obviously trying to run interference for the ex-couple. "How do you think football season's going to go this year?"

"Well, we have…" Matt began, but Caroline cut in, smiling at Stefan.

"So, were you born in Mystic Falls, Stefan?" Caroline asked brightly. Bonnie saw Maddie roll her eyes out of the corner of her eye. Bonnie loved her friend, but Caroline sure could be overbearing at times, and she seemed not to care very much who she steamrolled over when she was dead set on something, which, in this case, was Stefan.

"Mhm-hmm," Stefan nodded. "And I moved when I was still young."

"Parents?" Maddie questioned.

"My parents passed away," Stefan stated rather matter-of-factly. Bonnie caught Elena's eye, raising her eyebrows as if to say Have you told him? but Elena shook her head fractionally. Oh well, Bonnie thought, he'll find out soon enough. And then the solidarity will start—Matt probably doesn't stand a chance anymore.

"I'm sorry," Elena said to Stefan sympathetically. "Any siblings?"

"None that I talk to," Stefan replied after a slight pause. "I live with my uncle."

Caroline butted back in, stepping a tad closer to Stefan. "So Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."

"It's a back to school thing at the falls," Bonnie said, watching carefully for Stefan's reaction.

Stefan didn't really respond to either Caroline or Bonnie, instead turning fractionally towards Elena. "Are you going?" he asked.

"Yes she is," Maddie replied for Elena. The look on her face was not exactly friendly; in fact, it bordered on…suspicion. Maddie had gotten extra protective of Elena during the past summer, and Bonnie knew she was going to meddle a lot more in her younger sister's love life than she used to. Obviously she, like Bonnie, had already picked up on the fact that Stefan…liked Elena, and she apparently didn't like it too much. Bonnie didn't know why, though. Stefan seemed nice, at least to her.

Bonnie sighed inwardly as Caroline began to explain the festivities which would take place at the falls. Stefan had a thing for Elena, Maddie was suspicious of Stefan, Matt did not appreciate the new guy moving in on his ex-girlfriend, and Caroline already had a ginormous crush on Stefan. This was going to be…interesting, to say the least.

Gilbert House

Maddie was just pulling on her pink pajama tank top when a knock sounded on her bedroom door. "Come in," she called, knowing it was Elena.

There was a pause, and then her door swung open to reveal Elena in her pajamas, looking serious and a little plaintive. Maddie sat down on the edge of her bed, crossed her legs at the knees and patted the spot beside her. "Come for the post-first day of school debriefing?"

"Sort of," Elena eplied with a small chuckle, shutting the door behind her and making her way over to sit beside Maddie. "More like sister bonding time."

"Mhm hmm," Maddie moved back on the bed and lay on her back, her legs hanging off the edge, and stared up at the ceiling. "How about a session of Boys 101, Maddie-style?"

Elena shook her head, picking up one of the soft pink pillows on Maddie's bed and squeezing it to her chest. "Caroline has a huge crush on Stefan," she said.

Maddie sat up, raising an eyebrow at her sister. "Jealous? Don't worry; Stefan is seriously into you." And I'm not sure I like that…at all.

Elena just frowned. "I don't think so; he's just being nice. I'm just worried that Caroline going to end up having her heart broken."

Ever the kind-hearted one. Maddie thought. Elena was the one you could always count on to put others' feelings before her own, to try to run interference for ex-couples and break the truth to people in the most sensitive ways. Maddie considered herself pretty nice, but she'd be the first to admit she had a 'mean girl' side and sometimes, frankly, enjoyed walking over the affections of boys who had unwanted crushes on her. If she was Stefan, she probably wouldn't be taking Caroline's aggressive come-ons nearly as nicely. "Yep, heart drama coming up. Stefan's going to kill Caroline's hopes before they get too big, though, and I'll try to talk some sense into her. Thing is, girl doesn't listen when she's fixated on a guy." In all honesty, Maddie wasn't sure she was going to even put the effort into trying to talk to Caroline. It wouldn't be the first time Caroline had gotten a crush on a guy who wasn't into her and Maddie tried to talk to her, only to have Caroline ignore everything she said…and then come crying to her after crap went down and Caroline was left high and dry.

"Poor Caroline," Elena said with a sigh.

Maddie shrugged. She really didn't want to talk about Stefan or Caroline right now. "How'd your first day of school go, Lena?" Her sister seemed to be dealing, but Maddie knew better than most that Elena was pretty good at hiding what she was actually feeling.

Elena sighed again, looking down at the pillow in her hands. "It was…okay, I guess. People kept asking me if I was okay, and I told them I was okay, of course. It just…it feels weird being back at school, and everywhere I go I'm reminded of how things used to be, and it…hurts. It hurts a lot. I feel like I'm a different person from the Elena I used to be."

Maddie nodded. "Makes sense. I feel the same way too. When I look back to before Dad and Mom died, it's like I'm remembering somebody else's life, especially since I'm…not really friends with all the people I used to be friends with back then."

Elena nodded. "But I have to move on, I know. I can't keep being 'sad Elena' forever. I have to…get back into the swing of things. And I will, a little bit at a time."

