There was pounding on his room door. It went on for a long time till a groan erupted from his body underneath the blankets.
"Kieran! Time to wake up!"
His uncle pounded the door again; it was the last time before he finally moved out from the bed and walked over to his bathroom. He first brushed his teeth and washed his face.
Looking into the mirror, Kieran looked him over his face and noticed no facial hair quite yet.
His face was boyishly handsome, his eyes a striking blue and hair, short and jet-black. He rinsed his brush before turning on the shower, enjoying the feeling of the hot water on his alabaster skin.
Back into his room, he picked out his back-to-school clothes.
A white shirt. Black jeans and a jacket.
On his way over to the dining room, he bumped into the newest guest from the start of the summer. "Oh, sorry, Andrew. I wasn't looking where I was going." Sure he did, Kieran thought with a grimace.
"It's fine, Stefan." He walked past the Vampire on the way toward the kitchen table where breakfast was waiting.
It was a shock when his Uncle Zach told him about Stefan, about the Vampires in Mystic Falls that, until then, he was sure was just a myth. Not just that, but the Vampires in the family. He sighed and began eating his eggs, over easy as he liked them.
His glance went to Stefan, then to Zach, and back to his food; it was awkward, and he could feel it.
It was especially awkward as Zach didn't exactly want to open the house to a Vampire ancestor, but it was as the Salvatores have done since the rounding of Vampires in 1864.
He had a lot of history to catch up on since the start of summer.
His uncle was an ass but a cautious and wary ass. Their relationship wasn't fond enough they throw each other birthday parties, the family isn't like the Gilberts with gatherings at a lake house or throwing balls and masquerades like the Lockwoods.
The Salvatore family are a reclusive lot. We prefer to keep to ourselves and the secrets we keep in the house. He thought and drank from his coffee.
Kieran and Stefan left the house an hour later, driving his silver Nissan to school, and on the way, he was asked a bit about their backstory so to avoid unnecessary questions.
"You are my cousin, thrice removed from North Carolina, and your parents moved you here as business will take them abroad for the foreseeable future." He's free to add any other details he wants to. That's all he'll be repeating, especially since Stefan has one of those handsome faces, and the girls will undoubtedly ogle the new guy.
Stefan chuckled, his story seemingly humorous, "I like it. It's simple and to the point. I assume I'll be responsible to add to it?" He hummed a response, "Hey, listen... I know finding out what you know now was sudden, and I promise it won't ruin your life, alright?"
"Yeah, I'd like that, but what if your brother shows up?" Stefan's face went still as if he wasn't sure what to say. "How dangerous is he?"
All Zach said about Damon was that he was dangerous and unpredictable. Frankly, it terrified him a little, and he hoped never to meet the man. "Let me just say he hadn't thought to come here in a long time, years, actually." That doesn't exactly fill him with enthusiasm that he'd see 25, but hey, it's all he can get now.
He had asked Stefan why he goes to school at all, the Vampire probably has more degrees than the most brilliant dude on the planet. Stefan had laughed when he asked, simply telling him that the younger he was the longer he could stay in Mystic Falls.
The pair fell into silence before getting to the school, he was both eager and uncertain.
He isn't exactly popular, he never hung out with the jocks or participated in sports. He considers himself a bit of a loner, more comfortable being alone than being a part of a group, and that's caused him some trouble.
The thing was, he wouldn't even be here if it weren't for that accident when he was a baby; his parents had died in a car crash with his uncle Zach's pregnant wife at the time.
They didn't survive, obviously, and so his uncle became his primary Guardian.
He has a picture, the only thing in his possession, that gives him a glimpse of what they were like before dying. "Kieran, you alright?" Stefan asked from outside the car, he hadn't even taken his hands off the wheel.
"Sorry, uh, yeah… I'm fine, let's go."
Entering the school, they walked over to the admin office where Katelyn, the Principal's assistant, was typing into her computer. The woman was a little skeptical about his kins papers of identification.
Honestly, he knew she didn't believe him.
"Plan B then." He said and nodded. Stefan didn't enjoy doing what he had to, but he looked into Kate's eyes and daughter in his sight.
It was a little extraordinary, how Stefan could throw someone into a hypnosis and make them do what they want. The coolest shit ever. After being registered and given a schedule, he took it from Stefan's hand. "We have the same classes, except for gym and chemistry."
"Are we heading back to the house after school?"
