Disclaimers : I do not own the Vampire Diaries series. Whether it be the actual books or the television show that comes on every Thursday night. But what I do know is that title ship goes to none other than, the mastermind behind all of the marvelous writings, Julie Plec and the CW corporation. And I just had to say thank you Julie, for not only putting my heart through the ringer like a mad sadist but bringing us such an action pack series as well as bringing back favorite cocky original, Kol. Even if it was for a glimpse.

And not to sound the least bit dramatic or whatever, but um is really necessary for Bonnie to sacrifice everything just so Elena can be happy. Correct if I'm wrong but when is anyone every grateful for the things she does for them. Did anyone seriously think this through, since the Salvatore's ever came to Mystic Falls, Bonnie's life went to hell.

Author's note : Just to let everyone know, that I may occasionally rant from time to time. Do not take anything to seriously. But just to clarify things. I really do love Vampire Diaries, I do. But, if I had to chance to be in Mystic Falls, I would be a witch or an werewolf of some sort. Hybrid between the two if I'm lucky. But anything else no. Cause one, too many rules. Second, I would have already tried to get with the enemy at least once. Just saying, bad never look so good.

Warnings : If you do not like Yaoi ( boy x boy ) or Yuri ( girl x girl ), then I'd suggest that you press the little blue back button to return to the previous browser and don't read it then. But, as to my readers, that would like to proceed on to reading the story, then who am I to stop you.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 2

Fading Solaces

Today well this morning, I've decided to go on a little hiking trip. Strange, I know usually I would prefer to hang out with Matty blue eyes or Jeremy, but as you can see that's just not happening. I've literally had it up to here with all the Elena is god's gift and the secrets that been going on in this town.

So, I decided to take some time to focus on my art and clear my head while I'm at that. With just a thought, I'd thought about the old abandon witch house just beyond the stream in the forest. Maybe I could get some inspiration for it. The need for this escape is almost mandatory, since if I stay here any longer then I would turn into zombie that is my sister and her friends.

I continued to stare at the ceiling above me, blinking every once in a while. As you lay sprawled out on the couch. The music pumping in your ears was loud, but very, very welcomed. Red Jumpsuits Apparatus - Atrophy always seemed to hit the spot. Because for some reason, it just resonates with me. I can't explain it.

The trudging sound of footsteps brings me out of my little trance. Bonnie walked into the living room. I soon sat up on the couch and placed my chin on the back. "Bon." She abruptly stopped walking and headed towards me. "Want to exploring with me in the woods?"

"Sorry, little bro. I can't. I promised Caroline that I go dress shopping with her." I nodded towards her, knowing good and well how hard it is to say no to the blonde. Slowly as you began to sink back into the couch. "Nick," Your head then shot up, at that looking directly at her." If you're going to go, then bring someone with you. You never know who's lurking in the woods." She then gave me a look, the one grams use to wear. But modified, like big sister knows best type of thing. Which now, I get frequently. I know but I can't help it if the fun stuff leads to trouble.

Again I nod my head and pulled my phone off the coffee table then quickly unlocked it. My fingers instantly found the contacts. Scrolling down, first it was Damon and Elena. Unfortunately they had something planned, and going further I saw Caroline, again busy with my sister. Stefan was surely out of the question. And Alaric is probably with Damon who is Elena. Which meant busy. Jeremy said he didn't want to go. So it left me with little choice. Only one person left.

I tapped on his name before typing, "Hey. Want to go hiking in the woods?"

Tyler responded in seconds.

"Which woods?"

"The trail passed the old wicker bridge."

"Can't. Have something I have to take care of. Fair warning my battery is dying."

"Oh. Okay."

"Bring someone with you."

"No one wants to go."

"Text Caroline."

"Her? In the Woods, really? Besides she made plans with my sister."

"Fair point. Oh, wait for another day."

"I want to do it today. If I wait, I won't do it."

I didn't get a response from him after the last one.

I pulled my lazy self off of the couch and made my way up the stairs. I pulled my bag out of the closet and packed a few things inside. There was a camera, a sketchbook, some drawing utensils, and a book in the bag before I left. I snatched a set of keys from the table and escaped out the door.

