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After Stefan came downstairs and offered Damon a towel, Elena and I helped Anna to the bathroom where we helped her clean herself up. She was unaccustomed to a human body with human needs. It had been centuries since she had last felt a heartbeat in her chest. Of course a vampire's body does operate like a human's when it has enough human blood, but it wasn't the same. She showered, used the toilet, and brushed her teeth with an extra toothbrush that happened to be lying around. Elena got her some of her clothes that she had left at the boarding house for late nights. I hadn't realized that Elena and Stefan's relationship had gone that far. It must be interesting to have a vampire boyfriend who doesn't drink human blood. I, myself have dated a vampire- well; I don't like to talk about him much.

Anyway, after Anna was finished, we agreed that she would stay at the boarding house until Elena told Jeremy, her brother, what had happened. Last he had seen Anna was when she was being taken by the police during the firework show. Apparently they were sort of together as well. The citizens of Mystic Falls-particularly the Gilberts-don't have problems being in a relationship with a vampire. I was kind of glad that Jeremy wouldn't have to deal with it, if he could even accept that she wasn't one anymore. As Stefan and Elena went with Anna to get her situated in a room upstairs, I was downstairs with Damon, cleaning up the ritual. There was wax on the floor and some blood splatter on the table, not to mention the vomit on the carpet. I asked where the kitchen was to get some cleaning supplies. I entered the kitchen and began searching under the sink for some rags and a cleaning solution. I turned around to find Damon watching me from three feet away. He was leaning against the counter, looking like a much hotter Danny Zuko that, you know, happened to drink blood.

"Gah! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He replied.

"I'm getting stuff to clean up."

"You know that's not what I meant." Damon stepped closer.

"Oh, okay. Um, I heard about the ambush tonight and I wanted to make sure Alaric would be safe." I was beginning to get flustered from his stare.

"Yes, but how did you find out about that? I didn't find out until it was happening and yet you live in another state and you knew in advance?" He was in my personal space now. I could feel my cheeks turning red and becoming hot. This was not good. Where were Stefan and Elena? "How did you know to do the ritual? And how do you about vampires?"

He had pressed me into the sink and my back was crying for release from the sharp edge of the counter. His eyes were glaring me down and his face was only inches from mine. His hands had found the counter space on either side of me. I was enclosed and I couldn't escape. I was beginning to hyperventilate and my heart was pounding. This was too familiar. I had to get out fast before something happened.

"Please…just let me go." I pushed against his chest yet he didn't move. "Just let me out. I have to go." I pushed him again and he caught my wrists. "Not until you answer me."

I was struggling now. I had left the Salvatore kitchen and was in a memory now. I was back in Louisiana, in that small apartment, screaming for help. I could feel the bruises on my wrists and the giant bruise on my lower back. I felt the hard kick to my ribs and the angry bite to my thigh.

"Damon!" I felt myself come back to the present where Damon had been pulled away from me and I had slid down the counter to crumple on the floor. Elena rushed to me and tried to calm me down. I was still screaming.

"Brighton- Brighton! Are you okay? What's wrong?" Elena placed her hands on both sides of my head. "Look at me. Look at my eyes. I'm not going to hurt you." I allowed her to pull me into a hug. I hugged back fiercely. "We're not going to hurt you."

I opened my eyes to see Stefan forcing Damon from the kitchen. I realized Damon hadn't done anything to me. It was my mind that made me lose control. I connected eyes with Damon. He was startled. I bet nothing like this had happened to him. I tried to give him an apologetic look but his eyes turned angry and he stormed away. I hated myself for what happened. I thought I was over what had happened in Louisiana. That's one reason I left to come to Mystic Falls, to get away.

After I had stopped crying and Elena had stopped comforting me, I apologized and ran from the house. I couldn't deal with them. They didn't know my history. No one did. I thought I could handle seeing vampires again. I thought I could deal with interacting and possibly befriending them. With my episode in the kitchen with Damon, I realized that it was too soon.

I thought about it the entire time I ran to Alaric's. I thought about what I would tell him and the others. Could I tell them the entire story; about meeting Phillip and Bianca, having Bianca teach me witchcraft, and about how I fell in love with Phillip. I ran up the steps to Ric's down and knocked. As I listened to him stumble to the door, I knew I had to tell him everything.

"Brighton, what are you doing here? It's two-thirty." He looked at my face, no doubt seeing the tears and the distressed look. "What happened? What did they do?" He pulled me inside and sat me on the couch. Once I was comfortable, he went to kitchen to start coffee. I had forgotten about his coffee addiction. He loved it as much as he loved a good scotch.

He sat down facing me, looking worried. "Tell me what happened, Bri. Was it Damon? He can be a real-"

I burst out crying. He was startled. I fell into his chest and he wrapped his arms around me. I didn't know where to start. Once my sobbing had subsided, I coughed, cleared my throat, and began.

"You asked me to tell you about how I know about vampires. I wanted to tell you, but I wasn't sure you knew about them until recently." I coughed some more, trying to get my throat clear from my sob-fest.

