Here you go, chapter 2. As usual, hope you like it, tell me what you think!

CHAPTER 2

THE PARTY

Jade sat in History class, after yet another night of those damn nightmares. She was tired and irritable and she couldn't wait for the school day to be over. Today was Friday and tonight there was going to be the party at the Falls. She tried to pay attention, although not even history today could hold her attention for long.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls," Mr. Tanner said.

Jade forced herself to listen. It wouldn't do for people to think she was slacking off.

"How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?"

Bonnie startled. "Um...a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." Mr. Tanner turned to Donovan. "Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

Donovan shrugged. "It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it."

It was Elena's turn next. "Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

Elena lowered her eyes to her desk. "I'm sorry, I-I don't know."

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break."

Jade struggled to keep her face expressionless at Tanner's words. That was a low blow.

"Jade, why don't you enlighten us? I'm sure you know the answer."

Jade felt nauseous at the way Tanner caressed her name with his tongue. Even so, her face showed nothing. "There were 346 casualties, Mr. Tanner," she answered.

Mr. Tanner beamed. "Correct as usual, Jade."

"Miss Gilbert's answer is correct, of course," Stefan interjected. "But she forgot to mention the local civilians."

"I'm afraid, Mr…?" Tanner asked.

"Salvatore."

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

"Distant," Stefan replied, something strange in his tone.

"Well, Mr. Salvatore, as I was saying, there were no civilian casualties in this battle," Tanner said, derision coating his voice.

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss." Then, with an expression that could have been a smirk on anyone else's face, Stefan continued, "the founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

Mr. Tanner growled deep in his throat – the best retort he could come up with.

Stefan intrigued her, Jade decided. A history buff? Guys who looked like him weren't usually into academics. It was a refreshing change.

Jade sent a satisfied grin to her figure in the mirror. She looked gorgeous. Her hair was styled in gentle waves cascading down her shoulders, her smokey cat-eye makeup made her green eyes pop, her red lipstick emphasized her pouty lips, and her outfit – black leather jacket; low cut, tight, green crop top that left her midriff bare (and no bra); high-waisted (high enough to cover her belly button), black, tight, leather short skirt, thigh high black stockings, and black high heeled ankle boots – accentuated all her best features: her long legs, her toned thighs, her round butt, her slim waist and her big boobs.

"What do you think?" She asked Caroline. "Do you think Stefan Salvatore will like my outfit?"

Jade was getting ready at Caroline's place. Luckily, Liz Forbes was working because she would not approve of the outfits they were wearing (Jade's most of all).

Caroline's outfit consisted of a short, sleeveless blue dress with cream pumps and a long, cream cardigan with no buttons. Her hair was styled into perfect curls and her makeup was natural and classy.

"I think he won't be able to keep your eyes off of you…or his hands for that matter."

"Good, because if he behaves well tonight, he might even get a taste," Jade said.

Jade liked sex – she liked it a lot, ever since she discovered it at the beginning of the summer before her last year of middle school (she wasn't even 15 at the time – her birthday was the 5th of September). She had been lucky. Her first time had been fantastic. It had happened with a first-year college guy, who had known what to do to make it pleasurable for her. She even had an orgasm, which she knew was rather rare.

Ever since then, good sex or bad sex was a deal-breaker for her in a relationship. She wasn't one to wait. She preferred knowing it as soon as possible if she and her partner were compatible. What was even the point of waiting, anyway? Elena was of the idea that you needed to get to know someone before jumping into having sex with them. Reason why she had lost her virginity only last year and only after dating Matt for more than five months and having known him all her life.

Jade didn't agree. In fact, she thought there was no better method to know someone than by having sex with them. There was never a moment where people were more honest than while you were having sex with them.

You could learn so much from someone by the way they would behave with their sexual partners – for example, if they were a careful lover, if they were interested in your pleasure just as much or even more than theirs, or if they were selfish, only caring about themselves (selfishness and selflessness in life were reflected in the way they behaved with their sexual partners).

