A bright and happy birthday to our dear Stefan Salvatore!
As a gift, here is how he spent his birthday in my alternate universe. Finally, I was able to write about one of my favorite characters in the show (LEXI!)
I was so bummed when Damon killed her, so I altered that as well, to keep the two brothers on better terms, sort of.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and Lexi's backstory. The writers of the show offered nothing on that, so I got a bit creative.
PS: Lexi's pendant is on my profile pics.
November 5th
Rayna POV
It's been five days since the Halloween night and things seemed to be settling down once again. I wasn't sure if I liked that, but I was determined to live as much as normal as I could. Bonnie and I have been spending a lot of time together, mostly talking about our magical heritages and the differences we had in our bloodlines.
We also found out what that crystal Caroline had given her was. According to Bonnie's Grams, it was a talisman that belonged to an ancestor of them, Emily Bennett, the witch that lived here in the 1860's. It emitted magic, and I didn't even try to touch it. I had the feeling I would get hurt if I tried.
Bonnie was quite mad at first that I had hidden such an important similarity we had, but she relaxed once I explained to her that she wouldn't had believed me since she wasn't exactly believing in her own powers back then. Her powers were developing a bit faster than normal, but she was doing great. We studied spells, asked her grandmother for tips and advice, explored the very depths of the magical arts.
Today, I woke up with such a nice feeling. I felt like I was going to have a great day. Bonnie had told me yesterday that she was moving back to her own house today, after spending the last week at her grandma's. Her dad disapproved of her being close to her grandma due to her reputation. Poor man, if only he knew the truth about his daughter. Come to think of it, what would my dad think of me if he discovered my true nature?
I tried not to think about it as I got ready for school. I focused on the good things I had for today, like my first official date with Ethan. He had finally gotten the courage to ask me out officially, and I had accepted gladly. Vicki had all but squealed when I had told her and we had spent a good three hours discussing the possible outcome of this date. It was so refreshing to see Vicki reacting like any sane normal teenage girl should react. I had thought about the decision I had made for almost five hours yesterday evening, and I had come to the conclusion that Ethan definitely deserved a chance. He seemed like a great guy, and I needed to get out of my shell, erase my past heartbreaks and move on to a new page of my life.
I had a smile plastered on my face when I went down the stairs to have some breakfast before school. "Someone is quite chipper today," my dad commented when he noticed my smile.
"I have a date with Ethan tonight," I replied, and he nodded, chuckling.
"Well, that explains it. You chose a fine man Rayna; he is a great guy. So, that means you won't have dinner here?"
"No, unfortunately. I'm sorry I'm abandoning you dad, I promise to make it up to you."
"Nothing to worry about sweetie. I have an appointment with a few council members to discuss the situation. The woods have been really quiet, but we are still on alert. The vampires might be trying to get us to relax before they resume their massacre."
I frowned, my good mood going straight to hell. "Not to worry honey, we will keep this town safe," he patted me on the back as I got up to leave for school.
When I arrived, Bonnie was there, waiting for me, but Elena and Caroline were nowhere to be seen. And for Caroline she always had a busy day, so this was not something to worry about, but Elena had no excuse.
"Hey Bon, seen Elena?"
"No, Jeremy said that she felt a bit ill today, so she's staying at home. I'm going to visit her after school though."
"Oh good, I'll come and give her some herbal tea I have, she'll feel better right away."
"Actually, I plan on telling her about my special abilities today, and I want to do this alone if you don't mind. She already knows about your powers, now I need to tell her about me. It's been eating me alive for days now."
"It's okay Bon, I have to prepare for my date anyway."
She smiled at that. "You know, you couldn't have picked a better guy. Ethan seems crazy about you. Just be careful of Amber Fell. She's bound to have a conniption fit when she finds out."
"I'm prepared for that. Nothing will ruin my relationship with Ethan, especially that blond bitch. Come on, let's get to class. Don't forget to tell me tomorrow about Elena's reaction to the news though, I'll be waiting."
During second period, I caught Stefan looking at me with a goofy expression on his face. He kept sending me the same look and by the end of the class, he had me worried. When the bell rang, he came to my desk.
"I have someone I want you to meet," he said cheerfully.
"And good morning to you too Stefan. What's up, you seemed ready to jump from your seat from the excitement."
"Lexi. She came to visit me and I want you to meet her," he said, excited.
"Really? How come she decided to visit you all of a sudden?" I asked. "That's her style, she comes and she goes. So, are you going to come to the house?"
"Sure. I'll come by in a couple of hours to drop by the books I borrowed, so I can have some time to get ready for my date later on today."
"Oh, you are going out with Ethan?"
"Yeah, I finally decided to go through with it."
"Good for you. By the way, have you seen Elena?"
"No, she stayed at home today; she's down with the flu."
"Oh," he frowned, his face darkening. I didn't say anything, the subject too sensitive to be touched. "I'll see you later on today Stef," I smiled at him as I made my way to the next class.
After classes were over, I was at the school parking lot, about to go into my car when I felt someone behind me. I spun around to face the creep and came face to face with a smiling Ethan.
"Jeez Ethan, you scared me," I gasped. "Sorry about that," he smiled teasingly.
"How about I take you out tonight to redeem myself?"
"Oh, I can't. I have this hot date with this gorgeous guy tonight. Some other time maybe," I shrugged, playing along with his game. He frowned like a five-year old, lowering his head in defeat. "You're ditching me for some hot guy?"
"If he scares me the way you did, I'll call you to come and get me," I lifted his face to see him. He smiled brightly, giving me a light kiss on the cheek, whispering "I can't wait for tonight," before he left, making me feel all gooey and slightly nervous inside.
"That sounded like you've got a date tonight witchy," a drawling voice said from behind me, destroying my good mood.
"What's it to you Damon?" I asked him, feeling so disturbed with him. He was dressed in all black as usual. This whole rockstar bad boy was starting to look so worn. "I'm just making logical assumptions from what I heard," he shrugged.
"And why are you here? This is a school parking lot, and you are neither a teacher nor a student."
"It's not illegal to be here," he shrugged again as he kept staring at me.
I rolled my eyes at his stupidity and got in my car, ignoring his piercing gaze. I had to go home and get the books to Stefan's place, not to mention meeting with the famous Lexi. The last time since Stefan told me his story, we had talked about various parts of his life. The best of it was how Lexi got him to feel again. For that reason alone the girl deserved my respect.
It was late afternoon when I drove into the driveway of the Boarding House. I had to admit, I was feeling beyond nervous about meeting Lexi. From what Stefan said she was a great girl, but I had no idea about her attitude towards witches. Most vampires hated us because we considered them to be abnormal, but that was not my thought, about Stefan at least. He was a great guy, unlike his brother.
I grabbed the books from the passenger's seat and made my way to the front door. I took a deep breath and knocked on the huge oak door. A few moments later, the door opened but it was not Stefan the one that opened it.
