Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries and never will, but I do own Charlene Davis and Megan Swann and any other characters I come up with.
Author's Note: Hope you love the updated version! :D
Megan hoped that she didn't regret this as she sat outside of the Mystic Grill while she waited for Stefan to show up.
She had decided to give him a chance to explain himself, but she knew he probably had questions for her too. Megan regretted using her powers on him like that. It was the only she could think of to do so she could get away from Stefan, thus giving away her own secret. It should have been a relief that the secrets were out, but Megan had a feeling he was keeping more secrets from her. She hoped she was wrong. That him being a…vampire was all there is.
The sound of a chair scooting made Megan's head look up and there was Stefan, sitting across from her. She couldn't help but stiffen up a bit, remembering how scared she was. Stefan noticed and winced a little.
"Megan…" he said her name gently.
She just nodded at him before cutting to the chase. "So, you're a vampire?"
"Yes."
"And you'll explain everything?"
Stefan met her gaze, a serious look crossing his face. "I can tell you whatever you want to know."
Megan nodded, licking her lips. "Okay…and I'm guessing you have questions too…about what I did…"
"About you being a witch?" She nodded again. "No, I don't. I figured it out at the dinner party…"
"Oh…" Megan said nothing for a moment. "Well then, I just want to say I'm sorry." She meant it. "I never use my powers like that…but I was scared…" Guilt flashed in Stefan's eyes as he looked down. Without thinking, she reached over and tilted his head back up, causing their eyes to meet. Her thumb brushed his cheek before she realized what she was doing and she dropped her hand, changing the subject back to him. "So, I know that you can eat garlic, so that crossing out that stereotype."
"Yeah." Stefan nodded.
"And somehow, the sun doesn't seem to bother you. What's with that?"
Before he could answer, a waitress showed up with the drinks that they ordered. "Here's your drinks." She said with a bright smile.
Megan smiled back slightly. "Thank you." With that, the waitress left, leaving them alone again.
"We have rings that protect us." This made her glance down at the ring on his finger as he twirled it around. No wonder he didn't want to take it off at the carwash.
"What about Crucifixes?"
"Decorative."
"Holy water?"
"Drinkable."
"Do you sparkle?" Megan couldn't resist a 'Twilight' reference.
Stefan lightly chuckled at that. "No."
"Oh, thank god." Megan sighed in relief. "What about mirrors? Is that myth too?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Myth."
"And you don't have to kill to survive?" she questioned curiously.
"Animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon. He can be very powerful."
Megan frowned. "If that's true, then why did you let him around Caroline? Let him hurt her?" A little bit of anger filled her tone and she didn't bother hiding it, causing Stefan to flinch.
"Forcing Damon not to do something is more dangerous. Trust me."
"That's not an answer, Stefan!" Megan snapped. "He was hurting her! Left marks on her skin, made her confused!"
"He was feeding on her." Stefan explained calmly. "He was able to take away her memories of being bitten, using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have."
"Why are you defending him? That still doesn't make what he did to her okay, don't you know that?"
"Of course I know that! None of this is okay, Megan. None of it."
The black-haired teen took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "Did…did you ever use that mind compulsion on me?" she asked softly, wanting to know.
"No, never." Stefan answered quickly and Megan knew he was telling the truth.
"Okay…so…are there any other vampires besides you and Damon?" Megan asked.
Stefan shook his head. "Not in Mystic Falls; not anymore."
"Not anymore?"
"There was a time when this time was…very much aware of vampires, and it didn't end well for them. That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone."
"I don't know if I can promise that, Stefan." Megan said quietly. "Especially not telling Charlene, I tell her everything. If I promise not to say anything, I won't be able to tell my best friend."
Stefan leaned forward. "Megan…" She met his gaze. "Give me today. I will answer any questions you have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourself what you wanna do with what you know. It'll be your choice."
After thinking about it for a while, Megan licked her lips and nodded. "Okay, I'll give you today."
1864, Mystic Falls…
Abigail Piece walked through the garden, giggling with her older sister Katherine Pierce. She had just arrived to Mystic Falls and she was happy to see her as they hadn't see each other in over a week. Their maid, Emily Bennett, was there too. They had stopped in front of some roses as she spoke up.
"Miss, you're supposed to have tea with Mr. Lockwood now." She reminded Katherine.
"Oh yes," Katherine said, glancing at Emily with a smile. "I had forgotten about that." She looked over at Abigail, "I'll be seeing you later." She kissed her sister on both of her cheeks before picking up her skirts and leaving the garden with Emily right behind her.
