7.

"Woah," I cringed as I entered the kitchen and was greeted with the image of a dead mountain lion on the tv screen. Its eyes were staring glassily ahead, and its mouth lolled open. Marring the tawny fur of its neck was a huge mess of red. Not the most pleasing thing to see on a Friday afternoon

"They caught the animal that killed Tanner." Jenna told me, leaning forward intently.

It had been all the town could talk about the past week – shortly after Jeremy and I had left the kick-off rally, Coach Tanner had been found dead. Mauled by a wild animal. Elena had called, fretting for our safety and even Jeremy was snapped out of his bad mood.

Hunters had been combing the woods for weeks – Coach Tanner's wasn't the first death, but it was the first time the animal had come into town, and it was swiftly decided that it was time to find the animal and put an end to its attacks, once and for all.

Bonnie had been in a state of anxiety all week. She'd told Elena and I in hushed tones the next morning that she'd spotted the three numbers she'd been obsessing over all week: eight, fourteen and twenty-two. It could have been a coincidence, of course but the whole thing had her pretty freaked out – and for good reason. It was creepy. We hadn't seen much of her. Outside of school, she was spending most of her time with her Grams, trying to make sense of what was happening to her – though her Grams still insisted it was because she was a witch.

The camera cut back to the dark-haired news anchor, who was stood beside Sheriff Forbes, "To repeat, the animal terrorising Mystic Falls has been caught." He solemnly told the camera.

"Scum ball." Jenna's voice dripped with spite, "Scum bucket."

"Look, that lion honestly did us all a favour so have some respect for the dead." I joked, sitting at the table with my coffee.

"Not the lion," she exclaimed, trying to hide a smile, "And don't say things like that about Tanner. I mean him." She jerked her chin at the anchor.

"The news guy?" Elena frowned as she entered the room, turning to look at the tv.

"Also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell." Jenna informed her, "Did your mom ever tell you guys why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

"You and him?" Elena chuckled appreciatively, "He's cute."

"He looks like a serial killer." I grimaced, "The way he eyeballs the camera is… creepy."

"Danny's right," Jenna nodded, "There's nothing cute about him." She made a face, shutting off the tv.

Elena seated herself beside me, placing a pretty silver box on the table. She thrust a rag at me, "Here, you can help. Get polishing."

"What're you doing with that?" Jenna asked as I began scrubbing at an old, gold ring.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box," Elena told her, "Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood that she would loan it to the founders council for their heritage display"

The Founders Party and Heritage Display was that weekend, at the Lockwood Mansion. It had been my Mom's favourite party – she'd always loved the local history displays and helped to arrange loans of antiques and documents from the founding families. It made sense that she would offer up our own heirlooms. Elena, Jeremy and I had been dragged along since we were little and put in Tyler's playroom with the children of the other founders and a babysitter. Once we were a bit older, we could join in the party – which was much less fun.

"Wait, we can just go and get stuff from there?" I asked, surprised. As far as I knew, everything we owned of value was hidden away inside. I didn't think we'd be allowed to just take things – we were minors, after all.

"Well, it belongs to us now." Elena rubbed at an old, tarnished key.

"What's that?" I took it from her and examined it. It was brass with an ornate handle.

"The original key to the surgery," Elena snatched it back, "From when it was an apothecary. I found it in there with dad's keys and thought it was interesting."

Dads keys were in the safe? That I could access whenever I wanted? Maybe I wouldn't have to wait for Uncle John to get back to Jenna. If Vicki even remembered our deal – it had been nearly two weeks.

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Jenna picked up the ring I'd discarded, examining it closer. It was made of heavy, yellow gold.

"Originally, it was great-great Grandma Mary's wedding ring." Elena glanced at it.

Jeremy stomped into the room in his customary, grumpy manner. He paused when he spotted the collection of objects spread out across the table and then reached over me to pick up a thick, silver bracelet.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth, like on eBay?" he mused, holding it up to the light.

"You're not gonna find out." Elena scowled, grabbing it out his hands and laying it carefully back down on the table.