"So, you seem to be unable to tear your eyes from my sexy body," Damon teased as he smirked.
"Get your mind out of the gutter Damon, I'm here to see Stefan and return the books I borrowed last week, not gaze at you and your ever-growing ego," I replied as I passed by him and entered the house.
"What is it with you two and books? Half the time you are stuck in musty smelling books that tell tales from God knows how long. What you see in that is beyond me."
"Apart from tales, books contain knowledge, and knowledge is power Damon, you should look into it some time," I retorted, making him roll his eyes as he made his way to the library. I followed him, trying really hard not to stare at his nicely curved ass. So sue me! He had a really nice ass for a vampire.
"Stefan, your book buddy is here," Damon announced as he made his way to the bar.
"What a lovely way to announce my presence Damon, you are so kind," I sighed as I placed the books on a table by the window. I turned around to scan the rest of the room and found Stefan sitting on the sofa, across from a stunning blonde girl in a pair of leather pants and a black T-shirt. Her dark eyes studied me with interest.
"Rayna, just in time. I want you to meet my other close friend, Alexia Branson, also known as Lexi. Lexi, this is Rayna Silverstone, my first good friend here in Mystic Falls," Stefan introduced us.
Lexi looked at me with those dark eyes of hers for another moment before she spoke. "Hello," she smiled at me, and I immediately felt a lot more comfortable. For some reason, she emitted the same feeling of trust that Stefan had.
"Hello Lexi, it's nice to finally meet you. Stefan has told me a lot about you," I smiled back at her. "I hope they were good things," Lexi teased as she spared a glance at him. "They were, I assure you," I nodded as I sat on the armchair across from her.
"Oh, isn't this nice little brother, your two best friends are bonding. You know, if you play this right, you can have one hell of a threesome," Damon cut in, ruining the good atmosphere.
"Shut up Damon," Lexi and I said at the same time. We looked at each other, then burst into a fit of giggles. Damon scowled at us, while Stefan tried really hard to keep a straight face, but the sparkle in his eyes showed how much he enjoyed the scene.
"Now this is really disturbing," Damon commented, which only made us laugh harder. "I think you and I are going to be great friends," Lexi said breathlessly, still trying to recover from the laughing fit.
"I'd like that. Wanna go out, talk and see the city?" I offered. "I'd love to, but we'll have to wait until sundown. Unlike these two, I don't have a daylight ring. But we still have plenty of time to talk and chat, since tonight is a very special night."
"What is so special about tonight?" I asked, confused. Lexi looked at me, confused as well, then turned to Stefan.
"You didn't tell her?" she asked him.
"I didn't have the chance. Today's my birthday, and Lexi wants to go out and celebrate the event, something I'm not all onboard for," Stefan explained.
"And when where you planning to tell me? We are supposed to be friends Stefan," I scolded him. Stefan looked down, his face like that of a boy that was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Like I said, I didn't have the chance. Besides, I don't want to make a big deal out of it," he defended.
"Stefan, you turn 162 years old, I think that is something we should celebrate," Lexi interjected.
"And Lexi is quite right on that front. Now, since you so graciously failed to let me in on the important event of the day, I'll have some sort of compensation." I almost laughed at the look Stefan was giving me. He actually thought I was being serious about this.
"Like what?" "A piece of jewelry with a lapis stone on it," I replied. Stefan looked at me like I had grown two heads, but I didn't budge from his spot.
"I'm waiting," I added, looking seriously at him.
Stefan got up reluctantly and left the room, probably to bring me what I had asked. I had formulated a plan in my head, but I wanted to keep it to myself until the right time.
"So, what are we going to do about Stefan's birthday tonight?" I asked Lexi. "How about a party?" she offered, but I shook my head. "Since you know him as well as I think you do, you know he hates parties. Not to mention it would be a disaster to bring a bunch of stranger teenagers in this house. They are already curious, no need to excite them anymore," I shook my head.
"Then how about the party Caroline is throwing tonight at the Grill?" Damon offered, making me turn to look at him with an incredulous expression.
"I don't want a party," Stefan replied as he returned from wherever he had gone.
"It's not for you, it's a party party. Caroline is always a party girl, why not take advantage of it? No one has to know it's your birthday," Damon shrugged.
I had the strangest feeling that he was trying to do something, I just couldn't tell what he wanted.
"Damon, stay away from Caroline," Stefan pleaded, but it didn't have any effect on his older brother.
"We're friends, it's cool," Damon brushed him off. "It's important for the townspeople to see us interact with them as normal folk. With all those attacks, people can get crazy and think that everyone around them is a vampire, even if they're not."
"Okay, it's gonna sound crazy, but he's right," I agreed, making all three vampires look at me with wide eyes.
"I know; I was shocked too," I nodded. "Right now, the council is still looking for the vampire responsible for the attacks, and they're getting nervous. You need to keep up with the human pretenses, which brings me to my previous thought. Stefan, can you open that curtain, and Lexi, please move to the other couch so the light won't hit you."
Stefan got up reluctantly and pulled the curtain, while Lexi flashed to the other side of the room. I went to Stefan and extended my arm, and he placed a lovely Sterling silver pendant with a round lapis lazuli stone at the center. I took it and placed it on the table by the window, so that the sunlight would hit it. I closed my eyes, focusing on the energy the sun was emitting. The spell was a bit more difficult than the ones I was used to, but I still managed to complete it. I opened my eyes again, smiling in satisfaction with myself. I took the pendant and walked slowly to Lexi, who looked at me with a curious expression.
"This is my welcome gift to you. I hope you like the design, because you will probably wear it for a long time," I smiled at her bewildered expression. Her gaze kept going from me to the pendant, until she reluctantly took it and put it on. It fit her perfectly, and it suited her style just right. "Go on," I urged her, "try it."
She looked towards the window and walked slowly, the rest of us watching her in silence. She stopped at the edges of the shadow and extended her hand reluctantly towards the sunlight, afraid that it would still burn her, but it didn't. She let the sunlight warm her hand and then pulled the curtain completely and let her body bathe in sunlight. It was really a beautiful sight. Her hair shined gold in the light, like a halo.
After a few minutes, she turned around and had a huge smile on her face. "Thank you so much Rayna, I don't know how to repay you," she breathed. "You don't have to repay me Lexi, it's a gift. Besides I told you, you are my friend, and I am willing to do anything to help my friends. And now, for Stefan's punishment."
"I thought that me giving you the pendant was my punishment," Stefan said uneasily.
"That was the first part. The second is that I get to steal Lexi from you for a couple of hours. I'll take her around the town, we can talk about various things, not to mention a little shopping for the party tonight. Are you up for it Lex?"
"Let's go!" she cheered, a huge smile on her pretty face.
Lexi and I drove into town in my car. We parked on an empty spot and continued our walk on foot.
