Mystic Falls 1864.

A horse drawn carriage with a driver and his passenger are heading down a dirt road one night. Up ahead, in the middle of the road, lies a man with a woman kneeling beside him. This woman is Katherine. She gets up when she sees the carriage and starts shouting out frantically.

"Please! Please, help us!"

She begs as she runs toward the carriage, making it come to a halt.

"Please, I beg of you! My husband, he's been hurt! Please help him!"

She faked her distress so perfectly that the driver jumped down from his seat immediately and goes to check on the man lying down sideways by the road.

The passenger of the vehicle then opens the carriage door and comes down.

"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night? It's not safe."

"No. No, sir. It's not safe."

Katherine smirks at the now confused man before she bares her fangs out, looking like a demon and bites the man's neck.

The man screams as Katherine drains the blood out of him, killing him.

Meanwhile, the driver kneeling over Damon's body, hears his master's scream and immediately turns around, cautious. He gasps once he sees his master's dead body lying by the carriage, and he suddenly gets scared.

Just then, he turned to look back at the body behind him and Katherine suddenly appears right in front of him. Her eyes red and mouth filled with blood and in horror, he shouts out but it was already too late an she pounces on him as well and drains the blood from the man who screams for his life.

After she was done with him, she tossed the body aside, blood drenching her chin.

She then looks down.

"And that's how it's done."

Katherine wipes the front of her dress with her palms and Damon slowly and cautiously gets up looking at the two dead men.

"What happens to the bodies?"

"Well, I'll take them into the woods and the other animals will finish them off."

Damon looked around, looking seemingly frightened and Katherine tilts her head at him.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Damon immediately nodded, a brave look on his face.

"I'm ready. I want you to turn me."

Katherine then smiled as that was the answer she'd been looking for in the first place.

"When it's time. Kiss me."

Damon pulls out a handkerchief from his coat pocket with a flourish and moves to wipe the blood off Katherine's chin, but Katherine grabs his hand and moves in closer.

"No. You should get a taste."

She smiles at him, moving in to kiss Damon, but Damon moves away before looking apologetic at her.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Soon you won't be able to get enough."

Damon hesitates for a moment before kissing Katherine with such a fiery passion as she reciprocates it as well.

When he pulled away from her, the blood from Katherine's chin had already smudged on Damon's lips and Katherine wiped at with her finger.


It was finally weekend.

Cherith woke up that morning quite early, getting ready to head to Sheila Bennett's home.

She had been looking forward to this for a while now, especially since she tapped into her power.

It felt… so good. Like she had something she can depend on. It was like having a 3rd hand, 3rd leg or a 3rd eye.

She tried not to depend on it too much but she'd been trying out a lot of things as well too. From using energy fields to lift things. She'd been straining herself when it came to super heavy stuff but when it was the simple things, she broke no sweat in any way.

She of course knew it would be a work in progress, especially since she had no way to practice all the time and there was only so much Sheila could teach her as she wasn't a Bennett.

Dressing in a simple blue jean shorts, a white tank and a jean jacket with brown flat boots, her backpack behind her, she jogged down the stairs.

"Morning Jenna!"

She greeted, entering the kitchen and taking a banana from her hand, peeling it to eat.

Jenna gave her a look and Cherith innocently smiled at her.

"Sorry Jenna, don't wanna be late so I'm just eating light and I'll be heading out."

"Look at you being all senior like. So you've been busy with your college applications and essays?"

She asked and Cherith winced, realizing she'd had a lot on her mind for some time now and she'd left it unattended to.

"Um, yeah. I still have the whole of December but I just want to get it over with before New Year."

Jenna nodded, taking another banana from the bunch.

Cherith looked at the time and stood up, backing her bag.

"Crap. Jenna I'll be leaving now before the bus leaves me instead. I'll see you when I get back! Bye!"

She ran, grabbing Jenna's banana again and a bottle of water, running out of the house, laughing at Jenna's

"Cheeky brat!"


Grams' Residence.

Cherith walked up the steps to Sheila's house, knocking on the door and rocking on the sole of her feet, waiting patiently.

