Speak of the Devil and She Shall Appear
It has been 6 days since The tomb was opened and everything is back to normal here. Stefan is back to his broody self, Damon is his womanising self and I'm... Well, I'm just me.
Elena, Caroline and Bonnie have been coming over here a lot lately. I find their conversations, for the most part, dull and mundane, so I've been spending way too much time in my room, trying to avoid them. Whenever I am around them, I notice that they speak a lot about their new history teacher, one Mr Saltzman. I don't know what is so special about him that they need to talk about him as much as they do.
"SOPHIA..." Stefan calls up to me from downstairs.
"YEAH?" I shout back.
"Dinner is ready. Come and get it."
"I'm coming". I run down the stairs, straight to the kitchen because I'm starving. Walking through the kitchen door, I notice that everyone is still here. Really?
"Haven't you all got homes to go to?" I ask nobody in particular.
"Sophia, don't be rude!" Stefan admonishes me.
"Sorry! I was only asking." I take a seat at the table and Stefan passes me plate of spaghetti carbonara. Looking around I notice Damon isn't here.
"Where is Damon, Stefan?" I ask before putting a fork full of spaghetti into my mouth.
"He's at the Grill" Caroline informs me. I finish chewing before replying to her,
"um, thanks, Stefan!"
"Sophia, I won't tell you again!" I roll my eyes but say nothing. I eat a few my bites before continuing to question Stefan.
"What's he doing at the Grill?"
"He is meeting someone."
"Who is he meeting?"
"Ric"
"Whose Ric?"
"The new history teacher."
"Ooooh! What's he meeting him for?"
"Jesus Sophia! What's with all the questions?" I can see he's getting irritated, but I'm not bothered because It's the most fun I've had all day!
"Calm down. I was only asking."
I finish eating my dinner and scrape the leftovers off my plate into the trash. I decide to hover around this lot to see if I can find out anything interesting.
So far I have learned that Caroline is dating Matt, but she thinks he still has feeling for Elena. Boring...! Bonnie's "Grams", Sheila, died after they returned home the night they opened the tomb. And Elena's parents, who died driving off Wickery Bridge, weren't her real parents. They adopted her when she was a baby and they never told her.
Also, Elena's new history teacher, Alaric 'my parents must hate me' Saltzman was married to Elena's biological mother, who is called Isobel. What are the odds? He is also a vampire hunter. And just to add to the coincidence's, Damon killed Isobel a few years ago.
I got all of that, in an hour. I mean, you couldn't write this shit! (*Wink wink!*) I really need to start taking in what is going on around me!
"If this Alaric dude is a teacher by day and Van Helsing by night, why is Damon meeting up with him?"
"They are working together to rid the town of the tomb vampires." Bonnie answers me.
"Oh! Well how can Damon trust that he won't stake him? I mean, he did kill his wife!"
"He won't!" Stefan answers this time. "They are kind of friends."
"Damon has a friend? Wow! Wonders will never cease." Everyone chuckles.
"Right guys, I'm going because you are all boring me now, and I can hear Daryl Dixon calling my name." I announce. Stefan shakes his head and Elena, Bonnie and Caroline all say bye. I go in to the living-room to watch the latest episode of The Walking Dead.
Half way through the show, Damon comes home with Ric in tow.
"Hey Damon! Aaah you must be the famous Ric I've heard sooo much about!" I was met with a puzzled but amused look. Everyone else came to greet them and ask how they got on.
"We got 2" Ric said.
"2 down - 24 to go!" Damon states.
I can hear a vibrating sound coming from Ric and he reaches into his inside pocket.
"AAAAH, he's got a stake!" I scream in faux horror as I vamp across the room. Everyone looks at me like I've lost my mind. I erupt with laughter. "I'm joking, guys! He's like a younger, better looking Peter Vincent... Get it?"
"Ignore her" Damon says, "she thinks she is funny!"
"Hey! I am funny! You lot have just got no sense of humour is all!"
"I thought it was funny!" Ric pipes up.
"Why thank you, sir!" I curtsey. "At least someone appreciates my comedic genius!"
It's been a few days since I first met Ric, and he's become a part of the furniture now, as in he is always here. I don't mind, though, I really like him, despite what he likes to do in his spare time. I have to admit, the first night he came here, I slept with one eye open. You can never be too careful, right?
