ELENA

The exhibition of Mystic Falls Historic Society took place at the Lockwoods' house. Carol Lookwood took great pride in hosting all kinds of community events – she probably figured it fell within her responsibility as the town's mayor. Or maybe she thought it increased her chances of being re-elected. To give her credit, she really was investing a lot of time and effort into the community. When she had asked if I was willing to lend a few of our family heirlooms to the exhibition, I had been happy to help. It still amazed me how soon I had come to think of this little town as home again. Events like this made me feel like I belonged.

Jenna seemed oddly uptight as we walked up to the brightly lit mansion. Unlike me, she was nervous about meeting her old high school acquaintances again. I always forgot that she had grown up here, too, gone to college, just like we did. She had left right after graduation and hardly ever came back to visit.

"What's the matter, Jenna?" I asked, when she stopped for a last check of hair and make-up. "Anybody special there tonight who you're hoping to impress?"

"Yes. No. Well, sort of. I bet Logan is gonna be here..."

"Logan Fell? What's with him?"

"Logan Scum Fell!" she huffed disdainfully. "He's one of the reasons why I left this town and never came back. We dated while in college."

"Oh... that bad, huh?"

"Worse! I heard he's with a local public network company, now. With a little bit of luck, he'll have gained about 60 pounds and lost all of his hair..."

I grinned. "No matter if he did – once he sees you, he'll regret he lost you, for sure. You look great!" It was no lie. Jenna, who was in her mid thirties, looked at least 5 years younger, and with her soft, reddish tinted hair, her cream colored complexion and those few lovely freckles, she looked like an Irish sprite.

"Thanks, Elena! You look quite lovely yourself, by the way. That orange-golden dress is so cute, and I love what you did with your hair! Just watch out with those heels – they're killers, at least to the male population. So, let's go and see who's all there to impress..."

She took hold of my arm as if I was her very best friend and not her niece slash stepdaughter, and we both walked up the torch-lit path to the main entrance.

As usual with parties at the Lockwood house, the hostess had outdone herself. Carol, who had been Mystic Falls' Mayor ever since her husband had died from cancer, welcomed us with an inviting smile and made sure that we were introduced and made comfortable before seeing to the next arrivals, bestowing the same attention on them.

I looked around for Caroline and Bonnie and soon spotted them talking animatedly to a tall guy who was standing with his back to us. It wasn't Damon, but he seemed vaguely familiar. "Mr. Saltzman!" I exclaimed surprised, when he turned around. "I hadn't expected to see you here..."

"Hello, Elena!" he greeted me with a friendly, though slightly awkward smile. "I was sort of dragged along."

"I told him he really had to come and take a look at Mystic Falls's local treasures..." another voice chimed in. I turned to see Damon, who had obviously been fetching drinks for Caroline and Bonnie. "Besides, Mrs. Lockwood serves an excellent brand of whiskey."

"Well, the committee will surely be happy that their exhibition excites so much interest even with experts," I said, wondering if Damon's comment was meant to be honest or ironic. It was always hard to tell with him. "Jenna – this is Mr. Saltzman, head of the History department, and Damon Salvatore, Alys's brother and recently appointed research fellow."

"Nice to meet you, Jenna...?" Mr. Saltzman flashed her a particularly friendly smile.

"Jenna, Jenna Gilbert. I'm Elena's aunt and step-mom. Nice to meet you too, Mr. Saltzman."

"Alaric. But please, call me Ric." His name wasn't the only thing Jenna seemed to find impressive, judging by the look she gave him as they shook hands. She was practically salivating. Well, that solved the Logan problem, because 'Alaric' seemed to like what he saw just as much.

A little belatedly, Jenna turned to shake hands with Damon, too. "The famous Damon Salvatore, huh? I've heard quite a lot about you..."

Probably from Caroline, rhapsodizing. "That's me!" Damon replied, smiling cockily. "But I bet half of what you heard isn't true, and you probably only heard half of it. Ric, do you mind giving me a helping hand in getting these ladies a drink, too?"

"Sure! We'll be right back – just don't go anywhere."

"That is your history professor?" Jenna inquired with a 'wow' look on her face as soon as Damon and Alaric were out of earshot. "He's ridiculously hot – and so is Damon. Whatever happened to tweed jackets and flies and nerds with thick glasses?"

"They're still young, Jenna. Give it a few years, and the University world will be back to normal," I said, shrugging. Jenna and Caroline gave me a incredulous look. "Never ever!" they both exclaimed with one voice, before they burst into giggles.

"Anyway," Jenna sighed. "Looking at Ric makes me long to go to college again..."