The door soon opened and Cherith grinned when she saw Sheila.

"Hi Sheila!"

She chirped and Sheila sighed, shaking her head as she widened the door and Cherith skipped in, settling on a sofa.

"By the look on your face, it would seem you can now access your magic, I presume?"

Cherith nodded, dropping her bag and standing up, closing her eyes and concentrating.

Immediately, red energy ball appeared on both her hands, energy fields around and she opened her eyes, grinning.

Sheila's eyes widened when she saw exactly what Cherith was doing.

This shouldn't be possible.

How was she doing this… how was she controlling it??

She slowly yet cautiously moved towards Cherith looking at her hands and feeling the magic practically coating the girl.

It was like a clashing chaos of magic.

Like…

"So! What do you think?? Pretty cool, huh?"

Cherith grinned toothily and Sheila sighed, moving to sit down.

Her very foundation of beliefs seemingly crashing down before her.

"Child… your powers…"

"Yeah?"

Cherith looked at her curiously, the energy fading away as she sat down.

"How do I put it… your magic is, special. Rather different from the rest of us."

Cherith frowned, suddenly confused.

"Different? How do you mean?"

Sheila seemed to be deep in thought before she asked a question.

"Have you maybe performed any feats?

"Hm… well, I'm able to levitate a lot of things with just the wave of my hands. I've been trying to do that with my mind but I haven't got the time to try that yet. I can fire energy blasts from my hands… or I call them energy blasts because of how they look. It's still something new so I'm still learning. It's a work in progress."

Sheila stared at her with something akin to awe.

"Believe me Cherith, most people can't do that."

"So, how am I doing it then? Is there something wrong with me?"

Cherith asked, suddenly worried but Sheila quickly shook her head.

"Not at all. Don't think too much on it. I feel like I've seen this somewhere before. I'll research more on it. Now, on to different matters. Now that you know about the existence of magic, I think it is time for you to know about the creatures of the night."

She said, changing the conversation and Cherith was suddenly interested and wary.

"Creatures of the night? What's that?"

Sheila took a sip of her tea before she continued.

"Not that… them. Their, kind…"

She grimaced in distaste.

"Their kind has plagued our world for centuries now… they used to operate in the dark, until some of ours… helped some of them walk the light. These things prey on humans, sucking the blood out of them, controlling their minds and using them how they see fit."

Cherith snorted in amusement as she remembered something she'd read before that sounded so similar. Heck there were movies!

"Are you talking about vampires?"

She asked, skepticism and amusement clear on her face but Sheila Bennett had no laughing face on.

"Come on, laugh with me Sheila Bennett."

But Sheila still gave her a look and Cherith frowned.

"Wait, are you serious?"

Sheila gave her a nod.

"Indeed I am. They have always existed in secret, putting their bad deeds as 'animal attacks'. This town has had quite a number of those recently, have they not?"

She looked pointedly at Cherith who frowned, her mind going a mile a minute.

"You mean… they are here?! In town?!"

Sheila sighed.

"One mistake I made with Bonnie, was not telling her about their existence as fast as I could. I won't be making the same mistakes twice. Vampires are indeed real, and they're here. In Mystic Falls."

Cherith's mouth dropped open as Sheila spoke somberly.

"So… so, those… deaths! They killed those people?"

Sheila nodded.

"In cold blood. Heartless monsters, the lot of them. Of course, not all, but I assure you out of all of them, 99.99% are as bad as the devil himself. And so, I am warning you to be careful. Practice your magic on the offensive, because you have no idea when and where you can run into them. Mystic Falls is a small town, you know?"

Cherith's eyes narrowed.

"You speak like you've met some of them."

"I have met them before."

"No."

Cherith shook her head.

"I'm talking about the ones presently in town. You know them… Who are they?"

She questioned and Sheila sipped her tea, thinking for a moment before talking again.

"In the 1860s, vampires roamed this town, practically owning it and the people in it. The founding families, tired of theirs dying left and right, decided to come together to do something about it."

Cherith shrugged.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"You're a Gilbert. Your family was one of the leading factors who ended that reign of terror. Your line is more connected to the protection of Mystic Falls than you think."