The males are gathered like a pride of lions, lazing around, basking in the sun. Only these aren't basking they're drinking and instead of the sun, they're in the kitchen. So I guess they're nothing like a pride of lions, more like a bed of sloths. Yeah that sounds about right.
"Damon, I'm bored." I say to him, leaning on the kitchen counter.
"Go and paint your nails, or wash your hair, or whatever it is you girls like to do."
"Don't be stupid, I've already done them."
"Well what do you want me to do?"
"Drive me to Washington?"
"Now who is being stupid? Do I look like a cab driver to you?"
"Lend me your car then and I'll drive myself." I ask.
"Ok, sure."
"Really?" I can't believe Damon is going to let me drive his car.
"No! Of course not!" I was right not to believe it.
"Dick!" He gives me a look that instantly make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
"What do you want to go there for?" Stefan asks.
"I dunno. I thought I'd check out the International Spy Museum."
"Why?" Damon and Stefan both ask.
"For something to do and it sounds interesting."
"I'll take you?" Ric offers.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'd like to see that too."
"Sweet! Can we go now?"
"Let go." He moves away from the table and pats down his pockets, looking for his keys. They're not there so he checks his coat.
"You ready?" He asks once he has found them.
"Yep. Laters haters!" I say as a goodbye to my brothers.
"Don't give Ric any grief or you'll have me to deal with!" Damon jokes. At least I think he is joking? You can't always tell with him.
Outside, I climb into Ric's White, Chevrolet Tahoe as he gets in the other side.
"Buckle up" he tells me.
"You know I wouldn't die if you crash, right?"
"Maybe not, but buckle up anyway!" I huff but do as I'm told.
"Do you know where you're going?" I ask him.
"No, but my SatNav will."
After setting his SatNav, we head off. It says that we should arrive in 1 hour and 23 minutes.
"So... Why are you here? In Mystic Falls I mean?" I ask him.
"Honestly, I had heard that Mystic Falls is the place to be if you're of the supernatural nature. Since my wife, Isobel, was murdered, I thought I would start to look for her killer here."
"And what made you think it was a vampire that killed her?"
"Because I seen him... I mean I seen Damon kill her."
"Oh, I'm so sorry for what he did!" I mean every word. "Is that why you became a vampire hunter? So you could kill him and avenge your wife?"
"Yeah, that was my plan." He nods his head for longer than necessary.
"So why didn't you?"
"I tried to, but he killed me first."
I don't know what to say - what I've missed. If Damon had killed him, how is he alive? He's not a vampire, so what is he? I must have been quiet for too long as Ric held up his right hand to me.
"This ring brought me back from the dead. Isobel gave it to me. I thought it was tacky at first, but kept wearing it regardless. Apparently it keeps me safe from supernatural harm."
"So you're a vampire hunter that can't die? Well that's useful." He chuckles at my comment.
"I hope I'm not crossing a line here but, if you seen your wife being murdered - why didn't you help her?" I regret asking him as soon as the question leaves my mouth. The look of self-loathing on his face makes me feel super guilty.
It's Ric's turn to be silent this time. I can see that he is mentally berating himself for not doing anything to help his wife.
"I'm sorry - I shouldn't have asked you that!" I tell him, not wanting to see him look so miserable for another second.
"The truth is - I was afraid! I was too afraid to help my own wife." He mumbled the last part, although I could hear him perfectly with my enhanced hearing, I think he was saying it more to himself than me.
"It's not your fault, you know. Your reaction was completely human." I rub his arm in a comforting gesture.
"That's enough about me - tell me about you. What's your story?" He says. I'm glad of the subject change because I didn't really know what else to say to him.
"What would you like to know?" I can see him wondering what to ask me first.
"How old are you?"
"Well that's easy - 16 going on 161. Next question."
"Do you like being a vampire?" He asked me.
"Yeah, I do. It has it's perks. I love the speed, the supersonic hearing and I love not having to worry about dying in the way humans do. I also love being able to help people using my blood. But the downside is the craving for blood - I really hate that part."
I look at the SatNav and see that we're halfway to the museum.
"Do you remember the first time you killed someone?" He seems genuinely curious but it's not a question I would ask.
"That's another easy one." He raises his eyebrows at me. "I haven't!" I tell him.
