A/N: Thanks for reading! Please, please, please review what you think of the story!

O.B.S! Just a reminder that the tomb vampire Harper is renamed William in this story.

Chapter 16 - Day of the Living

~X~

"Please" He rasped, her eyebrows tight together and he swallowed tightly. Harper had a bad feeling in her stomach, and her head was showing her images of the tomb and blood.

"My name is William.. please help me"

Harper stood there stunned, not knowing what to do. A vampire, a tomb vampire. Was standing in front of her, asking for her help. Was he a liar? a con artist just wanting to come inside to then drain her completely. William could smell her fear, see it on her frozen face. He was so tired from the recent events in his undying life.

"Please, I mean you no harm" William pleaded to her, and Harper seemed to snap out of her fright somewhat. She relaxed and took a deep breath, before stretching her hand out towards him.

"G-give me your hand" Technically she was shooting in the dark, taking a guess at some hidden ability she might have. But as she had been reading up more on psychic abilities in the diaries, one of the possible things she would be able to do was to read someone's future by touching them. Which she seemed to recall happening before.

William showed uncertainty before taking her hand in his. Harper let out a small gasp, as she started to see images in her mind. Brief ones, some murky and distorted. But one thing was clear when she let go of him. William was not a bad guy, just a lost vampire. And he had been one for a long, long time.

"Okay… Okay! Let's go" Harper took a deep breath before letting him go, she moved quickly into the garage for the safe with the keys to all the places on the property. She took the right key before coming back to the front door and the waiting vampire.

She took a step outside the door, before taking William's hand and dragging him through the lawn. They went far away from the main house to a guest house by the lake. It was hidden in between the forest part of the property, and no one would really notice if someone was using it. Harper unlocked the door and went inside, checking to see if some maid or housekeeper was there to clean up. But no one was.

"William, p-please come in" Harper rasped carefully and looked at the man, who took a step inside the fancy lakehouse.

"I trust you.. that you won't hurt me or the Lockwoods while staying here-" She stated, still scared. What she had seen pointed to a trustworthy character and pure hearted man. An old northern soldier who died in a war with vampire blood in his system at an infirmary. Reborn and then hunted down by the southern Mystic Falls soldiers.

"I promise! I promise, I will be gone in no time ma'am" He said, trying to come closer to her, but she took two steps back.

"S-sure, but why did you come here anyway? You were locked inside that t-tomb for ages. Why come here?" She tried the deep waters. What if he got angry and killed her? He could be playing the nice guy act for all that she knew. Gosh, she felt so stupid to just trust the feelings in her heart.

"I heard some rumors around town that a Bellrose was living at the Lockwood estate. I just had to meet you" William said with a sad smile.

"Why?"

William took a deep breath and looked at Harper, she was a pretty young girl. But boy, he knew in his heart that she was just like her ancestors, just as brave and caring and loving as her family back in the day were. Otherwise he wouldn't be standing there with a roof over his head.

"I was in love with your ancestor.. Alice Bellrose. She was a kind woman, forced into marriage at a young age to some general in the war. But she always loved me back.. I knew it" William said as he walked around the room they were in. Not like an animal stalking a prey, but a man lost through time. His eyes were glazed over, he looked like he was genuinely sad and heartbroken.

"Alice.. Yes, she married someone named Garrett? I think he died by illness some years after she had given birth to their only child Hugo. That's what the books say anyways, she always kept her maiden name." Harper recited one of the diaries she had gotten from her grandmother.

"Around that time I was turned into a vampire.. locked inside that tomb for what felt like forever. The others are coming. They are vicious for revenge, they don't want to fit into this new world, they want to own it" William turned back towards Harper with a grim look on his face.

"So you are here because-"

"I'm hiding. They see me as a traitor, a weakling" William stated, his shoulders were spent and his whole frame looked exhausted. Even for a guy that had probably just killed someone for food, Harper couldn't help but feel the need to help him.

"You can stay, William, calm down.. just tell me what you need" Harper said and William felt a soar in his heart from her generosity and kindness.