Abigail smiled to herself as she turned back to roses and she sniffed one of them, closing her eyes as the beautiful scent went up her nose. A touch on her shoulder caused her to jump and turn to face the person who had touched her shoulder. In front of her, there stood the most gorgeous man Abigail had ever seen in her life… He had curly black hair, beautiful blue eyes, and wore a Confederate uniform. She had a feeling that this was Damon Salvatore, Stefan's older brother, as Stefan had mentioned his brother was off fighting in the army. Abigail snapped out of her staring when Damon spoke.
"I, um, sorry for startling you." He cleared his throat nervously. "But I don't think we've met before."
Abigail couldn't help but smile at his nervousness. "I don't think so, sir, but if I may guess, you're Damon Salvatore."
Damon looked surprised but he covered it up quickly. "Yes Miss, that's me, how did you know?"
"Oh your brother, Stefan, told me a lot about you." Abigail explained.
"All good things I hope," Damon joked with a charming smile. Abigail giggled and his smile widened.
"Yes, all good things." Abigail said, nodding with a smile.
"Well, you know me, but I don't know you," Damon responded. "What's your name if I may ask?"
"Oh how rude of me." Abigail curtsied to him, smiling. "I'm Abigail…Abigail Pierce. Pleasure to meet you, sir."
Damon smiled down at the woman in front of him and he grabbed her hand, kissing the back of it. "Pleasure's all mine Miss Pierce," he said charmingly.
Abigail giggled again, "Please just call me Abigail or just simply Abby."
"Then you must call me Damon."
Abigail nodded with a bright, happy grin on her face. He offered her his arm which she gladly took and they strolled through the garden.
Present…
Charlene sat down on the ground, knees pulled up to her chest in living room of the Salvatore boarding house. She was scared. What was Damon going to do to her? At the moment, he hadn't done anything to hurt her…but that could change. He was a vampire. She watched enough vampires' movies and books, so she knew that they could be impulsive, but this was neither a book nor a movie. This was real life…and Charlene would be killed if she wasn't careful.
Her eyes looked around before landing on Vicki, who was passed out of the couch. Charlene's heart clenched at the sight of her limp body. She hated seeing her like that, even though she didn't like Vicki, no one should have this happen to them. Charlene hoped the youngest Donavan wouldn't die…for Jeremy's sake…for Matt…oh god. Matt. He must be so worried about her.
Charlene's eyes welled with tears and she buried her face into her knees. What about Elena and Jenna? Have they noticed she hadn't been around? If they had, why haven't they started looking for her? Then again, they would just assume she was with Megan, so there was nothing to worry about. Charlene lifted her head at the sound of Damon's voice. He was on the phone, talking into it. It sounded like he was leaving a message for someone.
"Where are you, Stefan." Damon growled into the speaker. "I'm trapped at the house, and I'm getting really bored and really impatient, and I don't do bored and impatient. Bring me my ring. Damnit." With that, he hung up the phone and tossed it to the floor angrily.
Charlene flinched and made a small noise, catching Damon's attention. She jumped when he was suddenly on his knees before her.
"Get away from me." Charlene managed to say as she tried to back away from him. It was no use since she was already against a wall. Damon smirked, watching her as she tried to get away.
"Oh calm down, I'm not going to hurt you, Charlene." He said, reaching forward and brushing a lock of hair from in front of her eyes. He tucked it behind her ear, then brushed his thumb across her cheek.
Charlene shivered unpleasantly and jerked her face away. "Don't touch me!" she hissed. "If you're going to kill me, just do it already, Damon!"
He chuckled darkly. "Don't tempt me."
"You already tried to kill me, so why don't you just finish the job?!"
"I didn't try to kill you." Damon said. "I fed from you, there's a difference."
Charlene glared at him as she stood up to her feet, done with being afraid. "Explain to me how that's different." She argued.
"Because if I had killed you instead of feeding from you, you would be dead right now." Damon told her with a smirk.
He had a point, but Charlene only hardened her glare. "So what, it still doesn't make it right with what you did! Do you even care?"
"No. I don't." Damon said seriously. "Like you said, I'm a monster. And monsters don't care." He glared back at her before he turned around, heading towards Vicki. He clicked his tongue. "Aw, don't get blood on the couch!"
Charlene slowly walked forward, worried for Vicki. What was Damon going to do?
