Iris gasped shooting awake she was breathing heavily, she pushed her stray curls away from her sweaty face it took her a moment to realise that it was tears, she felt bile coming up from her throat and tumbled out of bed she ran towards her bathroom not having enough time to turn the light on.
She bent over and threw the contents of yesterday's dinner and lunch into the toilet. Iris collapsed onto the floor slightly trembling calming down her breath she felt the bitter taste in her mouth and shakily got on to her feet and leant against the counter looking in the mirror, she was glad that she was pale as you couldn't see her paling, she looked down at her fingers and saw that they were shaky she took hold of an empty cup and poured some water into it, she raised the half full glass to her full lips and washed out her mouth.
She brushed her teeth and decided to wash off the grimy feeling on her skin. Iris turned the hot water shower faucet on and waited till it was steaming and got out of her sticky clothes and threw them on to the counter.
She stepped under the water and sighed in content as it rained over her. Iris leant back against the tiles and saw goose bumps arise on her flesh but she ignored it.
She lathered her strawberry scented shampooed onto a washcloth and scrubbed herself all over till her skin was tinged with pink.
Iris was glad of her morning shower it felt like she was washing off the remnants of her dreams. She grabbed the bottle of vanilla smelling shampoo and conditioner and washed her hair. Iris reached out and grabbed the fluffy red towel and dried herself off, she stepped out and took hold of her thick white robe.
Iris looked at the time and saw that it was nearly six in the morning. She had about an hour and a half to kill. She looked through her dresser and pulled out a pair of lacy cream panties and a matching bra, Iris stepped over her converses and opened her closet door and rummaged through it, she opted to wear a pair of dark skinny jeans and pulled on a tank top and a beige sweater. She grabbed her hair brush and brushed her hair and tied it in a low braid her bangs and few stray curls framed her face. She slipped on a pair of nude colour ballet flats and grabbed her jacket.
Iris entered the kitchen and filled the kettle up, and set it on the stove and looked out of the window and smiled slightly seeing the crow, she opened the window and placed some bread on the ledge
"Now this is less freaky" she commented "coming out during the day" she jumped hearing the kettle whistling and quickly made herself a cup of tea hissing as the hot water hit her skin.
"Caw" she looked over her shoulder and saw that the crow was looking at her. His head tilted slightly as if asking if she was ok, she shook her head and went back to her task of making tea and some breakfast.
Once Iris had gathered her bag and made sure she had her keys she glanced at the second hand watch that had felt like a life time ago had belong to her mother. If she left now she would be about forty five minutes early, however it did give her the chance to go to the library, growing up in an unlovable home and where she was treated terribly, Iris had pushed herself into books, letting there worlds drag her in it was one of her main solace. Iris smiled lightly and locked the door ignorant of the crow that was staring after the mysterious girl; yes he thought this town will be fun with a loud caw it flew off.
Iris pulled up to the school's empty parking lot and grabbed her bag and jacket and exited the battered ford. She headed inside the school building and made her way into the library
"Oh Iris dear" the old librarian greeted her,
"Hello Mrs Garret" she smiled at the old woman
"Honestly dear, call me Rose Mrs Garret was my mother in law" she scoffed "she was a total bitch to me" at this Iris's eyes widened at this but couldn't help but giggle, she had met Rose on her first day and had bumped into her when she had fled from Caroline's interrogation.
"Right Rose, how are you?" she asked as she set her bag down on a table
"I'm good, backs giving me problems though" she muttered, Iris frowned at this
"You know if you want I can help you?" she offered
"How so?" Rose raised a pepper grey eyebrow
"Well…erm you've got back problems, I can put the books back on the shelves" she grinned this was what just she needed something to keep her busy for a couple of hours after school
"Iris are you sure? What would a young girl like you-"
"Please, Rose i just want to help you out" Iris pleaded her eyes boring into hers, Rose sighed but nodded a smile coming across her face
"If you insist, but only here till five, I won't have you wasting your time away" Rose said sternly, Iris hurriedly nodded, mentally wondering what would happen if she told her that she had an eternity to waste away.
Iris walked down the aisles and lightly ran her fingers through the spines of the books, she stopped at the history section her finger paused at the book that explained the history on Mystic Falls, she stood on the tips of her toes and pulled the book out of the shelf, she flicked through the pages and saw several pictures and text.