"You know, I don't think I've seen Damon so speechless in all the years I've known him," Lexi smiled as we walked to the square.
"It's not my fault that he doesn't understand the concept of friendship. I know that witches mostly give such magical objects away only when they have been saved by a vampire and feel like they owe them a favor, but I'm not like that. I consider you my friend, and I wanted to give you a gift. Although, if you think about it, it's a gift from both me and Stefan. He brought the pendant."
"It was quite a sight to see Damon gape at us when we walked out of the Boarding House. He looked like an alien had decided to come and visit him. "You are so full of surprises," Lexi chuckled as we walked by a few of my classmates. Amber Fell was among them, and they all looked like they had seen a Hollywood actress.
"You should have been there when he first found out about my powers."
"What happened?"
"Stefan had him confined in the Boarding house without a daylight ring because he was ill-treating a friend of ours, and he asked me to go over and keep an eye on him, just in case. I went in the house, he played all vampy speed on me and tried to compel me to stay with him all day and entertain him, but I sent him flying on the wall behind him. He tried to attack me again and I gave him one of what he calls as a witchy aneurysm. He calmed down after that."
Lexi couldn't stop giggling during the entire story. "God, what would I give to see that in real life."
We passed by the high school football field, where the team was making a few drills for the upcoming game. Stefan had decided to quit due to Coach Tanner's death, and the other boys were not so worried about that. The new coach, Mr. Stevens was an okay guy, according to Matt. Lexi stared at the boys and I followed her gaze.
"See anything you like?" "It depends. Is one of them your boyfriend?"
"No, my guy is more of the artistic type. He prefers dancing rather than football. And let me tell you, he is really good at it."
"In that case, the brunette with the angry expression over there," she pointed to a boy that was painfully familiar.
"That's Tyler Lockwood. A good football player, but with quite a short temper fuse. He attacked Stefan when the Coach put him on the team."
"What happened?" Lexi asked, worried.
"Another boy got into a fight with Tyler over a girl matter and accidentally sliced Stefan's hand with a broken bottle. It was the night Damon killed our previous coach and Elena started getting suspicious about Stefan's nature. Thankfully enough, the suspicions are now off of them."
"What about the vampire that still lurks around, what are you going to do about it?"
"Me, nothing. We have a whole town council for that."
"A what?" Lexi turned to me, her eyes widen in surprise.
"Ever since the attacks on 1864, the town has put together a secret council that takes care of any vampire attacks that might occur around here. They label them as animal attacks to keep the public from discovering the truth. Most of the founding families have members in the council, including mine."
"You're in the council and you're helping Stefan and Damon?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure how would the council react if they found out I am a witch. Back in 1864, they burned all the witches in town right after they killed all the vampires. I doubt my father could understand that I am simply trying to keep a balance here. Even Damon has his uses, limited though may be. The council sees all vampires as demons that have to be eliminated, but we both know not all vampires are bad. You and Stefan are two perfectly good examples."
"Are you planning on telling your father about your powers?"
"One day, maybe. For now though, I intend to keep my powers a secret for as long as possible. It was my grandmother's wish to keep our secret from the males of the family, so I'm going to keep my word until I can't do anything else but tell him."
"So, to change subjects, Stefan tells me he is interested in a girl named Elena. Do you know her?"
"She is one of my closest friends actually. She really likes him, it's just that this whole vampire thing is a bit much for her. She just lost her parents four months ago, found out that I am a witch and that the boy she likes is a vampire. I'm happy she hasn't flipped out on us yet."
"How did she find out about you?"
"It was about a month ago. Damon did one of his stupid 'I-don't-care-I'm-a-vampire-and-I'll-feed-on-anyon e-I-want' things, so Stefan vervained him and locked him up in the Boarding House cellar. Somehow he was able to escape, he killed the last remaining living Salvatore and roamed the woods for victims. He found a gang of drug addicts and feasted on all of them, burning the bodies afterwards to cover his tracks. Unfortunately however, he was a bit careless and one of the guys had somehow gotten vampire blood in his system, so he woke up in transition a few hours later."
"Oh dear," Lexi chimed.
"You haven't heard the worst of it. At dawn, he returned to the Boarding house where I was put on babysitting duty, watching him for the entire day while the guy woke up and started roaming the woods. Close to sunset, he visited a friend of mine that used to hang out with them before she changed her mind and got a hold of her life again. She was lucky enough to react fast enough and locked herself in her house before the guy could bite her. She called me and I drove there to meet up with Stefan so we could drive the newborn away. Ironically enough, Damon tagged along."
"He wanted to help?"
"Believe me, I'm still surprised. Anyway, we managed to get the guy away from the house and back in the woods but before we could reason with him, one of the council's hunters shot at Stefan. Damon and I were just arriving, so Damon jumped at the hunter and killed him before checking up on Stefan. The newborn was attracted by the scent of the blood and fed on the hunter's body, but I decapitated him before he could get away."
"You did what?" Lexi turned to look at me with wide eyes.
"I had no other choice. We have enough vampires around, no need for another one, and a newborn at that. The worst thing was though that, when I tried to check on the hunter, see if he was okay, he shot me. He thought I was a vampire I guess. The guys took me out of there after I passed out and the next thing I know, I am lying on the couch you sat on this afternoon, with Stefan poking at my wound with a pair of tweezers while Damon sipped on some bourbon and Elena looked at me with eyes so wide I thought the whites were almost gone. Stefan tried to give me his blood but I stopped him and simply healed myself."
"Why didn't you let Stefan heal you? Vampire blood is healing to humans."
"I know, but I had no idea if I would live. I didn't want to be turned. It's the worst thing that can happen to a witch."
"So Elena saw you performing the spell and found out."
"Yeah. Thankfully enough she took it very well. But enough about me and my near death experiences. What about you, I have no idea about your life. Where were you born?" Lexi smiled as we sat on the bench of the square by the clock tower.
"Well, my story begins back in 1659. Though compulsion is supposed to wear off when we wake up in transition, I have no memory of how vampire blood got into my system. All I know is that I was walking through my home village in Louisiana and a man attacked me, trying to take my bag. We struggled, he pushed me hard, I lost my balance and hit my head on a stone bench that was behind me. I woke up the next night in a shallow grave in the forest close to my village. At first, I was really scared of moving at all, but my hunger instincts took over and my thirst overwhelmed me, so I followed the scent that was coming from the village. I was unlucky though. I found the same guy that had attacked me, walking to his home with a prostitute by his side. I followed them and attacked moments before they could get inside. I fed on the woman, draining her dry in seconds while the man watched, horrified, frozen on his spot. When I stood, dropping her dead body on the ground, he looked at me with absolute horror in his eyes. I could tell he was drunk, but not drunk enough so as to not understand what was happening around him.
