Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries

…

Rei climbed from the car quickly, closing her eyes against the endless giggles that abruptly cut off as she slammed the door closed.

Never again would she ride anywhere with Caroline and her significant other.

"You alright there, Rei?"

Looking up, she grinned at the sight of a mildly concerned Jeremy standing in a suit vest, his arm wrapped possessively around the exotic looking Wiccan.

"Caroline and Matt are being annoyingly…affectionate," She grimaced, pointing a finger behind her in explanation.

The couple nodded at her, Bonnie chuckling, but it was the weak, distracted smile that Jeremy flashed that caught her attention.

Walking up to the pair, she let her eyes trail over their outfits, a smile twitching the edges of her lips when she noticed the 'big hair' that Bonnie was sporting.

"I like your dress," Rei tilted her head, eyeing the high, orange go-go boots appreciatively.

This time, Bonnie beamed. "Thanks! You look fantastic by the way. I never even thought of going in the more casual sixties clothes," She finished thoughtfully.

Looking down at herself, Rei smirked. Caroline had been a touch jealous that she hadn't thought of it as well. The light, ripped, flared jeans rode low on her hips, a colourful tassel belt hanging down the left side of her leg. Ending just above her belly button was the white peasant top she'd found in amongst Damon's boxes, the cute cap sleeves lending the sexy look a sweet edge.

She'd been planning to straighten her hair, wanting to go all out, but Caroline had vetoed that idea, hiding the hair straightener somewhere in her house when Rei hadn't paid her any attention. Consequently, her large, ebony, corkscrew curls floated half-way down her back, a tan strip of leather, tied around the top of her head, holding them out of her eyes. Along with the old-sandal platforms that she'd filched, Rei couldn't have been more pleased with her authentic, sixties outfit.

"Thanks," She laughed, brushing back the one, black curl that Caroline had left free of the head-band, "who knew picking out an outfit from a by-gone era was actually fun?"

Jeremy's weak smile lost some of its strain then, and in a debonaire move, he offered her his other arm, "Shall we?"

Bonnie giggled, sending Rei a happy look. "Let's," The Wiccan nodded.

Walking into the crowded high-school gym she let her eyes run over the simple, yet, charming decorations with delight. She knew that Damon had been exaggerating. Sure, it was nothing to the types of parties that she was used to, but the space was buzzing with energy and laughter.

"Hey, you two!" Turning around, she caught Elena's pause when she noticed Rei standing beside her best-friend and brother but the brunette was quick to shake it off, giving her a small, friendly nod of greeting.

But Rei was much more preoccupied with the potential dance partner that had just arrived with the Petrova doppelgänger.

"Damon!" She grinned. Reaching forward she grabbed his wrist, her fingers too small to wrap around the limb entirely. "You're here, good." She pulled. "Dance with me!" Without giving him a choice in the matter, she yanked them both into the crowd of students.

Seeing the shocked look on Bonnie's face out of the corner of her eye, she winked, laughing when her hazel-green eyes lit up with challenge and, following her example, grabbed Jeremy and pushed him onto the dance-floor.

Strong arms circled her waist, distracting her. "Didn't know you were so eager to be in my arms, princess," The eldest Salvatore teased wickedly, pulling her close.

Looping her arms around his neck, emerald eyes rolled. "Your ego is incredible, blue eyes," She drawled. "In any case, most guys my age can't dance. You, on the other hand, grew up in the booming south before the war. Balls and dances are in your blood."

A sly smirk pulled up the right side of his mouth. "Very true," He conceded, before abruptly spinning her out, tipping her low as he reeled her back in.

Rei laughed.

…

"Everyone! Can I have everyone's attention!" Along with most of gym, Elena looked towards the stage, smiling when she saw Caroline's helper, Dana, at the microphone. "We have a very special shout-out tonight. This is for Elena…from Klaus."

Everything came to a grounding halt in that moment, the smile slipping off her face as if it had never been.

Oh God.

"...That was a lame, cheap shot," Damon scoffed, deliberately filling the stunned, horrified silence that had descended over the group. "He's trying to bait us."