Iris tucked the book under her arm and sat back down at her table, there was a slow treacle of students coming in she noticed out of the window. She glanced at her watch and saw she better get moving.
"Rose this one please" she handed the book over, and noted that the librarian stiffened when she read the title "everything ok?"
"Yes dear" Rose said scanning the book and handing it back to Iris who stored it in her bag.
"Hey, Iris you're here early" Caroline commented sitting beside the English girl,
Iris smiled and nodded "Yeah, I came to check some books out of the library" she replied, Caroline quirked an eyebrow
"You was able to work your brain this early?" the blond muttered "ah it takes me more than half an hour to even get out of bed"
Iris chuckled at that "Hmm well I'm always up early, that's the sort of habit you pick up when you go to a boarding school"
Caroline nodded "So was it big or-"
"It was a castle" she smiled wistfully remembering the place that used to be home for her
"Sounds beautiful" Caroline murmured
"It was" Iris nodded and noted that the girl seemed rather different.
"So looking forward to the party?" Caroline gushed "we can set you up with some boys and-"No Caroline I'm not looking for anyone-"Iris cut her off "Not after my last boyfriend was killed because of me"
"Oh" Caroline seemed rather put out by this "but you're hot, all the guys are into you and-"
"No Caroline" Iris repeated "I'm just looking for a couple of friends really that's all"
"Well its good you got us then" Bonnie grinned grabbing Iris's shoulders, the smaller girl jumped Stephan noted the slight flinch it was there for a split second
"Yeah" she muttered.
Stephan's eyes narrowed slightly there was something about Iris he thought, just then Elena came in and took a seat besides the raven head
"Hey" Elena greeted her,
"Hi, so how's Jeremy doing?" she asked twirling the pencil in between her slim digits
"Ergh…brothers are so confusing, he's getting stoned most of the time and hardly talks to anyone" she confided in her
Iris licked her lips "Elena, people deal with grief different ways some shut themselves down and turn into a shell of their former selves whilst others are quick to move on" Elena watched her carefully "tell Jeremy that the world is moving on and that people do as well"
Elena smiled and nodded "Thanks Iris"
Iris smiled and nodded and started doodling in her notebook
Stephan had listened to the whole exchange it was clear to him Iris was wise beyond her years and that perhaps she was talking from personal experience.
"So want to get ready at my place"? Elena suggested falling instep besides Iris with Stephan on her other side
"For what?" Iris asked her brows furrowing, Elena and Bonnie both rolled their eyes
"To get ready for the party" Bonnie informed her
Iris's dark eyebrows shot up "Well I was-"
"Not nothing, you're going to get ready besides it's your first American party" Elena laughed. Iris grinned and nodded looking more forward to the party.
They had settled down on the courtyard benches with their lunch, Iris quietly started to eat her lunch as the others conversed around her.
"Hey" Caroline said joining them "guess what?"
Iris nodded internally, now this was what Caroline did best gossip
"What?" Elena and Bonnie asked at the same time, Iris slowly chewed her food listening as well
"There's been an animal attack, remember Amy?" both girls nodded "they found her dead in the woods, mom said there was a lot of blood"
"Oh poor Amy" Elena murmured, Iris noticed Stephan had seemed to stiffen and become tense
"Does this happen a lot?" Iris asked
"No, but for the last week random attacks been happening" Bonnie said "Grams said it something to do with the supernatural"
Iris could tell that Bonnie and the other girls didn't take this seriously but Iris was wavering what was the chances of her moving into a town where the supernatural happenings were occurring. She noted that Stephan had grown silent and tensed Iris knew the look on his face she was practised at it, Stephan was hiding something and it had something to do with the animal attacks.
Iris had just stacked the last book on the shelf from the cart
"Iris, you better go it's the end of your shift" Rose called over to her. "thanks dear you saved me a world of pain"
"No problem, I'll see you tomorrow" iris grinned pulling on her jacket and grabbing her bag, she opted to go to the grill for some dinner since she had done all her homework in the library. She stepped out of the building and headed towards her car, she fished her keys from her pocket and unlocked the door. She threw her bag into the back of the car and buckled herself in and revved the engine and pulled out of the now empty lot.