He must have recognized me because he tried to run, but I was faster and I grabbed his arm and pulled, hard. Unfortunately I pulled too hard, since the next thing I knew he was screaming and his arm had been torn from his body. I dropped it, horrified. But he started swearing, and I remembered what he did to me. My anger took over my sense of ethics and I started tearing his body into pieces, until he stopped screaming and his pieces were scattered all over the ground."
I shuddered, imagining how that had looked like. Lexi noticed it and stopped. "I'm sorry, I should have edited that part."
"It's okay Lex, you went through a lot. Go on, I'm fine." She seemed a bit reluctant, but she went on. "After I had finished with him, I realized what I had done and got really scared with myself. Dawn was approaching and I knew people would start walking around, so I decided to leave for good."
"You had no one that would look for you?"
"No, I was never married and my parents had died when I was twelve. A neighboring couple had taken me in afterwards, raised me for 7 years until I could cope for myself and then let me go. The husband wanted to keep me for longer, but I left, since I had noticed that he had started staring at me in weird ways. Anyway, I hid in the forest, but when the sun rose and it hit my skin, I saw that it was hurting me and hurried to hide in the caves on the mountain close by. When night came, I left, moving during the night and hiding during the day. That has been my journey ever since."
"Were you scared of what you had become?"
"Of course. I even tried to kill myself a few times, but at the last minute I didn't go through with it. I thought that this was the chance for me to live forever, go wherever I wanted, see the whole world. It took me a few years to control my thirst, channel the urges, but I haven't killed a human on purpose in over 100 years."
"Then how do you do it?"
"I feed as much as I need to stay strong and then compel my victims to forget about the incident. That way, I satisfy my thirst without killing those that are not already dying."
"Yeah, Stefan told me something about that. You only kill those that have no chance of surviving, right?"
"He told you that?"
"He was telling me how he became a vampire, and it kinda popped in."
"I see. Well, during the Civil war, there were many injured camps, and most of the soldiers had no chance of healing, so I had thought back then, why let them suffer any longer?"
"How come you didn't heal them with your blood?"
"I had thought about that first, but then I realized that if I healed too many soldiers, suspicions would arise. Not to mention that, if they went back to war and they died, they would wake up in transition. Imagine having about 20 or 40 or even 100 transitioning vampires in the same area."
"A massacre," I whispered, horrified.
"Exactly. It was in one of the injured camps that I met Stefan. He was so lost and confused, I had to help him get his bearings before he attracted attention and gotten himself killed." "So you helped him turn his humanity back on, right?"
"Yes. After he woke up in transition, he made the mistake of returning to his home. One of the servants must have let him in, and he went to talk to his father. They argued about that bitch Katherine, his father revealed to him that he was the one that killed him, they struggled and when his father threw a stake at him, Stefan reacted in instinct and threw it right back at him, hitting him straight in the chest. His senses picked up the scent of blood and he couldn't resist. He fed on his father, thus killing him. When he realized what he had done, the pain was so much that caused him to turn his emotions off, thus becoming a ripper."
"A ripper?"
"It's a term I have invented to categorize vampires that have gone haywire, killing without a care."
"So Damon is a ripper?"
"Not exactly. He kills to piss off his brother, but you told me he ran to his brother when he was shot. That suggests there are still a few emotions in him limited as they may be. When we turn our emotions off, we lock our human side away and let the vampire side take a hold of us. We kill without remorse, take what we want when we want it and generally cause pain and havoc just for the fun of it. It's very difficult and most of the times painful to turn our humanity back on, since it requires feeling certain things again, emotions, feelings. A vampire has amplified emotions. When we hate, we really hate. When we are hurt, the hurt is too much sometimes. But when we love, we love with our whole existence."
"How do you get a vampire to turn his humanity back on?"
"It usually starts with emotions. Since they have been turned off, you have to turn them back on one at a time. It usually starts with pain or anger, those are the easiest ones to provoke. After that, the others follow. It's very difficult in certain cases though. It took me a solid 70 years to get Stefan to crack a small smile. He is much better now though, even with this whole Elena problem. He likes her, but is afraid that he is going to hurt her if he gets involved with her."
"But he still wants her, right?"
"Right."
"I just hope Damon doesn't do anything to get in the way again. Was he always this annoying?"
"No actually. He used to be a carefree man, with logic and manners."
"Wow, it sounds like a completely different person."
"I told you, vampire feelings are amplified. 145 years of longing for his lost love have darkened his heart. When I first met him, right before he abandoned Stefan because he couldn't stare at the brother that was the cause of Katherine's death, he asked me to take care of Stefan, and I have done so for the past 145 years."
I stayed silent, trying to imagine a Damon with feelings. It sounded absurd to say the least.
"Katherine's death really ruined them, didn't it?" I whispered.
"Yes, it did. I tried to help Damon with his pain, but he wouldn't let me. He has changed ever since though, he has become far more dangerous. I think he might even try to ruin Stefan's birthday celebration tonight."
"Then it's a good thing that two of Stefan's friends will be there to look after him and make sure Damon doesn't do anything stupid, right?"
I winked at her, making her giggle. "Come on, time for some shopping therapy. We want to look divine tonight, right?" I said as I pulled her to the closest clothes store. She followed, laughing. "Off we go!"
I dropped Lexi at the Boarding house a couple of hours later so she could get ready for the party. I was going to pick her up later, so we could go together to the Grill. On my way home, I thought about what Lexi had told me. Stefan had gone through a lot, but so had Damon. It surprised me to see Damon as a victim rather than a bad guy. And while Stefan had Lexi to keep him sane, Damon had no one. He spent the grief and pain alone. It had affected him greatly, I could tell, and I felt sorry for him. It seemed impossible, silly even, but I had the strangest feeling that he still had some humanity in him, buried deep underneath the anger and snarky remarks.
Despite his general behavior and reactions to various situations, I could now see clearly through the ruse. He was still trying to mask his hurt with anger and carelessness. I shook my head, too confused to continue thinking about it. Around 7, I was standing in front of my mirror, adding the final touches to my makeup. I had chosen a sea blue cocktail dress with a generous cleavage and a skirt that reached right above my knees. It was made of satin, a material I loved because it clung to my body like a second skin, but it also let me have freedom of movement. I had left my hair loose in long curls and had kept my makeup simple.
Ethan had no objection when I had told him that our date tonight had turned into a party for Stefan's birthday. Ethan really liked Stefan and trusted him with me, so I thanked the heavens I had gotten a trusty boyfriend. There was no reason for him to worry, but I hated it when a guy I had chosen to go out with thought I was going to betray their trust. I knew the feeling of betrayal and how much it hurt, there was no way I would ever let someone go through the same torture, not if I could help it. Black strapped heeled sandals completed the attire, even if it was a bit cold outside. My black coat was more than capable of keeping me warm. I had other things to worry about ruining my night other than the cold wind. My dad wasn't in the house, so I left a note for him on the fridge and left.