"Please? I got you good, didn't I?" Vicki didn't answer and he sighed heavily, getting onto the couch next to her. "You're not going to be any fun today. I'm so gonna regret this."
Charlene watched in horror as his face changed and he bit into his wrist, blood flowing from the wound. He pressed his wrist against Vicki's mouth forcefully. She should have stopped him but she was too much in shock to do anything. The only thing she could do was…just watch.
Vicki struggled for a bit before she eventually gave in, grabbing onto Damon's arm and bringing his wrist closer to her mouth. In response, he stroked her hair.
"Drink up." Damon encouraged. "Drink it up. Don't drip. There you go." Vicki seemed to be enjoying it from the moans she was giving off while she drank his blood and Charlene nearly felt like throwing up, her arms wrapping around herself to keep from falling apart. "Good girl. That's it."
As he did this, his eyes met Charlene's frightened ones. He showed no concern for her in those blue eyes of his.
Whatever she had seen in him before, it was gone.
Driving through the woods in her car, Megan wondered where Stefan was leading her. If she hadn't known he was going to give her answers, she would have thought he was taking her away to kill her. Luckily, that wasn't happening.
They drove for a while until Stefan spoke up. "Stop here."
Confused, Megan stopped the car and looked outside the window. They were in the middle of nowhere, then she looked back at Stefan. "What are we doing here?"
He got out of the car, not answering her, and Megan followed in suit. She stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
"I want to show you something." Stefan told her, turning around to look at her.
Megan looked at him in sudden amusement. "You want to show me something in the middle of nowhere?"
"This…didn't use to be nowhere." Stefan said as he turned back around, gazing into the field. "Used to be my home."
Surprised, Megan stared at his back. He started walking further down the field and she followed him only to stop in the middle of what used to be a home. There was a few statues around and Megan gazed at one of them.
"This place looks so…" she trailed off.
"Old?" Stefan finished.
"Well, I was gonna say outdated, but yeah…old."
He chuckled. "That's because they are."
"Wait a minute…" Her eyes widened in realization. "If this was your home, then you must be…"
"I've been seventeen years old since 1864."
Megan's eyes widened even more if that was possible. "Whoa…that's a massive age difference."
Stefan chuckled in amusement. "Yeah…" She slowly shook her head. "You said you wanted to know. I'm not gonna hold anything back. Half a century before the boarding house was even built, this was my family home. Damon and I…we were both born here. The Salvatore brothers, the best of friends…"
This made her stare at Stefan in shock. They…they were friends?
1864, Mystic Falls…
Damon and Stefan Salvatore ran out of their home with Damon holding a football.
"Wait," Stefan said as they stopped in the field still close to the house. "Where did you learn to play this game?
"Camp outside of Atlanta," Damon replied. "One of the officers picked it up from Harvard. Catch!" He threw the ball at Stefan, who easily caught it.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" he exclaimed as Damon charged at him. "What are the rules? What are the rules?"
"Who needs rules?"
Katherine Pierce's voice sounded in an amused tone. Stefan and Damon turned towards their home as the Pierce sisters and their best friend, Demetria, came out of their home.
"Mind if we join you?" Abigail asked, looking over at Damon with a smile who immediately smiled back at her.
Stefan practically gazed at Demetria, still memorized with her beauty even though she had been here for weeks. Damon nudged him in the side, snapping him out of his gaze. Stefan cleared his throat, embarrassed, as the girls stepped off the last step of the stairs.
"Uh, well, you three could, uh—you three could get hurt. My brother likes to play rough." He tried, trying not to sound rude.
Demetria smirked seductively as she stepped closer to him, leaning her face towards his. "Somehow I think you play rougher." She whispered, now smiling teasingly as Abigail took the football from Damon and the blonde started running with a wide smile with Katherine and Demetria following right behind her. Stefan looked after Demetria in awe as she glanced back at him, winking before disappearing along with her sisters.
Damon nudged him in the side again, causing him to look over at his older brother. "What are you just standing there for? There's girls clearly want to be chased." He smiled widely. "If you don't do it, then I will." That said, he chased after them with Stefan soon following right behind him.
Present…
"So…then that means…you knew Demetria back in 1864?" Megan shook her head, unable to believe. "Wow, Damon made it seem like it was just yesterday."
Stefan nodded as he turned to gaze at her. "Damon was trying to make you think that…I was still heartbroken. He saw that I was happy with you, and he wanted to ruin it."
"But why?"
"He loved Abigail…but she died in the same tragic fire that Demetria and Katherine did…so I guess he saw that I found someone I could be happy with…and he hadn't."
