"I think I've found the vampire who killed your mom," Her father said quietly one night. Natalie looked up at him in surprise. She was reading some of her mother's research as she usually did when trying find more information about vampires. It was difficult to root fact from fiction when you'd never actually met one in real life.

"What?" Natalie questioned and her father nodded. There was a haunted look in his eyes as he stared at the floor. Natalie knew there was something really wrong.

"I saw him around town," Alaric said, recalling earlier that evening when he spotted the apparent vampire at the Mystic Grill. He knew it was him. Alaric still remembered that night vividly in his head. The vampire who drained his wife dry.

"Who is he?" Natalie questioned, wanting to know who the vampire was. Had she already seen him and she just didn't know who he was at the time? Was it more complicated than that? Natalie wanted to know.

"The less you know, the better," He told her much to her disappointment. "I don't know how old he is. He could be very dangerous. Especially with all the recent animal attacks in this town."

"But Dad…we came to Mystic Falls in search of answers about Mom," Natalie reminded her father, determined to find out what happened to her mother. "Now we've found this vampire and you won't even tell me who he is."

"I don't want to kill him…yet. I want answers for you and me," Her dad said, finally meeting her gaze as Natalie stared back at him. "I just need to find out how dangerous this guy is. The vampire I killed was a new one. It wasn't that difficult but this guy…I just need to know how to go about it."

"Well, I don't want you killing him alone if you think he's that dangerous," Natalie said, glaring at her father. "You need help. I can help."

"No, you can't. You're only twelve," He reminded her and Natalie scoffed.

"I'll be thirteen soon," She also reminded him. "Dad, come on! Why have you been teaching me all this stuff when you weren't even going to let me kill some vampires?"

"I've teaching you this stuff so that you can protect yourself," He snapped at her. Natalie stared at him as he calmed down a bit. Her dad always had a bit of a temper but it was just never directed towards her. "I'm sorry but the training was always for your protection. You'll never understand how scary it is as a parent living in a world where there's things like vampires in existence. Not until you become a parent, at least."

"I can help," Natalie told him and he shook his head.

"You think this is all fun and games, Natalie?" Her father asked her and Natalie grew quiet. "You think you'll kill some vampires and be Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Van Helsing? That it's a fun hobby that we can bond over. It's not fun and games. It's actually life or death."

"I know it's not supposed to be a game," Natalie said quietly, looking at her dad with sad eyes. "I know that but I'm mad. I'm angry, Dad. This thing…it took Mom away from us. It always had her even before she died. I've seen what it's done to you. Maybe I want vengeance. Not for her but for you. It's broken your heart and its stolen my childhood. I just want them to pay."

"I wish you didn't have that sort of attitude. You're too young be this mad," Alaric said quietly as he gazed over at her. Sometimes it was easy to forget she was only a child. Alaric had her when he was only twenty-one so it felt like they'd grown up together in a lot of ways. Maybe it was just the way of having young parents that made her seem so mature and adult-like for her age. Or maybe it was just losing her mother the way she had that made her this way. "You should just be a kid."

"That ship sailed the day that vampire killed Mom," Natalie retorted and he just nodded. He knew that she wasn't going to up and decide that she wanted to leave the vampire stuff out of her life so she could be a normal teenager. It didn't matter how much fun she was having at her new school or the friends she was making. Vampires came first. Just like they did with her mother but it was the reverse. Her mom was fascinated and in awe of vampire folklore while Natalie seemed to just despise them and wish them death. Permanent death.

"I figured as much," Alaric said quietly. "Listen, if this thing ends badly…you need to contact your grandparents. They'll take care of you."

"Dad…" Natalie trailed off, giving him a worried look. He gave her a stern look.

"I'm serious," Alaric told her. "You'll be safe with them. Boston's a long ways away from Mystic Falls. If something ever happens to me, you need to forget about vampires."

"That'll never happen," Natalie declared with a defiant look in her eyes. Alaric shook his head.

"No, you need to forget about vampires…at least, until you're an adult," Alaric said, giving her a small smile at the end. "When you're an adult you can take as many of them down as you want. I know you can do it. I think you'll take everything I ever taught you and you'll do more with it than I ever could."

"Don't talk like you're actually going to die," Natalie told him despite being flattered that her father believed in her so much. Well, most fathers showed that much faith in their daughters in regards to swim meets or spelling bee contests. Not vampire killing.

"I'm not going anywhere," Alaric promised her. "I just want you to know that I think you can do anything you set your mind too."

"Be careful," Natalie said quietly, hoping that he would listen. "If you go after this vampire, just be careful. I lost my mother but I'd be so much worst off if I lost my father too."

It was true.