I bought my baby about a year ago. She's a dark silver, 2013 Ford Mustang GT. It took all of my savings from middle school to now to buy her when she was a beaten up piece of crap. Thankfully, I have two car enthusiast maniacs for friends, helped fixing it. I have managed to get the dents out and wash her up as much as I can, but a student budget relying on birthday money only gets one so far. I only just got her running with the cash that I accumulated from my past fourteenth birthday. I swear that when I get a job I'm going to dedicate all of my money to her. Bonnie and Caroline thought it was a stupid idea, but I told myself before they died that I would get it running.

I sat myself in the drivers seat and turned the key. The engine barely turned over, but I managed to back out of the driveway and onto the road.

Free at last, free at last, thank God I'm free at last.

The drive out of town was quite the trip. I didn't think that my baby would make it all the way, but she did. Now I just have to get her back to Mystic Falls without running out of gas. I parked and locked her up before making my way into the entrance area.

It was beautiful. The trees were tall and a lush green with sunlight coming between the branches. There was the echoing of birds as they started chirping and a smile crossed my face. There was the quiet babble of a brook ahead of me and the humming of insects in the air. There was a dry feeling to the dirt beneath my sneakers that was only slightly spongy enough to leave faint tracks behind. I spun around to take everything in and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and let it out. The air is crisp and fresh. More fresh than anything I have tasted in a long time. I took another breath and felt every piece of cluttered material in my head be pushed behind a black curtain where I couldn't think about it for the time being.

I made my way along a narrow path about a mile until I hit a stream that was stunning. There were rocks spread throughout and a waterfall about fifty yards to my right. The clear liquid made its way around and through the rocks sometimes carrying fish with it. There were the remnants of a bridge explaining why there is a path and no way to get across. Bugs were on the top of the water. I took out my map that was supplied to me when I came in and saw that I would have to cross the stream, and the cliff ledge would be half a mile away.

The only place there was to cross was right in front of me. And it was a line of rocks. Wet, slippery rocks that were easy to fall off of. The farther part of the woods was more easily connected to this part by a bridge a mile away from here.

I took a deep breath and stepped onto the first rock. There was green moss growing on it that made the rocks even more slippery. I had one foot on the ground and one foot on the rock. I quickly brought over my other foot. My legs wobbled a little bit, but it wasn't too bad. I did the same for the next rock, and the next rock, until I came upon the other side without even getting my shoelaces wet. From the last rock to the land was considerably farther than the space between the rocks. I can't stretch that far. My leg muscles tensed, and I jumped across.

The bottom of my shoes shuffled across the dirt path while I moved forward. The green forest moved past me as we continued down the way.

Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena are doing something today. They do a lot together.

Breath in. Breath out.

Bonnie, our friends and family that is. There never seems to be any Nick involved. I don't understand.

Breath In. Breath Out.

Have I done something to make them hate me? I know that my sass can be a little embarrassing at social events, but I'm not that bad. Right?

BREATH in. BREATH out.

People understand, don't they? I mean, it's not like I'm a total outcast. I can be a good kid, right?

BREATH IN. BREATH OUT.

I know I'm not that good looking. I know I don't have the best body. But that shouldn't deter people, right? My style doesn't look that bad does it?

BREATH IN BREATH OUT.

Oh God. Does everyone secretly hate me? Why do they keep hiding things? I'm not stupid. They're hiding something. There's something that their keeping from me and it has to be related to all these dead people in this gods forsaken town.

BREATH IN BREATH OUT. BREATH IN BREATH OUT.

Have they been killing people? Are they involved in something? It seems that they all be at the scene of the crime and know what's really going on? Should I be worried?

BREATH IN BREATH OUT. BREATH IN BREATH OUT. BREATH IN BREATH OUT.

God they're all going to end up dead! I'm going to find them all dead! Their going to be shot in the head and dead! I can't find them dead! They can't die! What if their dead already? What do I do if they're dead already?

BREATH IN BREATH OUT BREATH IN BREATH OUT BREATH IN BREATH OUT BREATH IN BREATH OUT BREATH IN BREATH OUT BREATHINBREATHOUTBREATHINBREATHOUTBREATHINBREATHOUT

BREATH

Clear your mind.

