Stefan jolted awake from a horrible dream, a terrified look on his face, and sweat clinging to his forehead. Damon, who was sitting on the other side of the room, let out a low chuckle.
"Bad Dream?" He asked mockingly. "Do you know how easy it was to get into your head just now? You really need some human blood. It might even the playing field. Football reference. Too soon?"
Stefan threw knife at Damon, the blade imbedding itself in Damon's stomach. Damon only chuckled as he pulled it out.
"All right, I deserved that. But I just wanted to let you know, they caught the culprit," Stefan looked over at his brother curiously. "The animal responsible for killing coach Tanner and all those people."
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked confused.
"It was a mountain lion. Really big one. It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news. 'Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Fall's'" Damon quoted with a grin.
"Why would you cover yourself?" Stefan asked shaking his head.
"I've decided to stay a while. And I'm just having way too much fun here with you, Elena, and Alison." Damon smirked at his younger brother.
"You won't be able to touch her." Stefan picked up the box that contained a vervain bracelet. Damon only chuckled.
"You gonna give her some vervain like you did Elena," Stefan looked up at his older brother, letting the box slide back into his drawer. "That only keeps me out of her head, Stefan, maybe that's not my target. Believe it or not some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and charm and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift." Damon thrusted the knife into Stefan's abdomen, pain clear on Stefan's face as he doubled over and fell to the floor.
"This is John Varvatos, dude. Dick move." And with that, Damon was gone.
…
"To repeat: The animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught." The charming new reporter spoke on the TV that hung in the kitchen of the Gilbert residence.
"Scum ball. Scum bucket." Jenna muttered as she angrily clean off the kitchen counters.
"Whoa, what's got your hair in knots?" Alison asked as she and her little sister Elena walked into the kitchen.
"Him." Jenna glared up at the news reporter on the TV screen.
"The news guy?" Elena asked, looking over at the screen.
"Also known as Logan 'scum' Fell. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked the two girls standing in front of her. Elena's face turned to one of shock while Alison only turned to look at the man on the screen.
"Oh, no way. You and him?" Elena asked, and Jenna nodded.
"He's cute." Alison shrugged reaching over and grabbing an apple out of the bowl in the middle of the table.
"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him," She started ranting once more until she noticed the box in Elena's hands. "What are you doing with that?"
"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display." Elena explained, shifting through the contents in the cardboard box.
"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" The red head 'adult' asked, pointing to the object.
"Originally it was great-great grandma Mary's wedding ring." Elena corrected, matter-of-factly.
"How much do you think this stuff is worth on eBay?" Alison asked shifting through the box and pulling out an old journal. Elena scowled and smacked her older sister's hand away.
"You're not gonna find out."
"Why not, I think it's a good idea," Jeremy spoke as he walked into the kitchen, high fiving his eldest sister as he passed by before peering into the box. "Wait, that stuff's mom and dad's you can't give it away." Jeremy frowned as he looked up at Elena.
"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy." Elena corrected. A smile spread a crossed Elena's face when the doorbell rang. As soon as she opened the door she pulled Stefan in and kissed I'm passionately.
Alison made a 'gag me' face to Jeremy and her Aunt Jenna, both laughed as they went their separate way. Side stepping Elena and Stefan Alison bounded up the stairs.
"Hey, Alison," Stefan called. The eldest Gilbert turned and looked down at her sister's boyfriend in curiosity. "Here." He tossed her a small box. Alison caught it with ease and flipped the box around her hand before opening it. A bracelet sat inside. It wasn't anything extraordinary, it was a basic silver chain bracelet with black leather, her name carved into it.
"Aw, thanks Stef," Alison slipped it on her wrist as she rolled her eyes playfully at the younger Salvatore. She then turned and bounded up the stairs. She entered her bedroom humming to herself as she placed the box on her dresser.
"Cute bracelet," Alison jumped, startled, as she whirled around to see Damon lounging on her bed flipping through her sketch book. "Did Stefan give it to you?"
