UNPLEASENTVILLE.

Cattleya,

I know I shouldn't be doing this, and you'll probably hate me for it.

That is if you don't hate me already.

But I need some time alone, I need to think things through.

About me, you, Lily, James...

I don't know what else to say but, I'm sorry.

Always your Aunt Daisy

Leya had found the note the next morning on the kitchen table underneath an orchid. A distinct orchid that she had recognized all too well. The Laelia purpurata was one of the 113 geneses of the Cattleya family, it was a pure white orchid with the deepest royal purple in the middle.

Leya had traced the petals of the flower the entire night and had read and re-read the note left behind. She had expected this for some reason. Don't get her wrong, Leya wasn't even close to being a seer but Daisy was the type of person to run.

She would run and run until her feet would start to bleed, and then she would crawl. She wouldn't stop running from the past and with Leya arriving on her doorstep seventeen years later, it was too much for her. The past had caught up much too fast for her liking.

It didn't matter anyway. Leya was better off alone.

"I can't believe she just left." Elena commented behind her, as she sat down on her bed.

"Don't worry about it. And before you ask, she gave the shop to one of her friends to look after."

"Well that's good. Caroline said that after her mom complained about her leaving you, she ranted on where she would get her flowers." Elena joked.

Leya laughed a little.

"So on a different topic, you don't remember anything about the man that hit you?" Elena asked as she bounced a little on Leya's bed.

"Unfortunately, no. I wasn't able to see his face clearly, he was wearing a hoodie. All I can remember were these black boots coming towards me…." Answered Leya, as she wrapped a red scarf around her neck. Glad for the change of topic.

Leya watched Elena through the mirror, she was fiddling with the necklace Stefan had given her looking very crestfallen. When Leya had come back from her little 'road trip' with Damon – much to Stefan and Elena's relief – after she had her little spat with Daisy she found out that Elena was adopted. Since then Elena had steered clear of Jenna (who had known about her adoption the entire time) opting to spend as much time as she could over at the taller girl's house.

"How are you?" Leya asked softly, walking over to sit next to her on the bed.

"I don't know… betrayed, hurt… the list could go on but I don't wanna bore you. And besides, you have just as important problems as mine."

"You're my friend, Elena. One of my first friends in Mystic Falls, you can talk to me about anything. Whether it be, how crazy in love you are with Stefan or the fact that you're adopted." Leya reassured, holding Elena's hand lightly. "And forget about Daisy. She couldn't handle the truth, and that's her problem. Also I'll have you know I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Thanks." Elena replied glad she had a friend like Leya. "But for now, I just need to know which one of these you think Caroline would like best?" Elena said, changing the subject once again as she held up two necklaces – both filled with vervain.

"This one." Leya answered tapping her finger against a simple silver charm making it swing slightly.

Elena nodded once in agreement. "So, uh…" Elena started not really knowing how to begin, so she decided to just blurt it out all at once. "Stefan told me you can't be compelled, is that true?"

Leya hesitated before answering. "Yeah, yeah it's true. I can't be compelled."

"How-I don't understand. How is this possible?"

"I don't know, Stefan doesn't know either. I guess it's just another thing you can add to the Side Effects of Leya Potter list." Leya joked trying to diffuse the tension.

"You are not a side effect, okay? You're an amazingly kind person with a heart of gold. This whole compulsion thing is just an anomaly. It just makes you an enigma. " Elena said defending her furiously. She didn't know what it was but as soon as Leya stepped into town, Elena felt the need to protect her, even if it had to be from herself.

"An enigma." Leya enunciated slowly, tasting the words on her tongue. "Huh, I never really thought of it that way before."

The morning classes had come and gone and surprisingly Leya was slowly getting the hang of the muggle schooling system, although she still missed Hogwarts with all her heart. It was, after all the first place she could call home.

It was currently lunch time and Leya had joined Caroline and Elena outside. "Oh, here. This is for you." Elena said giving Caroline the necklace Leya had picked out earlier that morning.

"It's so pretty." Purred Caroline admiring the necklace. "Thank you. God it'll go with, like, everything. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. Just a little friend gift." Leya explained as they sat down at a table.

"Lesbian-friend necklace? Cause we're freaky like that?" Caroline asked winking at Leya. Leya giggled amused and rolled her eyes.

"Your friendship is important to us, Caroline." Elena said interrupting them.

"Why are you being so mushy?" Caroline questioned.