Iris arrived at the grill and looked around for somewhere to sit. She spotted an empty table in the corner of the room and decided to sit there. She sat down and picked up the menu scanning it
"Hey" she heard a familiar voice
"Oh Matt hi" she smiled at the handsome teen "I forgot you work here"
He nodded "so what would you like?" he asked his pen poised ready to write her order
"Oh can I have a cheeseburger and some…fries" she nodded, he grinned
"Glad to see you remembered what we call them" he chuckled
"Yeah me too" she smiled as he walked away, she looked through her bag and pulled out a novel to read whilst she waited. She turned the page of the book and looked up when she heard the chair opposite her scrape against the floor
"The Great Gatsby?" Stephan asked
"Yep, it's getting good" Iris grinned at him, "Have you read it?"
"Twice" he smiled at her, he had spotted her on his way home and decided to keep her company "Do you mind if I join you?"
"No, go ahead the more the merrier" she smiled as Matt returned with her food, Stephan just ordered a coke
"So how come you're not at home?" Stephan asked
"Hmm, just wanted to get out of the house and grab a bite to eat, you?" she asked offering her some of him her food, he shook his head
"Same as you I suppose just needed to get out" he informed her
"So you still hooked on Elena?" she asked biting into a fry and was amused when he choked on his drink
"What?" he cleared his throat "I don't Elena's nice, but-"
"Save it Stephan you would have to be blind not to see that she likes you"
"She likes me?" a glazed over look came into his eyes
Iris giggled seeing his face "Yep, and you obviously like her so don't dance around and tell her already, before something gets in the way" she nodded
"I can't I'm not good for her" Stephan frowned, making Iris pause she quirk an eyebrow
"Stephan you're a nice guy, I'm sure-"
"Iris you don't know me so-"
"Stay out of it?" she said quietly, looking down at now empty plate he winced when he saw the brief look of hurt on her face she was only trying to help. He gently grabbed her hand and gave it a brief squeeze
"Sorry Iris I-"
"Its fine Stephan" she returned the brief squeeze of his hand "I should really mind my own business sometimes"
"No, Iris I appreciate it, I know you're looking out for me" he grinned Iris smiled and pulled out a few bucks to cover her meal
"I'll see you later Stephan" she said pulling on her jacket, he nodded and watched her leave.
Iris arrived home about eight in the evening and tossed her bag on to the couch but not before pulling out the book she had gotten from the library on to the desk that was located in the corner of the room.
She ran upstairs and quickly pulled on some cotton sleeping shorts that rested low on her slim hips, she pulled a camisole on and padded barefooted downstairs. Iris strolled into the kitchen and made some hot chocolate she then proceeded to flopped down on to the couch and turned the television on, deciding to watch 'America's next top model'
She couldn't believe how shallow some of the girls were, hell even the judges were she was somewhat relieved to know that she hadn't miss anything major when she was at Hogwarts. The shows on the screen seem to be going downhill, she placed her empty mug on the coffee table and rested her head on the arm of the chair, she was on the edge of consciousness until she actually fell asleep.
It was finally an end to the long week, she stepped out of the shower and slipped on a random skirt and light sweater heading out, she was going to be late for first period her mind had been focused on other things for the last two days mainly the animal attacks that were happening, she was slightly on edge of what could be attacking all those people recently.
She grabbed and apple and her messenger bag and ran outside stumbling down the steps, she groaned when her knees hit the gravel she was relieved when she saw that the tights she had worn hadn't been torn but was slightly dirtied
"Are you alright Iris?" Jenna called having witness the whole scene there was a small smile on her face when she saw Iris blushing, gosh she was adorable Jenna thought
"Yeah, it's just not my day" she smiled and grabbed her bag off of the floor of the driveway and swiftly climbed into her car she swore under her breath when she dropped the keys onto the car floor she picked them up hitting her head on the steering wheel.
"Great" she rubbed her head and glanced into her rear view mirror and saw the where she had hit her head was slightly pinkish. Iris pushed her key into the ignition and revved the engine and tore out of her driveway, driving towards school.
She arrived just as the bell rang so she didn't have enough time to go and drop her books off at her locker.
