April 1, 2009 - Thirty-five days without blood, thirty-three days trapped in this room. They've opened the windows, and planted vervain outside, so I can't escape. The door is locked, and I can constantly hear the conversations of my captors.
April 2, 2009 - Simona came to visit me today. She carried a sprig of vervain. I sat in one corner, far from the door.
"I'm going to ask you again," she said. "Where is his body?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," I repeated.
"Did you kill him, or did you turn him into one of your kind?"
"I don't know what you're - "
"Stop lying!" she shouted. She leaned against the wall, wrapping her arms around her stomach and chest.
"Do you know what it's like?" she said. "To have a father one day, and not have him the next! To never know if he is dead, or if he is a monster?"
"I don't know what you're - "
She threw the vervain at me and left the room.
April 3, 2009 - No one has come all day. I hear them talking and moving about the villa. From time to time I hear a car arrive, or depart.
April 4, 2009 - This morning, I knew the sun had risen when I heard a key in the lock. The door to my room opened, and someone stepped inside. He placed a glass of red liquid on the floor and walked away. I tried not to drink it even as I raised the glass of cow's blood to my lips and let it flow down my throat.
April 5, 2009 - When Simona opened the door this morning, she asked if I was feeling strong. One glass of cow's blood didn't have much effect. She sat on the floor, across the room from me, and we looked at one another.
"Your father," I asked. "What was his name?"
"Antonio," she said. "Antonio Falco."
"And he was killed?"
"Presumably."
"What makes you think it was vampires?"
She looked towards the windows. "First," she said, "one neighbor disappeared. Then another, and another. And then my father. The first three bodies were found with teeth marks in the flesh. They had all been drained of blood. But my father's body was never found."
"I didn't kill him," I said. "I don't kill people."
She laughed. "That's funny."
"It's true."
Another silence passed.
"Did you have a funeral?"
"No," she said. "Why would we?"
"That might make you feel better," I said. "Help you to accept that he's gone. Projecting your anger onto me won't -"
She stood and left the room.
April 6, 2009 - When Simona came to visit me today I tried to explain that I am not responsible for or knowledgeable about every vampire-related death and disappearance. We don't have Vampire Club meetings where we discuss all of that week's killings. It's been years since I actually met another of my kind.
"I've seen vampires," she said. "I've been out at night, and I've seen what they do. They walk around together, looking for someone to kill."
"When have you seen vampires?" I asked.
"Lots of times."
I sighed. "I've never walked around with another vampire, looking for someone to kill."
"Yes, you have," she said, leaving the room. "That's what you do."
April 7, 2009 - What does Simona want? She wants to know what happened to her father. I either have to stay in this room interminably, or give her what she wants.
April 8, 2009 - I didn't see Simona today. Instead, Signora Balducci peeked into my room. I told her I wanted to speak to Simona, to tell her I would help. "Help?" she said. "What kind of help can you give?"
I told her, again, to let me see Simona. She left the room, and no one else has come.
April 9, 2009 - No one came to visit me. But I can hear them, through the walls, discussing what to do.
April 10, 2009 - Early in the morning, the door opened. Simona stood before me, holding a wooden stake.
"I don't know where your father is," I said. "I don't know what happened to him. But I might be able to help you find him."
She said nothing, and my mind panicked. I'd gotten that far, but didn't know what to say next.
"Who changed you?" she asked. "Who made you like you are?"
"Katherine," I said. "Her name was Katherine."
"When?"
"1864."
"How old were you?"
"Seventeen."
"And where is Katherine now?"
"She's dead," I said. "Burned."
"You don't expect me to believe that?"
"No," I said. "I don't expect you to."
April 11, 2009 - Simona wanted to know more about my history. I told her about Damon, and our love for Katherine. I told her about the War, and about Mystic Falls. She didn't believe me when I said that I became a vampire by mistake. While Damon willingly drank Katherine's blood, I was secretly compelled to.
"Is that how you become a monster?" she asked. "By drinking the blood of one?"
I nodded. "And then being mortally wounded, and then feeding on a human."
"How were you wounded?"
"I was shot."
"By who?"
"My father."
"And who did you feed on?"
"My father."
April 12, 2009 - I awoke this morning to find Simona sitting in my room, reading from my journal. She saw that I was awake, but continued to read, and I didn't say anything.
April 13, 2009 - I think they may trust me now. More than they did, anyway.
April 14, 2009 - When my door opened this morning, several people stood before me. Simona, Tomasso, Signora Balducci, the man they call Rossi, and the man they call Marino.