Elena's eyes flittered rapidly over the student body, searching frantically for an unfamiliar face. But there was none. "I-I know everyone here," She stuttered, her heart beating fast in her chest as that realisation sunk in.

"He might not be here." Stefan reassured, taking her hand, pulling her close. "Damon's right, he could just be messing with us."

"It's a party people," Damon hissed, "blend. Let him come to us."

Elena tried to calm her breathing, looking up into Stefan's concerned eyes with a weak smile.

"There's Rick," Damon pointed, his jaw tense. "I'll be back."

And then he was gone.

...

Spinning around Caroline, the two girls grinned at each other, completely lost to the pulsing music.

"Didn't I tell you that you'd have fun?" The blonde shouted over the noise.

Rei grinned, nodding, "You did, but I've always been somewhat of a party girl, Care." And hadn't that particular personality trait pleased Sirius to no end when he found out.

"Believe me," Dressed as Jackie Kennedy, the prim and proper vampire was a strange sight amongst the sea of blinding colours. "I've realised."

Seeing Matt approaching them from over Caroline's shoulder, Rei smirked; and, giving her dance partner a quick wave, disappeared into the crowd of students with a twirl.

There was just one other thing she had to do tonight.

Squeezing through the tightly packed bodies, she headed towards the refreshments table, sliding a deceptively large flask out from where she'd strapped it against her calf earlier this evening. You could say a lot of bad things about flared jeans but not their fabulous ability at hiding things you didn't want seen.

Darting into a shadowed area near the stage, emerald orbs twinkled with mischief as she loosened the lid on the metal flask.

...

Sidling up to Alaric, Damon's eyes narrowed suspiciously on the crowd, searching for anything odd or out-of-place.

"Special dedication, huh?" The history teacher murmured without turning, evidently having sensed his approach. "Little twisted." A small, amused smirk was pulling up the corner of Rick's mouth, his friend's eyes focused on something across the dance floor.

"I'm not impressed," Damon stated boldly, and, with a frown of curiousity, followed the hunter's line of vision to the other side of the room.

Standing, with her back to the refreshment table, was a strangely innocent looking Rei Potter. In fact, ice-blue orbs narrowed, it was that very same innocent expression that told him she was up to something.

If he'd learnt anything about the confident, green-eyed beauty it was that she could not be underestimated.

As for the wide-gaze, sweetly nervous blush and innocent light that was practically shining from her right now? He would believe Klaus had surrendered to them before he would believe that.

"No?" Alaric asked him, eyes still on the black-haired girl across the room.

"What is she doing?" Damon asked suspiciously, not really expecting an answer out of the often oblivious hunter.

A deep chuckle left the human beside him. "Well," Rick tilted his head, grinning with unhidden amusement as they both watched Rei simply melt back into the crowd. "I saw her tip a significant amount of liquid into the punch, does that help?"

"She spiked it?" He deadpanned. He hadn't thought that she'd been serious when she said that she would earlier today.

"It would seem so," Rick hummed, turning to face him.

Damon arched an eyebrow at the almost lazy posture of the history teacher. Both his arms were folded across his chest, his eyelids drooped with sudden boredom; for all the world he looked like the reluctant adult forced to watch over teenagers against his will.

"You have to be the world's most ineffective chaperone. Shouldn't you be scolding her or something?" He asked, curious about his friend's almost nonchalant attitude.

He'd have bet his best bottle of whiskey that Alaric would have been a nervous bottle of emotions going back and forth over whether he should do something about Rei's unethical actions.

But Rick was having none of it. "Is Elena alright?" He asked, changing the subject entirely.

Damon felt his expression darken at the reminder of the reason he'd come over here in the first place.

"Stefan's looking after her," He muttered angrily, glaring out at the dancing mass of bodies. "Let me know if you see anything out of whack, okay?"

...

"Mind if I cut in?"

Caroline looked up to see Stefan smiling at them, a strange urgency in his eyes that made any objection, when a nodding Matt pulled away, die in her throat.

"What it is?" She asked tensely, feeling odd in the steel bands of his arms.

