Chapter 2

State of Mind

I let out a groan as I woke up, hearing the front door open and close.

"What time is it?" I groaned, looking down at my watch tiredly as I pulled it out from under the sheet, the tiny ebony hands reading 4:46 in the faint light coming from the curtained window. "The hell?"

I pushed myself up, running a hand over my face as I looked over at who it was, the choppy hair and hoodie unfamiliar to me as it headed toward the stairs.

"The heck are you doing?" I asked, squinting my eyes as I got up and turned the lamp on, my eyes widening in shock. "Jeremy?" I asked, finding the boy staring back at me, the hood finally slipping from his head as he turned around.

"Kali?" he asked, unsure of himself as he stood there staring back at me.

"Jeremy, where have you been all night?" I asked, stepping toward him, nearly tripping as I went.

"Nowhere," he told me, his voice laidback, a little too laidback for my liking.

"Jeremy," I warned, eyeing his carefully. "Where were you?" I asked.

"Just having a few drinks," he told me, not seeming to care.

"You know, you're not going to feel that great when you wake up," I told him with a sigh, watching as he made his way up the stairs, stumbling slightly.

"I'll be fine," he chuckled. "Night."

T

"Jason," Kali whimpered in her sleep, squirming.

She calmed though upon feeling a hand on her face, the touch gentle and calming, her body relaxing as it softly caressed her skin. The hand disappeared after a few moments though, placing a strand of hair behind her ear, the metal of her necklace shifting slightly with a small creak. It fell onto couch when she moved, the delicate clasp breaking and falling since she'd neglected to remove it before sleeping. She was no longer protected, leaving her wide open to prying eyes of darkness.

T

"Jason, why won't you just leave me alone?" I asked, getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Oh, come on, all I wanted was a kiss!" he hissed, shoving me against the couch.

I groaned as he crawled on, hovering over me, hand sliding down my side.

"Get off! I'm not in the mood," I told him, quickly pushing my foot into his chest until he fell onto the floor.

"Why do you have to be this way!" he asked, moving toward me, taking hold of my arm in his hand.

"You're drunk!" I said in annoyance, squirming as his lips were pressed to mine.

He was halted though when a crow suddenly flew in, pecking at him madly.

"H-hey, get off!" he yelled, swatting at the thing, only managing to anger it as it continued to peck at him. "Getting off!"

T

I gasped as I sat up, breath heaving slightly as I looked are me. Before too long though, a small smile slipped onto my lips.

"Heh, such a strange dream," I laughed, running a hand through my hair, before getting up.

I had to pee.

T

"Jeremy. Jeremy, get up!" I heard Elena yell, pounding on his door.

"He got home late last night," I told her as I stepped out of the bathroom, fixing the collar of my shirt.

"How late?" she asked.

"Uh…" I thought for a moment. "About quarter till five," I told her, moving toward the stairs.

"You've got to be kidding me," she groaned, running a hand over her face. "Hey, where'd your necklace go?" she asked, pointing to my neck.

I looked down, brows furrowing together.

"Must have fallen off when I was asleep," I told her, walking downstairs to find it.

It seemed to find me though as I stepped into the living room, finding it laying on the coffee table. Indeed, it had fallen off, but I didn't remember setting it there. What annoyed me though was the fact that the chain was broken. Although, it didn't exactly surprise me, seeing how brittle it was. I'd been meaning to get a better one, but hadn't had the time.

"It broke?" she asked, coming to stand beside me.

"Yeah, it did," I nodded, holding the chain in my hand. "I'm actually surprised that the charm didn't come off and get lost," I told her, cradling it between my fingers.

"You know, I could have Stefan fix it for you," she offered.

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure, I guess," I nodded, handing it over to her.

"I forget, where did you get it from anyway?" she asked.

"Oh, Mrs. Lockwood gave it to me when I graduated," I told her. "Told me it was for luck in a new beginning," I explained.

In truth, that's what it was. Surprisingly, I hadn't had many run-ins with disaster either since attaining it. I didn't believe it was the necklace though. I knew it was just the fact that I'd left Jason and Mystic Falls behind.

"Well, that was nice of her," she spoke aloud.

"Yeah, I guess," I shrugged.

"Well, I've got to go. Do you think you could…talk to Jeremy?" she asked meekly.

"Sure," I nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a small squeeze.

"Alright, I'll see you later then," she told me, quickly running out the door and closing behind her.

I then sighed, placing a hand on my neck where my necklace should have been. It was time to talk to Jeremy.

