Quicker update, yay :) Thank you guys for reading and for your comments! I'm currently away from my Bluray, so I've had to make due with Youtube and wikis to remember certain parts of the story, hopefully everything makes sense.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries


Highly sensitive persons are specifically defined as...

Compassion – the key to a virtuous life...

A three step plan to come to terms with a breakup...

''Stupid thing,'' I grunted and slammed my finger a little too hard on the backspace key.

''You okay?'' my mother poked her head in through my door, looking amused. The necklace I got her on our shopping trip a couple of days ago hung around her neck. So far she hadn't really taken it off, which was good because then the vervain could do its work.

''Uhu,'' I hummed and kept my eyes on the screen. When I heard her footsteps go down the stairs I tried typing something else again, but nothing came up.

Annoyed, I stood up abruptly and grabbed a random book from my bookshelf and sat down to read, but after only a minute I put it aside with a deep sigh and let out a small groan before falling back onto the bed.

I had nothing to do. No work, no errands, nothing.

One would think that I would be happy for a little time off doing nothing, but it actually made me go a little bit crazy. Usually, it made me so restless that I had to go for a run to calm down my heart and release some energy.

So far today, I'd tried to learn how to do a proper french braid (with only little success), spent some time online searching, read a couple of pages that I couldn't remember from a book, and vacuumed the whole bottom floor of the house. And, on top of that, like an hour of pacing. Mum was off to work soon, too, so I couldn't hang out with her either.

Whatever I was doing, I always found myself glancing out the window. I never saw him, though. And every time I looked out, I mentally slapped myself for thinking such childish thoughts like he would stand watch outside my house everyday. Not likely.

He just popped up everywhere. And when he didn't pop up in person, he did so in my head. And it was disturbing. It was like I could hear his smooth, emotionally-levelled voice in my mind saying, ''good afternoon'' or ''good evening'' and then, there he was.

I didn't know what to make of the whole deal thing. If I agreed to it, I would have to tell him whatever he wanted to know unless I wanted the wrath of a thousand-year-old vampire brought down upon me because of a lie – and I was a terrible liar. But... if all he wanted was to ask about me? What harm could be done then? I mean, I didn't know anything! Besides, maybe, what I could actually do. I'd never told him about being able to read emotions or bestow them upon people. If I told him that, then he might figure it out on his own, if he was able to deduct anything from that. If he'd been around for so long, he had to know something, right?

I shook my head in doubt. Maybe he didn't. But what if he did? That nagging voice in the back of my head just wouldn't stay quiet, and I realised that I was actually treading further and further into the land of accept-the-deal.

A humming sound from my right pulled me out of my thoughts. Reaching out with my hand, I grabbed my phone and rubbed my eyes before looking at the screen.

Hey, we're having girl's night at my house tonight. A movie and junk food, you should come if you want :)

I smiled, practically jumping out of my sweatpants and oversized t-shirt that I'd bought at the men's department (because oversized were only cosily comfortable if they were men shirts, for some reason) and putting on a pair of dark jeans and a lavender turtle neck sweater. Finally, something to do besides wallowing in restlessness and handsome but dangerous men.


''Hi, come in,'' Elena smiled and I could hear Caroline's voice talking the kitchen.

I left my coat in the hallway and followed Elena. My heart beat a bit louder and faster than it normally would, because, to be honest, I was a little nervous. This was the first time we actually hung out, in a normal way.

''Evangeline!'' the other blonde by the counter beamed at me. Bonnie waved happily from beside her.

''Hi,'' I replied, feeling slightly awkward and I didn't know what to do with my hands so I kept clasping and unclasping them back and forth behind my back.

''We were just talking about food,'' Caroline proclaimed. ''Any preference?''

''Not really,'' I said, following Elena when she walked over to them.

''Guys, if Jenna comes home, she's had a big fight with Rick,'' Elena cautioned. ''About Isobel.''

''Elena's birth mother,'' Bonnie explained in a low voice.

''Wait, what?'' I coughed in confusion. ''Your birth mother?''

''Yeah...'' Elena rubbed the back of her neck. ''That's a long story.''


Somehow, all these catch-ups made my head so full it felt like it was about to explode.

''Not a dull moment, huh?'' I felt my forehead crease as Elena finished her story about her birth mother and Rick and vampires and how it all just seemed to have gone downhill from there.

Elena shook her head. ''Nope. Okay, let's get this back to being a nice distraction.''

''Yeah, we don't know nearly enough about you,'' Caroline pointed at me and smiled excitedly. I chuckled nervously, not prepared for the conversation be about me all of a sudden.

The three of them looked at me with friendly, but mischievous smiles on their faces. ''Okay... as long as we stay away from inquisition,'' I grimaced.