Cherith looked at her surprised at the influx of sudden information.

Suddenly, it would seem both her family lines were more special than she was always led to believe.

"You still didn't tell me who the vampires in town are."

Sheila smirked at her.

"That answer, you have to figure out on your own."

Cherith opened her mouth, disagreeing with the answer when Sheila cut her off.

"My view of Vampires, they are the worst of the lot. No redeeming qualities in them, except perhaps for just one that I know of. They suck the life out of people and quite frankly, with what I've seen in this life… they deserve to burn. That is my view. Make yours instead."

Cherith sighed, looking down.

"Well, now that I know there are things that go bump in the night, believe me, I am certainly more creeped out than ever."

Sheila chuckled.

"Aren't we all?"


A few hours later, as Cherith leaves Sheila's home, a contemplative look appears on her face as she quickly rushed into her basement where an assortment of magical books were arranged.

She saw the one she was looking for, turning through it, searching for something, when she stopped, reading the topic title of the very small text.

It wasn't exactly a topic everyone knew about, just that a few witch seers had seen a possible future about it.

"The Myth of The Scarlet Witch."

Her voice shook as she read through it, concern suddenly on her face, and fear, mixed into it.

Oh dear…


Cherith walked back home later that evening, her mind going a mile a minute as the realization of vampires existing still sat at the forefront of her mind.

It was… surreal!

It was incredible!!

It was… frightening…

Her mind suddenly went to the deaths that had happened just this year alone.

She'd seen some of the stories in the paper or articles in the computer and she remembered reading one or two that mentioned bodies drained of blood.

It creeped her out and she shivered, wondering who these, vampires, were.

Apparently the founding families had been… vampire hunters of some sort… that included the Gilberts, Forbes, Fells, Lockwoods, Salvatores…

This whole thing made Cherith run her hands through her hair, confusion and fear going through her.

Who were these vampires and where were they?

Her whole family had no powers like she did and they didn't always go out together or even knew everything the other was doing.

Heck.

No one knew she was with Sheila!

Cherith sighed, though her awareness had certainly increased… and, quite possibly her paranoia too.

It was to be expected.

The sky was darkening out when Cherith finally got to her home and she sighed in relief at no confrontation from any… fanged person.

Her mind though, was still on the vampires.

What they were like. What powers they had.

Sheila had told her about their speed and strength and their creepy ability to control people into doing what they wanted them to… whatever it could be.

Cherith found that absolutely disturbing and disgusting and she hoped for the sake of any Vampire, that they never try that on her, or else they'd find themselves wishing for the sweet embrace of inescapable death.

As she walked through the path to the front door, Damon, Stefan and Elena walked out, moving to discuss on the porch but they stopped as soon as they saw Cherith walking towards them, a blank face on.

"Cherith. Hey… where have you been?"

Elena greeted her trying to look nonchalant, Stefan smiling and Damon, impatient but his creepy smile on.

But of course, she was so out of it she heard nothing.

But then again, vampires had a very fast healing factor right?

But one thing she was curious about was whether or not they had regenerating factor.

Too bad she had no one to ask.

She stopped in front of the door and sighed.

"I wish I could meet a vampire."

She mumbled, morosely and Stefan and Elena turned to her in surprise while Damon raised an eyebrow.

Fearing for the worst, Elena quickly moved to her sister, wanting to be sure what she'd heard.

"Cherith, what did you just say?"

Cherith quickly snapped out of her daydream, realizing she had people staring at her and cussed internally before feigning calm, waving her sister's look away.

"Oh it's nothing. I mean, if they were real I'd have questions and all."

Elena sighed with relief, Stefan as well but Damon smirked, folding his arms.

"Oh? Questions like what, Cherry berry?"

Cherith glared at Damon, her dislike for him suddenly shining through again and she rolled her eyes.

"It's just… do they have a regenerating factor? Like… I'd probably stab their eye out and wait to see if it regrows. It's something I'm curious about."

She said in a matter of fact voice and Stefan and Elena stared at her, disturbed while Damon had a calculating yet cautious look on his face.