"Where's Iris?" Elena asked as the class settled down
"Maybe she's not well" Caroline murmured as she applied some lip gloss
"Or perhaps she's running late?" Stephan suggested his heightened hearing picked up light footsteps running towards the classroom, sure enough as Tanner went to close the door Iris slid in
"Morning sir" she grinned brightly earning a few chuckles from her classmates but once she saw Tanner's face she hurriedly made her way to her seat and dropped down onto the chair.
"How comes you're late?" Bonnie asked Iris as she pulled out her books and notepad
"Overslept" Iris muttered and focused her attention onto the teacher.
"So Iris are you coming round?" Elena asked as they walked to their next class, the small raven head was making her way to art
"Erm, I was thinking I'll meet you there" she said softly "I promised that I'd help out the library and I could meet you there?"
Elena smiled and nodded "sure, I'll keep an eye out of you, and don't take any drinks off of strange guys that you don't know" she was getting all mother hen with the younger girl
"Alright mom" Iris chuckled rolled her eyes
"How old are you anyway?" Bonnie asked
"Hmm, I'm sixteen turning seventeen in June" she said and felt her cheeks heat up when all three teenaged girl cooed much to Stephan's amusement, unknown to them she was lying.
"Aw she's just a baby" Caroline pinched her cheeks, making Iris wriggle
"Ok, ok" she said loudly "I'll see you later" she ran off
"What-"
"Maybe the cheek pinching was a bit much?" Caroline said a second later, Elena and Bonnie rolled their eyes
"You think?" Stephan asked sarcasm oozing from him, making Caroline huff and walk off
Iris sighed having finished her day, she bid goodbye to Rose and drove home but swerved the car when a crow appeared on the bonnet
"Bloody bird" she yelled and her brows furrowed when it simply flapped its wings and flew off, she knew that the crow wasn't an ordinary bird she threw the idea of it being an animagus out of her mind after everything that had gone on, the magical world had closed off to her and won't now have anything to do with her.
She sighed and started to drive back to her house, she knew that the party started at seven, she glanced at the time and saw that she had roughly about an hour to get ready, she wasn't fussed about being late since.
Iris clamoured out of the car and slammed the door behind her. She noticed that Elena's SUV was already parked and noted that there was another car sitting in the driveway. She unlocked her front door and firmly shut the door behind her. She kicked off of her shoes and headed into the kitchen, she thought it would be best to have her dinner now; she looked through her kitchen cabinets and picked out some canned soup not bothered to make something. She poured it in to the pot and heated it up.
Whist Iris waited she turned on her laptop, and surf the net for a while when she could smell the aroma of her soup she turned it off and pour the thick liquid into a bowl, and slowly began to sip it. Once she had her fill Iris dumped the dirty dishes into the sink and thought she would clean the whole house tomorrow since it was a Saturday after all.
She stretched her arms above her head and headed upstairs. Iris looked through her closet and knew that the party would be happening in the woods so she decided to wear a pair of black skinny jeans, and a midnight blue lace top, she paired it with a black crop jacket. Iris brushed her hair and left it out, so her raven mass of curls cascaded down her back.
She applied a bit of lip balm and that was all that she needed really. Iris rummaged through her closet and picked out a pair of black ballet flats. She slipped her dainty feet into them and switched the light off.
Iris looked around, she knew she was definitely in the right place since there was a throng of teenagers and the steady beat of music pounding throughout the woods.
"Iris, Iris" she heard her name being called, she looked around and smiled in relief seeing Elena and Bonnie, and she manoeuvred her way through the crowd and appeared next to them
"Here" Elena handed her a plastic cup, which she took and gingerly brought it up to her lips, her nose scrunched up slightly tasting the alcohol
"Don't you like it?" Bonnie asked having seen Iris's reaction
"Alcohol and me do not mix" the small raven head revealed
"Well maybe you would prefer this" Stephan smiled coming over to them, he took the plastic cup off of her and forced a different cup into her hand, and she sipped it and grinned
"Soda?" she asked and took another gulp
"Thought you'd like it, plus you're a bit young to be drinking anyway" he shrugged his shoulders, she scoffed and muttered something under her breath
"He's got a point, you look like two cups of beer would finish you off" Elena giggled
Iris rolled her eyes "Whatever, I'm going to look around"
"Don't get lost" Bonnie shouted making the raven head shake her head
Iris found herself sitting on a log, near the fire keeping warm she was staring into the flames thinking about her current life, she saw Tyler Lockwood making his way over to her but was stopped on the way by another jock, she took that chance and escaped.