"That stuff is Mom and Dads," Jeremy protested, storming into the kitchen, "You can't just give it away!"

"I'm not giving it away." Elena explained patiently, "It's called a loan, Jeremy."

"Yeah," I nodded, "As if we'd give it all away when we could get a ton for it on eBay."

"Danny! Don't encourage him." Elena huffed, rubbing at a pocket watch.

Jeremy shot me a rueful smile, opening the fridge. Jenna moved into the living room and settled onto the couch with her college work. Elena was distracted by the doorbell, and moments later I spotted her dashing up the stairs, trying to sneak a darkly clothed figure up behind her.

"Hey, Stefan!" If I said I wasn't thrilled to expose them, I would be lying.

He mumbled his greetings back to me before Elena's door slammed. Jenna rolled her eyes.

"You think Caroline will call soon?" I asked, plopping down next to Jenna.

"Of course." Jenna soothed, "You're never apart for long."

"She hasn't spoken to me in a week."

"She's got a new boyfriend – soon he'll be old news, and she'll be back to normal."

"When, though?" I grumped.

Jenna laughed, "Danny when did you get so needy?"

I stuck out my tongue at her and stared blankly at the T.V. I could still remember all too well the feeling I'd gotten when Damon had touched my arm and I was sure he was up to no good. I didn't like Caroline spending so much time with him, though I had no evidence at all to suggest he was mistreating her. Bonnie was the only one who seemed to listen to my worries, but she couldn't provide any answers.

The next morning, I snuck out before the rest of the house was awake. The Freedom Bank of Virginia was the only bank in town. All I had to do to gain access to our deposit box was show the teller my I.D and sign in. I walked in and out in barely ten minutes, dad's keys heavy in my pocket.

Getting into the clinic was a little harder. I was so terrified of someone seeing me I hovered outside for ages, trying my best to look innocent and burning with guilt. When I finally built up the courage to slide the key into the lock and creep in, I slammed the door behind me and then froze in the waiting room, straining my ears – but no one had been inside for months. The only sound was the blood rushing in my ears.

Dad's office was at the very end of the hall. It was darker down there, away from the huge window in the waiting room. The door was unlocked, and the room eerily bare. I opened the refrigerator where he'd kept vaccines, but it was turned off and empty. There were drawers built into one wall but all that was inside were stray pieces of paper – old receipts, I realised on closer inspection. I held one up to my eyes, squinting through the gloom. It was about as mundane as you could get – five packs of a hundred rubber gloves, some cotton swabs and paper cups. But his signature was scrawled at the bottom in black ballpoint which smudged when I touched it. Silently, I pocketed it.

I seated myself gingerly on his desk chair – a swivel seat made of cracked leather that was older than I was and prepared to give up. The desk was completely cleared out, but the bottom drawer on my left caught my eye. It was slightly open, and when I pulled it a rattling sound echoed at the back. I squeezed my hand behind the drawer and grinned as my fingers made contact with a pill bottle that had fallen between the drawer and the back of the desk.

The printed label read 'Codeine, 30mg – Greyson Gilbert – DO NOT EXEED RECOMMENDED DOSE'. Codeine was used to treat coughs. My dad must have been prescribed this at some point and then forgotten about it.

It was perfect for my purposes. Codeine was an opiate, but the safest kind. And the bottle was only half full, meaning that Vicki would probably run out before developing a dependency.

I would have to figure out a way to give it to her – she worked at the Grill on Saturdays, but I could hardly drop off her drugs to her place of work. I shoved the bottle into my pocket along with the receipt and slipped back out of the clinic, locking the doors behind me.

I arrived home after a quick detour to return the keys. Bonnie's car was parked neatly outside, and I remembered that she was coming over to get ready for the Founders Party with me and Elena. It didn't start until three, and it had just turned twelve o'clock but knowing my sister, she would use up every minute of those three hours.

"Where'd you go?" Elena asked when she spotted me in the hall. She was giving the box of antiques a final polish.

"I just went to get some cigarettes." I lied smoothly, "I had to go half-way to Charlottesville to find someone who doesn't know how old I am."