"No use." I threw a meaningful glance in Caroline's direction. "No student-teacher relationships allowed. You're in a much better position as a parent. You can always hope for the occasional parent-teacher conference. Perhaps I could do something that requires an urgent appointment with Mr. Saltzman..."

"Better yet, I could try and get him to invite me on a date during the course of this evening..." Jenna's eyes took a look of determination and I started to pity my professor, who had no clue that he had just been turned into prey.

Eventually, Jenna managed to lure him away from the protection of the herd by feigning interest in the exhibition pieces and asking him for a guided tour. Caroline was dragged away by Mrs. Lockwood, probably for an interrogation and – in case she stood the test – to be talked into joining one of the town's committees. Mrs. Lockwood was always eager to get the local youth involved in the town's activities. I guess Caroline might actually be the ideal candidate. She had always been good at organizing things, and she loved being in charge. Despite her somewhat iridescent personality, she was a perfectionist at heart, and if she set her mind on something, she was pretty much unstoppable.

Bonnie and I ended up alone with Damon, who eyed her with interest. "So, Elena told me you're a witch?" Damon asked, as if it was a common conversation starter. Bonnie shot me a surprised glance, and I hastened to explain. "I mentioned it to him some time ago, while we were still joking about", I said, before she could get the wrong impression and think that I had spilled her secret to Damon, of all people. "Damon is actually investigating the mystic aspects of local history and believes in vampires, werewolves and leprechauns."

Damon cocked his head. "There are no leprechauns in Virginia," he pointed out with great solemnity, before focusing on the lapse in my defensive comment. "You said 'while you were thinking of it as a jokeʼ. So I take it that you are no longer of that opinion?"

I could have bitten my tongue. Stupid me. You really had to watch your mouth in Damon's presence, he really picked up on everything. I helplessly looked to Bonnie, not sure how to maneuver myself out of this.

Bonnie came to my rescue. "Well, from someone whose grandmother claims to be a witch to someone who believes in mystical creatures: I think there might be more things between heaven and earth than most people are aware of."

I had to give him credit: He didn't break into laughter. "Most people are blissfully unaware of all the things that go bump in the night," Damon agreed, making his statement sound ominous and mysterious. He really had an impressive repertoire of facial expressions to lend drama to whatever he said, like a brief widening of his eyes and a twitching in the corner of his mouth. "Hey... you know: There was a lady who taught classes about mysticism and occultism at Greenville College... Sheila Bennett. Are you related, by any chance?"

"That's my grams!" Bonnie exclaimed, somewhat proudly. Well, that was a new development, for sure. Up until recently, Bonnie had mostly rolled her eyes when someone mentioned Sheila and her witchcraft.

"So you're even a Bennett witch," Damon remarked with newly piqued interest and, strangely, with something that almost sounded like respect.

"How do you know Sheila?" I asked, curious.

"I knew somebody who knew a distant relative of hers," Damon replied rather vaguely. If Bonnie noticed, she chose not to push for more details. "And what's so special about being a Bennett witch as opposed to being any other witch?" she inquired.

Damon shrugged. "They come from a long line of very powerful witches. Big shoes to fill." He took another sip of his drink. From the look of the amber liquid in his glass it was whisky again. He really seemed to be into the hard stuff. "From what I've heard, your grandmother is quite a formidable and astounding woman, herself..."

Bonnie still seemed oddly suspicious of him. "How come you know so much about my ancestors?"

"Like Elena said – I'm interested in the supernatural aspects of Mystic Falls's history. There's a reason why the town bears this name. There have always been rumors about supernatural forces having a hand in past events. Here, take this church incident, for example..."

He beckoned us over to a model of a wooden church that a diligent member of the society had painstakingly put together. "This was a private chapel on the property of one of the towns founder families. It was burned to the ground during the Civil war – with thirteen people in it."

"The Pierces's family chapel," I nodded. After all, my parents had been members of the Historic Society, so I wasn't totally ignorant of our town's history. "We all know that it was burned down, but I never heard of any victims..."

"Murder is not something to be proud of, so people chose to forget it ever happened."

"Murder?"

"Well, it was in the middle of the war, and the thirteen who were locked into the chapel before it was set on fire had been accused of being traitors. Townspeople called it justice. However, according to some of the old journals, they had been identified not as traitors but as vampires. Locking them into the church and setting it on fire was the council's way of ridding the town of all evil."

"Vampires?" I asked, laughing. "Come on, you're not supposed to take those journals literally! At least one of them was written by a forefather of mine, Jonathan Gilbert. He was a little crazy, and I mean that quite literally."