Maddie could hear the sadness in her younger sister's voice, and her heart went out to her. After a moment of hesitation, she reached out and wrapped her right arm around Elena's shoulders. "Yeah. That's what I'm trying to do too. Except, I'm taking the 'jump headfirst right back in' approach. I've got all my courses and everything set, and I'm hoping to get back into performing with the Mystic Falls Band again. I already talked to Mr. Ricci this afternoon."

"About that," Elena turned to her with a concerned expression. "How are you and Mr. Ricci? I knew…you sort of weren't in contact over the summer."

Maddie felt her face burn again. Elena had been well aware of how Maddie had shoved most everyone out of her life except Caroline and Bonnie, but she had never judged Maddie for it or told she was being a bitch, which was what she had been…sometimes. "I…apologized to him, and we're on the 'mend the friendship' road now. Things'll be okay."

"I hope they do," Elena said, quickly grabbing and squeezing Maddie's hand. "You should get back into your music again. All those songs you wrote over the summer are waiting to be shared with the world."

Maddie pointed a finger at her sister. "And you should get back into all your… activities. Writing club, school newspaper, cheerleading, whatever."

Elena nodded. "Maybe. I just don't think I have anything to write right about now. Sad, mournful journal entries aren't exactly publishable material, and I'm not sure if I'm yet ready for all the interaction that comes with being an editor." She shook her head. "I find it almost hard to believe we used be so, so social and involved in the community!"

Maddie laughed rather cynically. "Yeah, I know." She nodded to the ribbon hung around one corner of the mirror above her dresser with MISS MYSTIC FALLS printed on it in huge capital letters, and then pointed to the medals and ribbons hanging above the dresser—an entire three years' worth of high school memorabilia. "Maddie Gilbert used to be popular, apparently."

"You've worked hard, done a lot," Elena said quietly. "I knew you were hoping senior year would be awesome…" she trailed off, her voice choking a little, and Maddie stiffened. "…but it ended up being ruined. I hope…things still turn out well for you."

"Senior year," Maddie said bitterly, letting her arm fall off Elena's shoulder as the memories of the work and anticipation and crushed hopes came flooding back in a painful tidal wave. "Growing up is overrated!" she snapped suddenly, and felt a little guilty as Elena jumped, startled. "Sorry, it's just…you know what, never mind! Crap happened to me, yeah, but I'm dealing with it."

Maddie felt her face burn as Elena stared at her. She had tried to avoid lashing out at people, but sometimes she just got so…damned frustrated with the incredibly awful turn her life had taken. She missed her parents so bad it physically hurt, and sometimes she got so tired of trying to be the oldest and hold everything together perfectly. She wanted the freedom to rage and feel sorry for herself, but she knew she couldn't do that, not with Elena and Jeremy counting on her, and especially with Jeremy abusing drugs.

"I'm sorry, Elena," Maddie said, staring at her reflection in the mirror across from her. "Your life got just as screwed over as mine."

"No, it's okay," Elena said quickly, wrapping her arm around Maddie's shoulders in turn. "You've held yourself together so well over the summer, and you can't be expected to be composed all the time. It's okay to be sad."

"Held myself together?" Maddie laughed sarcastically. "You call sitting at home and kicking everyone out of my life holding myself together? Thanks for the vote of…confidence."

"You did well, considering that Dad and Mom just died and you were looking out for me and Jeremy," Elena said, her voice taking on a slightly stern inflection that reminded Maddie, rather painfully, of their mother. "Don't be too hard on yourself.'

Maddie huffed lightly. "Thanks, little sister." She glanced at her watch, and her eyes widened slightly as she realized the time—10:54 pm. School would start again tomorrow, whether or not she and Elena were feeling depressed. "It's late," she said, waving her wrist in front of her sister. "Bedtime."

Elena removed her arm from Maddie's shoulder and started to stand up, and then turned back to Maddie with an unusually fierce expression. "I know it's time for us to get to bed, but don't you dare try to use that as an excuse to get rid of me. I'm your sister. Yeah I know you're the oldest and feel this responsibility to keep it together and not bother me with how you feel, but I'm. your. sister," she emphasized the last word, shaking her finger at Maddie. "Don't push me away like you have other people."

Maddie's face burned again. "Yeah, Elena. I won't." At least I'll try not to. If I have to for your own good or my own sanity, I WILL.

"Good," Elena nodded, apparently satisfied, "Good night."

"Good night," Maddie replied, and watched her sister walk out the door and close it behind her. She sat there for a moment longer after Elena had left, and then got up, turned off the lights, and crawled under the covers.

She closed her eyes, and as she sometimes did when the pain threatened to overwhelm her, she imagined all the bad things that had happened to her into nonexistence. She imagined that the accident had never happened, that her parents were still alive, that her first day of senior year had been wonderful, and that she was still the old Maddie Gilbert.

As it would turn out, such imaginations were beyond pointless, because with every tick of the clock, the old Maddie Gilbert, her life, her ideals, danced farther and farther away.

Salvatore Boarding House

Zach Salvatore's lightly grizzled face was the portrait of disapproval as he waved the newspaper accusingly in front of Stefan's face. "You promised!" he snapped angrily.

Stefan snatched the newspaper from Zach's hand and ran his eyes over it cursorily before tossing it onto the table. "That was an animal attack," he declared, crossing his arms across his chest and glaring at his relative.