It made sense, so she didn't say anything as they walked around the ruins, her mind going over everything Stefan had told her.
Charlene was currently sitting down on the couch, bored out of her mind. There was music blaring through the boarding house that Damon had started playing. It was good music, but Charlene wasn't in the mood to be do any dancing, especially not here with the man who hurt her and was keeping her basically hostage.
Speaking of Damon, he was drinking and walking around the living room without a care in the world with the buttons of his shirt undone. If it had been before she wouldn't be able to help herself from staring at his bare chest, but instead, Charlene glared at him as he turned his head to look at her and he sighed heavily.
"Still mad at me, huh?" She didn't respond. "Well, that's unfortunate. I was gonna offer you a drink." He gestured to the bottle of bourbon.
"I don't want anything from you." Charlene said stiffly.
Damon smirked. "Keep telling yourself that, Charlie."
She flinched at the nickname but before she could yell at him for it, Vicki appeared, fresh from a shower and looking better than ever. There was even a bounce to her step.
"Oh man!" Vicki groaned in delight. "That shower was so great! What did you give me?"
Before Damon could answer, Charlene stood up from her spot. "Vicki, are you alright?" she asked.
Vicki looked like she had finally noticed the blonde there. "Charlene? What are you doing here?"
Charlene would have responded if Damon hadn't interrupted her to answer Vicki's question.
"Some blood." He told her, going up next to Charlene. He got a little close for her liking and she went to back away but he grabbed her arm, keeping her from doing so. "You loved it."
Vicki's nose scrunched up in confusion. "I did? Wait, I'm confused. How did we get here?"
"We met in the woods. You were drunk. I attacked you. Then I killed all your friends, except for Charlene here." Damon squeezed her arm but he kept his eyes on Vicki's, his dilating as a dazed look crossed her face. "And brought you here, gave you some blood. You loved it. And now, we're gonna party until the sun goes down."
"Okay." Vicki said without hesitation as the dazed look disappeared. Charlene was taken back by this. So that was how Damon was able to keep her from running…some kind of…compulsion? "Um, but first, can I have another hit? That blood was so good."
Damon smirked widely. "Only if I can." He bit into his wrist and gave it to Vicki to feed her.
Charlene was disgusted, watching this from close. She thought he would just feed from Vicki, but he had other thoughts as he tugged her forward. Before she could yell, his fangs had already extended and sliced through the skin of her neck. Charlene gasped in pain, trying to get him off of her but he just sucked on her neck harder, taking in more blood.
"Mm…" Damon moaned into her neck, using his free hand to bring her neck close to his mouth.
Surprisingly, pleasure went through her and Charlene couldn't help the moan that escaped her mouth. He finally pulled away, his fangs dripping with her blood.
Staring at him with a dazed but tired look, Charlene reached up and traced his prodding veins. Why…why did he look so fascinating now? Slowly, she dropped her hand as he suddenly ripped into his other wrist and fed her his blood. Charlene should have struggled against him doing this, but she was too tired to do so. She drank his blood greedily. It wasn't as gross as she thought it would be.
This was definitely something she never thought she would do in a million years. But here she was, drinking blood from the man that hurt her.
All the information Stefan had given her was still weighing on Megan's mind. It was a lot to take in, but she was glad he was telling because she needed to know this stuff. However, it wasn't enough to convince her that she shouldn't tell anyone about what she had learned.
Stefan suddenly stopped, causing Megan to nearly bump into his back. He reached down and pulled out a ring from under a ruin. It was the same ring that he had, so Megan knew it had to be Damon's ring.
"Is that Damon's ring?" she asked, just to make sure.
"I took it from him, but I have to give it back."
Megan's eyes went wide at that. "What?! No, you can't do that, Stefan!" She grabbed his arm. "Are you honestly considering giving his ring back? He could hurt someone if he's able to get out in the daylight."
"Megan, if I don't give it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way he knows he can hurt me."
She slowly blinked. "What would that be?"
His eyes met hers. "By hurting you."
Megan said nothing before she shook her head and spoke. "I rather him hurt me, than to hurt the people I care about. You know you can't give him the ring back, but I can't stop you from giving it back to him. So, you do what you have to do."
Charlene had never felt the feeling of being high. She wasn't the type to use drugs, or anything like that but she ever was, this must be how being high feels like. But instead of being high on drugs, Charlene was high off of blood and it was a strange feeling and something her body wasn't used to.