"Yeah, if you want, I ain't doing anything tonight." He then went his own way, Chem was first, and then English.
He did notice one thing: the guy was a total chick magnet already from how the cheerleader clique watched him go towards the boy's restroom.
It was around lunch when he was smoking a joint in the stoner pit behind the school, and he was eating an apple while watching a video on his phone.
He then got another text from Caroline. A grimace formed on his face as it was yet another question about his 'cousin' to which he answered with his little knowledge learned over the course of the summer.
Seriously, how the blond workaholic got his number is a mystery. Only seven people have it and one is his place of work at the library.
"What's up, Salvatore?"
His head turned, and saw Jeremy walking toward him.
Jeremy Gilbert, the younger brother of Elena Gilbert and last year's tragedy cases, but Jeremy also happened to be his good friend despite the downward spiral his one year younger friend is intent on drowning in.
His sister is cute, though. She recently broke up with Quarterback Matt Donovan shortly before her parent's deaths at Wickery Bridge.
Kieran was a little sympathetic, his own parents dying in the same fashion, and the only difference is Elena could've died too, till she was saved by an unknown hero who he had found out would be Stefan.
Stefan told him he had been hunting for Bambi when he witnessed the wreck. Other than that, he didn't pry too much.
"Got my money, Gilbert?" He asked, and Jeremy sighed and dug in his pocket while pulling out a wad of twenties, "Thank you, and here you go." Digging into his backpack, he handed his friend the math and English cheat sheet.
Did he say he got into his own trouble? Well, apart from being a loner Stoner, he happens to do cheat sheets for a small fee.
How else was he going to continue to pay for his own things? He can't exactly compel himself money like a Vampire.
Jeremy turned from him and saw Vicki hugging up with Tyler Lockwood. The guy frowned, and Andrew patted his friend on the shoulder.
Over the Summer, Jeremy had started a fling with Vicki, a senior and older sister of Matt Donovan. She was cute, tall, and as rebellious as any growing woman is, and with her own medicinal issues, too.
Now, Jeremy and Vicki's fling wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't simultaneously dating the cornerback of the Mystic Falls Timberwolves. Tyler Lockwood used to be a friend back when they met in 1st grade; after 3rd grade, things changed, and he went on to be a star football player and all-around top jock beside his new buddy Matt.
"Whatchu looking at, Gilbert? Salvatore?" Crap, he took notice.
Rubbing the back of his head, he stepped in front of Jeremy before the guy said something to start a fight. "Nothing, Ty. We were just leaving." He put out his joint and slid it into his jacket pocket, and nudged his friend along.
"Don't know why you didn't let me kick his ass," As much as that would be entertaining, even he knew Jeremy wasn't winning that fight.
"Guy hits the gym more than us. He's juiced on testosterone and bad Gatorade. Let it go." He stopped and took a breath from his inhaler, "You heading to the bonfire tomorrow night?" He asked.
"I don't know, Elena might make me go, but... "
Shrugging, Kieran threw his bag over his back, "Let me know, huh? I'll be going with my cousin, he just got here over the Summer and started here. Later, Jeremy." he walked away a moment later to head back to his last class of the day, History.
Mr. William Tanner was undoubtedly the biggest A-hole in the entire school. He was a jock in his hay days, now the history teacher and coach of most sports in school.
He sat himself on the left of Bonnie Bennett, a friend of Elena and Caroline Forbes.
She was beautiful in an exotic way, his long dark hair and almost mesmerizing green eyes holding your attention longer than one should. He nearly choked when she noticed he was ogling, and he averted quickly, burrowing himself in his history book as Tanner drawled on.
Stefan was casting glances at Elena; Kieran thought it interesting as she was doing the same. Bonnie sneakily took out her phone and began texting something.
Carefully leaning in, the same as Matt was doing on Bonnie's right, both saw her sending a message that spelled 'HAWT-EE' to Elena, who smirked to herself upon getting it.
Kieran wanted to hurl, never understanding women even after 17 years of life and having been in two relationships.
Before long, school ended and he was back at home taking a shower again. He was walking over to the kitchen and saw Stefan sitting at the table, "Brooding?" He asked and opened the fridge, reaching for some chocolate milk and pouring himself a glass.
Stefan's mouth curled into a smirk, "You are about as funny as my brother. No, I met Elena."
"Yeah, she and every other girl seems dazzled by the new guy. You'll be hot news for at least a month." He noticed then, a purple book in front of his ancestor, "Uh, a good color to journal in, I suppose."