Zach snorted, his green eyes brimming with accusation and betrayal. "Don't give me that," he spat scathingly. "I know the game. You tear them up enough; they always suspect an animal attack. You said you had it under control!"

"And, I do," Stefan replied toughly. He had his bloodlust under control; he wouldn't have trusted himself around Elena if he hadn't. Damn, she'd been bleeding right there in front of him and he had controlled himself perfectly!

Zach blew out his breath, his shoulders slumping as he assumed a pleading expression. "Please, Uncle Stefan," he pleaded, "Mystic Falls is a different place now. It's been quiet for years, but there are people who still remember. And you being here," he sighed, "it's just going to stir things up."

Stefan clenched his fists. "I'm not going to stir things up," he said, even as the Ripper, long suppressed, whispered, But it's such FUN to make a scandal of a small town, to rip it apart and leave blood and bodies everywhere. The taste of fresh blood, the intoxication of power, the pleasure of having no conscience and being able to do whatever the hell I want... Stefan crushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. I'm not the Ripper anymore, he reminded himself. He couldn't cause trouble for Mystic Falls; he had done enough of that for ten lifetimes, and besides, the thought of doing anything that might harm…her was…repulsive.

"Then what is?" Zach pressed. "Why did you come back? After all this time, why now?"

Because I have to know her. I have to know why she looks like…her. Aloud Stefan said, "I don't owe you any explanations." He could hear the arrogance, the touch of Ripper in his voice, and silently chided himself; but he stood firm, pressing his lips together to make it even clearer to Zach that he wasn't spilling. He certainly was not about to tell Zach what he had done back in May, much less the reason he had chosen to return.

Zach glared at him, but there was no real malice behind it. "I know that you can't change what you are," he said, almost sympathetically. Then his voice hardened. "But you don't belong here anymore."

"Where do I belong?" Stefan meant for it to come out as a haughty, arrogant challenge, but it ended up sounding far more like a genuine question that he would have liked. There was a lost-ness to his inflection, and he hated it.

Zach shook his head, his face grave. "I can't tell you what to do. But coming back here was a mistake." Walking over to a nearby closet, he pulled out an old brown journal and opened the front cover. There, stark against the yellowed pages, was an old black and white photograph of a young woman with long dark curls, deep brown eyes, and a small smile. Her face was utterly identical to Elena's. Beneath the picture there was a caption: Katherine, 1864.

Stefan felt his stomach grow cold as Zach's eyes bored into him. He had thought he had covered his tracks perfectly, but apparently he had not. Zach knew.

Oh, damn it.

Feeling angry and exposed, Stefan started to turn on his heel and stalk out of the parlor, but Zach's voice stopped him. "Stefan?"

"Yeah?" Stefan replied impatiently without turning around.

"This came in the mail for you."

Stefan turned, and saw Zach was holding out a slim white envelope to him, a questioning look on his face as if to say, Who would send you mail?

Frowning a little, Stefan took the letter, pocketed it, and left the parlor. In his room, he took out the letter and turned it over. It appeared to be the average envelope, with no markings or writing on it anywhere. Curious, and a little wary, Stefan tore it open and extracted the single sheet of paper it contained.

Auguri, amico mio!

Stefano, I apologize for this letter coming so late. One of my contacts told me you had recently returned to the United States, and I wanted to say hello to you. I would assume you are near Mystic Falls, correct? If so, then you aren't that far from New Orleans at all. You should come and visit me. I haven't seen you in a long time, and it's high time we caught up. By the way, how is my Italian? I have been trying to learn, but without you here to keep me at it my lessons have fallen by the wayside. I look forward to talking to you soon, amico.

I migliori auguri,

Marcel

I migliori auguri to you too, amico, Stefan thought cynically as he crumpled the letter into a small ball and shoved it into one of the many drawers in his desk. He should have known that Marcel would find out he was back in the States; he really shouldn't have passed through New Orleans, but the sentimental side of him had demanded he revisit one of his old hometowns on his way back to his original hometown, Mystic Falls. Well, amico, you're going to have to wait for our happy little reunion. I have business of my own right now. Not that Stefan resented Marcel, exactly, but the vampire king could be…annoying, and kind of over-controlling. Stefan had loved his stint as a Ripper with Marcel, but he wasn't that guy anymore, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to revisit the places where he had lived and killed so recklessly decades earlier. More importantly, there was someone in Mystic Falls who interested him far more than his old friend in New Orleans, and quite possibly a rogue vamp to deal with in town as well.

Just thinking of the rogue vampire was enough to make Stefan scowl. He was stronger than he used to be when he was on an exclusively animal-blood diet, but he still wasn't as strong as a vampire who was only on fresh human blood. Maybe he should up his intake…considering the fact that he might have to go head to head with the new vamp in town. Stefan also had a horrible suspicion as to who exactly that vamp might be, but he didn't want to consider it yet. Surely, surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to come back here and kill so recklessly.