She wasn't jumping up off the wall like Vicki, who was currently dancing rapidly to the music Damon was playing, while she was stretched across the couch, lazily drinking from the bottle of bourbon she ended up taking from Damon, who hadn't gotten angry about it. He was probably just glad she wasn't being moody bitch.
If anyone could see her now, they wouldn't think they were looking at the same person, but it was.
Charlene's eyes went to Vicki. The brunette was still bouncing along with the music while she ranted about Tyler. Something she rolled her eyes at. She didn't like hearing about Tyler, especially not from the girl who he cheated on her with. Not only that, she had just been with her brother, so that made what Vicki was saying extremely uncomfortable. Charlene was only half listening to what the brunette was talking about.
"I am so over Tyler, so over him!" Vicki groaned, tossing her head back. "I knew from the beginning that I was only a piece off ass to him and I would put out because Charlene, over here, wouldn't stop being such a prude!"
The blonde sat up quickly at the mention of her name. "Hey!"
Vicki simply rolled her eyes while Damon smirked. "Sorry…well not really…but still! It's true!" Charlene glared at her but she didn't even see it as she went on. "But I thought maybe if he got to know me better, he might see something more!" She tossed herself to the floor, being a bit dramatic for Charlene's taste. "But no!" She lifted herself back up and bounced, tossing her head along with the music as Damon took a drink from his own bottle of bourbon. "Now, Jeremy, on the other hand, that's all he ever seen in me is something more, and I like that." She grinned giddily.
"Well, I have no idea why." Charlene said with a sneer, sounding a bit mean. It was loud enough for Vicki to hear, earning a heatedly glare from her.
"Bitch." Vicki bit out.
"Better than being a slut." Charlene countered back. Anger and hatred flashed in Vicki's eyes but she couldn't bring herself to care.
"Now girls, no need to fight." Damon said but from the look on his face, he was loving the cat fight that was brewing between the two females.
'It was probably a turn on for him.' Charlene thought disgustedly. However, both of them just ignored him. Except for what he said next.
"When you mean Jeremy, you mean Charlene and Elena's little brother?"
The blonde could practically see the gears spinning in his head. "Don't you even think about it!" she growled. Damon just shrugged innocently, taking a swing of his drink. Her fingers tightened around her bottle as she got madder at Damon.
"Yeah, yeah!" Vicki answered, not noticing how ticked off Charlene was getting. "So, Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together, and Charlie over here was with Tyler, so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me…" She abruptly changed the subject, moving closer to Damon. "Hey! Why don't you have a girlfriend? You're, like, totally cool and hot."
Charlene scoffed as Damon smirked smugly. "I know."
"Don't you wanna be in love?" It was an innocent question, especially coming from Vicki Donavan, but Charlene could see the emotion in Damon's eyes.
"I've been in love. It's painful and pointless and overrated."
"Except when it's not."
Damon cut her off by spinning her around and bringing him back towards her, making Vicki gasp in surprise. "No more talking. Let's dance." Vicki was easily agreeable. They danced for a while until he let her go to dance by herself and he went over to Charlene. "Dance with me?"
"Yeah, I don't think so." She snapped and got up from the couch to move away but Damon tugged her towards him, bringing her to his chest. She struggled a bit but stopped when he whispered in her ear.
"Come on, just dance with me…and I'll give you more blood. I know you liked that…"
Just because she liked it, it didn't mean she was interested in doing it again. Charlene shoved him away.
"I said no." she hissed as she whirled around and stomped away to try and find the restroom in this massive house. She found the restroom, finding the nearest one in the hallway, near the kitchen.
After she finished, Charlene returned to the living room only to gasp in horror as Damon grasped Vicki's head and snapped her neck in one quick swipe.
"VICKI!" Charlene shouted in horror and she raced forward, trying to catch the girl's broken body from falling to the floor. Damon didn't give her the chance, shoving her against the nearest wall, and she struggled wildly in his grip. "LET GO OF ME! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"
"I ended her pathetic human life." His lips twisted in a sadistic smirk. "But don't worry, she'll be back. Given she won't be the same, but she'll be alive…sort of."
Charlene's heart pounded in her chest at his words, hoping he wasn't saying what she thought he was.
"And so will you."
This made her eyes widen. "No! Please Damon, don't do it!" she begged as she began welling up with tears. "Please!"
Damon titled his head to the side and wiped her tears. "Oh don't cry." He told her, stroking her cheek. "It won't hurt one bit…"
Charlene was about to plead with him again but before she could, he snapped her neck and she knew no more...
