I sit in my bedroom, carefully placing vervain into each piece of jewelry with tweezers and gloves, listening for footsteps.

After a while, I hear Zach walking towards Stefan's bedroom and opening the door. I stand up, abandoning my project for now and heading over to his room.

They're arguing about whether or not Stefan killed the two people that died before my arrival. The ones that Damon murdered.

"If it wasn't you, then..." Zach glances back and notices me. "Then it was you." He accuses.

I raise my hands in a defensive gesture. "It wasn't me. I would have told you about anyone I killed when I was informed of the rules. Plus, if I had done it, I wouldn't have left them lying around like that unless I was trying to send a message." I look at them quizzically. "Is there anyone who wants to send you a message?"

I can tell when Stefan figures it out, partially because of the look on his face, but mostly because of the fearful whisper of, "Damon."

Zach snaps his head towards Stefan. "Did he follow you?" He asks, frantic.

"No." Stefan answers immediately, though his voice sounds uncertain.

I put on a confused look. "Who is this 'Damon' you speak of?" I ask, lowering my hands.

He looks as if he's not going to answer, but eventually he reluctantly admits, "He's my brother."

"Oh... I guess I understand now what you meant when you said you had no siblings you talked to." I say. He nods.

Zach gives a warning about some people in town still remembering, and the conversation devolves into an argument between the two.

I inch out of the room, deciding that my work here is done, and go back to my vervain jewelry project.

I tune out Tanner as he talks about the battle of Willow Creek, instead doodling in the corners of a notebook, waiting for the class to be over.

However, as soon as he calls on Bonnie for the number of casualties in the Battle for Willow Creek, I start paying attention, watching the back and forth between the teacher and students like a tennis match.

Eventually, after Stefan corrects Mr. Tanner and the class calms down, I go back to doodling in my notebook.

The morning goes by, and lunch arrives. I walk over to Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena, carrying a black tote bag.

"I have presents." I say, pulling a bunch of jewelry boxes out of the bag and setting it on a desk. "Pick whichever one you want, but don't pick it up yet." I compel them as I open the boxes.

Caroline chooses a charm bracelet with a heart locket on it, Bonnie chooses a one with a star, and Elena chooses one with a flower. I use Compulsion to make sure they never take them off unless I explicitly tell them so with a specific keyword that is different for each of them.

I let them go about their days, and go look for Matt. He's with his sister, Vicki. I approach them, and show them the jewelry, going through the same process as last time with a twist. I tell Vicki that any attack by what she concludes to be a vampire shall instead be seen as an animal attack. I give her a few excuses and the freedom to make her own so long as they're believable. I tell her to make sure to cycle through them randomly, and not to repeat the same excuses in the same line of questioning, and to clam up and claim to not want to talk about it anymore if she feels the person asking the questions is getting a little too close.

At the end, I tell her not to take drugs anymore, and to go on with her day.

I find Jeremy, and go through the process again, with the same condition about the drugs as Vicki.

By the time I'm done, I head to my next class to see Stefan waiting for me.

"What did you compel them for?" He asks, curious and slightly suspicious of me. I smile at him, stretching as I explain, "I was just making sure they didn't misplace their... bug repellent jewelry."

He looks surprised. "Did you...?" I nod. "All of them?" I huff a laugh. "Yesterday, Stefan. All of them."

When school ends, I go back to the Salvatore Boarding House and rush to my room to get ready for the party later that night.

Deciding to choose my outfit first, I put on a plain black turtle neck with a pair of high waisted maroon pants and some steel toed boots, donning a black flower print jacket over it.

I go to my bed and reach under my pillow, grabbing my ritual knife and depositing it into an inside pocket of my jacket, just in case.

I decide to test something out before I leave, and reach behind my back and mime wrapping my hand around something. When I pull it back out, there is an engraved wooden stake in my hand.

I smile, but put it back in the case under the bed.

I'm pretty sure I still have time as I still hear Stefan shuffling around in his room, so I sit down at the desk and open the top drawer. There are four Daylight Rings for all the vampires I can remember who need them. Vicki, Caroline, Elena, and Lexi. While I know that Bonnie could've done this instead, for now she doesn't have her magic, and I just want to get it done quicker. I don't want anything to happen to Vicki. I want to give her a chance with Jeremy, and I'm not going to let Damon, Elena, or the sun get in the way of that.