It took only a moment for Stefan to convince himself that going from drinking blood bags twice a week to drinking them thrice a week was a prudent decision, what with the current situation. Smiling a little, and feeling the anticipation he always did before enjoying his favorite drink, he left his bedroom, shutting the door behind him, and made his way down into the cellar. There, after listening for a moment to make sure Zach wasn't anywhere nearby, he went to one of the doors, unlocked it, and walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

It was pitch black inside, and cold, but Stefan's vampire senses had no trouble perceiving the large refrigerator on the other end of the small crypt…and the delicious liquid it contained. Stefan's gums ached as his fangs begged to come out, and he knew that veins were beginning to spider across the skin beneath his eyes as he crossed the room with superhuman speed and opened the fridge, spilling cold white light across the floor of the room.

Stefan grabbed three of the bags, and then after a moment of hesitation, returned one of them to the shelf. Just because he felt he was ready to increase his intake didn't mean he should go on an all-out binge. He remembered all too clearly the last time what had happened when he "fell off the wagon", figuratively speaking.

Stefan shut the refrigerator and leaned against it before surrendering to the siren call of the red liquid in the clear plastic bags. Piercing the first bag with his fangs, not bothering to use a straw, he sucked hard and closed his eyes in ecstasy as the cold liquid gushed into his mouth before sliding smoothly down his throat. He swirled his tongue around in his mouth to smooth the last drops off his teeth before he sucked again, feeling the rush as the blood entered his system. And then he sucked again, and again, and again….

Mystic Falls High School, Mr. William Tanner's History Class

Mr. Tanner gripped the edge of his desk as he lectured his class in a clear voice. "The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle?" he asked. No one answered. Mr. Tanner's eyes gleamed as he scanned the class, finally coming to rest on Bonnie. "Ms. Bennett?"

Bonnie looked up from where she had been doodling in her notebook instead of taking notes. "Um . . . a lot?" she half-asked. "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." She nodded, trying to look as if she had been paying attention but simply could not pull the answer out of her memory.

Mr. Tanner walked around his desk as he glared at Bonnie. "Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett," he said, disdain coloring his tone. He paused, looking for his next victim. "Mr. Donovan!"

The blonde football player raised his eyes from his desk. "Would you like to take this moment to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" the history teacher asked condescendingly.

"It's okay, Mr. Tanner," Matt replied indifferently. "I'm cool with it."

The class tittered.

"Hmm," Mr. Tanner said. "Elena?" he asked, seeing that the brunette was staring at her desk, obviously trying not to smirk. "Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significant historical events?"

Elena jumped slightly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tanner," she said. "I—I don't know." She cringed as the words left her mouth; the last thing she wanted was to be called on and not know the answer. Mr. Tanner was a shark, and he'd be hounding her for the next week after this flub.

Mr. Tanner was obviously not pleased. His lips tightened. "I was willing to be lenient at the end of last year for obvious reasons, Elena," he said coolly. "But the personal excuses ended with summer break."

Elena's heart fell, and she felt her face burn as several classmates glanced at her. At the same time she felt embarrassed, however, she also felt angry. What right did Mr. Tanner have to talk so disrespectfully about her loss? She was trying so hard to get herself together, and here he was shooting her down. But then, she shouldn't have expected anything different—as Maddie was so fond of saying, Mr. Tanner was a jerk.

Mr. Tanner seemed about to give up and answer the question himself when Stefan spoke from behind Elena.

"There were three hundred forty-six casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians." Elena turned to look at Stefan and saw that his eyes were fixed on the history teacher, a look of complete confidence on his face. That in itself was amazing—very few students every looked completely confident while answering Tanner's questions; the man had a way of shooting down even the best.

Mr. Tanner looked surprised. "That's correct. Mister…"

"Salvatore," Stefan answered.

"Salvatore," Mr. Tanner repeated thoughtfully. "Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

Stefan nodded slightly. "Distant."

"Well, very good," Mr. Tanner remarked. "Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, there were twenty-seven, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss." A weird, impish little sparkle appeared in Stefan's eyes, and the corner of his mouth curled slightly. "The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner."

Elena could not help but smile widely as she winked at Stefan. Despite his "new kid" status, Stefan had totally handed Tanner his ass!

Mr. Tanner did not look pleased, but he did not try to argue with Stefan or send him to the principal's office.

Later That Night, The Party in the Woods

Bonnie and Elena were sitting at the base of a large tree, chatting quietly, when they both saw Stefan Salvatore walk past towards the tables laden with food, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Hotness alert," Bonnie said, pretending to fan herself.

"Oh please," Elena groaned. "You make it sound as if you're going to spontaneously combust the moment Stefan Salvatore walks by." Secretly though, Elena couldn't help but study Stefan's wavy light brown hair and good physique as he walked. He looked like he would make a good athlete, she mused to herself.

Bonnie apparently saw Elena studying Stefan, and she elbowed her in the ribs. "Just admit it already, Elena! I can see that you're studying him."

Sighing, Elena conceded defeat. "Okay, okay, so he's a little pretty."

"He has that romance novel stare," Bonnie said dreamily.

Elena groaned again. It was a good thing Maddie wasn't here. She would have launched into a rambling Maddie-treatise about how 'romance novel stares' could be an indication of incredible stupidity and pointless obsession, of course using 'Dickward' and 'Whorella' (her nicknames for Edward and Bella of Twilight ) as examples. Stefan didn't seem stupid or obsessed, though. He was… mysterious, evasive, intense.

