CHAPTER TWO: PILOT PART B

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" Stefan watched as Bonnie startled, not expecting to be called on.

"Um...a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot," Bonnie answers, much to Mr. Tanner's distaste.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett. Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" Mr. Tanner turns his attention to Matt.

"It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it,"

Stefan turned his head to the door, hearing the sound of approaching footsteps and watched as the door swung open, revealing a frustrated Persephone. He had only seen her a few times in the last two days, but he had to admit that she peaked his interest. Well, aside from her obvious beauty. The way she interacted with people, for one.

"Miss Kane, you're late," Mr. Tanner pointed out condescendingly.

Persephone hardly glanced at the teacher as she made her way towards the first empty seat she spotted, which just happened to be in the row next to Stefan. "I'm aware, but thank you for letting me know," she retorted, sitting down at the desk.

"I was willing to be lenient last year, Persephone, but the personal excuses ended with summer break."

Stefan watched as her body went rigid and her face fell into a hard glare. He had to admit that she looked extremely intimidating, even to him—a vampire. By the way everyone else in the classroom suddenly grew silent, he knew that he wasn't the only one.

"That was a joke, right?" she asked, her voice cold. "Because if it wasn't, then that would mean that you actually had the audacity to imply that I should have already gotten over the death of my sister." Mr. Tanner opened his mouth, most likely to argue with her, but she didn't give him the chance. "You know what, Mr. Tanner, how about I hit your family with my car and then you can call me in three months to tell me if you're over it yet?" She sounded and looked unbelievably calm, which is possibly what made her sound even scarier.

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, so Stefan decided to step in and try to diffuse the situation. "There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians."

Mr. Tanner quickly broke eye contact with the Kane girl and turned to look at Stefan, attempting to recompose himself. ""That's correct, Mister…?"

"Salvatore," Stefan finished for him, well aware of the fact that Persephone now had her eyes on him as well.

"Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably before responding. "Distant."

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

Everyone in the class stifled their laughter at the obvious insult and Persephone looked at him, impressed. He turned to meet her piercing gaze and gave her a knowing smile that she returned with a smirk.

Elena sat a couple of rows away, but she still watched the silent interaction between the two and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

Jeremy walked down the hall from his room, towards Persephone's open door. He stopped in the doorway and watched as she finished tying the laces to her combat boots. "Hey, Persephone."

She glanced up at him and stood up from where she was sitting on her bed. "That would be me," she said, walking over to her vanity to grab her maroon colored lipstick and reapply it.

"Can you give me a ride to the bonfire? I don't really wanna ride with Elena." It was no secret in the Gilbert house that Jeremy and his sister haven't exactly been getting along lately.

"I might be a bitch, Jeremy, but I would never subject anyone to that kind of torture," she told him, grabbing her jacket and car keys.

"So, was that a yes?" Jeremy asked, confused.

She walked past him saying, "Be in the car in two minutes or I'm leaving without you."

"Just admit it, Elena," Bonnie urged her friend, standing in the midst of a bunch of drunk teenagers.

Elena rolled her eyes, but she couldn't resist the smile pulling at her lips. "Oh, okay, so he's a little pretty."

"He has that romance novel stare." The two friends laughed, but Elena quickly sobered when she spotted Persephone drinking a beer and dancing with some guy in their grade. It was one of the few times she's seen her genuinely having a good time in a few months. She looked so carefree as she ran her hand through her long dark hair and danced to the music blasting through the woods.

Bonnie followed Elena's eyes, sensing her change of mood, until she saw what had caught her attention. "She's still not talking to you?" Bonnie asked, turning back to her friend.

Elena rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's Persephone. You know how good she is holding a grudge."

"But don't you guys live together now? It's pretty hard to avoid someone you live with."

"You'd be surprised," Elena grumbles, sipping on the beer in her hand.

"Have you tried apologizing? I mean, I'm sure if you clear the air you guys can talk it out."

Elena furrowed her brows. "Why do I have to apologize? She acts as if I purposefully told my father to hit her and her sister. Malia wasn't the only one who died that night."

Persephone walked over one of the many coolers and grabbed her third beer of the night. She wasn't too worried about getting drunk since she knew the extent of her alcohol tolerance. It would probably take a couple more beers before she was officially drunk. For now, she was just a little buzzed.