I sit on a bench, watching some of the students of Mystic Falls High try to get as drunk as possible as fast as possible. It's actually quite funny to watch, but that's not why I'm here, so I keep an ear out for Bonnie and Elena.

They're talking about Stefan now, Bonnie joking about his 'romance novel stare'. Even though I've heard it before, I let out a snort when she says a line straight out of a cheesy romance novel. Some of the people around me give me weird looks.

I hear Caroline approaching Stefan, but that's not what I pay attention to. I listen intently as Bonnie explains a vision she had when she touched Elena and walks off. I get up to follow her, not particularly interested in listening to Stefan and Elena's awkward romance.

I walk the exact same path as Bonnie, and when I reach her, she's leaned up against a tree on the outskirts of the party, staring at her hands in confusion and slight fear.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask her. She snaps her head up and looks at me in surprise.

She seems shocked, but she shakes herself a bit and comes back to her senses. "Yeah," she says. "I'm fine, it's just..." She trails off.

I look at her encouragingly, waiting for her to continue

After a moment, she begins to speak. Her words tumble out like a waterfall.

"My Grams has been telling me recently that I'm a witch. I didn't believe it at first, but I keep doing weird things, and just earlier I got a vision and now I'm ranting to someone I just met, great." Her arms wave around as she speaks, falling to her sides as she stops talking. "Sorry." She says at the end.

I smile at her, amused. "You don't have to apologize. I was the one who asked." I say in an attempt to comfort her. It works, and she loses some of the creases in her brow.

"Plus," I add. "It's not weird. At least to me. After all, I'm a witch too." Her eyes widen and she looks at me in a new light, but her expression holds a hint of disbelief, so I decide to give a demonstration.

Taking a page out of her book, I extend my arms, bringing them higher up, and with them, the leaves on the forest floor. She gapes.

"Go ahead and check for wires or strings if you'd like, you won't find any." I say.

She actually does check, and I burst into laughter. She looks at me with awe and whispers, "You're a real witch."

"Just as real as you." I say, giving her a gentle smile.

I lower my hands, letting the leaves flutter down to the ground. "If you'd like to try, you can." She looks uncertain. "It's okay if you're not ready."

"No!" She shouts. "I'm ready." She extends her arms just as I did, and raises them slowly. The leaves follow, and she gasps quietly.

"Good job," I whisper. "Though you should try it with feathers some time. It looks much more beautiful."

I hear a commotion and look over to the source. It's Vicki, she's injured. I'm glad I compelled her ahead of time.

I head over to Stefan, pushing through the crowd. I put my hand on his shoulder to get his attention, and see that the veins under his eyes are becoming visible, so after taking a quick look around and seeing that Matt is still looking over Vicki, I drag him away.

We arrive back home, and Stefan heads right to his room, telling Zach about the incident when he asks. As I pass by, I shout, "It wasn't me either!" And follow after Stefan.

I stop the door to his room from closing and enter. Stefan stops in his tracks as a crow flies into his room.

I look to his open balcony. Damon is standing there. As Stefan turns around and sees him, they greet one another in a standoffish manner. The tension in the room is palpable.

"Now who might this be?" He asks, looking me over. I approach him and Stefan takes a halted step forward. "Julia-" he starts. I put up a hand to stop him, and as I reach Damon, I extend a hand for him to shake.

"Julia Bane. Nice to meet you, Damon." I say. He hesitantly takes my hand, looking at me with suspicion. "I assume you're the one killing people around here?" I ask, not unkindly.

"That I am," he says, almost sounding proud. It's kind of disgusting. I wipe my hand on my pants when I pull it away, and he looks both amused and slightly offended.

I walk over to Stefan's desk and lean on it. Damon starts snooping around his things, and they begin their little talk.

As soon as Stefan pounces on Damon, I'm in between them, holding him back. He snarls at Damon over my shoulder, but he doesn't push against me.

"Ooh, feisty." Damon teases. Stefan tries to get past me, and I push him back. "Calm down, he's only doing this to provoke a reaction from you." I warn.