The cawing of a crow shook her from her thoughts. Jade turned her back to the mirror to look at the black bird perched on the window sill of her friend's house.

It was the third time today. This morning she saw a crow perched on a lamp post when she left the house for her usual ran; then again, this afternoon, when she left school, on another lamp post near where her car was parked in the school parking lot. But it couldn't be the same one, surely?

Jade shook her head. She was being ridiculous and paranoid. Those nightmares were really getting to her. She decided to put everything but the party out of her mind. Tonight was about having fun, preferably with Stefan Salvatore.

"Come on, let's go," Caroline said. "You have your prey for the night and I have mine. So, let's go hunt."

Jade chuckled. "That was lame."

Caroline smiled sheepishly. "It totally was. I don't know why I said that."

Jade took a look around, sipping from her plastic cup the subpar beer they were serving at the party. She wasn't a fan of beer, she much preferred wine, white wine specifically.

She wondered what was Stefan's drink of choice. He didn't look like a beer guy either. He looked more sophisticated and elegant than the usual seventeen-year-old, besides being hot as hell.

Ah, there he was. Standing all alone…perfect. Jade sashayed towards him, – the runway walk she had spent weeks to perfect when she was still in middle school – ignoring the eyes that always seemed to follow her every step, some lustful, others envious – all except one. Tyler's.

He was standing with Vicki Donovan in a corner near the woods, but she noticed his head turning in her direction when she made her way towards Stefan. Good, let him watch and seethe in jealousy. He deserved it.

"So, you made it after all," Jade said, biting her lower lip and making bedroom eyes at him.

"I did."

Jade noticed, satisfied, Stefan's pupils dilating. Her presence didn't leave him indifferent, though he'd like to pretend otherwise.

"Let's get you a drink," she said.

"Well, I'm—" Stefan tried to protest but Jade didn't let him.

"Oh, come on. It will help you loosen up. You look so tense."

"Alright," Stefan answered, his attempt to appear reluctant failing. He followed her to the kegger and poured himself a glass.

They walked through the woods together, stepping away from the rest of the partygoers.

"So, Stefan, tell me more about yourself. How come did you decide to move to Mystic Falls of all places?"

Stefan shrugged. "I have family here." This line of questioning seemed to make him uncomfortable.

"Zach Salvatore, right? The one who lives at the Boarding House?"

Stefan nodded, not adding more.

"You don't talk much, do you? Is it shyness? Reserve? Or you just don't like me?"

He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "I don't know you, Jade. And, to be honest, I'm not sure I want to."

Jade raised her right eyebrow, taken aback – perhaps a little hurt. She didn't allow any of her feelings to show on her face, though. "You wanna know what I think? I think I make you nervous. I think you're attracted to me, but you don't want to be attracted to me. Oh, you like Elena, that's pretty obvious. And Elena is so easy to like. She's sweet and kind and warm. I'm the complete opposite. Of course, you don't want to want me. But you still do."

Stefan's look of irritation was impossible to miss, but there was something underneath it that Jade recognized immediately. Gotcha.

"You know Jade, I dated someone like you once. Beautiful on the outside and ugly on the inside. I don't plan on repeating the experience."

The words stung, but her expression didn't change. "Oh, yeah?"

She approached him in two steps, close enough now she was a breath away from his lips.

"Yes," Stefan replied, his tone unyielding.

Then he was kissing her. His hands grabbed her face, his tongue invaded her mouth, the motion nearly violent. There was nothing sweet or romantic about it. The kiss was angry, an attempt at punishing her for making him want her.

Jade bit his lower lip, hard, in retaliation. Stefan growled, pushing her against the trunk of a tree with such force she wouldn't be surprised to find bruises the next morning. He kissed her again – a battle of lips, teeth and tongues, a battle Jade was intent on winning. She brought her hands to his head, pulling at his hair and scratching at his scalp.