I paused and grasped the bark of a tree. I caught my breath and squeezed my eyes. There was a dizziness in my brain that I don't know how to quite tame. My feet feel like they could slip out from under me. My throat feels like it could close.

And it does. My breathing stops. But not because of the panic attack. My breath is caught in my chest because of the sight that lays before me.

The ledge gave way to a view of the greatest proportions of the woods. The green roaming giant trees stood proudly against the earth. It seemed as though their entire being was emanating a song in deep baritone that was ages older than myself, or any being on this planet. The blue sky was graced with clouds that were a fluffy white. They had no inclination that they were going to cry today, or any other day green trees that were on the mountain tops were only just starting to show the signs of the season with the golden, orange, and red leaves peaking through the green.

I sat myself down on the ground at the very edge and looked down. The ledge I was seated at must be at least thirty feet high. A fall that doesn't want to happen today. My hands pulled out the sketchbook and camera that was residing in my bag. I opened the book to a clean page and claimed one of the pencils in my box and started drawing. Two sketches later my camera captured landscapes that couldn't be missed by the universe above.

"What are you doing here?"

I jumped and spun around. Stefan Salvatore was glaring at me ten feet away at the edge of the woods. His face was calm and flat. There was no emotion on any of his facial features.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me again. His fists were clenched at his sides. His fingers tightening and untightening slowly.

"I was just-" My voice got caught in my throat. It took me a second to find it again. "Where have you been? Why are you here?" My voice was stuttering a bit, from the shock but I got the words out.

"That's my business." His glare intensified. You then winced under his glare only slightly, but you then go on to say "Ouch. Hey, what's his problem?" you thought "You need to leave. Right now. It's dangerous to be alone." His hands clenched one last time before staying clenched.

I looked at him in disbelief, not buying this crap. "No one else would come with me. So, Stefan where have you been and before you answer lose the pissy attitude?" My words became a little louder than they already were. I could feel in my gut that he would hear me anyway.

His glare intensified.

"Go home Nic-"

Then there was a growl from at the bottom of the cliff. I jumped again and toward the edge of the cliff. At the bottom there was a person in a red flannel shirt. He looked deranged.

"Leave now."

"Stefan, what's going on?"

"Go now Nick!" Stefan's demeanor and the power behind the inflection in his voice is what made me move. What made me run was when the man in flannel tank top reached the top of the ledge.

I threw my pencils and sketchbook in my backpack, pulled it over my shoulders and ran. It's a mile and a half to get to my car. I think I can make it. I hope I can make it. I crashed through bushes and tried my hardest to stay on a path that seemed to go on forever.

It had to be a good five minutes before I found the stream. I turned my head over my shoulder and found nothing behind me. I bent over and clutched my knees breathing hard. My mind was whirling with what just happened, but I don't have time for that. I have to get to my car. But I felt something that wanted me to go in the other direction so I stopped as if I was in a daze of some sorts.

A growl ripped through the forest and I fear entered my heart once more. Taking me out of my daze, only for me to run even faster. The rocks underneath made me fall though, and I only got wet for only a brief moment before I was making my way to the other side of the stream again.

With my backpack on my back in a second. I ran with a renewed purpose as another growl broke the silence of the forest. Silence was definitely the way to describe it. All the birds had stopped chirping. All the noises of the forest seem to ceased. It felt as if I was in a horror movie, and I knew how this would end if I didn't move from this spot soon. So, like any person I ran until I couldn't anymore. I think that I broke my personal record for the mile in that one sprint in the woods only to get more lost than I already was. Only to have this weird feeling wash over me, as if I was to go another way.

Slowly but surely, I calmed my breathing. The air was still hard to come to my lungs, and it was cold. My clothes are sticking to my skin and my hair is matted to my head, My whole body was quivering and I don't know if it would stop. What was going through my head even faster though, was what just happened. What kind of people are my sister and her friends involved in?

I was tempted to call her, but I knew if she found out what happen I would never hear the end of it once I get home. So, I just walked until I saw an old abandon looking house in the middle of the woods. Walking towards the house, the door just opens on it's own, scaring the literal hell out me. As you enter the house, you suddenly felt safe. It gave off a sense of warmth, like the kind your around family, home. This feeling was then leading you downstairs and you saw an elderly woman but lighter in skin tone. A person that you thought you never see again. "Grams, is that you."