That, at least, was true. No one in Mystic Falls would buy my fake I.D when they had known me since birth. I had to go out of town to feed my habit.

Elena and Bonnie immediately made noises of disgust.

"Danny, you are poisoning your lungs!" Elena exclaimed.

"Yeah, do you know what's in those things? My Grams knew a guy who had to have a hole cut in his throat."

"I could be doing crack," I reminded them, glad they had swallowed it.

There was a knock at the door before they could answer. I got to it before Jeremy, who was stood at the bottom of the stairs. I opened the door and immediately slammed it shut again before Tyler could open his mouth to talk.

"Elena, make him go away." I commanded her.

"One second." She answered me, quickly packing the objects back into their box.

"Who?" Jeremy cracked the door to look. Tyler was a little wiser this time and jammed his foot in the door to stop Jeremy closing it.

"I'm here for my mom. I'm supposed to pick up a box- "

I hovered behind Jeremy, a little afraid things would get bloody.

"It's right here." Elena pushed past me, holding the box cautiously with both hands, "Please be careful." She implored Tyler as she handed it over.

"Yeah, be careful with it, dick." Jeremy chimed in.

"Hey. Not now, okay, guys? Please." Elena pleaded.

"I'm fine. He's just being a punk." Tyler replied.

"Okay," I wiggled between Elena and Jeremy, aiming a kick at Tyler's foot to knock it out the way, "Bye, bye." I banged the door shut again.

"Hope that hurt," Jeremy mumbled, ambling away back upstairs.

Elena rolled her eyes and returned to the kitchen. This was the first time Tyler had been to my house since the breakup. It was weird – I had considered my house off limits for him and made sure my parent knew it. The thought of him coming herehad been almost too much to bear. But I wasn't troubled by his presence – it was like he'd broken some kind of spell by turning up at the house. I realised that I just didn't care anymore. Not to say I wasn't still mad at him – he'd beaten the shit out of my baby brother the previous weekend. But my aversion to him had become more out of habit than any lingering bad feelings.

"Danny," Bonnie caught my attention, "Get in here, I need to paint your nails."

"Do you have to?" I reluctantly approached the table, eying my hands.

My fingers were very pretty – long and slim. Piano-playing fingers, my mom had called them. But my nails were next-level disgusting. I habitually chewed not only the nails but the skin around them, so they were red and sore. They were unevenly shaped, and a couple had scabs around the cuticles from my endless picking.

"What's the damage?" Bonnie reached for my hands and peered at them, "It's fine, I brought some press-on's."

She produced a packet of long, French manicure stick on nails. I decided I would tolerate them for the party – but they were coming straight off when I got home. I sank down onto the chair beside Bonnie and she began gluing bits of plastic to my nails. When she was happy with them, she reached into her little pink makeup bag and brought out a few bottles of polish.

"Delicate flower or naughty vixen?" She asked Elena.

"Tough call. Can we mix them?" Elena replied. Shendidn't need press ons – she had long and beautiful nails which she took care of with weekly manicures and copious amounts of nail oil. She was taking the old polish of them with some kitchen towels, ready for Bonnie to repaint.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date." Bonnie smiled warmly at Elena, "You seem happy-ish."

Elena was bringing Stefan to the party, and since Caroline was taking Damon, Bonnie and I were going together.

"I am – ish. Tonight's going to be a good night." Elena sat down opposite me, "But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door."

I looked expectantly at Bonnie.

"What if I tell you in the morning?" Bonnie tried to appease her, "I don't want to ruin the night."

"So, it has night ruining potential?" I smiled sweetly, "Tell us."

"Okay, but it has to go in the vault because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed."

We nodded.

"Danny, I want a verbal promise you won't tell Caroline." Bonnie raised her brow.

"Fine." I answered, a little sulkily, "I promise. Not that she talks to me much anymore."

"Alright," Bonnie sighed, "Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story."

"Uh-huh." Elena nodded, prompting her to carry on.

"Do you two know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues." Elena shrugged.

"Didn't she die?" I remembered something Elena had told me after the dinner party.