''So do you have a boyfriend or...?

''Caroline!'' Bonnie exclaimed, glaring at her friend.

I laughed. ''Never mind.''

''But do you?''

''She loves gossip,'' Bonnie rolled her eyes. I looked at Caroline, who was obviously expecting an answer. I wasn't scared to give her one, or anything, so I did.

''I don't.''

Something lit up in Caroline's blue eyes and I sensed trouble. Apparently, so did the other two.

''Oh, no, no, no,'' Elena warned her friend. ''No matchmaking.''

''But-'' Caroline pouted when Elena raised a finger in warning. ''Fine.''

''It's not like I'm looking, really, but thanks anyways,'' I tried to meddle between the two.

''It's not only that though,'' Bonnie said. ''You've had an Original running after you all the time.''

''Not all the time...'' I frowned. ''I hope. I'm sure he's got better things to do. But I suppose that adds to the not ideal dating situation.'' I paused. ''Wait... what do you mean by had?''

The three of them looked nervously at each other. Elena tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before she said:

''Elijah's dead.''

It took me a few seconds before her words made any sense to me.

''Oh.'' I frowned. ''The dinner party?''

Elena nodded, and told me how it'd all went down.

''Okay then,'' I said slowly when she finished, trying to grasp what I'd just heard. I don't know why it made me kind of uncomfortable. Elijah had kidnapped us, killed God knows how many besides Trevor... I felt my jaw twitch. Maybe it was just the killing part that got to me? But there was this nagging feeling in the back of my head. I'd just thought about accepting his deal, and now he was dead.

Treat people the way you yourself want to be treated, I always tried to follow that mantra. And as soon as Elijah got back to being civil, I'd tried to be as brave as I could and follow that, despite how hard it was. And just as with Caroline, I'd realised how vampires basically were either both or one side of a coin. If I didn't know how old he was and was intimidated by that and all he'd done to Elena and I, I wouldn't suspect him to be dangerous at all.

''I have another question,'' Caroline piped up and brought me out of my thinking, and most likely, a strange silence between the four of us that I was just too busy to pay attention to. I was kind of grateful for a change of topic, though.

''Not being rude,'' Caroline continued, and that probably meant that she was about to ask a blunt, or rude, question. ''But do you want to go to college, and,'' she quickly added,''what would you major in?''

With some effort I pushed the image of Elijah out of my head and tried to focus on the now instead. Honestly, I had a feeling that question would pop up. My life had kind of been put on hold since we had to use up my college fund, and ever since then I'd just been trying to save up again.

''Yes, I want to go to college,'' I said. ''Literature or some foreign language, maybe. Not sure what I want to work with, though.'' I chewed my bottom lip absentmindedly. I always acted like I had this big dream and planned out life, but it was actually only the go-to-college and see-the-world part that I actually knew I wanted – I didn't know exactly what I wanted to study or where I wanted to travel, just that I wanted to. ''What about you guys?''

''I haven't really thought about it, besides that I want to go,'' Elena said. Bonnie nodded in agreement.

''So I take it you like reading?'' Bonnie asked and brought the attention back to me, in my surprise.

''You're welcome to see my room, I've got a small library in there,'' I joked, even though it was kind of true.

Bonnie smiled. ''That's sounds awesome.''

''Well, they're not as interesting as your magic books I'd presume, but still.'' Her grimoires did sound extremely fascinating, and I really hoped to maybe, I don't know, get to look through them someday. If she'd let me.

''I'm still looking, by the way,'' Bonnie whispered to me when Caroline and Elena suddenly got into a huge discussion about what movie to watch. ''So you know.''

''Really?'' I asked in surprise. ''Wow, thanks...''

Bonnie waved it off. ''We're kind of in this together now.''

I offered her a grateful smile. I never thought I'd get dragged into something like this, but a part of me was kind of glad that I'd had. For the first time in my life I thought that maybe, just maybe, I might finally find out something about what I was. If there existed vampires, werewolves and witches, what else couldn't there be out in the world?

Caroline was practically jumping up and down on the spot. I had to admit, I was warming up to her. I mean, up until now I'd basically forgotten all about her being a vampire. She was so... so normal, somehow.

I noticed Elena eyeing her, amused. ''Someone's excited.''

''Hey, there's nothing wrong with that?'' Caroline said in feign hurt, but I suspected that she'd felt it a little bit. ''I mean, we haven't really known you outside of school until now.''

''I'm not very interesting,'' I said. ''Really, I don't do much. I work, I read, hang out with a co-worker sometimes.''

''Well, be prepared to be busy,'' Bonnie sighed. ''When you get tangled up in all this...'' With that comment, she brought me back to my previous thoughts faster than lightning.

