I'd always thought history was fascinating. That was why it was my favorite subject.

Except when my teacher was Tanner. He never failed to ruin it for me.

"The battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. Does anyone know how many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?"

Bonnie let out an awkward laugh. "Um, a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett," Tanner said before looking around the room for his next victim. "Mr. Donovan! Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

"It's okay Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it," Matt responded. A few began to snicker, me included. I disliked Matt but I always liked it when someone gave Tanner a hard time.

"Ms Gilbert," he adressed Elena. "Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significant historical events?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Tanner, I don't know," she stammered.

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons. But the personal excuses ended with summer break," said Tanner. Elena looked like he'd slapped her, which I wanted to do to him right about now. What a freakin' jerk.

I was about to speak up because I did know the right answer. Like I said, I love history, and when my parents died, I'd buried myself in schoolwork instead of abandoning it like Elena and Jeremy had done. But before I could say anything, Stefan of all people beat me to it.

"There were 346 casualties, unless you count the local civilians."

Tanner stared at him in surprise, as did I. Good-looking and smart. Elena was lucky.

"That's correct. Mister…?" Tanner trailed off.

"Salvatore."

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

"…Distant."

"Very good," Tanner praised, and I just knew there was a 'but' coming, "Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually sir, there were 27. Confederate soldiers, they fired on a church which was believed to be housing weapons. They were wrong, it was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are stored in the civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner," Stefan said, arching an eyebrow. I ducked my head to hide my grin.

After the class was over, everyone started gathering their things, me included, until Tanner stopped me.

"Not so fast, Ms. Gilbert."

We waited until my other classmates were gone.

"What's up, Mr. Tanner?" I asked with a forced smile. I did not want to be here. Especially not after the 'personal excuses' crap from earlier.

"Where's the assignment I gave you? The deadline was today," he sneered, getting right to the point. I'd genuinely forgotten about handing it over, he didn't have to be such a jerk about it.

I got it out of my bag and handed it over. "Here."

He looked it over and nodded. I sucked in a breath and it caught.

I was overcome with an immediate sense of dread, crushing me. I forgot how to breathe. It felt like I was drowning on dry land, and I probably looked like it too because when Tanner glanced at me, one of his eyebrows was raised.

"You're dismissed," he said slowly, breaking me out of it.

I quickly made my way out of the classroom, gulping in air. I didn't bother to say goodbye.

What the hell was that?

Bonnie, Elena and I were standing around a fire pit placed right next to the beers. This back-to-school party wasn't great. Too many drunk teenagers. At least I had my friends.

"Just admit it, Elena," Bonnie tried again. We were trying to make her admit that she had a thing for Stefan.

"Okay, okay. So he's a little pretty." Elena smiled at us.

"He is more than a little pretty," I protested. "He has a romance novel stare."

"'Stefan gazed at Elena, piercing her soul'," Bonnie said.

I grinned. "Nice."

At least this party was getting my mind off of what happened with Tanner today.

I was so confused. It had felt almost like a panic attack, except that didn't make any sense. There had been no trigger, and I wasn't one for panic attacks anyway. Jenna would probably say it was because of my parents, which was why I wasn't telling Jenna. Elena would likely agree, so Elena wasn't gonna know either.

It wasn't because of my parents. I knew that. Maybe I was sick? Food poisoning? But I didn't feel sick anymore, so it couldn't be.

Bonnie glanced around us. "So where is Stefan anyway?"

"I don't know, you tell me. You're the psychic," Elena replied.

I perked up. "If you're locating people, do the future love of my life next."

"Sure, Mel," Bonnie said, amused. "Give me second, Grams says I have to concentrate."

"Wait, you need a crystal ball," Elena said. She grabbed a beer bottle and gave it to Bonnie. But when Bonnie touched the bottle, she seemed to go into a trance-like state, before coming back to her senses and letting go of the bottle. "What happened?"

"That was weird," Bonnie said, her lower lip trembling. "When I touched you, I saw a crow."

"What?" Elena and I asked in unison.

"A crow. There was fog, and a man. And I got this really bad feeling." I let out a tiny, inaudible gasp. I wasn't the only one having bad feelings today, it seemed. "I'm drunk, there's nothing psychic about it. Okay, I'm gonna go get another drink."

She rushed off before Elena or I could say a word. I wondered what that was about? Why were Bonnie and I both experiencing strange feelings today?

We turned around, only to be greeted by Elena's future husband. Both me and Elena jumped, I even let out a yelp. I hadn't been expecting him to suddenly be there.

"Hi," Stefan said, his gaze completely fixated on Elena.

"Hey," Elena replies with a small smile.

Ah, the Stelena feels.