"I need blood, and a history lesson"

~X~

Harper had stolen some clothes from borth Tyler and Richard to see which ones William liked the most, and threw the old ones he had taken into the fireplace quickly thereafter. He settled on mostly Tyler's clothes, a blue shirt, a hoodie for extra warmth and jeans with a pair of sneakers. He had taken a shower and made sure to rinse away any traces of blood from his body.

They were currently walking around time once again, Harper had gotten a call from Carol that she needed some extra pair of hands at the fundraiser that was happening that week. Which in turn was an opportunity for Harper to give a tour to William over the new modern world he had woken up to.

They decided that day to walk around Mystic Falls, to re-acquaint him with the town. They crossed the park, heading towards the grill when William spotted a woman on a bench. Harper raised an eyebrow when the two of them nodded towards each other and looked to William for answers.

"She was in the tomb.." He muttered low, not knowing who else might be in the park. Harper's eyes widened and looked at the woman.

"W-what do I do?"

"Just keep walking. She is one of the good ones" William stated and gripped Harper's arm to keep on walking. Harper sighed in relief as they entered the town's favorite establishment.

"And this is the Grill" Harper opened the door for William who stepped inside the restaurant with careful eyes.

"The grill? Odd name" He said, to which Harper's lips twitched into a small smile.

"Well they do have some mean hamburgers" She stated and walked towards the bar where they would order.

"Hamburgers?" William looked amused, he was so confused about modern food.

"Oh noo.. Don't tell me you don-" Harper quickly turned around to stare at the vampire baffled. "You don't know what the greatest thing on earth is. We need to fix that" She shook her head and with more relaxation.

"Harper! Over here" A voice was heard at the other side of the restaurant, turning towards it, Harper realized that Caroline and the others were there too. Something she hadn't originally planned on when bringing William with her. A fake smile appeared out of nowhere on her face as she walked up to the cute table Caroline had set up as a ticket booth.

"Caroline, Matt, Elena.. This is William, he is new in town and is staying in the lake house for the time being" Harper said and locked eyes with Caroline for comfort, and sat down beside Matt to hold his hand. She was still on thin ice with Elena.

But Caroline knew exactly what her role as new best friend meant, and helped Harper out when they all seemed silent and uncomfortable with her there.

"How old are you William?" Caroline asked and smiled very brightly at the young man.

"Please, call me Will and I just turned 25 this fall" William lied smoothly, and stated facts that Harper had come up with hours before.

"So do you go to college or?" Elena asked, William was unsettled by her appearance, as Katherine had caused so much pain upon his life. Harper had explained everything she knew about Elena after he had told her all about the Salvatore mishap some hundred years ago. Harper had been shocked to learn that the reason for the tomb opening was because of one woman, who wasn't even in there. William noted that he needed to tell Harper about how much Elena looked like Katherine, he was certain she had no idea about that yet.

"I'm just drifting a bit, I know the Lockwoods from way back when. Old pal of Mason" He had no idea who this Mason was, but Harper had told him that he was her now adoptive uncle, who never visited home and was a bit of a nomad in a sense. No one would notice if he was a part of that guy's life.

"Cool-" Matt opened his mouth to speak, as he had many questions to the man Harper nor Tyler never told him about, but was interrupted by an older woman walking towards them. She stood beside Harper, and the younger girl noticed right away that the woman smelled a bit like booze.

"Hi Mrs Donovan!" Caroline smiled, but the woman ignored her.

"Elena, honey" She instead turned to the favorite, and ex of her son. Harper raised her eyebrows and looked at Caroline.

"Hi Kelly" Elena gushed and hugged Matt's mother. Both Caroline and Harper looked super uncomfortable by this point and Harper moved closer to her as to comfort her by a hand on the shoulder.

"Long time no see" Kelly stated, and started to make the situation worse by saying "Oh! Matty told me you broke his heart-"

"Mom!" Matt intervened and looked at his mother with embarrassed eyes.

"Just kidding, no harm done.. he found his rebound" Kelly glanced at Harper hugged Caroline lamley to keep the blonde's spirit up, the girls didn't smile at her.

