Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries. I wish I owned Damon, he's just so HAWT! Or at least Paul Wesley. I do, however, own this story and all the original characters that will appear in it as the story goes on. Thank you.

Chapter 5- Fresh Meat

Dani flitted around the kitchen making breakfast. She hummed to herself as she waited for her bagel to come out of the toaster, her butter knife and cream cheese ready to attack. Pop! She quickly grabbed the hot bread, dropping the slices onto a plate.

Quickly spreading the white cheese, she glanced at the clock to see that it was nearly eight o'clock. Stuffing the bagel in her mouth, she grabbed her keys, slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and headed out the door.

Locking up behind her, she walked over to her car and put her things in the passenger seat. Chewing on her mouthful of bagel, she put the key into the ignition. She hummed with the song on the radio as she pulled out of the driveway. Ten minutes later, she found herself in the parking lot of Mystic Falls High School, down one bagel and up one job.

"Mystic Falls high School, here I come!"


Damon yawned. Walking into the kitchen barefoot, he was greeted by Henry at the toaster making breakfast.

"Hello there lad! Do yeh want some breakfast? I'm afraid all I made was toast. Never been one for cooking ye ken. My Ella was the one who cooked. Bless her heart, she could make yeh a cake with just flour and an egg."

"Ella? Was that your wife then? Why aren't you living with her?"

Damon watched as Henry face turned from its usual jovial self to a more somber expression. "Ah, well, my Ella died oer a year ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Henry gave Damon a sad smile before turning back to the toaster. The toast popped up and Henry grabbed the browned slices and put a couple on a plate, then passed it to Damon.

"Thanks," Damon said, taking a slice of bread. He bit into it then realized something. Where was Dani?

Henry, noticing Damon looking around, smiled. "If you're wondering where the lass is, she went ta school."

"School?"

"Aye. Didn't the lass say that she was working at the high school? Today was her first day lad. Excited she was too. I hope that she has a good day, nice lass like her deserves to."

Damon nodded his agreement. "Yeah." He bit into his toast.


Dani walked into her classroom. Her classroom! She gave a little squeal of excitement as she rushed over to the desk. Her desk! She ran her hands over the polished wood, her smile bright on her face. The bell hadn't rung yet, so for now, she had the room to herself. She walked around and looked at the walls were pictures of Shakespeare, Margaret Atwood, Ernest Hemingway, and many more legendary authors covered the walls.

In the back of the room was a bare bulletin board. Leaning against one of the student desks, Dani looked up at the board and decided to decorate it somehow. Maybe she could put a quote on it, one of her favorites. She had a small notebook full of quotes, so picking one wouldn't be a problem. As for decoration, she could go to a local gift shop or something to see what they had…

"Actually, there's a craft shop next to the library. They carry pretty good stuff for crafting and scrap booking."

Jumping away from the desk, Dani turned towards the voice that spoke behind her. A handsome man with sand colored hair and a dark shadow of a beard was leaning against the door frame of her classroom.

Dani sighed. "I was talking to myself, wasn't I?"

Chuckling, the man nodded.

Dani laughed quietly. "Sorry about that. I tend to…do that a lot. Even when I don't want to."

The man shrugged. "Not a problem. I've seen stranger. Are you the new teacher taking over for Gail?"

"Mrs. Lumley? Yes, I am." She walked over, sticking her hand out. "I'm Danielle Court, and you are?"

"Alaric Saltzman, history teacher," he said as he shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you Ms. Court."

"Dani, please," she said, waving off the formality.

Alaric smiled. "Dani then." The sound of a bell sounded throughout the building. Alaric gave Dani a farewell wave. "See you later then Dani. Don't let the kids eat you alive. They can smell fresh meat."

Laughing nervously, Dani waved goodbye. After he disappeared from her sight, she went to sit at her desk, ready to take on the upcoming day.


Dani groaned as the final bell rang. She was just getting to the good part of the soliloquy, but she guessed that that she would have to continue tomorrow.

As the students started packing away their books, Dani called out, "Remember your assignment to convert one of Shakespeare's soliloquy's into your own words is due next week. Have a nice day everyone!"

Dani packed away her material and followed the students out the door, locking it behind her. As she was walking down the front steps of the school, she was stopped by a well dressed older woman.

"Excuse me, but might you be Ms. Danielle Court, the replacement for Gail Lumley?"

Dani smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am she. Is there something that I can help you with Ms…"

"Lockwood, Mrs. Carol Lockwood. I'm here to talk with you about the upcoming festivities for Founders Day."

"Oh? I heard that Founders Day was a few weeks from now, wasn't it? It's when everyone celebrates when the town was founded, right? It sounds like a lot of fun. Why would you need to talk to me about it?"

"Yes well, the thing is that Gail, Mrs. Lumley, was in charge of the concert that was supposed to take place after the parade, and I'm afraid that with the baby due, she won't be able to do her duties."

Dani waited for her to get to the point, not catching on.