Stefan's right hand tugged at her hair, the other descending to her thigh. He brought her leg up, to encircle his hip, opening her legs and settling in between them.

A crow cawed in a nearby branch but she ignored it, her attention focused on Stefan and what he was doing to her.

Jade thrust her hips against Stefan's; she grabbed his ass to bring him closer, his desire evident against her core. Stefan brought his right hand down and inside her top to grab at her right tit, squeezing it in his palm a little roughly. His thumb played with her nipple until it stiffened under his ministrations. His mouth left hers and went to her other breast, sucking the nipple into his mouth through the fabric of her top.

His left hand raised up her thigh to settle between her legs. He rubbed her clit through the sheer material of her thong before slipping his hand inside her panties. He pinched her clit with thumb and forefinger and Jade mewled, her pussy wet and throbbing. Stefan seemed to like the sound because, a moment later, he was pushing two fingers inside her, thrusting them in and out of her in a hard and fast movement.

Jade moaned into his mouth, so aroused now she was close to coming – who knew Stefan had it in him? She decided to return the favor. She lowered the zipper of his jeans and slipped her hand inside his pants. She squeezed his warm, thick length in her palm, her thumb spreading the precum on its tip. Stefan groaned into her chest, his hips thrusting forward into her hand, encouraging her movements. His mouth moved from her left breast to kiss and nibble at the skin of her neck.

Stefan stiffened without warning. Then he was retreating, away from her, so quick she almost didn't see him move. What she did see, though, were his eyes. Black as onyx gems, with purple veins under eye, moving like small snakes underneath his skin.

She had never seen such a sight before, not in real life, but she knew exactly what it meant.

"No, no, no," Stefan muttered to himself, pacing up and down. "What the hell am I doing?" He stopped, zipped his jeans back up and took a deep, calming breath.

"You're a vampire," Jade said, her arousal forgotten. She put her clothes back in order and fixed her hair, passing her thumb around her lips to wipe off her red lipstick.

His neck snapped in her direction. "What did you say?"

His face was back to normal, though his look of desire hadn't disappeared. Jade looked between his legs. Yup, he was still hard.

"You're a vampire," she repeated. "Don't deny it, I saw your face just now. How your eyes changed."

One moment Stefan stood a few feet away, the next, he was in front of her. He did this strange thing with his eyes – his pupils dilating and then shrinking again. Staring deeply into her eyes, he said, "you're going to forget everything that happened here. I followed you to the kegger to get a beer; you came unto me but I told you that nothing was going to happen between us and then I walked away. You were just taking a walk in the woods. I was never here and you never saw my true face."

Jade realized what he was doing – he was trying to compel her. She had read about it in the Gilbert journals. It wasn't working, though. Her memories were intact, she wasn't forgetting anything. Her mother had told her witches were immune to compulsion. She decided to play along, for the moment anyway.

"You were never here. I was just taking a walk in the woods," Jade repeated, her voice assuming a monotonous tone.

She didn't know how someone under compulsion sounded like; she hoped Stefan was buying it.

"Good," Stefan said. A second later he disappeared in a flash of vampire speed.

Jade waited long moments without moving – barely breathing. She needed to make sure he was gone.

At long last, she sighed, relieved.

Ten minutes or so later, after she felt like enough time had passed for her to have regained her equanimity, she rejoined the clearing where the party was being held and checked around for Caroline. She was chatting with Matt, a smile on her face – good for her.

Perhaps Caroline would get lucky tonight, unlike her. The guy in question was Matt Donovan, though, so probably not.

Her gaze moved to search for Elena next and she found her sister on the little bridge that overlooked the falls – with Stefan. They were standing close together, talking in a way that looked intimate(there was no other word for it).

Elena was smiling, a true smile. Jade hadn't seen such a smile on her face since before her parents died. And Stefan was smiling back.

Jade rolled her eyes. Stefan had gone running back to Elena. Of course. Elena is the safest choice.