"Um, yeah, why?" Alison asked leaning back onto her dresser, twirling the bracelet around her wrist absentmindedly. Damon set the sketch book aside and walked over to her, he gripped her wrist lightly bring it up to his face.
"Vervain." He said simply then let her arm drop back down to her side.
"Oh, I didn't know, I can take it off." Alison said quickly as Damon turned and started shifting through her closet.
"No, it's fine. If Stefan thinks that I'm compelling you, let him think that." Damon waved her off as he pulled out a dark red evening gown, looked it over and put it back.
"But you're not." Alison said confused as she walked over to see what Damon was doing.
"No, I'm not, but it's kind of a little weird and not normal for someone to willingly let a vampire feed on them without compulsion," Damon turned to her with two different gowns in his hands. One was grey and strapless, while the other was black with long sleeves that hung off the shoulders. "Which one?"
"So you're calling me weird?" Alison challenged placing one hand on her hip and gesturing to the black dress with the other. "The black one."
"Just a little." Damon shrugged his shoulders, putting the grey gown back into Alison's closet before laying the black one out on her bed.
"What's the dress for?"
"It's what you're wearing to the founder's party." Damon answered simply.
"And why do you get to pick out my dress?" Alison challenged placing her hands on her hips once more.
"Well if I'm gonna be your date-"
"My date?" Alison cut him off with a smirk, crossing her arms. "You haven't even asked me yet, you can't just assume you're my date."
"Are you serious right now?" Damon asked, getting slightly annoyed.
"Very." Alison said, getting slightly amused by Damon's reactions.
"Would you like me to escort you to the Founder's party?" Damon asked, with a mock bow and rolling his eyes. Alison looked at him for a few moments before turning to her full length mirror and holding the dress up to her body.
"I'll think about." Alison shrugged.
"You'll think about it?" Damon repeated stepping in front of Alison. "No, you see, I went through a lot of trouble to make sure this party wasn't cancelled. It's very important I be there." Alison only ignored him, checking out the bite mark on her hip.
"Will these turn me into a vampire?" She asked randomly.
"No, the process is a lot more complicated-" Damon cut himself off when he realized her had gotten off topic. He grabbed Alison's chin making her look at him. "I don't want to prove Stefan right and compel you, cause to be honest I really hate it when Stefan's right, but you are making this really hard." Damon said sternly, getting more irritated by the second. Damon let go of the girl and took in a deep breath to calm down as he ran a hand over his face.
"Why do you want to go so badly anyway?" Alison asked turning around to look up at the blue eyed man.
"Cause there's something really important that I need."
"I guess you can be my date then," Alison turned back to the mirror holding the dress up to her body once more. "I mean if it's that important."
"Thank you-"
"On one condition." Alison cut him off, looking up at him through the mirror with a mischievous grin.
"What?" Damon asked rubbing his forehead in irritation.
"You've got to dance with me." She turned around and grinned up at the Salvatore boy. Damon looked down at her confused.
"That's it?"
"Yup," She walked back over to her closet and hung the dress back up. "I'm a female I like to dance." She shrugged with a smile, before flopping onto her bed and picking up her sketch book from off the nightstand. Damon stood there silently, as he watched her begin another sketch, her forehead creasing in concentration.
…
"You're taking Damon to the founder's party? What about me?" Bonnie asked following Alison around as the Gilbert girl searched through the aisle of shoes.
"Go with Elena." Alison waved her off as she picked up a pair of black stilettoes and checked the price tag.
"She's asking Stefan."
"Then go with Caroline." Alison offered with a small smile as she placed the shoes back on the rack and continued down the aisle.
"I guess," Bonnie gave in with a sigh, crossing her arms. "Does Elena know you're going with Damon?" Alison chuckled humorlessly as she grabbed a pair of silver peep toes.
"I don't have to get my little sister's approval on everything I do, Bonnie." Alison smiled at the shoes and turned, heading for the check-out line.
"I know, it's just he's older, sexy danger guy, I think you should at least tell her." Bonnie argued following the brunette.