"Well dear, I was wondering if you could fill in for her. After all, you're already filling in for her teaching position, so why not this?"

Dani gaped at her. "W-What? Mrs. Lockwood, I can't poss-"

"Oh thank you so much dear. I look forward to working with you. And you'll meet so many people while you go about with your little concert project! It's the perfect way to assimilate yourself into our little town." She started to walk away while saying, "The parade council meets twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7! Don't be late!" With that a flip of her hair, Mrs. Lockwood walked off, leaving Dani standing on the steps, dumbfounded.

"Did I just get blind-sided?"


Typing up a lesson plan on her laptop, Dani started to think about what she would do with the whole band problem. It was Wednesday night at the Mystic Grill, and yesterday she had learned that she needed a band by next Thursday! She had tried to contact Mrs. Lumley, but none of her calls had been returned so far. Not that she blamed Mrs. Lumley for that. She did blame her for not finding a band though.

"I mean come on," she mumbled. "Who takes on a concert and doesn't even find a band to play for it?"

"Lazy people I'm assuming."

Dani looked up at a young woman around her own age, with blue eyes, a friendly smile and strawberry colored hair.

"I couldn't help overhear-"

"Me talking to myself? Yeah, I do that a lot actually." She smiled up at the other woman. "So far it seems like a good way to meet people."

The woman chuckled. She gestured to the seat across from Dani. "May I?"

"Please."

The woman sat down and introduced herself. "I'm Jenna Sommers, and you are?"

"Danielle Court. It's nice to meet you Ms. Sommers."

"Jenna, please."

"Only if you call me Dani."

Jenna smiled. "Deal. So what was it that I heard about a concert and a band?"

Dani sighed, her shoulders slumping. She recounted the whole thing to Jenna, the way Mrs. Lockwood had cornered her, how Mrs. Lumley wouldn't return her calls, and how she was expected to find a band to play the concert by the next Thursday.

Jenna listened attentively to Dani as she talked. When she finished, Jenna whistled. "That's a bitch to deal with."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a moment, and then Jenna said, "You know, I'm going to go see an old college buddy of mine this Saturday. He's a guitar player in a band and they're pretty good. They'll be playing at a club down in Richter Hills, would you like to come? I'm sure that I can talk to him into playing for the concert."

Dani's eyes widened. "Really? You would do that for me?"

Jenna shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

Dani grinned with relief. "That sounds fantastic. Thank you so much Jenna."

Jenna waved off Dani's thank you. "It's not a problem. How about I pick you up around seven on Saturday and we'll head to the club? We'll stick around afterward to talk to the band."

Making their plans for Saturday, Jenna and Dani branched off into other topics and were able to learn many things about each other.

"So Elena is your niece then?"

Jenna nodded as she took a sip of her beer. "Yeah. Elena and Jeremy's parents died about half a year ago. At first, it was really bad. Elena wouldn't talk for days, and Jeremy… Well he dealt with his sadness another way."

"How do you mean? Or shouldn't I ask?"

Jenna shook her head. "It's ok, I'll tell you. You see, before their parents passed away, those two were really different. Elena was a real socialite before. She'd go to all the parties, she was a star cheerleader, and she took part in all major school activities. After the accident though, she retreated into herself, cutting off everyone and everything. She matured fast, much too fast for someone her age. And Jeremy, he was a good student, had lots of friends. Not as popular as his sister, but he was well liked."

She paused to take another sip from her beer. "Jeremy stopped hanging with his usual friends and started hanging out with the stoners and pot heads. He hung around them so much that he started picking up their habits. His grades dropped, he skipped class, and he started drinking. Then the weirdest thing happened."

"What?"

"His friend disappeared from town, and it was like he did a one-eighty turn. He started doing his homework again, stopped the drugs, started going to school; it was like a miracle. Then they found his friends dead body out in the woods."

Dani gasped. "No."

Jenna nodded sadly. "Yeah. Poor Vicky." She jerked her head to the side. "That's her older brother over there, Matt."

Dani turned to see a young man with blond hair and a handsome face clearing a table. "I know him. He's in my 5th period English class."

"Yeah. He's a good kid. Used to date Elena, but they broke up a while ago. He's going out with Caroline Forbes now, one of Elena's friends," Jenna said, then glanced at her watch. She winced. "Crap, I gotta go, sorry. But hey, I'll see you Saturday ok? Bye Dani."

Dani waved bye as she watched Jenna walk out of the bar.

Not long after Jenna left, Dani packed her things and headed back to the boarding house to finish up her work.


Yawning, Dani closed her laptop. She looked at the clock, and saw that it read11:30pm. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Dani made her way slowly up the stairs to her room. Opening the door, she bee-lined for the bathroom. A few minutes and a flush later, she came back out with the salve jar and the wash cloth.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she went through the routine that she had been repeating every morning and every night for the past couple of days. Bandage off, salve on, bandage on. Yawning once again, she closed the jar. Placing the jar and her cloth on her nightstand, Dani changed into her pajamas and hopped into bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.