"Never?" He asks me, sceptically. "You're a vampire and you've never killed a human?"
"No. I would rather die than take the life of human. Theirs lives are short enough without me making it shorter." I'm not sure if he believes me - it's not exactly normal the way I am. Vampires are supposed to kill people and most do and see no problem with it - but not me.
"You really are an anomaly, aren't you?" He tells me.
"Um, thanks... I think?" I'm not sure if I should be offended or take that as a compliment. "What else would you like to know?"
"How are you and Stefan so different when he is only 1 year older than you?"
"From the time we're from, boys were made to grow up sooner, act like 'men' from early ages whereas girls were meant to keep their innocence for as long as possible." I try to explain. "So he's always been maturer than me since we were both children."
"I get that, kind of, but you and Stefan are polar opposites when it comes to your maturity levels." I laugh out loud.
"Have you heard the saying 'if you act like a child - you'll get treated like one'?" I ask him. He nods. "Well, that works in reverse too. They treat me like a child - so I act like one. Simples!" I shrug as if my logic is obvious.
"My brothers have always been overprotective of me to the point of insanity. They have never allowed me to grow up. They shout at me, ground me, they still spank me for crying out loud." I'm sure that if I were human, I'd be blushing like a tomato right now. I've never told anyone this before. "And worst of all, they have never let me have a boyfriend. Anytime I have ever got close to a boy, they scare him off, compel him away, and Damon has even killed two of them." Ric looks completely dumbfounded at what I'm telling him. I don't think he expected me to be so honest with him.
"You've really never had a boyfriend?" He asks me.
"Nope, never. I am a 161 year old virgin. Sad, eh?" I am feeling a bit depressed now. I lean my head on the window and stare out of it, not really seeing anything.
"You're a good kid you know? Everything will be ok!" Ric says, trying to cheer me up.
"A good kid? You do realise I'm 4 times your age, right?" I joke.
"Right. But you know what I mean."
"I do. And thanks!"
We've been walking around the museum for over an hour now. We decided to take the tour, but the tour guide has the most boring voice I think I have ever heard. You could record his voice and use it as a cure for insomnia. When I see that Ric was busy checking out different gadgets - lighters, flashlights, even gloves that are really guns - I decided to compel the tour guide to think he is James Bond. I told him that everyone on the tour was a spy and they where here to find out everything they could about his secret organisation and steal all the spy gadgets. I also told him that everything he had was the latest technology in spy gear.
It was so funny watching him. He was trying to shoot people with a ball point pen, whispering into his cheap watch whilst trying to hide behind random people. Everything was ok until he got a bit too close to some beef-head guy and they started to fight. The tour guide was throwing punches in true James Bond style.
"Did you compel him?" Ric asks. I spun round and bumped in to him, he is so close. He doesn't look happy.
"No!" I tried to deny it but I can tell he doesn't believe me. "Yes, but I didn't know he was going to start fighting."
"End the compulsion, now!" He orders me.
"Or what?" My rebellious attitude is back. Ric pulls out his phone.
"Or I'll call Damon - you heard what he said before you left."
"Threatening me with Damon? Go you!" He frowns at me.
"Listen, if you don't stop this right now, you will be sorry. You already told me how Damon punishes you and I'll make sure you get all three!" I stand there, staring at him open mouthed.
"I thought you were cool, but you're just a dick!" He turns me round by my shoulders and pushes me towards the 007 wannabe. As soon as I end the compulsion, Ric grabs my arm and leads me to the exit. We get in his car and start the long journey home.
We have sat in silence for the last half an hour.
"You ok? I haven't seen you go this long without talking." Ric tries to ease the tension.
"I was fine until you decided to morph in to Damon and go all 'Billy Big Bollocks' on me."
"Billy Big Bollocks? That's a new one." He laughs. "Come on, let's just forget about it? Cheer up and I won't tell Damon about what happened."
"Really? Why?" I ask him.
"I know you was just messing around, you didn't mean for it to turn physical."
"Ok. I'm sorry for calling you a dick, because you're not." I tell him.
We arrive home 45 minutes later.
"Thanks for today, Ric!" I say as I step out of his car.
"You're welcome!"
"Aren't you coming in?" I ask as he is still sitting in the drivers seat, the engine still running.
