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

Tyler walked to his car after the end of his football practice, "Alright later man!"

"See ya bro!" One of his team mates yelled back to him as he headed to his car.

Before he could make it to his car, Tyler felt some sort of presence behind him so he looked around. There was nothing there… He shook his head, deciding that it was just his imagination, so he started walking again to his car. Once he was there, Tyler went to the back of his car and opened the trunk, putting his bag in it. He opened the driver seat and slipped into his car.

"Hi Ty."

Tyler jumped as he turned to face the familiar voice and he was shocked to find Vicki in the passenger seat. "Vicki!" he exclaimed as the brunette looked down at the floor of the car. "Everybody's been looking for you."

"I know…" she whispered out, and she still wouldn't meet his gaze for some reason Tyler didn't know.

A worried look appeared on Tyler's face. "Are you alright Vic?"

"I'm so cold." She responded, shivering all over.

"Are you on drugs?" Tyler continued questioning her. "Everyone thinks you're off on a bender."

Vicki sighed, her shoulders shaking. "I wish…"

"What happened in those woods, Vicki? Those kids that were killed, what did you see?"

She finally looked up at him as tears spilled over and dripped down her cheeks. "I'm so scared!" She sobbed loudly.

"Come here…" Tyler said soothingly as he pulled her into a tight hug and stroked her hair. "It's okay. I'll take you home.'

Vicki pulled back from the hug with tears still falling down her face. "I can't control it," she said, her voice shaking.

"Control what?" Tyler asked, confusion clear in his voice.

"I am so … hungry Ty," Vicki responded. Her voice sounding tight as if she was suppressing something and she looked like she was going to fall apart at any second. "And it won't go away."

"What are you on? What drugs did you take?"

Vicki growled so lowly under her breath that Tyler didn't hear her as she threw herself at him, burying her face into his neck. "I want it," she mumbled into his neck. "I'm so hungry, Ty."

"Okay, look, I'll get you something to eat. Just sit back." Tyler told her while he pushed her off of him gently. "Look, let's just get you home, Vicki."

He let out a scream when Vicki's face changed before his eyes into that of a demonic demon. He found himself out of his car as Vicki jumped onto his and forced his neck to the side. Just as she was about to bite him, she found herself being held back.

"Let go of me!" Vicki screeched, struggling in the arms of Stefan Salvatore.

Tyler quickly got to his feet and started to run but he stopped dead in his tracks when Damon Salvatore appeared in front of him. He looked to where Vicki was only to find Stefan holding her back. His eyes widened

"What's going on here, Stefan?" Tyler demanded once the surprise wore off. "What's wrong with her?"

"You don't talk," Damon said in a threatening voice as Tyler looked over at him.

Tyler scowled at the unknown man, "Screw you, dude."

"'Dude really?" Damon said sounding exasperated. "'Dude."

"Damon, don't," Stefan warned, still holding who by then had stopped trying to struggle.

Damon scoffed as he looked at his brother. "Oh come on," he said. "Who's going to miss this idiot?"

As soon as he said this, Tyler punched him into the face. Damon looked unfazed by this, of course.

"Don't you hurt him?!" Vicki growled loudly as she started to struggle again.

Before Tyler could even blink, he found himself being held by the neck, causing his breathing to be cut off. He tried to get Damon's hands off of him but it was no use…and he stopped when the black haired vampire stared into his eyes.

"Forget what you saw here tonight," Damon said, his pupils dilating as a blank look appeared on Tyler's face. "None of us were here."

With that, Damon tossed him over the car and Tyler fell to the ground loudly. He groaned in pain as he slowly got off of the ground and he looked around the empty parking lot bewithered, thinking,

'What in the hell just happened?'

"Where the hell are you, Charlene Gilbert?!"

Charlene winced as her sister yelled at her over the phone. She was sitting in the Salvatore study, along with Vicki, Damon, and Stefan, trying to come up with something to tell her family why she was going to be gone for…god knows how long. Charlene hated lying, but she had no other choice. Even if she could tell the truth, who knew whether or not Elena would believe her. Charlene would rather stay stuck in a house than outside where she could hurt someone. That was the last thing she wanted to do, especially someone she cared about.

"I'm sorry, Lena." Charlene apologized, meaning it completely. "But…I just needed to get away for a while. I'm gonna be back, I promise." She heard her sister breathe heavily on the other end of the phone before her sister spoke again, her voice quiet.

"Did I do something?"

"No." Charlene's answer was instant. "It has nothing to do with you…it's just me…I just needed to get away from Mystic Falls just for a little bit. I'm not gonna be gone long." At least she hoped she wouldn't be.

There was a pause for a moment. "Okay…I'll tell Jenna…you do what you have to do, Charlie. I love you."

"I love you too, Lena. Always remember that…and tell Jeremy I love him too."

"I will. Bye…"

"Bye…" With that, Charlene hung up the phone and she slumped back in her seat, running her hand down her face. "Ugh, I hate lying to her like that…" She glanced up at Stefan, who shifted in his seat guiltily. She knew he felt bad that this happened to her but it wasn't his fault. It was Damon's.

Before Stefan could say anything to her, the whiny voice of Vicki Donavan interrupted him, causing Charlene to roll her eyes.

"I don't understand why I have to stay cooped up in here." She groaned. "Why can't I just go home?"

