A/N: I got three reviews so quickly that I had to write another chapter. Thank you guys! I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but I've abandoned the whole storyline, sorry if you liked that part but I dont really find it interesting. Please review, your comments will help make the story better!
The second and third days of school proved to be relatively uneventful. The gossiping girls behind her in history ended up being Bonnie's friends, Elena and Caroline, and they weren't that bad. Caroline gushed over Katie's natural hair color and debated the obvious inadequacy of bottle blondes. Elena seemed distracted and kept trying to meet Bonnie's eye, there seemed to be a bit of tension between them but Elena stood by the fact they were best friends. Overall the girls seemed sweet, the boys were good looking, the homework load was light and her bruises were fading.
After school on Thursday, Matt caught up to her. "Hey Katie," he smiled, he had boyish good looks and he really was sweet. He was the busboy Tuesday through Friday and Tuesday night they had fun chatting while The Grill was empty.
"What's up, Matt?" she stopped walking to her car to talk to him.
He lifted a hand and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I was wondering if I could catch a ride home."
"Yeah, of course." She answered, ushering him towards her beat up car.
Last night she had admitted to Matt that her dad was out of work, and he understood. His mother was always leaving so he had to pay his bills himself too. He agreed to keep her financial troubles between them and she agreed to keep his feelings about Elena and Caroline between them. Back in Boston Katie was never in a relationship, but she listened to her friends and tried to give Matt the best advice she could. They had a lot in common, they both had to grow up young without as many luxuries as other kids, and they were both careful with their hearts (well Matt only recently).
"Your going to have to direct me though, I can get to my house, to school and to the Grill, but that's about it." She said, turning the key in the ignition and listening to engine regretfully roar to life. It was a typical, cold February afternoon and her poor little car didn't do well in the cold.
"No problem, if you go straight up the hill, take the second left and then its just pass the old railroad tracks." Matt said easily. It didn't surprise Katie that Matt lived on the "lesser" part of town, she did too.
She smiled, finding ironic they lived so close but had never carpooled before. "What's funny?" he asked, concerned.
"We're practically neighbors. I live on Hill Street. Anytime you need a ride, just let me know." She smiled, not taking her eyes off the road.
"I wouldn't say no to a ride to school in morning." He smirked, catching her eye.
"Done, I'll be out front at promptly 7:50am. And I'm always on time, don't make me come in after you." She joked, pulling in front of Matt's house. "Just give me your number so I can call you if I'm sick or something."
Matt looked pulled a pen out of the cup holder and looked for something to right on. Katie offered him her hand and he gently inked the number onto her hand. He paused, breathing in deeply. "Do you smell vervain?"
"Vervain?"
"Yeah…it's a flower. A lot of people put it in jewelry and stuff around her, superstition." He explained, sniffing again.
Katie lifted her wrist to her nose and sniffed the familiar smell of metal and something earthy filled her nose. She never paid attention to the smell before. "It must be my bracelet. It was my mom's and she used to live around here, she was pretty superstitious." It was true, she used to refuse to meet anyone she didn't really know anywhere except in broad daylight. Katie's dad's death had a strong effect on her. But even if vampires were around, Kate didn't think they'd be hanging around blending in with ordinary people when they could just snatch you from behind in the middle of the woods like they had with her father…
"Cool." Matt said quickly. "Thanks for the ride Katie, see you tonight."
Katie thought Matt was acting weird about her bracelet, maybe only freaks but vervain in jewelry and he was just being nice…
Katie pulled into the driveway and was shocked, to say the least, to find Damon Salvatore seated on the bench on her porch. She subtly tried to pull something sharp out of her backpack, and successfully came out with a sharpened pencil. "What're you doing at my house?" she hissed, not getting any closer then the foot of the stairs. Something about his attitude and the way he threw money around made Katie not trust him, despite how good looking he was.
"Well, Katherine May Fell, if that is your real name," he said, somewhat sarcastically as he walked down the steps towards her."I happened to find this nifty little fake I.D at The Grill on Monday, I figured I'd be a good Samaritan and return it." He smiled down at her, tapping a piece of plastic.
Katie tried to snatch it from him but he pulled it out of her reach, he had almost a foot on her. "Not so fast, Kate. I have a few questions first."