''What happens when a vampire dies?'' I blurted out.

Bonnie eyed me curiously. Maybe it looked like I'd taken the news hard or something, and I didn't think that I had... ''Normal vampires basically just desiccate if you stake them,'' she said. ''Originals, well, as you heard...''

''So he's not actually dead?'' I asked.

''Well,'' Caroline made a face.

''Okay, dead-dead,'' I corrected myself quickly.

''I guess not, no,'' Bonnie said, giving me a puzzled look.

''No! Steer clear,'' Caroline suddenly exclaimed, catching herself, and all of us, getting into these kind of conversations again. ''And don't say you aren't interesting. You're like, the biggest mystery in this room.''

I made a face. ''Yeah... Wish I wasn't.''

''We'll figure it out,'' Elena promised.

''Thanks,'' I smiled. The fact that they hadn't actually killed made me feel a little better. But if someone managed to pull out that dagger, I hoped they were prepared for him, because if he wasn't happy the first time... I sighed, shrugging it off. ''Any other questions?'' I added with a small laugh, trying to get back from all the supernatural, following Caroline's example, despite it being kind of ironic.

''I have one!'' Caroline exclaimed. ''And seriously this time,'' she added, glaring at Elena. ''Chinese food or pizza?''

''Pizza,'' Bonnie decided, with no objections.

''Good. I will get it,'' Caroline said.

''Do you believe that Jonas is being sincere?'' Elena turned to Bonnie.

''I don't know what to believe,'' Bonnie sighed. ''I think he's at a loss. Not sure who to trust.''

''Join the club,'' Elena sighed with a sullen look on her face.

''Who's Jonas?'' I asked curiously, not really keeping up with the conversation.

''Elijah's witch,'' Bonnie said, her lips tightening.

''Well, what are we gonna do about this movie situation?'' Caroline changed the subject again. Somehow, every conversation always drifted towards something horrible, so I could understand why. Her eyes lit up. ''Ooh, what about The Notebook?''

''Caroline, how many times have you seen that movie?'' Elena laughed and Bonnie looked at her like she was saying, 'Caroline, please. Not again.'

''That is so not the point,'' Caroline frowned, pouting.

''Well, yeah, I mean-'' Elena began but stopped when Jenna walked in the room, dropping her purse on the counter and staring at the five of us.

''What's going on?''

''Girl's night,'' Elena explained slowly. She looked like she was tipping on her toes around Jenna, because she seemed to choose her words carefully and her smile was one of pity, even if she didn't mean for it to be.

Jenna nodded, looking down at the floor. I could tell she was kind of glum. At least, she was sad and frustrated enough for me too feel it.

Elena frowned, took a deep breath and let out: ''How are you doing?''

Jenna pressed her lips together. ''You heard about my fight with Rick,'' she didn't ask, but stated. Even if I felt for Jenna, I was happy to know what it was all about in advance for a change.

''He feels terrible,'' Elena said.

''Is this some kind of disguised attempt to cheer me up?'' Jenna asked and gestured towards us facing her lined up almost like a jury.

''No, no,'' Elena said quickly. ''This is about... us girls hanging out and you know... we'll be here if you happen to want to talk or...'' she trailed off, looking to us for backup.

''Because I am a winner when it comes to successful relationships,'' Caroline chimed in. That got a tiny smile out of Jenna. ''You too?''

Caroline shook her head, sighing.. ''You've no idea.''

''Mm... okay then,'' Jenna walked over to the fridge and began rummaging. ''This whole Isobel thing, he's hiding something from me,'' she mumbled, irritated, with her head in the fridge. She slammed the door shut with a sigh and a beer in hand.

''To play devil's advocate,'' Caroline began, ''maybe there's a great reason why he's not telling you. Maybe he's just trying to protect you.''

Jenna looked like she could kill someone. ''Well...'' She swallowed. ''That's not his call to make. I mean, I deserve the truth, everybody does.''

''Sometimes it's harder than that,'' Caroline went on. I knew she just wanted to help, but Jenna didn't know what she did, and from Jenna's point of view this was just about her boyfriend keeping things about her about his ex-wife – anyone would get upset about that.

''Not if it's somebody you care about, it isn't.''

I felt really heavy. It was like having someone press down their hands on you all over the body, light enough so that I could breathe but enough to be uncomfortable. Talking about it obviously made Jenna feel worse.

There was a moment of awkward silence. I squirmed uncomfortably, not really having anything to say and obviously Bonnie felt the same, while Elena looked like she was trying to find words of comfort for her aunt.

