Season 1 The Night of the Comet
That morning I woke up to a sprits of water to my face. I spit when it hit me, the cold taking me off guard. I reached up and tried to block it from my face, trying so desperately to not let it hit me.
"Good morning."
I turned over and squinted to find my mother standing over me, her arms crossed over her chest and her face less than happy.
"The sprinklers mom? Really?" I asked, still spitting water out of my mouth. "Did you know I was out here?"
"Yup." She responded, popping the 'p.' She wasn't laughing, she wasn't even cracking a smile. It was very uncharacteristic of her. I finally stood up, not letting the assault of the sprinklers hit me anymore.
"And you didn't think to wake me up or take me inside?" I asked with a slight attitude.
"It's not my fault that you passed out in the front yard." She said with a shrug. "How much did you drink last night?"
"None." I responded, as if the answer was obvious. I didn't even remember how I got home. I remember being at the Grill waiting for mom to come and get me and the rest was dark. It was all drawing a blank to me. Had someone drugged me? Had someone taken me home and I didn't remember? Did I wonder off by myself?
"So you were just so tired you passed out in the front yard." She said, not believing even what she was saying. I nodded. "I was worried sick you know that? That girl was attacked last night and I didn't know where you were."
"I'm sorry mom." I told her, then I cracked a smile. "If you think about it, it's your fault I was there at all."
You know when your mom gets that face? That face that you know is a bad face and when it shows up you know you should run for the hills? That was the face my mother made after I said that statement.
"You're grounded." She said. "No TV, no cell phone, and no drawing for two weeks."
"No drawing?" I asked outraged. She gave me one curt nod before turning on her heel and heading inside. She slammed the door behind her. I felt my stomach drop and my heart felt like it was going to break. No art? For two weeks? I didn't remember what happened to me, how was it my fault that I didn't remember? I understood why she was mad, but punishing me for something I didn't even remember was beyond unfair.
I huffed when I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned into my hip. I realized then just then how sore I was. I ached all over and my neck was a bit still. I stretched but all that did was hurt. I had to bring myself up by using the house as a crutch. Once I was standing I had to wait a few second because I was really dizzy.
What did I do last night?
Damon was quite satisfied with himself. He had a belly full of human blood and a skip to his step the next morining. Feeding off innocent mortals just gave him such a tickle, especially when that human's blood tasted as good at Alex Gilbert's did. Something about it was sweet and it seemed to taste better than any other human's he had tasted. He hated using Twilight as a vampire reference, but it was kind of like how Bella's blood sang to Edward. But Damon was nowhere near as unmanly as that Edward guy.
He had wanted to taste her the moment he smelled her. He had been watching, biding his time for the right moment to strike. Last night, she was so entranced by him, he couldn't stop himself from taking that opportunity even if he tried. He remembered the way she whimpered when he bit her, and the way her heart picked up speed. Just thinking about it made his mouth water.
He also remembered laying her outside of her house, sleeping and newly compelled. In a perfect world, he would have already been invited into her home, that way he could have deposited his new blood bag to safety. But alas, he was not that lucky and had to leave her outside. He had woken her up before he left, made her forget she ever met him and fed her some of his blood. She would be full of the savory liquid in a day or two.
He couldn't wait to feed from her again. He guessed it was the vampire side of him. He loved feeling the fear in his prey when he sucked them dry, and Alex was full of it. Both blood and fear. It also helped that she was a good thing to look at. She was quite pretty, a little average, but he couldn't deny that she was a looker. She just hid behind long locks and oversized t shirts. She wasn't confident, which made her perfect for her to do his bidding. Although she was from a founding family, she was barely accepted as such. She didn't wear vervain, and she most certainly didn't ingest it. She was also so taken by him, he was slightly surprised how much she had taken to him in such a sort amount of time. It made it all the more easily to use her for his advantage. He would eventually probably kill her, not being able to stop himself, but for the time being he was going to use her for that sweet liquid of hers.
"You're awfully cheery this morning." Zach said when Damon came into the parlor. Damon smirked at his distant nephew. Zach was more than upset at the fact that Damon was here. They had never got along, and Stefan had poisoned the young man's view of Damon, not that he minded. Damon loved being the bad guy.
"Women do that to you Zach." Damon commented before he turned and walked out of the house.
I dressed for school very slowly, so as to not hurt myself whilst my dizzy spell went on. Mom didn't say goodbye before she left for work, something that I expected but didn't enjoy. I knew she was mad, but that didn't mean that she could ignore me. What if something happened to either of us the last words we said to each other were less than loveable. I tried not to let it bother me though. If she was out until the crack of dawn and passed out in the front lawn, I would probably do the same thing. It still baffled me how in the world I had gotten there in the first place. It was like a hole in my memory, just a dark hole in the timeline.