"Not right now, I have a few things to sort out. Tell Damon I'll call him later."
"Ok. See you later." I close the door and walk towards the house. Ric gives two short bursts of his horn so I turn and wave to him.
As I near the front door I hear multiple voice, both male and female. I'm guessing the Scooby gang are all here trying to solve their latest mystery.
I shrug out of my jacket as soon as I pass the threshold and hang it up.
"Hey Soph, how was the museum?" Stefan calls. I turn round and see everyone gathered in the living-room, either sitting on the sofa's or standing in front of the fire.
"It was good, you know. Ric and I had a..." I paused mid-sentence. "What the fuck is she doing here?" I ask, but nobody answers me. Five pairs of eyes just stare at me.
I vamp over and grab her by the throat, slamming her in to the fire place.
"What the fuck do you want?" I ask her. Not even a second later, I am clutching at my head, screaming in pain.
"AAAAAH BONNIE! STOOOOP!" She doesn't.
"Bonnie, that's enough!" I hear Stefan tell her. This time she complies.
"BITCH!" I shout as soon as my head stopped hurting. Damon grabs me by the scruff of my neck and pulls across the room.
"What the hell was that about?" He asks, getting right in my face.
"THAT'S KATHERINE!" I shout, trying to wriggle my way out of his grip. "Get off me now - I'm gonna kill her!"
Damon lifts me up by my waist and vamps us both up to my room, slamming the door shut behind us. He then drops me on to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
"Are you crazy?" Damon asks, his voice two pitches higher than normal. This usually means he is beyond pissed. I expect nothing less when it comes to who he thinks is Elena.
"No I'm not! It is Katherine - how can you not tell?" I can feel myself starting to shake with rage.
"No it isn't, it's Elena! You've just nearly choked her. How could you do that?"
"Oh my god! It's not Elena! Let me prove it. I'll stab her and you can watch her heal." It's the only way they will believe me.
"If you go near Elena again, I will spank you like you have never been spanked before!"
That was it. I couldn't contain myself anymore. Damon is not the only one who loses the plot when it comes to Katherine fucking Pierce. I charge at him, pushing him straight through my closed closet door, and he slides down the wall to the floor. I bent down and pick up a shard of wood that broke off the door, intending to stick it into Katherine's throat.
I run out my room and bang straight in to Stefan, accidentally staking him in the side.
"Stefan... I'm so sorry." I pull the steak out leaving a whole in his t-shirt with blood soaking around it.
"What the hell is going on?" He demands, breathlessly.
"I was just-I mean I'm going.."
"To come back in here with me." Damon finishes off my sentence.
"No I'm not!"
"Oh yes you are! You have until the count of 3 to get your ass back in your room." He holds his hand up.
"One..." He raises his index finger. "Two..." His middle finger follows. "Thr..." I stomp my foot and begrudgingly enter my room once more. It doesn't matter how angry I feel, I wouldn't let him get to three.
I try to fight my case as soon as Damon has closed my door.
"Damon, I'm sorry! I didn't want to shove you, and I didn't mean to stake Stefan. I just need you to believe me. That is Katherine downstairs."
"Enough! I don't want to hear anymore." He says, taking a seat on my chair. "Get here now!"
"No, I don't want to." I shake my head and stand firm. I really don't believe I deserve to be punished. I know I've done wrong, but my reason for doing so is valid.
"Do not make me repeat myself, Sophia. I have had enough of your insolence lately." I continue to shake my head. I am not going to go willingly, no matter what he says. "If I have to come and get you - you will regret it!" He warns me.
His warning fell on stubborn ears, I still refused to comply. If I can just make him see that I'm right, he won't punish me.
"But Damon, Sir, trust me on this - I know it's her!" I beg him.
"That's it!" He vamps in front of me. "You asked for it!" He begins to pull me towards my desk but I pull against him. My strength is no match to his so he soon overpowers me. The only thing I can do now is make my body go floppy and drop to the floor, to make it awkward for him, so that's exactly what I did.
It wasn't my brightest idea as he scooped me up by my waist and held me in the crook of his arm. A totally unflattering position.
"Damon, don't do this, please?" He swats my butt three times.
"Hush! I really don't want to hear your voice right now!" I'm in deep shit and I don't know what else to do.
