A/N: Oh goodness. I never would have expected to have almost 100 reviews this soon! Thank you guys so much. The feedback I get from you all is really what inspires me to write more, and update sooner. Think we can make 100 reviews happen after this chapter? I think so! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I, of course, don't own the Vampire Diaries. Never have, never will. I'm just playing around with the story!
Reviewers and Replies:
RockaRosalie: Thank you! I'm glad you think so. Thank you for the review!
A Lost Vamp: I can't wait for season 3 either! I'm so excited to write it! Thank you for the review!
justa20: Well, I'm exceptionally glad that you enjoy this story that much, and I'm even more glad that you like Sofia! I try really hard to keep her from being a Mary-Sue and all that nonsense, and it makes me happy when people say that they like my characters. I'm also glad that you think that I keep Kol in character. I read so many stories where he meets a girl and becomes all soft, and un-Kol-like, and I don't want to make him like that. He just wouldn't be Kol without his psychopathic issues and cockiness. Thank you for the review!
IKiraLoveVamps4Ever: Wow, I'm glad you like Sofia that much! I can't wait for Kol to come back either. I have some big plans for when he does! Thank you for the review!
Tvdfan: Not to worry, all questions will be answered later on in the story. The answer to your question will actually be answered soon! Thank you for the review!
Shannon the Original: I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Thank you for the review!
Best Buy Seasons: Don't worry. Sofia won't hate being a vampire for much longer. Thank you for the review!
wileby: Ahh! I know! Thank you for the review!
imaddictedtocarrots: Unfortunately, Kol won't be coming back until he comes back during the show. But there will be more flashbacks to make up for the lack of his actual presence in the story. Thank you for the review!
Katherine Sparrow: I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Thank you for the review!
Psychotic Girl: Hmmm, only time will tell. *Wink, wink* Thank you for the review!
RHatch89: I'm glad you think so. Thank you for the review!
-TNOF-
The morning following her small spectacle with Damon, Sofia is awakened by a knock at the front door. She lies in bed and listens to Trenton's tired footsteps shuffling from his bedroom, past her bedroom, to the front door. She hears the front door open, and Trenton clear his throat.
"Good morning, my name is Elijah. Is Sofia here?" she hears Elijah's smooth baritone voice ask clearly from the doorway. Sofia immediately gets up, walking out her bedroom door, pulling her slept-in, braided hair over her right shoulder.
"Yeah, she is. I'll go wake her up," Trenton says, turning from the door.
"That's alright, Trenton," Sofia says, placing her hand on his shoulder, and smiling at Elijah. "Good morning, Elijah."
"Good morning to you, too, Sofia," Elijah says, pleasantly.
"Go ahead and invite him inside, Trenton. He's a friend," Sofia says, and Trenton nods unsurely to her.
"Come on in," Trenton says to Elijah, and Elijah nods to him and steps through the threshold of the house. Sofia shuts the door behind him. "I'm goin' back to bed," Trenton says, and Sofia rolls her eyes at his retreating back.
"I see you've just awoken yourself," Elijah comments, looking around the living room.
"It's only 7:30, but you always were an early riser," Sofia comments, smirking.
"Indeed. And you were always one to pull yourself out of bed in the early afternoon," Elijah says, turning to look at her.
"A girl needs her beauty sleep, Elijah," Sofia says, tilting her head to the side. He smirks at her. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go change into something more appropriate," Sofia says, turning and going back to her bedroom, and quickly changing into her day clothes. When Sofia walks back into the living room, she sees Elijah looking through the books on the bookcase. "So, how long do you plan on staying in Mystic Falls?"
"Just until all of this business with Niklaus is dealt with," Elijah says, turning to face her as she walks into the living room.
"Well, you know you're welcome to stay here if you'd like," Sofia says, smiling at him.
"I think I'll have to accept your offer, Sofia. Thank you," Elijah says, giving her one of his rare genuine grins.
"You gave me places to stay for nearly 100 years. I think it's time that I return the favor," Sofia says, making him chuckle lightly, and that makes Sofia smile. She's always loved the calming sound of Elijah's chuckle.