The sun was setting behind the thick treeline as I parked in front of the Boarding house. As I got out, I could hear two voices arguing from the window in Stefan's bedroom. I focused on them and realized the second voice was Lexi. What could they be arguing about? I made my way in the house. Damon was nowhere in sight, and his car was missing from up front, so he wasn't here. I climbed the stairs and reached Stefan's door just in time to see Lexi fuming at him. "Are you out of your freaking mind?"
"Lex, let me explain," Stefan tried to reason with her, but without much success. "You'd better have a very good explanation," Lexi interjected, almost seething.
"Guys, pipe it down a bit, half the Mystic Falls can probably hear you," I cut in as I climbed the last few steps and made my way into the room. The place was packed with books. There were in the shelves on the walls, on Stefan's desk, on the floor. It looked like an old books sale. Only the king size bed was clean of books and neatly made. Both vampires turned to look at me, Stefan looking a bit relieved and Lexi glaring.
"Hey Rayna," Stefan greeted me, his relief evident even in his tone. Lexi, on the other hand, left her spot in front of Stefan and marched at my direction, looking furious. "Why didn't you tell me?" she accused me, her glare not withering for a second.
"About what?" I jumped back, not expecting such hostile behavior from her.
"I met Elena," she replied at the same tone. "What about her? Was she rude to you?" I asked, not sure what was going on.
Lexi's glare disappeared and a look on confusion replaced it. She turned sharply towards Stefan. I had to admit, I felt relieved that she wasn't glaring at me. I had really taken a liking to her, I'd hate to use my powers on her.
"She doesn't know?" she asked Stefan, and I officially felt lost. What was going on?
"I never had the chance to explain this to Rayna. You do realize it's a sensitive matter that requires the right time to discuss it, right?" Stefan pointed out, and I was beginning to feel frustrated. What was so important that had Lexi fuming?
"Guys, let me in on the matter, what is going on that made Lexi jump at me like that?"
"Sorry about that Rayna, I thought you knew about this," she replied as she held out a piece of paper for me to see. I took it and glanced at it.
At that moment, I felt my blood freezing at the sight. My breath left my body as I comprehended the matter at hand. On the piece of paper was photo portrait of a woman from the 1860s. The woman was the twin of Elena, only with curly hair and different clothes. If you looked really close, there was a slight dark aura in the depths of her eyes. This was most definitely not Elena. The caption on the bottom read Katherine Pierce, 1864. I couldn't believe my eyes. After the initial shock passed, I raised my gaze to Stefan. "You have some serious explaining to do."
I sat on the armchair across from Stefan's study, still holding the photo of Katherine, while Lexi sat cross-legged on Stefan's bed, applying her makeup. He sat on a chair by his bed, his face apologetic. "You have some serious emotional damage," Lexi stated as she put on her eyeliner.
"It's not what you think, she's not Katherine," Stefan defended.
"Then they could be related, because they could be frigging twins!" I exhaled, tossing the photo on the study. It was almost impossible to comprehend that the same vampire that had changed Stefan and Damon was an identical twin to my childhood best friend.
"I don't know," Stefan shrugged. "You don't know, or you didn't find out?" Lexi retorted, casting a glance at him.
"Maybe I don't wanna know," Stefan sighed. "Look, I have no desire to tie Elena to Katherine."
Lexi threw him a look that said it all. It was kinda hard to believe that he was over his old love since his new girlfriend was a spitting image of the old one.
"Okay I admit that the resemblance is what drew me in, but that's it. Katherine and Elena may look the same on the outside but on the inside they are completely different."
"Oh, so Elena is not a raging bitch then?" Lexi retorted.
"I assure you, she's anything but," I piped in.
"Rayna's right. Elena's warm, and she's kind, and she's caring and she's selfless, and it's real. And, honestly, when I'm around her, I completely forget what I am," he finished with a warm smile.
"Oh, my God," Lexi breathed, impressed. "You're in love with her."
I looked at Stefan and, sure enough, the look on his face and the smile he was so desperately trying to hide spoke louder than he ever could. He was in love with Elena.
"Yeah, I am," he said softly.
Lexi smiled, while Stefan turned to look at me, almost afraid of me.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him. He didn't speak, but I immediately understood.
"I'm not going to do anything about it Stefan. I saw how Elena acts when she's around you. She just needs time to adjust to the whole vampire witch thing, but she'll come around. On another note though, we can't just let the subject that Elena and Katherine look so much alike drop. You may not want to tie them, but I want to know what is going on. I'm never good with surprises, and this is most definitely something at has to be investigated, soon."
"So, what do you suggest we do?" Stefan asked.
"How about we go to the party tonight, have a good time, celebrate your birthday and start the whole investigation thing tomorrow, discreetly of course. I'm not sure how Elena would react if she found out about this so soon."
"Okay. You guys go to the Grill, I'll stop by Elena's house. I think I owe her an explanation for Lexi," Stefan replied, looking relieved with my opinion on the whole matter.
"Why, what happened?" I asked.
"Elena stopped by earlier, and she came in while I was in nothing but a towel," Lexi explained.
"Yikes," I cringed. Any sane girl would have thought the same thing Elena probably did, that Lexi was Stefan's latest girlfriend. Stefan really had to go over to Elena's place and explain, before Elena decided not to speak to him ever again.
Lexi and I got in my car and drove away, leaving Stefan behind to try and figure out what he was going to say to Elena.
"How much do you want to bet he's gonna try to convince Elena to come to the party?" I asked her as we drove into town.
She smiled as she looked at me. "You definitely know him. It's gonna be awkward, but I hope they work it out. I'm willing to tell her that I have nothing romantic with Stefan, it's the true anyway," Lexi shrugged.
"Don't worry, as soon as the initial shock goes away, she'll come around. The fact that she saw you in the towel might be a bit of an obstacle, but she'll understand," I assured her. She smiled as we drove on.
I parked the car on a spot right outside the Grill and we made our way in the already crowded diner. Before we had the chance to walk to a free table, Damon appeared out on nowhere, with two shots of what looked like bourbon. "Good evening ladies. Can I interest you with an early drink?" he smirked at us.
"No thanks Damon, we have a long night ahead of us, no need to start so early," Lexi replied.
"Lexi's right. When Stefan gets here, we can start the celebrations," I agreed as I heard one of my favorite songs, Supermassive Black Hole by Muse playing from the speakers.
"God, I love this song. You up for a dance Lex?" I turned to her.
"Oh yeah," she smiled as she pulled me towards the dancefloor. I spared a glance at Damon and his scowl suggested that whatever plan he had in his mind was not going well. I'd have to keep an eye on him for the rest of the night, just in case. He definitely was up to something, and that was not good.
After 2 dances, we decided to take a break and get something to drink to regain our strength. Lexi ordered 2 cokes and brought them to the table I had sat on. She gave the one to me and we sipped slowly, gazing at the growing crowd. Andy and Vicki were dancing at the very center of the dancefloor, with Tyler sitting on the sidelines, watching them and scowling. "Whoa, football boy seems pretty upset," Lexi commented when she noticed the target of my gaze.