"Klaus is here," He murmured softly against her ear. "No, no, don't freak out," He tightened his grip on her when she froze, her spine straightening to an almost painful degree. "Elena realised that you didn't know, she wanted you to be prepared."

She nodded stiffly, her sky-blue eyes enormous and afraid as she scanned the people surrounding them.

"Where is he?" Caroline asked, speaking past the nervous lump in her throat with difficulty.

"We don't know," Stefan admitted reluctantly, "Just keep an eye out."

Feeling him pull away, she suddenly snapped out a hand, grabbing his black jacket. "No, wait!" He turned around, concerned. "Rei doesn't know either."

Whatever had happened to make them think Klaus was here, it must have been when they'd both escaped the gym to fix her wardrobe malfunction. They couldn't have been gone longer than ten minutes, but apparently, that was all the time that was needed.

Stefan sighed, running an anxious hand through his hair, but he nodded at her. "Okay, someone will let her know," He promised.

"Everything okay?" Matt asked from behind her.

Spinning around with surprise, not having heard him come up behind her, Caroline shook her head. "No, yeah, no…it's fine. Everything's fine."

…

"Want to dance?"

Glancing over the rim of her plastic-cup Rei saw a tall, attractive young man smiling at her hopefully. He had that confident, popular air about him. The nice smile, nice eyes, nice jaw-line; everything was eye-catching, but not unusual.

Rei smiled apologetically. "Maybe some other time, I'm having a bit of a breather," She lied expertly.

He looked disappointed but accepted her refusal gracefully, flashing her a grin before going back to his friends.

"Breaking hearts everywhere, aren't you?" A soft, familiar voice murmured in her ear.

"Hardly breaking hearts, Alaric," She denied, turning around to face him.

"Oh, I don't know," The hunter smirked. "That boy has been eyeing you for the last ten minutes. His friends finally convinced him to ask you to dance and you turn him down, sounds like teenage heartbreak to me."

"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine," She grumbled, drinking deeply from her cup of alcoholic punch.

"Would you care to dance?"

Looking at the outstretched hand in front of her, Rei raised an eyebrow. "Now how would that look to the guy I just said I was taking a breather to, hmm?"

Alaric grinned, "Best he learn now what a gentle letdown is, than later in life."

"Cruel," She pointed a finger at him, but all he did was smile. Rolling her eyes, Rei set her half-empty cup down on the table beside her and grasped his hand. "Fine, one dance."

"...Are you enjoying yourself?"

"I am actually," She grinned up at him. "It's small, yes, but lively. Speaking of which, how are your chaperoning duties going?"

A wry grin stretched the corners of his mouth, making her tilt her head at him curiously. "It's strange being on the other side," Alaric admitted with a small chuckle. "I love a good party, I'm not used to being the one that keeps it under control."

Moving gently to the music, caught up in conversation, she never noticed the complicated foot movements the history teacher was employing, never noticed how she instinctively followed his lead, never missing a step.

But he did.

"Really?" Rei drew the word out playfully, but couldn't hide the honest surprise in her tone. She knew Alaric was anything but a wet blanket, but a party animal? That, she hadn't expected.

Brown orbs gleamed down at her with private laughter, as if her words held a special, untold amusement for him that she couldn't hope to understand.

"You know the Viennese Waltz," Alaric commented, an impressed edge to his voice.

Startled out of her thoughts, Rei looked down at her feet in surprise, shocked when she realised that they'd just completed the most complicated section of the dance seamlessly.

"I didn't know you could dance, Alaric," She laughed, amused by his sly evaluation of her skills. She hadn't even realised what he was doing.

He smirked, "There's a lot you don't know about me, Rei."

"Is that so?" She lent back, arching a teasing brow. "Sounds mysterious."

He chuckled. "Want to tell me how a Mystic Falls resident knows the steps to some of the world's most complicated, traditional dances?"

She hesitated, "…Well, when you come from a family like mine, you have to know them." Biting her lip in indecision, she finally just shrugged, not seeing the harm in telling him. "My family is very old, one of the…aristocracy, you might say. It was expected for me to know how to dance."