I walked to school, almost being late because of how slow I was walking. I was really pale today, much more than usual. I also had to be careful because the sharpest movement made me dizzy. I didn't know what happened last night but I was really regretting it. I trekked to my locker putting in the combination.
"Alex!"
I jumped at the loud call of my name and practically dropping the books I had in my hand. I turned and there skipped Caroline Forbes. She was hopping right up towards me with a large grin on her face. I felt my skin crawl.
"Hi Caroline." I said, really confused. She didn't seem to notice. Caroline didn't just talk to me for no reason. Actually she didn't talk to me at all. Last night she hadn't talked to me until I said something first. I was starting to wonder if all of this was a dream.
"Hi!" She said in her more than perky voice. I cringed a bit. "Ok I have a question for you."
"Uhm ok?" I said gathering my books for first period. I was utterly confused as to why she was going to ask me something. If anything I expected something that would be good for her and bad for me.
"I need people to hand out flyers tomorrow for the night of the comet." She said. I closed my locker and looked back to her. "It starts right after school."
"Isn't that something the cheerleaders usually do?" I asked her. Usually the popular, pretty girls did stuff like that. They were much better with people and better to look at then the quiet wall flowers.
"Well now that you are in our group I figured that you would want to hang out with all of us." She said. I gave her a look and heard the scoff come out before I even thought it through.
"Your group?" I asked. She nodded, looking at me like I was crazy. "I didn't even know we were friends."
"Any friend of Elena's is a friend of mine." She said. I almost rolled my eyes. "Besides you were there for me last night. What you said was really sweet."
I stared at her for a long while. I didn't understand why being a decent person made us suddenly friends. Sure, I had been civil with Elena and I had a budding friendship with Bonnie, but that didn't mean she had to talk to me. But then it occurred to me… maybe she wanted to talk to me. Maybe she had a change of heart when it came to me. Maybe she realized that I wasn't such a freak after all.
"It was the truth." I replied to her with a shrug. She had an expression that told me she didn't fully believe it. It made me a little sad.
"Regardless, you are with us now and if you want to help out we would love you to be there." She said.
You are with us now.
It sounded like I had just joined a cult. I wondered if I had. All of this was weird and moving very fast. I didn't know how I felt about all of this. It was bizarre, but yet it was a good feeling to know that I was being included instead of excluded. It felt kind of good to feel like I belonged, even if this was short term. I didn't know if one day Elena got bored with this whole scheme and took them with her. I would sink back into my life of solitude and remember what it was like to have friends. I didn't know if I could handle that.
"I have work anyway." I told her. She pouted and I felt a twang of regret. I wondered if hanging around them would be fun, even if I was hanging out flyers. But with Vicki's injury there was a lot of work to pick up the slack from.
"You always have work." She whined. I found it actually funny as opposed to being annoying. "I'll see you at the Grill though."
I nodded. She smiled and skipped off. That was probably the weirdest conversation I have ever had. With a shake of my head and a twitch of a smile I gathered my stuff and closed my locker. I made my way to class, not looking Tanner in the eye when I entered his classroom and he looked up at me. I planned to shrink back and remain unseen today but apparently he had other plans.
"Ms. Gilbert."
I felt my stomach clench and I felt like I was going to throw up. I wasn't mentally or emotionally prepared for his wrath. I had felt very confident yesterday but now I was utterly terrified. I turned back to him, looking down at the floor. I was very fascinated with the dirt on my converse.
"Not so sassy today are we?" He asked with such malice it mentally slapped me. I shook my head. I didn't like backing down but I was already in enough trouble, I shouldn't make it worse. "I understand that you have received two weeks detention for your behavior yesterday."
I nodded once again. I didn't have the voice to answer him with words. I knew that was probably best, considering Tanner liked to hear his own voice compared to anyone else's.
"I would have preferred a worse sentencing but I have come up with something of my own." He said. I looked up then, not knowing what he was talking about. "I will be giving you an alternate assignment."
"What alternate assignment?" I asked him before adding, "Sir."
"I'm glad you asked." He said with an evil smirk. He turned around and reached behind him into his briefcase. He shuffled around in it for a few minutes before he returned to his original position. When he turned back around he handed me a book. I took it gingerly. The title read The History of Mystic Falls a book written by William Tanner.