"Yeah, but before she died, they both dated her. Only she chose Damon, and that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up." Bonnie's tone was serious, "He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's." Elena answered defensively.

"I just wanted you to know." Bonnie held her hands up.

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business." Elena carried on.

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business." Bonnie pointed out smartly.

"Stefan is none of those things!"

"Yeah? How do you know?"

Elena fell silent.

"Well, I don't trust Damon." I leaned my head on my hands, "I've got a bad feeling about him."

And I knew Caroline. If she told Bonnie this story, she would have known Bonnie would tell Elena. Why was she trying to cause trouble between Elena and Stefan? Was she not as happy with Damon as she made out?

Once Elena and Bonnie's nails were done, Elena shooed us upstairs. I owned exactly three items of makeup. A mascara, a concealer and a light foundation. I rarely wore it, though Caroline had spent ages teaching me to apply it. We lived in the south and it was likely to be sweated off without consistent touch ups, which I did not have the effort or patience for. To me, the whole thing seemed to much of an annoyance to do on a daily basis.

I begrudgingly blended the foundation and concealer into my skin with gentle dabs of a brush and slicked a light layer of mascara over my lashes. I swiped some Chapstick over my lips and tried to sneak out for a smoke, but Elena shook her head.

"No way. Hair." She pointed to a brush.

I picked it up as her phone rang. My hair was a mop, as usual. I had washed it the night before and gone to bed with it wet, so it stuck up in odd places. I dragged the brush through my hair, doing my best to make it lay flat, which it never did. My hair was somewhere between curls and waves and never seemed to do as it was told. I parted it evenly down the centre and decided to let it be.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked as Elena stomped past us into Jeremy's room.

I peered round the doorframe as Elena approached Jeremy, reaching out and smacking his headphones off his head.

"Ahh!" he complained, jumping in his seat "God, what now?"

"The pocket watch. Where is it?" she demanded furiously.

"What watch?" Jeremy fumbled with the headphones.

"The one you stole from mom's box." Elena accused, "Look, Mrs. Lockwood just called me freaking out. It was on the list, Jer and she can't find it and she thinks she's the one who lost it."

"Maybe she did." Jeremy suggested, "Maybe Tyler took it."

"Don't even play that card. Jeremy, you took it. If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?" She snarled.

"Elena, that's a little-" I was cut off by Jeremy.

"Screw you!" he said furiously, getting to his feet. He marched to the bookshelf beside me and rummaged for a moment, producing a gold disk, "I would never sell this, okay?"

"Then why did you take it?"

"Because it's supposed to be mine! Dad said it goes to the firstborn son, his father gave it to him and now what?" he slapped it into her outstretched hand. Elena was looking very guilty.

"And he was going to give it to you." She sighed.

"Yeah." Jeremy put on his headphones.

"Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, okay? Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood what do you want me to do?"

"Just take it and get out." He snapped.

Elena retreated into the bathroom; the pocket watch clutched in her hand.

"Let's get dressed." Elena tossed the watch onto her bed, going to her wardrobe.

I finally got away to my room and lit up a cigarette. Today was the first time Tyler had come to my house since we had broken up and it was also the first time I would go to his. I was a little nervous about facing Mrs. Lockwood again, after egging her beloved original doorframe and windows. Not that she knew that was me.

I pulled open my wardrobe, the cigarette hanging from my lips and quickly rifled through my dresses. We had been attending these events since we were old enough to behave and I had no shortage of formal dresses. I ended up choosing a strapless, pale blue dress shot with silver sequins. It was made of satin with a tulle overlay which made the knee-length skirt swish as I walked. I wiggled it over my hips and stuck my feet in the shoes before finishing my cigarette at the window. I flicked it outside, and glanced at the clock – ten to three. It was time to leave.


a/n: hahahahah im the worst. I promise I'm still working on this story; I just keep getting ideas for later chapters that I need to write down before I forget them. I've got twenty-eight finished chapters, but they're spread out over multiple seasons, so I need to try and get the inspiration to fill in the gaps. Anyway, thanks for reading and if you liked this chapter please give me a review! Chapter eight should be up tomorrow or the day after, it's already half-done x