"Well, my things are out in the car, but before I take the time to bring them inside, I have to go meet with the mayor," Elijah says, and Sofia nods, knowing that asking questions would be a waste of her breath, because he wouldn't answer her anyway. He makes his way out of the living room, stopping only to deliver a quick kiss to Sofia's head, and leaves the house.
Sofia looks to the left of her when she hears Trenton's bedroom door open, and he speed walks into the living room.
"He's staying here?" Trenton asks, his eyes showing traces of distress and anger. Sofia frowns a bit and tilts her head to the side.
"Yes," Sofia says, simply, and Trenton lets out a huff of exasperation.
"And you never thought to, oh I don't know, talk with me first?" Trenton asks, throwing his hands into the air, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"I'm sorry, Trenton. I didn't think you'd mind," Sofia says, raising an eyebrow.
"Mind?" he nearly shouts, and Sofia narrows her eyes at him. "That's the vampire who was gonna take Elena! Bonnie told me everything. How Damon Salvatore staked him, and he's obviously not dead since he's staying here now. In this house. Where I live."
"Are you done?" Sofia asks, crossing her arms over her chest. Trenton looks at her, his dark brown eyes looking into her green and amber orbs, and he shakes his head lightly.
"Yeah, I guess so," he says, after a moment of silence, walking into the kitchen.
"Look… He's Kol's brother," Sofia says, and he pauses, and turns around to look at her. "When Kol died… Elijah took care of me for nearly 100 years. He helped me a lot. I think that letting him stay here for a little while isn't enough to return how much I owe him, but it's a good start. I should have talked to you about it first, but I didn't, and I'm sorry."
Trenton stares at his friend for a few moments, and lets out a sigh.
"I'm just glad he's nice to look at," Trenton says, and Sofia smirks a bit. "Fine. I guess I won't object to it. Don't expect me to be nice to him."
"Oh, of course not. When have to ever been nice?" Sofia asks, and Trenton narrows his eyes at her. He turns back around and goes into the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee, and Sofia follows him, and takes a place on one of the stools at the island. She spends about half an hour at that spot, conversing with Trenton until her phone begins ringing. She blurs to her bedroom and sees Caroline's name flashing on the screen.
"Hello, Caroline," Sofia answers.
"Sofia, where have you been?" Caroline demands, and Sofia smirks.
"Just catching up with an old friend. No big deal. What can I do for you?" Sofia asks, and Caroline sighs on the other line.
"It's… Tyler. He triggered the werewolf curse," Caroline says, the tone of her voice implicating her sadness. "We found an old journal of Mason's… And a flash drive with a video… The transformation… Sofia it looks awful, and Tyler's so scared because the full moon is tonight… And I know that you probably don't care but I just need someone to talk to because I don't know what to do or how to comfort him, and I want to be there for him tonight but… You know…. A bite from him can kill me… I just don't know what to do," Caroline rants, and Sofia sighs.
"I… I honestly don't know what to tell you, Caroline. I can't tell you what to do. But, if it helps, werewolves have been around for thousands of years, and they've all been through what Tyler is going through. He'll be fine. As for being there for him… I'm not sure that, that's the best idea, because like you said, if he bites you, it will kill you. And I don't want to see that happen," Sofia says.
"He has a place to go. He's gonna chain himself up so that he won't be able to hurt anyone," Caroline says.
"Well, I suppose that changes things a bit. If you think that it would be helpful to Tyler, then by all means, be there for him. But… Just promise me that if he gets loose, you run as fast as you can and come here. Alright?" Sofia asks.
"I will, I promise," Caroline says, and Sofia smiles a bit.
"Alright, good. Is that all you needed?" Sofia asks.
"Yep. Thank you, Sofia," Caroline says. "Is it okay if I come by sometime tomorrow?"
"Of course. No need to ask," Sofia says.
"Okay. I'll see you soon," Caroline says, and hangs up. Sofia smiles a bit, and hangs up as well, setting her phone down on her table.
-TNOF-
Later that evening, Sofia arrives at the Grill for a drink. She immediately spots Alaric and Damon talking to a blonde woman.
"You think I'm afraid of you?" Damon asks the woman.