"You wrote a book?" I asked him, my eyebrows shooting up. He smirked with a nod. "That's uhm… cool."
"It is." He mused. "I want you to read my book cover to cover and then write a ten page book report on it."
I wanted to tell him how idiotic it was to have a student read their teachers novel and how biased that would be, but I knew that talking back to him only caused me more trouble. So I kept my mouth shut and nodded. He gave me one curt nod as well before gesturing for me to sit down. I did as he said and found my seat. Once I was seated, I started to look the book over. It was fairly long, 350 pages. All the chapters were labeled with different battles and how Mystic Falls came to be. I knew that I wasn't going to like this assignment, but it had to be better than sitting in detention.
Tanner started class talking about the comet that was going to pass over head tonight. It hadn't been over Mystic Falls in 145 years, so I guess that was pretty cool. I wasn't too bummed that I wouldn't get to see it. I missed a lot because of work. I didn't really mind, I got money from my job so I can help out my mom so I shouldn't complain.
After a very long lecture, class let out and I bolted. I didn't want to be close to Tanner what so ever. I never knew when he would change his mind or add onto the work so I wasn't going to take my chances. In my haste to leave I accidently bumped into someone.
"Oh God." I said noticing that the person I collided with dropped their books. "I'm so sorry."
"Aw don't worry about it." He said. When he looked up I recognized him to be Matt. "Hey Alex."
"Hey!" I said way too excitedly. He didn't seem to mind though. "I'm actually glad I bumped into you."
"Oh yeah?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. I immediately regretted how that sounded.
"Not literally bumping into you… but… just… how's Vicki?" I asked, red in the face from embarrassment. He chuckled, not seeming to mind my awkwardness in the least. We both stood up and started walking. All of these years I knew Matt Donovan and I never spoke to him. He seemed nice, never once did I hear him say anything about me or my situation. He seemed like a very standup guy.
"She's alright. Much better actually." He said. "They are keeping her overnight but she should be back to normal by tomorrow."
"Good. Great! That's great." I told him. He nodded and we both fell into silence. "I'm really sorry about all of this."
"Why? It's not your fault Alex." He said. "In fact, the doctors said that if you hadn't stopped the bleeding when you did Vicki would be in a lot worse shape right now."
"Really?" I asked. He nodded with a grin. It felt good to know that I had done something right. I hadn't saved Vicki's life but I must have done something good since she was getting out the next day. I was just glad to help.
"Well, I'll see you later Alex." Matt said when we separated.
"See you." I called back to him.
This book was awful.
I had read some pretty awful books in my life, but this was probably one of the top 5 on my Books that Deserve to be in Hell list. It was non-fiction, so there is your first clue that it's boring. I was more into fantasy and fiction. They were much more exciting then real life. The second clue was that it was written by a narcissistic ass hole who likes to torture his students. And the third was that it was written about the smallest town in North America. Nothing ever happens in Mystic Falls.
Nothing.
The first couple chapters were about what Mystic Falls was before it was a well-established town. It had been full of tall grasses and was good soil to grow tobacco on. So that's what brought people here. They began growing tobacco and shipping it to England. But for some reason many people who settled there disappeared or were murdered.
"Drained of blood and left for dead," was how Tanner put it. I didn't know what that meant. Was some killer running loose through the area and stabbing people, leaving them to bleed out? Or was it some Native American ritual so as to curse the pale faces? None of it was explained, the book saying that "it's still a mystery who killed the people or why."
Mystic Falls was established in 1860 by the 5 founding families. The Fells, the Gilberts, the Forbes, the Lockwoods, and the Salvatores. I had to laugh at the fact that several of these families were still linked.
Elena, Jeremy, and I were Gilberts linked by family blood lines, but not true family communication. Caroline Forbes was Elena's friend, and apparently now mine. Tyler Lockwood was also a friend of theirs, even though he is an absolute ass. And now Stefan Salvatore was flirting around with Elena. It is crazy to think how these lines continue to go and also sad when they end.
I continued to read on through the chapters, considering that I was grounded and couldn't do much else. While skimming through, something caught my attention. It was a chapter about fables and myths that were told around the town. Stories of witches, vampires, and werewolves were told as scary stories to their children, but something about the way Tanner wrote made me think that he thought they were true.
"The idea of the supernatural residing in Mystic Falls is not an uncommon one. Parents warned their children not to stay out until dark, for the ever elusive vampire might make them their next meal. A traveler was recorded to say that he heard these warnings, didn't pay any mind to them, and the next day found his best friend torn apart on their camp sight. He claimed that a werewolf must have attacked his friend since that night had been a full moon."