"Older, sexy, danger guy? Is that what we're calling him now?" Alison asked with a slight chuckle, looking back at the Bennet girl as the cashier scanned her item. "Besides Damon's not dangerous, he's just got like serious issues with his brother." Alison glanced at Bonnie, fighting back a smirk when Bonnie's eyes widened in interest.
"Like…" Bonnie trailed off waiting for Alison to finish the sentence. Alison held out a fifty to the cashier as she sighed.
"I'll tell you if you promise not to tell Elena."
"No." Bonnie quickly denied.
"Bonnie Bennet!" Alison shouted, as she grabbed her bag, and the two started for the exit.
"Fine, just tell me." Bonnie gave in, although Alison knew that she'd tell Elena either way, lucky for her that's exactly what she wanted.
"Okay, so you know about Stefan's ex-girlfriends: Katherine?" Alison asked and Bonnie nodded. "Well they both dated her, until finally she chose Damon. Who could blame her, right?" Alison asked, shrugging her shoulders. Bonnie gave her a 'really' look but Alison ignored her and continued on with the story.
"Stefan was enraged, and filled with jealousy, so he did horrible things to like try and break them up. He filled her head with all these lies about Damon, until finally it worked and she left him." Alison ended with a sad sigh for dramatic effect. Bonnie nodded, as if trying to imbed that information into her brain. Alison gave a subtle smirk as she climbed into the driver's seat of her car.
…
"Alison!" Mrs. Lockwood shrieked with a large smile as Alison walked up to the house, her arm looped with Damon's "you look smashing."
"Thanks. This is my boyfriend, Damon." Alison introduced, gesturing to the Salvatore on her arm.
"Oh, come on in." She smiled warmly. A small smirk flickered across Damon's lips as he stepped over the threshold.
"Lovely to meet you. I've been looking forward to this party for quite a while." Damon said with a content sigh.
"Well, enjoy." Mrs. Lockwood smiled one last time before walking away.
"Let's go get a drink." Damon offered, looking down at Alison. She nodded and the two made their way over to the bar.
"Damon?" Alison leant up against the table, a champagne glass in her hand. The Salvatore boy looked over at her as he raised his own glass to his lips. "Are there any other supernatural creatures besides vampires?"
"You ask a lot of questions, you know that?' Alison sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Can you just answer the question?"
"Pushy," Damon smirked leaning up against the table beside her. "Well, there're werewolves, but I haven't seen any of those in a while, witches, and…" he trailed off looking off into the distance, raising his glass to his lips once more.
"And?" Alison pressed on, looking up at Damon as he tipped back his glass.
"I've never met one, but there are 'supernatural beings' called seers." Damon put air quotes around supernatural beings as he looked down at Alison.
"What's a seer?" Alison asked, getting slightly anxious.
"They have the power to see things, like visions of the past, future, stuff like that," Damon shrugged his shoulders. "Why?"
"Just curious," Alison gave a weak smile, before downing the rest of her champagne when something caught her eye. "Hey look, it's the original guest registry," She smiled walking over to it scanning all the names until she glimpse at a certain pair of names. "Is that you?" Alison glanced back at Damon, who only nodded.
"Don't you look stunning tonight?" Both turned to see Stefan and Elena walking over, Stefan held out a champagne glass to Alison with a warm smile.
"Uh, thanks." Alison took the drink awkwardly but drank it none the less.
"Does that say, Stefan and Damon Salvatore?" Elena asked, looking passed her sister to the original guest registry.
"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors." Damon shrugged.
"Damon was actually just about to tell me about it, isn't that right?" Alison let a smirk slide across her features as she sipped casually on her drink. Damon narrowed his eyes slightly knowing exactly what Alison was doing.
"Yes, you can stay and listen if you want to." Damon offered Elena with a smile.
"We don't need to bore them with our stories of the past." Stefan interjected quickly.
"It's not boring I'd love to hear more about your family." Elena argued, placing a hand on Stefan's arm before motioning for Damon to continue.
"The Salvatore name was royalty in this town. Until the battle that happened here-"
"The Battle of Willow Creek?" Elena cut in.
