Hey guys! Thanks for reading and favoriting and reviewing! I know I said I'm trying to get to Elijah ASAP but it's taken longer than I intended. I got a new job (hooray!) and that's been my top priority at the moment. But I swear we are almost there!

I also wanted to get a chapter out to prove that I was still interested in updating the story.

I've got some great ideas and I can't wait!

Chapter 5

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see".- Winston Churchill

Sleep was foreign to me. Days and hours that I had spent awake studying took a toll on me. I couldn't wait to sleep in late and spend a full day lying in bed in my pajamas.

So when my phone rang that morning at 7, I was a little irritated.

"Hello?" I mumbled sleepily.

"I'm going to assume that you did so well on your bar exam yesterday that you celebrated after and that's why you forgot to call your old man." My father's voice responded.

My eyes shot open. "Dad, I'm so sorry," How could I have forgotten to call my father?

"Yeah, thankfully Yiayia Delia comforted me by telling me that you were having dinner with a vampire and a werewolf," Gotta hand it to my dad. He was quite sarcastic.

"She saw that!?" I groaned covering my face with my free hand.

"Erin, do I need to fly there and drag you back to Boston myself!" he snapped.

I flinched. My father was never angry at me. In a courtroom, yes. At his little girl, no. Jonathon Scott was a very intimidating lawyer, but a softy of a father.

"No," I sighed. "I'm just taking care of something."

"What are you talking about?" Dad sounded a little more calm but still angry. "The last time I spoke with you, you were telling me you had bought an extra pack of pencils 'just in case' you broke all of them during your exam. When did you meeting a vampire come into this?"

I was silent for a few moments. "My visions are becoming a little more frequent," I sighed.

We were both dreading this moment. Sure being a Seer has its advantages, but it can also cause some pretty serious psychological problems as you get older. When I became a Seer, Dad and I did some heavy research. Frequent visions could cause severe migraines, dementia, depression, and in some cases ...suicide. Dad was furious with Yiayia when he read this but Yiayia Delia reassured that everything would be fine. She's maintained a good head on her shoulders all these years, and promised that I would too.

The thought still scares me though.

"Did you tell Delia?" my dad asked quietly.

"Not yet." I frowned.

"Just be safe okay, honey?"

"I will," I grinned. "My exam went really well,"

"I didn't doubt you, my dear. You are a Scott," I could almost hear my father's smirk over the phone.

"Ha Ha," I rolled my eyes smirking myself. "I made the essay exam my bitch though."

His rich laughter made me feel better about how mad he was at me earlier.

We hung up shortly after and I made myself comfortable beneath my covers. I had almost fallen back asleep when my phone rang again.

I moaned dramatically.

"Hello?"

"Are you and Damon having sex?" Jenna blurted.

"WHAT!" I half yelled. Was she kidding? Actually, no. I knew she wasn't kidding. I mentioned earlier that Jenna liked setting me up. She took it as a challenge. A challenge that she failed quite frequently. First there was Neil, her classmate in a behavioral psychology class she had last year. He seemed nice and normal. Until he whipped out a notepad and started taking notes of our date to analyze later. Then there was Jason. Jason was great. Until I had a vision of him sleeping with the waitress we had while we were at dinner. Not completely Jenna's fault but, I've been cautious when she mentions she wants to set me up.

"Do you like Damon?" she asked.

"No!" I didn't even know why I was having this conversation with her.

"But- why?" she asked quietly obviously surprised that I didn't hold the feelings for Damon she thought I did.

"Oh, now you're upset I don't like him?" I laughed. "Listen. Damon's hot. But he's a va-very flirtatious guy."

Close one.

She let out a breath. "I just wanted to clarify. I didn't want you to like him, but I also wanted you to be happy if you did."

I chuckled. "Thank you, but I assure you that Damon and I are just friends."

"Okay, call me later. Sorry I woke you!" she quickly said and hung up.

I turned my phone on silent before snuggling up to my pillow. Finally.

Later that day I continued my lazy streak in the living room of my apartment. On the coffee table before me was beer, a large Hawaiian pizza, and breadsticks. All to myself. I also had a pint of Chunky Monkey in the freezer to polish off later for dessert.

I grabbed the remote to turn on Netflix and resume my long forgotten Revenge marathon when there was a knock at the door.

Looking through the peep hole of my front door I grinned.

"She's not home." I said to Damon Salvatore who stood outside

"Nice try," he replied cockily. "Open up."

I obliged and he grinned taking in my appearance of sweats and a tank top. My hair was piled into a bun on the top of my head. Clearly not my best look.

"Shut it," I rolled my eyes "I haven't had a day to myself in months."

"I didn't say anything," Damon held his hands up in defeat. "Or did you see me saying something to you?"

"Do I even want to know how you know where I live?" I ignored his little remark and folded my arms.

"Is that pizza?" he looked behind me. "A large? Where do you put it? You're tiny."

I stared at him.

"C'mon let me in. I'm starving." He wiggled his eyebrows. "For pizza!" he clarified at the face I gave him. "So testy today."

"Don't make me regret this," I said to him before opening my door wider. "Damon, would you like to come in?"

He smiled and walked. He looked around my apartment before sitting himself at my couch and taking a slice of pizza.

I went and got us plates from the kitchen. I handed him one and sat down myself.

