Chapter Two

I woke up the next morning and started getting ready for my second day of school in Fell's Church. Yesterday after school Bonnie had asked me to come to a study hall at her house tonight. Supposedly Mr. Saltzman's tests were killer. I declined at first but she basically threatened me if I didn't go, so of course I agreed. I don't know if Matt's going to be there, but a part of me really hope he is.

I suffer through another day at school, go home and shower, and then make my way back to the school. Bonnie told me she'd pick me up at five so we could go shopping before we meet everyone at her house at seven.

"Hey Sam! You ready?" Bonnie pulls up seconds after I've arrived. She's dressed in a beautiful green dress that shows off her red hair. Instantly my jeans and UT shirt seem completely out of place.

"Yeah, but I think I'm not dressed appropriately." I fasten my seatbelt and shrink in to the seat, ashamed of my outfit.

"Oh don't worry! We are going shopping remember? We'll find you something amazing at the mall."

After an hour of shopping, Bonnie finally approves of a long sleeve, black lacey cocktail dress. Then we went to the grocery store to pick up snacks and soda.

"And I have the perfect pair of heels to go with your dress! I'm so excited!"

"So…who's coming tonight?" I know I'm really only asking her this to find out about Matt, but I want her to think I'm simply curious.

"Umm let's see, Elena with Stefan of course, Tyler, Caroline, and Matt. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds great." I can't keep from smiling all the way back to her house.

"Sam! They're here! Come down now!" I hear Bonnie calling me as I put on the black pumps she's lending me. They fit perfectly. I come down the stairs and walk into the living. Instantly my eyes find Matt. He's wearing a baby blue flannel shirt with jeans and he has the biggest grin on his face. I casually go and sit on the couch across from him.

"Wow Sam, you look amazing!" Caroline compliments me and I tell her she looks amazing, too.

"Where's Elena?" I notice that Stefan is here by himself.

"She caught a cold or something. She's home in bed"

"Oh, that's too bad." Stefan looks so lonely without Elena by his side.

"Well, I guess it's time to do some real work now. Caroline, why don't you start us off reading chapter nine." We read chapter nine twice and start answering the questions in the back of the book. I look up several times to catch Matt looking at me, too. I realize that the feeling in my stomach is from butterflies and not because of the queso Bonnie bought. Right before my life turns crazy again, I'm beginning to think I can finally be happy with Matt.

"DING! DONG!" Bonnie jumps up to look out the window.

"I wonder who that could be? Oh, Elena you made it! Stefan told us you were sick." Bonnie and Elena come back into the living room.

"Jenna gave me some medicine so I feel much better now. What are we studying?" Bonnie catches Elena up on what she missed and we continue to answer the chapter questions. Halfway through, we all decide to take a quick brain break. Elena and Caroline go into the kitchen to refill everyone's drinks. I look up to see Matt making his way over to me.

"Hey Sam, you look so pretty tonight. I hope you're having fun. At least there's no clay, right?" He smiles and the butterflies in my stomach start running.

"Thanks, so do you. Yes thank goodness there's-" Right in the middle of my sentence there is a terrible crash in the kitchen. Bonnie and I race in there to check it out. The first thing I see is Caroline's body on the ground. Two seconds later I look up to see Elena's mouth covered in blood. Bonnie screams and faints on the floor at the same time that Elena disappears from the kitchen.

"Bonnie? Bonnie! Wake up! Someone call an ambulance!" Matt runs in and I can hear Stefan on his cell phone. I tell Matt what I saw and he helps me carry Bonnie and Caroline to the couch. I find a towel in the closet and put it on Caroline's neck. She's already lost a lot of blood but I can still hear a faint heartbeat.

"Stefan? When's the ambulance coming?" I hope they come soon, I don't know how much longer Caroline will last without a transfusion.

"They're not coming." He moves over to stand in front of the door. I've never seen him look so scary. His eyes are dark and hidden by his hair.

"What do you mean not coming?" Matt's almost in hysterics when Stefan keeps him from calling 911 from his cell phone. While Matt and Stefan are arguing with each other, there is another knock on the door. Stefan answers it and invites a boy inside who has long hair, almost like Stefan's but darker, and eyes so black you can't distinguish his pupil.

"I got the call. Tell me what happened." The boy looks around and his eyes linger on mine for a few seconds. "Who's the newbie?"

"I'm Sam. What the hell is going on here? Caroline needs an ambulance. She's going to bleed out soon." Matt brings another towel to replace the blood soaked one I had been using.

"Why I didn't know we had a doctor in the house. She's not going to the hospital. Instead, she's probably going to die. And it's okay that I'm telling you this because you are all going to forget this as soon as I'm done with y'all." As he says this he walks over to Caroline's body. I stand up and step in front of him.

"I don't know who you are or what you think you're about to do, but she's not going to die. I'm going to take her to the hospital if I have to carry her there."

The boy steps so close to me that I can finally find his pupils. "My name is Damon, and I'm going to kill this girl so she doesn't become a vampire. You see, and evil vampire named Katharine has come back, and she sucked all the blood out of your little friend here." As he's talking his pupils dilate to inhuman proportions. "Now then, step aside and forget I told you anything."