Katie crossed her arms, annoyed and vulnerable. "If you're going to call me anything besides Katherine, then it's Katie. Give me back my fucking I.D, I need it for work."
"Katie, someone isn't as sweet as they look. Do you kiss your parents with that mouth?" he asked, still keeping his half smile.
"My parents are dead. May I please have my I.D." She bit out, using her manners even though this man obviously didn't deserve them much.
"If you answer my questions. Cute picture by the way, green is one of my favorite colors." He said with a wink, Katie rolled her eyes.
"Have you always worn vervain or did you just start when you moved to Mystic Falls?" he asked, flipping her I.D between his fingers.
"I didn't even know it was in my bracelet until today." She sighed, leaning against the railing with her arms crossed, the ballet flats she was wearing were pinching.
"So, you don't believe in vampires?" he asked casually.
Katie tensed up, "No," she said immediately, trying to play it off, but curiosity got to her. "What does a plant have to do with some fictional monster anyway?"
"Vervain weakens vampires, and it makes it so they can't compel you to do anything." Damon said, casually tossing her I.D back and forth.
Katie's heart was already racing when he mentioned vampires, but now she was piecing things together. Her dad was killed in the woods her in Mystic Falls, her mom had always said it was a vampire and they moved to get away. Back in Mystic Falls, there seemed to be a tension vibrating under every cheery face. And at The Grill on Monday, Damon had tried to make her agree to pour him more drinks and when she didn't comply, he became interested in her bracelet. Rational was being thrown out the window as she racked through protections against vampires, she didn't have a cross or holy water, but she had a wooden pencil. She also remembered her mom was always very careful about inviting strangers inside. Katie leapt up the stairs, her heart pounding, all she had to do was get in the house and she would be safe. Just before she touched the doorknob Damon was suddenly standing in front of her, holding her wrists tightly.
"I thought that might happen. Now what do you say you and I take a drive and you tell me what I want to know or I'll rip that pretty little bracelet off and make you tell me." He warned, his lips barely touching her ear.
Tears sprang to Katie's eyes; she never thought she valued her life. In fact she had habitually hoped for an end to it, but not like this. She dutifully followed the blue-eyed monster to his Camaro, he opened the passenger side door for her.
"Don't try to run." He stated, he didn't need to add and 'or else' for Katie to not want to risk it. He zipped to the driver's side and roared the engine to life. "Buckle up, Katie." He smiled, she searched his white teeth for points but saw nothing.
He peeled out off her lawn and started driving down the small town streets at top speed. Her life went from normal to paranormal so fast her body was shaking, her skin was hot and cold at the same time and her heart wasn't slowing down. Damon glanced over at her.
"Hey, don't go into shock. I need you." He reached over and opened the glove box, pulling out a package of Chip's Ahoy he put in there for Elena, when she was freaked out sugar would calm her. The thought of Elena made Damon crush two of the four cookies in the package. He tossed them thoughtlessly onto Katie's lap, "Eat." He demanded, placing his hands back on the wheel. Katie noticed his knuckles were white and she wondered if he was going to snap the steering wheel.
Katie didn't really eat junk food, her diet was something she had strong control over, but she made and exception and shoved a cookie in her mouth. "How are you out during the day?" she finally asked, swallowing.
"Magic ring," he stated simply, flashing a gaudy ring.
Katie let out a laugh of disbelief. "Does everyone know about vampires?" she asked, remembering Matt's reaction.
"Pretty much, but they all pretend not to."
"A vampire killed my dad." Katie said accusingly, her face hot with fear and now anger.
"Yea well I only came back around recently so don't blame me. In fact, if you know what I think you know, I might be able to take a guess at who killed him." He said, pulling into a giant driveway in front of an enormous and ominous looking house. "Lets get inside and then it'll be my turn to ask questions." He said, getting out and zipping around to her side, opening the door for her.
"One more," she said, not getting out of the car.
"You know, ripping that bracelet off is getting more and more tempting. The problem with will power is that it makes you feel more powerful then you are." Damon sighed, but Katie pushed it and didn't move. "What?" he snapped.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, raising her chin to appear more confident then she was.
Damon sighed again, apparently humans annoyed him. "Did I not tell you I needed you? Get in the house." He said, slamming the car door after she got out.