"So…" I began. "Why are you here?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my new BFF?" Damon scoffed at me as he polished off his first slice. I glared at him. He sighed.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me to the Historical Society volunteer picnic today,"

"Nope." I smiled at my slice of pizza.

"Okay, let me rephrase that," he nudged me. "I wanted to tell you that you're coming with me to the Historical Society picnic today."

"Why" I half whined. "I'm busy,"

"I see that." Damon replied glaring at my hair again.

"Yeah, you're really making me want to spend my day with you." I rolled my eyes. "Why are you going anyways? Picnics don't really seem like your thing."

"Ah, they are when a certain werewolf is involved."

I sighed loudly. "Why can't we just get rid of him."

"I'm trying," he grinned at me. "That's why I need your help."

So there I stood, two hours later in Mystic Falls next to Damon. We stood away from everyone and scanned the area looking for Mason.

"Oh no," Damon groaned.

"What?" I asked searching for where he was looking.

"Stefan."

Right at that moment I got a vision. It was today. At the volunteer picnic.

"Hey Sheriff, you've got a second?" Mason asked Caroline's mom as they helped serve food.

"I'm out of uniform. Let's go with Liz," she grinned.

"Alright Liz," he smiled. "I was hoping to talk to you about the council."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Liz tried shaking Mason off by trying to look busy.

"I know you and the other founding families have a secret council," Mason said. "I know I rejected all that but it's only because I wanted a life outside of this town, not because I was a non-believer." He shook his head. "Look, I know vampires exist and you have two of them living right under your nose."

"Really?" Liz looked amused. "Who would they be?"

Mason hesitated. "Damon and Stefan Salvatore"

"Yeah, you're going to have to warn me when you go Linda Blair on me from now on." Damon muttered as I regained my bearings.

I rolled my eyes and told him what I saw. None of this seemed to shock Damon.

"Great, and it looks like Stefan's trying to play peacemaker." Damon shook his head.

We made it to Stefan just as Mason walked away from him.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked sounding quite annoyed with his younger brother.

"Negotiating peace on your behalf" Stefan replied watching Mason walk away.

Damon rolled his eyes. "I don't want peace."

"Consider it opposite day." Stefan replied. I snorted and he finally looked over at us and down at me.

"Let me guess," he said to me and held out his hand grinning. "The Seer."

"I prefer Erin." I smiled shaking his hand.

"Stefan," Damon held Stefan by the shoulders and grinned. "Please tell me you don't seriously think a hand shake with Mason Lockwood just solved our problem."

"No, actually I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart and then through mine, all because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him. So thank you, because we don't have enough problems." He responded before walking away.

"Oh but we do," I sighed. "We need to get a feel of where Liz stands right now. Introduce me to her or something."

"No," Damon shook his head. "If she believes what Mason told her then she'll think you're a vampire too."

"If she believes what Mason told her then we don't have time, Damon."

Damon sighed. "Let's go"

We found Liz shortly after helping serve lunch to those volunteering. I took a deep breathe.

If there was ever a time to put my law school skills to use, it was now. I remember a lecture by one of my past professors, Professor Worthington, and how he had told us to focus on action listening. Basically to focus on tendencies and inconsistencies in a message and how it relates to a task. Boring story short. How Liz acts will tell me whether or not she plans on doing something drastic today or at a later time.

"Hey, Liz. I wanted to introduce you to my friend Erin. I dragged her along to help volunteer today." Damon grinned.

Liz looked as if she was unsure if I was a vampire or not and didn't shake my hand

."Nice to meet you. I just finished law school and I'm looking to move in the area. Damon thought he'd show me around." I grinned grabbing a plate from her.

"Hey, I saw you with Mason earlier. What was that about?" Damon cut straight to the chase.

Liz looked nervous she concentrated on making another plate. "Oh, I just asked him to help with the cleanup in the woods."

"That's what we're here for," Damon grinned at me. "Put us to work. Should we go help him?"

"Oh no. You know..I'm sure he's fine."

"Are you okay Liz? You seem upset about something?" I chimed in putting her on the spot. Observant I am.

She shook her head quickly. "It's Caroline. We had a moment."

"Is there anything I can do?" Damon asked.

"No, Damon. Thank you. It's just horrible parenting skills paying off." Liz said before walking away.

"Yeah, we have to do something. Now." I quietly mentioned as we watched Liz.

"Come on," Damon spotted Mason.

"Working hard?" he asked him as we approached. "Heard you talked to Stefan."

"Nice guy" Mason nodded.

Damon grinned. "Yeah. a lot nicer than me."

"Nice is overrated."

"That's what I think!" Damon laughed.

"You have a good day" Mason said before leaving. It was an odd comment to make. Have a good day!

Oh, something very bad was going to happen. Mason knew it. I knew it.

"Please tell me that you two were just bonding with Mason," Stefan walked up behind us.

"So what's up this faux drama in your relationship?" Damon changed the subject very quickly.

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked Yeah. What was he talking about?

"Oh come on, Stefan. You and Elena don't fight, especially not over me."

I made a mental note to casually ask Damon about it later.

"Would you like some lemonade?" a sweet little girl asked us breaking my train of thought.

"Thank you, sweetie." Damon accepted and took a drink before spitting it out immediately.

"What's wrong?" I asked glancing at Stefan as Damon choked on the lemonade.

"Vervain." Damon barely got out. "Vervain"

I looked around as Stefan helped Damon and my eyes locked with the very person who I knew was up to this. Liz Forbes.

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