T

"Jeremy?" I called, knocking lightly on the wood door, a groan emitting from the other side.

"Go away," he groaned.

"You better be decent because I'm coming in whether you like it or not," I told him, turning the knob in my hand and pushing the door open.

Again, he groaned, before throwing a pillow at me. It managed to hit me in the face, making me sigh in response.

"Really, Jeremy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, before sitting the food that I was holding over on the dresser.

I then picked the pillow up and walked over to the bed, holding the corners tightly in my hands as I smirked and raised it above my head. I then brought it down on top of him, hitting him with it.

"Hey!" he cried out, rolling over onto his back and grabbing my arms, pulling me down onto the bed.

Before I knew it, we were wrestling around, beating each other with pillows. That is, until I was pinned below him.

"Will you stop it?" he sighed, leaning down until his face was close to mine, staring me in the eyes. "Man, it's been too long," he breathed, resting his forehead beneath my chin for a moment, eyes closed.

He then pulled back after a moment, moving and sitting properly on the bed. This allowed me to sit up, staring at him.

"Still drunk?" I asked.

"Eh, I don't know," he shrugged, making to get up out of bed, only to end up on the floor as he tripped.

"Still clumsy," I supplied, holding back a laugh.

"Shut up," he grumbled, pulling himself up and tugging at the legs of his boxers.

"Man, you sure have thinned out," I voiced, looking him over.

It bothered me though, the fact that he seemed just a bit too thin at the moment. He was a growing boy, he should have more meat on his bones.

"What, you checking me out now?" he smirked, turning around to face me instead grabbing himself a pair of pants.

"Oh, the embarrassment!" I cried. "I'm afraid I've been caught," I laughed, smiling at him.

He just walked back over to me, crawling onto the bed. He then placed his head in my lap tiredly.

"I've missed you," he said quietly, his hand curling lightly around the material of my pant leg.

"I've missed you too, Jer," I smiled softly, running my hand through his hair like I used to when he was upset.

Some things just never changed and I was grateful for that fact, sitting here with him on the bed, my hand in his hair. He was like a little boy again, the small, sweet child I had grown to love.

"Why'd you leave?" he asked, looking up at me with a sad expression.

I sighed for a moment, playing with the edges of his hair.

"You want the real reason?" I asked, looking down at him for a moment.

He nodded.

"Jason…" I sighed, closing my eyes. "I couldn't…I…I just," I tried to get the words out, but found it harder to do so.

"Kal, what did he do to you?" Jeremy asked, slowly sitting up, leaving him the taller one out of the two of us once more.

"It's not necessarily what he did to me Jer, it's more of what he kept trying to do," I told him, flopping backward onto his bed, the springs making me bounce a bit. "Point is, he was holding me back from being the person that I truly wanted to be."

"What do you mean? You were always fine around us," he told me, laying down beside me on the bed.

"Because that's what I wanted you to see," I told him, admitting the truth. "To be honest, it hurt, knowing the effect that he had on me," I whispered. "That's why I left, it was making me depressed."

"You could have come to me," he told me, gripping my wrist lightly in his hand.

"Jeremy, you were still just a kid," I laughed lightly, looking over at him.

"So?" he shrugged. "I would have listened," he told me, making me smile.

"And that's why I loved you so much," I smiled, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

This left him slightly red, but still.

"When's the last time you threw a football around?" I asked, looking over at him.

"When you left," he told me, sitting up.

"Well, then I guess we're going to have to change that, now won't we?" I grinned.

T

"Hey! Careful with that thing!" I yelled, shaking my hand for a moment where I'd caught it wrong.

I never knew that he could throw so hard.

"Stop whining and just throw it," he laughed.

"That's it mister, your ass is mine!" I yelled.

"Oh, really now? Now you want me?" he asked.

"Jeremy!" I yelled, throwing the ball at him as hard as I could, managing to hit him in the shoulder with it.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing his shoulder. "I forgot how hard you can throw."

"Then maybe you'll remember that the next time you decide to make such a comment," I pointed out, hand on my hip.

"Why are you so mean?" he asked.

"Me? Mean? You've got to be kidding me," I laughed, standing there, ready to catch the ball as he threw it my way.

I caught it easy, tossing it in my hands for a moment, before gripping it at the stitches. I then aimed, throwing my body weight forward as I threw it back.

He caught it this time, holding it in his hands.

"I've missed this, you know?"