"He lost his plaything," I replied as I pointed discreetly at the loving couple that held each other close. They looked so content with each other, I almost envied them.
"Oh, I see," Lexi nodded.
"I don't know how they were together, but I have to say that the girl looks a lot happier now."
"Considering she was deep into drugs and was letting herself be manipulated by Tyler, I'd say she is much better now. And the weirdest thing? It took one attack from Damon to shake her world enough and get some sense into her head. Ironic, right?"
"I'll say. Wow, it seems almost surreal that something Damon did actually had a good outcome."
"I know, I'm still working on believing that," I chuckled.
"So, where is your guy, do I get to meet him?" she smiled suggestively, making me blush. At that moment, the door of the Grill opened and Ethan walked in, looking more fabulous than ever. "Speak of the devil," I whispered, pointing at him.
Lexi glanced at him then turned to look at me again. "Mm, nice. On the outside, I definitely approve of him. Is he as beautiful on the inside?"
"Even more so," I replied as I made my way towards him.
Halfway there, he spotted me and that fabulous smile I had come to crave appeared on his angelic face.
"Hey, you look absolutely gorgeous tonight. I feel like I should be carrying a gun, someone might try to steal you from me," he whispered as he hugged me. "I assure you, no one can take me from you," I smiled as I kissed him on his soft cheek. I felt his arms circling my waist and I let out a contented sigh. I felt so nice in his arms, like I was born to be here.
"Who's the girl you're sitting with? I don't think I've seen her around," he asked as he held my close to him.
"She's a friend of Stefan's, she came for his birthday," I simply replied.
"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd be worried about your friendship with Stefan," he teased me.
"But you do know better, right?"
"Of course. Stefan is an honest guy; he would never try to steal you away from me. His brother, on the other hand, is someone I hope never to see you with."
"I promise you, you won't. He is so not my type."
"And what is your type exactly?" Ethan smiled teasingly at me.
"Oh, you know, auburn hair, green eyes, great dancing skills, a golden heart and a bright soul. Have you seen anyone like that around here?" I asked as I looked around.
"I'll look, but what happens if you don't find anyone like that?"
"Oh, I think there is at least one like that in here, and he's standing right in front of me," I smiled at him.
He smiled as well and kissed my cheek, making me sigh. This was so great. "How about a dance my fair lady?" he asked, offering me his hand, which I gladly took.
"Certainly kind sir," I bowed as we made our way to the dancefloor. I glanced at Lexi and she gave me a thumbs up. I smiled at her and lost myself in Ethan's arms. As we twirled around though, I caught Damon staring at us, an undecipherable emotion in the depths of his blue eyes. I ignored him, unwilling to let him ruin my perfect moment. He was probably trying to come up with an idea to ruin the party. Nothing like that would happen though, not if I could help it.
Damon POV
The plan I had set in motion was not going well at all. The unexpected friendship between Lexi and Rayna had complicated things a lot. Lexi now had made a public appearance in daylight, which had eliminated her as a suspect for the animal attacks. The council was getting closer to us every day, I had to find someone to blame, and Lexi was the prefect candidate. Not only the suspicions would disappear, I would get in the council right away and ruin Stefan's big night all in one shot.
Now, I watched as Rayna had left Lexi at their table and was dancing with that Ethan boy. What was she seeing in him anyway? He had nothing special, and yet she gazed at him with dreamy eyes. It disgusted me that a beautiful girl like her would be wasted away with a guy like him. Sure, he was kind and had manners, but I knew that most guys were like that until they got what they wanted. After that, they revealed their bad side, the hungrey predator that wanted to devour the innocent maiden. It was not easy to imagine Rayna as an innocent maiden, but I doubted she had much experience with men, so she still had some innocence about her. As soon as the guy would get her to his bed, he would abandon her, I was sure of it.
I spotted Caroline and went to see if she had gotten the crystal from Bonnie yet. Now was not the time to worry about Rayna's boyfriend, it shouldn't bother me anyway. "Where is it?" I asked her, a bit angry.
"Bonnie won't give it to me," she whined.
"So rip it off her neck," I huffed, so disturbed with her incompetence.
"I tried, it shocked me," she shrugged.
"Damn it, why does it do that? I need that crystal," I growled at Caroline, feeling so angry I could rip her head off. Too bad we were in a public place.
"Why are you being like this? I'm so good to you and I'd do anything. It's just some stupid necklace," Caroline purred as she held my hands, trying to be affectionate. It irritated me to no end.
"No," I stopped her from touching me, "you are the only stupid thing around here. And shallow. And useless," I hissed before I abandoned her, walking away. Why was I surrounded by useless people? I had to find another way to get that crystal, and soon.
Rayna POV
After our third dance with Ethan, we decided to catch out breaths and get something to drink. As we made our way to a table, I accidentally bumped shoulders with someone. The weirdest thing though, was that I got the same shock I get when I touch vampires when I touched the guy. "Sorry," I muttered, and the guy turned to look at me.
"It's nothing, forget about it," he waved me off.
I followed Ethan to the table, thinking about that encounter. So, there was another vampire in here? As if we didn't have enough. I spotted Damon exiting the bar from the back door, and something told me to follow him. I had a really bad feeling about this.
"Hey, I'm gonna go to the ladies room, be back in a tick, okay?" I told Ethan.
"Sure, I'll be here," he nodded. I kept my distance as I followed Damon to the back of the bar, where I could see a young couple about to make out. Before I could stop him, he attacked the boy and bit him hard, letting him fall on the floor, bleeding. The girl screamed in horror, but he compelled her right away, so she stopped screaming and simply stared at him in horror.
I listened closely and heard the worst thing that could ever come from his lips.
"You're going to say that the stranger woman with the blond hair and the blue necklace attacked and killed your boyfriend. She bit him on the neck, and her eyes were black with red veins beneath them," Damon said as he stared straight into the girl's eyes. The girl repeated everything Damon said with a trembling voice, and Damon released her and flashed back into the bar, leaving the girl to sob over her boyfriend's dead body.
So this was his plan. He wanted to kill Lexi in order to hurt Stefan and ruin his birthday. This worked well for him as well, since the council would think they had gotten the vampire responsible for the attacks and any suspicions would dissolve. Well sorry Damon, I have other plans for tonight, and that rogue vampire was perfect for my plan. It would be just easier to kill Damon and be done with him, but I knew that Stefan would be upset. He still loved his brother no matter what. It was going to be tricky, but the plan I had in mind would work if I timed it properly.
I went back in the bar and, while staying out of my friends' sight, I located the rogue vampire. He was standing in a corner, observing the crowd. He must have felt me watching him, since he turned his gaze at me. I smiled seductively at him and he smiled as well, making his way towards me. I exited the bar and he followed me to a quiet spot by the dumpsters, where no one could hear or see us.