"Get up," Tomasso said. "Come with us."
I followed them out of the room and into the cold morning air, believing, without a doubt, that they were leading me to my death.
The five people surrounded me. Some of them held stakes.
"This is what will happen," Tomasso said. "You will lead us to Simona's father. Then we'll let you go."
"I don't trust you," I said.
He laughed. "We're the ones with the stakes. Trust us or not, you'll do what we say."
I was allowed to gather my things. We drove into the village.
April 15, 2009 - We're at Tomasso's house. I'm locked in a room. Tonight, we go vampire hunting.
April 16, 2009 - Last night, Simona asked, "Where do you hang out?"
"Where do I what?"
"Hang out," she said. "Or whatever you call it these days."
"I don't 'hang out' anywhere."
"Where do you meet your friends?"
"I don't have friends."
She laughed. Not a laugh of joy, but a malicious snarl. "Are you even capable of telling the truth?"
Just then, Tomasso stepped into the room. "There's a tavern on the outskirts of town," he said. "That's where they go."
I was led outside and into the car with a stake at my back. We arrived at the tavern, a small and dark place. There was no crowd; few tables were occupied. The only thing I had to offer my companions was, perhaps, a keener intuition. We sat at the table and ordered drinks.
No one spoke, and everyone looked at me. "Well?" Tomasso finally said.
"There aren't any vampires here."
"You're sure?"
"Yes," I nodded, standing up. I went back to the car, and we drove home.
April 17, 2009 - This is the plan: They will hold me prisoner. They will give me no blood. Until I give Simona what she wants.
April 18, 2009 - "How do you dress?"
Signora Balducci came into my room this morning and sat in a chair.
"How do I dress?" I repeated. "Like this."
"Not you," she said. "Them. How do they dress these days? What's the fashion?"
"They dress like everyone else."
"But what's the...the vampire fashion?"
"There is no 'vampire fashion.'" I almost let myself smile.
"When I was young, they all wore black veils. And we thought that was strange."
She eventually left the room.
April 19, 2009 - When I woke, I heard a choir singing through the window. I saw Simona sitting on the floor, and I jumped in my skin.
"You startled me," I said.
"The music startled you."
"No," I said, sitting up in bed. "I like the music."
She genuinely laughed. "No you don't," she said. "It was church music. You don't like that kind of music."
April 20, 2009 - Today I looked out the window and thought that although I am weak, I might be able to escape. So why don't I try? Because I see Simona in pain, and I genuinely want to help. It's just that it would be easier to help if I wasn't starved and held prisoner with a stake at my back.
April 21, 2009 - We are to go out again tonight. I seriously doubt there is a single vampire within miles of this village.
April 22, 2009 - Last night, as we prepared to leave, the television was on, and a news report flashed onto the screen. A body had been found in Florence, near the Uffizi Gallery. Puncture wounds were in the neck, and the body had been drained of blood.
"They struck again," Tomasso said, as everyone watched the screen.
"Well," said Marino, "we know where to go."
April 23, 2009 - We arrived in Florence early this morning, just as the sun rose. The cars were parked and we walked as a group towards Uffizi. As we neared the gallery, the crowd became more dense.
Camera crews were filming reporters describing the scene of the crime. They surmised that it may have been a wild animal or serial killer. Someone stuck a microphone into an old woman's face, and she clutched her chest and shouted that it was a vampire. I later overheard the reporter joking to his cameraman that they didn't broadcast the opinions of lunatics.
Since we were unlikely to find the vampire during the day, we found a hotel.
April 24, 2009 - It has been decided, once again, to use Simona as bait. Tonight, we will go out as a group. Simona will separate from the group, but remain within shouting distance. If a vampire should come upon her, we will rush to her rescue. She will be saved, but the vampire will be killed.
"What if it is your father?" I asked. "Do you want us to kill him?"
"If he is a vampire, yes," she said, and tears came to her eyes. "It would be better than - "
She didn't finish her sentence.
April 25, 2009 - Last night, Simona put on her red dress. We left the hotel as a group and walked towards the river.
Few people were seen. It was decided that Simona would walk alone, along the riverbank. If a hungry vampire was nearby, she would certainly look irresistible. The rest of us would stay hidden in the shadows, ready to rush to her rescue.
She did as planned. As I watched her lonely figure move through the darkness, I wanted to be by her side. Tomasso, Rossi, and Marino crowded together on one side of the alley, while Signora Balducci stood closer to me. I had to ask her to take a few steps back. The vervain she wore around her neck was making me sick.