Alaric stared down at her for a long moment, a hungry curiousity burning in his brown orbs that had her instinctively shifting in his arms, feeling strangely uncomfortable.

"Can I speak to you for a minute?" He suddenly asked, breaking the oddly tense silence that had settled over them. "Alone?"

"Why? Is something wrong?" She asked immediately, a frown wrinkling her forehead.

"I just need to ask you something…something that isn't for all ears," Brown eyes stared down at her pointedly.

"Alright," Rei agreed, shrugging.

Without another word, he took her hand, leading her through the crowd.

"I think my classroom will be the best place to talk," Alaric told her.

Walking through the dimly lit halls, her heels echoing softly in the silence, emerald eyes glanced around at all the trophies and notice boards lining the walls with curiousity.

"What has you so interested, love?" He asked from beside her, having spent the silent minutes as they walked to their destination observing her. "I normally know what other people are thinking,…"

There was that endearment again; she shot him a confused look.

"Nothing," Rei shook her head, frowning. Something about this situation felt…off. "It's just…interesting, I suppose, to see how different this school is from my own."

Alaric raised an intrigued eyebrow, looking like he might question her further but they'd finally arrived at his classroom. Pushing the door open, he reached inside to flick on the lights before waving her in.

The door clicked shut behind them.

Turning around, Rei crossed her arms, sending the hunter an expectant look. "So, what did you want to talk to me about that required such privacy, Alaric?"

He didn't waste any time. "I think you should tell me where you've hidden the moonstone."

"Why?" She frowned. "It's safer if I'm the only one that knows."

Alaric nodded, a touch impatiently. "I know. But what if something happened? I'm not going to tell anyone, but I think that it's better if two people know where the stone is."

Her eyebrows rose.

"I disagree," Rei shrugged, not moved by his entreaty in the least. "This way, you don't have to lie when you tell everyone that you don't know where it is."

Brown eyes hardened slightly. "You're being unreasonable," He spoke lowly, his voice soft in the otherwise quiet room.

Emerald eyes narrowed.

"Am I?" She asked quietly, inspecting his confident body language carefully. "What's going on, Alaric?" Rei demanded sharply, at the end of her patience. "I might not have known you for very long, but I do know when you're not acting like yourself. You're sharper, quicker on the up-take, you've not blushed or stumbled over your words once today, not even when I mentioned Jenna. Not to mention this," She waved her arm widely. "Demanding to know the location of the moonstone. I'm stubborn. You should know me well enough by now to know that guilting me into telling you isn't going to work. Not once I've already made up my mind. So, I'll ask again; what is going on?"

The silence stretched. Brown and emerald staring each other down, neither surrendering.

"Well, that's too bad," Alaric suddenly exhaled, as if put-upon. "I had hoped you would be as…accommodating as the others have been." He pushed off from the desk, taking a step towards her.

Bright viridian orbs darkened as she caught the change in his gait. Absent was the endearing lope that characterised the history teacher's stride, the self-assured, yet, careful walk that had told her more of his forceful entry into the supernatural world than his eyes.

All of that…was gone.

With confident, almost arrogant grace, Alaric stalked towards her with the lazy darkness of a true predator.

"I noticed that you don't wear vervain. At first, I thought that you must ingest it like everyone else around here seems to. But I couldn't smell it in your blood during that delightful sparing session we had this morning." A dark, slow smirk spread across his lips, "And trust me, you gave me ample opportunity to get close enough to check."

A sudden, humourless laugh escaped her.

A laugh that died quickly as her friend's shadow engulfed her.

Shaking her head, silently cursing her own idiocy, Rei raised her chin to meet his eyes.

"Klaus, I presume?" She smiled bitterly.

He'd fooled her.

Walls rose with startling speed and efficiency.

Walls that hadn't known they were being deceived. Unfairly circumvented. Granting access of her true, unguarded personality to a man, a vampire, she never would have allowed so close. Now, those same breached defences rebuilt themselves in seconds.

Alaric's weathered features pulled up into a cruelly mocking grin. "Don't be so hard on yourself, love, you were fantastic company."