"Well," I said to the both of them, already feeling like a third wheel. "I'm going to go and look for Bonnie. See you guys around. Have fun." I winked at Elena. She gave me an embarassed look.

Grinning, I walked away, looking around the crowd and trying to spot Bonnie. I wanted to know more about what she saw. I didn't see her anywhere, though.

I did see two people I didn't want to see. Tyler and Vicki were walking hand-in-hand into the woods. Three guesses what those two were up to. Real classy.

"Try not be too bitter. Considering you were the one that turned him down," Matt said from my right as I jumped. Again. What was up with people and randomly appearing like that today?

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I hissed at him before clearing my throat and regaining my composure. "Besides, look who's talking. You've been stalking Elena and Stefan all night."

"I wasn't s—" Matt started to deny.

"You were definitely stalking them," I interrupted. "Excuse me."

I pushed my way through the drunk teenagers, away from him.

I was really growing tired of this party. I just… wasn't in the mood. I'd promised myself I was going to live a little and get back into it, go to parties again… But I was starting to regret it. It just wasn't as fun as it used to be. I wasn't the same person anymore.

More than that, I felt uncomfortable tonight for no reason I could think of.

Elena, on the other hand, looked like she was having a great time with Stefan. I was glad. He really seemed to make her happy. As I was watching the two, Elena's attention was suddenly caught by something behind me. I turned around, only to see Jeremy stumbling into the woods, clearly drunk. Or stoned. Or both.

Elena excused herself and started to follow, but I stopped her. She was finally having a good time again, no way was I gonna let her give that up to chase after our little brother. "Hey, I got this. Go back to Stefan."

"Really?" She shot me a grateful look.

"Really," I reassured, smiling wryly, before turning around to follow Jeremy.

However, the deeper I went into the woods, the worse my earlier feeling of discomfort became. It quickly turned into a sense of dread, and my mind was screaming at me to turn around.

"Jeremy, where the hell are you going?"

Jeremy didn't slow down when he responded, "I don't want to hear it."

Ugh! Why was my brother being like this? And why was I having this stupid…feeling?! This was definitely not food poisoning.

I read his mind, not caring about his privacy at the moment. I had to know what was going on. However, my lips parted in shock at his thoughts.

He was in love with Vicki Donovan.

Of all people, he chose her. Her. My nemesis. More importantly though, unavailable. What was Jeremy thinking?!

"You need to stay away from Vicki, Jer!" I yelled, but he only started to walk even faster. My stomach was churning and I felt like I could throw up any second, but I wasn't giving up on chasing Jeremy because of a bad feeling. "Jeremy stop so we can have a normal conversation! Jeremy!"

He tripped over something on the ground.

"Vicki? Oh my god, it's Vicki!" Jeremy exclaimed. I rushed over to my brother, only to wish I hadn't. Vicki was lying on the ground, passed out. If it weren't for the gruesome wound on her neck, I'd have thought she was just passed out from drinking too much. If only.

"Oh my god," I said, the color draining out of my face as I stared at her bloody neck. This was one image I wouldn't get out of my head anytime soon. I didn't like the girl, but that didn't mean I wanted her dead! "Oh my god. Is she…"

"No," Jeremy snapped. "She's not dead." Then, he whispered: "She can't be dead."

The headline from the news came to mind. A couple mauled by an animal. It appeared Vicki was the third victim; something clearly bit her.

I checked her pulse, praying for there to be one. There was.

"We need to get back to everyone, and quick," I said, realizing Vicki could still have a chance if she went to a hospital. Jeremy nodded. He picked up Vicki and carried her out of the woods. I helped him in silence.

When I touched Vicki, the bad feeling went away, as if my mind had been trying to warn me about what happened to her. But that was crazy, wasn't it? Insane. Impossible.

Then again, mind reading was supposed to be impossible, too.

"Somebody help!" I yelled, getting everyone's attention.

Matt immediately ran towards us. "Vicki? What the hell?"

"What happened to her?"

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"It's her neck, something bit her and she's losing a lot of blood," I tried to explain.

"Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me," Matt begged. Vicki remained unresponsive.

Eventually an ambulance arrived and took Vicki away, with Matt getting into the vehicle with her. I felt my heart reach out to Matt. I just… God. If I ever saw Elena or Jeremy like he saw Vicki, I would probably be having a mental breakdown right about now.

Looking around, I noticed Caroline. She was sitting on a chair, drunk and sulking. Just like that, I knew something that would help distract me from the awful sight I'd stumbled upon.

I walked to Caroline and asked, "Do you want me to take you to the Grill, get some coffee and sober you up?"

Caroline nodded and stood up. I went off to tell Elena I was leaving, I didn't want her to worry after what happened with Vicki. Sobering Caroline up was a purpose, a distraction from Vicki's attack and the fact that I was pretty sure that bad feeling tried to warn me about it.

