The saving Vickie plan completely derailed, namely, because she got the date wrong.
It was September 7th, according to the news paper- not October 23rd. She was an idiot to trust her stupid phone for that information- it's interdenominational time travel! Of course it would be off!
That means it's quite possible Ben wasn't a vampire, yet. Anna wasn't in town, was she? Dammit there was a possibility she wasn't yet, which was good. What happened in September?
Cassie scrolled through her phone before finding the answer on the calendar in the form of a note. Elena and Stefan meet. She noted, and then scrolled a bit more, and her eyes widened. It only takes him three days to decide to feed on Caroline? Three days past from that episode to... how long does he feed on her? Wait, Anna arrives on the same day? September 10th is when the shit hits the fan then- wait Stefan and Elena meet today but kiss like three days later damn wow okay they move fast.
She scrolled along to find when Damon gets snatched, and the revelation has her eyes widened once again. September 24th is the founders ball... he spends two weeks feeding, fucking and playing with a seventeen year old girl who's being mind controlled?! WHAT THE FUCK DAMON?! Cassie sat her phone down in disgust, the urge to vomit increasing as she realized exactly what kind of damage Caroline withstood against Damon.
What the fucking hell. I can't let that happen. Poor Caroline, god, I'm not just gonna sit back and knowingly allow that to happen. Ew. Repulsed by the vampire's future actions, Cassie knew she had to do something about Damon.
Maybe she could help Stefan knock him down early? But wait, would that stop anything important? Oh wait, Lexi, she has to save Lexi to, that's November 1st tho, on Stefan's birthday...
Damon murdered his brother's best friend on his birthday... should I just kill Damon? Cassie thought dully, and realized that would probably fuck up the story line beyond comprehension, and she needed him to be alive later... so not right now.
"Stefan... I should probably go on ahead and contact him." Cassie decided, and stood. She would go to the boarding house- although she should leave her smart phone here since it's got all the juicy details... which she also noted down in a notebook since her phone isn't water proof.
Finding the Salvatore's house was hard, but she'd already googled it's location, since it was historical, she found it pretty quickly. It was after school, she waited long enough for Stefan to be home. Knocking on the door, she felt herself get more and more nervous with each passing minute.
It was Zach who opened the door, and this caused mixed emotions in Cassie because somehow, she forgot about Zach. Shit he has a kid just wondering around without his knowledge that Stefan has been protecting this whole time... She brushed the emotions away.
"Hi, I'm Cassandra Harris... I would like to talk to Stefan Salvatore?" Zach's face paled, and he tried to hide his wariness. "I'm afraid he's busy.." Cassie paused, and then decided she should inquire about vervain. "Okay... well I wanted to know if you had... certain herbs, that would help against... certain creatures." She tried to be subtle, she really did, but Cassie was new at this.
Zach's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't have any herbs, I don't even know what-"
"Mr Salvatore, please, there are vampires loose in this town and I want to be able to at least keep my own mind. Can you please spare me some?" Cassie asked, her voice pleading. She didn't actually need vervain to keep her 'own mind' but she did need it, even if it was just as a back-up plan. Zach looked conflicted, before he gestured for her to come inside. Cassie stepped in, and he told her to wait in the living room. Cassie glanced around, looking at the familiar room, knowing how much death, blood, and just plain weird shit would happen.
I wonder how Zach would react if I told him this place would end up as a rip off Hogwarts. Cassie mused, before she heard someone speak. "My, my, and what is a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?"
Cassie's heart froze, as she knew that voice. Calm down. You cannot react. You need to stay calm. She commanded herself to keep a straight face, and turned. "Oh just visiting...I'm looking for Stefan, are you two related?" She spoke loud enough for her voice to carry as she turned, making eye contact.
Oh sweet mama this man is gorgeous... and evil. He's bad news, Cassie. Bad news, stop staring! She blinked, and let a smile form on her face. "Oh yeah, you two are definitely related with those genes." What. The. Fuck. Stop. Flirting. Fuck what am I saying. No, wait, keep flirting, he's a manwhore, it'll distract him... yeah no it won't, but you need to stay calm. WHY DO YOU FLIRT WHEN YOU FREAK OUT!?
"Aren't we bold... yes, Stefan and I are related...although I clearly got the better side of the gene pool." Cassie let her eyes drift from his, because she wasn't sure if she could hide her fear in them, and looking the vampire up and down.
Damn he is fine tho.She thought, and blushed as she realized what she was doing. "Enjoying the view?" Damon asked, eyebrows raised. "Uh, sorry... oh, I'm Cassandra, Cassandra Harris, by the way." She introduced herself, nearly dying by how awkward this was.
"Damon Salvatore." He responded, and when Cassie looked up again he was much to close for her liking. "Um.." She didn't know what to say, if she told him to back off, he would take it as a challenge.
"Damon." Stefan's voice rang through the hallway, and Cassie made eye contact with him. "Stefan! I was just greeting a school friend of yours, she came by to say hello, isn't that nice?" Damon said in a much to cheerful voice, looping an arm around Cassie's shoulders, causing her to freeze. Stefan looked at her, and Cassie mouthed "I'll explain later" to the vampire, and then hoped he wouldn't out her.
"Stay away from her, Damon." Stefan replied, glaring at Damon, and then Zach walked into the room. "Zach. Hey, it's been a while." Damon greeted, and Cassie wondered if she could get out of Damon's grip using magic... and if she could even do anything magical at all with how much she was freaking out. "I was just going out for a snack, when I found this lovely girl here hanging out in our living room." Cassie tried to move away from him, now absolutely certain of what he intended to do with her, and his grip tightened. "Ah... no no. You're staying right here." Damon tutted, and Cassie panicked.