"Hello there," he purred as he scanned my body up and down, moving closer as he did so. He pinned me against the wall, breathing in my scent. I grabbed him by the neck, making him glance at me in alert. I let my magic flow and take over me as I executed one of the most difficult spells I had ever come across in my witchy life.
"You're going to go to that girl that is crying in that alley and compel her to think you attacked and killed her boyfriend. Then you are going to forget about me and go back into the bar like none of this ever happened," I said to him in a clear voice.
He repeated everything I said and went to the girl. He compelled her and then went back to the bar like I had ordered him to. I stayed outside for a moment, trying to get the dizziness to stop. It was a really advanced spell that I had found a few days ago in the oldest grimoire I my ancestor was, she was really powerful if she could create a spell that enabled me to compel a vampire. Then again, there was a note that said only the women of my bloodline could execute such a spell. I wasn't sure I could do it, but apparently I could.
When I felt strong enough, I made my way back in the bar. Damon was in for a big surprise.
As I went back inside the Grill, I almost collided with Bonnie, who seemed more pissed off than I had ever seen her.
"Hey Bon, where's the fire?"
"In Caroline's non-existent brain. I have no idea why, but Damon has her on this crazy mission to get my crystal. She tried to yank it off of my neck, but it sort of zapped her. Why would he want my ancestor's crystal so much?"
"I don't know Bon, but if you feel that the crystal belongs to you, you should keep it no matter what," I advised her.
"That I'm gonna do. Now, all I need is to find Caroline and apologize to her. I was a bit rude earlier on."
"Okay Bon, see ya around," I nodded as she walked away.
To my surprise, I saw Elena sitting at a table by herself, staring at Lexi and Stefan playing pool. I decided to stop whatever dark thought was going in her mind before it got too haywire. "Hey Elena, nice seeing you here," I smiled brightly at her.
"Hey," she greeted me, never taking her eyes from the two friends that laughed and had lots of fun trying to beat each other at pool.
"Elena, she's just a friend of Stefan's, there's nothing for you to worry." Elena turned sharply to look at me, her eyes wide. "Stefan asked me to keep her company and show her around and I can assure you, she sees Stefan only as a friend."
"Yeah, he told me so, it's just that-"
"You still miss him and you're feeling jealous as hell," I completed her sentence before she could. Her wide eyes and rosy cheeks spoke louder than her words ever could.
"El, it's okay to be feeling like that. Any girl with half a brain would feel intimidated by how close Stefan and Lexi are, but there is absolutely no reason for you to worry."
"Rayna's right you know," Lexi said as she came to our table, holding four shots of tequila. She placed them on the table and turned to glanced at Elena. "Hi," she said politely.
"Hello towel girl," Elena replied, a bit sour.
"I've been called around worse," Lexi joked, breaking the ice. We all chuckled at her comment, and I felt the tension slipping away.
"Lexi Branson, meet my oldest and closest friend, Elena Gilbert," I introduced the two girls. They nodded at each other, Elena probably understanding that she had been acting paranoid thinking that Lexi and Stefan had something other than friendship.
"Okay, I think I'll leave you two to chat. I have neglected my date for far too long, he' bound to start searching for me," I announced.
"Come on, at least do your shot," Lexi nudged me, pushing one of the glasses towards me. I took it and downed the liquid, feeling the burn of the alcohol as it went down my throat. "See you around guys," I waved as I looked around for Ethan.
He was talking with Matt, across the bar. Before I could get to him however, someone pulled me by my arm to a corner of the bar. "Hey!" I protested, but relaxed immediately when I saw it was just my father. "Hey dad, what's wrong?"
"Who's that girl I saw you talking with just now, the one that sits with Elena?" he asked, getting straight to the point.
"Lexi, she's a friend of Stefan's. She came in town today for Stefan's birthday, why?"
"The council has been called for a vampire attack tonight, just outside the bar. One of the Sheriff's deputies found a girl sobbing and the body of a young man. The bite is quite obvious Rayna, there is a vampire somewhere in here."
"And what does Lexi have to do with this?" I interjected.
"We suspect any and all newcomers since the attacks began. Have you noticed anything peculiar about that girl?"
"I was with her all day. I showed her around town, we shopped, we had lunch, we talked, nothing out of place. She's just an ordinary girl who came to visit her friend. She does that every year, Stefan told me so," I assured him.
"Okay, and since you've been ingesting vervain, she cannot compel you to lie. Then it's probably not her."
"Dad, I was out with her during the daytime, I thought vampires can't go out in the sunlight," I pointed out.
"We thought so too, but it seems they might have discovered a way to come out without getting hurt. Listen, I need you to do something for me. Here, put this in a beverage and offer it to her," he said as he gave me a vial with a light blue liquid. "This is vervain extract. It's the only way to make sure she is human. Be careful, don't let her realize you're suspecting her. We have to catch her nice and easy, keep the people in the dark."
I nodded, taking the vial and walking slowly towards the bar. How was I supposed to do this? I ordered the two cokes, paid for them and slipped vervain in one of them. I held the clean one on my right hand and the vervained one on my left as I made my way towards Lexi. She smiled when she saw me. "You were right, Elena is nothing like Katherine. I have never met the woman, but I can tell that Elena is full of light. Stefan is definitely going to be happy with her," Lexi smiled brightly.
"Then let us toast to their happiness," I offered as I gave her the glass with the clean coke.
"Couldn't get anything stronger? Let me try," she tried to leave, but I held her back, whispering quickly. "Please, drink this one and then we can go get something else. It's very important. Trust me."
She looked at me, confused, but complied, much to my relief. "To Stefan and his happiness," I toasted and she clinked her glass with mine before sipping from her coke. When she didn't react, I turned to look at my father, and he nodded. He beckoned me to come with him outside, and I drank all lf my coke, cringing at the taste before leaning in to whisper to Lexi and Stefan, who had just joined us.
"Don't drink from any other glass than the one I gave you. Something is going on, but I'm not sure. Be very careful," I warned them both before making my way outside.
The Sheriff was outside, with at least three deputies and the girl from before who was still shaking. "What happened?" the Sheriff asked as she saw me.
"No reaction at all. She's okay," I replied, looking at the girl. Poor thing was shaking almost violently.
"What happened?" I asked the sheriff. "The demon attacked the couple, but only killed the boy," she replied.
"Did she see who it was?" my father asked, and I tired to remain calm.
"I'm not sure, she's not able to talk from the shock," the sheriff shook her head. "Let me try," I assured her as I made my way to the girl. I felt guilty for having this girl compelled twice, but I had to do it in order to save my friends. Plus, that other vampire was going to cause havoc sooner or later, so I was just helping the council.
"Honey, look at me," I crooned, making the girl gaze at me with teary eyes. "Did you see who did this to your boyfriend?"