Damon places his left leg on my chair and drapes me over his raised lap. I really hate this position! It's the definition of embarrassment. With my legs dangling one side and my upper body the other, I am completely at his mercy.
"Not this way Damon, please?"
"Since when did you get a say in how you are punished?" He asks me but I know he doesn't want an answer.
He starts raining down smacks on my upturned, jegging clad bottom, and he isn't holding back on his strength. I wrap my right arm around his raised leg and grab a fist full of denim on his other leg to steady myself.
This spanking is vicious. It has only been going on for roughly a minute and I already feel as though I can't take anymore. I bite down on my bottom lip to stop myself from apologising and begging him to stop. Silent tears are falling from my eyes and soaking the hair above my forehead.
Another minute goes by and I can't help the whimper that escapes my lips, and it is soon followed by full on sobs. I still refuse to say sorry, because I'm not sorry.
Damon stops spanking me and I've never been so relieved in all my life. He stands me on my feet and I go to walk away. I don't want to be near him right now.
"Where do you think you're going?" He says, halting me in my tracks. "We're not finished here." I just look at him. I haven't even got the strength to speak.
"Go and stand in that corner until I come back." He points to the corner opposite my door. I slowly make my way over to my appointed slot.
My vampire healing abilities isn't working as fast as it normally does, as I haven't had any blood today. I mentally curse myself. If I'd of had a blood bag this morning, I'd be healed by now. As it is, my bottom still stings like I have 2nd degree burns on it.
I hear Damon walk back into my room, but I keep my nose in place, squashed in the corner. I haven't been in this position since I was a little girl, but I still remember what is expected of me when I am sent here.
"Come here, Sophia." Damon's tone is authoritative which means he is still mad at me. "NOW!" He shouts. I jump, not realising I hadn't actually moved yet. I turn around to face him and my eyes automatically look at the thick, leather strap that's hanging from his right hand. I immediately start to cry again. I haven't felt the bite of a strap since I was 14, at the hand of my father. I only received 4 strokes but it was the worst pain I had ever felt. Father probably would have gave me a lot more than 4 if Damon had not come running in and stopped him.
"Lower your pants and bend over the bed." Damon says, breaking me from my memories. I stay where I am.
"P-please don't use th-that on me, Damon?" I nod my head at the strap.
"Lower your pants and bend over the bed, Sophia." His tone is now flat, emotionless. I know there is nothing I can do to stop this, so I slide my jegging' down my thighs, to my knees, revealing my lacy panties, then gingerly walk over and lay my upper body on my bed, near the bottom, and then wait for further instructions.
"You will receive 16 lashes." He pauses for a moment to let that sink in.
"I want you to count each one, followed by sir. No reaching back with your hand, and no moving from this position, or we will start from the beginning. Do you understand?" I shudder ripples through me.
"Y-yes sir!" I squeeze my eyes shut and clamp my teeth together. This is going to be hell!
I hear the whoosh of leather slicing through the air, followed by a loud thwack. The pain didn't register straight away but when it did - yeow!
"Count Sophia." His voice stern and commanding.
"One sir!" I say through gritted teeth.
*Thwack*
"Two s-sir"
The next one lands across my thighs.
*Thwack*
"Aaaah... Thr-three s-s-sir"
The next three come in quick succession.
*Thwack - Thwack - Thwack*
"AAAAAAAH! f-four sir. F-f-five sssir. OW OW OWWIE! Six s-si-sir.
My ass feels like it is literally on fire. I am ready to beg and plead for my life.
"Please, D-Damon, Sir. No-no more"
*Thwack*
"AAAAH HAHOW! Ple-hease, Damon."
"Count!"
"SEVEN!"
"Seven what, Sophia?"
"SIR! SEVEN SIIIR!"
*Thwack*
That's it. I can't take anymore. I jump up from the bed, hopping from one foot to the other, trying to relieve the pain.
"Get back over the bed, Sophia, or we will start again."
"No Damon, no-more. I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry. Please, Damon, please, no-more, I'm sorry!" I beg.
I can barely see through my tears, everything is blurry. I don't see him reach towards me but I feel him grab my upper arm and force me down, back over my bed. He holds me there using his spare hand. The next four come one after another, not giving me a chance to catch my breath - never mind count them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I managed to squeeze out of my lungs as soon as air was able to fill them. "STEFAAAAN, HELP MEEEE!"