"Because you've been avoiding me. And I wanted you to know that whatever's going on between you and Matt, it's okay." Elena replied giving Caroline a reassuring smile.

"I was gonna talk to you about that. I was, but there's just not much to say… we've hung out a couple of times. That's it but—I just feel like we've peaked as friends. This is weird; I shouldn't be talking to you about this. It's weird. It's weird, right?" Caroline ranted directing the last question towards Leya.

"It's a little weird, I guess." Leya replied with an amused grin at Caroline's rambling.

"A little." Elena agreed. "But hey, if it's what you and Matt want, then it's not about me."

"But it's all about you… Matt's not over you and we all know it." Caroline said sadly.

"I'm with Stefan now. Matt understands that, he knows he has to move on." Said Elena. Caroline didn't look convinced, Leya smiled softly and grabbed Caroline's hand squeezing it comfortingly. If anyone deserved a guy as good as Matt, It was Caroline.

"Why me? What does he want with me? And if he's trying to kill me, then why call first? And why did he hit Leya's car if he wanted me in the first place?" Elena rambled as she paced worryingly back and forth.

The other night Elena had gotten a mysterious phone call who had in fact been the guy who had hit Leya's car a few days ago. Needless to say Leya was beyond confused, if he was after Elena the entire time then why bother hitting her car. Why is he so interested in Elena anyway?

"It's because we're predators, Elena. We hunt. We Stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill. I want both of you to take this." Stefan said handing Elena a familiar golden pocket watch.

"Isn't that Jeremy's pocket watch. How did you get it?" Leya asked.

"I took it from Damon who took it from Logan who must have taken it from Jeremy." Stefan replied.

Leya gingerly took the watch from Elena and carefully opened it. Instead of its normal face of numbers it was compass.

"What happened to it?" Elena asked looking at the watch.

"Well, it's not just a watch... It's a – it's sort of a compass, but it points to Vampires." As he said this the compass started flickering in every direction before settling on Stefan. Elena and Leya looked at Stefan in surprise.

"Why did my dad have it?" Elena asked.

"The Gilberts were one of the founding families, and back in 1864 they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find us." Stefan replied.

"Did you know them?" Elena asked quietly.

Stefan hesitated before nodding slowly. "Yes. I want the both of you to keep this. That way, you'll know if you're ever in danger."

There was a short silence before Leya broke it. "Uh. I gotta go, I promised to help Caroline set up for the dance." She said standing up.

"No, Leya. You can't. We don't know if this vampire can walk in the sun or not, or if he has any accomplices. The safest place for you to be is at home or here where I can protect the both of you." Stefan said standing in her way.

"Stefan you're my friend so you should know. I can't be compelled, as freaky as it is. Besides it's not even me he wants." Leya said throwing a pointed look towards Elena. "So with that, I'll be taking my leave."

"Leya, wait!" Elena called out when she was half way to the door. "You don't have a car, and I know I'd die if I had to walk to school from the boarding house, so I was wondering if you wanted to borrow my car."

"Walk?" Leya asked confused for a moment, before what Elena said dawned on her. "Oh, walk, yes. Um, I would love to borrow your car. All this walking, you know it's really wearing me out." Leya replied, awkwardly laughing towards the end.

"Great. Just make sure to pick me up later on." Elena said handing her the keys.

"Of course, I'll see you later." Leya replied walking out the door.

Once she was safely in the confines of Elena's car Leya banged her head on the steering wheel. She couldn't believe she forgot to work out that miniscule deal of how she got around town without a car. Of course everyone just assumed she walked or car pooled when really she was just Apparating everywhere. You bloody idiot, Leya muttered to herself as she started the car it didn't matter now, walking was a good excuse as any, now all she had to do was help Caroline with the decade dance – a piece of cake, she thought sarcastically.

"What was that about?" Leya asked as she headed towards Caroline, witnessing Matt storm off angry.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Caroline replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now pick up a brush and get to work, we have a lot of work to do."

Leya smiled slightly picking up the closest brush and started working on the area Matt left off.

Hours later and Leya stood in the gym, Caroline by her side as their eyes swept the fully decorated gym with pride. Leya didn't think it actually looked that bad, though she was a little biased; if she had to choose the 50's weren't exactly her favorite decade. She bid Caroline goodbye and left to pick Elena up at the boarding house.

"Don't you look-"

"Don't even finish that sentence." Leya cut off as Elena got in the passenger seat.

Elena wanted to laugh, she really did. Here was Leya Potter sitting next to her covered in paint, confetti and glitter trying as best as she could to ignore her amused grin. A giggle escaped. And soon enough she was laughing so hard her sides ached.