"Well, you're probably right. As we all know there are no vampires, right?" Damon winked at Bonnie and me before his attention was rather vigorously demanded by Caroline. She was glowing with excitement, a huge smile on her face, as she approached. "Guess what!" she exclaimed, beaming at us. "Carol Lockwood just asked me to become a member of the Mystic Falls Festival Committee. They're the ones organizing all the local activities, like the annual Founders Ball, the Miss Mystic Falls Beauty Pageant, the New Years Holiday Ball and the Spring Festival. And since we're here every other weekend anyway, I thought it'd be really nice participate... What?" She stopped in the middle of her rapture, finally taking notice of our rather stupefied expressions.

"Nothing, Caroline," I said, trying so sound serious while stifling my laughter. "It's great, really. You would definitely be an asset to any committee, and I bet Mrs Lockwood was able to see that. You should tell Damon what all those events are about – he's very interested in local culture and traditions. Come on, Bonnie, let's see if we can find Matt and give these turtle doves some quality time. I wanted to ask if he has any news on Vicky."

Quickly, before Caroline could launch into colorful descriptions of planned events and all the ideas she probably already had to make them even better, I pulled Bonnie out of harm's way. Damon shot me a killing glance, which I returned with a sweet smile. Served him right. Time for him to fulfill his boyfriend duties outside of the bedroom. Okay – scratch that. Mental cinema, unasked pictures. Not going there.

We found Matt easily enough, he was hanging out with Tyler, as far away from the ruckus as possible. Tyler had smuggled a bottle of hard liquor out of the bar, and it seemed as if they both had already been indulging. They seemed to find almost anything we said hilarious and kept laughing their heads off. Since there was no ground for any kind of decent conversation, it was either join in their fun and get buzzed or head off. Bonnie decided to join, I took a trip to the powder room.

While refreshing my lip gloss, Caroline burst in, still figuratively letting off sparkles of rainbow dust. Obediently, I listened to how awesome Mrs. Lockwood was, and how Caroline was going to love organizing all these events – except for the beauty pageant, of course, which she'd much rather participate in as a contestant. Since Damon had already absorbed the first shock waves of her rapture, it was actually possible to get in a word or two.

"Well, I'm glad that you found something in Mystic Falls that piques your interest," I offered in all honesty. Maybe she'd stop whining about how boring the town was.

"Oh, I found more than one thing that piques my interest", Caroline said with a conspirative smile. "Damon has been spicing things up nicely!"

"Please, spare me the details!"

Caroline rolled her eyes and pulled her lipstick out of her handbag. Meeting my face in the mirror, she suddenly got excited again. "Oh my gosh – that necklace is gorgeous! Did you get that from Stefan? Are those stones real?" As she turned to closely examine his gift, I caught a glimpse of skin underneath the multicolored scarf that Caroline was wearing and echoed her gasp, though for utterly different reasons.

"Caroline – what happened to your neck?" I asked, pulling the material down a bit.

"Nothing," she said rather curtly, "it's a mosquito bite."

I frowned at her tone. "That must have been a pretty big mosquito! It got you several times, and your skin is all red and swollen. Since when are you allergic to insects?"

Caroline brushed my hand away and readjusted the scarf, hiding the bruised skin underneath. "I don't know – it's probably a different species here than in California. Never mind. It doesn't bother me, it's not even itching. It just looks nasty, and make-up won't totally cover it, I've tried."

"Well, I guess the scarf came in handy, then. It's pretty."

"Isn't it?" She smiled happily again. "Damon gave it to me as a present. Exquisite, just like the necklace. So – is it a gift of Stefan's?"

"Yes."

She slightly pouted. "I think I'm envious. The scarf is nice, but jewelry... now, that's a totally different gift-level."

"Gift level? I didn't even know that there are levels for gifts..."

"Sure there are. On the first level, it's pralinés and flowers, next comes something more personal, like maybe a gingerbread heart, a scarf or something for your hair. Third level presents are perfumes and jewelry."

"Just out of curiosity: Is there another level after that?"

"Sure there is: Frillies and lingerie. Eventually, a wedding ring."

I briefly wondered where tickets to a baseball match came in. They probably didn't even rank as presents. "Still a long way to go..."

"You're telling me!" She smacked her lips, snapped her lipstick case shut and put it back in her purse. "Back to battle!"

I rolled my eyes as she sauntered out, not really knowing what to do with myself. I didn't want do spoil Jenna's flirting with Mr. Saltzman, nor Caroline's tête-à-tête with Damon. I decided to get some fresh air and stepped out the open patio doors to the lush gardens. The most spectacular blooming bushes were illuminated by hidden spotlights, which turned the entire landscape into a checkerboard of light and dark. Taking in the mild evening air, I aimlessly followed a trail that let to the pond. Or did it deserve to be called a lake? Not thinking of anything in particular and listening to the background chorus of croaking frogs and chirping crickets, I nearly got a heart attack when one of the nearby shadows actually sprang to life as I almost walked into it.

