Elena walked into the cafeteria on auto pilot. She could see Bonnie and Caroline beckoning her over to the same table the sat on since they joined the school. At first it had just been the three of them, but as they gained more and more popularity, the table had become more crowed. Elena stood expectedly, and Caroline coughed. They group parted like the red sea, and a cheerleader gave up her seat for her to sit down. Elena put her head in her hands, sighing and picking at her salad despairingly. For one fleeting moment, she thought that the only guy she had liked since Matt might have been into her. She looked up, to see everyone staring at her. "What? Have I got salad stuck in my teeth again?" Elena covered her mouth with her perfectly manicured hand, very self-aware, her cheeks blushing a pale pink. Bonnie shook her head and laughed, brightening the mood of the table. "Earth to Elena? Caroline asked if you were going up for Miss Mystic Falls?" Elena hesitated. That was something that she had only ever discussed with her mother, the application was sat on her desk at home, gathering dust as it waited to be posted. It was the very last thing that her mother and she did together. Elena nodded decidedly, "yeah, it's what my mom would've wanted." Caroline perked up, a grin spreading across her face. "Good, because I need you to go dress shopping with me." Bonnie scoffed, her eyes popping out of her head.
"Caroline Forbes, I cannot believe you sometimes!" Caroline shrugged, but Elena knew that they had lost her. Once Caroline was on a task, she did not stop until it was done. Elena smiled to herself. She knew Caroline since forever, and that Caroline was secretly trying to help. She just wasn't very good at it, that was all.
"Hey, do any of you know a Kathrine?" Elena asked, interrupting the flow of speech surrounding her. Caroline chewed her lip in thought. "No, why you ask?" Elena shrugged dismissively. "No reason, someone must have gotten the wrong person by mistake." There was a silence in the room, and Elena turned, intrigued to see what was happening to quieten an entire school. The table behind her sat the 'hot back,' that Bonnie had so eloquently said. Caroline sat up to attention, like a bloodhound that had just caught a scent. "Hello hottie! And who do we have here? Hey, Elena, go say hi." Elena shuddered. The very thought of Caroline speaking so loving of him made her feel sick. Anyway, she had the pretence of compulsion to uphold. The urge to snap a chair leg in half and drive it through his heart was overwhelming, but she resisted. Let Caroline do her thing- she would be bored by the end of the day, Elena reassured herself. "No, I'm okay, you do it Care." With that, she pushed away her chair, and was almost out of ear shot when she heard Caroline's sickly sweet voice say, "and there's a bonfire party at the pit you can come to too."
Elena sank to the grass and lay a hand on the gravestone of her parents. "Hey mom, hey dad." She closed her eyes and imagined she was home, her mom would be cooking pasta, hair falling out of her messy bun as the steam from the boiling water covered her face her dad on the sofa, his feet on the coffee table, tie half undone watching Jeremy play on the x-box, and beer in his hand, a small smile playing on his lips. She took a deep breath and could smell her mum's perfume, her dad's cologne. Within an instant, it all disappeared, and the comforting picture of home was ruined. The reality of it all came rushing back. She was sat on the sun-dried grass, her back leaning on the hard slab of granite immortalising their death. A small tear slipped from under her eyelid, scaring her cheek as it slid down her face. She glanced at her watch and cursed. Jenna had asked that she would be back straight after school, and it was almost an hour after what she had promised. Picking herself up, and brushing herself down, Elena turned back to her parents. "Bye mom, bye dad, love you." She headed off, down the path through the woods that would lead her to back into the town. As soon as she set off, a thick mist began to roll in, slowly engulfing anything in its path, wrapping itself around her ankles. Elena's pace quickened, as she sped along the path, a chill freezing her stomach, raising all the hairs along her arms. A twig snapped behind her and she stopped, fear turning into terror as she continued to search the fog. "Who's there?" She manged to stammer at last. She felt something touch her arm, clinging onto her wrist, and dragging her back. Immediately training kicked in, and Elena struggled with all her might, pulling herself away from what had her. She screamed, and yelled, until whatever had her let go, and she ran at full pelt, straight into someone else.
Elena sat up groggily, one hand on her head, another searching for her bag, not knowing where she had dropped it. "Here," came a voice, helping her to her feet. Elena froze, rooted to the spot. She knew exactly whose body that belonged to, and her whole body tensed. "Stefan, thanks." She replied coldly, taking the bag from him uneasily. No compulsion was going to have to help her with that. He frowned at her confused, but evidently not enough to be concerned, because at last, he asked, "what are you doing out here? Bit of a walk, isn't it?" Elena shrugged, her fingers closing around a pencil in her bag. "You ok? I heard screaming, and it looked like you were in trouble." Elena swallowed, her throat tightening. With her other hand, she gestured into the distance. "The, er, fog. It was freaking me out, and I think that someone was chasing me." Her distraction had the desired effect. As Stefan turned to look for what was following her, she stabbed him in the shoulder with the pencil. He fell to the floor in pain, and Elena ran.
Elena had no idea where she was going, she ran blindly through the forest, stumbling and tripping over every tree root in her path. Something appeared out of thin air, squeezing tightly onto her shoulders. "Hey, hey it's ok, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." Elena stooped struggling, face to face with Stefan. He let go of her arms, hands held in front of him like he was surrendering. Elena took two steps back, her face twisted in disgust. "I should kill you while I still have the chance." Stefan nodded, folding his arms across his chest, leaning against the trunk of a tree. "True, but first, I have questions." Elena laughed harshly, her eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah? Me first. Give me one reason why I shouldn't stake you here and now." Stefan chuckled.
"I'm only visiting Mystic Falls. I have, family connections here. I won't kill anyone, I promise, I'm on what my kind call a vegetarian diet." Elena frowned, stepping closer towards Stefan. "What?" Stefan winced, rubbing his shoulder a little.
"I only drink the blood of animals." Elena cocked her head to the left, imaging him doing this. "Okay, what are you 'visiting' in Mystic Falls?" Stefan stood up straighter, unfolding his arms. "I have a great, great, great, and possibly another great nephew living in the Salvatore boarding house. He's having a little bit of trouble with money, so I'm chipping in, on the condition that I stay there for a while." Elena eyed Stefan up and down, a spark of trust spreading in her chest. "A Salvatore? Really? Wow, never thought I would kill one of them!" Stefan backed up. "Whoa, who said anything about staking. Now, I answered your questions, you answer mine. Who are you?" Elena, rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. "Elena Gilbert. My mother and father were part of the council, formed years ago, by whom I assume is your father. Giuseppe Salvatore. A vampire hunter." Stefan stood there, stunned by the new information. "I had no idea that the Council was still going. Wow." He laughed, but stopped, moving closer towards Elena.
"So, earlier today, with the compulsion. That didn't affect you? You knew what I was?" Elena nodded mutely. Stefan gasped, rubbing his hands together. "Perfect. You can help me." Elena raised her eyebrows, disbelief clear on her face. "Help you? Why would I help you?" Stefan smiled knowingly.
"You're going to help me kill my brother."