"Okay, okay I get it. Could you please stop?" Leya pleaded forcing the smile that was threatening to escape back.

"Yes, okay. I'm sorry it's just-"

"I know, I know." Leya muttered lowly and faint blush rising to her cheeks.

"So I assume with all this hard work you put in, you'll be joining us at the dance?" Elena asked once she calmed down enough.

"No." Leya responded immediately. "Themed parties – not really my thing."

"Well, if you change your mind I have an extra costume." Elena said smiling suggestively.

"Doubtful."

Leya watched silently, her bright green eyes following Damon as he paced back and forth before coming to an abrupt stop beside her and asking:

"Well, how did he get in?" Eyebrows furrowed, hands on hips, the question directed towards Elena and Stefan both of whom sat on Leya's other side.

"He was invited in. How else could he have gotten in?" Leya replied dryly.

It was needless to say Leya was more than a little pissed off at the moment. Elena was just moments before attacked by the mysterious vampire that had been stalking her the past few days. It had completely ruined Leya's night, which she had hoped would be drama free.

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan elaborated.

"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?" Damon asked.

"No." Elena snapped. "He was too busy trying to kill me."

"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asked Damon, suspicion written clearly all over his face.

Damon shook his head no in response to Stefan question, and then sighed exasperatedly in annoyance at Stefan's doubtful look. "Don't look at me like that, I told you we had company."

"Do you think there's more than one?" Leya asked curious.

"We don't know." Damon replied reluctantly. There was a moment of silence before Stefan spoke up.

"Damon, he was invited in." He stated, the sentence having much more meaning now than it had ever did before.

"Then we go get him tonight." Damon offered, looking between the two girls who sat next to each other. "You two up for it?"

"What do I have to do?" Elena immediately replied.

Damon didn't answer right away, opting instead to look at Leya who hadn't given an answer. She stared back defiantly not wanting to give in, not wanting to go through whatever crazy plan he had up his sleeve.

"Nothing." Damon said, finally replying to Elena's question. "Let Stefan take you to the dance, we'll see who shows up."

"This is a bad idea." Stefan interjected.

"I agree." Leya spoke up, siding with Stefan.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Look, till we get him this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot."

"Please, Leya." Elena begged her eyes wide. "He's been invited in and I don't want Jenna or Jeremy to get hurt. Besides we'll be with Stefan and Damon. We'll be safe." She said, the last part directed towards both Leya and Stefan.

The second Leya stepped foot into the gym at school The Misfit's This Magic Moment hit her ears. Granted the gym looked pretty good when Leya and Caroline had finished decorating it but now that it was filled with people it actually looked quite impressive – though nothing would be able to reach the limit Hogwarts had set for her.

Elena and Leya had split from Stefan and Damon (who unfortunately was able to get into the dance – but not without compulsion mind you) and they now stood near the punch bowl looking for any suspects who fit the vampire-stalker bill.

"Oh my god, do my eyes deceive me or is Leya Potter actually standing in front of me dressed up." Caroline said with a bright grin as she walked over with Bonnie, momentarily breaking both Leya and Elena out of their avid searching.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Leya replied sarcastically, though it was all good natured so Caroline played along taking out her phone to snap a picture, giggling when Leya struck a pose.

"Having fun?" Elena asked.

"Mm, no. But this took about two hours." Caroline answered gesturing to herself. "So I'm at least staying half of that."

Leya chuckled along with Bonnie and Elena at Caroline's notion, but Bonnie's laughter stopped short as she spotted a certain someone lurking in the background.

"What is Damon doing here?" She asked bothered.

"He's my date." Leya muttered grudgingly.

"What?" Caroline and Bonnie snapped at the same time surprised, they thought she hated Damon.

"I was coerced." Leya defended herself throwing a look and a nudge towards Elena.

"So what is this like a threesome now? You and the Salvatore brothers." Caroline cynically asked Elena.

"No." Elena answered appalled. "But if I'm gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon. It's not like I can kill him."

"There's a thought." Bonnie remarked, glaring at Damon.

"I will gladly help with that." Leya volunteered, while raising her drink to Bonnie's as they both smirked.

"Me too." Added Caroline.

Elena chuckled at her friends antics before walking away to find Stefan, Leya opted to stay with Caroline and Bonnie. Between Stefan and Damon, Elena was well protected. Minutes later when Leya had only just taken her mind off the vampire situation she saw Damon start to walk over, and apparently she wasn't the only one when both Bonnie and Leya groaned almost in sync. Enthusiastically, Damon tried to side step Bonnie as she tried to leave.