I didn't know what else to do but call for Stefan. This is beyond a punishment, this is abusive.
Stefan came speeding into my room and shoves Damon away from me.
"What the hell are you doing, Damon?" I lay where Damon left me, unable to move.
"I'm spanking her, Stefan. What do you think I'm doing?"
"That's not a spanking, Damon. That's a fucking beating. Don't you ever do that to her again!"
I still haven't got the energy to move, but I can feel Stefan gently place his arms around me and pick me up. He turns me round and holds me close to him.
"Shhhhh Soph, I'm here now. I've got you. It's ok, baby." He strokes my hair. My tears are falling relentlessly as sobs still racked my body.
"Sophia, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go that far." Damon says to me. I blink numerous times to try and clear my vision enough so I can see him properly. He looks like he is about to cry.
"Soph, please?" He tries again, taking a step closer to me.
"Get away from me!" I tell him, pushing myself against Stefan.
"Just get out of here, Damon. She doesn't want to see you." Stefan tells him.
"But..." He tries to say something else but Stefan cuts him off.
"Just go!" So he does. He doesn't even look back as he closes the door behind him.
It takes me a few minutes to calm down. Stefan is still holding me close, stroking my hair. I'm still crying, but it's more of a whimper now with the occasional hiccough.
"St-Stefan?"
"Yeah baby?"
"You have to help Elena - something is wrong. That really is Katherine downstairs, you have to believe me!" I push him away.
"Please, Stefan?" He looks at me seriously and I can see that he is considering what I am saying.
"I will baby. I will!"
He leaves me alone so I get sort myself out whilst he goes downstairs. I manage to pull my jegging' off the rest of the way and replace them with a pair of loose fitting pyjamas, before wiping the leftover tears from my face with my hands. I'm so glad I haven't got makeup on today, I think to myself, because I would look like a complete mess!
I tiptoe to the top of the stairs to see what is going on. Everyone is still here - including her. Stefan looks right at me and I give him a pleading look. He responds with a slight nod of his head before deliberately smashing his glass and cutting Katherine's arm.
"WHAT THE HELL, STEFAN!" Damon shouts before rushing to Katherine's side, biting his wrist ready to heal her.
Everyone stares at Katherine in part amazement/part horror as her wound heals on its own.
"She is Katherine!" Stefan snarls, exposing his fangs.
"Hello boys. At least I was able to fool you both, for a little while anyway." She shrugs.
"So Sophia was right all along." Caroline buts in.
"Where's Elena?" Stefan asks her, still holding his defensive stance.
"She's at her house. Safe. I compelled her to go home and sleep for a day, ...or two. I didn't know how long I would get away with pretending to be her. You know I really love that color blue on you Damon," she moves closer to him and rests her hand on his chest. "It brings out your eyes." Damon smacks her hand away from him.
"Get away from from me - she devil!"
Katherine stepped back.
"Hmmm you know, I remember you two being a lot nicer to me." She said.
"What do you want, Katherine." Stefan asks her.
"Isn't it obvious? I want you, Stefan. I've always wanted you!" She bats her eyelids and tries to be seductive.
"Just leave already!" Damon tells her.
"Damon, Damon, Damon. Always the jealous one. Well don't worry because I want you too." She smiles and it makes me want to vomit. Damon takes a step closer to her, his face menacing.
"Get out now before I stake you myself." He warns her.
"I can see you're still bitter about my leaving you for all these years. Don't worry, I'll make up for it." She winks at him as she makes her way to the front door.
"It's was nice to see you again, Sophia." The condescending bitch says to me as she nears the bottom of the stairs.
"Fuck you Katherine! Go hide back under the rock you have just crawled out of!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a vulgar mouth. You should be careful baby Salvatore, wouldn't want Damon to get the strap back out!" By the time I make it down the stairs, Katherine had vamped out the front door and was nowhere in sight.
TVD :)
To the 'guest' reviewer who corrected my grammar on the last chapter - I apologise from the bottom of my heart! I hope the grammar gods strike me down in my sleep.
Until then, I shall put my face in the corner, like the naughty girl that I am, before I write 100 times - I shall never write 'weren't', when I'm supposed to write 'wasn't', ever again! ;P