Natalie was always closer to her father than she was to her mother. It was something her mother resented even though it was partially her fault. Her mother never tried to bond with her beyond whatever she was researching about vampires. Her father was always the one who gave her all the love, care, and devotion her mother never knew how to give.

"I wish you wouldn't talk that way about your mother," Alaric mused quietly and Natalie just shook her head, returning her focus to her mother's research. "She loved you…even if she didn't know how to express it."

"I know," Natalie told him even though she wasn't sure if she entirely believed that. She couldn't remember her mother ever telling her that she loved her much less even cared for her. Natalie knew it made her a terrible person but sometimes she was happy that it was just her father and her with all their vampire adventures.

It was bad, right?

To enjoy life without her mother around anymore.

Natalie never necessarily told her father she felt this way. She didn't want to hurt him. He always loved and adored her mother. Her death had broken his heart and there was no telling what Natalie's feelings on the matter would do to him.

Natalie didn't want to find out.

"You shouldn't have done that," Stefan Salvatore told Alaric as the history teacher scrambled up from the floor in an attempt to defend himself against the vampire. "Have a seat."

Alaric looked up at him in confusion. He expected the vampire to retaliate or even kill him. He didn't expect whatever this was.

Was it a game or something else?

"What is this? Compressed air?" Stefan asked him, analyzing the weapon in his hand that he'd taken from the history teacher. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Who are you?" Stefan asked him when Alaric didn't answer. "I'm not going to hurt you unless you try that again."

Alaric didn't know how to answer that.

One moment he was in his classroom after hours, studying Johnathan Gilbert's journal that Jeremy Gilbert had loaned him and the next he was aware of a sinister presence in the deserted school building. Natalie was at Madison Cartwright's house for dinner and he was meant to pick her up in an hour. He was relieved that she hadn't stayed with him at the school like she often did while he graded papers and she did her own homework.

At least, she was safe.

"Now…" Stefan said, after handing Alaric his weapon back and taking a seat on one of the desks. "Who are you?

"I'm a teacher," Alaric answered cryptically.

"Are we going to have to do this the hard way?" Stefan asked him, not believing a word he said.

"I'm also a historian," Alaric told him, meeting his gaze. "And while researching Virginia, I…made a few discoveries about your town."

"So you show up. Like Van Helsing," Stefan said, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "Come on. Tell me the truth."

"My wife was a parapsychologist," Alaric finally confessed. "She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here."

"Where's your wife?" Stefan asked him and Alaric took a deep breath before answering.

"Dead," He admitted without missing a beat. "A vampire killed her."

"Where's the Gilbert journal?" Stefan asked him and Alaric narrowed his eyes at the vampire. "What do you want with it?"

"Where is it?" Stefan asked again.

"It's on my desk," Alaric answered honestly. Stefan shook his head.

"No, it's not," Stefan told him and Alaric casually glanced towards his desk where the journal was no longer sitting.

"It was on my desk," Alaric told him and Stefan swallowed hard. He believed him. It was clear that they weren't the only ones after the Gilbert journal. Stefan nodded before casting his attention back to Alaric. He wanted to get to the bottom of whatever brought Alaric to this town.

"How long have you been aware of me?" Stefan asked him curiously. Alaric shrugged.

"I learned just recently," Alaric admitted and he was careful not to mention that his daughter was also aware of vampires. He didn't want them targeting her. She needed to stay out of this vampire business for as long as possible. That was his mission. Her training had strictly been self-defense. He didn't want it to become an active part of her life just yet. She wasn't ready. "What about your brother?"

"You met Damon," Stefan stated and it wasn't a question. Alaric shook his head.

"Who do you think killed my wife?" Alaric told him and Stefan wasn't surprised. It sounded like something his brother would do and Damon had pissed off a lot of people in his existence. It was no surprise that some vampire hunter had come to town in search of him.

"Are you certain it was Damon?" Stefan asked him.

"I witnessed it."

"If you're here for revenge, this is going to end badly for you," Stefan told him and it wasn't a threat. It was just a fact.

"I just want to find out what happened my wife. I need answers…my daughter needs answers," Alaric told him and Stefan raised an eyebrow. He was vaguely aware that the new history teacher had a daughter. Stefan thought he remembered Elena mentioning how Mr. Saltzman's daughter was friends with Bonnie's little sister.

"You have a daughter?" Stefan asked even though he already the answer. "You shouldn't have come here. It's no place for kids. Especially not with parents who involve themselves in vampire business."

"I didn't have much of a choice," Alaric argued, glaring at Stefan. "He killed her with my daughter asleep just upstairs. Do you know how terrifying that is for a child who's mother vanished from beneath them?"

"Does your daughter know about vampires?" Stefan asked bluntly and Alaric met his gaze.