''You know what we need?'' Both Bonnie and I looked to Caroline with relief on our faces. ''Dancing.'' She was almost bubbling with excitement. ''There is a band at the Grill.''

''I'm in,'' Bonnie said immediately.

''Me too,'' I quickly agreed.


The Grill was packed. It wasn't every night it turned into a mini club, but whenever Roberta booked a band it seemed like half the town was there.

I was a little fidgety, I had to admit. Big crowds, lots of people, lots of emotion – not my forte. And I had said yes quickly to get out of that awkward moment at Elena's house, without thinking about what situation I was actually putting myself in. But standing next to Elena and Bonnie not too far from the stage, I suddenly found myself swaying slightly to the music. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. So far, everything was kind of calm and I felt like I could handle it pretty well.

After the band finished their second song, Caroline suddenly tossed her jacket to Elena who gave her a puzzled look as she walked up to the stage and grabbed the microphone.

''Hey everybody!'' she called out and I glanced at Elena, but she was as clueless as I was. ''Let's hear it for the band! Aren't they awesome?'' Caroline clapped her hands, making the crowd in front of the stage join in too. What was she up to?

''So, there's this guy, and he told me to tell him how I feel about him... Like it's easy,'' she laughed nervously. ''You know, just because I talk a lot doesn't mean I always know what I'm actually talking about,'' she babbled. ''Like now, when I'm feeling loofy and I don't really know how to express myself...'' The lead singer went to get the microphone from her, but she stopped him and blurted out: ''I can sing!''

And sing she did. I didn't know whether to be surprised or not, because of course Caroline Forbes was good at everything, and everything included singing. But it was kind of surreal watching her basically serenade Matt from the stage and I couldn't help but feel a little bit happy for her when he walked up and gave her a heated kiss in front of everybody. I wasn't sure if he knew what she was. After spending some time with her, I realised how easy it could be to hide it.

After that performance, it was like the party actually started. Everyone apparently got very excited by the scene before them, and especially Elena and Bonnie. From what I'd learned, Caroline's relationship with Matt had had its ups and downs.

The band started their set again and Elena and Bonnie took my hand and dragged me into a weird, but fun, three-man dance that had us laughing our heads off by the end of it. Usually, these kinds of tight crowds bothered me, but now they only amplified my excitement and that wasn't too bad.

When the next song began, we took it easy and chatted as well as we could with all the ruckus around us. It was almost as if I was high on everyone's happiness, and maybe the equal emotion of everyone at the restaurant was what made it so easy to notice any anomalies.

My eyes twitched. Something was off. Looking around, at first all I could see were smiling and dancing people, and everything seemed just the same as it had been after Caroline went up and sung for Matt. That really had upped the mood. But someone here, among all of these people, was in terrible agony.

For a second, I thought I'd just imagined it and was just about to shrug it off and go back to having fun, when I found the source of the searing pain that once again chilled through my body.

In the corner of my eye, I saw a dark skinned man walk determinedly through the crowd. It was like he was surrounded by an aura of ache, thudding through the air with every beat his heart made, like a pulsing wave of pain sweeping across the room every few seconds.

Frowning, I tried to follow him as he disappeared from my view, blocked by people who obviously weren't aware of the iciness he exuded.

I could faintly hear Elena ask me were I was going but I couldn't let him out of my sight. Gently pushing through the crowd I found him again, standing still in basically the middle of the restaurant. I noticed Bonnie appearing next to him pleading something, but he didn't seem to listen. His cold gaze focused on something in front of him and he raised his hand. His lips trembled and I grabbed my stomach, grunting in pain, as a single tear escaped his eye.

First, the lights went out. Then I blinked, and the bar was on fire.

And then everyone started screaming.

Never in my life had I felt anything like it. It was like I was struck down by a chilled knife, and then repeatedly stabbed by it all over my body, over, and over again. Something exploded nearby and the fear of all the people around crippled me. I wanted to scream but all that came out was a strained, hoarse groan unlike any sound that had ever left my body. My body sank to the floor, thudding with the feet of panicked people.

I saw red and orange flash through my eyelids as the fire intensified around me, but I couldn't distinguish between flames and people or flames and screams or people and myself. It grew warmer and warmer, but if I was burning or if people were stepping on me or if it was blood boiling in my head I wouldn't know – their fear was too strong. My heart was beating faster than it should be able to, trying to keep up with the heartbeats of everyone else.

Then, the fire shining through my eyelids slowly started to fade, but not because it was being put out. The last and only coherent thought that managed to slip through my head before I passed out by the weight of everyone else's fear and pain was, if only I could die as myself.


So yes, Elijah's staked at the moment, but I can't wait until he gets back because there'll be more interaction between Evangeline and him, always like writing those parts :)