"No, I don't. That's your vampire arrogance. You should be. I sniffed you out the moment you entered this bar along with your pathetic wolfsbane. I've been at this a long time and any other night of the month, the situation would be reversed but tonight is not the night to pick a fight with me. You've been marked," the woman growls, and turns to leave the restaurant. On the way she bumps into Sofia and glares at her. Sofia glares back, and catches the scent on the woman. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Damon and Alaric watching them closely.
"Dog," Sofia sneers to the female werewolf.
"Leech," the woman sneers back, and the two women glare heatedly at each other until the woman walks around Sofia and exits the Grill. She sees Damon breeze past her, with Alaric following slightly behind. He stops next to Sofia, giving her an amused grin.
"That was pretty intense," he comments, and the two of them follow Damon.
"Yeah, well I'm not very fond of female wolves," Sofia says, smirking a bit.
"It was obvious," Alaric says, walking out of the Grill with Sofia.
"Where is she?" Damon asks, looking around.
"Just let it go, Damon. Don't be stupid," Alaric says, as he and Sofia exit the Grill, letting the door shut behind them.
"So what? Just let her get away? 'You've been marked' What the hell kind of wolf throw down crap is that anyway?" Damon asks, frowning angrily.
"It means she's gonna try to come after you," Sofia says, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Come after me?" Damon asks, rolling his eyes.
"Damon, look up," Alaric says, exasperatedly. "Just look up!" he exclaims when Damon looks at him. Damon looks up and his frown deepens a bit when he sees the full moon shining. "If this werewolf stuff is true," Alaric starts.
"Which it is," Sofia adds, glancing between the two men.
"One bite and you're dead. One bite! Alright? Don't risk it. Just go home, lock your doors and we'll deal with it in the morning," Alaric says.
"Yeah," Damon says, glancing at Sofia before taking off.
"You should probably get going too, Alaric," Sofia says, and Alaric looks at her confused. "Werewolves may focus solely on attacking vampires, but they also have no qualms about killing humans as well. Especially humans that hang around with vampires. They may not be in their right mind, but they'll be able to smell a vampire's scent on you."
"Gotcha," Alaric says, turning to leave. "Oh, Sofia? You can just call me Ric."
"Hmm, I could, but Alaric is such a unique, strong name. It wouldn't be right for me to shorten it like that," Sofia says, smiling at him. Alaric smiles back, and nods slightly. Sofia takes that as her cue to leave, and turns on her heel, and blurs back to her home, thoughts of getting a drink at the Grill, abandoned.
"Thought you'd be out later," Trenton says, as Sofia shuts the front door behind her.
"Full moon tonight. And there's a werewolf on the loose," Sofia sighs, checking her phone for any messages from Caroline.
"That doesn't sound good," Trenton frowns, and Sofia shrugs lightly.
"It isn't. But she can be dealt with after tonight," Sofia says, sending a quick text to Caroline to see if she's okay. Nearly 20 minutes later, the front door opens, and Elijah walks into the house with a few bags in his hands. "Welcome back," Sofia says with a smile. "I'll show you where to put your things."
"That would be much appreciated," Elijah says, and Sofia chuckles, gesturing for him to follow her. She leads him to the guest bedroom, and opens up the door, stepping inside.
"I did my best to make this room as gender neutral as possible… But with my influence and Trenton's… Like for pretty things…. It comes across more feminine than it should be," Sofia says, gesturing around. Elijah chuckles a bit.
"It's quite alright, Sofia," he says, and she nods.
"Well, there's your own bathroom through there, and all of the drawers are empty, as well as the closet so…. Yeah," Sofia says. "I'll just leave you to unpack," she says, and turns to leave the room.
"You'll be happy to know that your friend Stefan has been released from the tomb," Elijah says, and Sofia whips back around, eyes wide.
"What? Stefan was in the tomb? When the hell did this happen?" Sofia asks, frowning.
"I see that your friends didn't tell you," Elijah comments, unzipping one of his suitcases.
