Chapter Six

After Stefan took Ella home she was glad to find her father still asleep, she didn't have an excuse for what she was doing outside at the crack of dawn in her pyjama's. She went straight to her private bathroom and switched on her shower. As the water heated up she looked into the mirror.

Her skin was pale and drawn, dark circles rimmed her brown eyes which looked flat and blood shot. Twigs and leaves stuck out from her hair at odd angles and her clothes were streaked with dirt. With a sigh she stripped off her muddy clothes and stepped under the scalding spray of the shower.

Once under the water the magnitude of what had happened hit her and Ella began to cry. The tears streamed down her cheeks, mingling with the water from the shower and violent sobs wracked her small frame. She continued like that for several minutes before the steady stream ebbed and she finally calmed down.

It had been just over a week since she'd come to Mystic Falls, she had thought it would be good living here and some of it had been. She had friends now, people who actually liked her and wanted to hang out with her. Things were also very strange living here.

Every town she'd moved too she'd always had a sense of what others were feeling, but here in Mystic Falls she felt everything. It was like what she had told Stefan she felt his confusion and worry and his suspicion as well. She'd also sensed that he lied when he told her he'd been out running.

He wasn't the only one in the small group she'd been accepted into who was hiding something. They all seemed to have their secrets, which they had a right to have, but Ella didn't like to be lied to. Even though they all told her they were her friends and made it seem like they'd accepted her, whenever they shared one of those significant looks or held a whispered conversation or had to leave abruptly Ella was reminded that she was still an outsider.

She was still the new kid that no one trusted and it made her feel even more alone than before. At least before coming to Mystic Falls she knew what to expect, no one tried to be her friend so it was normal to feel alone, but she had thought that making friends would fix that. Shouldn't having friends mean that you don't feel alone anymore?

Shaking her head against the negative thoughts, Ella tilted her head up to the spray and focussed on the water, letting it wash everything away. She didn't know how long she stood like that, letting the warmth relax her tense muscles, but before she knew it someone was knocking on the door.

"Ella?" her father called through the door.

Shutting off the water, Ella grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. "Yeah daddy?"

"Honey your friends are here," he told her. "Caroline, Elena and Bonnie. They are in the living room."

Ella froze and frowned at the foggy mirror. What were they doing here? "Tell them I'll be right down."

"Ok honey."

Ella listened to her father's footsteps fade away down the hall. It was the day of the dance and she remembered having agreed to let Caroline and the girls help with her makeup beforehand but the dance didn't start for hours. She had no idea why they were there so early.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Ella quickly dried off. She pulled her damp hair into a ponytail and threw on a pair of jeans and a white stretch cotton t-shirt and hurried down the stairs to where her friends were waiting in the living room. As soon as the three pairs of concerned eyes turned to her she knew immediately what had brought them over so early on a Saturday morning.

"Ah here she is," Marcus D'Angelo beamed when she entered the room. "Well I'll just leave you girls to it. Honey I need to go into work for a bit but I'll be home later to see you before the dance."

"Ok Daddy," Ella smiled. Her father said goodbye to the girls, kissed his daughters cheek then left them alone. As soon as she heard the front door click shut, Ella rounded on her friends. "Stefan told you what happened didn't he?"

"He told me," Elena nodded. "Then I called Caroline and Bonnie."

"I can't believe him. It wasn't his place to tell you what happened; it's none of your business!" Ella exclaimed.

"Ella," Caroline soothed. "He was worried about you and thought you might need your friends."

"Friends?"Ella spat. She knew her anger at them was unfounded but she was so scared and hurt that it just burst out from her and she couldn't stop it. "Friends don't lie to each other, they don't keep things from each other and they certainly don't make each other feel like outsiders. Being friends with you has made me feel more alone than I've ever felt. I wish you had all just left me alone."

"You don't mean that," Caroline whispered. The pain was evident in her big, compassionate eyes. "Ella we care about you. Please let us help you."

"Why should I?" Ella asked, but she didn't sound angry anymore. She sounded defeated and scared. "Why should I tell you what's going on with me if you won't be honest about yourselves?"

Caroline took a deep sigh, squared her shoulders and looked Ella in the eye. "I'm a vampire."

TBC...