Bright viridian darkened. The warm playfulness that had dominated emerald eyes bleeding away until all that remained were icy chips of stone. Every shred of laughter, of light, of gentleness, all of it vanished with chilling completeness.

Rei tilted her head to the side, cold eyes running over Alaric's body. "Possession, Klaus?" Her eyes flicked up, locking with false brown. "How classy," She quipped, her lip curled with unhidden disdain.

A flare of annoyance brightened Alaric's eyes, making her smirk.

Klaus chuckled, raising a hand to clasp the back of her neck in a tight hold.

Rei instantly stilled. Her muscles tensed, waiting impatiently for her command to move, to defend itself, but she forced the instinct down, determined to wait for the best opportunity to strike.

He might be possessing a human but she had no idea what talents or strengths from his own body had carried over.

And she wasn't about to make a mistake.

Klaus dragged her head forward, resting his forehead against her own, staring into her eyes. His pupils suddenly dilated, and she only had time to be surprised that he still had the ability to compel before the force of his power hit her mental shields.

"Tell me where the moonstone is," Alaric demanded softly, clutching the back of her neck in an iron hold.

Rei breathed in sharply, wincing in pain as wave after wave of indomitable persuasion crashed against her mind. It wasn't a whisper of suggestion, insidious, sly, like the imperious. This was ruthless, demanding her submission.

She gritted her teeth, clenching her jaw shut against the urge to speak, glaring blackly into the hard eyes staring into her own.

"No," Her refusal was strong, absolute.

And it infuriated the ancient vampire wearing her friend's body.

The warm hand around her neck tightened, forced her forehead against Alaric's with painful pressure. "Tell me where the moonstone is!" He growled harshly, brown eye's alight with impatience.

The compulsion seemed to echo loudly in her head, never letting up, demanding her compliance, her obedience.

Rei pushed back against the force violently. Matching Klaus's determination to know, his will to succeed, his power, his ruthlessness, with her own.

"No!" She snarled, rage practically sparking from her eyes.

She would not be controlled!

"Tell me where it is!" He roared in her face, livid at her rebellion, her presumptuous intention to thwart his will.

When that new tidal wave of compulsion hit her mind's shields, Rei clenched her teeth together with such strength she didn't dare breathe in-case the answer to his question slipped out.

No. She drew in a sharp breath through her nose, balling her fists at her sides. No. He'd fooled her once. She was not giving him this. He was not forcing this information from her against her will.

Her mind abruptly calmed. Her will dipping into that well in the back of her mind that had never failed her in the past. The same well she'd drawn strength from when she was just fourteen years old and Lord Voldemort had turned the power of his Imperious Curse on her mind.

Her jaw unlocked, her fingers slowly uncurling.

Rei smirked. "No," She whispered, her voice calm, at-ease.

Alaric's face twisted, a dark, forbidding scowl pulling down the hunter's bushy brows. And then, like a switch had been flipped, his expression cleared, brown orbs becoming thoughtful as he gazed down at her.

Rei didn't hesitate.

The heel of her hand came up sharply, smashing into his nose, the satisfying crunch of broken bone and cartilage echoing around the classroom. The punishing grip on her neck loosened and she kicked out, sweeping his feet from under him. Alaric went down hard.

Darting forward, she sprinted for the door, not knowing what else to do but find Bonnie and hope she knew a way of undoing the possession spell.

She cried out with surprise as an iron arm clamped around her waist, hauling her back and around.

How the hell had he recovered so fast?!

Using his own momentum against him, Rei pulled at the restraining arm as her feet hit the ground, forcing his body to complete its own forward projection. Alaric lost his footing, falling sideways' into the row of desks.

Spinning on her heel, eyes locked on the still-closed door, a fast hand suddenly wrapped tightly around her wrist, jerking her down. She stumbled. Twisting in the air, the angle of her body dangerously awkward, Rei flung out her only free hand in a panicked attempt to cushion her fall.

Pain exploded behind her eyes as her temple connected solidly with the corner of a student desk.

Darkness took her.

…