She nodded, unable to talk. My dad and Sheriff Forbes came closer to see what I was doing. "I have a way of punishing whoever did this to him. I can take you in the bar and you can tell me if the person who attacked him is in there."
"What if he sees us?"
"He won't. We'll stay by the door, so he won't be able to notice us. We just go in, you point him out and we come back out, okay? Can you do that?"
She nodded, making the Sheriff nearly ecstatic. I took the girl by the arm, cleaned her face a bit and held her steady as we climbed the stairs to the entrance. Before we could reach the top, the door opened and Matt came out, holding a very drunk Caroline.
"What happened to her?" I asked, concerned. "She got a bit drunk," Matt replied still supporting her.
"Have they been serving you alcohol in there?" the Sheriff asked, hearing our conversation.
"I'm clean Sheriff. I'm gonna get Caroline home safely, don't worry about it."
"We are going to talk about this later," the Sheriff hissed at her daughter.
"Yeah, like you care," Caroline replied drunkenly.
"Okay, off you go. Don't let anyone else leave the bar," she ordered her deputies, and they took positions as we went in. We stood in the corner as the Sheriff came in and headed towards the bar. The girl at my side noticed the vampire sitting at the end of the bar, looking around lazily.
"That's him," she whimpered, shaking.
I looked over at the guy and signaled the Sheriff discreetly towards his spot. The sheriff noticed him and walked up to him, holding a small injector. She stuck it to his arm, and the guy faltered. In a flash, two deputies were supporting him as they dragged him to the entrance. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the scene that was unfolding in front of them.
"It's okay everyone, back to your normal business. This is police work," the Sheriff announced as they dragged the guy away. I could see Stefan, Elena and Lexi watching with wide eyes as the vampire was being dragged outside. Lexi locked eyes with me, but I avoided their gazes as I led the girl where my dad was. Damon watched the scene with wide eyes and tried to talk to the Sheriff, but she waved him off and went outside with her deputies.
I looked at Stefan and mouthed to him to stay inside as I went out before the deputies could see me. I watched as the officers led the guy to the patrol car but before they could lock him in, he threw them way with a growl. The Sheriff pulled her gun and shot at the guy's chest, but she missed his heart. The guy looked at his wounds and then turned to glare at the Sheriff, his vampire features coming to surface. He started towards her but I yelled at him before he could get to her, getting his attention.
He turned to look at me, and the next thing I knew Damon had showed up out of nowhere and had driven a stake through the guy's heart. The guy choked and fell on the ground, his skin turning grey right before us. "Rayna, are you okay?" my dad asked as he came to my side.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sheriff, are you okay?" She nodded as she glanced at both the body and Damon.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "Put that away before someone sees it," she ordered and went back in the bar.
Damon grabbed the top half and I grabbed the bottom as my dad popped the patrol car's trunk open. We dropped the body inside and my dad went to make sure everything was going well inside. As soon as he was out of earshot, Damon pulled my arm hard to make me look at him. "What the hell did you do?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about," I shrugged as I closed the trunk, barely missing his fingers. "We just killed a vampire that was threatening to expose you and your brother. With him dead, you guys are off the radar. Not to mention that, with your performance tonight, you most likely won a spot in the council as their official slayer. You should be happy," I sneered at him.
I went to leave, but he yanked me back, angering me. "I want to know what you did," he hissed, and I grabbed his hand, shocking it off of me.
"Let me clarify this just once, so we don't have any other misunderstandings. Stefan is my friend, and his friends are my friends. The next time you try to hurt any of my friends, I'm going to make sure you somehow lose your daylight ring in the middle of the day while you walk around carelessly. And trust me, you don't want to test me," I growled at him as I yanked my arm from his grip and made my way to the bar, not once glancing behind to see his dumbfounded face.
As I went in, the Sheriff was dragging the bartender for giving alcohol to minors. As soon as I was inside, Stefan and Elena were all over me.
"What happened Rayna?" Elena asked, worried.
"Nothing you need to be worried about. A rogue vampire that apparently attacked a boy in an alley nearby and was stupid enough to stay here without hiding the body or killing the witness. Now he's dead and we can go on with our night.
" "It was Damon, wasn't it?" Stefan growled, looking around for his older brother.
"I took care of it Stefan, so stop brooding and let us enjoy the rest of your birthday party."
"I can't believe he would try and reveal Lexi's nature to the council just to ruin my birthday," Stefan exhaled, passing his hand through his hair.
"Once again, I took care of everything. The vampire's dead, the council's worries have been dealt with and now Damon is a trusted member of the council, since he staked the vampire to save the Sheriff, so everyone got what they wanted and the rogue vampy boy is gone forever. Come on, let's get on with this party."
"Actually, I think it's about time I leave, before Damon comes up with another plan to kill me," Lexi declared.
"I'm going to kill him," Stefan growled, still furious with his brother.
"And spend the rest of eternity regretting it. I know you too well Stefan, you would never kill Damon. No matter what he is, he is still your brother. Now come on, let's have a last game of pool before I leave," Lexi pulled him towards the pool tables.
After two games of pool which they played while Elena and I watched, we all exited the Grill. We went to a kinda secluded place so Lexi could run away without being seen.
"So, I have to go. Stef," she held her arms open and the two friends embraced, holding each other tight.
"It was good seeing you again Lex," Stefan sighed, content that his friend was safe and undead.
"Once again, happy birthday. Do try and behave while I'm gone, will you?" Stefan chuckled at that, and so did we.
Next was Elena. She and Lexi embraced, with Lexi whispering something that was too low for me to hear, and then Lexi turned to me. I hugged her tightly, already knowing that I would see her again one day. We had exchanged phone numbers so we could stay in touch and I could update her on anything that happened to Stefan, plus, she was a great person, no matter what her diet was.
"Keep an eye out," she said as she looked at me. "And thanks for the gift again."
"Keep good care of it, and of yourself," I smiled at my new friend. We hugged again and after a last smile, she vanished into thin air.
We stayed there for a few moments, relishing in the memories of the night.
"I think I have to talk to Damon," Stefan said stiffly.
"Do me a favor and don't kill him. He might be a stupid son of a bitch, but he still has his uses," I warned him.
"He just tried to kill my best friend Rayna, you can't expect me to just let it go," Stefan sighed, exasperated.
"I'm not saying to let it go. Torture him if you want, but keep him alive. Lexi was right when she said that, even if he is a monster, he is still your brother and you would regret it for the rest of your life if you killed him. Take a walk before going home, clear your head," I advised him.
"She's right you know," Elena agreed.
"I have to go," he said to both of us before disappearing into the night.
Elena sighed, defeated. "Come on El, I'll drive you home," I nodded towards my car.
So, I kept Lexi alive, I hope this works for the majority of my readers. I will bring her back again, just so you know. It has been my opinion that, if Lexi had stayed alive, a lot bad things that occured on the show could have been prevented.
Reviews and suggestions are always welcome!