"Right.' Damon nodded, looking back down at the guest registry.
"Yeah, we talked about that in class a while back. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside, correct?" Alison asked, making sure Damon continued on with the story.
"Right, except what they don't tell you is that the people who were killed, weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they tried to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood." Damon explained with a distant look in his eyes.
"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" Alison asked, completely entranced by the story.
"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" Damon asked, looking directly into Alison's chocolate brown eyes.
"Great story, but I believe you owe me a dance," Alison spoke a small smile ghosting on her lips. Damon sighed and held out his hand, to which Alison happily took. "I'll catch up with you later 'Lena!" Alison called over her shoulder as Damon took the older gilbert out onto the dance floor.
"So spill it," Alison said once they were out of sight of Stefan and Elena. "How much of that story was actually true?"
"The majority, except they weren't union sympathizers, they were vampires." Damon said simply.
"And I'm guessing the girl was Katherine." Damon didn't answer, instead he spun Alison out then back in, her back up against his chest.
"I know what you did." He whispered, his lips ghosting over her neck.
"What did I do?" Alison asked, amusement in her voice.
"Forced me into answering your petty little questions, it was very devious of you Ali," Damon spun her once more, this time when he pulled her in, their faces were inches apart. "I liked it." He smirked.
…
"Where are we going?" Alison asked as Damon dragged her up the stairs and into a room filled with Knick knacks almost as old as Mystic falls itself.
"Just, stand…" Damon moved Alison so she was standing in the way of the door. "Right there." He gave her a thumbs up before starting to dig through all the junk that filled the room.
"What are you doing?" Alison asked trying to see over Damon.
"Haven't you ever heard the phrase, curiosity killed the cat?" Damon asked, not looking up from his search.
"But satisfaction bought it back." Alison finished crossing her arms. Damon paused, and turned back to her silently.
"Fine," he gave in with a sigh, holding up a crystal for Alison to see. "This is the very important reason why I needed to be your date."
"A crystal?" Alison asked, not exactly knowing why it was so important.
"A very important crystal." Damon corrected, slipping the object into his pocket.
"What's it for?" Alison asked following Damon out of the room.
"None of your business." Damon called over his shoulder, speeding up his pace to get out of the mansion. Alison sighed in irritation, not knowing was killing her, as she followed Damon.
"You know, I'm just going to stop blindly helping you with this stuff, unless you start answering my questions." Damon stopped and spun around so he was right in Alison's face. Alison took a step back startled, but held her ground, crossing her arms.
"Alison," Damon whispered tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "My dear, sweet, Alison, I will answer every single one of your many, many questions. Just not right now."
"Fine." Alison gave in with a sigh and kept her mouth shut.
"See, was it that hard?" He asked, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into his chest, her back to him. "Now I'm gonna need you to hold on to this for me until I take it back, okay?" Damon pulled back Alison's brown locks before clipping the crystal around her neck. The moonlight his her olive skin with a glow. Damon's blue eyes scanned over her skin, the sound of her steady beating heart filling his ears.
He let his fangs sink into her skin, relishing in the taste of her sweet blood. Alison whimpered slightly at the stinging pain, but otherwise didn't move. Suddenly Damon jolted away from her, coughing out the blood as if it were poison.
"What did you do?" Damon asked turning around to see his younger brother walking up with a cocky smirk.
"Well, I figured if I couldn't spike your drink, I'd spike hers." Damon scowled at his brother before he feel to the ground, and passed out. Alison dropped down on her knees beside him confused.
"What happened?" she asked, looking up at Stefan.
"It's okay Alison, you're safe now. Damon can't hurt you anymore." Stefan assured the girl as he knelt down beside her.
"Hurt me? Damon wasn't hurting me." Alison shook her head furiously. "I let him."
"What?" Stefan asked confused.
"I let him feed on me. There was no compulsion." Stefan didn't have any time to continue this conversation, as Damon twitched slightly, signaling that he'd wake back up soon. Stefan gave Alison one last final look before grabbing his older brother and vamp speeding back home.