I never believed in things like that. Those were things that you saw in horror movies or on Halloween. I was not a believer in super natural beings who drink blood, cast spells, and attack travelers at night. But then I thought of Bonnie. She had come from Salem, a hot spot for witches. She had seen a warning for both Elena and I, and although I did want to believe her it just didn't seem possible. Bonnie couldn't be a witch. These kinds of things just don't happen, especially not in Mystic Falls.
"Bodies drained of blood and left for dead."
It made sense for it to in fact be a vampire, but they weren't real. They couldn't be. They just couldn't.
The night of the comet had approached quicker than I thought. I hate to admit that I did become immersed into that book, or at least the part about the supernatural stuff. Tanner did his research I had to give him that. I would never tell him that though, he didn't need the ego boost.
Once I was home I saw the chores list that I needed to do. Mom had since calmed down about me passing out in the front yard, but I was still on punishment and needed to do stuff around the house. So, to get back into her good graces I decided to do just that.
I finished the laundry, washed the dishes, I mopped the kitchen floor, and I emptied all the trash bins in the house. I was starting to break a sweat actually. I pulled my hair into a ponytail. The last thing to do was dust in the living room. As a way to keep my good mood up and a way to make dusting more fun I turned on the radio. To my pleasure "I Want You to Want Me," by Cheap Trick came on.
"I want you to want me.
I need you to need me.
I'd love you to love me.
I'm begging you to beg me."
I sang along to the classic lyrics as I danced around my living room. I found myself very jovial as I dusted. I should dance like an idiot whilst doing chores more often. It was much more fun. Although I was definitely not a singer and if someone heard my awful voice I would die of embarrassment, I still had fun. Suddenly I heard the doorbell. Like the clumsy person I am I got scared and jumped. I then slipped on the hardwood floors and fell flat on my ass. I groaned loudly.
"Coming!" I called through the pain. I struggled to pick myself up and slowly made my way to the door. Once there, I swiftly opened it and felt my heart skip a beat at who stood there.
It was a man, early twenties maybe. He had dark black hair that fell on his forehead and pale skin, really pale, like snow white pale. He wore all black, a black leather jacket on his shoulders. He had his hands in his pockets and he looked very relaxed. His eyes though, those were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. They were a very bright blue, almost icy. They reminded me of the sky, but they were much brighter than that. His lips were pulled up into a smirk and I felt myself blush.
"Hello." I said, not knowing what else to say. He was way too handsome to be knocking on my door. I wondered if he was new considering I had never seen him before. I would remember someone that attractive.
"Hi. I'm sorry to bother you but my car broke down." He said, gesturing to a nice light blue Camaro convertible. "I was wondering if I could use your phone to call a tow truck."
"Oh yeah." I said looking from the beautiful car back to its beautiful owner. "Of course."
I waited for a second, waiting for him to come in or say something, but he did neither. I gave him an expectant look and he returned it. I bit my bottom lip, not knowing what he wanted me to do. I could feel my cheeks burning. He chuckled to himself before he answered my question.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" He asked. I stood there for a second, dumbfounded. Once I got my wits about me, I felt utterly stupid at the question. Here I am thinking he's weird when he was actually being polite.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." I said moving aside. "Come in."
It didn't get by me the satisfied look that he made when he stepped through the doorway with ease. His eyes swept the room and I tried not to let my embarrassment of my meager home get to me. I closed the door behind me, my first stupid move. Well actually my first stupid move was the fact that I invited a stranger into my home.
"Cheap Trick?" He asked when I closed the door. I felt my face heat up, not realizing that the song was still playing at a very loud volume. I jumped and ran to the stereo, turning the volume down.
"Yeah… I'm kind of an 80's nut." I said lamely. My mom loved the 80's. She listened to the music, watched the movies, and in turn she passed that on to me.
"I am too." He admitted with a smile. I felt myself grin at that statement. He smirked at me, looking around my house once more. I felt a little ashamed of it, seeing that it was small and all of my mom's knick knacks barely fit. He walked over to the mantle, picking up a picture of me and my mom. It was a little strange to me, how comfortable he seemed. Like he had been here before.
"Here let me find the phone book." I said and ducked under the coffee table. I searched through all the random crap that we threw under there until I found it at the bottom if our basket of books. With a satisfied breath I pulled my head up. But instead of seeing the beautiful man in my living room, I was instead met with my head smacking on the coffee table.
"Ow." I mumbled when I grabbed my skull. Could I be any more of a spaz? Here is a hot guy standing there watching me, and I hit my damn head on the table. I had never been blessed with grace, but this would be the time when I needed to find some.