"What? No, this is Elena's. She dropped it in the cemetery when I bumped into her." Kieran couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, wondering if the last century and a half made Stefan a stalker. "I'm gonna go give this back to her,"
"Cool, see ya. I'm going to head out anyways, feeling a bit peckish for the Grill." He downed his drink and set it by the sink, "You wanna just go with me? Jeremy said he'd be there, so that's where she will be."
The Vampire actually seemed surprised he'd offer, "Sure, but we gotta get this to her. It's what's right." Right.
A natural pair of knights they are.
The drive over to Elena was quiet, he stayed and let Stefan do his thing while playing with his radio to find a good channel to listen to, and before he knew it, both Stefan and Elena were getting in.
"Hey, Kieran, it's been a while." A while? They have first to third period together. "Jer had left for the Grill already. Thanks for the lift."
"What are founding friends for, right?" His joke went over her head, and he suddenly felt awkward, "Right, let's go."
The Grill was buzzing with fellow peers and family having dinner together, the bar was where he saw Jeremy trying to talk to Vicki, but she looked irritated and uninterested in what the younger lover had to say, walking off a moment later with food.
Jeez, the guy just won't give it a rest.
Getting them all some non-alcoholic drinks, he was invited to sit and chat with Stefan by Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline.
It was weird. He doesn't just get invited to hang with what are the most beautiful chicks in school and cheerleaders to add. The three girls asked about Stefan and his past, where he came from, and about his parents, to which the Vampire went completely off-script from what they agreed to this morning.
"So, how closely related are you to Stefan, Kieran?" Elena asked, sipping from her drink and setting it down.
"Distant, his dad and Uncle Zach were first cousins. The Salvatore family is like an orphanage for nephews nowadays." He joked and didn't get so much as a chuckle, "But over the summer, we became more like brothers than cousins, didn't we, Stef?" He patted the immortal on the shoulder then finished his drink, "Would you look at that? I need a refill."
Kieran set his glass on the counter, "Chaz, give me something to hold myself." The bartender and husband of the owner of the joint looked at him with a shameful look, mostly because he would get his drink.
"Only one, Kieran, alright? My wife will kill me if I serve to minors." Chaz poured him a glass of liquor, a Roman Coke, to be precise.
"One is all I need, man! And that way the missus doesn't get told her husband bangs her daughter's babysitter. Cheers." He left and walked back over to the table where Caroline was mentioning the bonfire tomorrow. "Oh, yeah, we are totes going," He said, sitting down and drinking his Roman Coke.
Elena and Stefan shared looks, so Kieran turned to Caroline, who seemed bummed out, "So, who gave you my number, Forbes?"
Caroline made a zipping gesture, "Nope, a journalist doesn't surrender her sources."
Cheeky little- "Ugh, fine, but just keep the constant messages below twenty words. Not whole paragraphs." She slapped him in the arm and he laughed at her adorable but embarrassed facial expression.
"I missed outgoing Kieran. Good to see you can still have fun." Bonnie mentioned, and Kieran frowned as it brought back fond memories of a twelve-year-old who hung out with everyone but, in just a few years, became this hermit who would rather stay home and read books in his family's extensive library.
"Yeah, well, don't get too used to it." She frowned and then smiled, changing the topic to something else.
Later on, he and Stefan were back at the boarding house. He was leaning against his bedboard and reading 'Gone with the Wind,' a subject for English class. It was all very Southern for an assignment.
His reading stopped when he heard arguing and went to see it was Zach confronting Stefan.
"Please, Uncle Stefan. Mystic Falls is a different place now, quiet for years, and you being here will just stir things up." Zach then noticed him and crossed his arms, "Go, Kieran, we are speaking."
He was a little angry to be just shooed away like some mongrel, "What's going on?" He asked, defying his caretaker.
"There were some deaths, a couple on the road." Stefan answered, then he turned back to Zach, "Stirring things isn't my intention, and I had nothing to do with that." Looking at the newspaper, he saw and felt a little sick. He knew them and had watched their dog on more than one occasion.
Looking a little irritated than usual, Zach huffed and swallowed deeply, "I know you can't change who you are, but it was a mistake coming back here."
His uncle left a second later, no doubt to sulk and be angry at the world. "Did you do it?" He wanted to know for his own safety; he had never widdled a stake before, but he would if he was actually living under someone unstable.