Jade wondered if Stefan would kiss Elena with her taste still in his mouth and his fingers still wet with her arousal.

A tiny part of her mind felt horrified at the idea that she had let a vampire kiss her, that she had let a vampire touch her, that she would have let a vampire fuck her if Stefan hadn't stopped. And yet, the greatest part felt only curious.

Stefan hadn't drunk from her, hadn't even bitten her. He could have easily had. No one would have known. They had been alone in the woods – it had been the perfect opportunity. But he hadn't.

What did it mean? Did it mean that Stefan didn't drink human blood? Did vampires like that even exist? Was he a vegetarian vampire like the Cullens? Was that a thing?

Jade grimaced. Huh, so lame. Does he sparkle in the sun too? She suppressed a giggle. Then a new thought invaded her mind. Stefan could walk in the sun. She knew from the Gilbert journals that vampires burned in the sun. How did he do it?

Should she warn Elena about Stefan? It would be the right thing to do. He was a vampire – whether he drank human blood or not. It could be dangerous for her to be with him.

If Elena was committed to be with Stefan, she deserved to know the truth about him. She deserved to know what she was really getting herself into. Perhaps Elena needed to know about Jade and Stefan too, what had happened between them tonight.

Jade wasn't supposed to know either thing, though. Stefan thought he had compelled her. Jade was supposed to forget all about their encounter, including the fact that she knew he was a vampire.

She could always say that she was on vervain. She was a Gilbert, after all. It wouldn't be too weird.

Jade didn't want to tell her, though. She didn't want to hurt Elena – not now, at least. This would hurt her.

Ever since middle school, everything between Elena and Jade would turn into a competition, guys included. It was their thing. It was a game. A game Jade would usually win, the guy they both wanted the prize for the victor.

Jade had managed to steal Elena's boyfriends more than once because she would give them what Elena wouldn't – though she wouldn't sleep with them while they were still with Elena (that was one of her cardinal rules). Once the thrill of the chase would fade, she would dump them, seeking another conquest to have fun with, because that was just who she was.

This thing with Stefan felt different. Elena hadn't truly smiled since the Gilberts' death – but she had smiled like that tonight, thanks to Stefan.

Jade hadn't done anything wrong. Stefan wasn't with Elena – not yet, at least. Stefan wasn't cheating. Elena didn't really need to know about it.

She hated to admit it but Stefan had, apparently, chosen Elena. It was better for Jade to forget what had happened between her and Stefan.

Concerning the fact that Stefan was a vampire…well, Stefan had to be the one to tell Elena. It wasn't Jade's secret to tell. He would tell her, eventually, right?

As previously established, Stefan hadn't hurt Jade, there was no reason to think he would hurt Elena, that she would be in danger. Right?

What should I do? Should I tell Elena what Stefan is? If he didn't attack me then perhaps Elena is safe, at least for the moment. He wouldn't attack her in front of so many people anyway, right?

Jade decided to ignore the problem for the moment. She turned her gaze away from them and looked for Bonnie instead. She was nowhere to be seen.

She wasn't with Caroline nor Elena, which was strange, since they were the only two people Bonnie was really close with – and Jade, to a certain extent.

Jade shrugged. Perhaps Bonnie had returned home.

Tyler and Vicki too had disappeared. Jade frowned. Of course, they were together, probably fucking against some tree like Jade had earlier wished she had done with Stefan. Like Jade and Tyler had done more than once.

It didn't bother her, she told herself. Tyler could fuck Vicki as many times as he wanted. Jade would find someone else, someone better. Stefan and Tyler would stew in their jealousy and envy for something they could have had (in the case of Stefan) or something they had but lost (in the case of Tyler).

The problem is, where do you find someone hotter than Stefan Salvatore in this town?

Jade was taking a walk in the woods, away from the party. She was debating whether to leave the party and hit the gym or stay a little longer. She had some frustration to work through and a few rounds with the punching bag sounded absolutely amazing.