And sometimes, she admitted to herself, mysterious wasn't a bad thing.

A little later

Stefan fought back the urge to cringe as he saw the blonde girl, Caroline Forbes, detach herself from a group of girls and start towards him, smiling widely. He thought Caroline was basically a good person, a nice girl, but the girl was just so…damn overbearing. Pushy. She'd made her interest in him clear almost from the moment he met her, bombarding him with questions immediately, and then going out of her way to be nice to him and make sure he was well aware of all the social functions that would be taking place at school in the near future. Stefan actually didn't mind the last one too much—it gave him a general idea of where Elena would be over the next week or so, and that Stefan was grateful for. It let him know where he would need to be to see her, and how to protect her from…him, because Stefan was getting more sure by the minute that as unlikely as it seemed, he was back in town.

Stefan certainly wasn't excited about facing him, and was already beginning to think of strategies he could use to get rid of him, but he had to put that in the back of his mind for now as Caroline bustled up to him, smiling widely, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Hey!" Caroline said cheerily, fairly glowing with excitement, and Stefan almost felt bad for a moment that he was going to have to end up crushing this girl's hopes. It really was too bad—she was obviously really into him—but a couple decades earlier, she would have been his dinner, so rejecting her advances wasn't so bad on the relative scale of not-nice things he had done in his lifetime. "You made it!"

"I did," Stefan said, trying to sound as indifferent as he could without appearing rude.

Caroline didn't seem to notice his lack of enthusiasm, if she did she ignored it, or maybe she chalked it up to him being the "new kid." The thought of him being seen as the "new kid" actually brought a small smirk to Stefan's face; he had been alive for longer than any of these teenagers here could hope to live.

"Well, let's get you a drink, then," Caroline said, touching his shoulder lightly as she began to walk towards the tables loaded with food and drinks.

"Well, I'm—" Stefan began, but it was obvious Caroline would have none of his protests, so he grimaced inwardly and followed the blonde.

Back at Bonnie and Elena's tree

"So, where did he go?" Bonnie asked, scanning the crowds of milling students for Stefan.

"I don't know," Elena replied, and then a thought occurred to her and she elbowed her friend playfully. "You tell me. You're the psychic one."

"Right, I forget," Bonnie said seriously. "Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I need to concentrate."

"Wait, you need a crystal ball," Elena smirked. She reached for her empty bottle of coke and placed it in her best friend's hand.

Bonnie took the bottle seriously in her left hand and placed her right on Elena's left, and stared at the bottle fixedly. At first Elena was fighting the urge to giggle as Bonnie stared at the bottle, but then a glassy look came over her friend's eyes and a tiny shiver went down Elena's back. Either something was really happening, or Bonnie was just a lot better at acting that Elena had ever realized. Just as she was about to shake her friend and say she was creeping her out, the glassy look left Bonnie's eyes and she yanked her hand away from Elena's before looking up at her friend with a confused expression.

"What?" Elena asked warily as Bonnie set the bottle on the ground.

"That was weird," Bonnie mused. "When I touched you, I saw a crow."

A crow? Elena's mind flew back to the frightening incident in Bonnie's car, then the crow that had perched on her parents' headstone…and Maddie suspicion during their conversation. A shiver went down the brunette's back. Elena had never really believed in signs and omens and the occult, but this thing with the crows was starting to seriously creep her out. And with that glassy look that had come over Bonnie's eyes, as if she was really looking into the future…

"A crow," Bonnie repeated, her brow wrinkling. "There was fog, a man."

Elena was horrified. She remembered, oddly fuzzily, the strange fog that had risen in the cemetery and the man in the shadows. But the man was Stefan , she reasoned to herself. And the fog was just natural. It has to be, doesn't it? Her horror must have shown on her face, because Bonnie shook her head quickly and then stood up. "I'm drunk," she declared, although she looked perfectly sober, and Elena knew she hadn't been drinking. "It's the drinking," she repeated, as if trying to convince herself. "There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah? I'm going to go get a refill." With that, she walked off, leaving Elena alone.

"Bonnie!" Elena called after her, but her friend didn't reply. Sighing partly in confusion and partly in nervousness, she stood up, her back scraping lightly against the tree, and turned around.

She couldn't help but jump a little as she stared straight into Stefan Salvatore's intense hazel eyes. What is this thing he does with appearing out of nowhere? And always after creepy things happen, too!

"Hi," Stefan said lightly.

"Hi," Elena replied, not exactly sure what else to say.

Stefan gave her a wry little smile. "I did it again, didn't I? The appearing out of nowhere thing?"

At least he admits it, Elena thought. "Yeah," she replied, a little breathlessly.

"Sorry," Stefan apologized. He gave her a quick once-over. "You're…upset about something."

"Oh, uh, no," Elena denied quickly, aware as the words left her mouth that was making it all the more clear that there was something she was upset about. "It's-it's just Bonnie. She's…" Elena suddenly realized she had nothing to say about Bonnie that would make sense. She'd just end up sounding like someone who needed grief counseling and a couple sessions with a psychologist. Elena had so far avoided 'shrinks' and she intended to continue doing so. "You know what? Never mind. You made it to the party!" she said, trying to sound as cheery as she could, hoping to take Stefan's mind off her little lapse earlier.