"No. She doesn't know a thing," Alaric lied. He thought it was a greater advantage for his daughter if the vampires didn't know that she knew anything. It would make her safer.

"Wait…you said that you need answers," Stefan said, remembering what Alaric said just a moment ago. "I thought you just said that Damon-"

"Yeah," Alaric said, interrupting the vampire. "I saw him draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming. He just…disappeared. So did her body. They never found her."

"Damon, can never know why you're here," Stefan told him with a serious expression on his face. "He'll kill you without blinking. I'd want to believe he wouldn't do the same to your daughter but my brother's unpredictable. It's not safe for her either."

"I can take care of my daughter and myself," Alaric answered, clearly not afraid of Damon Salvatore. Stefan scoffed.

"No, you can't," He warned him. "I can help you and your daughter…if you let me."

"So spill the deets on your dad and Jenna Sommers," Lydia told Natalie as they ate lunch in the school cafeteria. Natalie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. As happy she was for her dad to finally move on from her mother, it made her uncomfortable discussing her dad's love life. Especially to a school gossip like Lydia and someone who harbored a small crush on her dad which was beyond gross. "You know…Elena and Jeremy Gilbert's aunt?"

"There's nothing to tell," Natalie told her friend. Bianca smirked at the uncomfortable look on Natalie's face while Madison only watched in interest. "They're just two adults seeing each other. I don't know how old people date. It's weird."

"How serious is it?" Lydia asked demandingly and Natalie rolled her eyes.

"I don't know why you want to know so badly," Natalie told her friend and Madison giggled.

"It's only because Lydia has a massive crush on your dad," Madison told her which caused a disgusted look to come over Natalie's face. Lydia blushed while Bianca just looked amused.

"That's disgusting," Natalie remarked, practically stabbing her food with her fork in annoyance. She didn't really get the appeal of her dad. Maybe it was because she was his daughter and didn't see him as hot or particularly attractive. She supposed he was a young dad, after all. He had her very young so he was different than a lot of other dads.

"It's a small town and your dad and Jenna Sommers are the main topic of gossip right now," Lydia explained and Bianca scoffed.

"Only because nothing else interesting ever happens in Mystic Falls other than the new history teacher and Elena Gilbert's aunt dating," Bianca said sarcastically. Natalie was still getting used to how fast word traveled in this town. It was weird and eerie how everyone seemed to know everything about everyone.

It was definitely an uneasy feeling.

Especially for a vampire hunter and a vampire hunter's daughter who just so happened to be in training.

"There's really nothing to spill," Natalie insisted much Lydia's disbelief. "I think they've gone out for drinks a couple times and she came over for dinner last week. That's it. My dad doesn't really share the highlights of his love life with me."

"This is so cool," Madison said dreamily as she stared at Natalie. "If your dad and Jenna got married then you'd be cousins with Elena Gilbert. She's only one of the most popular girls at Mystic Falls High. Well, next to Caroline Forbes but Elena's super nice unlike Caroline."

"I'm really starting to get scared of this Caroline Forbes girl," Natalie said jokingly, looking at her three friends. Bianca shook her head in amusement because she knew Natalie was only trying to change the subject from her father's love life. "She sounds terrifying."

"You're right to be scared," Bianca retorted after taking a sip from her water bottle. "Caroline Forbes is definitely a force to be reckoned with. She literally tried to take a necklace back from my sister,that she gave to her as a gift, by telling her that the necklace somehow made her look fat."

"What?" Natalie questioned in disbelief. Bianca laughed before nodding.

"Yeah, she's crazy but somehow my sister still loves her," Bianca confessed although she was amused by Caroline's antics. It's not like she didn't like her or anything. She'd known both Caroline and Elena since she was born.

"Well, my dad's probably taking things slow," Natalie said, changing the subject a bit while wanting to put an end to it at the same time. "After my mom and everything."

"Well, hopefully Jenna will make him happy," Madison said optimistically. It seemed as though Madison was the cheerful and light-hearted one of the group which Natalie always envied. She was often cynical and pessimistic, she didn't know how to see the bright side of things. Not with all that happened to her in the past.

"Hopefully," Natalie said before Lydia started to bring up the subject of their group project from history class. She was thankful for the change in subject.

It was weird talking about her dad's love life and her dead mother.

Not bad but just weird.

Besides…Natalie would much rather put her focus on her mother's potential vampire killer that was apparently in town. It was strange to think he was in town with her out of all the places in the world he could've been. In a way, it had driven her to paranoia.

Every guy she saw, she secretly wondered if it was him.

How could she tell?

It's not like vampires ran around with a big V tattooed across their forehead. She wished they had. It would make seeking them out that much simpler.

For now, she would just have to keep an eye out.

There was no telling where this mysterious vampire could be lurking.