"So have I," I told him, jumping up in the air in an attempt to catch the ball, the leather didn't even skim my fingertips as it flew passed me and into the tree. "Damn it!" I hissed, looking up at the tree.

"Sorry," Jeremy laughed, walking toward me.

"Yeah, sure you are," I grumbled, making my way over to the tree.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting the ball. What's it look like?" I told him, jumping and catching onto a branch as I carefully pulling myself up, hocking my leg around a limb.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Well, I don't see you doing it string bean," I told him, grabbing hold of another branch as I hauled myself up, the bark scrapping against the skin of my hands.

"Just…be careful, alright?" he called up, standing there at the base of the tree.

"Well, I'm trying," I said, grabbing another limb, my foot shifting to the next branch. "Why'd you have to throw it so high anyway?" I asked, swinging my weight to grab another branch.

"It's not like I tried to," he argued, watching me from below.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I muttered, the ball still at least another ten feet above me. "I hope I don't regret this," I sighed, getting a good hold on my next branch.

I'm just glad that I'm not afraid of heights, otherwise, there'd be a major problem in doing this. I ignored it though as I kept myself focused on the ball, moving from branch to branch. I was going to get that ball down one way or another.

"Hey, Jer?"

"Yeah?" he called up.

"If I throw the ball down, can you catch it?" I asked, maneuvering up a bit further.

It was only a couple feet or so away from me now, almost in my grasp.

"Yeah, just toss it down," he told me, holding his hands out to catch it.

"Alright, here you go," I said, finally grabbing hold of it and tossing it down.

I watched as it hit a few branches first, before finally landing in Jeremy's awaiting hands.

"Okay, I'm gonna come down now," I told him, my hand gripping tightly the branch in front of me as I stepped carefully onto another branch.

This would be tricky and I knew it.

"Hey, Kal?" Jeremy called up.

"Yeah?"

"I think I've got a problem down here," he told me, a faint growl in his voice.

"Why?" I asked, reaching for another branch.

"Tyler," he grumbled, hitching a finger behind him at the cocky boy that was making his way over.

"Oh, great," I groaned.

The next few moments went in slowly motion from there, a crow cawing in front of me, startling me. I tried to reach out, eyes going wide in fear as I slipped backwards, my breath becoming caught in my throat. Then a loud pop emitting from my shoulder as I managed to grab a branch with my hand, screaming out in pain.

From there, I dropped, falling to the ground below.

"Kali!" Jeremy cried, pulling me close as I bit back another scream, tears sliding down my face as fire burned my arm.

It felt like the flames of hell, licking hungrily at my skin. I'd only had this happen once before, but it was still just as painful.

"Ah...!" I cried, gripping tightly at Jeremy's arm, watching as he freaked out.

"Oh god! W-what do I do?" he choked out, looking around him. "I-it's gonna be okay Kal," he told me, trying his best to comfort me.

I choked on my tears as I laid there though, curling into a fetal position on instinct. It only hurt more, but it was the only thing that I could do.

"What's going on here?" I heard someone ask, the sound of footsteps coming forward.

"Who the hell are you?" Tyler asked, moving closer to me and Jeremy as he let curiosity get the better of him.

"None of your concern."

I knew that voice. That was the same voice from last night, the man at the grill.

"Damon?" I managed to choke out in realization.

"The hell happened to you?" he asked, looking over me with interest and what seemed to be faint sympathy in his eyes. "Move," he said curtly, pushing Jeremy out of the way as he knelt down beside me, taking hold of my arm.

I screamed when he did this, sucking in a breath as my other hand dug into his arm sharply.

"Hm, looks like you dislocated it," he mused, moving it around a bit.

"Stop messing with it," I screamed, feeling myself shake.

"Hey, kid, give me your belt," Damon commanded, watching as Jeremy followed his orders, removing it and handing it over. "Might want to bite down on this," he told me. "It's gonna hurt," he nearly grinned.

I barely had the chance to respond, his arm was wrapped around from behind, holding me close. Then a second later, he tugged on my arm, before rough shoving it back into the socket. I knew at that point that everyone had heard my muffled scream, my teeth clamping down on the leather in my mouth. I was practically choking on my tears at this point.

"There we go, all better," he announced, taking the liberty of resting his chin on my shoulder, his other arm sliding around my front as he sat there.

"Kal, you okay?" Jeremy asked hesitantly, eyeing me carefully.

I barely even registered his question as I sat there, my back pressing into Damon's chest, hands shaking violently from the previous pain. I felt Damon take hold of them though as I sat there, gripping them in his to stop the shaking.