Cherith turned to see their looks and rolled her eyes, opening the door to walk in.

"You'd never understand my scientific curiosity. See you later, losers."


As soon as Cherith entered her room, she flopped down on her bed as the information learned that day filtered through her mind.

She could feel her level of paranoia rise with just a touch of fear as well.

Sitting up, she suddenly remembered the animal attacks that had been happening in town for quite a while now and moved to her desk, browsing through the internet for more information on the deaths and she cussed herself for not taking a deep look at the deaths that had been happening, for a while now.

They were suspicious and they were all bodies drained of blood.

She idly wondered if there were others too, just that it had been covered up.

She was super glad now more than ever that as she was a witch, she would not be able to be controlled. Her will would not be taken from her. It made her feel good but she still worried about her family and friends though.

She idly tried to remember if there had been a time anyone she knew acted differently but thankfully there wasn't, so that was good.

Really good.

Her mind suddenly went to Mr. Tanner who had been bitten on his neck and drained of blood and her face turned slightly green.

Yeah, she had definitely been super lucky that night. Being all alone and walking around like an idiot in the dark.

She hadn't even known she had powers then!!

"Stupid!"

She chided herself before a thought appeared on her face.

"Hey! Didn't that Jonathan Gilbert dude keep a journal?"

She said to herself as she brightened up.

That alone would be a well of information for a practical newbie like herself!

She stood up and headed into his room but he wasn't there and so she went down the stairs to check if he was there but she didn't find him either.

She turned to Jenna.

"Hey Jenna, where the hell did Jeremy go to?"

She huffed and Jenna gave her a look.

"Language kiddo. And he went to the Grill with Damon Salvatore. He's a hot guy, don't you think?"

She smirked and Cherith looked at her, feeling disgusted.

"He's good-looking but an asshole."

Jenna snorted.

"That's what Elena said, you know?"

Cherith sighed, walking away.

"Fine! I'll just wait for him… the git."

She groused and Jenna chuckled.

"Now, now… don't be bitter your brother's getting a life."

Cherith rolled her eyes, deciding to wait up for him as it was still quite a while before she headed for bed.

Just then, Elena and Stefan walked out of Elena's room in a hurry.

"Where are you guys off to?"

She asked Elena.

"Oh, umm, we're just going for a drive. We'll be back soon."

She promised and Cherith sighed morosely as she headed into her room.

"Looks like everyone has plans and I'm just here… let in on a deadly secret and now as paranoid as mad eye moody from Harry Potter."

She laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling when she raised her right hand, an energy ball appearing in her hand as she stared at it.

It really was beautiful.

But at the same time, she felt there could be more that she could do with it.

She remembered when she felt like she'd read Chad Davis' mind.

There really could be a lot she could do.

Well, no good time to practice but now.


Old Cemetery.

Elena shines a flashlight onto Giuseppe's Salvatore, Stefan's father's tombstone as Stefan walks around the grave, setting up torches and taking out supplies.

"Why isn't your father buried in your family's tomb?"

She asked, curious.

"Because, It wasn't built until well after he died."

"Are you sure the grimoire's in there with him?"

She asked again, looking at the tomb they were about to exhume, slightly uncomfortable.

After all, she knew how she'd feel if someone decided to do the same to her father's, she'd have fought tooth and nail to make the person pay.

Stefan nodded, very sure of himself.

"Yes. As sure as I could be."

Elena nodded with a sigh, readying herself for something she never expected to do in her entire life.

But of course, she should have known her life was going to change after finding out about the existence of witches and vampires.

She just hope there were no other… creatures, that existed beyond fairy tales, because she'd read some stories of things worse than vampires, as crazy as it sounded.

"Great."

Stefan then picked up two shovels from the ground and looked at Elena.

"Elena. I can do this on my own if it bothers you."

He tried to convince her but she shook her head.

"And I already told you I'd do whatever I can to help."

She said softly, pressing a hand to his cheek.

"I know, and I appreciate that, but—"

"This town is my home, Stefan. My friends and family are here. You're here. I don't want that tomb opened any more than you do."

She finished, looking resolute and Stefan nodded, handing Elena a shovel, which she takes.