She popped the cap off and took a long sip from the bottle. When she looked back up she spotted Tyler and Vicki making out and groping each other. She laughed to herself at the Lockwood's attempt to make her jealous. He pulled away from Vicki's lips and smirked over at Persephone, probably expecting her to get mad or storm off.

That was not the reaction he received.

She lifted her beer to him as if silently saying 'congratulations' before sipping on her drink again and walking off in the opposite direction. She was sure that it didn't help the situation, but she couldn't help herself. Tyler should've known it would take more than that to get a reaction out of her. She didn't get jealous easily and seeing him make out with Vicki Donavon was not an exception.

She walked away from the party and over to a nearby bridge, wanting a break from the noise for a few minutes. It didn't take her long to get there and once she did, she realized that she had a full view of everyone at the party. After a few minutes of standing there, her feet started to get tired, so she decided to climb onto the ledge and sit on it instead. It was a bit difficult since she was trying to do it while holding a beer in her hand, but she managed.

Stefan was weaving through the groups of teenagers, leaving Elena after his face started to change in the middle of their conversation. He figured he just needed a minute to collect himself, but it was proving hard to do while surrounded by drunk high schoolers. He scanned over the crowd to see if there was a spot that wasn't so...crowded. That's when he spotted Persephone sitting on the ledge of the bridge, looking over the party with her feet swinging in the air. Even from a distance, he could see how peaceful her features looked—very unlike all the other times he's seen her where she was usually arguing with someone.

"Hey! There you are," Caroline said, seemingly showing up out of nowhere with her biggest flirty smile. "Have you been down to the falls yet? Because they are really cool at night. And I can show you...if you want."

"I think you've had too much to drink," Stefan observed.

"Well, of course I have. So—"

Stefan cut her off before she said something that would possibly embarrass her later. "Caroline. You and me, it's not gonna happen. Sorry." And with that, he moved around her and started to walk in the direction of the bridge.

Persephone watched in amusement as Elena practically chased Jeremy into the woods. She wondered when the Gilbert girl would realize that constantly nagging Jeremy wasn't going to make him want to open up to her like she wants him to. Right now, Jeremy just needed to get through his grieving. He just happened to do that through weed and alcohol. In Persephone's opinion, it could be worse. Jeremy could be doing heroin and catching STDs. You just had to look at the glass half full. It was the reason why Jeremy talked to her more than he did his own sister. It also helped that he was one of the very few people Persephone could stand to be around nowadays.

"Hey," a deep voice said from behind her, making her jump and grab onto the ledge so she didn't fall. She turned her head and saw that it was just Stefan.

"I'm getting you a bell," she told him sternly, but the humor was clear in her voice.

Stefan chuckled lightly at her half-hearted threat. "I'm sorry. I just saw you up here and figured I'd say hi."

"Well next time you want to say hi, maybe try not to do so while I'm sitting on a ledge with a thirty foot drop. I quite enjoy having all of my limbs intact," she joked.

"Noted," he nodded, an amused smile plastered on his face. He moved to stand by her side and placed his forearms on the ledge she was sitting on. "So, any reason that you're sitting on a ledge with a thirty foot drop?"

"I like heights," she shrugged. "I also get a perfect view of that guy over there vomiting up his lunch." She pointed at who she was referring to.

"Sounds...fun," he said, oddly.

"You're new, aren't you? I haven't seen you around here before," she changed the subject.

"Yeah, I just recently moved back here."

"You've lived here before?"

He nodded. "I moved when I was still young."

"Why on earth would you decide to come back? Of all the places in the world, Mystic Falls was your calling?"

He laughed at that. "I have an uncle who still lives here in the old Salvatore Boarding House."

"Zach Salvatore?" she asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

He looked at her warily. "You know him?"

"My dad used to make him babysit me and my sister when we were younger. I can't say he's my biggest fan, though. I think after the sixth glass plate I threw at him, I became his least favorite child in Mystic Falls." She smiled to herself at the memories. When she saw the confused expression on his face, she elaborated. "He was trying to make me do my math homework. I hate math."

He nodded his head, as if that cleared things up, but he was still as confused as ever. He chose not to dwell on it, though. "So you've lived here your whole life?"

"Unfortunately," she said, turning back to face the party.

"Not a fan of small towns?" Stefan deduced.