"Don't listen to her" Caroline whispered into Harper's ear, which made her whisper back a small 'thank you' in return. This, Kelly noticed.

"And who are you again?" She asked ridley.

"Harper Bellrose" She answered and tried to stand tall, but it didn't work. Her self confidence still needed a lot of work.

"Harper Bellrose.. well, never heard that name before.. Harper that is, your whore of a mother I remember of course.. but don't you have a sister? What's her name?" Kelly spewed insults like it was nothing towards the teenage girl she didn't know.

"Mom!" Matt raged and took a hold of his mother's arm.

"H-her name was Henry, she died" Harper rasped out, this turn Caroline was the one to take Harper's hand and squeezed it tightly. Elena looked on the situation with bored and unamused eyes. Sure Kelly was being a bitch, but that was just.. Kelly. She didn't see the big deal about it, she had always been kind to her or apologized quickly after saying something rude.

"Okay calm down, no harm done, a girl can't keep up with every damn death that happens in this sorry town" Kelly said and shrugged off her son's hand. At this point, William was furious and ready to step in.

"Ma'am.." He started to be polite, but Harper didn't want any more fighting going on.

"No, William, don't bother.. she is drunk anyways" Harper stated and looked right at Kelly. Matt looked at Harper with sorry eyes, but acted like a coward and didn't say anything. Then she walked out of the restaurant. Together they headed towards a bench back in the park, and while Harper sat down, William couldn't calm down.

"I want to kill her" He said and paced back and forth in front of her. Now, they had only known each other for a couple of hours, so why he was protective over her Harper had no idea. But it felt nice that someone other than Tyler and Caroline was on her side.

"That's not a very gentlemanly thing to say" Harper giggled out through her tears. She hadn't noticed them coming down her face, but now it didn't seem like she could make them stop.

"I don't care, she is a hag" William stated, to which Harper's giggle bursted out into a laugh.

"Yes! Yes she is a hag" She said and nodded, William sat down next to her on the bench. He was still uncomfortable to touch her, it wasn't really appropriate of him to do that since he was her new friend and all.

"Thank you.. now let's go into the woods to hunt" Harper stated after she calmed down a bit and stood up to walk towards the bus stop. William was flabbergasted and hurried after her.

"Hunt what?"

~X~

A week later

A week passed by, Carol and Richard were finally home and Harper had not told them about their new house guest. After filling the fridge in the lake house with normal food again, which William really seemed to enjoy as he didn't really get his fill from the animals in the forest , and changing into more appropriate clothing, the pair headed back to the grill once more for the fundraiser.

"And now we do what exactly?" William asked as they were headed towards Carol, who was standing by the 'bachelors' with a mic and cards ready to go.

"We just stay during this event and talk to my adoptive mother who is the hostess. You have to play your role really well, she can see through most acts. Act like a Hollywood actor, think Tom Hanks" Harper stated and looked at William with a serious look. While William just got more and more confused.

"Who?"

"Just.. say what we practiced" Harper groaned out and went up to Carol.

"Oh darling! You look so beautiful" Carol said and hugged Harper. She was dressed in a warm knitted turtleneck dress in maroon, with thick thighs and boots to match. It was starting to get cold in Mystic Falls, winter was just around the corner.

"Thanks, and you need to meet someone. He showed up on our door this morning while you were gone" Harper said and motioned for William to come forward.

"And who are you?" Carol asked and took a protective hold of Harper's hands.

"I'm William Dawson, I'm an old friend of Mason, but I guess we met so long ago that he wouldn't recognise me now. I'm thinking about moving to Mystic Falls permanently after what Mason had told me about the place, I'm an army man you see, and thinking about looking around for jobs that might want someone of my background." William lied smoothly, and Carol was just eating it all up.

"Since I am a veteran I don't have much money nor any place to stay, but Harper here was kind enough to show me your lake house for the time being. Don't worry, as soon as I get a job I'm out of your hair" William smiled and Carol immediately saw an opportunity. They had chosen a character with a hyper masculine background that fit together with Mason's history enough to be believable, and the army stuff was a sure selling point to get Richard on board.