"My first spring break at college, me and Emily- you remember Emily-we went to New Orleans for the week. Well, we just wanted to party that first night, so we went to the French Quarter, but we got separated. I went into a bar and met this girl Bianca. She was really nice and she offered to help me find Emily. She took me to the bathroom and asked me if I trusted her. I was a bit drunk, well more than a bit. I agreed and she pulled all this stuff out of her bag. I didn't know what to think. Here was this chick, pulling candles and herbs out of nowhere but I had to find Emily. She asked me if I had anything of hers, so I handed her Emily's keys. She did a spell and the weirdest thing happened. This ball of light appeared and floated there in midair! I was so confused. Bianca told me that the light would guide me to Emily. She handed me Emily's keys and pushed me out the door after the light. I was so drunk that I followed it and didn't wonder about how it was possible. But it did lead me to Emily. She had gotten stuck in a crowd of fraternity guys and she couldn't find her way out. I awoke the next morning, not remembering how we got home. I walked into the kitchen to find Emily and Bianca cooking breakfast, chatting like life-long friends. Bianca explained that she wanted to make sure we got back fine and that she wanted to make us breakfast. My confusion plus a hangover that morning did not mix. I remember getting sick and Emily helping me, but it gets all fuzzy after that.

Ric looked worried. I couldn't blame him. I still ask what happened that weekend. I got up to pour us some coffee. Ric just sat there, waiting for me to finish. I sat back down, handing him a mug. I took a sip and continued.

"I remember Bianca explaining that she was a shaman. Her family arrived on the slave ships from Africa during the 1850s. She was raised in New Orleans to be a shaman, just as her father had."

"She can actually trace her family to Africa? Does she have documents from the 1800s? I would love to see them!" Ric was having a history orgasm. It made me giggle.

"Calm down, Ric. And no, there aren't any documents. They didn't really keep records of slaves then. If they did, she doesn't have them."

He looked perplexed about something. "She's a female shaman? I thought only men could be shamans?"

"Her younger brother was learning, but he got a scholarship and went off to a private school. Her mother couldn't have anymore children, so she took up learning. Her father grew to approve. Keeping it in the family was more important than which child did it." I took a drink to soothe my sore throat. I was tired. I looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly four a.m. "I say we call it a night."

"But I want-"

"Ric, I'll tell you in the morning. Trust me. If I don't get some sleep, you'll have to deal with the wrath of your younger sister. And I've beaten you before." I punched him in the shoulder to prove my point.

"Okay, fine. The guest room is ready. It's off of the dining room. The bathroom is right there."

I stood and hugged him goodnight. I laid my head down on the pillow and wondered if I could face Damon in the days to come. How would I explain myself? I knew how hard it would be to come clean to my brother. Could I do it to a stranger; to another vampire? I fell asleep, my head full of different scenarios.

When I woke, I realized that Alaric had let me sleep in. I got up and showered. It felt good to cleanse the troubles of yesterday off of me. I wandered into the kitchen and found a note by the coffee maker:

Bri-

Had to work. Be home around 5.

Here's coffee and some money for groceries.

We will talk when I get home.

Love you.

-Ric

I put my shoes and locked the house up. First I needed to get my car from where I parked it.

As I wandered through town, street to street, I noticed that it was like any other small town. It had the shops where the gossip was more important than the products sold. It had the citizens who smiled and greeted you like you were a comfortable friend. Mystic Falls had history; it had buildings that were 150 years old and families whose histories traveled back to the founding of the town. But it was different from other towns. It would forever be different. Vampires had a hold over Mystic Falls. They were there when it was founded so they felt that they deserved control over it. The supernatural would always darken the streets and the lives that lived in Mystic Falls.

I arrived at my car to discover I had parked in a no-parking zone. But thankfully, I hadn't gotten a ticket yet. I saw a police car cruising the street about two blocks down. So I quickly unlocked my car and jumped in. I headed towards the Mystic Grill to get lunch before I went grocery shopping. Never go shopping on an empty stomach; it never ends well. I parked and went inside. It looked like a nice enough place, with a bar and a billiard area with darts. It wasn't busy so the waitress motioned for me to pick a table. I sat down and ordered quickly.

When I was finished and had paid the bill, I gathered my bag and got up to leave but someone bumped into me. We both knelt down to pick up my stuff. I looked up and realized that it was Damon.

"Look, I don't want to talk to you. Just leave me alone." I hurried and stood. He grabbed my arm and I ripped it from his grip. He held his hands up in surrender.

"I just want to talk…about what happened last night." I started to walk off but he cut me off. "And I wanted to apologize, which doesn't happen a lot…or at all; if you couldn't tell by my winning personality." He smiled and did this eye thing that stopped me in my tracks.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, you get one question."

"What happened last night?"

"I brought Anna back." I moved toward the door. He followed.

"You know what I mean, in the kitchen." He moved in front of me, but kept his distance which I appreciated.

I made a noise of discontentment; he wouldn't give up easily. "My past caught up with me. You made me remember something that I thought I had dealt with." I was finally outside and breathing fresh air. I walked to my car, knowing he was following me. I sighed. He wasn't going to leave me alone.

I turned quickly and he had to catch himself before he ran into me.

"Look, I appreciate you caring or whatever it is that you're doing right now. But I don't want to talk about it. The past is the past. Let's leave it at that." I opened my door and got in. I drove off, leaving him in the parking lot of the Mystic Grill.

If you review, I will bless your children with all the happiness of a thousand Castiels. (Oh the irony.)

P.S. These corny jokes or whatever they are, are mainly for my younger sister.