"Yeah, of course. Be safe," Elena said to me. "You can take our car, I'll call Jenna to pick me up."

I nodded before turning to Caroline. "Okay, Care, let's go."

"You sober yet?" I asked again. "We should get home, it's late."

"…No." Caroline frowned. It looked like she was upset, but I had no idea about what.

"What's wrong, Care?"

She sighed. "Why didn't he go for me? How come all the guys I want, don't want me?"

"You know that's not true," I said gently. "Plenty of guys you've wanted to be with, wanted to be with you, too."

"I always say the wrong thing," she went on, like I hadn't said anything. "But Elena, Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! I try, so hard and yet I'm never the one."

Was that really the way she thought about herself and my sister? A twinge of guilt shot through me. I felt like I was taking advantage of a drunk Caroline spilling all her insecurities. I guess I kind of was. "It's not a competition."

"Yeah, it is."

"No, it's not. You've got a great personality, and any guy who doesn't see that doesn't deserve you," I said, meaning it. "Okay?"

Caroline smiled, but it still had a sad edge to it. "…Look, you can just go home. I'll just call my mom and hope I'm sober when she arrives."

"You sure?" I asked and Caroline nodded. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Care."

I went outside, breathing in the fresh air. Vicki, bitten and bloody, flashed in my mind. I hoped the animal that did this would be caught soon, before anyone else got hurt.

I stumbled, feeling lightheaded suddenly. It kind of felt like that moment in the woods with Vicki, but less intense.

"You okay?" a voice asked me and I turned to look into a pair of blue eyes.

My lips parted involuntarily. Holy hell, this guy was even more attractive than Stefan was. What was up with all these attractive strangers suddenly arriving in Mystic Falls?

I closed my mouth. Play it cool, Mel, play it cool. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Are you sure?" the gorgeous stranger asked concerned when I stumbled forwards, but he caught me. I smiled at him, and he returned it. "Mm, you're really drunk right now."

"No I'm not, you're just blurry," I quipped, going along with it. I wasn't drunk at all, I was just having a bad feeling. But, I didn't want to come across as weird to the gorgeous stranger. He chuckled.

"Then let this blurry stranger walk you to your car."

Score! He was walking me to my car! Dreamily, I imagined the things we could get up to in my car…

"You know, you shouldn't be out all alone this late." I noticed a glint dancing in his eyes, like he had a private joke. "It could be…dangerous."

"It's Mystic Falls," I said dismissively, giving a smile. "I'll be fine."

He returned the smile—actually, it could be described more accurately as a smirk. One that was almost predatory. I felt myself straighten up. I was out here, all alone, at night, outside, with a stranger. A gorgeous stranger, yes, but still a stranger.

I tried reading his mind, but to my annoyance realized I couldn't read his either. That made three now; him, Stefan and Bonnie. My freaky brain power had chosen the worst possible time to be lacking.

"You okay?" he asked.

I hesitated, as I thought about it. Only thing he'd done so far was offer to walk a drunk girl to her car. Ah, what the hell, I was being paranoid. In Mystic Falls we only had animal attacks and bridge accidents.

"Yeah." I gave him a lopsided grin. "My name is Melanie, by the way."

"I'm Damon."

I ran a hand through my hair, making the charms dangling off my bracelet chime together prettily. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Damon."

We made it to the car Elena and I shared. "Thanks for walking with me, I've got it from here."

His smile faded, but not completely. The glint from earlier was back, dancing in those ridiculously pretty eyes. "Now, Melanie, there's no way I'm letting you drive in this state. That would be unresponsible of me."

I wasn't gonna let him drive my car. I still felt weirdly lightheaded. I couldn't explain it, but I had a bad vibe. Ugh! Where were mind reading abilities when you needed them?

"I'll be fine," I said, giving a small smile.

It wasn't like I was actually drunk, I just told him that to avoid mentioning my freaky premonition nausea thing. Whatever it was. I didn't have a cool yet edgy name for it yet. Point was, I was perfectly fine to drive myself home. Of course I couldn't tell him that —I already told him I was drunk…

Then he sighed before looking me in the eye, and holding eyecontact with me. I couldn't look away. I didn't want to look away. "Let me drive you home."

For a moment I was completely mesmerized (did his eyes just dilate?) but then I snapped out of it. "I said, I'll be fine. Thanks for the concern, really, but I'm not that drunk."

He stared at me for a few seconds, confusion flickering in his pretty blue eyes. He looked at me like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. I felt heat rush to my cheeks at the scrutiny. I needed to get a grip.

"Suit yourself," he said coolly.

Okay, what was up with that sudden hostility? You know what, it didn't matter. I wanted to go home.

I got into my car, and drove away. Little did I know that I would be seeing him again, very soon.