The elder woman chuckled and replied back saying "Yes child, It's me. It's been a while." Tears started to form in your eyes, as you then raced over to her. Your voice, stuttering like before," H-How are you here? Y-your here, your really here."

She the gives you a soft smile, saying" Yes, child. I'm here." Grams, you just don't know how hard it is without you. Bonnie and her friends always leaving without a word. Always coming home worse for wear. Looking like she's ready to fall over at any moment, which I know isn't from your typical school day. I'm basically all alone in our now quiet house. I missed you so much, Grams."

Sheila groaned, and then said "Breathe, Nicky, Breathe. I've missed you too. I know baby, that my death has been rough on the both of you. And I'm sorry for that, but if you let me explain everything then I think some things that have been plaguing you for the longest, might just clear up." Just like that, she had you attention. As you then took a seat on the floor, while she is doing the same. She begins to explain. And just a few moments in, you then said" What do you mean I'm a witch!

"Yes, baby we come from a long line of witches and just like I told your sister, stay out of vampire problems." You then interrupted her, by saying" Whoa, so vampires and werewolves are real. I knew it. Eat that, Jeremy." You cheered. Grams then sighed," Focus, Nicholas, focus. This is serious. Yes there are other supernatural creatures living here in Mystic Falls, and I'm sure that you already have a clue as to who is a vampire already." Thinking back, each time Caroline or the Salvatore brother's touch, you always felt cold. Like a dead corpse, cold. Well, at least I know why now.

"Grams, since I'm a witch, when am I going to learn spells." You had a big smile on your face. Grams then sighed once more, but then goes on to say" Well, for the most part your sister is going to help you. But, remember it's not all for games when being a witch. It's not like that television show, Charmed that you and Bonnie love so much. It's serious and quite frankly it can get you killed if you are not careful. Baby, I have to go now. Stay safe." And just like that she faded from you vision, knowing that this might be one heck of a conversation starter when you get home, you then headed up the stairs and out the witch house.

With a smile on your face, you then raced back to your car, putting your stuff in the backseat and head back to Mystic Falls. "Oh, Bon - Bon has got some splainin to do when I see her?" you thought, waiting to see the shock on her face.

( Stefan's Pov. . . . )

I was standing next to Klaus in the site, looking over the dead bodies everywhere. Ray Sutton, was laying just a few feet from me along with the other pack members littered all over the site. It was rather unpleasant sight to behold. But, seeing as I had no pockets anywhere, I had Nick's camera in hands. I figured that if I left it somewhere in the woods I would never be able to get it back to him. And I would probably have to deal with the verbal consequences from it. You then gave out a rather low sigh.

Klaus was livid, ranting as well as grieving over the idea of his hybrid army. Seeing as not one of the turned werewolves have survived from the transition. Taking a few breathes, he finally simmered down enough to notice the camera in my hand. "Why do you have a camera?" He asked with his British accent.

"I just ran into an old friend from Mystic Falls." I responded, detached from any emotion. I quietly turned the camera over in my hands. It's a cheap device. Most likely the only one that he could afford at the time but it works just the same. There were mild scratches on it from use, no doubt some from today, and dirt from where he dropped it from running away from here.

"So, someone has been tracking us again? I thought you taught them their lesson." His glare was intensified now, turning his gaze on me in full.

"I did." I returned his glare and defended myself. "This person hasn't been tracking us. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. So, I set him straight."

"Really now? Do you really expect me to believe that you run into a person from Mystic Falls and they weren't trying to find you?" The hybrid took a defensive stance with his fists balled by his sides.

"Yes, he has nothing to do with any of this."

"Is that a fondness I hear in your voice?" There was a malicious glint in his eye that no one can miss. I didn't answer him. Klaus laughed at me and relaxed, but only slightly. "And what would this young lad's name be who has just gained the affections of our dear, ripper?"

"Nicholas Bennett. Bonnie's younger brother."

Even though, I know Nick hasn't met Klaus yet. I had to put him somewhere for the sake of Stefan's purpose. So, there it is. And like always, please tell what you thought of it and please REVIEW, comment etc.

~ MistSpade