After what seemed like forward, Charlene awoke with a sharp gasp and she blinked to regain her vision. Immediately, her head started hurting, causing her to moan in discomfort. Not only did her heart hurt, her gums hurt too. Charlene sat up and noticed Vicki had woken up to, groaning.
"What happened?" She rubbed her head as she stood up shakily. "We were dancing, and then…"
"Then I killed you." Damon responded bluntly. "Oh, and I killed Charlene too."
Charlene would have felt her heart race, but she couldn't feel it. She finally realized what was going on way before Vicki did and she stared at Damon in horror.
"No…" she whispered lowly. No…no…no! This was not happening! She…she couldn't…
"What?" Vicki stared at him, confused.
"You're dead."
"I'm dead?"
"Yeah, well, let's not make a big deal about it." Damon rolled his eyes, slipping his shirt back on and fixing the buttons. "You drank my blood, I killed you, and now you have to feed in order to complete the process."
As he said this, it made in more real and Charlene sobbed, but it was more like a dry sob since she was producing actual tears. No…this couldn't be happening. No. she couldn't be a vampire…but she was…and now she had to feed on an actual human to complete it. But what if she didn't? What would happen then?
Vicki, on the other hand, didn't believe him. "You're wasted." She started heading out, picking up her stuff as she did so.
"You don't want to be out there all alone." Damon warned her. "You're about to get real freaky."
The brunette shook her head, just groaning to herself. "Okay…I had a nice time. I just wanna go home." She nearly tripped over her but Charlene managed to stop her from falling. Afterwards, Vicki shoved the blonde away. "Go away, I don't need your help."
"But…" Charlene tried to protest but Damon stopped her.
"Just let her go." He said. "She's gonna regret it though." Then he spoke to Vicki. "You're gonna start craving blood, and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful." He moved in front of her to block her off.
"Come on, move." Vicki tried to shove him away but it was a weak shove, so it didn't do much.
"See? You're already falling apart."
If she was, then why wasn't Charlene? She felt pretty normal. Her head hurt, sure, and so did her gums, but other than that, she didn't feel any different. Oh, and she couldn't feel her heart beating against her chest.
Vicki pushed him on the chest again and Damon moved. "And I'm going home now."
"Okay, fine." Damon held his hands up in surrender. "I'm just warning you." He glanced at Charlene, a smirk growing before he looked back at Vicki. "Actually, you know what? You should go. In fact, if I were you, I'd stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house."
Eyes going wide in horror, she gave a shout. "No!" Angry, Charlene glared heatedly and her gums hurt even more. She let out a whimper and nearly fell to her knees from the pain and she went over to couch, sinking down into the cushions. So, she couldn't stop Vicki from leaving. Once she left, Damon headed over to her and kneeled before her, brushing the hair away from her face.
"There's nothing to worry about Charlene, I'm sure she won't hurt him…much." He smirked.
A snarl escaped her lips. With the strength she now processed, Charlene shoved Damon to the ground, grasping him by the throat tightly. It took him by surprise if the look on his face was any hint.
She slammed his head to the ground. "You dick!" she hissed. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Sending Vicki to my house where HUMAN aunt, sister, and brother are at!"
Instead of responding, Damon flipped her over and slammed her head down, making her gasp in pain.
"Don't get cocky, Charlene." He growled, close to her face. "I'm much, much older than you…and I can snap you like a twig. Don't make me regret turning you."
He released her neck and she gasped for breath that she didn't even need anymore, coughing loudly. Damon glanced at her coughing form before he left the room completely.
"I know you said you didn't compel me, but why haven't you?" Megan asked suddenly, causing Stefan to stop and turn to look at her.
"Because of that necklace." He nodded towards the necklace around her neck, the one Stefan had given her.
"The necklace?" Megan voiced as she looked down at it, confused as she wondered how a necklace could stop a vampire from compelling someone.
He nodded. "It contains an herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Damon's influence. But I also wanted to…protect you from me…" Megan glanced up at him and her eyes softened at the seriousness in them as he stepped closer to her. "Megan, you should never take that necklace off…because no matter what happens after today, no matter how you feel about me…you'll know you were free to make your own choice."
Her fingers gripped onto her necklace. There was so much passion in his words, and Megan now knew for a fact that Stefan would never hurt her. Though she knew this, she still had no idea whether or not if she would keep his secret. So, she still needed the rest of the day.
Megan opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. Pulling out her cell phone, she looked at the caller id. It was Elena.