"Yeah, actually I'm not exactly friends with anyone but Stefan… And Caroline, but that's a given. I've been too focused on helping Caroline through her newborn vampire urges to really make friends around here. You know… It's really actually kind of ridiculous. I've been around for over 600 years, and I only have a handful of friends, mostly because most of the friends I had before are dead like Pearl and Anna… I hate to bring her up, but Rebekah's gone," Sofia starts, completely losing herself in her words, looking around the room while wringing her hands. Elijah turns from his things that he began to lay out on the bed, and looks at her, a small frown marring his face. "Lexi's gone, Kol's gone, and Nik…. Klaus took Kol and 'Bekah away. I mean… Even my brother's gone! I have you, Trenton, Caroline, and Stefan."
"Sofia," Elijah says softly, moving closer to her.
"You know, whenever I'd get like this after you and I decided to go our own way, I would be able to go to Lexi for help," Sofia continues, ignoring Elijah. "She'd always know what to say… What to do to help me feel better. She'd take me out to have a good time… Or if we weren't close to each other, I could call, but she's gone now, for good," she says, letting out a humorless laugh, looking at Elijah, and shaking her head. "For good. And it is killing me that I can't talk to my friend, Elijah. Sometimes I just want to turn it off. My emotions. I just want them to be gone. I don't want to feel all this pain, loss, sadness, anger, and suffering but I do, and it sucks."
"Sofia, you know that, that's not the answer," Elijah says, approaching her slowly.
Sofia sighs, and looks at the floor. "I know that. I know, it's just…. It just hurts so badly sometimes, Elijah," Sofia says, her eyes becoming glassy with tears. She shakes her head quickly, taking a deep breath, and blinking her tears away. "Sorry… These feelings just sneak up on me sometimes."
"Don't apologize for hurting, Sofia," Elijah says, placing a large hand on her shoulder. "I know that it hurts, believe me. But I promise you, as soon as Niklaus is dead, together we'll find a way to get Kol, Rebekah, and Finn back."
"Really?" Sofia asks, her bright eyes shining with hope.
"Really," he says, giving her a genuine smile. Sofia smiles back, and nods slightly.
"Well, I'll leave you to your unpacking," Sofia says, after a delayed silence. "I'm gonna be going to bed… There's blood bags in the freezer… Help yourself to anything. And uh, Trenton is a little uneasy about you being here, so if he's rude to you… Don't think anything on it. But, I'll see you in the morning, or afternoon… Or… Whenever," Sofia says, and Elijah smirks.
"Goodnight, Sofia," he says, kissing her forehead gently.
"Goodnight, Elijah."
-TNOF-
-Flashback. Venice, Italy: 1395-
Weeks after Sofia completed the transition from human to vampire, she finds herself once again, occupying Kol's bedchamber. She had reluctantly accepted her new life, and the fact that she is soon going to have to leave Venice with Kol, but that doesn't mean that she's the slightest bit happy about it, and Kol is very aware of this fact.
Kol walks into his bedchamber after being out for hours, and tosses something small to Sofia. She catches it easily and looks at it. She observes the small ring with a blue stone set beautifully right in the middle of the band.
"Now you will be able to walk in the sun without it burning you," he says, and she looks at him with wide eyes.
"You are certain of this?" she asks, warily, slipping the ring on the index finger of her right hand. He smirks, and blurs over to the window, ripping open the curtains, letting the early morning sunlight flood through the window. Sofia yelps, and cringes away, but blinks when she feels the sunlight hitting her skin without burning her. She looks at her hands, eyes wide as the sun warms them. She looks sharply to her left when she feels Kol stroke her hair gently. "I would like to see my family now, Kol."
"You may see them before we leave," he says, looking down at her, his face blank.
"And when will we be leaving?" she asks.
"In two days, so you may see your family tomorrow," he says, and she nods sadly.
"May I come back and see them again after we leave?" she asks, hopefully.
"Perhaps," he says, taking her hand and leading her out of the room. He takes her into the parlor of his home where two female servants are standing, dazed looks in their eyes, and Sofia looks sharply at Kol. "Now tesoro, you must feed. You know this."
She looks into Kol's dark eyes, and he raises his eyebrows at her, as if daring her to disagree with him. She clenches her jaw, and reluctantly admits to herself that the burning in her throat is becoming unbearable. She looks down at the floor, and sighs through her nose before looking at the woman closest to her, and lets her eyes darken, and her fangs extend. She blurs to the woman and abruptly sinks her fangs into the woman's slender neck, greedily draining the blood from her body.