"No... But another Vampire might have." That's an unnerving thought, for sure.
Kieran barely got any rest for the rest of the night, tossing and turning in his bed till about 4:00 AM, but by then, he had just stayed up. He had Stefan drive to school this time, all while he slept in the back and would skip first and second period to catch more sleep.
It was about third period when he woke and decided to go to English class. The teacher scolded him for his poor attendance for today, but he ignored her and got to his seat, trying and failing miserably to concentrate, which added to his gloomy mood.
Lunch came and went and so did two more classes, the last period was quite interesting.
It started with Mr. Tanner going on about the Battle of Willow Creek and asking the class about the casualty number for the battle. First, Tanner asked Bonnie, and the girl said she didn't know, then said, "Like a lot? A whole lot!"
Tanner's lip twitched, "Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Miss Bennett." The Man then turned his eyes to Matt, "How about you, Donovan? Care to disprove the embedded jock stereotype?" Tanner is the living embodiment of the stereotype.
Matt blew the question off, "I'm alright with it, Mr. Tanner."
Teach went on to his next victim, Elena. "What about you, Miss Gilbert… "
Kieran wanted to cringe, thinking the adult in the room was going a little too far and poking things too soon, what with Elena having lost her parents last year.
"I'm sorry, I don't know."
Looking frustrated, Tanner pushed an unwanted issue. "I was willing to be lenient for obvious reasons, Elena. The personal excuses ended over the summer."
The class got very quiet, some were shocked, and others were angry. Low blow, Tanner, dickhead.
The unknown Savior appeared then in the form of Stefan, "There were 346 casualties unless you were counting local civilians," Stefan would know the answer having been there.
"That is correct, Mr?"
Raising his hand, Kieran answered, "He's my cousin, Mr. Tanner. Stefan Salvatore."
"I was asking Stefan, not you, Kieran." Right, why'd he even bother? "That was correct. However, there weren't any civilians killed in the battle," Stefan argued that statement as Tanner began writing on the chalkboard.
"There was, actually, Union soldiers fired on a church thinking they were hiding arms… They were wrong. It was a night of great loss." Kieran narrowed his eyes as he sensed the Vampire was a little more emotional about it all. "The founder's archives are stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts."
Curious about why Stefan was so miffed, Andrew thought to ask about it on the ride home.
"So what was that about in class today? You looked ready to drink Tanner right then and there... " He kept his hands on the wheel and glanced once over to Stefan, who was writing in his notebook.
"If it's all the same, I would rather not talk about it, okay?" Sheesh, talk about a cold shoulder. It was a half minute later when he talked again, "I didn't like what he said to Elena. It was cruel, and I felt bad for her." So that's what it was.
Kieran hummed, "It's a little weird, crushing on a human teenager when you've lived like a dozen lifetimes but I get it, she is cute." Stefan sent him a cold stare and then smirked.
"Age is just a number to humans. As a vampire, it is limitless."
He felt a little unsure of how to ask, so he just went for it, "You've been under our roof for a while now, so I was wondering... How does one turn into a vampire?"
Stefan tensed like he wanted to avoid the question, like he wished it was never brought up. "You never bothered to ask, so why now?" A question for a question, it was a little angering, but Kieran put it aside.
"I just don't really see the downside to being like you." He then went on to point out the positives, "Super strength, super speed, immortality and whatever that mind control thing you did to Miss Stuart today."
"Right, but you forgot the thirst; it controls you, especially if you're new. There are people who, if they found out about you, would stake you without hesitation. Without a daylight ring, you're stuck inside till the sun goes down." Yeah, there are downsides, but the positives outweigh it all.
"You didn't answer my question, Stefan... What turns people into Vampires?"
Stefan refused to answer so the ride home was quiet. The ride out to the bonfire was quieter as they were not interested in speaking further.
Vampirism is still fresh in his mind, having spent only a summer knowing about the world behind the human one. Twilight, Interview with a Vampire and From Dusk Till Dawn to Fright Night, and Bram Stoker's Dracula were all watched over the last few months.
Books from the known to the benign, some of it was interesting, and some were absolute hogwash.
Kieran also looked himself over before leaving the house. He was athletic but far from physically strong compared to some of the other boys at school, he was for a few years bullied by a couple of the football players and wished he had a fraction of the power a vampire could have.
Maybe he was being dumb, a foolish kid obsessed with the supernatural... But, he wants what Stefan has... He wants to be Vampire.