Suddenly, fog started to appear all around her, encircling her ankles, embracing the trunks of trees, covering the ground. Then a crow cawed in a nearby branch.

Jade felt like someone was watching her and unease creeped on her.

"Is there someone here?" She called out but received no answer.

She didn't hear the snapping of twigs or the sound of footsteps until a figure stood in front of her. His face was monstrous, his eyes black and bloodshot, veins purple and moving like snakes underneath his eyes.

Another vampire? Seriously? It was all her mind was able to process in that moment.

She stopped abruptly but before she had time to scream or run away or do anything more than standing there, the figure was on her. He bit her neck with sharp canines and that was when Jade screamed.

The pain was tremendous, the tearing of her flesh, the burning. She tried to fight her attacker off but he was too strong. She could feel the life leaving her body with every swallow the monster drank of her blood, as cliché as it sounded.

The same thought kept running through her head, over and over. She knew it was useless but she couldn't stop it. Please, I don't want to die. Not like this. Not this young.

Black spots filled her vision, and she struggled to breath. The man – monster – was moaning in delight, greatly enjoying the taste of her blood.

She felt her body give up, unable to sustain its weight anymore. She sagged into the vampire's arms, sapped of all strength.

The vampire stopped drinking from her and for one single moment she hoped that he was finished with her. But he wasn't. A second later he was thrusting his bleeding wrist against her mouth and Jade could do nothing but drink.

When the vampire thought she had drunk enough, he laid her on the forest ground, almost gently. Her heart stopped the moment he stepped away from her body.

The last thing she saw before being swept away in darkness was bright blue eyes.

"I lost control today. Everything I've kept buried inside came rushing to the surface,"Stefan wrote in his journal. He needed to put his thoughts on paper after the events of tonight.

Bonnie had been rushed to the hospital. Elena was distraught. His thoughts should be on them, on her – the girl he stayed in Mystic Falls for. Hadn't he spent an entire summer observing Elena, intrigued and suspicious by her resemblance to Katherine?

Elena was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. Why couldn't he stop thinking about another girl?

"Shemakes me lose control, like no one else I've ever met. My desire forherwas so strong, it was an unbeatable force. Tonight, I was the furthest I've ever been to the human I desperately wish I still was, the human that I almost feel like when I'm with Elena. I was a wild beast intent on taking what it wanted, what was so readily offered.

"For vampires, the line between lust and bloodlust gets blurry, but withherit'ssomuch worse. If the bloodlust hadn't taken over, it's not difficult to imagine what would have happened. I would have takenherright there against that tree, haveherscream my name for anyone to hear. I wanted to possessher, make hermine. And then,herblood, rushing underneathherskin, heightened byherarousal, by the fast beat ofherheart…the wonderful, delicious smell of it.

"I came so close to drainingherdry, to return to be the monster I fought so long to suppress. Even while I was spending time with Elena tonight, I couldn't stop thinking abouther.

"If I will ever be so lucky to have sex with Elena one day, it would be sweet and slow, I would makeloveto her. Withherthere would be nothing sweet or slow about it. It would be rough and hard and not necessarily on a bed either, but on whatever surface would be available in the moment.Sheis the kind of girl you could fulfill your darkest, dirtiest fantasies with. The kind of girl who would enjoy be penetrated by my teeth as well as my cock.Herskin was soft under my touch, evenherpussy was smooth and bare, dripping with arousal for me.Shewas so wet, so tight and hot, around my fingers tonight. Andherblood smelled exquisite. What would it be like, if I had complete control over my bloodlust? What would it be like if I was like Damon? To fuckherand drink fromherat the same time?"

Shame and lust filled him in equal measure. Stefan shook his head. He couldn't think like that.Elena. Think about Elena. I have to stay away fromher.

"Withher, the ripper is closest to the surface than ever.I have to stay away fromher. Forherown good, and formine." Stefan finished writing and put the journal back in its usual place on a shelf.