Kol watches as Sofia slowly drains the blood from the woman's body, his eyes filled with lust and desire. He smirks, and flashes toward the other human, and plunges his fangs into her neck, quickly and expertly draining the blood from her body. He hears Sofia drop her human's lifeless body to the ground and he does the same with his own.
Sofia looks down at the woman's lifeless body, her face slowly changing back to normal. She can't help the guilt that wells up in her chest as she gazes into the woman's glassy, unseeing eyes.
"No need to feel guilty, mia dolce. Humans are meant to be food for us," Kol says, looking at her guilt ridden, blood stained face with narrowed eyes.
"If that is true, then why did you not drain me of my blood like we have done to these women?" Sofia asks, sharply looking at Kol. He clenches his jaw and glares at her.
"Would you have rather I killed you?" Kol asks, and Sofia grins humorlessly.
"You did kill me," she says bitingly, glaring at him. Kol stares at her blankly for a few moments before an amused grin slips onto his face. He slowly stalks towards her, shaking his head a bit.
"That is why I never ended you permanently. Your fire never ceases to amuse and amaze me. Like I have said before, I have grown a ridiculous attachment to you," he says, slowly lowering his face to hers. "Besides…," he says, pressing a slow kiss to her lips. "I always have liked pretty things with sharp tongues."
-TNOF-
'Rose was bitten by Jules. She's missing. Need your help with finding her and calming her down.'
Sofia frowns deeply at the text message she receives from Elena the next night as she sits on the couch. Elijah sits on the opposite end of the couch, reading a book with a glass of blood held elegantly in his fingers. He looks at her, and tilts his head to the side slightly upon seeing her frown.
"I'll be back in a little bit. I have to go help Elena with something," Sofia says, getting up off of the couch, and walking quickly out of her house while sending a quick reply to Elena. She immediately blurs to the center of town, looking around, using her heightened senses to try and find the rabid vampire. She walks for fifteen minutes before she picks up the scent of blood. She quickly runs in the direction that the scent comes from, and finds herself at the high school. She hears a girl scream and blurs in the direction that the scream emitted from, and finds Rose on top of a girl, biting her. Sofia quickly pulls Rose off of the girl and slams her against a car. Rose fights against Sofia's grip, snarling dangerously at her. "Rose, enough! Look at me!"
Rose ignores the older vampire's order and continues to struggle against her. "Rose!" she shouts, shaking her a bit. Rose seems to slowly snap out of her feral state and her face shifts back to normal.
"Sofia?" she asks quietly.
"Rose?" Sofia hears Damon's voice ask from behind her. Sofia turns her head slightly and sees Damon and Elena standing behind her, looking at Rose with similar frowns on their faces.
"Sofia… Did I do this?" Rose asks, looking at the body of the dead teenagers bodies.
"Rose," Sofia says, softly, looking at her sympathetically.
"Oh God…. No, I never wanted to hurt anyone. I didn't mean to do this, Sofia, I swear," Rose says, becoming hysterical.
"Shhh, I know," she says, pulling the slightly younger vampire into her arms. "It's okay."
"Sofia, why don't you and Elena take Rose home? I'll deal with this," Damon says, gesturing to the bodies on the ground. Sofia nods, picking up Rose's quivering form. Damon hands Elena a set of keys.
"No, I don't have a home, I haven't had a home in so long," Rose whimpers, and Sofia frowns, feeling deep pity for the woman. She shuts her eyes as Rose sobs, resting her head on Sofia's shoulder. "Oh make it stop, please make it stop! I hate it, make it stop!"
"It'll be okay, Rose. Everything's gonna be okay," Sofia whispers, keeping pace with Elena as they walk to Damon's car. Once at the car, Sofia gently places Rose in the back, laying her down comfortably, and gets in the passenger seat next to Elena. Elena quickly drives back to the boarding house while listening to Rose whimper in pain from the backseat. Once parked in front of the house, Sofia easily lifts Rose out of the car, and walks slightly behind Elena, nodding slightly when she opens the door for her.
"We can put her in Damon's room," Elena says, and Sofia nods. Elena leads Sofia to Damon's room, and watches as Sofia gently lies Rose down on the bed.