"I made it," Stefan replied, flashing her a smile. As he smiled, Elena noticed his incisors were long and slightly pointed, natural fangs.

"What?" Stefan asked, and Elena realized she had been staring at him. She shook her head, annoyed with herself; she was so not one of those ditzy girls who got "lost in the depths" of a guy's eyes or "mesmerized" by his smile.

Smiling a little, shaking her head, Elena waved it off. "It's nothing. Just noticed you have natural fangs."

Stefan blinked, and then smiled again—and showing his fangs once more. "Yeah. Weird, huh?"

Elena shrugged. "Everybody has their quirks."

On the Bridge

"You know," Elena remarked to Stefan as she leaned against the bridge railing and stared into the clear water below, "you're kind of the talk of the town." Mystic Falls was so small and so closely-knit that it was like everyone knew when a new family moved into town or a family moved away. It was nice being so close with everyone, but it also usually meant that a lot of people knew when you had…personal problems. Elena was actually a little surprised Stefan didn't seem to know about her parents' deaths yet, especially since Caroline seemed to be updating him on all the town's events in a hurry.

Stefan smiled a little, leaning on the railing next to her. Elena could feel his eyes on her. "Am I?"

"Mhm-hmm. Mysterious new guy, oh yeah." The fact that Stefan was obviously a descendant of the Founding Families just added to his mystique; Maddie had sarcastically remarked to her today at lunch that Stefan was the 'lost member of the Salvatore family come home' after Elena told her about what had transpired in history class earlier.

"Well," Stefan said, "you kinda have the mysterious thing going, too. Twinged in sadness."

Trying to turn the conversation back onto me, are we? Elena saw Stefan's avoidance for what it was—a 'tu quoque'—turning the conversation back onto her by saying she was mysterious too. It was a little strange to be called mysterious, Elena reflected. She's always been described as…open, but her parents' deaths had made her draw into herself in a way she never had before. She had talked far more to her journal than to people during the summer, and while her seclusion wasn't quite as intense now that school was back in session, she was hardly the sociable, popular girl she used to be.

"What makes you think I'm sad?" Elena asked before she could stop herself. Really, it wouldn't be that hard to find out what had happened to Elena Gilbert if Stefan really wanted to know—Grayson and Miranda Gilbert had both been valued, involved members of the community; they'd even had seats on the Town Council, and it would take only a little digging to find out what had happened to them back in May. But Stefan didn't really seem like the prying type…

"Well, we did meet in a graveyard," Stefan, replied, deadpan. "Most people don't go to hang out in graveyards, unless they have a morbid fascination with...dead people."

"Right," Elena nodded. Finding a girl like her wandering in the graveyard was a big tip-off that something was wrong. Suddenly something occurred to her, and she added, "Well, no. Technically we met in the men's room." She paused, and decided to pre-empt him before he could dig deeper. "You don't want to know. It's not exactly party chit-chat."

"Maybe I'm not really in the mood for chit-chat right now," Stefan replied.

Elena took a deep breath. She had no idea why she was about to tell Stefan what she was going to tell him, but somehow it felt…right. It was strange, but she had the weirdest feeling she could confide in Stefan and trust him not to be condescending or to pity her. "Last spring," she began in as steady a voice as she could manage, "my parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake. And I was in the backseat and I survived, but. . .they didn't." She exhaled shakily, unable to meet Stefan's eyes. "So that's my story."

After a few moments she mustered up the courage to look Stefan in the eyes, and was relieved when she saw no pity or condescension in them, just sympathy, commiseration. Elena suddenly remembered him mentioning his parents had passed away and felt a surge of solidarity. Although his story might be very different from hers, he must know, at least in some ways, what she was going through.

Stefan seemed to consider, and then lightly brushed his hand over hers. "You won't be sad forever, Elena," he said quietly.

In the Woods, Near the Party

Vicki Donovan struggled weakly as her boyfriend shoved her up against a tree, his hands tugging at the bottom of her shirt as he kissed her roughly. The taste of beer was heavy on Tyler's breath, and the girl fought the urge to cringe away from him as moved his mouth from her lips and down onto her neck. His hands were firm and possessive as he pressed himself against her.

Vicki was no virgin, and she usually didn't object to hot sex, but tonight she…just wasn't in the mood. She was tired of throwing herself around, tired of being seen as damaged, tired of working long shifts at the Grill to go home to a house with no parents, tired of been seen as a failure, and basically just tired of being a screwed-over mess. Sleeping with Tyler Lockwood, the privileged Mayor's son was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

"No, Ty," Vicki got out between gritted teeth. "I'm not having sex against a tree." Really, I don't want to have sex with you anywhere, anyplace right now.

"Oh, come on," Tyler said with the careless confidence of one who is assured of getting what he wants, "it would be hot." He began to unbutton his shirt.

"For who?" Vicki blurted out before she could stop herself. Somehow, hearing her own defiant words out loud made her bolder. "No, it's not going to happen," she said firmly, shoving lightly at the football player's chest. "Not here. Not like this." Not when you're drunk and just want some girl to screw.