A crow flew from the open window and Stefan turned around, recognizing the figure standing on the balcony.

"Damon." Stefan sighed. All those 'animal attacks'. He should have known it was him.

Damon smirked. "Hello, brother."

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?"

Damon sauntered into the room. "Wait till you see what I can do with the fog."

"When'd you get here?"

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school. Your hair's different. I like it."

"It's been 15 years, Damon."

"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads."

"Why are you here?"

"I miss my little brother."

"You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

Damon shrugged. "I've managed to keep myself busy."

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you," Stefan said, speaking through his teeth.

"Ah. That can be a problem...for you."

"Why Bonnie Bennett? Huh? Why her? Did you know she is Elena's best friend? Did you target her on purpose?"

Damon sent him a chilling grin. "Maybe. She's still alive, though, isn't she? You should be grateful."

So, he left her alive on purpose. Of course, he did."Why are you here now?"

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word...Elena." Damon stopped playing with the paraphernalia left around and looked straight at him. "She took my breath away. Elena. She's a dead ringer for Katherine. Is it working, Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?"

Stefan glared. "She's not Katherine."

"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended." Damon tapped his chin in thought, like he was trying to solve some complicated riddle. "Though I have to admit I am a little confused. What's your deal with that tasty brunette you were with tonight? I'm not sure Elena would approve."

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked, though he already knew. Tendrils of dread wrapped around him. Damon must have seen them.

"Don't play dumb with me. I'm talking about the girl you were making out with against a tree tonight, Stefan. Gotta say, I didn't think you had it in you. Not that I can blame you. She's smoking hot. Sexy. Seductive. A little mean. She reminds me of someone…Oh, right, Katherine again."

Stefan didn't reply. Damon was right. Elena might look like Katherine, but Jade was eerily similar to Katherine in personality. Maybe that was the reason she attracted him and repulsed him at the same time – though, perhaps, 'repulsed' was too strong of a word. Jade was right, though. He wanted her and he hatedthat he wanted her. Jade brought to the surface the worst parts of him, the monster he tried so hard not to be. She was dangerous.

It didn't matter. Stefan would overcome this sick desire he felt for Elena's sister and concentrate on Elena, as she deserved. Jade wouldn't come between them, he won't allow it.

"I thought you were gonna fuck her right there. Or, you know, rip her head off. One of the two. Instead, would you look at that. You actually controlled yourself. Congrats, Steff. You should be proud of yourself," Damon mocked him. "Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"

"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work," Stefan said, trying to appear calm.

"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" Damon repeatedly hit his chest with the back of his hands, not hard but it was annoying – trying to provoke him into a fight.

"Stop it."

"Let's do it. Together. I saw a couple girls out there. Or just, let's just cut to the chase, let's just go straight for Elena. Or Jade. Or both."

"Stop it!"

"Imagine what their blood taste like!"

Stefan's face transformed against his will.

"I can," Damon continued.

"I said stop!" Stefan shouted, running into Damon and throwing him out of the window. When he landed on the pavement, though, Damon wasn't there.

"I was impressed," Damon said, a few feet away from him. He stood, calm and composed, against a light pole. "I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face...thing. It was good."

Stefan sighed. He didn't even have the strength to be angry anymore. "You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die."

"That's a given."

"Not here. I won't allow it."

"I take that as an invitation."

"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?"

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word."

"Just stay away from Elena and Jade."

Damon ignored his words. "Where's your ring? Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes." Before Stefan could panic, Damon showed him the ring in the palm of his hand. "Relax. It's right here."

Stefan took him from him, warily. As soon as Stefan's ring was back on his finger, Damon grabbed him by the neck and threw him against the door of the garage.

"You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again."

The light was on in the second floor of the Boarding House now, when before there was only darkness.

"I think we woke Zach up." Damon's voice changed from aggressive to calm. "Sorry, Zach."