"Hi, Bonnie. Wanna dance?"

"I'm out of here." She growled in response, putting her drink down and turning to walk away when Damon - once again – side stepped her.

"Please, give me another chance." He pleaded, in response Bonnie rolled her eyes and pushed pass him.

"Back off, Damon." Caroline said sternly, walking off after Bonnie.

Watching the entire scene play out, Leya had tried her hardest to hold her laughter in but it didn't work out that great when a small giggle escaped. And with Damon super vampire hearing he was obviously able to catch it.

"Think this is funny don't you?" He question.

"Very much so."

Before Damon could reply with one of his witty comebacks he heard Elena behind him ask. "Where did they go?"

Obviously she was referring to Bonnie and Caroline, so with feigned innocence Damon looked both ways confused before replying. "I don't know."

"What'd you say to them?" Stefan asked, not impressed by his acting.

"I was perfectly polite." Damon answered, Leya scoffed and Damon turned flashing her a grin then turned back and faced Elena. "Elena… would you like to dance?"

"I would love to." She replied with a smile. Leya raised her eyebrows in interest as Damon smirked smugly at Stefan, until it faded away when Elena turned to Stefan.

"May I have this dance?"

"I would love to." Stefan replied, now making it his turn to smirk smugly at Damon as he walked to the dance floor arm in arm with Elena.

"No way in hell." Leya said as Damon turned towards her the question almost ready to spill from his mouth.

"Why not?"

"I don't dance." And it was true; Leya disliked dancing with a great passion. It wasn't that she had two left feet, no it was not that, as a child when growing up she would often catch Aunt Petunia waltzing around the living room whilst cleaning. And while she was alone and by herself Leya would sometimes try to imitate the steps. And she wasn't that bad, what bothered her was that the last time she danced was at the Yule ball – with Cedric.

"Oh come on, one dance for your date?"

"First of all, I was forced into being your date. And secondly, I don't like being the second option let alone the last."

"Please." He requested. Leya sighed looking out at the sea of dancing people. She was much too nice for her own good, she grumbled to herself.

"One dance. Keep it PG." She told him as he grinned and pulled her to the dance floor seeing her resolve crumble.

Just as they stepped foot on the dance floor a slow song came on, Leya tried to turn around and walk away but Damon caught her by the back of her top pulling her in and placing his hands on her waist. Reluctantly, Leya had no choice but to wrap her own arms around his neck.

"So, any other diabolical plans to get Katherine out of the tomb?"

"So far, no." Damon replied. Leya looked him in the eyes and she could see all the sadness and hurt that had built up over the century, then he blinked and a wall she was all too familiar with was back up.

"You suit the 50's you know?" He said with a cheeky smile looking her up and down.

Leya laughed. "No way. I much prefer the 20's… and the 70's. In fact I can think of the perfect song that came out in the 70's."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" He asked with an amused laugh. Damon didn't think Leya was one for older songs.

With a smirk Leya started belting out Psycho Killer by Talking Heads. Damon cracked up just as she got to the chorus and put his hands over her mouth to get her to stop singing.

But she kept at it anyway her words slurring and muffled under Damon's hands. Finally a minute later she stopped, Damon's laughter faded away and his hands were back on her waist.

"What was it like in the 50s?" Leya asked once they had calmed down feeling curious.

"A lot more complicated than you think." Damon said as he still kept a cautious eye around the crowded place. "Clashes between communism and capitalism dominated the decade. The start of the Korean War, beginning of Space Race, launch of Sputnik.-"

"What about the other stuff?" Leya asked wanting to get off the history which she already knew. "Like the poodle skirts, diners, milkshakes, the pompadours…?"

"Yes there were poodle skirts, diners were pretty good hangouts, milkshakes were the bomb and…. no I did not have a pompadour."

"Caught me." Leya replied chuckling.

"Song over. Your dance is up Mr. Salvatore." Leya said as they heard the song start to slow down, its impending end close. She unwound her arms from his neck, and with a small smile started to walk away when he called her back.

"Why are you being nice? I heard your comment earlier; you would gladly help to get rid of me."

"Believe it or not, Damon, I can actually be genuinely nice to people. And no matter how hard you try, I've met worse monsters than you." She replied before walking off.