The inside of the house was huge and heavily decorated with out of date furnishings. Another man was standing in the living area that Damon led her to, and he turned as they entered.
"You kidnapped the new girl? Interesting move." He said.
"Don't act like your not concerned, you forget that you let your humanity show, brother." Damon dismissed, walking straight to pour himself a drink. "Stefan this is Katherine Fell and she knows something about the relative to the White Oak tree that can kill Originals."
Katie narrowed her eyes, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb, Alaric showed me the drawing you did." He said, waving around the napkin she doodled on.
"My mom used to tell me a fairytale about a magical oak tree that talked to my super great grandfather and told him to help it. Somehow I don't feel like that's a very credible story." Katie rolled her eyes, pulling Damon's drink out of his hand just before he took a sip, and instead draining it herself. She didn't regularly drink, growing up with an alcoholic made her reluctant, but every now and then she did.
"Oh because that's so unbelievable compared to vampires." Damon said, this time he rolled his eyes, snatching the glass back. "That was mine, Katie."
She shrugged, having another person around, who Damon said had humanity made her braver. She strolled around the living room, looking at the pictures before sitting on the couch in front of Damon. He was staring at her; most likely annoyed he lost the effect of fear.
"I need to get back before five, I have work." She said, looking up at him.
"You don't tell me what to do, I tell you what to do. Tell me the entire story." He demanded, pouring another drink and rolling up his sleeves. His forearms were thick and solid looking.
"I did, a white oak tree was in trouble and it gave my grandfather an acorn, or a sampling sometimes my mom mixed it up, and my grandfather planted it somewhere else so that it would live on." Katie said lazily, she was acting dismissive on purpose, she was only acting though. "Why do you care so much?"
"Because that other white oak tree can be used to kill a couple of dangerous vampires that can't be killed any other way. And if your dad knew something, then one of those vampires probably killed him before he could find the tree or tell anyone else." Damon said, taking her I.D back out and playing with it again.
Katie reached out and snatched it, she felt proud of herself but she had a feeling that if Damon really didn't want her to have it, she wouldn't have gotten it. "Am I in danger?" she asked, trying to appear calm.
Stefan snorted from where he was standing. She didn't think he was listening. "You were in danger the second you walked into this town." He said and then added, "Elena's at the door." A second before Elena stormed into the room.
"Bonnie still isn't talking to me, I hate you Damon. You need to go apologize- Katie?" she asked, her chest still heaving from yelling at Damon.
"I was kidnapped because of a bedtime story." Katie said like she was discussing the weather outside. This town had too much drama apparently.
"What's going on, Stefan?" Elena asked, confused. She walked closer to the other Salvatore. Katie watched the way Damon's jaw clenched when Elena said Stefan's name.
"Katie might know where to find a descendent of the White Oak tree that can kill Klaus." He said easily, not looking Elena directly in the eye.
"I can try and steal my parent's journals from my step-dad but he's really touchy about me messing around in my mom's stuff." She said, trying not to squirm when mentioning John.
"Can't you just look while he's at work?" Elena asked, obviously excited by the idea of a weapon against these other vampires.
"Oh yeah, I'll just do that." Katie forced a laugh, hitting her forehead with her palm like the idea previously escaped her.
"Wow, I can't believe we might get another chance…" Elena said sitting down. Stefan unconsciously drifted behind her, like a magnet.
"As long as this one manages to stay alive." Damon said. Then suddenly Katie felt her mouth being covered and something warm and metallic tasting being forced into her mouth. She fought against it, falling to the floor and she heard Elena yelling in the background. Finally the pressure was released and she spat out the liquid, her stomach turning when she realized it was blood.
"Or undead, as long as she's still around to help us, I don't care." Damon hissed from where Stefan had him pinned against the wall.
"Come on, Katie, I'll drive you home." Elena offered, picking her up and glaring at Damon.
They walked past Damon and Stefan and Katie stopped. Elena walked a couple more paces before turning around to watch. Katie pulled the pencil she hid earlier out from the waist band of her jeans and stabbed it into Damon's shoulder while Stefan held him. He screamed in pain.
"Prick." She snapped, before storming out after Elena.