"Are you alright?" He asked, crouching down to me. I felt his hands grip my arm and upper back lightly, so as to help me up. I couldn't help but notice the chills that went through me when he touched me.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied. My head was pounding, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "Here's the phone book. I'll get you the phone."
"That won't be necessary." He said, taking the book from my hand. I looked at him confused and watched as he tossed the book across the room and it landed on the seat. How was he going to call a tow truck without the phone? My third mistake was not running when I had the chance. Once the realization hit me he already had ahold of me. His grip on me was enough to bruise and I felt like he could snap my arm with a quick flick of his wrist.
"What are you doing?" I asked him, fear evident in my voice. He seemed to enjoy that, his lips curling into a menacing grin. He pulled me to him, so as to make sure I couldn't get away, not that I had a chance. I had barely any upper body strength to even try and push him off.
"Just having a little snack." He said in a low whisper. I swallowed thinking immediately to the book Tanner gave me.
"Bodies drained of blood and left for dead."
"Why?" I asked him, tears brimming my eyes. He chuckled before looking me right in the eye. His eyes held me captive there and I couldn't look away.
"Because I'm hungry." He replied and with inhuman speed he covered my mouth. I tried to scream but his hand covered the sound. Then came the pain. Then came the dark.
Damon laid her down on her couch, having soaked up her excess blood with a rag. He licked the two holes where his teeth had penetrated her skin and he felt very warm. Her heart beat was slow but it was still going. Once she had his blood in her system she would be fine and she would heal.
As he observed her he had to admit that she looked adorable when she slept. She was much less nervous and jumpy when her eyes were closed. When she was asleep she was at peace. He didn't think it would be that easy to gain access into her house, but he underestimates his charm and good looks. If she had refused he would have just compelled her.
He brushed a lock of hair from her face tucking it behind her ear. It was soft, very soft. So was her skin, it was like velvet. She was pretty, even if she didn't think so. He stood there watching her for a while before he shook his head. Just because she's pretty doesn't mean that he would stop feeding from her. She tasted too good for him to stop.
"Alright pretty girl." He said and started shaking her. "Wake up."
He shook her for a while before she opened her green eyes. She stared at him for a second, very groggy and disoriented before they widened and she opened her mouth to scream. He shielded it with his hand and used his compulsion to quiet her.
"You will forget this happened." He said, dilating his eyes. "You will wake up before work and get ready. Then you will have fun with your friends."
She stared at him, repeating everything he said so he knew that she understood. He wasn't going to make her forget him this time. He had to get her to trust him, then he could feed whenever he wanted. The poor girl didn't stand a chance. He almost felt bad. Almost. He then bit his wrist and forced it into her mouth. She swallowed the blood, eyebrows furrowing as she watched him the whole time.
"Now, go to sleep." He ordered. In a second her green eyes closed and she was fast asleep. He sighed and stood heading for the door. "These people should really start locking their doors."
Elena had been so very confused about this whole Stefan thing. She had gone to his house and met his brother, Damon, who Stefan had never mentioned. They talked all night and he never once said anything about having a brother. She didn't know if that was for a reason or not, but she also wondered if he thought that Elena would never find out. Mystic Falls was small, of course she would find out.
"Would you like a program? He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie said when she looked at Elena. She looked so confused and defeated. Bonnie knew that look; Elena was giving up.
"Or text. But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff." Elena admitted, handing someone a program. "We've never gotten to the texting part."
"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie joked.
"Isn't it?" Elena laughed but then became stoic again. "The timing is wrong, anyway. With the accident and this whole thing with Alex… it's just not right."
"You are not blaming Alex for your dating problems." Bonnie said. Elena shook her head.
"No I'm not blaming her." Elena said quickly. "It's just, I should be focusing on one relationship at a time."
"You can't just give up Elena." Bonnie told her. Bonnie didn't understand why it was so hard for Elena to let herself be happy, especially with recent events, she deserved a little happiness in her life.
"I'm not giving up." Elena replied. "I'm just giving it some time. I'm not ready."
"Who ever is?" Bonnie challenged. "You were ready to talk to Alex. And that seems like the harder thing to do."
"Yeah but I was planning that for months." Elena replied. "I never planned on Stefan."
"I saw how happy he makes you." Bonnie said. "Don't give up before it starts."
Elena sighed and nodded. Bonnie was right, but something was telling Elena that she needed to just stop it before there was any heartbreak. Elena was broken and she didn't want to break anyone else in the process.