Half-an-hour later and there was still no sign of the vampire. Leya huffed and rolled her eyes deciding to roam the halls rather than watch all the other students get drunk off the punch Tyler Lockwood had spiked.

And besides Elena was well protected with Stefan and Damon by her side, Leya really had no clue as to why she was here in the first place. As far as anyone knew she was just some useless human, she should be at home drinking tea and watching that ridiculous Next Top Model show.

All this freaking out was for nothing if this vampire was a no-show.

Leya was quietly humming to herself as she ran her hand against the lockers as she walked. She had been walking the halls now for almost fifteen minutes and neither of the vampire brothers had found her, so when two human sized blurs rushed past her at an abnormal speed she could only presume it was Stefan and Damon.

It was incredibly unlikely for Stefan to use his vampire skills in front of humans, let alone at school where almost all his peers were, that Leya could only presume that Elena was in danger.

She hadn't even realized she was running until she slipped almost crashing to the ground when she had tried to turn a corner. It was a moment like this where she wished she had vampire speed.

So when Leya crashed through the doors leading to the cafeteria, she stood next to Damon trying to act cool as if her lungs weren't desperately burning for air at her sudden sprinting.

"Hey, dickhead." Damon called out, half a broken mop in his hand. Leya curiously wondered where it had come from, but didn't let it show on her face as she acted like she had been there the entire time.

"Nobody wants to kill you. We just want to talk." Damon continued holding his hands in a surrender position.

The unknown vampire just smirked in response and ran forward and over the table. Damon threw Stefan the broken mop, and he blurred forward and shoved it into the vampire's body making him drop to his knees.

Leya slowly walked towards Elena and stood next her. She knew what was going to happen next, Stefan and Damon needed more information – specifically if he was with anyone else – and the only way to do that was with a bit of pain. On the mysterious vampire's part, of course.

"Now you feel like talking?" Stefan asked standing in front of him.

"Screw you." He growled. It turned into a strained gasp as Stefan grabbed the end of the mop handle shoving it further into him, twisting it. Elena gasped and grabbed Leya's hand squeezing it tightly.

"Wrong answer." Stefan seethed. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun." He answered. Stefan pushed the mop in further at his response and Elena dug her head in Leya's shoulder.

"What do you want with Elena?" Leya asked impatient.

"She looks like Katherine." He supplied. Everyone tensed at his words and Elena's grip grew tighter.

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked confused.

"Aw. You thought you two were the only ones? You don't even remember me."

"Tell me how to get into the tomb. Hmm?" Damon inquired, leaning down at the vampire's level as he spoke.

"No." He breathed. Stefan grabbed the mop handle and tilted it upwards earning a pained groan and gasps.

"The Grimoire." He grunted. Leya tilted her head curiously at the word, she had read in the book that powerful witches (the other kind) create a book where they write down all the spells they themselves had made or spells they've come across and called it a Grimoire; sometimes they passed it down through generations.

"Well, where is it?" Damon asked getting visibly annoyed.

When he didn't answer Stefan stepped up and twisted the mop. "Check the journal. The journal. Use Johnathan's journal. Johnathan Gilbert's." He rasped out.

"Who else is working with you?" Asked Stefan.

"Who else is there?" Damon snarled when Stefan's question was answered with silence.

"No. You're gonna to have to kill me." He puffed. Damon rolled his eyes and nodded; Stefan pulled the makeshift stake out and then plunged it into the vampire's heart, effectively ending him.

"What-? What do-? How are you going to find the others now?" Elena asked rattled, looking between Damon and Stefan.

"He had to die." Damon said simply, glancing over at Elena.

"But…" She tried.

"Elena… he's been invited in." Stefan said reminding her that if he lived he could've killed her or Jeremy and Jenna at any time.

Leya, along with everybody else tensed, their heads snapping as they heard a door close in the distance. Leya watched as a shadow flashed by through one of the windows on the door. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as light caught the eavesdroppers face illuminating it for a moment. It was Mr. Saltzman

"Go. I got this." Stefan told Damon referring to the dead vampire that lay on the cafeteria floor. And with one last look towards Leya and Elena, Damon rushed off to Mr. Saltzman.

Leya sighed as she looked down at the dead vampire that lay on the floor. She had seen many bodies in her short life, but somehow she just didn't feel sorrow or distress, she hadn't felt like that for a while. Not since the months after the final war, and is scared her.

But what she does admit is that the vampire that lay on the floor may have been an idiotic bastard but, he was a loyal one.

Because she had to face the truth, things felt far from over.