Tyler didn't seem to hear her; or, more likely, he chose to ignore his girlfriend's protests. He stuck a knee between Vicki's thighs, pinning her to the tree, and began unbuttoning her shirt. "No!" Vicki exclaimed, trying to pull away, but with the solid tree trunk at her back there was nowhere to run. "I said no!" she yelped as Tyler bit down on her neck, his hand sliding down inside her partially unbuttoned shirt. "Ow! That hurts!"

"Hey, leave her alone!" An enraged shout brought both Tyler and Vicki to sharp attention. Jeremy Gilbert stood a few feet away from them, fists clenched at his sides, a look of utter rage on his handsome face as he glowered at the shorter, but more muscular football player.

Tyler turned away from Vicki, yanking his hand out of her shirt as he did so. Vicki flushed as she began to quickly re-button her shirt, eyes darting between the two teenage boys. It wasn't like Jeremy hadn't seen her stark naked before, but she felt ashamed somehow being caught with Tyler by him, almost as if she had been caught giving something that belonged to someone else to another person.

"You know," Tyler spat as he stalked menacingly towards Jeremy, who stood his ground. "you're starting to get on my nerves, Gilbert."

Vicki jumped in before Jeremy could retort. "Just go, Tyler," she said, almost surprised by how cold her own voice sounded. "Get the hell away from me."

Tyler turned back to her, a look of incredulous annoyance coloring his features. "Wow. Vicki Donovan says no." His tone was full of mockery. "That's a first." With that, he whirled and stomped off, shooting Jeremy a venomous glare as he passed him.

With Tyler gone, Vicki turned to Jeremy, feeling defensive. She didn't understand why she was feeling this strange…uneasiness. Why did she feel as if she had to justify herself to Jeremy? "I didn't need your help," she said, trying to sound as haughty as she could.

Jeremy's eyes locked on hers. "It seems like you did." He shot back. "He was trying to rape you!"

"He was just drunk," Vicki tried to defend Tyler, knowing even as the words left her mouth that doing so was beyond pointless. Tyler had been trying to force himself on her, drunk or not.

"I'm drunk," Jeremy stated. "Am I throwing myself at you?"

Vicki felt tears rise in her eyes and blinked them away savagely as she glared at the boy a few feet away from her. "No, you're worse. You want to talk to me, get to know me, see into my soul and screw and screw and screw until you're done with me." Her voice had risen at least an octave by the time she was finished with her sentence, and Vicki knew she had just inadvertently spilled a lot of what she felt but tried to hide from the world. No one she had ever loved or trusted –except Matt, of course, steady, dependable Matt (what would she do without him?) –had ever turned out to actually be reliable. Everyone, even her mother, the absentee bitch, had ended up letting her down, had left her high and dry. Why would Jeremy be any different?

"Is that what you think?" Jeremy asked, taking a step towards her.

Vicki shied back, unable to meet Jeremy's dark eyes. "That's what I know."

On the Bridge

"I like Bonnie," Stefan said lightly as he and Elena gazed at the partying, and in general increasingly drunk, students from the bridge. "She seems like a good friend." And a very powerful witch, too he added mentally, but of course kept that thought to himself. He had seen Bonnie doing her little 'psychic thing' with a glass bottle, and he knew that the young witch was barely beginning to tap into her powers. He would have to keep an eye on her as well, make sure she didn't get hurt. For the relatively good start his return to Mystic Falls had gotten off to, things were rapidly going downhill. If Stefan had had any doubts that Damon was in town, Bonnie's vision proved it. The fog, the crows, the animal attacks…it all had Damon's signature written on it big and bold. Stefan knew he would have to confront him some time or another, and he wasn't looking forward to it. But he knew he would have to—he had to keep Elena safe, and, if at all possible, maybe save Damon as well.

Beside him, Elena was nodding, smiling slightly. "Best friend in the world," she said, and he could hear the affection in her tone.

"Your older sister Maddie is really nice too," Stefan added, and then hesitated. "You two seem pretty close." In all honesty, Maddie unnerved him a little, for some odd reason. He'd been around her for only a few hours, but he'd seen right off the bat that she was super-protective of her younger sister, and more than a little suspicious of him. Oh, Elena already gave me the scoop on your creepy little graveyard meeting. Once again, Stefan couldn't help but wonder how much she did or did not know. He also kept having the nagging feeling like he had met her before, somewhere, or that he had met someone like her, but he couldn't remember who it was. That in itself was disturbing, but right now he had more pressing issues to worry about.

"We are," Elena replied simply. "She's less than a year older than me, after all—sometimes we're almost like twins. We've always been close, and I don't think I would've gotten through this past summer without her. We don't always agree—the way siblings do—but we always have each other's backs, no matter what."

Stefan felt a small pang as he listened to Elena talk about her obviously healthy, thriving relationship with her older sister. He and his brother had been that way, once. The friendship they had had deteriorated in a hurry once Katherine Pierce had come into their lives; however, and this fact had been the one of the ones that had finally convinced Stefan that Katherine was a total bitch who had had absolutely no good effects on either of the Salvatore brothers whatsoever.