She so didn't want to see his attempt to flirt with her again. Iris walked through the woods and froze when she heard a twig snapped she had unknowingly wondered away from the rest of the party, Iris mentally slapped herself, really she does go looking for trouble she thought, her breath hitched slightly when she heard another twig snap and looked over her shoulder and felt her heart rate increasing when she saw a figure leaning against a tree, and was startled when a crow flew overhead cawing loudly and fog was surrounding her.
She jumped when there was a loud scream and saw now that the figure was gone.
"OH MY GOD, SOMEONE HELP" she recognised that voice, it took her a moment to realise that it was Elena. Iris feet pounded on the ground as she ran through the foliage
"Elena" she yelled appearing in a small clearing, "Oh merlin" she muttered seeing that the brunette was bent over an unconscious girl, she also noticed her brother there.
Iris dropped to her knees and took off her crop jacket and saw that there was a gory wound on the girl's neck
"Call an ambulance" Iris instructed and pressed the crop jacket against the wound to staunch the flow of blood,
"What's her name"? Iris asked Jeremy who was bent over her.
"Vicki Donovan" he answered, she noted that his voice was thick with emotion he obviously cared for this girl. Elena was in the background calling an ambulance, just then Stephan arrived making Iris jump,
"Is she ok?" he asked
"She's breathing" Iris muttered and glanced at him from the corner of her eye, she was intrigued when she saw the veins around his eyes darkening and his jaw was clenched
"Stephan are you ok?" she asked
"Yes" he abruptly stood "I've got to go" and he fled
"Where did he go?" Elena asked they could hear sirens in the background
"I don't know" she said but had observed that Stephan had been staring at Vicki's bloodied neck rather intently
"VICKI" Matt shouted and ran over to his sister just then the EMT'S arrived, Elena pulled Iris on to her feet. They took a couple of steps back letting them to do their jobs
Iris arrived home about one in the morning she was exhausted, she locked her front door behind her and flicked the light on, Iris headed into the kitchen and washed her hands which had dried blood, seeing this made her thought back to Stephan's reaction to the blood and to the wound on Vicki's neck.
She knew that wasn't just some simple animal attack for one thing the beast seemed to just go for the teenaged girl's neck and nothing else. And Stephan's aversion to blood, her eyes widened realisation was hitting her, it was all starting to make sense, she ran into the living room tripping over her rug but managed to catch herself on the couch, the 1864 fire which just seemed like a random devastation but she had read beforehand that there was also animal attacks before that as well as them abruptly stopping when the fire happened.
Iris grabbed the book and flickered through the pages mouthing the words on the pages, she dropped down onto the swivel chair and flicked through the pages but stopped when something caught her eye there was a picture of the founding families, she looked at the names and saw the Salvatores names.
Iris looked carefully at the picture and eyes widened when she saw someone familiar
"Stephan Salvatore" she mumbled "looks exactly the same" she noted down the characteristics that she had found, the avoidance of blood, never seemed to be ageing and the veins darkening around his eyes and the way he seemed to twitch when he was confronted by blood, she dropped her pen
"He's a vampire" she breathed figuring out his secret, her brows furrowed he doesn't seem the type to be randomly attacking people, but from experience she knew that some people didn't appear as they seem.
But then she recalled the fact that Stephan was with the partygoers when the attack happened, and he's face there was no way Stephan had attacked the girl.
"There must be another vampire in Mystic Falls" she closed the book and stared out of the window wondering why did she have the worst luck moving into a town full of possible vampires. Iris sighed and stood up turning the lights off, she bit her lip she was conflicted wondering whether or not to confront Stephan about this, or tell Elena since she knew that her new friend liked him.
Iris changed out of her clothes and tied her hair up into a messy bun, she climbed into bed and decided not to go poking her nose in since it wasn't her secret to tell but she would go and speak to Stephan first thing tomorrow morning. With that she turned the light off and pulled her covers up, feeling a slight chill going down her spine feeling as if she was being watched but brushed that feeling away.
She hummed and rolled over lying on her stomach drifted off to sleep.
AN: Another update and I know it's much longer than my last ones...but it's necessary so please REVIEW.
Big shout out to SPEEDIE22 who's been a constant reviewer thank you