Exhaling heavily, some memories playing in his mind, Stefan takes a moment to gather himself and Elena watched him, feeling bad for him.

"I'm really sorry that you have to do this."

She said softly and Stefan smiled softly at her, beginning the excavation.

A memory on his mind of him being the reason why Katherine had been imprisoned in the first place, thinking he could put his trust in his father and ending up loosing all the trust his brother had in him.


Motel Room.

Anna places her bag on the counter and sits down, looking at Damon and waiting for his questions

"How long have you been here?"

"I arrived around half-past comet, watching you screw up every chance you had to open that tomb."

She smirked, amused and he stared at her with icy eyes.

"How did you know about the spell?"

Anna shrugged with a smirk.

"Easy. As you know, I didn't say much back then, which means I heard everything."

Damon then moves closer to Anna, trying to intimidate her and she looked at him unimpressed.

"So if you've been here the whole time, then why are we just crossing paths right now?"

Anna gets up and walks around the room.

"I like to use others to do my dirty work."

"Like Logan Fell?"

Damon questioned with a scoff.

"Oh, yeah, thanks for that, by the way. Little bastard shot me."

Anna shrugged.

"Logan was an idiot."

"Mm-hmm."

Damon agreed whole heatedly.

"We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal. I couldn't let him die."

"What'd you want with the Fell journal?"

He asked, eye narrowed and Anna sighed.

"I thought it contained the location of the witch's spell book. I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Johnathan Gilbert. And, according to this..."

Anna walks over towards the counter, opening her bag, and she takes out the Gilbert journal.

"He gave it to your father. So now you're going to help me find it."

Damon looks at her, now that he knew he had the upper hand.

"Why would I help you?"

"Simple. 'Cause you and I both want that tomb open."

She said easily, handing the journal to him and he reads the page Anna flipped it to.

"Hmm."

He only said, looking at her as he shut the journal and placing it back on the counter.

"Sorry. I work alone."

Damon said with a slight smirk before exiting the motel room, leaving Anna staring, fury in her eyes.


Old Cemetery.

Stefan continues to shovel the dirt out of the grave and Elena stands beside the deep hole, beaming the flashlight down so Stefan could see what he was doing.

Suddenly, Elena smiles and starts shaking her head and Stefan looks up at her.

"What?"

He asked her with a small smile and she grinned.

"Not many girls can say they've done this…"

She gestured to the grave as Stefan continues to dig and he grins, understanding what she meant and at least happy she didn't seem to scared up by what they were doing.

His shovel suddenly hits something solid and it makes a loud thud.

Stefan looks up at Elena with apprehension in his eyes as he scraps the dirt off of the coffin with the shovel and tosses the shovel out of the grave.

He then knelt down on the coffin, wiping the dirt away with his hands, Elena kneeling down as well so as to get a better look, holding the beam steady.

Stefan opens the lid of the coffin. Elena breathes heavily.

"Is that it?"

She asked him, anxious and Stefan opened the lid fully.

A skeleton laid there with a tattered black outfit and the grimoire, sitting in the coffin.

Stefan quickly retrieves the grimoire, which is cradled in his father's arms and he shuts the lid of the coffin, trying to regain his composure, his eyes watery.

He then stands up and places the grimoire on the dirt next to Elena. Elena kneels down, shining the beam on the grimoire and Stefan rips the cover off.

Stefan then carefully turns the pages of the grimoire, looking for the spell.

"Well, what do you know?"

Damon's voice resonated around the quiet and dark forest, startling Elena and Stefan as they turned around to see Damon whose lips were curled up in a snarl.

"This is an interesting turn of events."

"I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry."

He said resolutely, shaking his head as Elena stood at the back, cautious.

"So am I. For thinking for even a second that I could trust you."

Damon said back, looking betrayed at his brother and Stefan scoffed, looking at his brother unrepentantly.

"Oh. You're not capable of trust. The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

Damon looked at him like he was asking a rhetorical question.

Of course I was going to do it by myself! Because the only one I can count on is me! You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan. But you..."