"Oh my God! Damon! You scared me to death!"

"Me? You're the one who nearly jumped on me!" Small wonder. Why did he always have to wear black, anyway? With his close-fitted button-up, the coal black dress pants and his raven hair he was almost invisible in the dark.

I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. "Just – what are you doing here, lurking in the shadows like some..."

"... Werewolf? Vampire? Leprechaun?" He grinned. "I'm sorry." Then, lowering his voice to a secretive whisper he confided: "Actually, I'm hiding – from Caroline."

"Why is that?" I asked back in a hushed voice, playing along.

"I needed a break. She talks faster than I can listen."

"That could be a sign." I meant it as a mild, sarcastic insult to his intelligence, but I wasn't sure if he caught on to it.

"Probably," he agreed. "I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture, anyway. She'd drive me crazy."

This had me frowning. "Caroline does have some annoying traits, but we've been friends since first grade and that means something to me." Above all, it meant that I wouldn't let anyone, least of all her boyfriend, run her down behind her back.

"Duly noted!" he said, giving me that weird look again that I couldn't interpret. His whole attitude might have been flirty, if Damon wasn't constantly wearing that aura of cockiness – as if it was only natural for women to make sheep's eyes at him. Knowing that Caroline was totally unable to read these signals made my hackles rise.

"You know – given that you don't seem to like Caroline all that much," I said, probably sounding pissed, "why don't you just go and direct your attentions elsewhere?"

"Ah, well – she'd probably be thoroughly disappointed if I did."

"She'll get over it fast enough. Just because she's falling fast for a pretty face doesn't mean she's heartbroken just as easily. However, if you should strive to be the man to accomplish that, I swear I'm gonna make you regret it!"

He sighed. "Just why is it that everybody is warning me away from somebody these days?" he asked, clearly not taking any of this seriously. In fact, there was some of his mocking arrogance seeping through, and that ticked me off even more.

"You know, it's really good that you're asking yourself these questions..." I said, mimicking his tone.

"Yeah," he agreed. "That's what my therapist keeps telling me..."

"Well, I'm pleased to hear that you do have a therapist, because you're truly in need of professional help."

"Ouch!" His mouth twitched in mock pain, then turned into naughty a grin. "You know, you've really got spunk, Elena", he said, leaning in a bit, his eyes lighting up as they were boring into mine. "You're smart, too, and feisty... and really beautiful, but I guess you already know that..." I suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights. His face was only inches away from mine as he murmured close to my ear: "I'm beginning to think that I have started out with the wrong girl..." His voice was all honey and seduction, despite the offensiveness of his words. I had the weird feeling that his eyes were searching for something, as if he was trying to seize me, but failing to get a hold.

Something in me snapped. I slapped his face, hard. "You arrogant ass! How dare you say something like that to my face after making out with Caroline? I don't know what game you're trying to play here, but I don't want to be part of it! Let's get one thing straight: I'm not Caroline, and I'm not falling for your pretty face or your honeyed voice, and since that's all you've got, I suggest you go and hunt elsewhere!" With that, I turned on my heels and left him standing there, touching his jaw and looking puzzled.

*'*'*'*'*'*

ALYS

As usual, I had stayed at home most of the weekend, packing a few items that I wanted to take back to Greenville. The dorm room hadn't been spacious enough to bring everything I would have liked to have with me, but the boarding house sure was. When all the stuff was safely put away in two boxes, I headed off for the library.

As much as I despised public places in general, I liked the atmosphere of quiet there, and given that people tended to keep to themselves, I didn't even mind the other visitors. To my surprise, I ran into Elena's cousin Jeremy this time – which seemed odd. From what I had learned about him, library people and books were not really his crowd.

He smiled when I told him so, acknowledging his reputation as potential trouble maker with neither pride nor remorse. "True enough," he said. "But people can always change, can't they?"

I wasn't sure about that, but the thought was surely intriguing. "What made you decide to try?"

He shrugged. "I got a new English teacher. He's pretty cool. He's also new to town and doesn't know anything about anybody. He offered me a fresh start with a clean slate. It would be kind of stupid to turn down an opportunity like that, right?"

Yes. The opportunity to start anew, with a clean slate. Was I going to get such a fresh start with Damon? "You're right, it'd be stupid to turn it down. But most of the time, there's a catch..."