"Because you're changing, Vicki, and that's not something you want to do alone."

And the fact you could kill someone. Charlene wanted to add in sarcastically but she kept herself from saying.

"Charlene."

She looked up at Damon, an annoyed look crossing her face. "What Damon?"

"No need to be so hostile." He said, annoying her even more. Oh, she could be more than just hostile after what he did to her.

Seeing the look on Charlene's face, Stefan glared at him. "Damon, stop."

His older brother rolled his eyes as he turned his eyes back to the newspaper he was reading. "All I was gonna say, is that there's nothin' about that Logan guy Charlene killed in here."

Charlene flinched at the mention of that. Of course, he would remind her of that. She still regretted doing that, even if Logan Fell was a dick who treated her aunt like shit and he would have killed Stefan if she hadn't done anything.

"Not a word." Damon went on. "Someone's covering it up." He picked up the compass he found, next to Logan's body, and rolled it around in his hand.

Charlene noticed, and it looked familiar. Staring at it for a bit longer, she realized what it was and she stood up, crossing over to Damon only to jerk it out of Damon's grip before he could say anything.

"This is my father's old pocket watch." Charlene explained, and his eyes snapped to hers.

"Grayson Gilbert?"

She gave a nod. "Yeah…"

Damon frowned, taking the pocket watch back, earning a protest from her. "What was Logan Fell doing with it?" He stared at Charlene, like she knew the answer.

"How would I know?" Charlene protested. "But what I do know is that pocket watch is my families, so I need it back."

"Yeah, I don't think so, not until we know why Logan Fell had it." He leaned back in his seat and Charlene crossed her arms. "I mean, aren't you curious?"

Stefan took this chance to speak up. "Well, if you're so worried that somebody's onto you, why don't you just leave town, Damon?"

"We should all be worried."

Charlene didn't want to have to admit that Damon Salvatore was right, but he was. If someone knew about vampires, then all of them could be revealed, even the new ones like her and Vicki.

Speaking of Vicki, she changed the subject. "Hey, um, I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"

She hadn't been thinking about it, but now that Vicki mentioned it, Charlene was hungry too. She hadn't had blood since last night.

"Yeah, me too." Charlene agreed.

"Here." Stefan handed both of them a cup.

Charlene peered inside of it before she drank it. There was definitely blood in it, but she leaned in and sniffed it. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. This was not human blood.

"What is it?" Vicki asked.

"It's what you're craving."

Damon snorted. "Don't lie to the girl." He told Stefan, rolling his eyes. "It's so not what you're craving, but it'll do in a pinch, right Stef?"

"This is definitely not human blood." Charlene said, making the mistake of sniffing it again and she gagged a bit. She cleared her throat as she moved the cup away from her face as well as her nose before speaking. "So, what is it?"

"Yeah, what is it?" Damon repeated, mockingly. "Is it skunk? Saint Bernard? Bambi?"

Oh, it was animal blood! Charlene should have known that. If Damon drank from humans, then of course Stefan drank from animals.

Stefan ignored him. "Go on. Give it a try."

Vicki took a drink but Charlene hesitated. It smelt gross. She didn't want to drink it…but this was much better than drinking from humans. So in the end, Charlene gave in and drank from the cup, and it tasted just as gross as it smelt. She forced herself to swallow, shuddering in the process.

"They're new. They need people blood." Damon said. "They can't sustain on that stuff."

Vicki licked her lips. "Yeah, why can't I have people blood?" she asked eagerly as Charlene took another drink. It tasted a little bit better but not by much.

"Yeah."

Stefan looked frustrated as he leaned forward. "Because it's wrong to prey on innocent people, Vicki."

"You don't have to kill to feed." Charlene looked up at him at that. They could? "Just find someone really tasty and then erase their memories their memories afterwards."

Charlene made a face. That sounded just as bad as killing someone. Even though it tasted horrible, she rather stick with animal blood.

"No, no, no." Stefan tried to get Vicki to listen. "There's no guarantee that you can control yourself, okay? It takes years to learn that. You could easily kill someone, and then you have to carry that with you for the rest of your life, which, if I haven't made clear, is eternity."

"Well, that's makes me feel loads better about being a vampire." Charlene mumbled sarcastically, downing the rest of the blood. She made a face in the process.

"Don't listen to him." Damon told Vicki, rolling his eyes as he stood up to his feet. "He walks on a moral plane way out of our eye line." He smirked. "I say snatch, eat, erase."

Vicki giggled while Charlene looked at him, disgusted. "Do you have to be a disgusting ass like all the time?"

"Of course my dear Charlene." Damon crossed over to her and patted her on the head like she was a dog. She jerked her head away immediately, glaring at him. "I wouldn't be me if I wasn't."

Charlene scoffed, rolling her eyes as she looked away from him.

"Hey, look at me." Stefan forced Vicki to look at him. "We choose our own path. Our values and our actions, they define who we are."

"Okay, count deepak. I'm outta here." With that, Damon left the study and Charlene was relieved he was gone…at least for the time being.

"Can I have some more?" Vicki questioned Stefan, hopefully.

He sighed in response as Charlene shook her head. Suddenly, a familiar scent filled her nose and it was coming from downstairs.

It was Megan's scent.

Charlene immediately stood to her feet. She needed to see her.

TBC...

In...

Haunted, Part 2