"Calm down, you're fine," he whispered in my ear.

For some reason, I slowly stopped shaking, his voice enticing. I wasn't quite sure why.

"Now, breathe," he told me, running his hand up my arm slowly. "Just breathe," he whispered in my ear. "Breathe and sleep. When you wake up, you'll be perfectly fine."

Those were the last words that I heard as I closed my eyes, falling into a dark slumber. The warmth of arms holding me close.

T

"Where is she?" Elaine asked as she stepped into the house, Stefan close behind her.

"She's up in my room. I thought that she'd be more comfortable there instead of the couch," Jeremy told her, sitting in the kitchen.

Elena then run up the stairs, Jeremy and Stefan following after her.

"How did this even happen?" she asked, turning toward her brother.

"We were just messing around, throwing the football around," he told her. "I threw it a bit too high and it got stuck in a tree."

"So she went up and got it?" Stefan asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I mean, she was perfectly fine until this stupid crow scared her," Jeremy told him, causing Stefan to stiffen. "She just lost her footing after that and fell. I wrapped her hands up though."

"Thank God your brother was there to help," Elena breathed as she glanced over at Stefan, finding him staring back at her.

"I think maybe it'd be best if I left the two of you to look after her," Stefan said, reaching into his pocket and pulling something out.

It was Kali's necklace. Although, it was now on a different chain. This one was silver, far stronger than the first chain she'd had her little charm on. He made sure that the charm never touched his skin though, holding it out to Elena.

"Here's the necklace," Stefan said, placing it in her hand. "I've got to go."

With that, he left, leaving the two siblings stand there in confusion.

"Well, that was weird," Jeremy muttered.

T

Not too long after, the sound of the front doors opening echoed through the old Salvatore boarding house, Stefan's footfalls echoing around him as he stomped forward. His anger was evident and there was no denying it. He knew exactly what had caused Kali to fall and he was beyond pissed now. Not only had Damon made threats against Elena, but now he was causing problems for Kali too.

"What is wrong with you?" Stefan yelled, walking into the parlor to find Damon sitting there, shirt open as he sat lazily on the couch drinking his scotch.

"What ever do you mean dear brother?" Damon asked, quirking an eyebrow in question.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Damon," Stefan hissed. "Kali's fall was no accident."

"Actually, I beg to differ," he told him. "After all, she's the one that let go of the branch, not the other way around," he said smugly.

At that, Stefan grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him forward out of his seat.

"I'm warning you, Damon, stay away from her," Stefan hissed angrily.

"Oh, really now? You're ordering me around," Damon asked, grinning evilly at his younger brother, hand coming up and seizing Stefan by the throat.

"I'll do whatever I want with her. You hear me?" Damon said, walking forward as his grip tightened on Stefan's throat, crushing his windpipe. "You've got Elena, now I've got little Kaliandra," he grinned, before throwing him through a window and into the front yard where he met him, the sun slowly started to set.

"Damon," Stefan coughed, slowly sitting up.

"The girl has peaked my interest and now I want to learn more," Damon told him. "Especially, about this Jason fellow," he said, tilting his head to the side with a goofy look on his face, something so strange when placed upon Damon's face.

"Stay…away," Stefan said, trying to catch his breath.

"How about…no?" Damon said. "After all, she's living with the Gilbert's and I've already been invited in," Damon reminded him. "And I've had so much fun peaking in on her dreams," Damon added.

Stefan glared at him for that.

"I mean, her necklace broke, the thing that was obviously keeping me from her. I wonder if her past is as violent as ours," Damon pondered as he tapped his chin. "Perhaps she'll even dream of me tonight," he said smugly.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Damon, but I put a new chain on it," Stefan smirked, slowly standing up, only to have a hand around his throat once more.

"You know, I could always just eat her," Damon told him. "Don't give me a reason to kill her Stefan, I'd like to keep her around for a while."

He then threw Stefan back onto the ground, easily stepping over him as he buttoned his shirt up, heading toward the Gilbert house where his little princess slumbered.

Okay, chapter 1 and 2 out in the same day. Hopefully, this is enough to get you hooked at the moment? Anyway, don't forget to REVIEW and MESSAGE me. Ideas and comments are ALWAYS WELCOMED. Any music ideas are ALWAYS WELCOMED. So PLEASE take a moment of your time to either REVIEW or MESSAGE me. Thanks everyone and check out my other stuff as well.

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