"What gave it away?" she joked. "No, I think I would do much better in a big city. Preferably one on the opposite side of the country." An imaginary lightbulb suddenly turned on over her head. "Oh, I meant to thank you for before, in history class."

He understood what she was referring to and quickly shook his head, "No, uh, it was no problem. Mr. Tanner seems like a dick."

"That would be an understatement," she chuckled.

It was quiet for a second before Stefan decided to ask the question that had been gnawing at his mind. "In class, you said something about your sister. If you don't mind me asking-"

"No sob stories, Stefan," she interrupted with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "It's a party, remember." Without missing a beat, Persephone climbed onto her feet so she was now standing on the ledge.

"Uh, are you sure that's a good idea," Stefan asked, looking up at the teenage girl worryingly.

She bent down to grab her beer. "No, I'm actually pretty positive this is a terrible idea."

She started to put one foot in front of the other and walk across the ledge. Stefan, now on edge, walked by her side anxiously watching her. "So shouldn't you, uh, get down. You know, before you fall."

"Wrong," she shook her head and took a sip of her beer. "I should do the exact opposite. There is no fun in doing things that are 'good ideas.' No excitement."

"I'm not sure that's very logical."

Persephone opened her mouth to say something else, but she stopped when she heard the sound of Elena yelling. She looked up and saw Elena running out of the woods with Jeremy trailing behind her, holding an unconscious Vicki Donavon in his arms.

"Help! Something bit her neck! She's bleeding!" Elena yelled as people crowded them.

As soon as Persephone heard the words 'something bit her neck,' her breath caught in her throat and she lost her footing. A gasp left her throat as she felt herself about to fall, but thankfully, Stefan grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back to the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, stepping in front of her, so he could make sure she was okay. However, her eyes weren't focused on him. Her mind was racing with a million thoughts, but she knew one thing for sure: she needed to leave.

"I have to go. I'll see you later, Stefan." She didn't wait for his response before she ran in the opposite direction.

Vampires haven't been in Mystic Falls for years.

Persephone knew that.

Yet, there was no other logical explanation for what she saw back at the bonfire. What else would bite Vicki in the neck? They would say it was an animal of some sort, but that is only because they didn't know the truth about the existence of vampires. And with the history of this town, Persephone's suspicions weren't all that far off.

She remembered seeing on the news the other day that a couple had been mauled in the woods by an animal just outside of Mystic Falls, but she had hoped that it was just what they said it was—an animal.

But now? She wasn't so sure.

However, if there were vampires in town, she needed to be prepared. That was what she continued to tell herself as she walked up the steps to her old house. The last time she was here it was to pack some of her things to bring to the Gilbert residence. She had yet to step foot in the house since then.

Now here she was, standing at the front door, silently gathering enough courage to unlock the door. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before sticking the key into the lock and turning it. As she pushed the door open, revealing the inside of her childhood home, she felt her chest tighten. Everything looked exactly the same as she left it.

The blankets on the couch were still there from when her and Malia had a Gilmore Girls marathon the night of the accident. The only picture frame in the entire house—of the whole family—still sat on the nightstand, untouched. Even one of Malia's textbooks was out on the kitchen counter from when she was avoiding studying for a test she had at college.

It was all painfully familiar. She shook all of the memories out of her head and closed the front door behind her. She quickly made her way up the stairs towards her old bedroom, purposefully avoiding looking at anything that might remind her of her family.

She pushed open her bedroom door and headed straight to her closet. Inside of it was a large black chest. She kneeled down in front of it and pulled it open. She was immediately met with a bunch of folded clothes, but that wasn't what she wanted. She grabbed all of the clothes and tossed them to the side until it was empty. At the bottom was a piece of wood, acting as the end of the chest, but she pulled it out, revealing what was truly hidden. There were three wooden stakes, a gun with wooden bullets and extra ammo, and a small velvet box that Persephone hadn't touched in years.

She carefully picked the velvet box up in her hands and opened it, broadcasting a dainty silver ring. Her father made it himself and fused the silver with vervain. Malia had one as well, but it was stored in her room where Persephone planned to keep it.

She slipped the silver band on the pointer finger of her right hand and grabbed one of her old bags to put the stakes and gun inside of.

If vampires were back in Mystic Falls, she would be ready.