"Hello?" Megan greeted, answering the call. Elena sounded frantic on the other end of the phone. "Okay…okay…calm down. I'll be there as soon as I can." She hung up the phone and looked to Stefan, a worried look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"Charlene hasn't been home since the car wash." Megan answered, starting to head back over to her. "There's something wrong…I can feel it…"
When they made it to Elena's house, there was entirely other thing going. Matt, Elena, and Jeremy were all gathered in the kitchen, looking concerned at a frantic Vicki.
Megan knew something was wrong. There was a bad aura in the room, coming from the direction of Vicki.
"What's happening?" Megan spoke up, gathering the attention of the rest of the group.
"She's really messed up."
Megan was about to stop forward to try and help but Stefan grabbed her arm top stop her. "Megan, back up." He headed towards Vicki and grasped his face in his hands as she stared after him, confused. "Vicki, look at me. Focus." Her eyes met his and he kept her gaze. "Everything's gonna be fine." Then he looked towards Elena, Matt, and Jeremy. "Guys, take her up to bed. Shut the blinds. Come on, come on."
Matt and Jeremy took Vicki upstairs but Elena stayed behind, going up to Megan.
"I'm really worried about Charlene." She said worriedly. "I've tried calling her but she's not answering."
"I'm sure she's fine, Lena." Megan tried to reassure her as she went up to her and rubbed her shoulders. "Maybe she's took some extra shifts at work?"
"Maybe…" she mumbled. "If you hear from her…just let me know…and that I'm going to kill her when she comes back."
Megan laughed softly. "I will." Elena went upstairs with Jeremy and Matt, causing her to turn towards Stefan, frowning. "What was that about? Do you know what's wrong with Vicki?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, what is it?"
"She's transitioning."
"What do you mean…?" Megan trailed off as her eyes widened and brought one of her hands up to her mouth. "No…she's…"
Knowing what she was thinking, he nodded sadly. "Yeah…she's transitioning into a vampire."
"Oh my god…" she breathed.
"Damon must have gotten to her. She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation."
"H-h-how the hell does she do that?" Megan questioned.
"She has to feed on human blood."
Though she probably knew the answer to her question, but Megan asked anyway. "What happens if she doesn't?"
"She'll die. She may only have a few hours."
"Why did you send her upstairs with Matt, Jeremy, and Elena?!" she exclaimed in horror. "She could hurt them!"
He placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's okay." He reassured, but Megan didn't feel reassured. "She doesn't know what's happening to her yet."
"When will she know? Will it be sometime soon?"
"Right now, she doesn't remember anything." Stefan started to explain with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start coming back, and then she has to make the choice."
Megan crossed her arms. "Like the one you made?" There was no judgement, just a simple question.
He didn't have time to say anything before out of nowhere, Vicki came running and Matt and Jeremy were quick to follow.
"Vicki!"
"She was fine, and then she just…freaked out!"
"I'm gonna go look for her. Call me if you hear anything." Matt left quickly.
"Stefan…" Megan said, worry in her voice.
"I can track her." He told her quickly.
"Go!" Stefan didn't have to be told twice and he hurried out the door.
Megan couldn't help but worry her bottom lip, hoping Vicki would be found before anything bad happened. Her mind went back to Charlene and decided to try to call her. Despite what she told Elena, with what happened with Vicki, she hoped nothing like that happened to her best friend.
Stefan found Vicki at the cemetery leaning against a grave and she was sobbing. It hurt to see her like that.
"Vicki." He said her name gently.
Vicki looked up at him immediately, her face tearstained. "I'm starting to remember things, what he is, what he said. I remember you. The hospital, the — the rooftop, it's all coming back."
"I'm so sorry." Stefan apologized, meaning it wholeheartedly. "Damon had no right to do this to you.
"He said that I needed to feed," Vicki breathed, her chest heaving hard. "What will happen if I don't?"
"You'll fade quickly…" Stefan trailed off but he continued a minute later. "And then, it'll all just be over."
"I'll be dead." She sobbed as she leaned her head back, tears falling from her eyes.
"Hey…" Stefan said in a comforting tone of voice as he slowly kneeled beside her.
"I don't want this…" Vicki sobbed again.
He gently touched her leg. "I know, it'll be okay…" he told her gently. "You're gonna be okay. I'll help you."
"Is it better?" Vicki whispered her question out. "Is it better? Will I be better?" Stefan looked down at the ground guiltily, unable to answer Vicki's question. "I wanna go home…will you take me home?" The question came out in a sob.