Get away get away get away don't touch me don't touch me! Suddenly Damon hissed, and recoiled from her, his hand burning. "What the hell." Cassie moved away from him, nearing Stefan. "I'm not going to be in the middle of a vampire fight, thanks." She replied, and the two brothers stared at her.
"How do you know?"
"I'm a witch." She replied dryly, and Damon eyed her. "A witch. Great. What is a witch doing here?" He glared at Stefan, while Cassie eyed Zach, who looked very pale. "Okay, I'll admit I had a feeling about who the vampires were, and just had to check it out.." She decided letting Damon know about the vervain in the basement would be a bad idea. "So you just decided to walk into the lions den? Stupid move, witchy." Damon commented, and Cassie internally agreed with him.
Coming here was a terrible idea, she should have just snuck into school and confronted Stefan there... of course, what would she even say? Dammit, this was all a horrible idea.
"Yeah, bad idea on my part, although I didn't mean to come when the vampire who eats people is home." She looked at him, and Damon just smirked. "My bad."
"Yes, the vampire who eats people... I wonder what witches taste like." He flashed in front of her, and before she could react she felt teeth sink into her throat. She let out a gasp at the pain, and suddenly Damon was ripped off her.
"Enough, Damon." Cassie, clung to her neck, wincing, before looking up as Stefan glanced back at her... veins around his face. He could barely control himself, she knew that, so she moved away, heading towards Zach. "Zach, help me get to another room, please, and do you have a first aid kit?" She asked, and Zach, steadied her as she almost lost her footing.
Damon had tried to kill her.
Leading her into another room, she heard the occasional crash as Stefan and Damon tussled it out. Zach set her down in the kitchen, helping her clean her blood away, and bandage the wound. She took deep breaths, and decided next time she goes to Grams instead, cursing as the prickles of pain shot through her each time she moved her neck.
"I'm sorry." Zach apologized, and Cassie waved him off. "Don't be, it's my fault for coming here."
"Why did you come here if you knew those monsters were here?"
"They aren't monsters, Zach, they're just... a little messed up. It's not like they chose to be vampires, I don't think anyone would knowingly choose that kind of life." She said, recalling how they became vampires. She felt tired... to tired..
Oh... crap.
Cassie woke in an unfamiliar place. "What the..." She shot up, and then winced as her head spun. She was in a bed... that was new. Not unwelcome. "You're awake." Cassie looked across the room to see Damon, and tensed. "You."
"Me." He nodded, and walked towards the bed. Cassie stiffened when he got close. "I got you good.." His fingers brushed against her bandage. "Stefan got all grumpy about that bite...although I think maybe you might be useful."
Useful... Cassie didn't want to think about what uses he wanted from her, when he tore the bandage off. Cassie flinched away, trying to get up, but he snatched her wrist, and pinned her down. "Hey, hey... relax, I'm not gonna kill you... not when you're so much more useful to me alive."
"Where is Stefan?" She decided to ask. Damon rolled his eyes.
"He's at school, I managed to convince him that I won't kill you, and he wanted to see his precious little Elena." Cassie knew her options were limited now, and she cursed. She wasn't strong enough to fend off a vampire, and it looks like Damon figured out that much.
"You're a baby witch, aren't ya?" He asked, as if he could read her mind, and Cassie huffed. "Maybe." She admitted, which caused Damon to chuckle. "Stupid baby witch." Cassie glared at him, and he laughed. "What do you want with me?" She asked, and he hummed.
"Well, I did require a witch... although you're useless." Cassie's eyes narrowed at the insult. "But, your blood is pretty tasty, and I need a blood bag so I don't have to feed on the founders, and since you are so... available..." He leaned close to her, and inhaled. "I figured you can fill that position nicely."
Oh hell no... but wait, doesn't this solve the Caroline problem? It probably does, and it might stop at least some of the deaths... Cassie stared at him, and decided to officiate the deal.
"How about we make a deal?" She asked, and Damon raised an eyebrow. "You're not exactly in a great position to make deals, witchy."
"You can't compel me, and I am a witch, so I can be an absolute pain in the ass even if I'm not strong enough to properly fend you off." Damon stiffened, and nodded. "Alright, what's the deal?"
"I live in a cave." She said, and Damon blinked. "A cave? You're homeless." He stated, and she nodded. "So you wanna a place to stay? In exchange for...?" He drawled the question like he didn't know.
"Blood, and cooperation." Cassie responded. "I won't go running or try any witchy tricks, you can.. feed on me so the council won't know there is a vampire running around. In exchange, I'm allowed to live here." She bargained, and hoped it would be acceptable to him.
Damon paused, and seemed to think for a second. "Those... are acceptable terms." He said, and Cassie sighed. "Deal, witchy."
"I have things in the cave." Cassie said, remembering her belongings, and upon seeing Damon's face, she pleaded. "I'll need to get them, I'll come right back I promise." Damon sighed. "Alright, but if you don't come back by nightfall, I'm hunting you down and killing you."
With the final threat, the vampire left, and Cassie looked at the clock. The bastard... but at least I get to live somewhere that isn't a cave, even if my blood is rent. Cassie stood, shakily, and took a look in the mirror.
I look awful... and there is blood on my shirt. Okay. I need to shower, wash this shirt, and then go get my stuff. Cassie decided, and headed towards the bathroom. This is so not how I thought this would go.
Chapter two, up and at em. Let me know what ya think in the comments.