"I'm sorry, Sofia," Rose says, looking up at her through lidded eyes.
"For what?" Sofa asks, frowning slightly, and sitting on the edge of the bed.
"For Lexi. For Kol. For not having a better friendship with you," Rose says, gripping Sofia's hand in hers.
"Shh, don't even think about that right now," Sofia says gently, smoothing some of Rose's sweaty hair away from her face. "Elena, would you go get me a cold cloth please?"
"Of course," she says, walking out of the room.
"Everything hurts," Rose says, shutting her eyes. Sofia merely frowns at the vampire, and continues to smooth her hair back. She hears someone enter the room and turns to see Damon standing there, looking at the scene emotionlessly.
"Hi there," he says, when Rose opens her eyes and looks at him.
"I'm sorry," she says, weakly.
"You went on a murderous rampage. It happens," Damon says, as Elena re-enters the room with a cloth in her hand. She glances at Damon and hands it to Sofia who smiles thankfully to her. Sofia folds the damp cloth and lays it across Rose's forehead and smiles gently when she lets out a slight sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry, Elena. I don't like taking human life, I never have," Rose says, when she sees Elena.
"You shouldn't be here," Damon says, eyeing Elena.
"It's the worst part about it: the hunt, the need to kill, the thirst, the pleasure it brings you afterwards. I wasn't meant to be evil. It hurts," Rose says, looking sadly up at Sofia. Sofia gently squeezes Rose's hand a bit.
"Stop talking about it," Damon says, and Sofia gives him a look.
"Damon's a lot like me. He wants to care but when he does he runs away from it. I'm sorry for what I've done today," Rose says, looking at Elena, speaking as if Damon isn't in the room.
"I know," Elena says, looking at Rose with pity in her eyes.
"And you need to fight. I know that you're scared but you have to do it anyway," Rose says. She looks like she wants to say more, but is cut off by a cough. "Why are you so nice to me?"
"Us humans," Elena says with a slight smile.
"You can never forget it, what it's like to be human. It haunts me. It's the only thing that's kept me going. It doesn't hurt as much anymore," Rose says, and suddenly squeezes Sofia's hand with impressive force, effectively shattering the bones easily. Sofia growls in pain, but quickly stops when Rose begins screaming.
"What do we do?" Elena asks, panicked, looking back and forth between Sofia and Damon.
"Go," Damon says to her.
"Damon…," Elena trails off.
"Just go, I got this," he says, glancing at Sofia. Sofia pries her broken hand from Rose's tight grip and places her good hand on Elena's shoulder, gently guiding her from the room.
"Oh god! Make it stop, make it stop! I can't take it anymore, make it stop!" Rose screams from the bedroom, and Sofia grits her teeth in anger.
"I really hate werewolves," Sofia growls once the two girls arrive downstairs.
"He's gonna kill her, isn't he?" Elena asks, already knowing the answer, and Sofia sighs.
"It's the only thing we can do. She would only get worse, and would die painfully if we let this go on," she says softly, flexing her hand when it heals completely.
"Did you know her well?" Elena asks, and Sofia shakes her head a bit.
"I met Rose through Lexi. They were friends, but Rose and I were more of acquaintances."
"This isn't fair," Elena mutters, and Sofia nods a bit.
"It never is," she says. "We should go. Damon will probably want to be alone."
"Do you want a ride home?" Elena asks, and Sofia shakes her head.
"I'll run. Thank you though," she says, and Elena nods. The two girls exit the boarding house silently, and Elena heads to her car. Sofia waits until Elena starts her car before taking off. She makes it home in seconds, and walks through the front door, and finds Elijah in the kitchen washing a glass.
"Where have you been off to?" he asks when she sits down on one of the stools. Sofia sighs, and runs a hand through her hair.
"Rose was bitten by a werewolf. She was out… Attacking civilians, and I brought her back to the boarding house," Sofia says, and Elijah nods his head knowingly. She stares at the shiny top of the kitchen island, holding her head in her hands, thinking about nothing but the horrifying state she'd witnessed Rose in tonight.
-TNOF-
A/N: And there's chapter 11. Phew, that took a while.
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