Stefan looked at him and Damon looks back at Elena, slight hurt in his eyes and Elena looked down, ashamed.

"You had me fooled."

He then turned to Stefan, staring at his brother icily.

In less than a second, he blurred over to Elena, putting her in a chokehold and she gasped, suddenly scared.

"So what are you going to do now? Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out."

Stefan shook his head, not believing his brother even though fear shone on his face for Elena's sake.

"You won't kill her."

Damon nods, knowing Stefan was right.

"I can do one better."

Damon bites his wrist and forces Elena to drink his blood. Elena struggles.

"Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck. And you and I will have a vampire girlfriend."

"Let her go first."

Stefan begged, as he stared at Elena who currently had Vampire blood in her system.

Damon pulls his wrist away from Elena's mouth, giving his brother a glare.

"The book!"

Stefan shook his head.

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me."

Damon stared at his brother, not caring about what he'd said.

"Problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it back!"

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will."

He assured his brother, fear still in his eyes.

Damon, still keeping Elena in a chokehold, nods at Stefan.

"Okay."

Stefan, eyes filled with terror, slowly places the book on the ground and reaches out for Elena.

Damon places his face against Elena's hair, looking as if he might not let her go, but slowly he pulls his arm away from her.

Elena swallows hard, slowly edging to the side of the grave, then quickly jumps over it and into Stefan's arms.

Stefan wraps her in a warm embrace, relief on his face as Elena looks at Damon, terrified, and Stefan and her walk out of the woods together.

Damon watches them go and picks up the grimoire, staring at the grave of his father, memories running through his mind of the night Katherine was taken, and he walks off.


Gilbert Residence.

Cherith heard her sister's door open and close and knew she was back home.

She stopped what she was doing as well, so as not to get caught doing magic.

Jeremy was down the stairs with Jenna and his guest who still gave Cherith a rather… odd, vibe about her.

Cherith didn't know what it was and she didn't think she was interested in finding out, seeing as she had other things to think about, like the existence of actual vampires!

She was honestly still creeped out by it, especially since it was dark out already.

Vampires, according to Sheila operated mainly at night, except for those that already had… daylight rings?

Whatever that was, it sounded cool. Even if it gave vampires the ability to walk in the sun, it just showed how powerful witches and warlocks were. She hoped she'd be able to do such someday.

Suddenly feeling hungry, she left her room, intent on heading down the stairs when she passed Elena's room, hearing a slight tussle.

Frowning, she stopped, intent on knocking but pushed it open.

"Are you—"

Cherith gasped at the scene she saw.

An unconscious Elena was being carried on Anna's shoulder and halfway out of the room through the window.

Cherith got angry.

"What the hell?!"

She demanded, walking into the room and Anna turned startled, her vampiric features clear to Cherith who suddenly gasped, fear in her eyes as her mind suddenly went to what Sheila had told her.

"Vampire…"

She gritted out, her hands lighting up in anger and Anna's eyes widened at the blatant display of power.

"Let go of my sister."

She commanded but in that moment, Anna wasted no time, zooming off and Cherith realized it was too late as she runs towards the window, fear in her eyes.

"Elena!!"

She shouts but she was already gone and her eyes watered up at the thought of never seeing her sister again.

She was just about to leave and inform Jenna and Jeremy when Stefan blurs in, a devastated look on his face and he stops at the sight of Cherith's whose eyes widened in recognition.

"Wait… you're one of them?"

Stefan looked slightly confused and apprehension and Cherith's hands lit up, the energy balls pulsing with her anger as she raised her hands up in front of Stefan, making his eyes widen and taking a step back.

"Cherith—"

"SHUT UP!"

She screams out and the lights flicker in the room as she breathed in and out furiously.

"You're one of them. You're a vampire!"

She snarled at him with furious, tearful eyes and Stefan stood a few feet away, apprehensive of her energy glowing hands and the way she stared at him… with so much anger.


Hi guys!

So this is the next chapter.I understand the part of wanting to mainly read Cherith's POV, but I've already written most of the earlier chapters but soon I'll stop following the episodes so I hope you all stick around and keep on loving Cherith and her attitude!

Thanks so much!