He grinned. "There is. I have to write an essay on poets of the 19th century and their works to earn credits. Thus this trip to the library. I just don't really know where to get started..." His gaze wandered along the lines of shelves, and for a moment, he looked like a lost puppy. Which was kind of funny on a guy of his height and with those biceps.

I happened to adore puppies. I'd always wanted to have one. But I couldn't deny being impressed by his physique, either. Since I was pretty much an expert on 19th century poetry, I offered my help which Jeremy gladly accepted.

Reading poetry, choosing and discarding authors, interpreting their work and putting it in context with their background was actually a lot of fun. As it turned out, Jeremy was a pretty smart kid who even managed to impress me a time or two with his views on things. I just had to remind myself constantly that I wasn't supposed to feel any kind of attraction to him, for various reasons.

It wasn't exactly easy. He was definitely handsome and fun to talk to – and to top it all off, he smelled incredibly good. I really had to control myself not to actually sniff him when sitting next to him. I wondered what Elena would say if she knew what kind of thoughts I'd been entertaining while being around her little cousin. Another thing to add to my growing list of things to feel guilty about. Why did life only ever get more complicated, and never easier?

Since Stefan had already headed back to Greenville on Saturday morning after his evening with Elena, I was left to drive back with the girls on Sunday. Unfortunately, my boxes didn't fit into the car, since everyone had brought their laundry. I would have to ask Stefan to pick them up for me next time he came around. There was nothing in there that I needed urgently, Damon had pretty much stocked me up on everything. The room in the boarding house was ready for my take-over.

Elena was unusually quiet this evening when we were back in our dorm room. Something seemed to be bothering her, I had already noticed it during the ride here. Obviously she didn't want to talk about it then. At least, that's how I had interpreted the glances she had given me while answering my questions about the evening rather vaguely.

"You were right about your brother, Alys," she said now, angrily tossing her freshly washed clothes back into the chest. "Can you believe it – he actually hit on me, right after telling me that his intentions with Caroline weren't honest!" Well, yes, actually, that sounded a lot like Damon. And his intentions with girls were never honest – or at least they hadn't been for roughly a century.

"Have you talked to Caroline about it?" I asked, not quite knowing what to say.

"No. She wouldn't believe me, anyway. She thinks I'm just jealous, can you believe it! It's ridiculous, he's treating her like dirt and she refuses to see it. She's behaving like some of these women who get beaten up by their husbands and still adore them."

Something in my face made Elena frown. "You don't look surprised..."

Of course I wasn't. There was an easy explanation for Caroline's behavior – if only I could be honest and offer it to her. Which I couldn't. But I was so sick of lying, of being evasive, of being vague. This was driving me insane. I didn't want to lose the only friend I had found in years. I sighed. "No, I'm not. It's just something Damon does..." I didn't quite know how to finish this sentence and was struggling for words. Only when I noticed Elena's horror-stricken expression did it occur to me that my sentence, left hanging like that, had taken on a totally different meaning.

"What are you saying? Does Damon have a history of being violent and abusive?"

"No! Hell, no," I quickly corrected myself, "That's not what I meant!" God, Damon would so kill me for even implying it. He could be quite aggressive and impulsive, and I had seen him commit cold-blooded murder, but even though he used women as he pleased, he wouldn't ever hit or violate them. I'd gotten this all wrong. "It's just – there are different ways in which you can use and hurt someone," I finally replied – vaguely, hoping that it would be enough. It obviously wasn't.

"Alys – just what are you trying to tell me?" Elena pushed for an explanation that would actually make some sense.

"Nothing! I'm just telling you that Damon is – well, I don't think he's been honest with either of you..." And neither was I. Otherwise I would tell her to run as fast as she could and just get away from both of us. Frustrated, I opened my wardrobe and started to pull out clothes, shoving them in the suitcase instead of the other way round. "You can have my half of the closet now, too," I said instead. "There's no point in ruining those freshly ironed shirts and dresses by squeezing them into yours."

Elena sighed wistfully. "You're really going through with moving in with him, right? Regardless of how tense things are between you?"

"You are the one who's always advocating second chances. Maybe we'll be able to sort it out. And even if not: With my moving to the boarding house, Damon will have a watchful pair of eyes on his back all the time. I can keep an eye on Caroline, too."

"You're really getting me worried, Alys. Surely it can't be that bad?"

"Trust me on this, Elena. Just stay away from Damon, and I'll do my best to keep him away from Caroline."

Next weeks chapter is one of my favorites: It's got a scene that I stole from 'Twilight', except with Damon, who's so much cooler than Edward. But no worries, he's not going to start sparkling! ;)