"Well it's working." He growls.

"Stop, now, or I'll have to do something we'll both regret." He finally looks at me, and the knife I hold in my hand. Damon snorts behind me. "You're gonna stab him with that thing? You know that won't do anything, right?"

I turn to glare at him. "It's a special knife. If you don't believe me, would you rather I stab it into you instead?"

"Now, now, there's no need to be so aggressive." He says with a grin on his face. I can't wait to see how quickly that grin falls when I stab him with my Ritual Knife.

Stefan calms down enough that I no longer need to hold him back, so I let go. He's taking deep breaths to calm himself as I turn around to face Damon.

"How about you take a break from tormenting your brother, and we take a little field trip to The Grill." I suggest, trying to get him away from Stefan, and knowing exactly who is at The Grill right now.

He looks a bit surprised at the offer, but strides over to me and offers me his arm. I look at it in distaste but take it anyway, letting him guide me out of the house and to his car.

"So, what exactly are you to my brother?" He asks as soon as I buckle in. I snort. "I'm just a guest at the boarding house. We might be friends though, I haven't asked."

"I see." He says before starting the car and driving to The Grill in silence, apart from the quiet music playing from the radio. It sounds like Lady Gaga, and I hum along, glancing at Damon from the corner of my eye. He doesn't look embarrassed in the slightest. Good, Lady Gaga is a wonderful artist.

We arrive at The Grill and exit the car. He holds his arm out once again, and I take it while staring him in the eyes, unamused.

He smirks at my reaction and guides me inside. I point at the table Bonnie and Caroline are sitting at. "Let's sit there."

He fakes a pout. "With them?" He asks. "I thought this was a date." He says playfully.

I pretend to gag. "As if. Not only are you way older than me, but I don't want you getting blood on all my new clothes."

He looks at me strangely, as if I were an entirely new creature he'd never seen before. Was it because of the clothes comment? Maybe he expected me to be more affected by his murderous tendencies. He won't get any of that out of me, I came here knowing what horrors lied ahead, and I'm ready to overcome them with the help of a few Perks.

Or maybe he's just surprised I'm not attracted to him, surely he's been rejected before? Plus, as I told him, he's way older than me. No thank you.

We approached the girls' table. "Can we sit with you?" I asked. They eye Damon with intrigue before nodding.

We take a seat, and I introduce everyone. "Damon, these are the girls, Caroline and Bonnie." I motion to them as I say their names. "Girls, this is Damon. He's Stefan's older brother."

Their eyes drift to where our arms are intertwined and they share a look.

"How much older, exactly?" Bonnie asks with suspicion.

Damon opens his mouth to speak, but I interrupt him, much to his annoyance.

"He's twenty-five." I say. Bonnie's eyes narrow at Damon. "And no, we're not together. He just just hasn't let go of my arm because he has separation anxiety." I tease.

He scoffs, finally releasing my arm, crossing his own and pursing his lips. "As if." He says, mirroring my response to him earlier. I huff out a laugh.

"Aww, is the little purebred puppy upsetty spaghetti?" I coo at him. He has a myriad of emotions on his face before he fixes his expression. I catch horror, disgust, anger, and something else I can't quite decipher.

He puts on a sultry smile, bounces his eyebrows and says, "Woof."

I break out into laughter, causing Caroline and Bonnie to do the same. Damon looks proud, but also a bit embarrassed.

For the rest of the time we're there, we crack jokes and drink coffee, but eventually Bonnie and Caroline need to go home, so it's just Damon and I.

As we walk out of The Grill, he tries to grab me and slam me against the wall, but I grab him instead. I flip him over my shoulder, slamming him against the pavement, the concrete cracking from the impact.

"Damn," he wheezes. "How old are you?"

I give him a playful smirk. "I'll tell you the same thing I told your brother." I grab his arm and pull him up. "It's impolite to inquire about a lady's age."

"You sure don't body slam like a lady." He snarks.

We walk to his car and he begrudgingly opens the door for me.

Author's Note:

Sweet Caroline~

Listen, I love Damon, but he does some pretty messed up shit.

Anyways, this is the end of Episode 1, hope you enjoyed!

Thank you for reading, I appreciate you.

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