"Oh gosh! A veteran, yes of course you can stay for a while. We really need to take care of the heroes of our country. I might suggest the high school for you Mr. Dawson-"

"William.. or Will, please"

"William, as I said they currently lack a head coach for their football team. Right now the P.E. teacher is heading them towards doom" Carol chuckled and both William and Harper played along and laughed as well.

"I will certainly look into that, thank you Mrs. Lockwood and I have to thank you for your daughter's help as well. She was very kind and welcoming into your town. As expected from a mayor's daughter" William stated, which made Carol proudly squeeze Harper's hand again.

"My daughter is the best, please enjoy the evening" Carol said and pointed to a booth at the back end of the room.

"I will, do you want to accompany me?" William gestured for Harper to come with him.

"Sure, I will see you later" Harper let go of Carol and they quietly sat down as she had directed them to.

"Well, you won an Academy Award for that, congratulations" They both laughed until Matt Donovan came up to them and looked at Harper.

"Can we talk in private?" He asked, which made Harper furrowed her eyebrows.

"No, n-no I would rather stay right here" She said and stood firm against him.

"Please, I just want to apologize, and soon the thing will start and my break will be over" Matt pleaded, looking over his shoulder at a smiling Caroline, who was probably the one pushing him to do this in the first place.

"Go with him, I will guard the table against any housewife," William said and looked at Harper. She laughed a little and shrugged.

"Sure, ten minutes" Harper pointed at the blonde as they walked out into the back alley together.

"So? What do you have to say that's so important?" Harper asked. Matt sighed and nervously fidgeted with his hands. He kept checking if someone was around them, which there was none.

"I'm sorry for my mom, she is a bit crazy and-"

"Look, Matt, I don't need you to apologize for her behavior. She is an adult. She can say that she is sorry all on her own. But I know she won't do it, and that's the truth" Harper said and looked into his eyes. Matt knew it was the truth as well, he knew that his mother was royally messed up and he still kept depending on her to change. Which she never would.

"I'm still sorry about everything-" But once again Harper didn't even let him finish. With a kiss. It was a simple kiss, one that would make the butterflies in her stomach dance. Matt's instincts kicked in, hard. He placed a hand on the back of her neck to keep her firmly against him and gently pushed her onto the brick wall behind her. After several minutes of them being tongue tied, he let her go. Taking a step back to look at her adorable face.

"So we are cool?" He asked and laughed a little. Not really knowing what he had left to say to her.

"Yeah Matt.. we are cool" She said and laughed a little too. He then opened the backdoor to let themselves in again, but Harper stood firm.

"Are you not going in?" He asked.

"Nah, I will stay out here for a couple more minutes" She said, to which he shrugged and closed the door behind him. Harper took a deep breath and let the cold air consume her lungs. It felt nice, the cold. She always enjoyed the winter holidays when she was little. As she turned around to walk through the main entrance, she spotted Elena and Stefan arguing on the sidewalk.

"He killed her? Damon was the vampire that killed her?" Elena said with tears in her throat.

"I don't know what happened, Alaric said they never found the body" Stefan told her and tried to make his girlfriend calm down. Harper stood still against the corner of the Grill. Trying to not be noticed by the couple.

"Oh my god, Stefan-"

"I'm so sorry, I wanted to tell you but I just.. I wanted to know more" Stefan pleaded against being guilty of anything.

"I was feeling sorry for him, hoping that this whole Katherine thing would change him" Elena argued. "I'm so stupid"

"He doesn't know about the connection to you, I thought about confronting him but he is already so on edge-"

"Why are you protecting him?!" Elena shouted out, in the middle of the sidewalk. With people around to hear.

"Because you are not the only one that hoped that he would change" At that point Harper went inside to get William. She was ready to leave early. Too much information was going through her mind. Who had Damon killed, what secrets were Elena and Stefan and the rest of her little gang protecting. Who else was involved?