It wasn't long before a strange figure emerged from the darkness. Simona didn't scream as it pounced upon her, but the four of us ran, leaving Signora Balducci behind. In spite of my weakness, I was soon at her side. The vampire wasn't expecting me, and I easily threw him to the ground.
Rossi kneeled onto him and held a stake to his chest. "Is this him?" he shouted to Simona.
"I can't see," she said, crying. "I don't know."
She looked down at the struggling vampire. "No," she said. "It's not my father."
Rossi stood and I grabbed the vampire, pulling him to his feet. "Antonio Falco," I said, holding a stake to his heart. "Do you know Antonio Falco?"
"Yes," he said, struggling, and I loosened my grip. "Of course. Everyone knows him."
Signora Balducci arrived, breathing heavily.
"Where would he be?"
"At his house," the vampire said. "The mansion on Via Benedetti."
Tomasso thrust his stake into the vampire's back. He and Rossi lifted the body, and dumped it into the river.
April 26, 2009 - As soon as the sun began to set, Simona, Tomasso and I walked to the mansion. "Are you going to go inside?" I asked on the way. "What are we going to do when we get there?"
She didn't answer.
When we arrived at the street, we didn't know which way to turn. "He just said 'the mansion,'" Tomasso remembered.
"Maybe you shouldn't have killed him so fast," Simona said.
We turned towards the river and walked. We eventually saw a house, bigger and grander than any other. "That's it," Simona said. "I just know."
Tomasso began to cross the street, but she held his arm. "Don't," she said. "Not yet."
We stood across the street, looking at the house. Every window was dark. No one came, and no one went. Tomasso grew impatient, but Simona seemed content.
Finally, a figure emerged from the shadows. I immediately knew it was a vampire, and one look at Simona's face told me it was her father. "Let's go," Tomasso said.
"No," she whimpered, as tears rolled down her face. "It's too much...not now..."
She ran down the street, away from the house. Tomasso and I followed.
April 27, 2009 - We spent the day in the hotel, the six of us, and I was allowed a pint of cow's blood. Whenever anyone suggested going back to the mansion, Simona cried and refused.
April 28, 2009 - I slept on the floor of Tomasso's room, and woke at dusk. I met Signora Balducci in the hall, and asked if Simona was asleep.
"No," she said. "I thought she was in your room."
I immediately ran down the steps to the hotel lobby. Simona wasn't there, nor was she in the dining room. By the time I reached the car, Tomasso was by my side. We looked at one another. We knew where she'd gone.
We drove to the mansion and parked on the street. As we left the car and ran to the door, I told him that I wouldn't be able to go inside unless I was invited. "Yes," he said, "I know."
On the front porch, we paused. "Don't knock. Let me see if..." I snuck to a window and kneeled onto the ground.
Peering through the pane of glass, I saw movements inside. Simona stood by a fireplace, and her father walked across the room. "She's there," I whispered. "Don't -"
Tomasso kicked open the door and rushed inside. I ran to the porch. I looked inside the house and saw Tomasso's body lying on the floor, his head at an unnatural angle from his broken neck. Antonio Falco stood above.
"Simona," I said, paralyzed before the threshold. "Where - "
"I'm here, Stefan." She walked into the hall. "I've always been here."
I knew from her glazed eyes and monotonous voice that she was not herself. From the corner of her mouth dripped blood.
"What did you drink?" I asked. "Was it..."
"Vampire blood?" Falco laughed. He raised one arm, and I saw a gash on his wrist. "Of course," he said. "It's a father's duty to feed his child."
I lunged towards them but could get no further, and I shouted in frustration as Falco laughed. While looking into my face, he calmly took Simona's head in both of his hands, and used his teeth to rip her throat. She fell to the floor. Falco kneeled beside the two bodies. He raised his head before sinking his teeth into Tomasso's flesh. Blood poured out, and I realized that he wasn't yet dead. Simona let out small sighs of pain. Her father pulled her to Tomasso's throat, and her mouth latched onto the wound.
April 29, 2009 - Signora Balducci, Rossi and Marino have gone. After dark, I walked to the mansion. I saw Simona at the window, and beckoned her to come outside. She rushed out, smiling and laughing. "Why didn't you tell me how wonderful it feels, Stefan? I never - "
As soon as she was near, I pulled a stake from my coat. I plunged it into her heart.
April 30, 2009 - I can't stay here, after what's happened. I've got to leave. I'm going home, to Mystic Falls.