Stefan pushed those thoughts away and continued in his little game of 'find out about Elena's family and friends.' "And Matt, he can't seem to, uh, take his eyes off us." The football player was one of the very few who was completely sober, and although he tried hard to hide it, Stefan noticed that his eyes kept wandering to the couple on the bridge.

Elena sighed. "Matt's that friend since childhood that you start dating because you owe it to yourselves to see if you can be more."

"And?" Stefan asked curiously. He'd already picked up on the fact that Matt and Elena weren't together anymore, but he wanted to know exactly what had made them break up, and how long ago. It would give him an idea…what to do next.

"And then my parents died, and everything changes," Elena said, a little lamely. "Anyway, Matt and I, together we just, I don't know, it wasn't, um. . .it wasn't. . ."

"Passionate?" Stefan blurted before he could help himself, just as the wind carried a whiff of…vampire scent to his nostrils. Familiar vampire scent. He tried as hard as he could to suppress the anger and agitation, but began to feel the tickling around and in his eyes as the veins began to rise to the surface anyway.

The brunette shook her head. "No. No, it wasn't passionate. . ." She trailed off as she looked into his face, and Stefan realized with horror that she could see his face…changing, in a way she had never seen any human's face change before. "Hey, um, are you ok?" she asked concernedly. "Um, Your eye, it just, it's-"

"Oh, um... " Stefan turned his head away and rubbed at his eyes with the palm of his hand, hoping he looked as if he just had some eyelashes in his eye or something equally benign. "Yeah, no. It's, um, it's nothing," he lied, turning away from Elena. "Um, are you thirsty? I'm gonna get us a drink." As quickly as he dared, Stefan turned and walked down off the bridge, cursing himself, and cursing Damon.

He was going to have to face him sooner than he anticipated, and far sooner than he would have liked.

In the Woods

Vicki leaned back against the tree, staring up at the darkening sky through the tree canopy. She suddenly had the insane thought that it might just feel good to go into a coma for a little while so she wouldn't have to deal with all the crap in her life right now…her absentee mother, her "relationship" with Tyler, and Jeremy's…feelings for her. Seriously, could a girl never get a break?

Crap, she really should have brought some pharmaceuticals with her to the party. The cheap booze some of the seniors had brought just wasn't cutting it.

Suddenly, Vicki noticed that fog was descending around the area and frowned. That was strange; Vicki had never seen fog in this part of the woods before. Suddenly, a twig cracked on the ground behind her, and Vicki spun around, pressing her hand to her chest as her heart kicked into overdrive. "Jeremy!" she called, hating the way her voice shook. "Jeremy, is that you?"

There was a sudden rush of wind, and then a hand clamped firmly over her mouth. Vicki tried to struggle, but an arm wrapped around her upper torso, pinning her arms to her torso with painful force, and Vicki's eyes could only water as she felt two sharp objects pierce into her neck.

A/N: And I've now begun to deviate from canon, and things will get even more AU from here on out. Yes, I decided not to make Stefan a 'veggie' vamp (at least not exclusively), because they are kind of overrated. Twilight already did that, and I will openly admit I prefer Stefan when he's on human blood. He's perkier, more ruthless, more entertaining, and just generally better as a character. I liked him best in Season 1 when he was drinking human blood...and I am in LOVE with Season 3 Ripper Stefan. So yes, my Stefan is on a mixed animal blood/human blood bags diet, and that WILL have effects on his character. He isn't going to be nearly as self-hating, and he'll be more of a threat, because, Stefan IS a blood-a-holic, and we'll see how long he'll be able to maintain the control he has now. *wicked smile* Also, yes...Stefan has met Marcel before, and this will play a role in the story. Marcel is a VERY new character to TVD (he's only been in one episode), so the way I write him may end up being kind of different from the ways TVD ends up portraying him. I don't think it's unrealistic for Stefan to have had some friends other than his...canon ones from his Ripper days, and Marcel may end up meddling in Stefan's business...!

I also will not be rehashing the original TVD storyline on every point; that's been done enough. There will be other supernatural creatures included besides the ones canonized on TVD in this story, many new characters, and different plotlines. While Maddie will play a role in Elena's drama, she will have her own drama to deal with (I'm pretty sure you've all guessed by now that there's more to Maddie than meets the eye) and her journey may take her completely different places at times. Also, I will not be rushing Maddie into a romance. I feel like in almost every paranormal/fantasy story the female lead or leads aren't given the chance to shine without a guy somewhere in the picture, so I'm going to be doing things a little differently. I want the time to explore Maddie as a character unto herself, give her a chance to grow without any love interests in the picture, so no Maddie/Some Hot Guy yet. She WILL have her chance at romance, trust me, but it won't be happening yet.

I am considering giving Vicki a fate different from her canon one (thanks to SunThorn19 for giving me the idea, and check out her stories; they're *amazing*), but I am not quite sure what direction to take her yet. If anyone has any ideas for what could be done with Vicki instead of making her another number in the body count, PLEASE PM me or leave your ideas in a review!

An ENORMOUS thank-you to all who have viewed, favorited, followed, and reviewed! Your support means the world to me! So...please review? I'd love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and suggestions.:) If you want to talk, PM me!

Italian words:

Auguri, amico mio!=Greetings, my friend.

I migliori auguri=Best wishes.

Amico=friend

Ciao,

Sabre