Stefan nodded, "Okay." He stood up and was just about to help Vicki up when there was a loud bang of a gunshot. While Vicki looked at him. Stefan looked down at himself seeing a gunshot wound his chest, blood seeping out of it.
Logan suddenly appeared gun in hand pointing at Stefan who fell the ground and groaned in pain. Logan got closer to him with the gun still pointing at Stefan. He bent down to him and pushed as hard as he could on the wound. Stefan stared up at him with pain filled eyes. Logan quickly took out a wooden stake.
"No!" Vicki screamed as Logan was about to stab him in the heart with the stake.
But then…Stefan watched with stunned horror as Charlene appeared out of nowhere, her face in full vampire mode, and she bit harshly into Logan's neck. The Fell screamed while he was getting drained of blood. This went on as Damon showed up and hurried over to Stefan. He plunged his fingers into his brother's wound and Stefan groaned as he took out the bullet from his chest. Charlene finally pulled back and tossed Logan's body off to the side. Her face turned back to normal with Logan's blood all over her mouth. Charlene's eyes met Stefan, causing a guilty look to appear on her face.
"I'm so sorry…" Charlene whispered. "I…I didn't want this…"
Stefan believed her but he couldn't believe Damon had gotten to her too. He cursed himself for bringing Charlene and Megan into this mess. His thoughts were broken by Damon speaking.
"It's wood." He said eying the bullet in-between his fingers. He titled his head to Logan, who they didn't notice was being fed on by Vicki. He wiped his mouth off and he looked down at Stefan with a smirk. "If anyone's going to kill you, it's going to be me. My ring."
Stefan took the ring out of his pocket and handed it to Damon.
"Mmm." Damon hummed as he slipped the ring on his finger and glanced down at it, glad to have it back.
Stefan turned his head towards Logan, finally noticing the fact that Vicki was sucking Logan's blood. "No! No! Vicki!" He exclaimed.
Vicki looked up from Logan, blood all over her face. She glanced back down at the body as she wiped her mouth before looking back at Stefan.
"I'm sorry," Vicki whispered, then she rushed off, leaving Damon and Stefan alone.
"Oops," Damon said. He patted Stefan on the shoulder and stood up. He noticed something on the ground and he went over to it, picking it up. Damon smirked seeing that it was thing he had been looking for. Then he turned to Charlene and nodded his head. "Come on, Charlene."
She left with him reluctantly, but not with one more glance towards Stefan.
Stefan stared after them, forcing himself up to his feet. How was he going to explain what happened to Charlene…to Megan? She was never going to forgive him for this.
After what seemed like forever waiting for Stefan to come back, Megan was sitting outside of Elena's house when he came back. She had just finished trying Charlene once again, but like before, she didn't pick up.
When he stepped up on the porch, Megan immediately noticed he was bleeding and she was worriedly instant. "Stefan! You're bleeding!" she exclaimed, concerned as she stepped over to him and touched his body to make sure nothing else was injured.
"It's okay." Stefan grasped her hands, stopping her. "I'm okay." He squeezed them before his expression changed to a more solemn one. "I couldn't stop her. I tried."
Her heart nearly stopped. "What do you mean?"
"She fed, and then I lost her."
Megan couldn't believe it. "Oh my god…"
"And there's something else…" Stefan glanced down at his feet. "Charlene…she…"
"What?" Megan demanded.
"Damon…he must have got to her too…he turned her…and she completed the transition…"
As soon as he told her this, everything seemed to freeze and Megan felt lightheaded. "No…no…she can't…she can't be a vampire! Not by best friend...you have to be lying…you have to be…"
"I wish I was Megan…" he said softly. "But I'll take care of it. I'll find Vicki…and I will show both her and Charlene that they can live I do. I will make sure they don't hurt anybody, Megan. I promise."
"What the hell am I supposed to tell Elena and Jeremy about their sister…and Matt?" she asked herself quietly.
"We'll make up a story…"
"In other words, you want me to lie!" Megan spit out.
"I'm sorry…"
She took a deep breath and let it out. "I know you are…but I can't do this…you gave me today and I know what I have to do…" she said. She said nothing for a moment. "I'll keep your secret, Stefan…but I can't be with you…not with this shit going on. I'm sorry…"
He didn't say anything as he slowly left and disappeared. Megan wanted to cry as she watched him leave. She hated to do this…but it had to be done. For her sake…and for the sake of her family and friends.
TBC...
In...
Haunted, Part 1